Hooray!

Wrigley is doing MUCH better...should make a full recovery, thank goodness! He really went through the wringer this last week. The vet (velvet is her name! and she looks like a velvet!) said he is healing way faster than she expected. I won't post the graphic pictures of his wounds - it could almost make you throw up - but suffice it to say, my poor man was brutally injured. The dogs that attacked him were never claimed and they were put to sleep this week. The picture I have posted is him looking much better, but his hind end is not nearly looking as good.

Bad Day...

We had some really bad news the last day of vacation - our dog, Wrigley (who is the best dog in the world, I might add) who is still in AZ was attacked by 2 pit bulls last Thursday night. He was on a walk and on his leash and they came out of nowhere, no tags/collars, not a sound and attacked my poor man. He didnt know what hit him. My brother was the one walking him, and he basically beat them off and almost beat one of them to death. They both came out looking quite rough - Wrigs spent the next day at the vet, had to have surgery to do all the stitches - his hind end and his ear/head. It appears he will be ok, he is home and walking slowly but I have to wonder if he'll be able to get past such a trauma. I dont know if we will - I end up in tears whenever I think about the whole thing. We contemplated having me fly home from vacation instead of coming back to China, but it seemed to be under control and he is doing much better, so I didnt. We have talked to him on the phone and he sits up and licks the receiver. I have to say we are just sick over this. The 2 dogs(?) that attacked him were picked up by the police -they came right away and were able to get them and taken to the pound. They are locked up and so far no one has called for them. I will find out tomorrow what the deal is as far as how long do they keep them before putting them down, etc. I honestly hope no one tries to claim them - I will gladly pay the vet bills - I just want to ensure those dogs are never out again.

Who knew?

that you could get Silver Oak Cab in Kaiuai for a relatively good price? It happens to be in my top 5 of favorite wines, and we have now had it 4 times this week! At home you might see it on the menus for $150+...and at the local stores maybe around 60-80 depending on what year, which vineyard, etc. Well, they must be using it like a loss leader at the grocery because the mark up has been pretty small, considering. I also dont know that we can get this in China, so have to stock up now! the funny thing - and I wish we had a video of this - We were told earlier in the week that in Hawaii, the liquor law is you can cork it, taste a bit, recork it and take it with you. Tonight at dinner the waitress asked if we wanted to save the cork in case we didnt drink it all. We said - no, thats fine, we will drink it. Well, DCR was having some issues tonight - too tired and was not up for sitting while we drank Silver Oak - so...I paid and said we are going to take it with us. She came back and said - oh, I am so sorry, but I was just told if you want to cork it and take it you cant get it till tomorrow? hello? I am not leaving the silver oak, lady! So I said, oh, ok - weird as we were told the opposite elsewhere. She walked away - I grabbed the bottle and my purse, along with C - said lets go C - and we hid it under my purse and took off. No way I was leaving the silver oak behind! I am sure we looked a hoot, hot footing it out of there! C is still laughing about it! No doubt setting a great example for the kids. Now, back to vacation..till next week -

On vacation...be back soon!

CDR...living the dream....

C had one of his best days ever last week. Now, let me state that he has had more best days ever in his 8 years than I have had in 38 years - so don't feel sorry for him at all! Although we likely are going to pass on Beijing and the Olympics (hotel rooms are just nuts - 2 wks minimum and seriously inflated prices) C and E went to see the USA NBA team play against Russia last week in Shanghai. Front row seats. Every basketball star he could imagine. He apparentley fit right in as when the game was over and USA won, they made their way to where the players leave the court -and the guards there were waving all the asian away, but didnt say a thing to C - so there he was, in his Phx suns jersey - and D'antoni comes through and give him a high five - so all the other players proceeded to do the same! I think he was most starstruck over seeing Kobe Bryant, but honestly, he couldnt stop talking about it. So, was a good day. USA bball stars for C, and $9 mani/pedi's for A and D. What more could one ask for on a Sunday?

The princess and her court....

D and I walked down the street (in the rain, no less) for a manicure/pedicure....it was $9 today (instead of $6 last time) as D had her toenails and fingernails done. She was quite popular, check it out...

Shamelessly advertising C's TV debut....

Earlier this summer we had the opportunity to appear in some commercials advertising the ASU sundevils. The whole event was super fun - despite it being 110 degrees that day. It was done at a local park and they had the kids playing football, bball, and cheering on the devils. They haven't completed all the commercials yet, but here is one that C is in, playing football - which is his most favorite sport. The commercials are playing Fox sports and some local AZ channels, and will be played at the sundevil games, too!

Ok, the honeymoon is over now....

Sigh. We faced the chinese toilet today. It wasn't good. This is not an actual picture of the one we went to, as this one looks much cleaner! oy. I just don't know what they are thinking here! We actually faced it two times - once earlier in the day at the flower and bird market (at which I saw no birds???) D and I had to go - she decided she didnt have to quite so badly after witnessing the facilities! Then later after dinner at a very upscale mall area, thats also what they had? I do carry kleenex, wetwipes and hand sanitizer in my purse now - but I think we may need to buy some Depends when we are home as a back up! Thank goodness for all the squats I have done in my aerobics classes! Ack!!!!

Another week!

I can't believe we have been here for 2 wks already! This past week was a little less touristy and a little more getting into a routine of sorts. Let's see what I know for this week:

*Last weekend was fun - we went to Yu Yuan gardens to see the old temples and gardens, then took a boat down the Huangpu River - one of the most famous skylines in the world. We then hit the fake market - D got a $3 barbie, and C got a disk with 20 PSP games for about $10. We then went to dinner at a great restaurant - 1221, down the end of a little alley - probably the best chinese meal I have had yet. Everything was really good and most things I had never had before. Kids also loved it. We met quite a few new people at dinner and all had a good time.
Sunday we went to brunch at one of the really nice hotels here - the kids had their fill of sushi - they were very happy! It was really good and more choices than I ever seen in my life. We went with some friends and their daughters, then afterwords we went to their apartment to swim.

*Monday was the start of the Multisport camp for the kids. D was a bit somber about being left but ended up doing great, and C walked in, saw the boys playing basketball and he was good to go! They have played all different sports, done a lot of crafts and even made dumplings and pizzas. They have Subway sandwiches and fruit every day for lunch, which seems odd to have in china? I think it was a good choice - gives them something to do, wears them out and they are meeting a lot of other kids. C has met 4 boys going into 3rd grade at his school. C also spent the night with our friends Monday night, so he had 5 star day, at least according to him. They have been to camp all this week from 930-330 and will go next week mon-thurs, as we leave on vacation next Friday.

* I have spent the week trying to get into a work routine - was up at 3:45 two days this week? eek! A bit early. The other mornings it was about 5am so not as bad. I have also tried a few massage places and walked through a lot of the grocery stores to check out what they have (I pretty much buy the same things every place - bottled water, box chocolate milk and apple juice!!). It's odd being in the hotel apartment, nothing I really need to do here so a bit at ends. I have also walked through some dept stores, gone to the gym here and I have even cooked a couple of nights( tacos were the requested meal and they were really good! – Ian wanted to know if they were going to eb $30 tacos, as food is so $$ here at stores). I think once we get in the house it will be more normal. We went to our favorite dumpling house last night – Dai Tin Feng..its world renowned for their dumplings and has been written up by the NY Times. Very yummy and we will be glad to take anyone who comes to visit!

* The latest on the house is we are moving into a different house than planned, this is about the 4th different one but it seems to be the way it is! Some friends we met here will be moving home earlier than planned so we will move into their house. It’s about 1 block from the house we had planned to go into. Green Villas is a great neighborhood and walking distance to school and shops. They had done a fair amount of decorating and had bought many extras so we will take some of that over - extra fridge in garage, some of their decorations, appliances, etc. The best part is we will also be hiring their Filipino Ayi! She will live in, as there is an ayi room, and will be so much help for me. She normally is gone on Sundays but the rest of the days she will shop, cook, clean, etc. She is very pleasant, speaks english and our friends said she was wonderful. I am quite happy about the plans. I will post some pics once I take some of the new house.

* This weekend Ian plans to play golf Sat, and then we will meet friends out later in the day. Sunday Ian and Connor are going to the usa nba bball game to watch them play Russia. C is so excited, and they have front row seats, so they should have lots to tell us when they get back. D and I will be getting our nails done, I am sure – we went to a place by the hotel last week and paid $6 for both of us!!


All for now, off to catch up on email and do a quick workout before getting the children. We are stopping to buy some movies before getting Ian at work - we just bought Wall-e earlier in the week - $2.50! One of the perks, I guess???

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.

Yes, I was Speechless!

Hard to believe, I know. While in Shanghai, we interviewed 2 candidates to be our drivers. Now, I have interviewed people for jobs many times before, no biggie. Well, try it when they pretty much only speak chinese! yikes! I really just didnt have anything pertinent to add to the discussion. IR asked questions, we had someone translate, then they responded with 1-2 words in English, the rest chinese. ok then. Both had excellent driving records, had driven for several years as their profession, etc. We ended up picking the older man, as he lives in the area we will, and because the younger one was worried about how much time he would have off with his girlfriend! Now, regular hours are 6 days a week, pretty much all day. They can work overtime, and most are happy to and the company pays this. I have to say we are not worried about skimping on the drivers time. I have no idea how all this will work, but I certainly will want someone that is willing to work when we need him! Our minivan specs will be arriving....can you stand it? We are so anti-minivan that is funny we will have one. I figure - its free. I can handle a minivan for 2 years for free. Couldn't you?

Trying to get back on track....

I have to say I felt pretty good the whole time in China - tired, as the timezones are so screwy, when you fly to Asia, you wake up at 3 or 4 am and can't go back to sleep...until you have to get up, then you could probably snooze till noon! Coming home though, kicked my butt! I was quite tired from just everything that went on in January. We are now processing the trip, what we need to close on, re-prioritizing the neighborhoods, working on our car specs and driver, and closing on any school opens.

For the British College, CDR must take an exam. Working with his current principal to get that set up. I also need to send an alternate school his forms as a backup. What a pain. Spending time researching vaccinations we need...that is enough to make me want to cancel this boondogle all together - I do not like shots and it is not looking good for me here! So many things to figure out - all the visas information we need to fill out, health approvals, tax stuff, health insurance changes, home/car insurance changes, logistics to lease out our house. My head is spinning. Perhaps time for some ice cream? Maybe even a double Oreo Blizzard. Yep, that will do it!

At last....the "looksee" ...

Now, please don't ask me who coined the term "looksee"? I think there must be some hidden Expat dictionary that we have yet to find. However, we did go to Shanghai, we did look, and we did see - all that we are getting ourselves into! I have to say it was better than expected...I went with the adage of "low expectations up front = less disappointment later!"..and it worked!

For 6 days we looked at villas, service apartments, schools, hospitals, medical clinic, pharmacies, grocery stores......you name it, we likely saw it. Oh, did I mention it was in a snowstorm? Well yes, it was. Worst storm in China in 25 years, and we were there. It wasnt nearly as bad where we were, but it did snow for 2 days, and stuck...so everyone was out playing, bldg snowmen, etc. For us, it was fun as we dont have snow in AZ...novelty for sure. The kids were so excited to hear about it, and the thought of having snow, but watch, it wont snow at all the 2 winters we are there!


The good news - the schools were incredible. Like nothing I have seen here. Truly. I think this may end up being the biggest benefit of the move, the education. The bad news, well, we are on waiting lists at these incredible schools... at one specific British college - CDR is #40! Can you stand it? Well, I couldn't. Stand it that is. I was quite stressed about the situation till I finally decided it wasn't going to help. We do think CDR will get into our other favorite school, an international school based on american curriculm, he is only #7 on the wait list there. oy. Miss DCR is a whole other issue - it seems her age group is the most popular age to be expating...who knew? 3-4 yr old jetsetters abound, I guess. So, she is enrolled at both schools that CDR is, and as a backup, we enrolled her in a local Montessori preschool that looked to have a good program. All the schools have such low teacher-student ratios, daily mandarin lessons, computers/laptops, many afterschool activities, etc. I really think we will like it...once know which school we are going to! Both kids will remain on the wait lists of the schools they dont get in, so we always have the option to switch when a spot opens up at one of the others, though hopefully we won't feel the need to do so? We were told to be patient, so other than emailing the schools every week, that is what I have been trying to do!

We found a lot of nice housing, but ..guess what?... there aren't any available! Are you starting to see a trend here??? It took me a few hours that first day but I clued in fast....and wondered - does everyone have to be in Shanghai when I am? Can't someone go home and let new people arrive? geez! I was pretty bummed while looking, they just didnt know what would open up, when it would be open, etc. crazy. So, we focused on AREA...and we found one we like - its called Jinqiao, and is a small area on the Pudong side of Shanghai. I think it will make a nice 3 mile bubble for me. Those of you that know me here in AZ, know I like my 3 mile radius...and I think I can duplicate it! House, schools, gym, club, grocery, kids activities, all in 3 miles. Its a pretty westernized section, lots of expats, imported goods, etc. I liked it. Also lots of green and trees, as its on the new side of shanghai - referred to as Pudong, the old side is Puxi. So a little less pollution and yuch. Since we have no house confirmed at this pointe, we will plan to live in the Marriot downtown till we can move to our new abode...

I will close for now, and leave you hanging on the rest of the visit, but will be back to update on the important things like - shopping, bathroom conditions, foot massages, dining...and may even throw in some links so you can SEE some of these places.