Dodgeball - Only with Cars!

Oh, the madness. The absolute madness of drivers in China.

It's really prety understandable when you think about it. There are BILLIONS of people here. If they all obeyed the road laws, they'd never get anywhere. Basically, I've discovered - I think - that if you just throw out any idea of road laws and a sense of order, the system works. In fact, I do think it kindof works for them - because they all expect everyone else to throw rules out the window, too. Here, whoever is ahead, has the right of way. Pedestrians have zero right of way. And the bigger the vehicle, the more right of way you have.

Anyways, last night we ventured off campus with some fellow teachers, for the first time without the administration holding our hand off campus! I'm telling you, this is a milestone for me. After my walmart experience, it really hit home how much the language barrier is a part of this experience. I was never really concerned with it coming out here, but now I understand I need to learn Mandarin FAST! And always plan ahead. And get really good at acting :)

It took us awhile to get a taxi, and then we piled in only to discover that there are NO seatbelts in the back seat. The driver wasn't even wearing his! I thought that was a lovely combination - terrifying drivers and no seatbelts. Awesome.

Anyway, our school isn't very close to many stores or restaurants (just other schools and universities, mostly), but our road eventually turns into a very cool area. After a 30 minute walk you hit a McDonalds, Watsons drug store, and a bunch of other places I haven't checked out yet. The taxi passed that area and let us out across the street from our destination: Helen's Cafe, a place that serves Western food. When we got out of the taxi, I realized that we had to actually CROSS the street. That gave me pause! No street lights in sight in either direction of the long road - just lots, and lots of cars (and motorcycles, and scooters) showing zero desire to stop. I held Zac tight and we crossed with a group. I'm not going to lie, it was kindof scary!

I was feeling pretty proud of making our first successful cross by the time we sat down. I discovered a few things about eating in China that night:

• Food ordered at the same arrives at different times. I watched a few people eat before getting my own food.
• Food doesn't always come in order: whatever is ready first, comes out first. I ate chocolate cake before my pizza.
• The waitress or waiter gives you the menu, then stands at your table until you order.
• You pay when you order, not when you are leaving.
• The server doesn't come back to ask if you want anything else - they assume you ordered everything you need.

Another thing: Poor Zac couldn't handle it - we got to the restaurant just before 8pm and he slept on my lap through the whole experience. I'll take him back soon, now that I know where to go :)

Aaannnnnd, the entire night out (cabs, food, drinks) cost less than $10 Canadian. Woot!! :)

The Most Frustrating Day EVER…Until the Next One

Saturday was by far my most frustrating day so far. The uncertainty of what converter to use, and how, and knowing that if I mess it up, I could blow something, was pretty upsetting, because I couldn’t use ANYTHING! Including the ability to charge my laptop and ipad, which connects me to home. So I wasn’t too thrilled. It looks like Zac’s Wii got blown, actually. We’re not sure but it’s pretty sad! We used a converter but I have come to hate them. 

The lack of internet also sucked. It wasn’t available at my apartment until yesterday (I’m glad, though it’s still not the best, apparently it will work better when I get wireless), so we would take the loooong 2 minute walk over to my school to try to connect with the internet and write an email. But then, there was always the frustration of seeing someone across from me use a code and talk to her parents while I sat across from her in the same room, with the password NOT WORKING FOR ME!! Gaaaaah! I just got my own special password and username though, so life can resume. There was also the annoyance of using the principal’s computer for Skype and finding nobody ON! What’s WITH you people?! It’s only a 12 hour difference. Then there was the inability to figure out how to use our washing machine (still). Added to that was the amount of buttons we need to keep trying in order to turn the AC on or off (also still).  

Seriously, it was a tough day. I know days like this are part of it, but I’m just much happier with the internet situation now. In fact, it was the internet that kept me up past 8pm the other night, for the first time! Which lead to me not waking up between 2-4:30am, up for the day. I’ve slept in until 6:30am the last two mornings and I am soooo excited. But now I’m exhausted again. And to think I was cocky enough to think I had conquered jetlag in a day. Puh-lease. Jetlag is bigger than me. But I am working at it! Zac is pretty much on the same schedule, too. We went out for dinner last night and he slept through the whole thing :P

Trapped in a Walmart

So, our first official trip off of the school campus was to Walmart (exciting!). I very quickly regretted letting anyone who speaks Mandarin out of my sight.

Imagine going into Walmart tomorrow and not understanding a single word on any of the products you want to buy. Imagine there are different brands, no instructions, and the only people to help – and boy, do they want to help – cannot understand you, nor you them. It starts out cute and funny at first, but as time progresses, you become increasingly hungry, tired, and frustrated. It took me 10 minutes to figure out if my floor cleaning device would be good to wash the floor! It was too much to buy a converter – I had to go without (I have one, and that’s been another irritating experience, more on that in a bit). We got pillows, sheets, and extremely pretty towels, a wok (I'm going to cook...eventually), etc. However, before I could buy plates and utensils, and all sorts of other things (like CONDITIONER! I have multiple bottles of shampoo, and no conditioner! The agony), I tapped out. I was DONE! I just wanted to pay and get out. I struggled back with our overflowing cart to where we had come in and discovered quite painfully that I could not pay or exit there. I had to mime and gesture to my buggy and show my money several times and to several people, and – sometimes – I would be understood and pointed in a certain direction. Sometimes, I would just get an apologetic shrug. I made the rounds on the bottom floor before being told to go upstairs, and when I got there I was barely hanging on to my patience and trying to press down just how agitated I was when I discovered a food market. This was NOT what I wanted to discover when I arrived at the top of the escalator! I wanted to discover an exit sign (though not really - I have discovered the exit signs do not lead me to an acceptable way for a shopper to exit the building. Naturally!). I eventually found a wonderful girl who could tell I was at my wits end, and she held my hands earnestly and told me as best she could how to escape the dreaded department store. I thanked her profusely and wanted to hug her, I was so relieved. As we made our way to the checkout, we passed through the fish and meat department and Zac informed me that "his nose was sad." Bahaha. I thought that was pretty polite of him!

At the checkout, I was sooo excited to see a Snickers bar! That helped perk us up a bit. I discovered some fellow teachers at the checkout who declared this must have been a test of our patience, and then saw that here, they do not bag our items for us. I was ready to drop, but pushed my cart over to the wall after paying and began to bag all of my items (there was a lot, and they were big). Following that, we hit up a bakery and fell in love with everything. The place smelled amazing! We got some delicious treats for later and, surprisingly, still have some in our fridge.

That night the school took us all out to dinner, and we had a never ending supply of different dishes being continuously brought to our table. Much of it was delicious, some of it was spicy, and some of it was fish served in ways we've never really seen before. Zac made faces. The most memorable moment of the night was when Zac looked at the principal and another administrator, and exclaimed, “Wow! You guys are having a lot of beer!” From then on, they tucked the beer cans under their seats. 

The First Few Days

Hi everyone! The internet is not yet set up in our apartment so it has been difficult to post, but that should all be fixed up pretty soon. Where do I begin???

We had a loooong flight. I dreamed during our flight that we were landing - and distinctly remember being very pleased with myself for sleeping through that super long 13 hour flight and smiling in my sleep. I even remember thinking, “if that’s not us landing, at least it will be very soon.” When I woke up, I was extremely dismayed to discover that we had 8 more hours of flight left! It was right around that time that I became disgusted with airplanes. It wasn’t such a big deal in theory, but in reality, it sucked, big time. Landing in China was pretty cool, it was extremely humid getting out of the plane but customs and bag checking went really well. I was pretty impressed with myself because we got separated from the group and it was still pretty easy going. We connected with a fellow teacher while making our way to our gate and it was all good. Also, I LOVE TROLLEYS!!! They made transferring at the airport amazing. Zac wanted to push. I let him. 

We had the faculty from the school waiting for us at the airport even though we were several hours behind schedule and it was after 1am here, plus an hour bus ride back to campus. The staff are amazingly helpful and understanding because they have all done this for the first time themselves. It’s such a relief.

Zac and I love our apartment. There are a couple of things I would change but honestly, it’s pretty great. I’m not fully settled in and still find myself waking up at 2 am unable to sleep, so I just continue organizing then too. We’ve got the Wii almost hooked up, a games drawer by the t.v., a lengthy sofa, small but cute kitchen, and 2 roomy bedrooms. The closets are amazing! I want to bring mine home with me. We’re in the second floor, and it’s very convenient. 

I am so impressed with my son. He has come into a new culture and adapted very quickly. I know there will be ups and downs for both of us, but he has already made several friends on campus. Before I came over, I was in frequent contact with the vice principal, who is from BC and has two children, 8 and 6. His wife is from Dalian, China and their children speak both Mandarin and English. Blake’s wife, Sandy, is AMAZING. She helped me translate during an interview with an Ayi (Zac’s Nanny, who is soo nice and going to help us learn Mandarin!), offered to set up Mandarin lessons for Zac before school with her own children (he will also learn Mandarin for an hour each day at school, so that will be 2 hours/day plus his communication with the Ayi), and told me in no uncertain terms that if I need anything, I am to call her. She told me to send Zac over for pancakes for breakfast any time, gave me her phone number to call if I ever need help translating, and is just in general a very wonderful, helpful person who has further helped put my mind at ease. Her friend, who has twin daughters two years older than Zac, who will be in his class (he will be in a multi-grade classroom, grades 4-6 with approximately 10-12 students in his class), also speaks both Mandarin and English and was very kind as well. They live in the building right next to us and told me that, "they are very happy to have a new friend." Zac already enjoys the short walk it takes to find willing playmates to hang out in his new backyard, complete with a track, soccer field, basketball court, volley ball court, and an area to play street hockey. He has roller blades, a basket ball, and a soccer ball and is pretty content with those things so far. 

Anyways, I know there is TONS more to tell everyone but it's my first prep day before school starts so I'd better get to work! Thanks everyone for your patience as we get our internet communication on track! And Zac LOVES his emails. He hasn't been able to write back yet because of time constraints, but he is excited every time he gets a chance to check :) Lots of love, chat soon xoxo

A Change of Plans

So, I'm sitting outside of the Vancouver Airport when I should be on a plane right now. This, combined with outrageously long line ups, did not have me in the perkiness of moods. However all is not lost, because it turns out that we will no longer have to wait all that long for the connecting flight tomorrow, and we got $20 to spend for our trouble. All good!

Zac is a fantastic traveller. He is so impressed with having a tv in front of him for the whole flight, and really likes the moving sidewalks. It's all pretty exciting and Zac and I are  pretty excited to have started our journey after so many months of planning! He's sitting beside me right now playing a game on my phone as we munch away on some gummy worms.

We've already spoken with a few of the teachers that are traveling to the same international school as us, and for the flight coming up I believe there will be a total of 30 of us going up to Wuhan. I have been really pleased with the helpful staff at both our airports so far - I ask a lot of questions and didn't really expect them to be so nice about it. All in all, despite some extra wait time today and a change of plans, things are going really well. And if all my luggage arrives along with me, I will be one happy camper!

Just the Two of Us

It's all fun and games until a 27 hour travelling time to an extremely different culture on the other side of the world with your 8 year old son looms in front of you. But hey, I'm sure it'll be fun!

 

Seriously, I know it will be fun. Right? :)

 

So, it is almost 24 hours until Zac and I get on a plane that will take us, eventually, to Wuhan, Hubei, China for 10 months. Up until now, Zac has been unsurprisingly excited for this adventure. I've had many people tell me what an amazing experience this will be for an almost-9-year old, but in the last few days it's been tough watching Zac say good bye to everyone he knows and loves, and I can tell he wasn't prepared to feel as sad about leaving everyone as he does. It is rather daunting to know you are going to have to miss everyone you care about for such a long time, so I can't imagine what it's like for him when it's tough enough for me! But Zac is also excited...though I think a lot of that is just excitement for the plane ride. Hopefully he's still excited when we land in China, too!

 

I'm feeling pretty prepared in terms of what we need to travel (in fact, super excited that all my most important stuff fits into all our luggage with weight and room to spare! So impressed with myself!), but I don't think there's a way to be prepared for what it's going to be like for us in China. I don't think that it really matters how much I've researched or how many conversations I've had. I'm just going to have to experience it and take it as it comes with a positive attitude, and help Zac to do the same.

 

Before I sign off, I just want to say that the support, encouragement, kindness and generosity of all of our loved ones is extremely valued and appreciated as we take this big step. I really don't know that I have ever been as grateful for everyone as I have been these last few weeks and days, and I've been told that moving to another country will really deepen our appreciation for Canada as well. Great, we will be back just in time to celebrate on Canada Day next year! :)

 

I've still got lots to do, but it is my intent to try and journal as many of our experiences on this blog as possible, so come back soon! We miss you already xo

 

Party Day and a Soon-to-be Pretty Blog

So, it is 4 DAYS until Zac and I fly halfway across the world! Crazy.

Today we are having a get together with our family and friends before we take off. Zac and I are so excied to see everyone! In fact, if you are reading this, you were probably there. I am still trying to figure out how to make our blog pretty. Stay tuned!