Routines

We've settled into our new home and it's hard to believe it's been two weeks already. The boxes were unpacked and everything was put away in record time...three days. Matthew has settled into his routine of commuting to and from the bus stop for the remainder of his commute to Pudong. He leaves at 6:10 in the morning and takes his scooter to the bus stop. It's actually quite cute to see him riding away to the bus stop. Tony and I have started our morning routine when Matthew leaves for school...we head to the gym. It's very nice that the gym opens at 5:30 in the morning. This allows us to get the work out done before the start of the day.

I've adjusted to living in the suburbs. I've taken the shuttle bus to the downtown area and schedule my appointments accordingly. I'm getting to know the neighborhood (not much here...trust me) and will probably continue to run my errands in the city as needed. Tony's commute to work has increased drastically. It can take anywhere from 1 hour to 2 hours to get to work depending on the traffic. A major increase from the 30 minutes he had from the old home.

We'll be getting ready to leave next week for our return trip home. Matthew has been winding down at school. The last of the exams have been administered and now it's just pure playtime for the kids.

We've started to schedule our days to see family and friends. I've scheduled a lot of doctor's appointments and we'll be pretty busy catching up with everyone. The calendar is already getting filled and we haven't arrived yet. It's good to know that somethings just never change!

Home Sweet Home

We've officially moved into our new home. We arrived on Thursday afternoon with close to 150 boxes. As of Saturday night, everything has been unpacked and put away. Not bad for three days. All the pictures have been hung up and it feels as if we've lived here for the past year. Strange how quickly we settled in.

Matthew's been enjoying the ammenities. He's been bike riding, hanging out at the club house, swimming and finding his way around the grounds. I give him about a week and he'll be good to go with new friends.

He's been a good sport about going to the gate to pick up the school bus to Pudong. To ensure that he arrives on time, he takes his scooter in the morning and rides down to the gatehouse. There are quite a few kids who live on this side that commute all the way to Pudong. He'll be transferring so this commute routine will be a thing of the past.

Ina and her family came today by to see the new crib. We grabbed lunch at the club house and then the kids went to the pool while we hung out on the deck. They found their way back and even played catch and soccer. That's something that Matthew hasn't done in a very long time in the comfort of his own home. Watching the kids play, reminded me of our back yard in Connecticut. Now all we need is to buy a grill and then we're all set.

Now that everything has found a place, we'll be getting ready for our trip home soon. I just have to start the packing process soon.

There Goes The Neighborhood

Well, we stopped by our new home at the Shanghai Racquet Club for an inspection yesterday. The workers were busy cleaning and most of the furniture had been delivered. We're missing some things but, we took the time to rearrange the items that were there. For one, Tony and I gave up the television in the master bedroom to Matthew. The motivation for this was totally selfish. Finally, we can watch something other than the Cartoon Network. We know that it sounds dangerous. However, Matthew has already been warned that school comes first otherwise, the television will return to it's original setting (which is down the hall from his room).

Our new home is a duplex on the ground floor. We have two patio decks and the nice thing is Matthew can run out and play in the yard through the deck. The new place is smaller than our current home that we've lived in for the past year. Though I will be missing the downtown area, there are a lot of positive things about moving. The major one being, Matthew's commute to school will be shortened from three hours a day to twenty minutes a day. We've gained yard space, a back deck to sit out and enjoy, we can grill, larger size dishwasher, washer and dryer and most of all, we now have ample closet and storage space. You can probably tell what was the selling point for me right? Yard for Matthew, larger laundry room and what woman doesn't want more closet space? I'm trying to figure out how I can put Tony's clothes on a stick somewhere and take over all the closets. There is some benefit for being a full time "homemaker" while he's on the road living out of a suitcase. Why does he need a closet right?

The new home has four bedrooms and we have plenty of room for visitors. We've converted one bedroom into an office so Tony can work and take his conference calls in peace.

We were surprised to find out that less than 15 feet from the back deck, there was a jacquzzi and pool. Who knew? This is in addition to the two pools in the club house. I have a funny suspicion that Tony will be hanging out there most nights after work or, when he returns from his business trips.

We're excited about this move. We have a lot to do before we leave to return to the US in June for vacation. Seems like we did this same thing last year, oh, wait, we did.

Scared Straight

For those of you that know Susan, you understand that she can be a little intense at times. Especially, when she is angry, frightened or sick, kind of like a trapped animal. During this last nose bleed incident, she was all three which made for a very scared doctor.

I'm being serious when I tell you that the man was shaking in his boots at every checkup. It got to the point that after the operation Dr. Fei was afraid that he was going to get an harrasment call from Susan in the middle of the night telling him that her nose started bleeding again and that she was going to kill him. He even tried the "No talking will help your nose heal better" scam but to no avail. Apparently, he did not know who he was dealing with. Actually, I think the fear of death motivated the doctor to take extra care in the surgery so he would not have to suffer the wrath of Susan if things went wrong.

We went for her post operative check up today. The doctor was visibly nervous. He only started breathing again after the examination went well. He actually told Susan "Wo xi huan ni dan wo bu xi huan zai kan ni." Which means, "I don't want to see you ever again." No kidding he actually said that. I'm sure he meant that he hopes she will never have this problem again but, I'm not exactly sure. Anyway, he'll probably post her picture in the hospital warning the other doctors.

Of course, I am exercising my creative license here but not by much. The surgery seems to have been successful and the doctor gets to live for another day.

The Evil Empire

I've been remiss lately in making entries into the blog but frankly, I haven't had anything that I've felt inspired enough to write about until yesterday.

Yet another American icon has made it's way into China, Walmart, actually, a SUPERCENTER WALMART! I always feel like I'm in a Fallini movie whenever I encounter a very American thing in China like Buicks, Starbucks, McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken everywhere, it is definitely a surreal experience. Susan and I spent a couple of hours yesterday roaming around this enormous Walmart. It was just like the Walmarts back home except you can buy live frogs and fish (for eating not petting) and of course, the ever delectable chickens feet in the meat market (yummy). This is, afterall, still China.

The import section was stocked with things like Delmonte Ketchup and Orville Redenbacher popcorn, it's backasswards. There are Chinese twists to the American items like crab flavored Pringles, banana flavored popcorn and seaweed flavored saltine crackers (what's that all about? That sounds more like an accident than a food item).

The reason why I call it the Evil Empire is because Walmart has made it's fortune by strong arming manufacturers to reduce their price while Walmart maximizes its profits. For example, they would sell Duracell batteries for $1 and make a 60% profit. If you can't do the math, basically, Walmart makes more money on Duracell batteries than Duracell. It looks like they don't have this leverage in China. The prices are no better at Walmart than at a high end foreign market but it was packed with local Chinese. So, they must be doing something right. We just can't figure out what it is.

This is a bitter sweet experience for me because I like to see American items in China to boost the American economy but at the same time, I really don't like Walmart, such is life.

Priceless

The cost of a bus ride: 2 RMB ($.25), start of a taxi meter 11 RMB for first 3 kilometers ($1.42), cost of emergency endoscopic surgery: priceless.

Two years ago, I suffered a severe nasal hemorrhage while on a business trip. I returned home and had to undergo a rather unpleasant experience with my ENT doctor. It took over two weeks to recuperate and I was hoping never to have to go through that again. Fast forward, a year later, four months into our residence in Shanghai, and it happened again to me. I landed at the emergency room one weekend in November. Luckily, it was a very good expatriate hospital. This is where I meet Dr. Gang Fei. ENT Specialist and someone, I've spent more time with than I care to admit.

Last week, I suffered another nasal hemorrhage. Tony was away on a business trip (as usual) and I had to get Ina to come and stay with Matthew. I returned to the emergency room. Dr. Fei was contacted and his first response: "It can't be the same Susan." He walks in, and there I was. Waving "Hello" to Dr. Fei. He takes a look and tells me "Don't worry. I will take care of this. I will feel better sending you home after this." So, I returned home and stayed home like a good girl. Tony returned from his business trip and we went back to see Dr. Fei on Saturday. Dr. Fei informs me, "You can't have the packing removed yet. You need it for a few more days." Meanwhile, I've been on every antibiotic, antihistamine and what not known to man. The doctor tells me to rest and "No talking. It will be better for you." I don't know if he was advocating for me to shut up on Matthew and Tony's behalf. For those who know me, you know that I don't do the "shutting up" thing. Needless to say, 45 minutes later, I was back at the hospital again.

After a rather unpleasant weekend of on and off bleeding, I return to see Dr. Fei on Monday. After telling him all the unpleasant events, he looks at me and says "You need emergency endoscopic surgery. I must perform it this afternoon. Please return to the hospital by 2:00PM. You will have to stay overnight." OK. Emergency surgery wasn't exactly high on my list of things to do. I ran home, packed an overnight bag and returned to the hospital.

I had to endure the MOST painful procedure under LOCAL ANESTHESIA. I have a very high tolerance for pain. For me to say next time, (let's hope there won't be a next time), the procedure will be done under general anesthesia, will give you a general sense of what I'm talking about. Meanwhile, Dr. Fei was chattering away in Mandarin with me during the procedure and he tells me "I know you hate me. It's part of the job." My response- "I am way past hating you at this moment. You have no idea what thoughts are running through my head." He laughs and tells the nurse, "I like Susan, she has a good sense of humor!" I told him, in my broken Mandarin, laced with Cantonese and English..."I am not kidding."

The procedure was supposed to take 30 minutes. A little over an hour later, I am back in my room. Tony and Matthew check on me and they go home. Nurses were great. They were checking on me every hour. I checked out of the hospital yesterday and received the bill for my emergency surgery. The total cost for this "party", complete with medicine, nursing care, cost of the room, food and what not: 32,687.09 RMB ($4,245.00). Priceless.

Who said that things in China are cheap? Luckily, it wasn't an appendix operation. Do you know how much damage I could do at Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman's with $4,000? I would be parading up and down Fifth Avenue with shopping bags galore.

Let's hope that I won't have to go through that all over again. I hope the next time I see Dr. Fei, it will be under better circumstances- like at a social event with a glass of wine.