Fare Thee Well, China

It occurred to me the other day, when a Facebook friend asked if I was back in China or still in Canada, that I haven't officially mentioned the fact that we are not returning to China.

It actually came as a surprise to us when we were told back in June that we basically had, "six weeks to pack up your shit and get out."  This was after months of going back and forth on the issue of whether the kids and I wanted to stay in China or return home and let K stay by himself.  Of course two weeks before we were given the heave ho, I had officially decided that I wanted to return to Chengdu after the summer break because I felt like we had made a home in the community of expats from around the world.

Needless to say six weeks wasn't enough time for us to tie up loose ends and here the kids and I sit on Quadra Island, BC, Canada while K is in Alberta dealing with work stuff and our apartment in Chengdu continues to sit with all our belongings while Dexter and that rotten cat have been farmed out to friends.  Loose.  Ends.  I would kiss the apartment goodbye with everything in it to know that the dog will be on a plane for Canada sometime soon.  Sigh.

So there you have it.  I won't say we are back in Canada for good because you know how these things go.  We could go somewhere else next week(I seriously hope not) but for now we are here on 'The Rock'  enjoying family and friends that for the last seven years we have only seen once or twice a year.

I guess this is the last post for My China Life but stay tuned...there could be a My Quadra Life...you never know!

Whiskas and the Laowai to the Rescue!

We moved from our old apartment in Tongzilin last weekend to a nicer, newer albeit smaller one nearer to my husband's office in downtown Chengdu.  For few days after we settled in, my husband K returned from walks with the dog in the courtyard to tell the kids he thought there was a litter of kittens somewhere.  I finally suggested we go investigate.

Instead of finding kittens, we found a kitten.  And what a sad state of affairs he was in!  This is the opening to the ventilation shaft where he was.  As you can see from the size of the opening, it could very well have been someone's kid who had fallen in rather than a kitten.

And this is the hole.  Eight or 10 feet down, smooth cement on all sides and no chance of climbing out.  In the near dark, being eaten alive by mosquitoes we tied the dog's leash and two of our daughter's shoe laces to our garbage can with some cat kibbles we'd found in the bush(yes, desperate times call for desperate measures) which we then lowered into the hole.  We finally gave up after about half an hour and dumped the food down with some water so he at least had some sustenance until morning.

The next day we asked the management office if they had a small maintenance worker willing to be lowered into the hole.  They hummed and hawed; one guy climbed in scaring the kitten into an opening farther under ground and then told us there was another way they could go in and they would send us word when they had rescued the kitten.  When we had heard nothing all day I told K that it was up to us because management wasn't doing anything about it.  I suggested he go to the Hongqi store across the road and see if they sold wet cat food.  He returned with two packages of Whiskas wet cat food-- Ocean Fish and Tuna flavor.  I don't know of any cat that can resist that!  Off we went with our garbage can attached to a dog leash and shoes laces with Ocean Fish cat food in the bottom.  It took about 10 minutes before the scrawny, starving kitten succumbed to the temptation and got in the bucket.  K pulled it up as fast as he could but when the kitten saw him at the top, he leaped out of the bucket and landed back in the bottom of the hole.  Cursing and swearing ensued before the bucket was lowered again.  This time--success!

"I got him!"

Filthy and starving; ribs and hip bones protruding, we rushed him upstairs.

A bowl of chicken broth and a bath later and he started to look much better.  I had him purring in no time.

He's doing much better but not out of the woods yet.  In a country that cares little for animals, finding things like good quality cat food is difficult.  I am on the search for Whiskas cat milk right now because he's so little and everything else is upsetting his stomach.

We've decided to name him Yunqi(Yoon chee) which is Chinese for Luck and we are in China after all. It wasn't luck that he fell down that hole but it was luck that we happened by.  And we all need a little Yunqi in our lives, don't we?  ;)

Beyond Index

Yesterday marked the worst readings I have seen on the China Air Quality Index.  We've gotten pretty used to seeing numbers in the 200-300 range and occasionally into the 400's but the numbers yesterday left all of that, literally, in the dust.  Chengdu has not had rain in several months creating very dusty conditions which only adds to the particulate matter.  I googled PM(particulate matter)2.5-10 because I wanted to know what exactly we are putting ourselves at risk for.  This is what Wikipedia had to say...

"The effects of inhaling particulate matter that have been widely studied in humans and animals now include asthma, lung cancer, cardiovascular issues, respiratory diseases, birth defects, and premature death. The size of the particle is a main determinant of where in the respiratory tract the particle will come to rest when inhaled. Because of their small size, particles on the order of ~10 micrometers or less (PM₁₀) can penetrate the deepest part of the lungs such as the bronchioles or alveoli.^[38] Larger particles are generally filtered in the nose and throat via cilia and mucus, but particulate matter smaller than about 10 micrometers, referred to as PM₁₀, can settle in the bronchi and lungs and cause health problems. The 10 micrometer size does not represent a strict boundary between respirable and non-respirable particles, but has been agreed upon for monitoring of airborne particulate matter by most regulatory agencies. Similarly, particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers, PM_2.5, tend to penetrate into the gas exchange regions of the lung, and very small particles (< 100 nanometers) may pass through the lungs to affect other organs."

The US Consulate only takes the reading for the PM2.5 because those particles are the most hazardous to us and that reading determines whether the children at my kids' school have inside or outside recess.  Anything 300 or above and they stay inside. 

Breathing  the air yesterday was like walking down a gravel road in the middle of July with trucks driving back and forth kicking up dust with the added bonus of sucking on an exhaust pipe.  Sounds healthy right?

Regardless of particle size, I think a reading of 1017 is over the top atrocious and continued crap like that will certainly have us packing our bags for home at the end of June.

not

Spring *sigh*

Spring is here...the Chinese New Year marks the start of  it.  Actually as I type this, most of these trees are almost finished blooming.  I think its the best time in Chengdu; when the smell of blossoms almost masks the smell of raw sewage emanating from storm drains!  Yum!

Waiting for his turn to have a sniff  

And with the blossoms comes the warm weather!!  25 degrees today!  I traded my capris and hoody for a skort and short sleeved hoody this afternoon!  That's really going to make me look like a crazy person now! Mwah ha ha!

Mom comes to China!

My mom was here for three weeks and headed home to Canada last Friday.  The apartment seems rather empty without her here(the dishes are also piling up...just sayin'.) We had a very busy time while she was visiting with the proof being the numbers on the scale when I weighed myself at the end of the third week.  I imagine the four kg loss was due to the amount of walking we did and to the fact that we lived off of noodle cups, Subway and nuts for an entire week while in Beijing and Xi'an!

I hope that I was able to give her the China experience she was looking for!  I know that she said more than   once that it was an eye opening experience.  For your viewing pleasure, a tourists' photographic look at three weeks in China.

The Green Ram Taoist Monastery, Chengdu

Jinli Street, Chengdu

Giant Panda Research Base, Chengdu

Then off to Beijing to see...

Tiannenmen Square- The Monument for the People's Heroes, Beijing

The Forbidden City, Beijing

The Great Wall, Badaling

The Temple of Heaven, Beijing

We came back to Chengdu for a one day rest before we jumped on a plane for Xi'an.

The City Wall, Xi'an

The Terra Cotta Warriors, Shaanxi Province

While in Xi'an we also wandered through the Muslim Quarter but the day was so cold and miserable and we'd had enough of being tourists that I didn't even take pictures.

It was an exhausting week!  I found Beijing and Xi'an both to be more 'civilized' than Chengdu.  Many people spoke English and the streets weren't as chaotic but because more people spoke English I found bargaining to be much more difficult.

The trip to The Great Wall was pretty much a nightmare.  We stood in line for three hours at the train station and then had to run and fight for a spot on the train.  It was the same on the way back and my kids ended up sitting on flyers on the floor of the train much like many other people.

Seeing the Terra Cotta Warriors was pretty awesome!  Possibly more awesome than the Great Wall.  The City Wall was also pretty cool but it never ceases to amaze me that none of these 'wonders of the world' are actually even old.  The Great Wall was rebuilt in the 1950's and again in the 1980's.  Xi'an's city wall was also rebuilt in the 1980's.

In the words of Carl Pilkington from An Idiot Abroad "It's not really the Great Wall...  It's more like the OK Wall...It goes on for miles but so does the M6..."(If you haven't seen An Idiot Abroad: China, go download it right now!  It's hilarious!  And. So. True.)

If I had to leave tomorrow, I would leave content that I have seen everything I have wanted to see in China.  Next up:  Hong Kong in April!

Thank you Mom for coming to visit us!  Looking forward to seeing you in June!  xoxo

A Milestone Come and Gone

My hard drive decided to spontaneously combust the week before last leaving me without a computer and taking three years worth of stuff with it.  You'd think starting from scratch would be fun, you know like Christmas morning opening up a new computer.  Ha!  Not even close!  Anyway while that was happening, our one year anniversary of being in China came and went.  This is a wee bit annoying because I was looking forward to putting up a year in review through pictures.  Remember the bull's cock and balls at the grocery store?  Fun fun fun!  Well change of plans.  I haven't any pictures for you.  I was going to post from my phone but its China and things such as that are really not as simple as one might think.

So I will paint a picture with words instead.  Go ahead and get comfy, it could be a long story.

On January 22, 2012 the kids and I arrived exhausted at 2:30 am into the Chengdu airport.  Eyes puffy from lack of sleep, crying from my ordeal of handing over the Chihuahua at the Shanghai airport, kids exhausted from only managing a couple of hours of sleep in 30 or so hours of traveling and thus began our China Life. 

For five nights we stayed at the Shangri La before moving into a giant, empty and fffffffreezing cold apartment.  Every step out the door was an adventure.  We walked everywhere.  And when we weren't walking, we were on the Metro zipping up and down Line One, walking to the office to visit K and drinking more Starbucks coffee than I ever have in my life. 

After a month reality started to set in.  We had explored everything within walking distance and catching taxis was proving difficult.  The kids were getting bored and I was getting depressed.  I tried to make things fun but the staring and the touching were getting on everyone's nerves. 

Thankfully we started to meet some people and Spring comes early in Chengdu bringing forth the cherry blossoms in every shade of pink you can imagine.  But homesickness is hard to shake.  The first three months were the hardest and just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore we got a reprieve and went to Dubai.  The sunshine and fresh air was exactly what we needed.  And it wasn't long after that that we were back in Canada for the summer. 

Its really hard to believe that it's been a year.  Sometimes I think wow!  That year just flew by and other times I think its a miracle I didn't jam a chopstick through my eye and put myself out of my misery.

Having the kids in school has been so good for them and for me.  They are getting an amazing learning experience with kids from all over the world and teachers from all over the world bringing their experiences and techniques you wouldn't get anywhere else.  F is learning violin and both kids are learning Chinese which is very valuable in my opinion.  And being on my own has given  me the chance to see things for myself and work on ME.

But to be honest, I don't want to celebrate a second anniversary in China.  I think we've learned  a lot about patience and compassion and we will be better more well rounded people for it but there are just too many things that drive me crazy here.  I think we need to get out while we're ahead! And the kids are ready to go home too.  They miss their friends and their pets.  And sadly most of the friends they have made here are moving elsewhere at the end of June.  This is playing heavily on their hearts knowing that starting school in August would mean making all new friends.

My Mom is coming on Saturday to spend three weeks with us.  I look forward to seeing China through a tourists' eyes and not my own (biased, 'time-hardened') ones.  We will take her to Beijing and Xian over Chinese New Year where we will be tourists because we've never been to either of those cities.  It should be exciting!

So those are my thoughts and feelings on our year in China.  We have seen some amazing things that we never would have experienced otherwise and we have also seen some not so amazing things, some downright gross things and things that make me so angry I want to scream.  Canada isn't a perfect country  but living here has certainly reminded me of what I have taken for granted.  Living here has made want to be a better person. 

Little Pictures have big ears

Pictures; pitchers not sure which its actually supposed to be but my mom has always said pictures and her mom said pictures so that's what I'm going with.  So anyway, point is:  your kids hear everything you say even if you don't realize that they hear.  Case in point:  my dear sweet darling five year old boy dropped the F Bomb at school on Thursday.  Mortified doesn't even come close to how I feel.  I know I'm at fault.  I say the F word even though I try hard not to say it in front of my kids.(You probably would too if people were trying to run you over on a daily basis.)  I never really thought it needed addressing because my daughter thinks anything beyond the word poop is a bad word, so I assumed(you know about assumptions) that kids using bad adult words wasn't going to be an issue.  Clearly I was wrong!  After a talk about 'the word' and telling the boy child that if his friends parents found out he was teaching their kids this word then he might not be allowed to play with them anymore, he went to bed feeling rather sheepish. 

Yesterday I talked to Mr. R, my son's teacher about it and he agreed to talk to the class about how to treat other people and what being a good friend means.  He told me at the end of the day that S's eyes got wide and he sort of shrunk into himself when his teacher started talking about name calling.  He knew what it was about! 

I know that in reality some kids swear.  They just do.  They hear it at school, they hear it from movies, parents, people on the street etc but I don't want to encourage that in my own children nor do I want them to be the kids in school using the bad words! 

So I guess as well as my resolution to be happy no matter what, I also need to curb my swearing.  Its hard to break a bad habit especially when I live in a place that is so different from where I came from and all I want to do is scream at the top of my lungs, "why are you so f**king stupid?!" to the people in the grocery store.  I won't.  I'm probably already known as the crazy laowai anyway.  No more F word. 

I'll work on it...

Where's the Logic?

I made my morning trip to the grocery store today to grab ingredients for Minestrone Soup for dinner and I was feeling like dumplings for lunch.  Upon reaching the section where the fresh dumplings are located I noticed that the date on the tag was wrong.  It said 2013-01-04 to 2013-01-05.  Okay well I know its the 9th today so either they punched the wrong date in or someone forgot to make fresh dumplings.  I showed a package to the nearest store employee and then punched are these made today?  into my translator.  She gives me some sort of non committing shrug while she texts on her phone.  Okay.  A store manager then comes over and he explains to me in veeeeeeerrrrrryyy slow Chinese something.  I smile and tell him in Chinese that I don't understand what he's saying and show him my translator asking if they are fresh.  So then he gets out his phone and starts scribbling away in Chinese then shows it to me.  I was waiting for him to hit the 'translate' button which will magically change it into English.  I guess there wasn't a magic button.  Okay so logic would suggest that if a person(me) doesn't understand what you are saying in Chinese then I'm likely not going to understand written Chinese either!  Just sayin'.

Malaysia in Instagram

The Cherry on the Top of the Christmas Cake

We told the kids no presents this year- going on vacation was their gift from us plus stocking stuffers because Santa can't stop doing 'his' job just because we're on vacation!  Anyway Christmas morning was a slow relaxed affair mainly because my husband K was nursing a pair of seriously sun burnt legs.  Let me tell you he will never forgo sunscreen again!(10 days later and he's still shedding like a snake!)

We had decided before leaving for Malaysia that we weren't going to risk our Christmas dinner to any old hotel restaurant so we made a reservation at the Shangri-La Rasa Ria.  We eat at the Shangri-La Chengdu regularly and knew we would get an amazing Christmas dinner.  So off we went.  Its a beautiful resort!  As we were sitting down the sun started to set which sent me running for the beach with my camera.  At our own resort the sun dips behind a hill before touching the water so this was our one and only glimpse at a tropical sunset.

It was spectacular!   The cherry on the top of the Christmas cake!

And just like that it was gone.  

Time for a drink!  A Kinabalu Cooler. (Although pretty to look at I have to be honest and tell you Moxie's back home does better drinks than I had on this whole trip!)

Dinner was delicious- turkey, chestnut stuffing, Brussels sprouts, everything in between and dessert.  It wasn't my Mom's turkey dinner but it was pretty darn good!