made in china

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The last week plus has really flown by for me. I finished my language class on Thursday. I didn’t know I’d be taking a test, so of course I didn’t study. I think it’s better though. The point isn’t to cram, it’s to assess my retained Mandarin. I did fine. I am debating whether to join a group class after the group catches up to me in a few weeks, or just do private lessons. I have started the kids with a tutor and I am going to have lessons with the same teacher twice a week. We’ll see how that goes. My comprehension continues to exceed my verbal communication skills, so we are going to work on speaking. The kids had their first lesson on Thursday and they liked it. They played games and practiced speaking and reading with the teacher.

My ayi left for another week to spend time with her father who was very ill. I did miss the help but managed to deal with things fine on my own. The worst thing is the laundry. No dryer, have to iron everything to minimize the stiffness factor of things drying outdoors in humid weather with lots of dust blowing. I did some ironing myself, but as little as possible. We have this crappy iron and the ironing board is super low to the ground. I realized I am taller than the average Chinese woman, but still. It’s like a child’s toy. Tiny and low. In my flurry to cook and create culinary treats, I think I developed a bit of carpal tunnel syndrome (or I have early onset arthritis) from chopping and dicing with my manual chopper. I made a huge batch of salsa but my left hand (the chopping hand) has shooting pain in it from palm to fingertip. Clearly it’s related to the chopping, so I am taking a break from salsa making until after Vietnam. I haven’t been typing much lately due to the pain…but I’m suffering through it to bring you this update. Thank me with some comments, why don’t you.

Nathan and I went on a fascinating field trip with his fifth grade class. I felt incredibly lucky to be able to go on this trip. We visited two factories. The first was a candle making factory where we saw how candles are made from start to finish. There was no safety protocol so I was a little nervous, but the kids were able to really see the entire process. The teachers and many parents ensured the kids were safe and we got out of there without anyone dipping their hands in the vats of hot wax. I have to say I’m one of those people who likes to stick her finger in the melted candle wax and play with the resulting shell once it dries and is removed from the finger…but I wasn’t going to tell the kids that.

The whole operation was very labor intensive. There was little automation besides the conveyor belts we saw that were not in use during our visit. There were mostly women working in the factory doing the labor-intensive candle making activities. Men could be seen driving forklifts and moving pallets of materials and finished products onto trucks. We saw how wicks are placed inside the candles—after then candles are formed which surprised me and many other adults on the trip. I thought the wicks would be placed in the candles sooner in the process. There were several drills and next to the drills, huge piles of candle shavings. We learned that the factory sold all the scraps and excess candle bits to another candle making company. We also learned how they make candles with sticks and flowers stuck on the outside. They put them into the molds and then pour more wax around the outer layer. Very cool stuff.

Nathan’s teacher had been there before and we really had a lot of time on our own to wander and explore. He showed us where they mix in the scents for the scented candles and we spent time opening and sniffing various bottles of scents—everything from citronella to roses. We even smelled a mint scent. Again, nobody was walking us through the factory for this part of our tour. We were free to roam, and roam we did. The kids were very enthusiastic. They seemed to really enjoy the factory and seeing the various stages of development.

The best part was going to the factory gift shop and seeing the excitement in all the students as they spent their money on some candles. The boys seemed most excited to shop and when I asked them who they were buying candles for, they said their moms and grandmothers. Very sweet. I went a little crazy and ended up with many candles. The brands and packaging for many of the candles this factory produces were familiar. It gave new meaning to the “made in China” stickers we see all the time. When we left, one of the students prepared a short thank you speech in Chinese. It was great. I think Mr. Lee, our host, was touched by the gesture.

Then we went to a second factory where they make soccer balls. We saw three types of production: hand stitched, machine made (glued) and sewed by machine. Each process was very labor intensive and involved many steps. The factory was extremely clean and the workers seemed to be well treated. Thankfully. I don’t imagine a bad factory would welcome a tour group of foreign kids. That said, we were the factory’s first school tour.

Unlike the candle factory, we were asked not to take pictures during the second tour. It was so hard not to, but I of course respected the manager’s wishes. He did allow us to take a few shots during the tour which was better than nothing.

Saturday night we went on a subway-cation (Mark’s word creation). You’ve likely heard the phrase staycation…when you go on holiday at home. Well, we had a free night at a hotel, so we hopped on the subway and checked into a hotel near People’s Square. We used the pool, went to dinner in our favorite part of town and pretended to be tourists. It was fun. And, just like home, we all slept in the 1 bed (advertised as a king, but was in reality a queen). I ended up on the petite couch at about 4am.
Breakfast the next day was coffee and donuts (none for me, thanks) at Mister Donut. We were lucky to capture a video of the morning drill the staff "performed". It is interesting to watch these at various restaurants and stores in town.

Mark is now off for his sixth week working away from home. Hopefully, he’ll be back on Wednesday. October 1 is the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China and the start to a long National Holiday in China. I’m thinking I will have to write a special edition blog for that occasion later this week.

We head to Vietnam on Sunday. We are all looking forward to another family adventure. I planned this one on my own, so I hope it goes smoothly.

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Photos

family commuting to work
see the bike with the mom, dad and kid all riding together?

shavings
the drilling station where wick holes are drilled.

kids got burgers
went to this wacky diner that played the Carpenters, served Nathan boiling hot milk with his burger and just had not quite mastered the diner scene...

Comments

[Brian D]

Thanks for typing through your pain
Glad you're suffering for your art. Will not glad. You get the idea.

[Linda]

The blog must go on!
Another posting of another blog...Thanks for ignoring the carpals to get this out to us.