The verdict is in. Uncle H-- informed us on Wednesday evening that we will, in fact, be moving to Shenzhen. We stepped on a flight to the white sand beaches of Hainan Island early the next morning, and returned to Shanghai this evening. Our flight for Shenzhen leaves at 6:30 on Tuesday night, and school starts on Thursday.
All of that within 1 week's time.
I've got a crazy To Do List for the next day, the next week, and the next month. Tomorrow will be a bit nutty, but not actually as overwhelming as one might think. We will move directly into a serviced apartment in Shenzhen, one within walking distance of the grocery store. I will return to Shanghai in a few weeks to pack up the house, and hand the keys over to the landlord. As I'll travel without kids, I'll be able to race around town at breakneck speed and checks loads of things off of the list.
So, the focus for the next week is to make this transition as smooth as possible for the girls. Questions like how to keep the girls amused over the next few days, while I'm busy shopping and packing and how to fit the moses basket and antique rocker onto the airplane plague me.
But, as far as moves go, this one seems rather simple. The girls are already enrolled in the right school - one which seems very community focused, having already invited our family to join others at a local restaurant on Wednesday night. The school lies inside a complex where we can afford to live, and so I only plan to view homes inside that complex. There's also a church and a library in the complex, all of which make me think that it will have a built-in community as well. Plus, simply living within walking distance of the school and church mean that we can easily spend casual time with the people we meet.
Bonus points, that we will be within walking distance of the ferry to Hong Kong.
Further bonus points that we don't anticipate living there past February. I will not make the same mistake as in this home: We will rent our home assuming we will live there for a year; we will have a comfortable guest room, and plenty of space for Mei Mei to move in. However, I don't feel the pressure of needing to fit in so strongly. It feels more like an extended vacation than like a move.
I believe the girls are approaching it that way as well. Lilly asked me recently if, since we are moving now, can she please invite her cousin to her birthday party? I explained that we'll still be in China, and not yet in America.
Lilly: So, when will we move to America, and live near Jack and William?
Lynne: I think probably after Christmas. Until then, we'll go to school in Shenzhen.
Lilly: (reassured) Okay.
They've been prepared for a summer move for quite some time now. I think that they're not thrown by this news, because they've been expecting it all along. As Washington DC means very little to them as a place, why should Shenzhen be a scary stopping point?
Showing posts with label Uncle H--. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Uncle H--. Show all posts
Sunday, August 08, 2010
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Hyperventilating
Still no decision on Shenzhen, although Dave will formally interview for the role tomorrow morning. This means that a decision by Friday is possible. But Dave's boss advises that once the contract to consult has been accepted, the two companies still face negotiations which could take a few weeks.
So, we stand to lose the lease on our current home.
Lease runs out on Aug. 30th, and we have yet to tell them we want to renew. Should we say yes, and immediately face a 2-month penalty for canceling? Should we say no, and be forced to leave on Sep. 1?
Here's the best potential scenario I can come up with:
Likely? Absolutely not. But still keeping me awake at night.
So, we stand to lose the lease on our current home.
Lease runs out on Aug. 30th, and we have yet to tell them we want to renew. Should we say yes, and immediately face a 2-month penalty for canceling? Should we say no, and be forced to leave on Sep. 1?
Here's the best potential scenario I can come up with:
Because of confidence in the move to Shenzhen, we lose the lease on this house.
Because that confidence is not amazingly strong, we do not begin school in Shenzhen on the first day - Aug. 12th.
Because things have not yet finalized, we begin school in Shanghai on Aug. 23rd.
Even better if we are forced to move out of this house before a decision has been made - maybe live in a hotel for a week?
Move to Shenzhen after school has begun in both places, causing all sorts of transitional angst for our kids.
And then get the call to the October class, and move to DC.
Likely? Absolutely not. But still keeping me awake at night.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Silence on Shenzhen
Neither regular readers nor fellow expatriates should be surprised when I tell you that we have no answers on our possible move to Shenzhen. It seems that our little ultimatum (school starts on Aug. 12, and our kids need to know that they're moving prior to the drive to the airport on Aug. 11) is of no real consequence to the decision makers.
Dave and I continue to feel comfortable with the option of moving, although we both vacillate wildly about which city we would prefer. I have a strong support network here now, and never feel isolated. This would certainly change upon moving to a new town. But we no longer live in the right house in Shanghai - too small, too unsafe, and too far away from school. This would be the perfect opportunity to mix up all that is frustrating about our home.
Essentially, for Dave and I, it comes down to this. If this would feel like an extended vacation, then we would have a great time. If this would feel like a short-term move, then it would be extremely difficult. If Dave works crazy-long hours and Lilly suffers with the transition, it could be more different than exciting. But the location and the apparent community both lead me to believe that we could have a great time.
Still, if we may be moving within a week, how do I shop for groceries?
Dave and I continue to feel comfortable with the option of moving, although we both vacillate wildly about which city we would prefer. I have a strong support network here now, and never feel isolated. This would certainly change upon moving to a new town. But we no longer live in the right house in Shanghai - too small, too unsafe, and too far away from school. This would be the perfect opportunity to mix up all that is frustrating about our home.
Essentially, for Dave and I, it comes down to this. If this would feel like an extended vacation, then we would have a great time. If this would feel like a short-term move, then it would be extremely difficult. If Dave works crazy-long hours and Lilly suffers with the transition, it could be more different than exciting. But the location and the apparent community both lead me to believe that we could have a great time.
Still, if we may be moving within a week, how do I shop for groceries?
Sunday, July 25, 2010
It Ain't DC, but...
Just when we were beginning to feel stable, it seems there's a new city on the table. Dave's boss has a few very good reasons to want him working in the Pearl River Delta. Hong Kong would be ideal for the company, but with the price of living that city would be a tough sell to the budget-makers. As Dave's already turned down an offer in Hong Kong once, they know just how expensive our family would be. Shenzhen is nearby, Uncle H-- has an office there, and the cost of living is considerably less.
So, Shenzhen is now on the table.
And this will be a rush-rush deal. Partly on their side: if Uncle H-- wins a particular contract, the work will begin soon and need Dave on site quickly. Financially, our lease renews on September 1 and school fees in Shanghai become non-refundable as soon as the girls set foot on campus at the end of August.
But most importantly for us, school begins in Shenzhen on August 12th. I'm not able to picture a move from Shanghai to Shenzhen in under 3 weeks - especially as a non-refundable beach vacation lies smack in the middle of those weeks.
I've spent some spare time today looking at schools and housing. It actually seems like a fun place to live. Loads of expats, all living on a bit of peninsula with mountains on the background and the sea on the forefront. Fairies from the local terminal leave for Hong Kong and Macau 13 times daily, and people's hobbies seem to be scuba diving and lying around the beach. The girls will change schools this year either way, and realistically they will only be keeping a few of the same friends with that change. And myself? The next month would be such a whirlwind that I wouldn't have any time to be nervous.
Dave places the odds on this move at 50-50. The boss says we'll know by the end of the week. That timing is absolutely necessary for us to be in the Shenzhen area by the first day of school.
I wonder if many of the applicants to the foreign service - a career where you reliably move internationally every 2 to 3 years - look forward to it as offering stability?
So, Shenzhen is now on the table.
And this will be a rush-rush deal. Partly on their side: if Uncle H-- wins a particular contract, the work will begin soon and need Dave on site quickly. Financially, our lease renews on September 1 and school fees in Shanghai become non-refundable as soon as the girls set foot on campus at the end of August.
But most importantly for us, school begins in Shenzhen on August 12th. I'm not able to picture a move from Shanghai to Shenzhen in under 3 weeks - especially as a non-refundable beach vacation lies smack in the middle of those weeks.
I've spent some spare time today looking at schools and housing. It actually seems like a fun place to live. Loads of expats, all living on a bit of peninsula with mountains on the background and the sea on the forefront. Fairies from the local terminal leave for Hong Kong and Macau 13 times daily, and people's hobbies seem to be scuba diving and lying around the beach. The girls will change schools this year either way, and realistically they will only be keeping a few of the same friends with that change. And myself? The next month would be such a whirlwind that I wouldn't have any time to be nervous.
Dave places the odds on this move at 50-50. The boss says we'll know by the end of the week. That timing is absolutely necessary for us to be in the Shenzhen area by the first day of school.
I wonder if many of the applicants to the foreign service - a career where you reliably move internationally every 2 to 3 years - look forward to it as offering stability?
Thursday, April 15, 2010
The Answers Begin
Uncle H-- has made a decision.
The China boss has offered to renew Dave's contract in Shanghai for another year.
We understand this offer to be more of a decision. Uncle H-- has decided they would prefer Dave stay in Shanghai for another year. Our package will remain the same.
This removes the one piece of certainty I thought I had - I was telling everyone we would definitely be moving this summer, but we didn't know where. Now, we will move whenever the Foreign Service calls, but not before.
Despite that niggling uncertainty of when, this provides a lovely piece of stability for us. I now know to only look into schools in Shanghai and Northern Virginia. Unfortunately, the girls' current school has not earned a callback. Fortunately, there are plenty of good options.
This newfound stability still leaves us with some decisions to make. Our current home is lovely, and located in a very interesting part of town, quite near to Dave's office. However, with a change in schools, we will no longer be close to either child's school. Should we consider moving? Add to the school issue that we currently live in a 2-bedroom home. With a family of 5 and grandparents itching to visit their newest grandbaby, ought we consider moving into a larger place?
Many decisions still to make, but much simpler and more straight-forward.
Still, praying for the ultimate, as the worst God can give us is peace, we pray that God will call Dave to one of the summer classes.
The China boss has offered to renew Dave's contract in Shanghai for another year.
We understand this offer to be more of a decision. Uncle H-- has decided they would prefer Dave stay in Shanghai for another year. Our package will remain the same.
This removes the one piece of certainty I thought I had - I was telling everyone we would definitely be moving this summer, but we didn't know where. Now, we will move whenever the Foreign Service calls, but not before.
Despite that niggling uncertainty of when, this provides a lovely piece of stability for us. I now know to only look into schools in Shanghai and Northern Virginia. Unfortunately, the girls' current school has not earned a callback. Fortunately, there are plenty of good options.
This newfound stability still leaves us with some decisions to make. Our current home is lovely, and located in a very interesting part of town, quite near to Dave's office. However, with a change in schools, we will no longer be close to either child's school. Should we consider moving? Add to the school issue that we currently live in a 2-bedroom home. With a family of 5 and grandparents itching to visit their newest grandbaby, ought we consider moving into a larger place?
Many decisions still to make, but much simpler and more straight-forward.
Still, praying for the ultimate, as the worst God can give us is peace, we pray that God will call Dave to one of the summer classes.
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Get This!
We played the waiting game.
We wait to hear from the Foreign Service. We know that invitations to their training classes go out only 4-8 weeks before the beginning of a class. So we wait.
And although praying for The Ultimate (that being a call to D.C. and the Foreign Service this summer), we are beginning to realize that God's plan may take us somewhere else first.
So, we wait on Uncle H--. We waited for Uncle H-- to decide whether they wanted to send us to Hong Kong, or might prefer to ship us back to Chicago. I placed some confidence in this decision, thinking that once Uncle H-- chose between Hong Kong and Chicago, I would only have 2 cities on my preschool application list.
Yeah. So get this.
Uncle H-- in China came back to Dave with a package for Hong Kong, and they truly low-balled it. So low-balled that Dave had to refuse the offer. Simplifying, right?
Dave told Uncle H-- in Chicago that he'd rather just come back home right now.
Uncle H-- in Chicago replied that they feel a stronger need for Dave in Hong Kong than in Chicago, and would try making the case to a global budget. This means waiting a few more weeks.
Yeah, and get this.
Uncle H-- in Chicago comes back to Dave today.
Not with "We're going to make Hong Kong work."
Not with "We're bringing you back to Chicago."
Nope.
"How about New York?"
Just for fun, lets run a few numbers. In St. Louis, we lived in a 3-bedroom house about 20 minutes by bike from Dave's office, downtown. Here in Shanghai, we live in a 3-bedroom house about 20 minutes by bike from Dave's office, downtown. For the same thing in Chicago, Hong Kong or New York?
St. Louis - 1800 square feet - $600 per month
Shanghai - 1800 square feet - $4,000 per month
Chicago - 1600 square feet - $2,600 per month
Hong Kong - 1700 square feet - 85,000 HKD or $11,000 USD per month
New York - 1600 square feet - $6,500 per month
In his current pay scale, Uncle H-- holds the lease and we do not pay our rent every month. The same is true of our children's school tuition. We have a classic expat package, meaning that Dave's salary goes straight into our bank account for groceries and bus tickets every month. It seems that any of these options would include us paying for our own housing... plus, putting 2 children into preschool. In most of these places, tack on an additional $1,000 per kid per month.
Don't expect any fancy Christmas presents from our family this year!
And please, continue to pray that God takes us to DC this summer, or assures us that wherever we go next is certainly the right place at the right time for each member of our family.
Many prayers have been answered so far - the most significant being for peace through this pregnancy. I continue to feel happy and peaceful, and this baby continues to have a spirit of peace about her. The girls continue to be happy, and our day-to-day lives have only been overwhelmed by the massive bureaucracy of renewing our adoption paperwork. It is all a bit unsettling, which came to a head last night when Dave and I could not settle on a name for this baby. We don't know where we're going, how we'll pay for it, whether the adoption will work out, or even what we'll name the baby that's going to join our family in a few short weeks! Unsettling, to say the least!
We wait to hear from the Foreign Service. We know that invitations to their training classes go out only 4-8 weeks before the beginning of a class. So we wait.
And although praying for The Ultimate (that being a call to D.C. and the Foreign Service this summer), we are beginning to realize that God's plan may take us somewhere else first.
So, we wait on Uncle H--. We waited for Uncle H-- to decide whether they wanted to send us to Hong Kong, or might prefer to ship us back to Chicago. I placed some confidence in this decision, thinking that once Uncle H-- chose between Hong Kong and Chicago, I would only have 2 cities on my preschool application list.
Yeah. So get this.
Uncle H-- in China came back to Dave with a package for Hong Kong, and they truly low-balled it. So low-balled that Dave had to refuse the offer. Simplifying, right?
Dave told Uncle H-- in Chicago that he'd rather just come back home right now.
Uncle H-- in Chicago replied that they feel a stronger need for Dave in Hong Kong than in Chicago, and would try making the case to a global budget. This means waiting a few more weeks.
Yeah, and get this.
Uncle H-- in Chicago comes back to Dave today.
Not with "We're going to make Hong Kong work."
Not with "We're bringing you back to Chicago."
Nope.
"How about New York?"
Just for fun, lets run a few numbers. In St. Louis, we lived in a 3-bedroom house about 20 minutes by bike from Dave's office, downtown. Here in Shanghai, we live in a 3-bedroom house about 20 minutes by bike from Dave's office, downtown. For the same thing in Chicago, Hong Kong or New York?
St. Louis - 1800 square feet - $600 per month
Shanghai - 1800 square feet - $4,000 per month
Chicago - 1600 square feet - $2,600 per month
Hong Kong - 1700 square feet - 85,000 HKD or $11,000 USD per month
New York - 1600 square feet - $6,500 per month
In his current pay scale, Uncle H-- holds the lease and we do not pay our rent every month. The same is true of our children's school tuition. We have a classic expat package, meaning that Dave's salary goes straight into our bank account for groceries and bus tickets every month. It seems that any of these options would include us paying for our own housing... plus, putting 2 children into preschool. In most of these places, tack on an additional $1,000 per kid per month.
Don't expect any fancy Christmas presents from our family this year!
And please, continue to pray that God takes us to DC this summer, or assures us that wherever we go next is certainly the right place at the right time for each member of our family.
Many prayers have been answered so far - the most significant being for peace through this pregnancy. I continue to feel happy and peaceful, and this baby continues to have a spirit of peace about her. The girls continue to be happy, and our day-to-day lives have only been overwhelmed by the massive bureaucracy of renewing our adoption paperwork. It is all a bit unsettling, which came to a head last night when Dave and I could not settle on a name for this baby. We don't know where we're going, how we'll pay for it, whether the adoption will work out, or even what we'll name the baby that's going to join our family in a few short weeks! Unsettling, to say the least!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
The Plot Thickens
The comfort of living a dramatic life is the knowledge that it will someday lay out into a great story - a bestselling novel. But this is becoming too much. The book would be too confusing for anyone to follow!
A few updates for you:
The Foreign Service Register:
Remember from before that Dave has received his Security Clearance and now waits on the Register to be invited to one of the monthly training classes. Dave arrived on the register in the middle forties. Within two weeks, he had fallen to the low fifties. Further, State only reached as low as the middle 30s in their invitations for the May class.
What does this mean?
Well, this is all pure speculation. But we speculate that many people have tested well in the Political cone lately, and that a score of 5.6 may no longer be enough to guarantee a spot in the Foreign Service. This possibility makes Dave extremely anxious, bordering on depression. I feel much more confident that he will eventually be called, but the situation certainly calls for a pro-active stance.
Dave has begun studying Chinese, because passing a telephone language test would add either 0.17 or 0.4 points to his score. If he passes the test, he will certainly have a high enough score to guarantee a spot in the next class. If he does not pass the test, he will prepare to begin the entire process over again. He would take the written exam again, and pass easily. A few months later, he would take the Oral Exam again in a different cone (Economics, most likely). Even if he received the same score, he would be guaranteed a spot in the next class because the Political cone is the only one currently overrun.
Impact?
Although DC is still a possibility for this summer, it is certainly not a sure bet. But Uncle H-- moving us outside of Shanghai is a sure bet. Staying put is not an option.
The Move:
Uncle H-- still wants to move us to Hong Kong this summer. I have begun to realize how difficult this would be. Housing and rent would be challenging, as would setting up school (preschool registration forms are expected this month). I would expect to stay for about 6 months - not long enough to make friends or establish or a real support group. Not really long enough to hire a good ayi or figure out how to maneuver a new foreign city. And facing each of these challenges with a newborn and two preschoolers only intensifies the situation.
We have asked Uncle H-- to consider moving us to Chicago instead. Professionally, Dave hates this option. I must keep reminding him that he wants no future with this company, but he still struggles with the choice. The advantages of Chicago are numerous. Much of Dave's family lives in the Chicago area, and my parents are a simple weekend away in St. Louis. We could surround the girls with their family, and Dave with a wonderful support system during this transition period. And, we could almost certainly get The Red Chair from Chicago to DC when the time came.
But if finding a circle of friends for me within 6 months would be difficult in Hong Kong, it feels nearly impossible in the western suburbs on Chicago. Plus, get this logistic - in the DC area, Lilly is kindergarten age this fall. In the Chicago area she was born 4 days too late. One more city to begin researching preschools - and this time, we seek the right place (and tuition) for 2 children.
The Adoption:
As if all this were not enough.
We updated our homestudy this weekend in order to remain on the waiting list to adopt a child from China. Our social worker shared some interesting speculation of her own with us. Let me ensure you are up to date with us on the adoption, though.
We chose to become pregnant last summer because it looked as if our wait would end up being 3 years total. Such a wait would bring about a 5-6 year gap between Sophia and Mei Mei, which made us uncomfortable. So, after speaking with our adoption agency, we decided we ought to just sneak a little Jake in the middle there.
Fast-forward to December, when a number of expedited families living in China were matched with their baby. They had been waiting about 22 months, which looked like a pattern to us. We speculated that we would be matched with our baby next spring. Jake would be about 15 months old when we picked up her 6 month old sister. It would be close, but it would be possible.
Our social worker gave different - and much more informed - speculation. It looks to her as if expedited families are ready to move quickly. She speculates that we could receive our match anytime - she says there seems to be no pattern at all.
Bad news.
Bad news because China will not (and should not) allow us to adopt Mei Mei while we have a child under 12 months old in our home.
Bad news because we do not have a 6 month grace period, as we originally thought.
And bad news because we've already got enough uncertainty in our lives.
** A few words of comfort for you, though. Although we have this hanging over our heads, it has very little impact on our daily lives. We still enjoy our friends and the emerging spring weather, and we continue to feel the excitement of a new baby joining our family in a few weeks. Our future certainly calls for as much prayer, faith and grace as we can summon. But the days are far from dark.
A few updates for you:
The Foreign Service Register:
Remember from before that Dave has received his Security Clearance and now waits on the Register to be invited to one of the monthly training classes. Dave arrived on the register in the middle forties. Within two weeks, he had fallen to the low fifties. Further, State only reached as low as the middle 30s in their invitations for the May class.
What does this mean?
Well, this is all pure speculation. But we speculate that many people have tested well in the Political cone lately, and that a score of 5.6 may no longer be enough to guarantee a spot in the Foreign Service. This possibility makes Dave extremely anxious, bordering on depression. I feel much more confident that he will eventually be called, but the situation certainly calls for a pro-active stance.
Dave has begun studying Chinese, because passing a telephone language test would add either 0.17 or 0.4 points to his score. If he passes the test, he will certainly have a high enough score to guarantee a spot in the next class. If he does not pass the test, he will prepare to begin the entire process over again. He would take the written exam again, and pass easily. A few months later, he would take the Oral Exam again in a different cone (Economics, most likely). Even if he received the same score, he would be guaranteed a spot in the next class because the Political cone is the only one currently overrun.
Impact?
Although DC is still a possibility for this summer, it is certainly not a sure bet. But Uncle H-- moving us outside of Shanghai is a sure bet. Staying put is not an option.
The Move:
Uncle H-- still wants to move us to Hong Kong this summer. I have begun to realize how difficult this would be. Housing and rent would be challenging, as would setting up school (preschool registration forms are expected this month). I would expect to stay for about 6 months - not long enough to make friends or establish or a real support group. Not really long enough to hire a good ayi or figure out how to maneuver a new foreign city. And facing each of these challenges with a newborn and two preschoolers only intensifies the situation.
We have asked Uncle H-- to consider moving us to Chicago instead. Professionally, Dave hates this option. I must keep reminding him that he wants no future with this company, but he still struggles with the choice. The advantages of Chicago are numerous. Much of Dave's family lives in the Chicago area, and my parents are a simple weekend away in St. Louis. We could surround the girls with their family, and Dave with a wonderful support system during this transition period. And, we could almost certainly get The Red Chair from Chicago to DC when the time came.
But if finding a circle of friends for me within 6 months would be difficult in Hong Kong, it feels nearly impossible in the western suburbs on Chicago. Plus, get this logistic - in the DC area, Lilly is kindergarten age this fall. In the Chicago area she was born 4 days too late. One more city to begin researching preschools - and this time, we seek the right place (and tuition) for 2 children.
The Adoption:
As if all this were not enough.
We updated our homestudy this weekend in order to remain on the waiting list to adopt a child from China. Our social worker shared some interesting speculation of her own with us. Let me ensure you are up to date with us on the adoption, though.
We chose to become pregnant last summer because it looked as if our wait would end up being 3 years total. Such a wait would bring about a 5-6 year gap between Sophia and Mei Mei, which made us uncomfortable. So, after speaking with our adoption agency, we decided we ought to just sneak a little Jake in the middle there.
Fast-forward to December, when a number of expedited families living in China were matched with their baby. They had been waiting about 22 months, which looked like a pattern to us. We speculated that we would be matched with our baby next spring. Jake would be about 15 months old when we picked up her 6 month old sister. It would be close, but it would be possible.
Our social worker gave different - and much more informed - speculation. It looks to her as if expedited families are ready to move quickly. She speculates that we could receive our match anytime - she says there seems to be no pattern at all.
Bad news.
Bad news because China will not (and should not) allow us to adopt Mei Mei while we have a child under 12 months old in our home.
Bad news because we do not have a 6 month grace period, as we originally thought.
And bad news because we've already got enough uncertainty in our lives.
** A few words of comfort for you, though. Although we have this hanging over our heads, it has very little impact on our daily lives. We still enjoy our friends and the emerging spring weather, and we continue to feel the excitement of a new baby joining our family in a few weeks. Our future certainly calls for as much prayer, faith and grace as we can summon. But the days are far from dark.
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Anticipation turns to Anxiety
When Dave passed his orals and was offered conditional employment with the U.S. Foreign Service, we anticipated that his Security Clearance would take 6-9 months. That gets us to right now - 6 months later. We are now in the Any Day Now window, and easily foresee ourselves staying here for the next 3 months.
Should he receive Security Clearance sometime in the next 3 months (remember that Jake is due in mid-May), he would be invited to one of the summer classes and we would move to DC around June.
We like this idea. The girls can finish up their school year here, and begin a new one in Washington. We can blow through our 6 weeks worth of diapers and formula, and then leave the country rather than relying on substandard quality or expensive imports. Family can meet Jake while she's still tiny.
But I wonder if God is trying to lower my expectations.
We've been seeing posts lately from people who have been awaiting Security Clearance for around 1 year. And I am reminded of the conversation Dave had with his interviewer. The interviewer said something to the effect of... Whoa, you've got an awfully long list of Foreign Contacts. And you are a consultant? Who speaks to a long list of companies and seminars on a weekly basis? Wow - this will take a long time.
He may have been right.
But don't get excited, Shanghai friends. Dave's contract with Uncle H-- runs out this year, and they have no plans of renewing. We will be leaving Shanghai this summer, either way. Talk in the office at this point is that they would appreciate his skills in Hong Kong - and with the same boss over both Shanghai and Hong Kong, this would be a simple move to make happen.
Hong Kong is alright with me - no language issues, good doctors and access to high quality baby items, and I'm already connected to people there.
But stickiness ensues when we realize that sometime during that Hong Kong year, Dave will probably receive security clearance and have us shipped off to DC mid-school year. And then shipped off from DC to post, also mid-school year. That'd get poor Lilly to attending 4 different schools before she hits 1st grade at our first post. It would continue Sophia's practice of never living in a home for 12 months until she reaches her 6th birthday.
And to make things even more interesting, expedited adoptions have definitely begun again. It seems that families currently in China are picking up their child 24 months after being registered with the Chinese government. We registered in April 2009.
That pulls our number in the middle of next year - what could be shaping up to be a very interesting year.
Also, please note. As this post is pure speculation, you will understand why the posts have been sparse lately. With no news on the baby front, the adoption front, the Foreign Service front or any other major drama, I simply haven't much to say. Please excuse the long breaks... and pray for some news soon!
Should he receive Security Clearance sometime in the next 3 months (remember that Jake is due in mid-May), he would be invited to one of the summer classes and we would move to DC around June.
We like this idea. The girls can finish up their school year here, and begin a new one in Washington. We can blow through our 6 weeks worth of diapers and formula, and then leave the country rather than relying on substandard quality or expensive imports. Family can meet Jake while she's still tiny.
But I wonder if God is trying to lower my expectations.
We've been seeing posts lately from people who have been awaiting Security Clearance for around 1 year. And I am reminded of the conversation Dave had with his interviewer. The interviewer said something to the effect of... Whoa, you've got an awfully long list of Foreign Contacts. And you are a consultant? Who speaks to a long list of companies and seminars on a weekly basis? Wow - this will take a long time.
He may have been right.
But don't get excited, Shanghai friends. Dave's contract with Uncle H-- runs out this year, and they have no plans of renewing. We will be leaving Shanghai this summer, either way. Talk in the office at this point is that they would appreciate his skills in Hong Kong - and with the same boss over both Shanghai and Hong Kong, this would be a simple move to make happen.
Hong Kong is alright with me - no language issues, good doctors and access to high quality baby items, and I'm already connected to people there.
But stickiness ensues when we realize that sometime during that Hong Kong year, Dave will probably receive security clearance and have us shipped off to DC mid-school year. And then shipped off from DC to post, also mid-school year. That'd get poor Lilly to attending 4 different schools before she hits 1st grade at our first post. It would continue Sophia's practice of never living in a home for 12 months until she reaches her 6th birthday.
And to make things even more interesting, expedited adoptions have definitely begun again. It seems that families currently in China are picking up their child 24 months after being registered with the Chinese government. We registered in April 2009.
That pulls our number in the middle of next year - what could be shaping up to be a very interesting year.
Also, please note. As this post is pure speculation, you will understand why the posts have been sparse lately. With no news on the baby front, the adoption front, the Foreign Service front or any other major drama, I simply haven't much to say. Please excuse the long breaks... and pray for some news soon!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
A Bit of Certainty
After the last month or so of various bits of uncertainty, life is slowly beginning to come together.
Dave had a meeting with his boss yesterday, who formally asked him to renew his contract. Uncle H-- will not be moving us to Hong Kong in October or shipping us to the states over the summer. We had speculated both options, and are quite happy with what has been presented.
The school situation is still in limbo. I toured two schools in the French Concession, a neighborhood not far from our home. In fact, this neighborhood is certainly closer to our home than L--'s current school. I first toured The Nest, a brand new school teaching the Reggio Emilia approach. This same approach structures the days at the Wonder Center, and we love it. However, I did not love the school. A few plastic play structures made up the play room, a handful of white pieces of paper with finger paints made up the art room, and dirty steps and dingy dining rooms completed the facility. None of the teachers had training or experience with Reggio Emilia and none of the classrooms were mixed-age. The director of the school seemed quite committed to the Reggio Emilia approach and may well be a wonderful teacher. Unfortunately, she has not proven herself to be a good director.
I walked out of The Nest feeling wildly discouraged, as if nothing could possibly live up to The Wonder Center. Then I went into Tiny Tots. And although it is no Wonder Center, I think it will be fine. I walked in the door, after having left The Nest, and my first thought was These people clearly know what they're doing. The rooms were bright, clean and cheerful. The entire space was quite inviting. The staff were friendly and the children smiled at me. The school does not have mixed-age classrooms, which disappoints me. But when asked about their classroom structure, the tour guide had a sufficient answer. She explained that their class sizes are quite small - with a 4:1 teacher:student ratio. This way, children can progress together with children at their own stage but teachers can tailor projects and assignments specifically to the needs and gifts of each child. They do offer a half-day program - and this program brings them home a full hour earlier than the Wonder Center, which would be lovely. And although their day is quite structured, their learning is all based in play. The children all seemed to be quite comfortable and having a truly lovely time. I think that my children will do fine there.
As I became at peace with this option, I learned that the The Wonder Center may be able to keep their doors open after all. Cancellation of her lease had caused the director to close the doors this summer. But the complex which holds the lease had promised a preschool on their grounds to a number of new residents - each of whom now threatens to leave if the preschool disappears. In a bit of a panic, the chastened landlords have asked the director to stay and she must decide whether or not to trust them. In short, we still don't know whether or not The Wonder Center will remain in Hongqiao.
Add to that the uncertainty of most of our friends. Many contracts have been shortened with the fallen economy, sending many people home permanently this summer. Friends applying to the Foreign Service have months to wait before learning whether or not they will be accepted, and then asked to make multiple short-term moves over an undefined period of time. And I am quickly learning that none of our friends plan to stay in Shanghai over the summer.
And in the midst of this uncertainty, I am learning to relax. About a complaint, I received a text this afternoon saying Dont worry love! It is out of our hands. I may have the message framed and hung on my wall. I have moved to where I am not worried about the school, I am not worried about any potential moves, and I am not worried about money. I am a bit worried about our house - it went back on the market at the beginning of March, but has only seem a few showings. Word around the neighborhood is that we are wildly overpriced.
Don't worry, love. It is out of our hands.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Guest Blog - The Holiday Party
In my former office in St. Louis, the annual holiday party (held a week or two before Christmas) consisted of the following:
- A special lunch catered in
- There was often a glass of wine or two.
- We did a “white elephant” gift exchange through some sort of game.
- At this point the office party was completed and we were free to go home early.
Most used the afternoon off to finish their Christmas shopping. Some of us occasionally would get together at someone’s house for a bit.
That’s about the extent of it.
The annual holiday party in my new office in Shanghai (held a week or two before the Chinese New Year holiday) is very similar, in that it involved food, drinks, gifts, and leaving the office early. After that, it was mostly different.
We left the office at about 5 pm to get on buses (there are about 100 of us) which took us to the hotel hosting the event (actually, I elected to ride my bike instead – leaving later, I arrived first due to the easier ability for a bicyclist to get through Shanghai traffic). The event was held in a typical hotel ballroom (these are indistinguishable in every hotel in every country that I have seen so far).
It began with dinner, which was typical Chinese hotel ballroom fare (as in America, adequate but not terribly great). Food was served throughout the night. In addition, glasses were rarely allowed to stay empty long – mostly juice, but a number of the men (maybe an occasional woman, but not too many) drinking beer.
After a bit, the shows began. I have only a vague idea what was going on in most of this, but there were several introductory “routines” done by our hosts (several of my more gregarious colleagues). Then each of about 12 groups put on a mini-show. Each had a theme wrapped around a famous Chinese movie (from Kung Fu Panda and the Sound of Music to the Chinese versions of Sex and the City and Quantum Leap to purely Chinese fare). Mine was this final category (a TerraCotta warrior comes to life in modern times – think Encino Man). I got to play the modern beau (ku nan in Chinese, although ku is just used because it sounds like “cool” in English) fighting the warrior for the lady. I mercifully lost quickly and exited the stage. Most of these plays/songs/dances (written, directed, and performed by each group) included frequent references and allusions to our work (I think…).
In the middle of all the shows, there was a break in which we had a picture slide show of all the weddings and births during the year (lots of babies, since it was a lucky year – everyone wants to have a Pig baby apparently, but we are shortly entering the year of the Cow – not so lucky). We had a toast, and then some games. These games all involved “guess the song”. First, someone had to sing using only the word Niu (sounds like new, means Cow) and his teammates had to guess. Second was classic charades. Finally, to determine the overall winner, two groups came up front to guess the songs being sung by … me.
Many of you know that I can’t carry a tune. At all. I also am not so good at Chinese. These gaps in my skill set were quite apparent, as I put on headphones, listened to a Chinese song, and had to try to sing/hum/anything else enough for the guessers to figure it out. Not sure, but I think they called this particular game “Laugh at the American.” Hope it was funny for them, cause it was agony for me. For most songs I couldn’t get across enough to be understood at all. Luckily there were a few with fairly clear words at the beginning that were enough. One song had a bunch of HEY!s interspersed; yelling those was enough for one of the contestants (amazingly). The final one was Chinese opera, and just trying to do the weird very nasal singing got it across, and I was finally done.
The evening ended with the last show at about 11:30 and everyone ran for the taxi stand (except, of course, for me, the ku nan riding my bike home.
The “shows” went on way too long and even those that could understand them lost interest fairly quickly. But I very much appreciate the lack of cynicism, the willingness to just do stuff that’s kind of embarrassing. If I had to choose between the two, I’d probably choose the Chinese version. It showed the company was willing to spend a little bit of money to try to give everyone a good time, it was an overt holiday celebration (there’s no political correctness needed regarding Chinese New Year, a fully secular holiday), and everyone was willing to actually have a good time. I may have enjoyed the completely forgettable little office holiday parties in St. Louis more, but I somehow appreciated this one more.
Anyway, Xin Nian Kuai Le (happy new year) to all of you.
- A special lunch catered in
- There was often a glass of wine or two.
- We did a “white elephant” gift exchange through some sort of game.
- At this point the office party was completed and we were free to go home early.
Most used the afternoon off to finish their Christmas shopping. Some of us occasionally would get together at someone’s house for a bit.
That’s about the extent of it.
The annual holiday party in my new office in Shanghai (held a week or two before the Chinese New Year holiday) is very similar, in that it involved food, drinks, gifts, and leaving the office early. After that, it was mostly different.
We left the office at about 5 pm to get on buses (there are about 100 of us) which took us to the hotel hosting the event (actually, I elected to ride my bike instead – leaving later, I arrived first due to the easier ability for a bicyclist to get through Shanghai traffic). The event was held in a typical hotel ballroom (these are indistinguishable in every hotel in every country that I have seen so far).
It began with dinner, which was typical Chinese hotel ballroom fare (as in America, adequate but not terribly great). Food was served throughout the night. In addition, glasses were rarely allowed to stay empty long – mostly juice, but a number of the men (maybe an occasional woman, but not too many) drinking beer.
After a bit, the shows began. I have only a vague idea what was going on in most of this, but there were several introductory “routines” done by our hosts (several of my more gregarious colleagues). Then each of about 12 groups put on a mini-show. Each had a theme wrapped around a famous Chinese movie (from Kung Fu Panda and the Sound of Music to the Chinese versions of Sex and the City and Quantum Leap to purely Chinese fare). Mine was this final category (a TerraCotta warrior comes to life in modern times – think Encino Man). I got to play the modern beau (ku nan in Chinese, although ku is just used because it sounds like “cool” in English) fighting the warrior for the lady. I mercifully lost quickly and exited the stage. Most of these plays/songs/dances (written, directed, and performed by each group) included frequent references and allusions to our work (I think…).
In the middle of all the shows, there was a break in which we had a picture slide show of all the weddings and births during the year (lots of babies, since it was a lucky year – everyone wants to have a Pig baby apparently, but we are shortly entering the year of the Cow – not so lucky). We had a toast, and then some games. These games all involved “guess the song”. First, someone had to sing using only the word Niu (sounds like new, means Cow) and his teammates had to guess. Second was classic charades. Finally, to determine the overall winner, two groups came up front to guess the songs being sung by … me.
Many of you know that I can’t carry a tune. At all. I also am not so good at Chinese. These gaps in my skill set were quite apparent, as I put on headphones, listened to a Chinese song, and had to try to sing/hum/anything else enough for the guessers to figure it out. Not sure, but I think they called this particular game “Laugh at the American.” Hope it was funny for them, cause it was agony for me. For most songs I couldn’t get across enough to be understood at all. Luckily there were a few with fairly clear words at the beginning that were enough. One song had a bunch of HEY!s interspersed; yelling those was enough for one of the contestants (amazingly). The final one was Chinese opera, and just trying to do the weird very nasal singing got it across, and I was finally done.
The evening ended with the last show at about 11:30 and everyone ran for the taxi stand (except, of course, for me, the ku nan riding my bike home.
The “shows” went on way too long and even those that could understand them lost interest fairly quickly. But I very much appreciate the lack of cynicism, the willingness to just do stuff that’s kind of embarrassing. If I had to choose between the two, I’d probably choose the Chinese version. It showed the company was willing to spend a little bit of money to try to give everyone a good time, it was an overt holiday celebration (there’s no political correctness needed regarding Chinese New Year, a fully secular holiday), and everyone was willing to actually have a good time. I may have enjoyed the completely forgettable little office holiday parties in St. Louis more, but I somehow appreciated this one more.
Anyway, Xin Nian Kuai Le (happy new year) to all of you.
Monday, October 27, 2008
The Ho-Hum and the Whirlwind
I admit to being remiss in posting. It has been over a week since I last wrote. An interesting combination has kept me from my writer's post.
The Ho-Hum of life with a child in school. As of the beginning of September, our weeks have fallen into a strong routine. We're up by 7am, which needs us down by 8:30 that night. I drive the 20-30 minute ride to bring L-- to school every morning, and return around 9am to help S-- prepare for her day. We must lunch around noon to be ready to leave by 12:30 for the ride back to school. We'll stay and play for up to 30 minutes before climbing back into the car and heading home for some much needed quiet time. This leaves S-- and I only 3 hours of free time every morning, which have quickly filled. We host a playgroup. We belong to a Bible Study. I've joined a photography class. And we do shopping and coffee with friends as well. Life has become more routine that either S-- and I enjoy, although each of our attachments are worthwhile. And the routine of each of them leaves a distinct lack of notability in our day to day lives.
While our every day lives leave me with little to blog about, our emotions have been through a whirlwind. Close and dear friends are facing the potential breakdown of their marriage. As painful as it must be to watch close friends struggle through something as difficult as the breakdown of a marriage, it especially hurts us to be so far away. We are torn, as life here has become quite comfortable. We have many friends, a wonderful ayi, a friendly driver, a perfect school and a comfortable home. Our community feels no impact of the economic crisis. And yet, we can offer no more than a phone call when people at home may need us. Or when we may need them.
Making matters more complicated, Dave is quickly reaching the conclusion that his job must change drastically. A quick refresher course on Dave's work situation. He accepted the job in Shanghai on the assumption that his role would be that of a consultant, but within a few months of his arrival, the manager of his department resigned. Dave was the most senior person on the team, and was quickly promoted to running all of China.
Unfortunately, this promotion did not come with a relaxation of his prior resposibilities or with an actual promotion in pay or recognition. It did come with the mess that the previous boss had left behind - many disgruntled employees, quite a few of whom followed her to her new employer.
Dave struggled through an ugly year of losing staff quicker than they could be replaced, and working more hours than was good for his family... this alongside everyone else on his team. Thankfully, someone on the team was promoted to manager as of October 1st and Dave has been released from those responsibilities, back to his original position.
The trouble now is that the old position feels like a demotion. It leaves him bored, and frustrated with a lack of power to make any worthwhile changes. Furthermore, the corporate world leaves him unfulfilled. It is time for a change, although we've little idea what that change may be.
I post the details because I am struck at how universal our story is. So many of our friends have struggled through crisis at home, struggling in part because they couldn't be nearer to their loved ones. So many of our friends feel unsatisfied with the amount of hours their employers expect, and the emptiness that comes from devoting so much of your time and energy to mere profit. And I know that the business of day-to-day life rings true everywhere.
At this point, I've no prognostics. We worry about the marriage of our close friends, not sure how it will change and where their lives will lead. At the same time, we wonder about where God will lead us. Dave's interests are varied and his skill set is broad. With rather specific experience, he has narrowed his options a bit... but those extraneous Master's degrees always seem to creep in as well. And it is certainly possible that things will turn around for Dave in his current position, making Uncle H-- a fabulous employer for the next decade. I'm not confident that we'll be here for more than 9 months, at this point. Although where we'd go next is anyone's guess.
The Ho-Hum of life with a child in school. As of the beginning of September, our weeks have fallen into a strong routine. We're up by 7am, which needs us down by 8:30 that night. I drive the 20-30 minute ride to bring L-- to school every morning, and return around 9am to help S-- prepare for her day. We must lunch around noon to be ready to leave by 12:30 for the ride back to school. We'll stay and play for up to 30 minutes before climbing back into the car and heading home for some much needed quiet time. This leaves S-- and I only 3 hours of free time every morning, which have quickly filled. We host a playgroup. We belong to a Bible Study. I've joined a photography class. And we do shopping and coffee with friends as well. Life has become more routine that either S-- and I enjoy, although each of our attachments are worthwhile. And the routine of each of them leaves a distinct lack of notability in our day to day lives.
While our every day lives leave me with little to blog about, our emotions have been through a whirlwind. Close and dear friends are facing the potential breakdown of their marriage. As painful as it must be to watch close friends struggle through something as difficult as the breakdown of a marriage, it especially hurts us to be so far away. We are torn, as life here has become quite comfortable. We have many friends, a wonderful ayi, a friendly driver, a perfect school and a comfortable home. Our community feels no impact of the economic crisis. And yet, we can offer no more than a phone call when people at home may need us. Or when we may need them.
Making matters more complicated, Dave is quickly reaching the conclusion that his job must change drastically. A quick refresher course on Dave's work situation. He accepted the job in Shanghai on the assumption that his role would be that of a consultant, but within a few months of his arrival, the manager of his department resigned. Dave was the most senior person on the team, and was quickly promoted to running all of China.
Unfortunately, this promotion did not come with a relaxation of his prior resposibilities or with an actual promotion in pay or recognition. It did come with the mess that the previous boss had left behind - many disgruntled employees, quite a few of whom followed her to her new employer.
Dave struggled through an ugly year of losing staff quicker than they could be replaced, and working more hours than was good for his family... this alongside everyone else on his team. Thankfully, someone on the team was promoted to manager as of October 1st and Dave has been released from those responsibilities, back to his original position.
The trouble now is that the old position feels like a demotion. It leaves him bored, and frustrated with a lack of power to make any worthwhile changes. Furthermore, the corporate world leaves him unfulfilled. It is time for a change, although we've little idea what that change may be.
I post the details because I am struck at how universal our story is. So many of our friends have struggled through crisis at home, struggling in part because they couldn't be nearer to their loved ones. So many of our friends feel unsatisfied with the amount of hours their employers expect, and the emptiness that comes from devoting so much of your time and energy to mere profit. And I know that the business of day-to-day life rings true everywhere.
At this point, I've no prognostics. We worry about the marriage of our close friends, not sure how it will change and where their lives will lead. At the same time, we wonder about where God will lead us. Dave's interests are varied and his skill set is broad. With rather specific experience, he has narrowed his options a bit... but those extraneous Master's degrees always seem to creep in as well. And it is certainly possible that things will turn around for Dave in his current position, making Uncle H-- a fabulous employer for the next decade. I'm not confident that we'll be here for more than 9 months, at this point. Although where we'd go next is anyone's guess.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
At the Mercy
Even after a year in China, I still find it amusing how many things come laden with difficulty in my current life. As part of our expatriate package, Uncle H-- foots the bill to ship our entire family to the U.S. and back once a year. We have been at this task for about 2 weeks now.
First, we had to wait for October 1st. Uncle H--'s financial calendar runs from October 1 through September 30. We last went home in February of 2008, so our next run must fall fiduciarily into the following calendar year. Come October 1, we knocked on HR's electronic door with a quick note - Do we have the all clear to arrange for our flights home?
After a few days, we had the all clear. Uncle H-- need not purchase them. We could purchase our own tickets, and send the receipt to HR for reimbursement. This created challenge number two. China is very much a cash-based society. Debit cards from Chinese banks will be accepted at many chain stores and restaurants, but cash manages most work. Our travel agent functions on a purely cash basis, and purchasing 4 round-trip coach seats to the states would cost over 40,000 RMB. This is a pretty large chunk of cash for us to hand over, and then wait a month or more for reimbursement.
As our agent doesn't accept credit cards, we moved onto an airline website. It is this mother's humble opinion that American Airlines is currently the best way for a family to fly between Shanghai and Chicago. With all of those qualifiers, few people could argue - right? Quite simply, only American and United provide direct flights from Shanghai to Chicago - that limits our options to 2. Among the 2, American's planes promise an individual movie screen for each seat. At last check, United had not updated their cross-Pacific planes to make people mildly comfortable. Of course, neither airline or their staff seem to have any particular interest in the comfort of their riders - especially those sitting in the back of the plane, in the cheap seats of coach. But at least American does realize that business is booming and that international carriers are quickly picking up the slack that US carriers dropped long ago.
So, we pointed ourselves toward www.AA.com, who promptly re-directed us to www.AmericanAirlines.cn which quickly and efficiently offered us flights originating in China and at lower prices than those originating in the states. We felt like we were gliding along. And with permission to use the company credit card, there could be no stops ahead. We reserved 4 tickets on our dates of choice. We clicked American Express in the drop-down box and filled in the company's address. We entered the credit card number, and turned for that little ID number on the back. It was almost illegible. Almost, until Dave rubbed his finger over it and smeared it away entirely.
So our flights home will now wait a week or more while HR finds the time to request a new secret ID number for Dave's AmEx card. Because were we to purchase these with our own credit cards, we would be presented with two problems. First - our credit cards work in dollars. Dave receives wages in Yuan. For every major bill received in dollars, Dave must spend an hour or so at the Bank of China convincing them to transfer our RMB into dollars in our account at home. Second - AmericanAirlines.cn doesn't seem to offer fa pious. These are official receipts, recognized by the Chinese government and Chinese HR offices. If ever a person must submit a receipt, it must be a fa piou with a bright red stamp on it. Nothing doing. So we wait.
Wait, as I have for 7 weeks to have the repairs completed in our apartment. Wait to have the balcony scraped and painted, where large chips of old bronze paint chip off with the wind and fly against the newly installed bug screens. Wait for someone to safety-fy the windows - windows which currently open out, just like any door - where a child could step out just as simply. Wait for someone to repair the rods in the wardrobes, which fall down so often that 2 of the 4 have broken. After waiting, and yelling, and waiting, and being stood up, and yelling, and waiting some more, things finally began to happen today.
Two workmen showed up at my door this morning, ready to work. With our ayi, Wendy, at the ready to translate, these helpful men decorated our apartment by drilling 40 holes in the wall to hang our pictures and shelves. I paid them 5 RMB per hole, for a grand total of 200 RMB, or around $30 USD for nearly 5 hours of labor. When showed the wardrobes, they also went out and purchased new rods and fixed each one in no time flat. My heart rate remained steady through the entire day, as these men very carefully measured their holes and cleaned up their messes. Well, made an effort to clean up their messes.
Tomorrow, we expect the painter to fix the balcony flecked with silver and bronze. This same painter is apparently the safety-fier as well, and by the end of the day tomorrow I dare to hope that our home-work will be complete.
First, we had to wait for October 1st. Uncle H--'s financial calendar runs from October 1 through September 30. We last went home in February of 2008, so our next run must fall fiduciarily into the following calendar year. Come October 1, we knocked on HR's electronic door with a quick note - Do we have the all clear to arrange for our flights home?
After a few days, we had the all clear. Uncle H-- need not purchase them. We could purchase our own tickets, and send the receipt to HR for reimbursement. This created challenge number two. China is very much a cash-based society. Debit cards from Chinese banks will be accepted at many chain stores and restaurants, but cash manages most work. Our travel agent functions on a purely cash basis, and purchasing 4 round-trip coach seats to the states would cost over 40,000 RMB. This is a pretty large chunk of cash for us to hand over, and then wait a month or more for reimbursement.
As our agent doesn't accept credit cards, we moved onto an airline website. It is this mother's humble opinion that American Airlines is currently the best way for a family to fly between Shanghai and Chicago. With all of those qualifiers, few people could argue - right? Quite simply, only American and United provide direct flights from Shanghai to Chicago - that limits our options to 2. Among the 2, American's planes promise an individual movie screen for each seat. At last check, United had not updated their cross-Pacific planes to make people mildly comfortable. Of course, neither airline or their staff seem to have any particular interest in the comfort of their riders - especially those sitting in the back of the plane, in the cheap seats of coach. But at least American does realize that business is booming and that international carriers are quickly picking up the slack that US carriers dropped long ago.
So, we pointed ourselves toward www.AA.com, who promptly re-directed us to www.AmericanAirlines.cn which quickly and efficiently offered us flights originating in China and at lower prices than those originating in the states. We felt like we were gliding along. And with permission to use the company credit card, there could be no stops ahead. We reserved 4 tickets on our dates of choice. We clicked American Express in the drop-down box and filled in the company's address. We entered the credit card number, and turned for that little ID number on the back. It was almost illegible. Almost, until Dave rubbed his finger over it and smeared it away entirely.
So our flights home will now wait a week or more while HR finds the time to request a new secret ID number for Dave's AmEx card. Because were we to purchase these with our own credit cards, we would be presented with two problems. First - our credit cards work in dollars. Dave receives wages in Yuan. For every major bill received in dollars, Dave must spend an hour or so at the Bank of China convincing them to transfer our RMB into dollars in our account at home. Second - AmericanAirlines.cn doesn't seem to offer fa pious. These are official receipts, recognized by the Chinese government and Chinese HR offices. If ever a person must submit a receipt, it must be a fa piou with a bright red stamp on it. Nothing doing. So we wait.
Wait, as I have for 7 weeks to have the repairs completed in our apartment. Wait to have the balcony scraped and painted, where large chips of old bronze paint chip off with the wind and fly against the newly installed bug screens. Wait for someone to safety-fy the windows - windows which currently open out, just like any door - where a child could step out just as simply. Wait for someone to repair the rods in the wardrobes, which fall down so often that 2 of the 4 have broken. After waiting, and yelling, and waiting, and being stood up, and yelling, and waiting some more, things finally began to happen today.
Two workmen showed up at my door this morning, ready to work. With our ayi, Wendy, at the ready to translate, these helpful men decorated our apartment by drilling 40 holes in the wall to hang our pictures and shelves. I paid them 5 RMB per hole, for a grand total of 200 RMB, or around $30 USD for nearly 5 hours of labor. When showed the wardrobes, they also went out and purchased new rods and fixed each one in no time flat. My heart rate remained steady through the entire day, as these men very carefully measured their holes and cleaned up their messes. Well, made an effort to clean up their messes.
Tomorrow, we expect the painter to fix the balcony flecked with silver and bronze. This same painter is apparently the safety-fier as well, and by the end of the day tomorrow I dare to hope that our home-work will be complete.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Tardy Excuse
We've just learned an excuse for the tardiness in delivering our relocation package.
The Boss has left the company.
Referenced previously, The Boss runs the office in China and was in charge of putting together Dave's relocation package. The paperwork has been figuratively sitting on his desk for literally 2 months. The interim Boss is an expat, so will hopefully have not only more sympathy for our plight and act relatively quickly, but will also have firsthand knowledge of what is necessary. So my hopes are high that we will actually hear something from Uncle H-- within a reasonable amount of time.
On another note, we are in negotiations with someone over a lease purchase contract for our house. If all goes well, we should not have to worry about this within a week or so.
It seems too good to be true that within a few short weeks we may have both of these issues resolved!
The Boss has left the company.
Referenced previously, The Boss runs the office in China and was in charge of putting together Dave's relocation package. The paperwork has been figuratively sitting on his desk for literally 2 months. The interim Boss is an expat, so will hopefully have not only more sympathy for our plight and act relatively quickly, but will also have firsthand knowledge of what is necessary. So my hopes are high that we will actually hear something from Uncle H-- within a reasonable amount of time.
On another note, we are in negotiations with someone over a lease purchase contract for our house. If all goes well, we should not have to worry about this within a week or so.
It seems too good to be true that within a few short weeks we may have both of these issues resolved!
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Timing
We have heard nothing from Uncle H-- since our return to the states. I posted below what we learned while we were there, but we've still to learn exact dates, flight information (how many of the 4 of us get seats?), shipping information, and so forth. We are back to playing the waiting game and doing our best to be patient - all in God's time. But as we are able, we're starting to make plans. We're finishing up any work on our house to put it on the market within the next few weeks. We're packing in all of the necessary road trips. And if all goes as planned, the end days will go aproximately as follows:
Wed, August 15 - Nail the lids on our shipments and send them packing.
Sunday, August 26 - L--'s birthday / Our going away party with Lynne's familly
Friday, August 31 - The last night in town
Saturday, September 1 - Drive up to Chicago
Monday, September 3 - L--'s birthday / Our going away party with Dave's family
Sunday, September 9 - Fly to Shanghai
Tuesday, September 11 - Arrive in Shanghai
Wednesday, October 10 - Our shipment lands in our new home
Please note that these are just our tentative plans. Pencil it in, but please know that at this point, all dates may be off by up to 2 weeks in either direction. But having these plans helps me to put together the rest of my summer, with or without further word from Uncle H--. Keep an eye on the site - as soon as dates are set, it'll be posted.
Wed, August 15 - Nail the lids on our shipments and send them packing.
Sunday, August 26 - L--'s birthday / Our going away party with Lynne's familly
Friday, August 31 - The last night in town
Saturday, September 1 - Drive up to Chicago
Monday, September 3 - L--'s birthday / Our going away party with Dave's family
Sunday, September 9 - Fly to Shanghai
Tuesday, September 11 - Arrive in Shanghai
Wednesday, October 10 - Our shipment lands in our new home
Please note that these are just our tentative plans. Pencil it in, but please know that at this point, all dates may be off by up to 2 weeks in either direction. But having these plans helps me to put together the rest of my summer, with or without further word from Uncle H--. Keep an eye on the site - as soon as dates are set, it'll be posted.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Friday, 9:10 pm - postscript
By the way, we were ditched by The Boss.
We called at the end of our tour to ask him where we should meet. His secretary informed us that he had already left - called out on an emergency. No message from him.
Which was fine, really. This has been an exhausting day, and we were perfectly happy to come back to the hotel, read through some of our materials gathered during the day, and process everything over dinner at a fantastic Thai restaurant down the street from our hotel. Too bad we won't get the opportunity to talk business we were promised, but I had some doubts about that to begin with. Would have been fun to have him show us around the city some more, but there will be plenty of time for that.
We called at the end of our tour to ask him where we should meet. His secretary informed us that he had already left - called out on an emergency. No message from him.
Which was fine, really. This has been an exhausting day, and we were perfectly happy to come back to the hotel, read through some of our materials gathered during the day, and process everything over dinner at a fantastic Thai restaurant down the street from our hotel. Too bad we won't get the opportunity to talk business we were promised, but I had some doubts about that to begin with. Would have been fun to have him show us around the city some more, but there will be plenty of time for that.
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