The Stewart Family

So we have been here for just over a month and I have had a lot of observations of China, of the language, of the living style. Now I have one observation of the people. The local people around us are very hardworking. Everyone works, most work more than one job. Take for example our driver. He works 6 days a week and is available at our wim. Takes Bryan to work 30 minutes away at 7 am and some days stays to have to drive us to and from dinner. He jumps out of the car to help with the baby, put the stroller in the back, unload the grocery cart, whatever. And has to deal with our one word sentences as we learn the language! One of the more interesting jobs (to me) is ... read more

The 4th of July was our first holiday away from home. I can't lie. We had some tears of homesickness because we were missing being with family and friends. Going up north or going to Middlebass or even just staying home for parades and pool parties - we couldn't do any of those but our family and friends did! Talking on the phone this weekend was tough! Everyone was having so much fun doing all the things we should be doing and made us miss everyone that much more. The good news is... we made our own 4th of July - China-style!! Thankfully our new friends, the Hannas, had a barbeque and invited all of the new GM team over to celebrate. We had burgers and dogs, watermelon, baked beans, you name it. The only difference ... read more

So we have officially been here an entire week. And I feel compelled to communicate a list of the craziest things I have seen so far. Now, keep in mind that we live in an apartment complex in the Pudong area. I can walk to the park, the gym, the store, Kaelen's school, Starbucks, etc. It's busy but not downtown kinda busy. I have to assume that the laws here are quite different from home because everytime I turn around, BAM something that makes my jaw drop or makes me giggle. I am certain this list will grow as we continue our stay in this beautiful area, but I can't keep these to myself any longer... 1- Everyone rides scooters (Vespa-kinda things). No helmets, no worries about cars or pedestrians. As I am standing on the ... read more

Wow... it's finally sinking in. We live in China now! Such a surreal concept! We arrived on June 15th. Everyone did great on the 13.5 hour flight. Kaelen took exceptionally well to business class by immediately reclining her seat, getting her movie screen out and ordering an orange juice! Such a diva, even in China! LB stole the hearts of all of the flight attendants so he got away with everything... I think they even let him fly the airplane! He was (surprisingly) very well behaved and slept or watched Toy Story most of the flight. It was pretty rough getting everyone to sleep on Shanghai time, but I think we may be getting the hang of it finally! The apartment is nice but something to get used to. Feels oddly like college living again but ... read more