Xin Nian Quai Le - Happy New Year!

For anyone who has been worried... Yes, I’m still alive!  AND, No, my mom isn’t still in China!  I’m amazed you’re still checking the Blog!  One of my resolutions for this year is to blog more than I did last year.  So, at this rate, if I create ten entries, I’ll feel successful!!!  (My actual goal is to write once a week - - but we’ll see how that goes.)  

I’ve been back in Shanghai for almost three weeks after going home for Christmas.  It’s nice to be back!  I’m embracing life here and counting myself as blessed.  Justin’s job is steady and the time here is passing so quickly - I’ve committed to enjoying everyday (or trying to at least) and I’m starting to remember why I  loved coming here to visit over the past three years.  I know when the time to move home is ‘right’ then I’ll be home - until then, I’m trying to let go of controlling the unknown!  We are so fortunate - many families are being sent home or to other locations and expat packages are being minimized.  All that to say - I want to share this experience.. and will try to blog more!!  

This week was Chinese New Year!!  Everyone takes an entire week off work to celebrate!  Locals shoot off fireworks every night of the week.  On the actual day of the New Year, we were invited to a get-together for dinner and fireworks!  At midnight, we shot off fireworks in the street near our apartment and watched as the sky lit up.  This is, by far, the most fireworks I’ve ever seen.  The sky was booming in every direction and the streets were flooded with confetti and paper.  (Some of the pictures were taken from inside the warm car!!  It was below freezing out and I do NOT like the cold :)  I was both amused and scared to see cars and taxis driving super close to fireworks being shot off in the streets.  I moved the car backward twice to avoid becoming part of the booming display!

Chinese New Year is also THE time of gift giving in China.  The drivers and Aiyes get a bonus and the week off work.  Jen, my aiye, has worked for Heidi for three years - and we decided to go in together and get her two children rollerblades for Chinese New Year!  The kids (little boy 6yrs old and girl 14yrs old) were soo excited to see their gifts!  Mei Fei (the little boy) looked so cute all strapped in the protective gear and wanted to go outside right away and try out the rollerblades.  He was also very inquisitive about my computer when we showed him the pictures we took of him in his new gear!

       

Middle Days.. Mom's Visit

The exact details day by day escape me... but the ‘middle day’s we spent together were wonderful.  

Taiking Road and Lane 248, as noted in one of my four Shanghai Travel Guide Books, is described as “Shanghai’s latest secret.  A narrow, gritty street now inhabited by artsy cafes and intimate boutiques.”  Oh yes, we knew the secret!  We explored the area, and discussed the mixed emotions of the locals.  Some were happy shopkeepers, welcoming the foreigner invasion into the area that was previously a local ‘neighborhood.’  Others hid inside behind the bamboo curtains and sheets that shrouded their doors and windows.  We didn’t purchase much, but enjoyed peeking in and out of the shops.  Mom found some fabulous antique pieces of furniture that were quite over priced... aren’t all the things we really drool over!?

On Saturday, Mom and I met up with Heidi and Rachel Ann to head over to Renmin Park a.k.a. People’s Square.  Mom took some fun photos of three men practicing some kind of sword-tai chi-exercise thing!  They giggled as I asked them in Chinese if we could take some pictures.  The Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center has a remarkable model of the entire city and surrounding areas.  The model is so large it would take an apartment four times the size of mine to set it up!!  Later that evening, we met up with the guys for dinner at my favorite Chinese restaurant, 1221:  xiao long bao (dumplings), sichuan pork, clay pot eggplant, sweet and sour fish, kung pao chicken, sauvignon blanc, fried rice, broccoli, chinese tea = delicious.

FIRST VISITOR!!!

Mom came to visit for a week!  Of course I had all intentions of writing a blog entry each day... way too busy for that!  What a fantastic week..

Day 1 - Mom and Rachel Ann (Heidi's mom) arrived at the Pudong Airport after the long trip over.  Mom experienced her first Chinese massage before she even touched ground in China - the person sitting behind her on the airplane provided that for free!  I ensured her that I would take her for a more relaxing experience later in the week.  After getting her things unpacked, we took a walk around the block to keep her awake.  Dinner outside at Slice was nice.. sandwich melts and pizza.

Day 2 - Shanghai is the perfect place to acquire an entirely new, custom-made wardrobe.  Yes, the fabric market is a MUST on the itinerary (I think we went three times in total).  The market is three floors jam-packed with vendors begging and bartering with each passing customer.  We had a beautiful, black cashmere coat made for mom at about a fifth the average price in the US.  Audrey (my sister) was with us in spirit - we had two light jackets made for her.  I had some pants altered.  etc... etc...  Mandarin Chinese comes in extremely handy here.  As with most places in Shanghai, bargaining is customary.. and I've finally managed to remember all the numbers and key phrases.  AND people are starting to understand my tones!!!  Mom enjoyed listening to me show off my bargaining skills.  My favorite phrases:  1.  "Duoshao qian" (how much is it?)  2.  "Zheige taigui le!" (that's too expensive!)  3.  "Wo zhu si Shanghai, wo yao pianyi yidian"  (I live in Shanghai, I want a lower price).  The key is to remain relaxed and friendly without backing down.  This often ends up with me walking away and the shop keeper running out dragging us back saying "Ok lady, Ok..  you speak Chinese very well."  My reply, "Wo da Jongwen bu hao.  Ni tai keche la"  (My mandarin is very bad, you are too nice)

After the Fabric Market, we headed over to Xintiandi (area near the former French Concession) to stroll around and have lunch at Simply Thai.  YUM!  Lemon Chicken, Pad Thai, Spring Rolls, Green Curry, Broccoli..

Walked down Dongai Road - a local street lined with outdoor stalls exploding with antiques (from long, long ago... or fabricated to appear as such??)  Either way, it's a street worth exploring.

Mom purchased two unique items - an old water bucket and a Chinese shoe box 'thing'..  (took us a few days and a few conversations with Chinese friends to determine what it was!)  Unfortunately for her, both items were too large to pack!  I convinced her that after such hard bargaining, it would be a shame to pay an arm and a leg to Fed-Ex them back to the US....  After some arm twisting, I decided to let her leave them here - they only match my apartment perfectly :)  

Stay tuned... 

Toilet Update.. Long Overdue

So for all of you who are still in suspense about the toilet mystery....

A few days after the failed attempts to plunge, two more workers came with a wrench and a long metal thing that looked something like a jumbo metal nail file.  I watched as they unscrewed the toilet from the floor and ran as quickly as I could to get some old towels as they lifted the toilet up and all the water poured out the bottom.  As they tipped the entire toilet on its side, I anxiously dreaded to see what was stuck in the base of the toilet.  Turns out it was three q-tips that had grid-locked themselves together.  One of the workers started to inform me in Chinese that these 'things' cannot be flushed... VERY BAD... VERY BAD, he tells me.  Of course, I couldn't let him think I didn't know that..  

The next day, I had to do a quick teaching lesson to our aiye, Jen.  (Ok, secret's out.. we have a lady who comes and cleans the floors, toilets, plates - hopefully not in that order with the same cloth - - we've gone over that one already!!  She was seeking work and it's almost expected that as an expat you'll hire an aiye.)  Apparently, Jen was wanting to save on trash bags and rather than emptying the bathroom trash, decided it would be more cost and time efficient to flush all the contents of the trash down the toilet.  Ah!  I'm glad there wasn't anything more substantial than a few q-tips in the trash that day!  

Exciting Morning

What an exciting morning!  Woke up to realize that the toilet isn’t working properly - the water fills the bowl and ssssslllllllooooooowwwwwlllllyyyyyy drains.  We’ve resolved to quit trying to figure out ‘who did it’ and get it fixed.  Plumbing is quite and issue in China.  (Has everyone heard my story about trying to use the dishwasher?  To make a long story short - the open ended pipe that’s under the kitchen cabinets shoots out dirt and leaves as the dishwasher drains!  Needless to say, we wash dishes by hand.) 

I do have a plunger!  After spending twenty minutes splashing around I thought Justin might like a turn..  His solution was to call the service center!  Calling and trying to explain a problem in half English/half Chinese is usually as frustrating as trying to fix the problem myself!  As he left to go play basketball, I decided to give it one more try.  There is something about plunging a toilet, even when it’s just water you’re dealing with, that is SO disgusting!   I won’t be going into the plumbing business anytime soon.  I gave up and called the front desk.  

About ten minutes later, a nice little man showed up at the front door with a plunger.  He wasn’t quite as concerned with keeping the water in the toilet as I had been.  Actually, he didn’t even mind sticking his hands down the toilet drain!  As he plunged and splashed away, I realized that the drain in the shower was making a terrible noise.  I can’t imagine what kind of pipe maze hides under the bathroom floor!  Using hand motions, I asked if he wanted me to turn the shower water on to fill the pipe.  Great idea!  Didn’t help!  

When I came back to check on him, he was taking my trash can to the shower, filling it with water and dumping it with full force into the toilet.  Over.. and over.. again.  My bathroom is quickly becoming a miniature water theme park!  I suppose the water in theme parks here might not be much cleaner!  

He appears to have tried everything he can think of, starts to get a bit frustrated, calling on his radio for help.  The few words I can understand are:  not good, two meters, something, house, her, water, i don’t know.  Then, he looks at me and talks so fast in Chinese I have no clue what he’s saying.  I respond with, “I hear you, but don’t understand you.”  He smiles, and then just leaves the apartment.  I’m assuming he’ll be back with something that’s two meters long to stick down the pipe??  Who knows!

Chinese Name

Nothing too exciting to report over these past few weeks.  I did however get a new “Chinese name” from my friend at Head to Toe.  (Head to Toe is a massage place not to far from our apartment - great pedicures, massages, and even hair cuts!  You can get a hair cut and one hour massage for less than $20!!  I have learned that I prefer getting my hair cut twice a year while in the US, but that’s another story.)  Anyway - the friend I referred to earlier gives a great massage, and she even speaks decent English.  Her English name is Dani, taken from her Chinese name of Dan Dan.  Last week, she asked me if I had a Chinese name.  I’ve actually tried several, but am always up for being given a new one - mainly due to the fact that Emily, in Chinese, translates to Mae Li (which means beautiful.)  Quite awkward when people ask what my name is, and I’m supposed to respond with, “beautiful.”  Yes, call me beautiful!  Weird!  Ok, so Heidi and I are getting a massage and joking with the girls about Chinese names.  (Side note - they normally tell Heidi that her name doesn’t need to change because in China, they can just call her Hei Di!)  I always get the, “you are SO tall” comments, so Heidi jokes that my name should be Gao Mei - meaning Tall Beautiful... ha ha ha.. After several attempts, Dani says she has the perfect name for me - “Shuang Shuang.”  Our first question, “What does that mean??”

Dan Dan has a pondering expression on her face.  “How to explain  this?”  She says that it is a VERY good name and has a good meaning.. but can’t quite explain what the meaning is!  She starts by saying that Dan Dan means number 1 and says that Shuang Shuang is number 2.  After about ten minutes of trying to understand what she’s saying I conclude that it must have something to do with birth order?  Maybe this isn’t the best new name for me.  After all, I’m the oldest! 

The next day, we took Heidi’s driver, Annie, out to lunch.  She speaks a bit of English but we mostly communicate with her in Chinese.  We told her about this new name I had been given and she laughed and laughed and said, “Oh no.. this name not too good for you Mae Li.”  Turns out that in Chinese, odd numbers are called Dan Dan.. and even numbers are referred to as Shuang Shuang!  Go figure :)

Back in Shanghai

I arrived back in Shanghai on Saturday after spending the month of July in "The States."  It seems appropriate to call 'them' 'that' now that I live eight ba-zillion miles away!  SO thankful to have the opportunity to travel back and forth and stay in close touch with family and friends.. I've had so many comments regarding my lack of writing on this blog, that I'm going to make an effort to keep everyone updated more regularly - so here goes!

Jet Lag .. oh how wonderful!  Heidi and I arrived in Shanghai at 2pm and were met by my wonderful driver, Steven.  He's a very nice man so he quickly grabbed some of our luggage (between the 2 of us we had 6 bags and a backpack!) and we headed for the van.  Justin was excited to see all the goodies I brought back - even excited to have new deodrant and hair gel from "The States."

This first week back hasn’t been too eventful - most of the women here travel back to the US for the entire months of July and August - so it’s a quiet neighborhood here in Jinqiao!  The weather is HOT HOT HOT and HUMID!

The four of us (me, Justin, Heidi and Josh) purchased tickets to the USA vs Australia Olympic Exhibition game on August 5th.  After finding out that both Justin and Josh needed to be out of town on business, Heidi and I invited a Chinese friend, Willie (her chosen English name).  She was super excited at the opportunity to see her first basketball game!  Since we still had one extra ticket, we let Willie know she could bring a friend.  Heidi was on the telephone with Willie, as I overheard Heidi’s half of the conversation.. It went something like this..  “Willie, you know - basketball. .. and you can bring any friend you want.”  “Oh Sure!”  “What, your friend is a boxer??”  laughing..  “He works where??”  “At a hostel?”  (This shows how interesting a simple telephone call can become with someone who’s native language is foreign to ours.  Willie speaks good English, but on the telephone understanding it can be challenging!)  We later found out that her friend is a doctor who works at a hospital!

The game was really fun!  I was able to get some good use out of my new camera taking shots of Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, Jason Kidd, etc...  Also quite entertaining listening to the game being announced in Chinese.  Oh the joys!