8:30am
The family bed awoke, and Dave and Lilly bravely went downstairs to explore the various mouse traps set throughout the house.
9am
No rats or mice in the traps, so Dave made waffles, bacon and apples. We talked to Nana and Poppa via Skype.
9:40am
The landlord's contractor arrived. I had greatly feared coming downstairs first thing in the morning. I had no desire to see a mouse dying a slow death on top of my kitchen cabinets. My second fear was greeting and working with this morning's contractor. You see, a pest control company came to our home yesterday afternoon with a mouse-free guarantee. They left behind glue traps, poison pellets, and a big hole in the side of the wall that they refused to seal. So, after many phone calls to many different people, a contractor arrived this morning to fix the hole. I had no expectations that he would complete the job, but I was pleasantly surprised. He climbed right up onto the neighbor's higgledy-piggledy roof (none of us would have been surprised to see him fall right through) with a bucket of mixed concrete. And he tightly packed every pipe going into our home. He either sealed the mouse into our home, or outside of it. But he certainly left no holes. And he was done before we had even finished our waffles!
10:00am
With waffles and bacon chased down by grape juice, and the table cleared away, Dave took the girls out to color the lane with sidewalk chalk. They moved onto sports gear, and enjoyed a chilly autumn morning outdoors while I tried to make my first ever pie crust. I began work on it promptly at ten, cutting my butter into exactly 1/2 inch squares and measuring all of my ingredients just so to be fully prepared for this intimidating task.
11:30am
I followed every procedure, down to the last detail.
1:15pm
Everything went smoothly. The apples smelled delicious. The crust laid out well.
2:00pm
It even transferred beautifully from the tabletop to the pie plate. I began to pat myself on the back. Who says making a pie from scratch is so hard?
3:00pm
Wendy arrived to babysit for our Saturday date. I put the pie in the 375 degree oven. I began to clear up a bit, when I noticed smoke coming from the oven. I whipped open the door, and saw the egg wash dripping from the pie onto the oven floor. With cloth hot pads, I pulled the doughy pie back out of the oven and set it on the stove. I watced the bottom of the oven spew out smoke, and tried to come up with a solution. Nothing brilliant appeared.
3:15pm
A small shard of brilliance. Turned off the gas to the oven, used a wooden spoon and a wet washcloth and cleaned the base of the oven. Replaced the wet with a dry washcloth, and finished the mopping job. No more smoke - very nice.
3:20pm
I turned the gas back on, and waited for the oven to get back up to 375.
3:55pm
It didn't.
4:00pm
Dave and I left on our date. We left Wendy in charge of the pie. Now is a good time to remind you that Chinese people don't bake. They don't buy flour or butter. They don't have ovens in their homes. I had Wendy monitoring my first pie crust, which had baked for 10 minutes and then sat on a countertop for an hour. What's done was done.
4:30pm
Dave and I reached the Fabric Market. For a total of 3,750 RMB we began the tailoring process for 3 suits of Super 180s Wool suits with silk lining, 10 work shirts, a pair of jeans and a white cashmere scarf. That's about $500.
6:00pm
We reached our dinner destination, Yu Xin Sichuan Restaurant. It was a thoroughly Chinese restaurant, with red decor throughout, wait staff bustling around the many corners, partitions between every table, and a long menu full of photos. And nearly every food on the menu had been cooked with chilis. The meal was delicious.
7:30pm
We stopped at the video store on the way home. People don't rent movies in China. We buy pirated versions at full-blown stores with really interesting selections. Yu Xin was near one of our favorites, and so we perused. With a baby in my belly, we find ourselves watching movies more frequently, and so we grabbed movies freely. For 126 RMB we walked out with 9 movies and 1 season of Entourage. That's about $20 - heavy spending at the video store.
8:00pm
We walked in, and put the girls to bed. A very strange looking pie sat on top of the oven. We haven't tried it yet, as our bellies are still too full of Sichuan peppercorns. But by about 9:30pm...
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Rats! continued
When we called the landlord about the rats, we said that a Pest Control Company would again need to come to our home.
She said we should get a cat.
After much wrangling between her and our agent, and then much wrangling between our agent and the Pest Control Company, a technician will arrive at our home at 1:00 this afternoon.
My understanding is that sticky traps are the most common form of mouse and rat control in China. This is where they lay out a very sticky piece of paper. When the rat steps on it, he can not remove his foot from the paper. My further understanding is that when the rat begins to panic, he may tear himself apart in fright.
I am not looking forward to such a greeting tomorrow morning.
Upon further research, I've learned that sticky traps are generally thought to be inhumane in the west. It can take a long time for the mouse to die, and our household will be forced to listen to the sad cries and struggles all night.
I told Wendy that maybe we will just leave town this weekend, stay in a hotel, and return on Monday... after she has already arrived.
She says I am weak.
She said we should get a cat.
After much wrangling between her and our agent, and then much wrangling between our agent and the Pest Control Company, a technician will arrive at our home at 1:00 this afternoon.
My understanding is that sticky traps are the most common form of mouse and rat control in China. This is where they lay out a very sticky piece of paper. When the rat steps on it, he can not remove his foot from the paper. My further understanding is that when the rat begins to panic, he may tear himself apart in fright.
I am not looking forward to such a greeting tomorrow morning.
Upon further research, I've learned that sticky traps are generally thought to be inhumane in the west. It can take a long time for the mouse to die, and our household will be forced to listen to the sad cries and struggles all night.
I told Wendy that maybe we will just leave town this weekend, stay in a hotel, and return on Monday... after she has already arrived.
She says I am weak.
Rats!
Well, we sort of expected it.
Tuesday night, as I lay in bed reading, I heard some noise downstairs. Worried about burglars or sleepwalking kids, I went down to check. All seemed in order.
The next morning, Lynne found teeth marks in the butter. And Wendy found a half-eaten apple.
We put out a trap last night. Apparently we should have had Wendy help. We used cheese (just like in the cartoons, right?). Apparently Chinese rats, like most Chinese people, don't particularly like cheese. Wendy said pork would work better. We'll see.
So this morning I came down and ate breakfast on the couch. Hearing a noise, I looked over and saw a long tail scurrying up the wall.
So the exterminators gave a bid today and should return tomorrow to begin the extermination. This is China.
Tuesday night, as I lay in bed reading, I heard some noise downstairs. Worried about burglars or sleepwalking kids, I went down to check. All seemed in order.
The next morning, Lynne found teeth marks in the butter. And Wendy found a half-eaten apple.
We put out a trap last night. Apparently we should have had Wendy help. We used cheese (just like in the cartoons, right?). Apparently Chinese rats, like most Chinese people, don't particularly like cheese. Wendy said pork would work better. We'll see.
So this morning I came down and ate breakfast on the couch. Hearing a noise, I looked over and saw a long tail scurrying up the wall.
So the exterminators gave a bid today and should return tomorrow to begin the extermination. This is China.
Thursday, November 05, 2009
The Baby Predictor
We had some of Dave's coworkers over for dinner on Friday night. This was a pretty Chinese crowd, which is always fun. Discussions about whether or not you can eat broccoli raw and stories about feeding crabs to the pigs bounce over the table and the piles of food. Dave announced the baby at dinner that night as well, which received much excitement and many questions.
We also learned that the Chinese can predict the sex of the baby. A particularly urgent need in a country where ultrasound technicians are forbidden by law from revealing the sex of the baby. Nina shared a spreadsheet with these inputs: Month of conception and Mother's actual age at the date of conception plus 9 months. Apparently, these inputs have made accurate predictions among Uncle H--'s new babies over the last year - 100% accurate. This is over a sample size of only 4. Still, when we looked back at our two babies, the predictions were correct. That brings us to 6 out of 6 - still 100%!
So, all you Mamas, we need your help. Let's put the predictor to the test. Try to remember your details, and post the accuracy in a comment. Dave's hoping to discredit the thing - it says we're going to have another girl!
We also learned that the Chinese can predict the sex of the baby. A particularly urgent need in a country where ultrasound technicians are forbidden by law from revealing the sex of the baby. Nina shared a spreadsheet with these inputs: Month of conception and Mother's actual age at the date of conception plus 9 months. Apparently, these inputs have made accurate predictions among Uncle H--'s new babies over the last year - 100% accurate. This is over a sample size of only 4. Still, when we looked back at our two babies, the predictions were correct. That brings us to 6 out of 6 - still 100%!
So, all you Mamas, we need your help. Let's put the predictor to the test. Try to remember your details, and post the accuracy in a comment. Dave's hoping to discredit the thing - it says we're going to have another girl!
生男生女圖 Boy or Girl? 中國在七百年前的皇家墓地裡發現了這幅生男生女圖。 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Talking Plane Trips
We haven't been home in a long time.
Our family traveled to the states for Christmas last year, and stayed for a lovely 6 weeks. We returned at the end of January, and have not returned again since. Dave and I each made quick trips home, but the girls have been consecutively in Asia. Grammy and Grandpa came to visit in May, as did Nana and Poppa. Now we're coming upon 6 months without any family. That's a long time - especially for the under 5 set.
Here's the trouble.
We're really hoping that the State Department will ask Dave to begin training for his new job in either February or March. Really hoping. We'd rather deliver the baby in the states, near family and in a more comfortable environment. We'd love to attend Dave's family reunion in May. Dave's sick of his current job, and excited to begin the new one. So many reasons.
Trouble is, we just don't know what will happen.
So, here's the travel plans:
We will stay in Shanghai for Christmas.
Sad to not spend Christmas surrounded by family and old friends, together in the grandparents' homes, with snow on the ground and Christmas movies cycling through the cable stations. But pretty exciting to have Christmas in our own home, under our own tree, at our local church, on a schedule completely surrounding our sugarplum-envisioning children.
We will be in the states in either February or March.
Ideally, we will be moving to DC for Dave to begin training on March 29th (or Feb. 14th - even better!). By mid-January, it should become clear whether or not this will happen. If not, we will book a trip home for a few weeks surrounding Chinese New Year (Feb. 14). This decision would coincide with placing Dave on the Do Not Call List, a decision to stay in Shanghai until summer.
We promise not to keep our kids away from their family for any longer - a potential 14 months is too long already! But please join us in rooting for the March class, and keeping those international flights to a minimum!
**Clarification
Dave has NOT received his security clearance.
His investigation is finished - this is a good milestone. No one will be making phone calls or digging up anymore dirt.
But he has not received his security clearance. He has entered a nasty little purgatory called adjudication. As far as I can tell, Adjudication is where people keep putting off making a decision on whether or not they trust you. It can take months for them to look over the already collected information and decide whether or not to offer Security Clearance.
He has cleared a milestone, but only a minor one. Once he receives Security Clearance, we expect life to intensify mighty quickly.
Our family traveled to the states for Christmas last year, and stayed for a lovely 6 weeks. We returned at the end of January, and have not returned again since. Dave and I each made quick trips home, but the girls have been consecutively in Asia. Grammy and Grandpa came to visit in May, as did Nana and Poppa. Now we're coming upon 6 months without any family. That's a long time - especially for the under 5 set.
Here's the trouble.
We're really hoping that the State Department will ask Dave to begin training for his new job in either February or March. Really hoping. We'd rather deliver the baby in the states, near family and in a more comfortable environment. We'd love to attend Dave's family reunion in May. Dave's sick of his current job, and excited to begin the new one. So many reasons.
Trouble is, we just don't know what will happen.
So, here's the travel plans:
We will stay in Shanghai for Christmas.
Sad to not spend Christmas surrounded by family and old friends, together in the grandparents' homes, with snow on the ground and Christmas movies cycling through the cable stations. But pretty exciting to have Christmas in our own home, under our own tree, at our local church, on a schedule completely surrounding our sugarplum-envisioning children.
We will be in the states in either February or March.
Ideally, we will be moving to DC for Dave to begin training on March 29th (or Feb. 14th - even better!). By mid-January, it should become clear whether or not this will happen. If not, we will book a trip home for a few weeks surrounding Chinese New Year (Feb. 14). This decision would coincide with placing Dave on the Do Not Call List, a decision to stay in Shanghai until summer.
We promise not to keep our kids away from their family for any longer - a potential 14 months is too long already! But please join us in rooting for the March class, and keeping those international flights to a minimum!
**Clarification
Dave has NOT received his security clearance.
His investigation is finished - this is a good milestone. No one will be making phone calls or digging up anymore dirt.
But he has not received his security clearance. He has entered a nasty little purgatory called adjudication. As far as I can tell, Adjudication is where people keep putting off making a decision on whether or not they trust you. It can take months for them to look over the already collected information and decide whether or not to offer Security Clearance.
He has cleared a milestone, but only a minor one. Once he receives Security Clearance, we expect life to intensify mighty quickly.
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Hairy Crab
We've had a lovely autumn in Shanghai. October stayed warm throughout, with golden sun inviting us onto parks every Saturday and warm evenings pulling us onto our balcony for dinner almost every night. Halloween saw a high temperature of 81F, and also the end of our Indian Summer. The high today will be only 52F, and the girls went to school in sweaters.
Autumn in Shanghai means hairy crab season. Allow me to explain by excerpting from the San Francisco Chronicle:
Mark is the foodie of the crowd. He prepared each crab, by removing its plastic tags and setting it inside the wok to steam for 20 minutes.
These ugly creatures turned a lovely autumn shade of red once they were steamed, and eventually stopped banging their claws against the top of the pan. No pictures of us eating, because the party did stay on the rooftop balcony, lit only by the night sky. As you would expect, Dave ate it. I tried a bite of the roe - supposed to be the best part. It seemed like far too much trouble to both Dave and I, as you have to really dissect these little buggers to get a few tasty morsels out. But the rest of the crew had a blast tearing these crab apart, and sucking out the guts.
The hit of the evening, though? The Jack-O-Lantern cookies, decorated with help by the girls. Apparently Dave's co-workers have a serious sweet tooth, because these cookies are generally much too sweet for a Chinese palate. But all cookies had disappeared by the end of the evening!
Autumn in Shanghai means hairy crab season. Allow me to explain by excerpting from the San Francisco Chronicle:
Dave's co-workers joined us for an American BBQ on Friday night. I made potato salad and Dave grilled sausages and chicken wings. The girls made jack-o-lantern cookies for dessert. And knowing that we would prepare American food, a few of his coworkers picked up a box of live crabs on the way home.It's October, and if there is any local food that defines Shanghai it is the freshwater hairy crab. These freshwater crustaceans, originating from within about a 100-mile radius of the city, fatten as soon as the first autumn wind chills the Yangtze River delta. Although the official season opened in late September, aficionados await the first autumn chill after the mid-autumn full moon festival (usually by mid-October), so they may relish the fattest, most roe-laden crabs.
From now until mid-February, crab feasting dominates the local scene. Crab vendors ply the gray-colored crustaceans in every neighborhood and every street corner. Restaurants offer crab specialties on their menus. Entire 10-course banquets, with each course being a variation, riff on the theme of crab.
Mark is the foodie of the crowd. He prepared each crab, by removing its plastic tags and setting it inside the wok to steam for 20 minutes.
These ugly creatures turned a lovely autumn shade of red once they were steamed, and eventually stopped banging their claws against the top of the pan. No pictures of us eating, because the party did stay on the rooftop balcony, lit only by the night sky. As you would expect, Dave ate it. I tried a bite of the roe - supposed to be the best part. It seemed like far too much trouble to both Dave and I, as you have to really dissect these little buggers to get a few tasty morsels out. But the rest of the crew had a blast tearing these crab apart, and sucking out the guts.
The hit of the evening, though? The Jack-O-Lantern cookies, decorated with help by the girls. Apparently Dave's co-workers have a serious sweet tooth, because these cookies are generally much too sweet for a Chinese palate. But all cookies had disappeared by the end of the evening!
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