Medical testing and Grocery adventures

On Friday we had our medical exam for our residence permits. I heard horror stories over breakfast from the other women of how awful it was, but it really wasn't so bad. Sure, I was poked and prodded, but talk to any women who has been pregnant and she can tell you that you just kind of get used to that. It was actually very efficient. You go through a series of test - EKG, x-rays, blood work, eye test, dental, ultrasound, and the list goes on. But you are whisked through with surprising speed. I think that the one thing I will take away from this experience is how we can treat others who don't understand our language. You know how you see someone from another country who does not speak English or speak it well and there can be a tendency to make assumptions. Well, as someone who has been on the receiving end of said assumptions, I hope to never judge too quickly again. Because I was often treated like someone who isn't very bright just because I don't speak Chinese. One thing that I hope our time here does for our children is for them to realize that people are people no matter how different we may seem.

After our medical tests, we took the kids out for Chinese. I think that it will be a couple weeks before we do that again. Lesson learned: tired, grumpy kids do NOT want to try new foods. They did eat after some grumbling. Becca is definitely the most adventurous.

Then after lunch I went grocery shopping. Now I had been to a grocery store when we were here in January, so I thought that I was prepared. Yet another example of how living is different from visiting. I just wanted some basic food, you know, milk, bread, produce. Little did I realize that this takes 3 different stores to accomplish. First we went to Metro (a German owned store) that has a good offering of Chinese and Imported foods. But as I wandered the aisles, I soon began to realize that this could take me a LONG TIME. It is a huge store! Then I was figuring out what exactly things are. I mean what exactly is the difference between "High Calcium Milk" and "Vitamin Milk"? C'mon where was my 1%? I went for the "High Calcium Milk" because I was told that it has a better taste (more pleasing to foreigners). We shall see. The meat department was also an adventure. You could pick out your fish for dinner that night from a tank. And I am talking some funky fish! Then I was picking out some pork (no I didn't want the half of a pig that was hanging up) and yet again the labels were a bit confusing. I must confess though there is something very real about seeing the meat you will eat in carcass form. Talk about keeping it real. As opposed to the anesthetized meat you see in US grocery stores (that looks as if might never have come from an animal). I also bought a bag of rice - a 10 kg bag for 48RMB. Which is a 22 pound bag of rice for about $7! After Metro, we were off to the bakery (a different store) to buy bread. Then the fresh produce market (yet again a different store), which was my favorite. I am going to enjoy coming to this store, though lack of language will make it a bit of an adventure. 

After all this, we celebrated Josh's birthday with a taco dinner. What a full day! Okay, this doesn't exactly fit with the flow of the post, but I have to share something. We were leaving the apartment at one point and one of the women at the front desk said to me, "You are very fortunate (looking at the kids), two children and one son!" What an example of the value placed upon kids and extreme honor placed on sons!

Jet Lag (x5)

Jet lag is a funny thing. In the past, I have not really been too affected. I mean sure my body clock gets all out of whack. But it does not really affect how I function. Until this time. Maybe it was the added stress of traveling with the kids. Maybe it was all the craziness leading up to getting here. But this trip knocked me out flat. When we landed, I had the most horrible headache that really didn't go away until last night (which meant it lasted about 24 hours). In fact, the first night we all went to the club to grab a bite to eat and I had to leave all the kids in Andy's care because I was not functioning. And it has made me more short-tempered with the kids, which I don't like.  I feel like I am on the road to being myself though. I didn't really think that the kids were suffering any ill effects until last night at dinner when both Josh and Becca fell asleep eating (at 6PM) and Tori was asking for her bed. Ahh, jet lag rears its ugly head. We convinced the kids to eat a little something which was no small feat and got them home and in bed. And today (Friday) they were all up by 5:30AM. I had heard that it takes about a week to get kids on track. 

First Impressions

We have been here more than a full day and Andy and I were talking about our first impressions. I think that there is so much more to living in a culture verses visiting. We walked up to Pizza Hut yesterday for lunch (kiddos needing something they could recognize... I think this will be a real treat!). Just moving the 5 of us from one point to another is not simple. Then there are the stares that we attract. Now I knew that we would get watched, but I think that I was unprepared for the open gawking. It's funny but the older two attract stares (much like Andy and I do), but Tori is something else. She is our rock star. People see her and point, and smile, and then try to engage her somehow. Thankfully, she is very outgoing so she takes this all in stride. She also gets quite the reaction if she smiles, waves or responds with a "Ni hao!" (hello). I also really like the community that we are in. We went to breakfast yesterday (did I explain how breakfast is included in our club membership? Isn't that strange?) and also the pool. I met 3 women who offered their help in any way possible. I had heard that the expat community was welcoming and helpful but seeing it was something else. Lastly, I think that I underestimated how much I would take little conveniences for granted. We are living in an apartment and I have yet to get to the store. We have no milk, juice, or fruit. Thankfully, we packed quite a bit of snacks (granola bars and such) but you can imagine what it is like with the kids without these things. I am going to the store today. The store will also be quite an adventure. Becca had an observation yesterday after hanging out at the pool in the afternoon. She said, "Mom, I really think that I can make friends here." Isn't that encouraging? I think she was reassured by all the kids she saw in the neighborhood. I would include pictures, but our camera seems to have been lost in transit. I am sure that we will unpack more and find it! :-)

Just as a side note.... I cannot view my blog or any other on blogspot. I am trying figure a way to do so. And as you can see, I figured out a way to post, but forgive any errors or weirdness!

We are here!

We arrived yesterday afternoon into Shanghai. The flight was long (very long) but uneventful. The kids were amazing. Especially considering that there were NO movies on the flight. The airplane had this fancy "Personal movie system" that unfortunately wasn't working. The kids read, slept and played. In fact, Josh and Tori fell asleep even before takeoff on our long flight. Then all of us slept the last part of the flight. We were met at the airport and the drive to Suzhou took almost 3 hours (rush hour). By the time we got here, everyone was tired but I was miserable. My head ached so bad that I felt nauseous. It reminded me of my migraine days. Since I had been the pillow for the girls during the flight, I got very little sleep. Thankfully, I am feeling better today with just a lingering headache. 

Last Post

Can you believe it? We leave in the morning! This is my last post in the U.S. Next time you hear from me will be in China. Crazy thought! Over the last 24 hours I wondered if we would get here. So, the washer overflowed last night. Our carpets will take about 3 days to dry out. Then this morning our large garage door broke. All these things combined to put us off schedule. In fact we didn't get done packing until after 1AM last night. When we left our house, Becca took about 10 minutes to say goodbye to all the rooms. Andy, Becca and I sat in her empty room staring at the flowers and butterflies on the walls and had ourselves a good cry. We all agreed that this has been a great house and we were going to miss it. Then we got to the hotel near the airport and the kids were so excited they couldn't get to sleep. The window by their bed overlooks the airport. Tori called out to me. "Mommy, I need to get down!" (She was sleeping on a reclining chair near one of the beds) I wondered why she was bothered. She said, "I need to be down THERE (looking out the window)!" When I asked her why, she told me that she needed to be down there on the plane not in bed. We talked and I think that I clarified the confusion, but with a 2 year old one never knows!

When it rains,

.... the washing machine pours forth. Well, at least that what happened at the Wilcoxen abode tonight. I had started washing a load of clothes and Andy went in to the laundry room on the way to the garage and he yelled. I came running because I thought he was hurt. It turns out that the washing machine never stopped filling, in fact it kept filling until there was almost a couple of inches of standing water on the floor. So, now we have someone drying out our carpets and the vinyl is going to need to be replaced in the laundry room and entryway. As if our stress level wasn't high enough! Okay, here comes my optimistic attitude -- at least we were here and the whole house wasn't flooded! Can you see all those fans and the dehumidifier in the picture? There is even a fan back in one of the bedrooms!

Bittersweet

Today has been a good and a hard day. I am excited because Andy's visa arrived yesterday! HOORAY!!! I won't be flying solo with the kiddos on their first overseas flight. But today has been hard because I think that it is really sinking in that I am not going to live in this city anymore. I was able to spend time with two women who are really dear to me today. I had coffee this afternoon with Angie and really enjoyed being able to talk. It was so hard to leave! I feel like this is a relationship that is just starting with a woman that I would love to know better and I am leaving. Then Andy and I had dinner with Doug and Lori, great friends of ours. They were the couple that we knew when we first moved to Indy (our only Indy friends at first). We have been friends through the addition of kids, job changes, and just all the life stuff. More than that, they were our extended family here in Indy. So, dear friends, know that we will miss you. More than I can express. While I do enjoy change in life, change in relationships are hard! I am crying (yet again) as I write. Somehow it seems to be the theme for my day. I think that we have been rushing through with so much to do that I have not had time to stop and feel. Today my emotions caught up to me and somehow I can't seem to stop crying.  What an emotional roller coaster! I think I just need to go to bed....