Food....

So far food has been ok here. Its not the same, but we have had some fairly good meals out. I haven't cooked anything yet, probably next week I will attempt something. Our apt has a kitchen with supplies but its not totally stocked for gourmet cuisine cooking. Groceries are quite high if you get western items, but produce and veggies are inexpensive. Meat is pretty $ too, as much comes from australia and new zealand. I have been searching for good milk - so far not so good, but plan to order from 2 dairy farms next week and try those options. C and D love milk and I think D has had maybe one glass in over a week? she normally would drink 5 glasses a day! C has been ok with what we have found but his consumption is way down too. They dont have diet coke here either, coca cola light is the choice - its not the same but bearable. I did find DC at one market - its for westerners like us and quite pricey...but if you need something you can likely find it there. I paid 1.80/can ! It was worth it, too. We have found lots of places with good burgers and diner type food, and we also found a couple of places with good sandwiches, salads, etc. Last night we went out for Italian with some of our new friends- was very good and tonight 21 of us are going out for shanghainese food. should be fun!

And yet another site seeing event...the Pearl Tower

dont get used to so many updates - we for sure wont be able to go somewhere interesting every day - though I bet we will probably see something of interest every day - if nothing else, different than what we are all used to back home!

While I was off getting poked, prodded and weighed (did I mention I like the scales in china so far? very favorable and I hope it continues to stay that way!) ...Ian took C and D to the pearl tower - its a really interesting looking bldg - purple in color, and you can go up and get a good view of the city. I will have to go another day, which is fine by me - not a huge fan of such heights. The really tall bldg behind Connor in the picture is currently the tallest bldg in the world, but it will be overtaken soon by one in the UAE. It lights up at night with twinkley lights - very pretty.

Trip to the Aquarium

we went to the Shanghai Aquarium last week- the largest in Asia. It was all indoors and pretty nice. One of the best I think I have seen. Delaney's favorites were the alligators and the sea turtles. Connor liked the sharks. I liked the fact it was indoors as it was about 101 and 90% humidity that day! It did remind me of home in some ways - at the end of the exhibits, you dont know its the end - but you go up an escalator and end up in the TOY STORE! ha! we managed to circumvent any purchases this time. We did buy a family pass, so am sure we'll go back again soon.

Health Check...

on Wednesday I went for my government mandated health check. Anyone coming to the country requesting an extended visa will have to have this done, if over 18yrs old. I must say I felt like I was in some 1940's Seinfeld episode. Everything is very outdated and old looking, very old fashioned. I had someone from our tax/visa contractor escort me, so he got me registered and I waited in a different area till time. Then you go from room to room - in no order, mind you - to have various procedures completed. In between, you sit in a hallway and they have you change seats every minute or 2 - with no real sense about it. "you! sit here"...1 minute later - point at another seat - "you sit here now!" ok then. They took blood, did an ultrasound, xray, ekg, looked in my nose - "your nose ok!?!" yes, I think so? and had me do an eye test. It was really pretty superficial. I kind of think what they really wanted was the blood, but not sure why they do all the rest? oh well. It was pretty uneventful, just took a about 3 hours total as it was a fairly long drive over. In a taxi. with no seatbelts - ugh! Will have to work on getting through those times, as I never go without a seatbelt at home!

First day here...

we made a trip out to Jinqiao, the area we will live, and drove through our neighborhood and saw the school. We then went to a family day at Intel Pudong to celebrate the 40th anniversary. the event at the factory was all in chinese - pretty handy for us. We stayed for a bit, the only westerners there and as we were leaving a lady ran after us with a camera - she wanted to interview us on what I thought about the event. Of course, I couldnt complain that I didnt understand - it is china and they are allowed to speak chinese - so I just nodded my head and said how nice it was. We moved on after that....had seen enough though I am sure it was a nice show.

I wont publish any house photos yet as we may be changing houses again! crazy! it would be in the same neighborhood and the same floorplan, but some friends have been in it the past 2 years and have done quite a bit of work in the house. We would likely just keep most of their things and move right in with ours, too. Still have some logisitics to work out but I think it could be good. We'll know for sure next week and then I can post pictures.

A picture is worth a thousand words....

Here we are, arriving at Shanghai Pudong international, after almost 24 hours of travel. Connor is not in the pic as he is our new photographer....as part of the move to China he got an iphone and he has been snapping pics left and right. This is good, as almost never take a picture!

And here we were at our first dinner - Maggie Moo's - a diner like place with good burgers and shakes! we were pooped- was about 9pm here and it was all we could do to walk down the street for this.

We're HERE! After all this time, planning, logistics...we are here! I could bore you with all the details that had to be executed - the pain of separating and packing up our house, trying to pack what we need for the next ~8wks till our shipment arrives, get the house ready for the rentor, while keeping everything else going, but I won't.

Our flight was basically uneventful, though way too long. Kids were good, all luggage - 15 pieces! arrived without issue...Shanghai airport was no issue - not crowded, they didnt try and confiscate my food or items I brought in, so all was good. We are staying in a Marriott apartment for about 6 weeks until our house is ready to move into. Its very nice, 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms - 28th floor in downtown, overlooking what is currently the tallest bldg in the world. We spent the am unpacking most of our things, and are getting ready to venture out and see our new neighborhood, drive by the school and head over to the factory for a family day at work. So far so good.