Day 6 in China - Saturday August 8th

Yesterday afternoon we took the kids swimming to the pool in our complex.  It was an enjoyable afternoon.  And, so HOT.  We ran into a branch member as we were walking home and she said it was in the 90's but real feel was 120.  No wonder.

We were able to open a Chinese bank account which will help us access our funds.

Yesterday we were also able to get the VPN working... to some degree.  Enough that we could get onto FB and Yahoo email on one computer.  This was a huge help mentally.

A few things that I have noticed in the last 24 hours:

Laundry is easier here than in the states.  I love the old school washing machine!  It is small but the clothes seem cleaner than the energy efficient machine I was tired of back home.  Because everyone dries their clothes here, there are plenty of bars to dry on and it is hot so clothes dry quickly.  I am very particular about laundry and this set up is a dream.  We do have a dryer so I am still able to dry underwear, socks, sheets etc.

Reagan is thriving.  Seriously thriving.  I realized last night that she hasn't been upset, thrown any fits, and is generally in a great mood.  She is very helpful also.  I asked her this morning if this move has been hard for her and she said, "NO!"  The other thing that has amazed both Marcus and I is her ability to speak Chinese.  She has never spoken at home.  Her teachers have always told us that she is top of the class but we haven't witnessed any of it.  Until now.  She has saved us every day so far.  At the pool yesterday we were trying to ask if there was a pass we could buy and were not getting anywhere with Marcus' broken Chinese.  Reagan finally said, "Dad, would you like me to talk to her?"  And sure enough.  She broke into full sentences and found out that we could indeed buy a pass and that Paige was always free.

Last night we decided to order food and couldn't communicate our address well enough for them to understand.  Marcus finally handed the phone to Reagan and she realized the number was wrong, was able to correct them and we were able to get our food.

In the meantime, I keep having Spanish words (from high school Spanish classes) come to mind and have had to refrain from saying "gracias" daily.

Jet lag is slowly leaving.  We are all tired at 7 or 8pm and go to bed around then.  We are waking sometime between 4:30-5:30 generally.  It isn't always this way for everyone but better than the first few nights where we were all up by 1 am.

Some frustrations:

The kitchen.
Kitchens are short.  The counters are so low.  If I am backwards, the top of the counter top reaches the bottom of my bum.  They are thigh high.  I think this won't bother me as much over time and once I am not pregnant but right now, it is painful to be bent over.  No dishwashers or disposals (which I guessed but still an adjustment).  The stove has two burners and the oven (which we are grateful to have as it is unusual to have at all) is so small it wouldn't fit a cookie sheet.  The cabinets have no shelving so it is a ton of wasted space and not a lot of room for dishes or food.  We have no drawers and still haven't figured out where to put silverware.

I realize that this struggle may not be a big deal for many people.  For me, the kitchen is my home.  It is where I love to be.  I love to cook and so this has been a struggle.

Smells.
Again, this may be a pregnant problem.  The first sister that I met warned me about this.  She said all of the expat women that are pregnant struggle with this.  China smells.  Pregnancy makes it ten times worse.  The answer... have the baby.


Transportation.
It is difficult/near impossible for our family to get around.  It will get significantly more difficult with the addition of baby five.  This is something we haven't figured out yet.  No one uses car seats.  People ride electric bikes and you never see helmets.  It will be interesting to see how this one works out.


I will end with an experience we had two days ago.

Marcus and I had to go to the hospital to have a medical check.  This is required by the Chinese government to live here.  We had to fill out a form and provide 4 pictures (like passport pictures).  Then we went through several different stations.  First we had our picture taken (not sure why since we just provided four of our own).  Second we had to go to the blood draw station.  The hospital is not air conditioned in the hallways.  The blood draw was like a bank window.  You stuck your arm through the bottom.  They used new needles for each patient but everyone put their arm on the same cloth and the nurse used the same gloves for everyone.

Third station was X-ray.  You get a full chest x-ray.  I was excused for this one because I am pregnant. Fourth station was urine sample.  The restrooms were squatters.  The cup was the size of a medicine up on the top of the children's Tylenol bottle.  This is where being a girl and being pregnant comes at a huge disadvantage.  Squatting, and catching pee in a teeny tiny cup didn't go so hot.  I am sure my hand caught more pee than the cup.  Yes... nasty.  And there was no toilet paper.  Yep.  Luckily, this restroom did have soap (unusual).  I washed really really well. You set your pee on a tray with 20 other people and nobody around to monitor.  Was it tempting to pour a little pregnant pee in other cups?  Yep. But I refrained.

Fifth station was weight, height, blood pressure, and eye exam.  I have to mention that the ATL driver was assigned to take us on this errand and be our translator (interesting because he doesn't speak any English).  The blood pressure cuff is a cloth cuff that you put your arm in (maybe like one you would see at a drug store and put in a quarter to use).  For the eye exam you were supposed to put a wooden paddle against your eye to cover it.  The same paddle for everyone.  I tried to use my hand but they wouldn't let me.  I used the paddle but kept it away from my eye.  Marcus went next.  The lady used a little pointer on the eye chart.  Marcus couldn't see the pointer.  I finally had to go stand and show her to use her arm (she never did so I had to help).  She started at the bottom of the chart and Marcus could only see to line three so I helped with that too.  They thought he was joking and were laughing until they realized that he was serious.  We were laughing at their reactions.

Sixth station was EKG.  Shirts up and hook you up.  Fine for a boy.  Less comfortable for a pregnant female.  Enough said.

Last station was Ultrasound.  They were checking kidneys, gall bladder, and something else but I can't remember.  The ultra sound tech was spending forever in the area where my gall bladder used to be.  I finally said, I don't have a gall bladder.  He spoke a little English (first one we encountered so far).  He was shocked and wondered if I was born without one.  I told him I had an operation.  He was shocked that there was no scar.  I showed him the one small hole scar and he was astounded. He moved on to the other organs. Then he asked me if it was my first baby.  I smiled and told him that it was my fifth.  That is so fun to do here:).  Then I told Marcus it was his turn.  He thought it was just because I was pregnant.  He had his first ultrasound.

And that was it.  It took about one hour for the entire exam.  China now has more info on me than the US.