Haircuts & Trip to Zhao Mu Shan Mountain

Last Saturday morning after Chinese lessons at home (more info coming in a future post) we ventured out to get haircuts for Chris and Jake and then our plan was to hike a local mountain for some exercise and sightseeing. 

Their scruffy appearance and the fact that it had been 8 weeks since their last haircut was all the motivation to find a salon and experience this since arriving in China. Per a recommendation from our friend Jessica we went to a salon next to one of the local grocery stores we shop at. We asked Mr. Xiang to come in with us incase we had any problems communicating. We walked in and immediately Jake and Chris were brought back to the washing station. Mr. Xiang was very kind and stayed with Jake the entire time to comfort him. While the boys were getting a 10 minute wash and head massage I was trying to figure out how to communicate to the stylist what I wanted for Jake's hair. I looked around at the hair-do's of the stylists (all males) and many were big, poofy, and 80s inspired. Finally I found a stylist with a cut similar to Jake. After Jake sat in the styling chair I hand gestured the other stylist over to Jake's chair and pointed to his haircut and then to Jake's head and hoped they understood what I meant. 

Jake was a good trooper and sat nicely. I also peeked in at Chris to see if he was managing okay as well. He seemed to be doing fine. After their cuts they went back to the washing station for a second rinse and massage. Then back to the chair for a blow dry. The Chinese don't use hair products like gels, mousse, creams and hairsprays. Jake's hair can be styled without product however Chris's hair requires gel so that it doesn't become a big afro. After the haircuts we had plans to go sightseeing but we made a pitstop back at home to style Chris's hair with some gel. To spare him the embarrassment I didn't post a photos of his head with out the product. Next time we'll bring some of our own products for styling. Here are my handsome boys!

After the pitstop at home we took a short drive to a local park called Zhao Mu Shan. It's a large mountain with walking paths, ponds, ancient walls, buildings, and picnic areas. We hiked up the mountain enjoying each little new surprise around each corner.

We explored for 90 mins at Zhao Mu Shan and saw many wonderful things. Next time we go we'll pack a picnic lunch and make it a longer trip and really absorb all it's beauty. On our way back down the mountain we chatted with two locals. One spoke very good English and was a English teacher at a local university. His English name happened to be Chris. He was very excited to talk to us and find out where we are from. He has a daughter living in the States and he visits her 3-4 times a year. He is only in Chongqing until the end of February then he will be traveling to Mexico for 10 months for a teaching assignment. He asked us if he could meet again and show us an area of the city. We exchanged contact info and will try to see him again before he leaves. The second local only spoke Chinese and I was very impressed with the 5 minute conversation Chris had with him in Chinese. Chris was able to understand the questions he was asking like: why we are in Chongqing, how old are our kids, where we are from etc...When we reached the bottom we all smiled at each other said "Zaijian" (Goodbye) and we were on our way back home. 

Daily Life in China - January 2013

In addition to my regular posts, once a month I will post random photos that will capture our daily life in China.

Casey and Mr. Xiang (our driver) at the local grocery store. Many, if not all of the grocery stores are in the basements of large buildings. To get up and down with your shopping cart they have convenient escalator ramps. Jake and Casey really enjoy this part of shopping.

Mr. Xiang is helping Chris order Jaozi (dumplings with a meat filling) our the local market. We brought them home and learned the hard way about the proper way to store jaozi. If you do not eat them the same day you purchase them, you should lay them out individually (so they are not touching each other) on a plate or cookie sheet and either keep them in the fridge or freeze them. Otherwise, if you keep them in the bag (like we did) in the fridge overnight they will all stick to each other. The next day it was difficult to break them apart as they were all stuck in one big clump. I did salvage a few of them and we boiled them in water for 5-6 minutes and enjoyed them at dinner. Today I learned how to make my own jaozi. I'll save more details about that for a future post. 

Jake was shocked at the over sized hanger. Is this for a Chinese giant?

While grocery shopping we came across the live seafood section. I explained to Casey that this is not a pet store, instead this is dinner. We saw fig fish, little fish, eel, octopus, turtle, crab, you name it, they had it. All of it was fresh and you could select what you wanted and have it butchered right there.

I bought a watermelon the first week here and was surprised when I sliced it open to see a yellow center.  After a close examination and taste test we were happily surprised that it was exactly the same as the red watermelons we love.

Casey and Jake playing near a water fountain on our walk home from school. 

Last week Mr. Xiang took me to YCIS and I picked up the kids and surprised them to dinner out at a new Tex Mex restaurant with our friends the Hayley's and Woytowichs's.  

Last week my friend Nikki and I went out shopping at the New Century Department Store. On our list was a vacuum, hair dryer and cooling fan. We didn't get everything on our list but had a good time testing out all the products and roaming the different levels of the store. All the shopping made us very hungry. We were both feeling adventurous and decided to eat local. Across the street from the department store was a 'fast food' looking restaurant called Movoc. But instead of burgers and fries (like in the US) this restaurant had all fresh ingredients that is then cooked up to make a soup-like substance and was served with white rice. We were given two baskets and through hand gestures and watching others we figured out that one basket is for veggies and the other for meats. We scanned the options and picked out some familiar things and also some "unknown items". We gave out baskets to the counter and they cooked it into a very tasty (and a little spicy) soup type dish. Nikki and I shared the large bowl, shared a soda and each bought a bottled water. Total cost was 26rmb (little over $4). It was delicious and a place I will return to again someday soon. 

Here is the squatty potty. Casey and I are getting lots of practice. It's challenging at first but once we you figure it out, it's not so bad. I still prefer a western toilet. When you enter the bathroom you have to look on the wall outside of the stalls to get your toilet paper. If we're lucky there will be some available. If not, I cross my fingers hoping I have some packed in either my purse or backpack.

On a sunny afternoon after the kids completed their first soccer practice, Chris stepped outside to our courtyard and started some cleanup. This will be his "happy place" after a long week at work. 

Reflecting....

Tonight I am sitting in our apartment finding myself reflecting on the last 4-5 weeks. We packed up our belonging and sent them on air and sea shipments, said our goodbyes to family and close friends, we loaded our luggage and flew 1/2 way around the world to an unknown country, we settled into apartment, we sent the kids off to an international school and Chris started his job with CAF (Chang'An Ford). Wow! When I stop and process all that, I am amazed that we actually did it!

The kids are happy at their new home and adjusting to school really well. They are tired in the evenings, but as we were reminded by their new principal, their minds are working overtime  in a new country and hearing and seeing things that are very foreign to them  (it's expected for them to be exhausted in the first few weeks.)  Chris is doing exceptionally well at CAF and building strong relationships with the Chang'An engineering team while working side by side with them to build the transmission plant. We have received a very warm welcome from all the Ford families here. Also spending lots of time with the families that moved at the same time as us, together we are figuring things out. China is different than what we are accustomed to in the US, however nothing has been too difficult to manage and we are making it by just fine. 

I am very thankful that we are staying healthy and happy during these difficult first months. Sometimes I daydream and think I am in Michigan and have to pinch myself to remind me where I am at.  China is a vast country with so much to explore and I'm itching to get started. 

Teddy, where are you?

This is a very emotional topic for me but I wanted to share and preserve the memory. After 8+ hours sitting in O'hare airport we boarded our long haul flight to Shanghai. I had the pleasure to sit by Jake for this leg of our journey. It was Jake and I together for the next 14 hours. We checked out all the neat gadgets in our seats, had dinner together and watched movies side by side. I was watching an action flick and I could see his little eyes peer off from his "kid-friendly" movie to watch my screen.

After a few hours into the flight we reclined our chairs all the way flat and settled in hoping to sleep for 5-7 hours. We found our blankets and pillows and slept side by side. Jake also grabbed his Teddy Bear from his backpack to snuggle with.

Now let me flashback for a bit. We allowed the kids 1 stuffed animal in our luggage (their backpacks) and a few more in our air shipment and the rest coming in our sea shipment (mostly for Casey). Jake has never been a big fan of stuffed animals, but ever since he was a baby he's always had this small Teddy Bear that would sit on the rail of his bed at night. If Teddy was nearby Jake felt comforted.

Jake and I both slept great for a total of 7 hours and woke up with only 3 hours until we landed. We both watched another movie and had a light breakfast. When the plane landed we packed up our backpacks and double checked our seats for any belongings. We looked under our seats, our cubby holes, and seat pockets to make sure we didn't leave anything behind. We proceeded to get off the plane in Shanghai airport and walked for 15 minutes to get to Customs. Right when we got to Custom  it hit me like a train wreck....... we don't have Teddy in Jake's backpack. But how did we miss him when we checked our seats? Then I realized Teddy must have fallen way behind Jake's seat when it was fully reclined and when we put the seat back upright he was hidden and we had no idea he was back there. I felt so terrible and knew that in a foreign country where I don't speak the language we weren't going to get Teddy back. My eyes welled with tears and I was trying to hold it together. I was so sad that this happened and was disappointed that I didn't pay more attention. Teddy was a comfort piece for Jake and he's gone and we just landed in our new country. I got the courage to explain it all to him and surprisingly he was OK with it. I however was still overwhelmed with sadness and guilt. We talked about all the fun travel Teddy will get to do on that plane and all the neat places he'l go.

I promised Jake that when we get to Chongqing we'll buy him a new Teddy.  On the 4th day after we arrived Jake started asking about getting a new Teddy. We found a small little shop inside the Novo Mall that was across the street from our hotel. There wasn't a huge selection to choose from, but Jake selected a very warm and snuggly Teddy Bear. The bear reminded us of a "special" bear that Jake and Casey's cousin Gavin holds very dearly. As we welcome our newest bear in our new home, we often think about where the original Teddy is flying off to.

Goodbye JW, Hello Palm Springs

On Thursday, January 3 after spending 10 nights at the JW Marriott in downtown Chongqing we checked out and on our way to our new apartment complex called Palm Springs. To get there you head north from downtown. It's a 25 minute drive on a good day with minimal traffic. Before leaving the JW we took some photos next to the recently re-decorated lobby area. After the New Year they took down the beautiful large Christmas tree and put up this vibrant tree stringed with red envelopes and spring festival decorations. This is a symbolic image for the Chinese New Year which is coming soon on February 10, 2013. It will be the year of the Snake.

This is outside our apartment building. Palm Springs is a very large complex with a lake in the middle. There are single family homes, townhouses and apartments in the complex. It's a gated community and we feel very safe here. We are on the ground floor but get the luxury of having a ground floor courtyard off one side of our apartment and off the the backside we have a balcony overlooking a cliff side to the lake in the middle (more photos of that later). 

Another view of our building.

One of the first meals I made was Mac n Cheese. This is an all time favorite of Casey's and I promised her I would when we got in our apartment. You cannot order Mac n Cheese at any of the restaurants and it is not available in the grocery stores (not even the international ones). I brought 7 boxes in our luggage. One box for each month until we are back in the US again this summer. I do have to admit it was an EXTRA special treat for ALL of us.

Go Badgers

On Wednesday, January 2, while still in the JW Marriott, our alarm was set to wake us up at 6am. "Why up so early" you may ask? To cheer on our Badgers in the Rose Bowl of course! We slowly crawled out of our beds and got dressed in all our red to cheer on the Badgers playing against Standford in the Rose Bowl. "How do you do that from China?" may be your next question. Thanks to our good friend Ryan, we watched the game via Slingbox (an awesome box which is hooked up to a cable box in Ryan's house in Michigan). We log into our account on slingbox.com and can pick up the cable feed on our laptop. We can even change the channels too. While in China we purchased a HDMI cable and adapter to hookup our laptop the a TV. It felt just like it would be at home watching the game. The quality was "OK" with a few pauses in the connection here and there, but considering where we are living and being able to watch the game live, we'll take what we can get.  One thing that I didn't expect was to miss home when seeing local commercials from the Detroit area. During half time we made a quick run up to the breakfast lounge and brought back donuts and bananas along with coffee for Chris (spiked with our own Baileys) and OJ for Chanley (spiked with our own Champagne). It was a good game and the Badgers tried to pull off a win in the end, but an interception on their final drive with 2 minutes in the game ended our hopes of winning the Rose Bowl.

A visit to Paradise Walk

Last Sunday we took the kids on their first trip on the Subway to an area called Paradise Walk, a public open area with walking paths, a dancing water fountain, lots of shopping plaza and restaurants. While strolling through the park we walked upon two very different forms of Chinese singing and dancing. 

* Sorry if my videos are not working. They were a week ago, and now they are just blank spots. :(

Casey has taken a special interest in counting all the dragons she sees around town. Before this day her count was at 28. You cannot tell from this photo but in this particular area of the park we were surrounded by 10 totem-like pillars with carvings of dragons in them. There had to have been a hundred dragons total just in this area alone. Needless to say her count increased by a lot on this one visit. 

I took a special interest in watching this guy using a sponge brush and water to write messages on the pavement.  I have no idea what it said but watching his craft was very entertaining. 

Casey and Jake are watching the dancing water fountain show programed to music. We caught the last few minutes of it. You cannot tell in the photo below, but in the center of the fountain was a water spray that went up over 30+ feet in the air. Jake and Casey were especially entertained by that.

It was a fun afternoon of many sights and sounds in this very upbeat and energetic city.