apartment tour video, still not uploading

Hi all. The slowness of my youtube uploading has reminded me that there are some tech challenges to living in China. One of them is that my emails to you might get flagged as spam. So please check your junk folders to see if any of my emails have ended up there. 

Also, on the off chance you have not seen Flight of the Conchords, check these guys out:

IKEA, part 2

So we began our IKEAttack inauspiciously, getting stuck in the front door. They were the kind they have at Portland airport, which automatically rotate and when the gap comes open, you shuffle in and try not to get run over. Well, a bunch of people were trying to cram in, and it just stopped. So we're standing there, with a 2-foot gap left behind us, and no way to go forward. Thankfully, people stopped squeezing in when they saw it was stuck, or else I could have been headed for a serious claustro-freakout. We backed out, and tried the other door, but it was stuck too. A couple minutes later, they started up and we went in. We proceeded to the starting line.

Keep in mind, the store is not yet open at this point. They let you in the lobby, but the showroom floor is still roped off. We've arrived this early because any later in the day, it's apparently a nuthouse. So at about 9:59 we get the green light and the race is on. With my little cart bag-holder thing, I feel like Richard Petty. I'm trying to cruise ahead and put some distance between me and the masses, but Sarah's like "chill out." And taking the curves too fast is bad for Desi because the cart seat is way too small for him. His body weight was being supported largely by his crotch. But he was a trooper.

Anyway, we bought most of what we needed. Plus some of what we didn't. Made it thru the maze unscathed and still civil to one another. Had to fight off several touts pushing delivery or taxis, and of course bag up all our stuff. As of June 1, stores in China were forbidden to give out plastic shopping bags for free, so we sprang a buck for 2 *HUGE* IKEA bags. We got all our stuff together, we roll outside, and I see our bus rolling away. The school had taken us there, so I tracked down a school person, and they called the driver. Meanwhile, the security guy was trying to tell me I couldn't take the cart outside, and his buddy (a relentless tout) was trying to "help" me with a cab. Once the bus finally came, I ignored them both and loaded our junk in to the bus. Then the 2 dudes helped me return the carts. Even the people hassling you are nice here. 

IKEA? Next time, youKEA.

So we have been nesting lately, which has meant lots of shopping. The school has been thoughtful enough to organize bus trips to megastores on weekends. These are places I habitually avoid at home, but here and now, when we need dishes, kid furniture, clocks, towels, spatulas, etc., where else to go but IKEA? There is Carrefour, kind of a French Fred Meyer/WalMart place, which sells imported food and housewares in addition to lots of local stuff. But our needs dictated a trip to IKEA, so Saturday morning we got on the bus. Having been told by our friend Leo, who lives downtown, that he'd rather be shot in the head than go to IKEA on a Saturday, we were prepared for the worst.

boys are awake. more later...

no more long commutes

I don't think we'll be buying a car.

Watch the video to see why.

GNOAT!

Greatest Nap of All Time--

We all laid down at 1:00 pm Tues. for a nice post-lunch nap. Well, it's 11:20 pm and the 3 of them are still asleep.

now it's 11:40...

It seems like now is the quietest time of day. We live in a place called Westwood Green, which is on the western edge of Shanghai. So noise is definitely not a problem. Coming from our very quiet house in Portland, though, we just notice ANY noise. So the steady rumble of trucks and a few honks per minute is fast becoming white noise to us. So at midnight, as I sit here on the couch, pondering Earth's time zones and wondering how long of a massage to get tomorrow after the nanny arrives, the relative silence is a nice treat.

I'll keep y'all posted on how long of a massage I decided to get. :) (Hey, summer break ends in 2 days. Teachers gotta get the most of our time off).

Here are the promised photos, including one of Keller, who is the son of Leo (college friend) and his wife Sue Ann, who flashed her Jedi skills with our electric mosquito swatter the other night. The photo of me is of the flusher for the toilet in our half-bathroom. It's got a small flush and big flush. I love having options. 

UPDATE: It's Wednesday night now. Desi just went to bed after being up for 20 hours. Emmy and I woke up at 3 am, and he got a nap today, so Desi and Sarah are the big winners of today's no-sleep contest. So maybe tonight's our night to get normal... 

By the way, no massage today. Maybe tomorrow.

the eagles have landed

we are here in shanghai. zhudi town was jumping on a saturday night as our bus rolled into Westwood Green, our new gated community. (never thought I'd write those words).

flight was fine, kids were great, Benadryl was used sparingly, iPod was not. 

we all woke up about 2 in the morning, after 4 hours of sleep. our place is nice. all the people we have met have been nice. including the 2 security guards who came to turn off the alarm Emmett activated. there's these red panic buttons on the wall, right at kid height. surprise, emmy pushed one.

we are mostly unpacked, and tired, but very excited. Desi had already befriended one of new neighbors here at WWG before we even left the San Fran airport. another family new to the school was on our flight.

photos soon. i'm low on battery (my computer is too)

g,s,d,e

T-minus 8 days and counting...

Hi all. We are scrambling around, cleaning up, and looking forward to our great adventure. We leave August 1, and our cell phones will stop working that day around lunchtime. Our home phone will be useless before that, and email will be at work/cafes only for our first few days in Shanghai.

All this is my way of saying: We'll be in touch, but not quickly or easily. We are shipping our computer and won't have it a for a couple months. We start work on Aug. 7 (my birthday) and we'll email/blog from there. We'll resume Skype-ing once our iMac arrives around Oct. 1.

So watch the Olympics, check the blog, and know that we miss you when we are far away.

the Pearlz fam