Catching up

It’s been awhile since our last posting so this may meander a little bit as we try to catch you up with things happening here in China. It’s become more difficult with “big brother” blocking more and more sites from access so we’re trying to find ways to keep things updated but it is becoming more of a problem. It’s not like we’re doing anything subversive but around here one person spoils it for everyone. I’m surprised that even our web album page is also blocked but we’re to abide by the local rules and so we’re stopped from posting photos and stuff. Just one of the sacrifices we have had to make for this relocation. On my soapbox for just one moment, consider the tradeoff of security versus freedom. When people far away have “your best interests” (and they don’t even know you) in mind, this should scare you just a little. Giving up personal choices and personal responsibility should never be taken lightly.

The kids are doing well with the transition, or at least much better than I expected. It’s tough for them right now since school doesn’t start for another couple of weeks and they are surrounded by adults. They haven’t killed each other (yet) but you can see that they are getting tired of one another. They are now registered for the Fall semester and are ready to get started. Warren has to take several tests to determine where his skill levels fall for English, Math and Chinese. Obviously the Chinese section will result in a low score since his exposure is limited but that’s okay (I think he’ll get his name written on the page and that’s about it), we expect him to be in the beginner class. Math and English….now we can see where the GA schools fall according to the IB school standards. Again, we don’t expect miracles since GA ranks low in the US. CRCT scores….what’s CRCT? Jacob lucks out that he doesn’t have to take any tests but we’ll find out how he does quickly. August 24 is coming up rapidly, we have the Open House on the 22nd where we can pick up their uniforms and other school stuff they need.

Work is going okay; it’s still a learning cycle for me as I work alongside of some local contractors to get things done. It would seem that they try to get away with whatever they can. The workmanship isn’t there and if you turn your back, they’ll take every shortcut in the book and hope you don’t notice. I have taken the advice of Jenny, my Chinese Expat co-worker; when they are upset…you just have to be more upset than they are. Using this advice, I took it to the next level and showed them what I thought of their work. Believe me; it was difficult since I have to be loud and angry to Jenny since she translates what I say (not too angry though since that could be thought of as losing my cool which will cause me to lose face). She’s not the source of my frustration but I have to be sure my tone gets conveyed before she starts to translate. I even took the opportunity to show them how easily what they did would break by kicking at it a little with my toe and breaking it without any effort. I think it finally came across to them that I was serious (only after two weeks of consistently asking questions and telling them it was wrong). It makes for an interesting insight into the rapid growth of the country and thinking about how some of the work may get done quickly as opposed to correctly. The SIP area is 15 years old and when you drive by and look at some of the buildings, you would swear that they have been around a lot longer than that. The country is progressing very rapidly but will it last?

We’ve had 4 kids in working with us and training for the past 5 weeks. I say kids because the oldest of the group is 26. We have 6 more kids coming in this week and these will really be kids. They are from a textile college in Changzhou and will be working here for at least 1 year to finish off their schooling. [Educational content: Colleges and Universities are different here rather than just being interchangeable words. Colleges are 3 years and are typically for more technical skills, more like a Technical School. Universities are 4 years and are for the kids that score higher on the tests and have the extra $$$ to stay in school.] I’ll bet that the incoming group will all be under 20 years old. For the current group, it’s interesting to get to know them and see how they interact with Westerners. One of the first questions I got from them (outside of the classroom) is “Do you have a Chinese girlfriend?” They said they could find me one if I wanted one. Imagine that, I can’t understand American women…what the heck am I going to do with a Chinese woman? (although I’m sure they know how to spend money just as well as their counterparts but imagine the “you don’t understand me” type conversations…no kidding, you speak Chinese) It was an odd question but it almost seems expected here that the foreigners will have “local interests”. It’s kind of funny to speak with them at times and hear their thoughts on many things. They are very interested in how we lived in the US. Having two cars (Two cars!!!! You must be rich.), owning a home, etc. are very different from here. We don’t talk politics at all since its best not to raise that topic. The kids speak okay English (which is better than my non-existent Chinese) but some of the terms they use are really not accurate. Many times you will explain something to them for the first time and they will respond with “I know…..” You know?!? I’m sure it’s something they were taught but it certainly doesn’t mean they know, especially if you ask them to repeat what you said. They want to improve their English skills so they are eager to speak English but sometimes it makes for difficulties when trying to teach them something (even when training in Chinese). It makes the day very interesting. Anyhow, the plant is very young and it makes us feel old (although I am the youngest of the Press Expats, I still feel old).

Some other random thoughts from China, just to touch on a few other items;
• Taxi drivers. UGH!!! Friday night we had a new experience when a driver was mad that we wanted him to take us to Bar Street (Hey, you live with our kids for a week and try not to drink….don’t judge me!). Friday night, getting to Bar Street is a mess for traffic before 6:30 pm and sometimes the drivers don’t want to deal with it and he was one of those but we got in the car before he found out. He drove like a maniac (much worse than the standard taxi ride) and went right on past the restaurant we wanted to eat and finally threw up his hands and asked where we wanted to get out. Here is fine (nut job!). So we walked to the eatery and had a good meal. This does happen every once in awhile to other Expats but it’s the first time I’ve seen it.
• Big Feet. Try to find shoes for Warren around town. Walking through a shopping complex just off Walking Street, one of the cleaning women looked at Warren’s feet, pointed and laughed at the big feet. He’s still trying to figure out how to walk on these Sideshow Bob feet. He seems to trip over anything and everything when walking.
• No oven. Try and prepare dinners for a week with no oven. We used the oven and our George Foreman grill all the time to make dinner, now…nothing. We’re looking to either move or buy a decent size toaster oven to meet our needs. We found a Costco/Sams type market called Metro and once we have our hot box…life may get much easier.
• Apartment maintenance. Our apartment complex has some real issues with maintenance (this is probably the same at many other places as well), they don’t seem to fix anything. When something goes wrong, don’t expect a quick resolution. We have had a window leak for over a month now. It’s fixed when it doesn’t rain so what’s our complaint!?! We’ve been patient but it’s getting old quick. It might be that the “maintenance” people don’t know how to fix something, they were just hired to perform a job and it doesn’t mean they have ever even held a screwdriver in their life.