Settling in

[Marshall K]

Well now, that was a fun trip.
After looking at the Northwest weather after we left it looks like we threaded the weather needle just right.  We managed to make it to Seattle before I-5 was inundated by 3 feet of water.  It's sunny here and the trees have leaves and there are flowers!  It's a little chilly at night, and the daytime weather could be described as damn pleasant!
The flight over was OK.  Hainan airlines on an Airbus 330.  11 hours to Bejing.  Ok seats, ok food and free beer.  A nice touch was the complementary toothbrushes in the john so you don't injure the customs people with your breath.  I'd never been through Beijing airport before so it was another giant confusing Chinese operation that we managed to negotiate.  One great thing about Chinese airports are free luggage carts, which we needed for the massive amounts of stuff we just couldn't live without.  We had to make a connecting flight to Guangzhou, and they don't check your baggage through once you get through customs, so once we determined the direction our connecting terminal was it was a fun stroll down the world's longest airport corridor pushing our stuff like street people passing signs that said stuff like "10 minutes to terminal 1". 
Checking our bags in for our connecting flight was fun since my suitcase set off an alarm.  The cute girl had me go back behind the counter and open my checked suitcase where she produced my Leatherman and folding Buck knife.  She then had to call her supervisor, so we got to wait while I wondered if they were going to confiscate my toys.  I tried to get some sort of answer as to why something that was going into the baggage compartment was a big deal but her English consisted of "sorry".  Her supervisor eventually showed up and gave my stuff an OK.  We arrived at our connecting flight in time to board.
We spent the night at our favorite little hotel in Guangzhou, which became slightly out of favor when right when I was falling asleep after 24 hours of no sleep the phone rang with one of those annoying (to me) call girls asking if I wanted a beautiful girl to give me a massage.  This is a  common hotel occurance in China and is great if you want to whore around, but not if you want to sleep.  I unplugged the phone and slept about 4 hours then woke up too excited for more dozing.
We arrived in Zhanjiang the next morning, and Yali was excitedly waiting for us.  She hadn't slept in days, but was was bouncing up and down like she always does.  The rest of the time has been spent eating, sleeping, loving, visiting and a little shopping.  The people here are very friendly and much more easy going than in the BIG cities.  I am always struck by how friendly the taxi drivers are.
We are finally beginning our life as a new family, and even if it isn't the US, I am very excited and happy.
Time for a shower before going to breakfast with my friend, Mike and his wife.  More later.

[Jeff S]

That new Beijing airport is really something, isn't it. I lost a bottle of scotch I bought on the international flight - same airlines, I should have stuffed it in my checked suitcase as I passed through customs before checking it on the domestic flight. I tried to carry it on. One of the agents probably had a fun evening. 

Glad to hear you've arrived and are getting settled. Keep us posted.

[Capstone]

Hi Marshall.

Glad to hear that you made it to your new home safely and in good order. Keep posting the reports - I find them very informative/interesting!

[Bear]

Marshall I hope you find the life you need there.  Good Luck!

The Bear Family

[Dave H]

Hey Marshall,

Good luck! I am right behind you. I am currently putting all my ducks in a row and liquidating my assets here.

Dave

[Marshall K]

I sure don't want to go through the liquidation crap again!  I double humped my way out of my house and down the road so that my kid's mother could see him before we left.  We got to Seattle on Sunday afternoon only to find out she couldn't be bothered to come across Puget Sound to see him!  What a c**t!  She's a teacher and said she had to get ready for school the next day.  Only had a two week vacation, plus another week of snow closure!
Yali has absolutely no idea how a mother could be so detached, and even though I know what a self centered@#$*^& she is, I was even shocked.  Oh the stories I could tell about my experiences with her.  Bear's ex and she were cut from the same Devil's cloth!
Enough of the AW stuff.  Yali is super awesome and I have been enjoying my "Asian secret" time with here an whole bunch!  (nudge, nudge, say no more!)

[jm21-2]

That new Beijing airport is really something, isn't it. I lost a bottle of scotch I bought on the international flight - same airlines, I should have stuffed it in my checked suitcase as I passed through customs before checking it on the domestic flight. I tried to carry it on. One of the agents probably had a fun evening. 

Glad to hear you've arrived and are getting settled. Keep us posted.

I checked a bag with some whiskey in it once and they broke the bottle when they were throwing it around. That was a fine mess. It was pretty well padded too...reminds me of that photo going around a while back where the guys loading the plane threw the suitcase right through the side of the plane.

[Bob_S]

She's a teacher and said she had to get ready for school the next day.

Of course she became a teacher because she loves children.

[Dave H]

Yali has absolutely no idea how a mother could be so detached, and even though I know what a self centered@#$*^& she is, I was even shocked.  Oh the stories I could tell about my experiences with her.  Bear's ex and she were cut from the same Devil's cloth!

Hi Marshall,

You can add my ex to the top of the list!

Dave

[Marshall K]

Let me brag on my wife for a while.  Yali works about 30 hours a week as a government social worker.  This has given her enough freedom to be a single mom in that she can get Tody off to school before work, be home for the long lunch break, and be home when he gets home.
She has not slowed down since we have gotten here.  She insists on doing all the cooking and the dishes and most of the house cleaning.  I have managed to get her to let me do the laundry.
We have been feasting like kings whenever she cooks.  We don’t have a fridge (yet), so every meal is preceded by  a trip  to the market.  Today at lunch we had a 6 course meal with shrimp that were still kicking when she brought them home, fried baby eel, water chestnuts, tofu, duck, and chicken and plum soup.  Every meal has been like this! 
The place is spotless, and she mops it every night.
I’ve been doing guy things around the house, fixing broken stuff, adding some logic to the wiring configurations, and since I’m the artistic one, I’ve been decorating the walls with batik tapestries that I got in Yunnan on a previous trip.  This takes a little work since the walls are concrete.  She really liked the results. 
Mike tells me there is a Chinese version of a Home Depot that has everything a guy needs only it’s lots of individual purveyors in a big market place.  I need to get there because there is a lot more that I can do around here if I had something other than a Leatherman and a stick for measuring.
Since the water from the tap is a little too flavorful, we have a water cooler with water delivered.  I brought a Pur water filter from home with lots of extra cartridges.  It’s the simple pitcher style, but is good for lots of impurities.  I used it at home to get the chlorine flavor out, but it is good for lots of chemicals and bugs including giardia.  It’s impressive how well it works.
They sell fancy under the sink units here, but nothing like this.  I’ve been wondering if this might not be an American product that could be marketed here.   Mike has had some meetings with some Chinese money guys who would like to export things to the US, too.  It’s exciting to think that there are some money making opportunities here in spite of the bad economy.
The lunar new year is coming up.  We will be traveling to a small town near Shaoguan, which is north of Guangzhou in the mountains.  Yali’s mother is a Buddhist nun and we will be visiting her and staying in the temple she lives in.  It borders a national park that has some pretty incredible rock formations.  You can’t make this stuff up.

[Dave H]

We have been feasting like kings whenever she cooks.  We don’t have a fridge (yet), so every meal is preceded by  a trip  to the market.  Today at lunch we had a 6 course meal with shrimp that were still kicking when she brought them home, fried baby eel, water chestnuts, tofu, duck, and chicken and plum soup.  Every meal has been like this! 
The place is spotless, and she mops it every night.

Hi Marshall,

My wife's mother (Filipina) is here with us in the US. She is used to seafood being fresh also. I am thinking about pulling out my fishing poles. In the Philippines she always brings home fresh fish, kicking shrimp and crawling crabs from the market. Fortunately I can buy the crawling crabs at the Chinese market next to us. Talk about 'crab mentality'...you should hear them fighting each other trying to get out of the boiling pot! I keep waiting for PETA to kick down our door and boil us!  

I’ve been doing guy things around the house, fixing broken stuff, adding some logic to the wiring configurations,

You are without a doubt, one of the bravest men I know!!! Nice job! Very artistic! 

Mike tells me there is a Chinese version of a Home Depot that has everything a guy needs only it’s lots of individual purveyors in a big market place.  I need to get there because there is a lot more that I can do around here if I had something other than a Leatherman and a stick for measuring.

I am packing and sending my tools to the Philippines. My wife's family will be building several homes this year. It will be so much easier with more than one hammer and handsaw!

Dave

[Marshall K]

Dave,
I would fry my tools with the 220 volt power here, and I figured it would cost an arm and a leg to ship my hand stuff, so we'll see if you can get the same Chinese crap here as at Lowe's.  I bet lumber is at a premium, but it would be nice to have a little wood trim to offset the concrete Chairman Mao look.

[jm21-2]

Dave,
I would fry my tools with the 220 volt power here, and I figured it would cost an arm and a leg to ship my hand stuff, so we'll see if you can get the same Chinese crap here as at Lowe's.  I bet lumber is at a premium, but it would be nice to have a little wood trim to offset the concrete Chairman Mao look.

Timber bamboo is dirt cheap here...hard to imagine it's more expensive in China. Seems like you should be able to find a voltage converter/transformer. Just some ideas.

[Dave H]

Dave,
I would fry my tools with the 220 volt power here, and I figured it would cost an arm and a leg to ship my hand stuff, so we'll see if you can get the same Chinese crap here as at Lowe's.  I bet lumber is at a premium, but it would be nice to have a little wood trim to offset the concrete Chairman Mao look.

Hi Marshall,

Everything in the Philippines is 220 also. My brother-in-law is an electrical engineer. He wired the house up with some 110 outlets and we have very good quality voltage converter/transformers. I have a 110/220 generator also. In my Philippine city all of the power tools are extremely expensive at the hardware stores. Things sold in the Philippines don't seem to last very long for one reason or another. I have a gas chainsaw, but they are illegal to own in the Philippines so it will probably have to stay here. There are too many illegal logging operations owned by politicians and wealthy businessmen, so the small guy has to pay the price!

Dave