100th post. Round 2 in Shanghai

Wed. am 1/7/09
We have been back in Shanghai since Monday evening. After a long flight, with minimal drama, we made it to our apartment with 7 out of 9 of the checked bags. Apparently, when a bunch of expat families fly on the same flight, things get pretty heavy in terms of the luggage. If we had 9 bags, and we met 2 other families with even more bags, filled to max capacity...it makes sense that we as a flight were over the weight limits.

I had some re-entry issues when we arrived and were in a long line with people aggressively shoving past us. I got used to it--but it took 5 months and a lot of patience. We stood in line for a good 30-40 minutes and then went to wait for the bags. We realized quickly that we were not going to get all of our bags and waited in a 3rd line to report the missing bags.

After filling out the form with the man in charge of missing bags, we made our way to the taxi line. This time, getting a van was a non-issue. We loaded up and headed out for home. Snores ensued and we arrived at our building a good hour or so later. I tried to comment on the traffic with the driver but he laughed at me and I then thought perhaps I said there's a lot of chicken instead of there's a lot of traffic. (But after further analysis later at home, and a quick check of the online Chinese dictionary, I think I said it right and HE was just not listening correctly. We'll never know the truth).

Our ayi, Xiao Chen, was waiting for us in our very cold apartment. She was wearing a coat, so I thought she was on her way out. Turns out it was freaking cold! The heat was off for the most part, but even after turning all the heaters on, we were freezing. The kitchen is very cold, so I am trying to keep that door shut now to see if that helps. I guess it wasn't that cold before we left, but now that it's really winter, I can see what people were talking about when they said apartments here are often very cold. Ah well. I'm from Northern California where I think they invented the layering system due to the fluctuating temperatures in all seasons. Right now I am wearing the $7 fleece robe I picked up at target, atop 2 shirts and a pair of sweats. Fashion first, I always say.

I did not sleep more than 30 minutes on the 14 hour flight. Just couldn't. I therefore fell asleep immediately on top of our rock hard bed, wearing my down jacket and woke up at about 10pm. Then I was up til about 3am with various family members at various times. The second day was similar. Lots of awake time at night. Not fun.

Last night we were waiting for our 2 bags until 2:30am. Nathan was thrilled to have his Lego stash arrive and he was up for hours (due to jetlag) building a castle. He is still the most impacted by the time change, although Emily was partying with him from about 12-3am. Mark has to go to work during this horrible adjustment period. Ick.

The kids and I didn't leave the apartment yesterday. It was cold and raining and we were just zombies and stayed home. Today, I have big plans to leave the apartment and re-enter the world outside. I'm struggling with the language after almost 3 weeks away. I have a lot of words but the stringing together is even harder than before. I need to get signed up for more classes once the kids are back in school.

This morning I made a huge batch of pancakes to satisfy the kids constant need for nourishment in the morning hours. Frozen pancakes cost like $8USD a box. Not gonna happen! I froze a bunch, so now we're set for a few days at least. The kitchen is trashed, but since I have help here, I just do the fun part and leave the clean up for the ayi. We brought back an absurd amount of maple syrup and with proper rationing, the kids will be eating their favorite breakfasts for many months.

I will have more exciting blog posts in the future. I promise. Just a quick update on our safe arrival to keep the story going.

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