Uniform's

My very very good friend Sandra and I (Is that ok Sandra does it make up for me not mentioning you in my blog sooner you now officially exist on my blog. you have come a long away) have some how inherited organizing and distributing the uniforms at school. (I am sure this has something to do with our organizational skills and that we started off bored at home so we thought we would help out at school). This has been a long sager. Abby the kindergarten teacher ordered the uniforms back in May hoping that they would all be here by the start o f the school year in August. All I can say is that we are on China time. When they turn up they turn up. We still don’t have them all. We sent a lot back because the sizes where incorrect and the colour was wrong. We are still waiting to receive all the summer uniforms. (Yes believe it or not we are still wearing summer uniforms over here. It is still warm most days.) When we receive a shipment of uniforms we have to quality control them. Check sizes and colour and check that we received the right quantity. It takes us a while. But thankfully we have many other mothers that also come into the school and help us out. Our job then is to fill the orders. There are only 63 students in the school, so filling orders does not take that long. Its receiving them that seems to be taking awhile, waiting until they arrive is the hardest. Meanwhile the uniforms have been relocated to another part of the school. We had fun getting them all back on the shelves again and in the right order because the sizes aren’t labeled right on most of them. So this is how I spend my day at school. I come in one day a week. Help out the teachers do photocopies and any other odd jobs around the place. When more uniforms arrive and it is all hands on deck again to check and fill orders. 

strange behaviour

Its funny how you start to not question the strange behaviour of others. I will relay a story from one one of my colleagues who is from Canada and doesn't speak any Chinese. (he will be known as J).

J was on his way home from the Airport via taxi. The taxi driver stopped and started explaining in great detail something he wanted J to do. He stopped a few meters prior to a toll gate on a freeway to town. After about 10minutes of talking back and forth and getting nowhere J decided to get out and flag another taxi. When J got out of the taxi he walked through to the other side of the toll gate to get a taxi where the taxi driver he was just with called him over for him to get back in his car. I guess it is cheaper to go through without a passenger.

This is one example of typical situations we deal with and do it with a smile.

Working Girl

I am 35 year’s old and I have never waited tables before. There is always a first and today was that day. Friends we have met have opened a diner. It’s not far from where we live in our local restaurant area. This area happens to be called French street.

The diner is called the Aloha. I think it is really cool that an Hawaiian restaurant is on a street called French Street.

Anyway today was there grand opening and they just needed some extra help. I waited tables, lots of tables. (The rest of the waiting staff are all local girls, some have broken English, some can speak English very well). So here I am, first day on the job. Lunch was crazy we had VIP’s everywhere so lots of sucking up to do. I know what you are thinking, I can assure you I was nowhere near the local VIP’s. I had the non VIP tables. I had a blast. I had so much fun. I didn’t know waiting tables could be so much fun. After lunch was finished it was 2:30pm. Time for us volunteers to have lunch, clean the tables and get ready for the dinner crowed. It started slow, really slow, we where worried that no-one was going to turn up. Our best customers were my family and every one loved being around the kids.

A little later the Restaurant picked up. I guess most people eat dinner later here. We had a blast anyway. The owner sang and played ukulele and their granddaughter danced with her Hawaiian skirt. It was awesome. I had such a great day.

I must admit I have a new appreciation for waitresses over all of the world now. It is hard to take orders, make sure they get their drinks, and ensure the kitchen staff make the food that you actually wrote down on the little piece of paper - which was written in Chinese characters by the way. Not that I wrote them but they were where I was meant to write the food.

I still enjoyed my 12 hour shift at the dinner. I am glad they don’t have grand openings everyday. I am sure I will be volunteering there more in the future. I didn’t spill food on anyone or brake anything. I guess until I do I will be there to lend a hand until they don’t need me anymore.

Working in China

This is something I came across and seems very relevant in my experience to living and working in China (only for a very short time so far).

You know you’ve lived in China too long when…

1. - You find yourself crying over a menu in a western restaurant because they serve green salad
2. - You haven’t eaten anything baked in months
3. - You eat every kind of meat off the bone, and spit the bones on the table or wherever they land
4. - You know how to use a squatter potty
5. - Grown men and women often say hello to you, and when you reply they run away giggling
6. - you see nothing wrong with standing on a white stripe in the middle of a highway while cars whiz past you at 90kph
7. - you don’t blink an eye when a complete stranger wants to take a photo of you with his family
8. - you actually put some thought into which live snake you want cooked for your meal and don't think twice when they bring your dinner live to the table for your approval before it is cooked
9. - you eat soup with chopsticks and drink straight from the bowl
10. - you use Kleenex for table napkins
11. - you drink warm sodas and find them refreshing
12. - you are accustomed to seeing people’s heads popping up and down in the VCD you are watching
13. - you no longer use articles when you speak
14. - you bargain with the grocer over the cost of a head of lettuce
    - You no longer question why the expiration date on the milk you just bought is two months from now
15. - you buy a movie that hasn’t been released theatrically yet at home
16. - you complain about the price of chocolate bars and breakfast cereal
17. - a trim at the barber involves two washes, a scalp massage, a shoulder massage, and a crowd of onlookers
18. - you go to a park and get a warning from the police because you walked on the grass
19. - you’ve come to believe the red stamp is all powerful
20. - you find yourself spitting in public places (i.e. the street, restaurant) and not thinking twice
21. - you take it in stride when you are offered beer at lunch before going back to work
22. - you start wearing a face mask on windy days and wonder at the “silly foreigners” who don’t do the same
23. - You can’t find face lotion or cleanser that does not bleach your skin whiter
24. - you shove the guy before you in line back to where he stood half a minute before
25. - you stand 1 inch from the person in front of you so no-one can cut in line in front of you
26. - You have ten different responses to the question, “Do you like China?”
27. - You know ten different ways to point out a foreigner in Chinese
28. - You point out foreigners to your Chinese friends even though you’re foreign yourself

I Am Still Alive

Sorry it is a been awhile I have been very busy but I am alive and well and am very excited to tell you - today I ran 2.90 miles or 4.67 kilometers. Yes I am still standing, and breathing for that matter. I have a goal and with some friends we are training to meet that goal. Our goal is to run a marathon. Now we are not going to do this tomorrow nor are we going to do it this year. We are all Mother’s, Wives and over the age of 35 so we are going to do this at a comfortable level. One where we minimize this risk of injury. None of us have run a marathon before. So we are on a training schedule. First we are training for a 10k then a half marathon and then hopefully (if none of us have suffered any injuries or illness) by the end of next year we can say we have run a marathon. I know some of you think I am crazy, well now you have just cause to think that. I am in training and loving it at the moment, ask me in a few months if I am still loving it and my response may be different.

Success

Sheridan has finally used a local toilet, a squatty potty, a hole in the ground. You can choose what you would like to call it. Here is a picture of what we are dealing with. She actually likes them and prefers them now. Well at least over a western style toilet when she has a choice. 

Biking Family

We have bikes now. OK. We have bicycles now, all four of us. The girls have pink princess bikes. My bike looks like something from the wizard of oz. I have a little basket on the front and I feel like flying high in the sky when I am riding it. I guess all I need now is my trusty TOTO to go in my basket. We all know that will happen real soon. NOT

Our family went on our first bike ride. We decided to go see a site close to us. Let me just tell you I have never met such kind and helpful people as the people of Wuhan. You all have read about how Sheridan tends to fall down a lot. There is nothing different about how she rides a bike. We seem to have to stop every few meters to help her up again. I’m hoping this won’t be a regular occurrence once the training wheels come off. I am sure the extra two wheels are not helping. Then again I am her Mother, I guess I can just hope that she grows out of it. Every time we were near a local and Sheridan needed help either getting up from falling down or help riding up a little hill there was always a helping hand to help her. I guess it helps that she is sooo cute as well. (Oops hang on I am not allowed to say that she is cute anymore she thinks that’s too babyish. I guess it helps that she is sooo beautiful and everywhere we go people stop to look at her or comment and say she is beautiful and just have to have their photos taken with her.)

Our family found a great park not far from our house. Well I thought it was not far. We had to stop for lunch on the way there. It took as about 1.5 hours to ride home but we did stop for ice cream and Sheridan’s legs can only go so fast (not to mention her falling off her bike).

The park was great. A fabulous play ground for the kids with a trampoline and a rock wall. A beautiful lake with paddle boats (We did not try them out this time) and great gardens to walk around. It was well worth the bike ride there. The next day the kids wanted to go back so it couldn’t have been that bad a bike ride.

Day 1 - In Hong Kong

So as great parents we decided to go to Hong Kong to go to Disney Land for Delenn’s 8 Birthday. (Ok we had to leave China to get our visa’s organized) So off to Hong Kong we go. When we arrive it is poring with rain. So for our first tourist stop we went to the Science Museum. The kids loved it. Ok truth be told Dan and I loved it as much as the kids. The girls loved the satellite TV the best. We sat in two sound booth rooms and talked to each other while watching each other on the TV. Of course Delenn and Sheridan had to be in London like Aunty Nicci and Mark. I guess it reminded them of talking to them on skype. We wish we could talk to all of you. Now I guess you will have to set up with skype so you can talk to us and see us all the way on the other side of the world. 

Day 2 - Disney Land Hong Kong

For Delenn we went to Disneyland. I think the highlight of the day was meeting Cinderella (She eluded us in LA). It was so exciting for the kids to finally get to meet her.

The other highlight was “The Golden Mickey’s”. I really wanted to see the musical of Disney’s well known songs. So we waited and waited in line to get into the hopefully air condition theater. After waiting about 45 minutes in the warm ok it was down right hot, we arrive at our seats. Great planning by us (Ok it was just good luck) we sat near the front and more importantly in front of the English subtitle screen. The songs were all in English but the MC was only in Cantonese. It was great, the music, the dancing. We all loved it. It was a great end to a perfect day in Disney Land.

Dinner Time
We headed back to the hotel for dinner. Now I was just settling into a great meal of India food when Sheridan being Sheridan decided to climb over the arm of her chair instead of pulling her chair out and sitting on her seat. Sheridan fell backwards on to the hard marble floors. Well that sent the staff into a bit of a flap. I just sat there being the great Mother that I am. If they new Sheridan like I do they would have gone on with their usual activities. Well this time she did not cry that much and in her own words “My head feels squishy”. There was a bit of blood so Dan plops her on my lap and I check it our. By now Sheridan has stopped crying and is wondering what all the fuss is about. She had split her head open a little bit. About 1” or 3 cms (depending on where you live) Anyway she need stitches. The manger called for ambulance and informed us that we should take her to the privet hospital. Off to the hospital we go in the back of an ambulance thank you very much.


We arrived at the hospital. A few questions were asked about the nature of the accident? Was it an accident or did she slip on wet floor? After making sure all was well. Sheridan was seen by the Doctor. We had to get x rays to make sure there was no fracture. Sheridan came out of the Doctor office saying “I have to have an x ray to see if I cracked head”. The x ray was all clear so it was off to the treatment room for two stitches. Sheridan didn’t even cry when the doctor numbed the area and put the stitches in. We left the hospital only having been there one and half hours and being set back thousands of dollars. (ok it was Hong Kong dollars everything cost thousands) It sounds more dramatic that way.

Day 3

Down to business today we went to get our visa’s.
After waiting for a while to get the paper work we have to come back later to pick up our passports. We decided to go shopping or was that get coffee. Daniel finally had his wish a Starbucks family. The girls favorite place to eat and drink was Starbucks. They loved hot chocolate. And of course Dan loves his Café Latte. I suffer and go along I am not sure why? Except that at the Starbucks in Hong Kong you can get Meat Pies and Sausage rolls (Sorry to all my US friend who have never had the fortune of trying one of these yummy delicious food that made me feel a whole lot closes to home (even if we were in Starbucks)). So the kids would ask to go to Starbucks for their hot chocolate every time we saw one. I am sure Daniel has brainwashed them both.

I found a supermarket in the shopping mall. I love going into supermarkets in different counties it is interesting to see what sort of food you can get there and what people buy. We were in a very up market supermarket. I loved it and went a little crazy with my purchases. I found things I could not get the US and things I know I could not get in Wuhan. I had so much fun. Here I was in Hong Kong spending up big in a supermarket. We all had to stop for coffee after I had dragged them around the shop more than once wondering how I was going to carry all this back to the hotel and get it back to Wuhan. I am pleased to tell you no food was sacrificed. It all made it back to Wuhan. Except the captain crunch that the kids ate in two sittings.


That evening we went up to Victoria Peek for breath taking views of Hong Kong Harbor. We enjoyed dinner at a fine restaurant with an incredible view of the harbor and traveled back down the peek on the tram to the ferry and then the bus back to the hotel. What a Day.

Day 4 - Ocean Park

We are off to Ocean Park a great theme park in Hong Kong. We were there when the doors opened and explored the park with not many people around. I think it also helped that it was raining a bit but only enough to get wet. We are Australians we are not going to let a little rain get in the way of a great day. In fact Delenn and I went on a ride twice just to get wet again. Delenn also went on a ride with Daniel that span around really fast and upside down and she said that was her favorite ride. Sheridan is still not tall enough. I guess it won’t be too long before I have to get on these rides as well. I need to show my girls that I am not scared of anything (oops to late they are the ones that protect me when we go walking and come across a dog). Ocean Park was split into to areas by a large hill. To get over the hill you had to ride on a Cable car. The ride in the cable car had breath taking views of the South China Seas.
Ocean Park was also home to two Panda’s. We went to have a look and they were beautiful and playful. The girls were more interested in buying soft panda’s than watching the real ones.
At the end of the day we watched the dolphins and sea lions perform in an educational spectacular. Well that is what the guide map said. It was dolphins and sea lions performing, it was educational and fun and the girls loved it.

That evening we went to Stanley. A little sea side town with street markets and lots and lots of shops for me to go wild in. We were all a bit hungry so we went to the pub for dinner. I had to have another VB and Fish ‘n Chips while looking at the sea on the balcony of a pub. A perfect setting to end the day. Now I was ready for shopping to finish off the night. However someone needed to tell the market that I needed to eat first then shop. We got out of the pub that had the best fish n chips I have had in ages (and it was also run buy India’s). We turned the corner to enter the market and guess what. Most of the Market was closed or closing. My luck. We still managed to buy a few things before everything closed down. I still recommend going there if you are ever in Hong Kong Stanley is a must see. 

Day 5

Back to Wuhan today. We have our passports with our new stamps in it so now we can stay in China. We are tired from our full itineraries and our exciting trip to Hong Kong and wish we had more time. Oh well we will have to come back again real soon. Back home to work and School and I guess I will have to settle into being a lady of leisure. It’s a hard life