Day 13 ~ Last Week's Activities

Well apparently I have come during monsoon season.  I have seen more rain since arriving than I saw in a year in Las Vegas.  I am quite chilly and wear a sweater most days.  They say that will change by July 1, and I will be really, really hot.  I'll keep you posted.  My pictures next week may show me in a bikini.  Just kidding.

Friday was Dragon Boat Races holiday, but Donn has decided that we will take the American holidays instead so that when we travel back to the states we will be there when our children are off as well.  So we headed off to the K2 Suzhou Factory.   The outside of the building was very dirty, but when you walked into our factory you could eat off the floor.  The ayi (a Chinese housekeeper) mops the factory floor twice a day.

For lunch we headed over the the only McDonald's in China that has a drive-through window.  As you can tell by the lack of cars, no one really understands how these work and no one uses them.  It is interesting because I have seen this McDonald's on a CNBC special.  They make a fruity drink there that is amazing. 

Friday night we went to a place called Jing located in InterContinental Hotel.  We went with Lim KS (project director who will oversee the building of the new K2 factory in Suzhou).  Lots of delicious foods from seven different countries.

Saturday morning Donn went and played basketball with some church members.  Then we walked down to In City Mall to return the power converter that we had purchased last Saturday.  They sold us a 110v to 220v.  We needed a 220 v to 110v.  I have been without my flat iron for many days.  Of course, with the humity, it doesn't really matter.  We were pleasantly surprised that they accepted our return as I had thrown the plastic cover away.

Saturday night we road the subway to a restaurant in downtown Suzhou called the Drunken Chef.  I ordered Macho Nachos and they were very good.  I love the subway here.  It is brand new and very clean.  Also much quicker than walking or getting a taxi.  I also think that I will be able to ride the subway by myself once I get the hang of it.  I will post a picture later.

Day 4 (cont'd) ~ First Day Out By Myself

Donn headed off to work at the factory.  It really seems funny saying that as he has been in Education Management for such a long time.  Oops I got sidetracked . . .

Mall is FOUR levels.

Anyway, after Donn left to go to work, I decided that I would go out and see if I could find myself some Keds for exercising so I headed off towards the Rainbow shopping center.  I not only found it but also a DQ right next to it.   This is a huge four-level store.  Interestingly though it doesn't matter how big it was, there are still no size 9 shoes.  My foot size is a novelty here in China.  They are all very small.  I feel like an Amazon woman standing next to either male or female--gender doesn't make a difference.  Also very interesting to me is that there is a large grocery store inside this mall as well.  The prices seemed reasonable so I'm sure I will do some of my shopping there as well.

I stopped by the local DQ and had a delicious ice cream cone.  Cost:  .48 cents.  Very cheap!!

 After spending time at the mall, I headed to our local DVD store to pick up some new releases for Eric and Brittany.  The store owner is very helpful and even though he can't speak very good English, he has a computer and can type titles and know what I am looking for.  He does understand "good quality" and so far has been spot on.

I only got slightly lost, but there is a huge building going up called The Pants.  Once I found this I was able to get where I needed to go.  All in all my confidence level has grown.

Day 4 ~ Lessons I've Learned Since Arriving

Even though I've only been in China for five days, I've learned several really important lessons:

First off:  Chinese people for the most part dislike Westerners.  Most of them just glare at you even though you try to smile and be polite.  When they aren't glaring at you, they are laughing at you.  At this point, I think I like the glaring better.  Otherwise it is tough on one's self esteem.

Secondly I have learned that you have to fend for yourself when crossing the busy streets.  Not only do you have to watch out for cars and taxis, but you must also watch out for bikers, motorcyclists, and buses.  As a pedestrian, it feels like you are playing one BIG game of dodge ball, but with cars instead of balls. I may let this metallic pink Audi run me over though.  Then the car would be mine!!  It was unbelievably GORGEOUS!!!

Third:  Chinese food in American is NOT the same as the local food here in China.  This is my plate of calamari.  There were ten rings before I started and nine after I finished.  Yucky!!

Calamari ~ Love in US hate in China

I am eating a lot of watermelon and noodles.  I am also making a fool of myself eating with chopsticks.  Still it is fun and I'm sure I'll get better as I practice.  These are my breakfast choices:  Steamed bun with custard, potsticker, rice ball with pork, and watermelon juice.  The French toast was normal looking, but not the same.

Fourth lesson:  There are not enough pictures on the front of items in the grocery stores to figure out what one is buying.  Donn and I have learned the Chinese character for cow and will be working on the chicken character next. There are two entire rows of noodles in the local Walmart store.  Also this store is not the cheapest place here to buy things.  In fact, it it one of the most expensive.  Doesn't really matter though, because we couldn't figure out what we were buying.  So we bought nothing.

Walmart at InCity

Day 1 ~ We've Arrived

Our flight to China left at 9:17 a.m. on Thursday, June 14.  We finally arrived in China (17 flying hours later) on Friday, June 15 @  6 p.m.  It was really weird because it was light the entire flight. 

There was only one slight delay--someone checked three bags and decided not to board the plane.  Apparently, it is against regulations to ship luggage without the person, so United Airlines had to search through thousands of pieces of luggage before they were able to find all three.  It only took 45 minutes.  Not bad as the plane was filled.  Our boxes took a beating, but the only really damage was both shampoos leaked all over our clothes and books.  I've been rinsing those out for a couple of days. 

The Countdown begins 4..3..2..1..Liftoff

We just got back from dropping the rest of our stuff off in St. George.  The apartment now only has 4 boxes, 2 suitcases and the furniture that Eric and Eliza are taking to their new place. 

If someone would have told me last year that I would be living in China, I would NOT have believed them.  It is amazing how life changes from day to day.