2011年4月11日星期一

Home « Schweizer Shanghai

It's been a while!  But that's because it's been a very busy while.

On Friday, April 1st, we moved our belongings via a van from the hotel to our apartment and were officially given the keys.  It can be a pretty odd experience, but we are starting to get used to not knowing much of what is going on in what would seem to be these rather important situations.  We were picked up from the hotel by a realtor representative and at the apartment we met the landlord's representative (more Chinese women that further suggest that China must be run these girls in their 20′s).  We're never quite sure who we're meeting where  or when and what will happen when we get there.  We signed some papers, took more passport photos for our club membership (we've lost track of how many of those pictures we've needed in the last 4 months!), found where to put trash, asked someone to read the Chinese on the washer and tell me how to use it, and the like.  I know it's going to be hard to believe, but we still don't even know what our zip code is, so while we do have a physical address, we don't exactly know what it is yet.

We had decided to stay at the hotel Friday night for a number of reasons, primarily because Paul had to work Saturday (another Chinese holiday where you get days off during the week but have to work on Saturday).  While he was at work, I went to another of our Theology classes in the morning and then came over here to start washing sheets and towels.  The afternoon took a slightly different turn when it became apparent that the washer was not also a drier as someone had thought.  Soooo, then I had wet sheets at 3 in the afternoon and it was a gray drizzly day.  Luckily the heater in the living room blows at a good angle!  The evening contained a few more unexpecteds and set backs, but nothing too out of the normal as far as moving is concerned.  Speaking of moving, the counter is currently at 6 moves, 3 states, and 2 countries in 22 months.  Never saw that coming! But, it has taught us so much.

So that weekend started the Chinese Qingming Festival, which is a time for taking care of your ancestors' graves.  I believe you only go back as far as your grandparents.  So, many people have to travel to wherever their relatives are buried.  As usual, the papers were full of interesting stories and information on the subject, most notable of which is that people are not only taking care of the grave, but also providing anything their loved ones may need in the after-life.  This includes, but is not limited to: food, games, houses (yes, you can buy a 5 foot tall house for just such a purpose), pets, food for the pets, lovers, cigarettes, and alcohol.   The way you pass on these things to them is by burning them at the grave.  Therefore they arrive at the cemeteries with paper likenesses of these things which are then burned.  As you might guess, the extent of the implication of this holiday on us was the rearranging of work days and one day off which equaled Paul being home Monday and Tuesday.

This gave us lots of time for many trips down the street to the grocery and home improvement stores.  I feel a bit at square one again with trying to find/read some things that we just haven't had to buy or look at with living in a hotel for the last three months, mainly cleaning supplies.  The biggest thing is trying to find what to use to clean the floor with as we have 100% hard floors.  Because of not being able to read much else besides the price, I am once again left with basic observations: these are all Chinese brands, this is the most expensive, this is the cheapest, those few are international brands but with words in Chinese and are even more expensive.  That's usually all I can deduce and most of the time the strategy is: start with the cheapest and when it doesn't work, move up a notch although there is the occasional exception which starts at the other end.

On Tuesday we had the piano that we looked at a few weeks ago delivered!  We met with a guy named Mo (it's awfully hard to resist calling him Mr. Mo all the time, but it just rolls right off the tongue), who buys and sells used pianos and had sold several pianos to someone at work.  We visited his apartment where he had 5 or 6 pianos squeezed in there somehow.  He is an architecture professor, in his 30′s and studied in the UK (so he speaks English quite well!).  He and his wife were very friendly and served us tea in addition to giving us all the information on the pianos.  He had told me before we went that he had some older pianos which he thought would be good, but I was a bit skeptical about the age.  But, his pianos  surprisingly sounded better than the brand new ones we had looked at in a store the day before (made in China).  The one we chose is a Japanese brand that was bought up by Yamaha called Miki and as such is identical to the same piano made by Yamaha (even has the Yamaha name on the the inside).  It was built in the mid 80′s, but apparently they were using much better quality materials then than they are now, so that's why the sound is so much better.  I can't think of many older pianos I've heard that still sound so good!  All that to say, I was very pleasantly surprised and am very much enjoying it.  Mr. Mo also includes the tuning of the piano several times throughout the year and should be coming out this week to give it it's first tuning after settling down a bit.

Paul rode his bike to work for the first time Wednesday morning and still loves it so far.  Because of waiting for the ferry, it is taking just under an hour each way which is providing him with some much needed release of energy and me with a much needed break (not from him, just from tiring him out!).  By Thursday I was finally starting to get over a cold that I had picked up the week before which had made the moving-weekend quite exhausting.  I am enjoying being so close to one of the Carrefour grocery stores which is very large, has lots of recognizable food and still plenty of Chinese character in it's shoppers and layout.  Shopping there over the weekend was crazy as it was just so crowded and full of these folks that are just determined to block the entire isle with their carts and only start to think about moving when you start pushing them out of the way.  I tell you what, we are going to give those soccer moms in the grocery stores a run for their money by the time we get back to the States:)

It is also nice to have things to do that are just a result of living, like cleaning, cooking, fixing things…anything that actually has to be done rather than , "what can we do? what looks fun? how do we get there?".  We do have a very small little red oven that so far has successfully turned out an apple pie, loaf of bread, and a chicken pot pie, so I guess it seems to be working:)  For the first time in my married life I get to cook on a gas stove again which is wonderful!  Of course, anything after the stove in the hotel is heaven, but I am enjoying getting used to the gas again and am still in awe of how much faster it is.  I had come to terms with hanging clothes out to dry in Smoggy Shanghai (quite the change from Sunny San Diego), but after inquiring with one of those 20 something ladies, we managed to procure a dryer out of our lease and one showed up in the middle of last week!  Now, there is still only one plug on the wall, but there's no need to multi-task all of the time is there?
Lest you thought I was going to do a whole post without any pictures, worry not.  I took some pictures this morning just for you!

OK, so we are in a complex/compound called Shimao Lakeside Gardens which is made up of both high-rise apartment buildings on one side, and villas on the other.  While the parking garage contains many a Ferrari and Lamborghini, there are also many "normal" looking people here as well.  We are on the 5th floor of one of the high rises which I am enjoying a lot because it is about eye level with the villas and so you don't feel like you are so way up in the air and above everything.  It's a little more real feeling than where we were on the 24th floor of the hotel.  In the elevator there are tv screens that play these very annoying little advertisements and songs…so it's a good thing 5 floors doesn't take too long!  There are only three apartments on each floor, and since we are on the corner we only have one person next to us.  We also have a view out front and back which is very nice as well as three balconies.

The locks on the doors are quite something.  You can open them with either a magnetic key or open up a key pad and enter a code.  From the inside you have to press a button to unlock it and get out and then it locks automatically after the door is shut. This is the Dining area to the left of the entry, and to the left again is the kitchen. We just bought this shelf over the weekend to get the oven off of the counter to make it easier to use and give some more useful space.  The cupboard next to it is the fridge and a pull out pantry.  Another neat thing about the kitchen is that there are sliding doors just behind this shelf that can close it off. To the right of the entry is the living room.  Having the living and dining room in a line really makes the space feel huge! Now before you think we're crazy, remember that all of the furniture was included in the apartment.  We're not big TV watchers, but when it's all just there, what can you do?  Satellite is also part of the deal, so there's even some channels where folks speak English and more than just CNN, HBO and BBC that the hotel had:) The guest bedroom which has two full walls of closets with another TV in one of them.  Lots of room for guests (not just in the closets;), so come and visit!  Guest bathroom has a full shower just down the hall. Master Bathroom has a tub with jets and a TV.  Haven't seen how that works yet.  The owners are serious about their TVs. Master Bedroom. View from the bedroom window which is also the same as the balcony out from the living room.  You can see the lake and Villas on the other side. I'm so glad that we have this view and are not looking straight into another apartment building! Last but not least, the new piano. There are a few more pictures in this album for those that are interested: https://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48618&id=100001254621592&l=a59ea28c70   Thank you all for your prayers.  God has met our needs and way beyond.  We are extremely blessed!        

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