Day 24-27

There is so much that happens in a day that it's hard to think back to Monday and recap all that has gone on this week.  We painted an apartment Monday to get it ready to move desks and offices up to the 3rd floor. I spent the day shopping for fabric, driving an hour each way to go look at the furniture that is being built, coming back to the Mac and meeting with the "curtain lady" for 2 hours and then we finished the day by taking the subway to the acupuncture place where Brad and I both got treatment.  My arm is feeling much better. It was a long tiring day and we finally made it home at 11pm. Tuesday Chris and I spent the day painting our apartment while the boys moved all the desks, office equipment and a huge safe up 3 flights.  Wed. was painting another apartment and the great room.  We are getting the bulk of the painting done however, the buying of the paint is still a problem.  We once again went to the paint store to buy "golden needles" and now I have 3 versions of the same color and they aren't even close to the fandex.  It took an hour this time to try and tell them that I wanted the color changed and the paint man tried to tell me that if I painted it on the wall it would miraculously turn into the right color!  Oh, getting things done here is sooo hard.

Today I hit the wall.  I think I'm physically and mentally worn out and my trip to Ikea today was the straw that broke the camels back.  I left at noon and it took only 40 minutes to get there. It was 'not far', actually pretty short by Beijing standards.  I had to buy curtain rods and a few other things. I thought I'd grab some lunch but there were just too many people in line.  It took forever to check out, then find the van driver and then we sat in a traffic jam in the Ikea parking ramp for 50 minutes!  THEN, we got into traffic which is horrific because Friday is the start of the big holiday that lasts a week and EVERYONE either leaves or comes into Beijing.  It took almost 2 hours to get home.  But then Bob, Chris and Brad met me at the gate to help carry stuff in and we went out for a nice dinner and they cheered me up and life is good once again.  Actually it's really fun here along with the tough times.  We do laugh a lot at all the stuff even though it is frustrating.  Here are some of our laughs.

Painting new office room 34 

Fabric Shopping

Inhaling smoke from Sherri's acupuncture 

Tough Day

Magnum Bar lunch

Moving heavy safe up to new 3rd floor office

Sign in the park

 

Interesting spelling

Sign on subway door

The sign on acupuncture room

Tire protector from dog pee

No protection 

Days 22-23

Oh Boy, we are worn out tonight!  It's Sunday night 9pm and we can't wait to go to bed. It's been a fun but exhausting weekend and Monday morning will be here soon. I just wrote out my list of projects for Monday and the list is 14 items long and most of them will take hours to do.  It's a good thing we have our helpers Brad and Chris back from their weekend.  They get in at 2am so I'm not sure what condition they will be in tomorrow morning.

Saturday we went to the great wall with friends Tim and Lynn and their kids Andrew and Emily.  We went to a section that we haven't been before which was really fun.  We just love hiking the great wall.  It's always quite a challenge and still a thrill even though we have been there 7 times, mostly when we've gone into or out of Mongolia. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch and had the HOTTEST food yet.  We were all sweating and our noses dripping through out the meal.  Can't say that we really enjoyed it.  It was apparently cuisine of the Miao people of southern China and their food is traditionally HOT.  Of course we didn't know that it was that kind of food since we couldn't read the sign.  After we left, we noticed a bunch of fire extinguishers outside of the restaurant.  They must have been there to put out the fire!  My stomach doesn't feel so good today.

After the wall and lunch, the group of us took a bus to the subway and went down to our old stomping ground Wangfujing where we stayed before and after our Mongolia trips.  We were amazed how it has changed over the last 13 years. The olympics really changed this city and of course economical progress. The group of us (7) tried out a massage parlor to end the night. Bob, Tim and I did the full body massage and Lynn, Kristina, Andrew and Emily had a foot massage.  It lasted an hour and cost 88rmb which is $13.96.  The best part was that we were all in the same room!  Kind of funny to lay there and listen to every one else moan and groan.  Would you believe the subway is still packed at 10pm.  We didn't get back until 11:00 and we were all exhausted.

Here are a few things I learned today, which is Sunday.  NEVER go shopping on Sunday!  We went to the B&Q (Home Depot) to pick up supplies for Monday.  Bob tried to get a quart of brown enamel paint to paint some trim.  China does not have!!!! We have tried every where. There is no enamel paint, only flat.  Today there were 13 people helping us.  There are so many people working in these stores that entire displays can be changed in a moment.  Today I went looking for a duvet cover that I saw a few days ago and the entire display was gone along with all the merchandise.  I learned that if you snooze, you lose.  With 20 million people living here if you see it, you better buy it before everyone else does.  Then I went down to the grocery store (under the B&Q).  Oh my - so packed you couldn't move.  There were at least 15 young women with shrill voices hawking their wares in just one section.  Bob had me looking for crackers.  Are you kidding me?  They don't make crackers in China, especially not saltine.  I came out of there shell shocked!  We came home to decompress or decompose, which is pretty much the same thing!  We both agreed that the work at the Mac is the easy part.  Shopping to make that happen is really tough.

Some of you were wondering what the Mac stands for.  It is the building where we live and work and it was names after Hugh Macellan who donated the money to construct this wonderful place.

 The Too Hot Restaurant

Jammed Packed Subway

Full Body Massage

Foot Massage

Days 17-21 (Sept. 19-23)

Wow, it's been a long time since we posted any news.  Sorry, but it has been sooooo busy here.  We have definitely realized that working on Mara and Dell's new home was just a warm up.  A friend of our's from 3M suggested that we start our own new program "This Old House - China".  This "house" isn't that old but it was in need of an update and there are still plenty of projects to work on.  Tomorrow morning (Sat.) we will have been here 3 weeks already.  The time has really gone fast and we are still  really enjoying our adventure.  We do feel like the Mac is our 2nd home.

So, what made this week so busy? Monday we were supposed to have 2 Chinese painters come to do the high walls in the entry and hopefully up to the second floor. They didn't show so we started the painting ourselves with Chris and Brad and painted for 11 hours.  We got the 2nd floor done and part way down into the entry.  Did I mention that this is a BIG building.  Tuesday one painter showed and pretty much drove Bob crazy all day because he wasn't exactly a perfectionist.  He would dunk the roller in paint, shake it off and put 3 coats on at once which really doesn't work.  Bob and Brad spent the whole day trying to hold his ladder, move drop cloths to catch the drips while getting dripped on themselves.  He cost $20 a day and Bob said he would pay him $20 to not come. So we have spent the rest of the week painting our perfectionist arms off.

Monday was also the day we ordered the furniture for the great room. So this is how it works.   The couch lady comes (that's what I call her) with her two furniture builder guys at 10:00am.  We discuss how we want the couch made; style, stuffing, legs, length, height, width, any and everything else you can think of for 2 couches, 4 chairs, numerous cushions, pillows ect., ect., ect.  We talk about this for 2 hours with our staff member and interpreter, Huang Shan.  Just when I think we're all set, we go into negotiations, for an hour until we settle on a fair price.  It was exhausting.  We were informed that the furniture will be ready in 10 days!  Wow!   But, after they make one chair I will need to go and inspect it before they put our very precious, hand carried and Fed Ex'd fabric on it.  I have no idea where I will go to view this partially made chair but I'm sure it's 'not far'!

Tonight is Friday night and after a long day of painting we went out to dinner, just the two of us to a little place just up the street. We get the menu and of course it's not in English and this time there were no pictures either.  So Bob calls the waitress over and asks if they have an English menu. They don't know what he's asking, so he asks again for an English menu.  They still don't know what he's saying so he asks again.  I just cracked up.    It's kind of like saying it louder and slower so they understand.  We've all done that. We just watched what came out of the kitchen and pointed and ended up with a really good supper even though we have no idea what we ate.  On the way home we watched our new friend, a little puppy who we call 'chubby chi chi' cross a very busy intersection.  We watch him do this everyday and are amazed that he makes it across alive.  He lives at the corner fruit stand.  It's fun making new friends, even the furry ones.  Tomorrow we are taking a much needed day off and going to the great wall with Tim, Lynn, Andrew and Emily.  Brad and Chris are visiting their son Michael in Changchun for a few days so they'll miss the race to the top section of the wall. Can't wait.

Hanging onto the Chinese painter

Finally painting the entry

Painting crew - Michelle (staff member), Chris, Brad, Sherri, and Bob

Negotiations 

 Corner fruit stand

Chubby Chi Chi

Day 16 Sunday Sept. 18

It's Sunday morning and I'm sitting here watching the sun rise on what looks like a beautiful sunny day in Beijing. The weather has been getting cooler but not cold like you are experiencing at home. We still haven't worn a jacket, even at night.

We have not been as busy the last couple of days which has been nice. Brad and Chris (our helpers) arrived on Sat. afternoon and we went out to the airport to get them.  The airport is about a 45 minute taxi ride if traffic moves well. Yesterday it appeared that all of Beijing was out driving on a beautiful weekend and the traffic was a mess. We learned that there are 2,000 new cars a day added to the roads here. Also that there's 20,000 buses on the roads and that they put on 1 million miles per day! No wonder traffic is so bad.  On Friday we learned how to take the subway so we will do that more often, however the nearest station is a 45 minute walk away.

On Friday we went back to the little massage hospital (that's what it's called) for my 2nd acupuncture treatment. We went on our own this time because we knew where it was. Ha, false confidence. The taxi driver dropped us off 'not far' from the hospital. Well, we felt like we were on the amazing race trying to find this place. We kept trying to ask people first of all where we were and where the hospital might be by once again pointing to the map and gesturing and looking confused, which of course we were. We were sent here and there and and even dragged on a bus which we laughed and thought 'oh well we're already lost, how bad can it get'? So it only took us 1 hour 20 minutes but we found it!  I had my treatment which was easier since I knew what to expect, we found a neat little restaurant and took the subway back. We were quite proud of ourselves. On our walk home from the subway stop we came upon a group of at least 1,000 people line dancing in the park. It was so much fun. I joined in and Bob watched. This place is such an adventure - you just never know what you'll find.

Eating here is adventure in itself. Some restaurants have picture menus and some even have English. It's the ones that don't have either that are a challenge and we just point and hope. Here are some of my favorite descriptions of food.
Black fungas with mustard sauce
sauce fragrant pigs front trotters
spicy and acid fern root powder
braised hairtail
the sauce explodes the duck piece
pumpkin fry lillies
tribal insects
fried bamboo worms
And my favorite: the daily family activity fries the bean curd

And so it goes here in China.  We are loving this opportunity to immerse ourselves in this culture and to get to know these wonderful people.

 We found a bike shop near the acupuncture

Dancing in the park.

 Mike and Amanda helping wash walls.

Brad & Chris Keller and Andrew & Emily Davis have arrived

Day 13

It's  Thursday, Sept. 15 and we are just getting ready to start a new day. We got the go ahead last night on some of the big projects and so we will hit the road running today getting stuff going. It will be fun to see the changes start to happen. First on the list: go to buy the paint for the entry. Now that we know where to go and what we can get, it will (maybe) be easier. Here's how it went the other day when we went back to the paint store, this time with Huang Shan who speaks Chinese. First time we went we got no where on our own. Lots of people trying to help but the language barrier was just too great. So, the 3 of us go into the store and in order to do so we had to climb over people mixing paint on the steps. That should have been our first clue. Then, we try to find a paint color that is close to what I have chosen from the fandex I brought from home. The color choices here are so limited compared to what we have at home and they can not do color matching. So, we find a color somewhat close to what I've picked and tell them we just want a quart for a sample test. After much discussion, the young man leaves the store and goes to another store to get it mixed. We, in the mean time have paid for this paint, which we've now learned not to pay until we see the finished product. So, the paint comes back and of course I want to see it to make sure it's the right color. The can gets opened and it's 2/3 full! Our mouths just dropped open. "Why is it only 2/3 full" we ask. "Because that's how it is", they answer."" But the color will not be correct with so little paint, we say. " Of course it will", they answer.  But of course it wasn't. So, after MUCH discussion we get our money back(apparently that never happens) and off we go to another paint store. And so it goes trying to buy or order what we need here.

On a personal note Bob and I are doing great. It's like a big family here at the Mac. There are a lot of staff here during the day and many staff families live here also.  Everyone has been so kind and welcoming and we have really enjoyed getting to know them. Our apartment is really nice with 3 bedrooms (Brad and Chris will occupy one) and it is overlooking the garden. We can walk to restaurants and markets and parks and if we are going far we can just hail a taxi out the main gate. We have been healthy and feel great now that our jetlag is over.  My acupuncture treatment really seemed to help so I think I'll get another treatment today or tomorrow.  We'd love to hear from you and get some news from the states so don't hesitate to write.

 Too many helpers and no answers

 Finally we have the right color

 Huang Shan our helper

 View of garden from our apartment

 Our Apartment  

Day 10

Today was a national holiday called Mid Autumn Festival where the Chinese give and receive moon cakes and gaze up at the moon. We ate our moon cakes tonight (ugh) and couldn't see the moon probably because of the pollution which was really bad today.  It looked foggy out but it was pollution.  Today was probably the worst since we've been here and we could feel it in our eyes, nose and throat.  We went to the morning market just down the street from the Mac to buy fruit and veggies.  The sights, sounds and smells are a wake up call for the senses. I just wanted to share a few pictures from the market.  I wish we had one like this at home, especially one that we could walk to.  The rest of the day was spent trying to get prices on supplies for our projects.  The key word is 'trying'. We didn't have any one with us who spoke the language so we did the best we could.  Would you believe a quart of interior primer is $32 dollars! Wow.  A gallon of paint ranges from $45-$75 and we're going to need a lot of paint.  All these projects are a lot to coordinate but we are enjoying the challenge. I'm anxious to send before and after pictures.

 Flower bouquet being made

 It's done. How many roses is that? Cost -$158.00 US 

 Chestnuts roasting on hot road gravel

The noodle girl

 Lots of different kinds of mushrooms

 Blue chickens?

 Which spice to buy for our soup?

 Our breakfast being made

Moon cake frenzy