"Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it" - Confucius

This week we paid a short visit to the Confucius Temple here in Nanjing.  Very briefly, the Confucius Temple in Nanjing was originally constructed in the year of 1034 in the Song Dynasty. It was a place to worship Confucius the great philosopher and educator of ancient China.   We did not stay long since it was around 45 degrees outside, however we plan to go back in the Spring (March) when the weather is nicer.  We walked through the market area (anxious to go back and explore) and arrived near the Temple area.   In front of the temple is a golden wishing tree where you can make a wish on a ribbon and throw the ribbon up in the tree. The higher you achieve on the throw, the better the chance the wish will be received.  The boys had a great time doing this and we attracted a big crowd of Chinese people around us, who knows what they were thinking...  Strangely enough we did run into another family from Canton who just arrived a few weeks ago...  I have attached some pictures below.  We also took a nice boat ride through the channels around the market and the residence. The water channels and the Qinhuai river awarded to the City of Nanjing in 2008 with the title of The Most Harmonious City in the World by the United Nations.  It was a nice visit and we are excited to go back.

I also wanted to touch briefly on the simple things we take for granted in the US which become a week long research project here in China.  I am speaking in particular about getting a haircut....  Back home I have a great friend Aaron Michael who styles my hair at Cole Street Salon.  I spent the better part of the week asking friends what they do for their haircuts and quickly found that none of them have found a place to go where the stylist speaks English.  I was also advised that the men often experience very very short cuts with little input into the result..  So I decided to go to a nice local Mall here in Nanjing called Aqua City and ended up at a Salon recommended by one of the young ladies at the front desk where we live.  I arrived at the Salon with a note written in Chinese (from my front desk helper) that read "men's haircut, same style, not to short, high-end stylist please".  Here is China, similar to home you pay more for skill of the stylist.  My stylist "English name David" (you see many Chinese have English names that have either been assigned to them or chosen) just looked at me very briefly and then I went through the normal process (shampoo, cut, rinse, & style).  To my great surprise, he did an excellent job and I luckily did not experience situations that many others have.  I used my iphone translator to thank him and tell him what a great job he did.  Of course I got his card for return visits.  Natalie is still debating whether to wait until our summer home visit.  It is funny how even the simplest things can be challenging when you do not speak the language, but in the end it sometimes works out good.  All this for the high end price of 120 RMB or 20 USD's!!  A box of US cereal cost $10 but a haircut cost me $20 ;)

Things to look forward to this week; our permanent driver and also our air shipment arrival...  Keep your fingers crossed!

Kaaaaa BOOM!

Tonight I was inspired by a good friend of ours, after reading her blog, to wrap up my Chinese New Year commentary with the Midnight festivities.  In my previous blog I spoke of the traditions associated with the Chinese New Year and also the significance of fireworks in the celebration.  Natalie and I stayed up until midnight and woke Cooper up to witness the fireworks from our balcony (Brady is not a big fan of loud noises so he opted to sleep).  What we saw was a spectacular light show over the horizon of the city.  There are however some key differences in comparison to firework shows back home.  First this is a completely unorganized event whereas 7 million people follow Chinese Tradition to bring health and prosperity to their family.  They do not light off the fireworks in an empty field in a controlled environment.  Rather they take a box packed with explosives (say a box 2 ft x 3ft) and light it off in the middle of the city street.  There is no joy in lighting one at a time to enjoy the splendor of color, it is far more effective to light the whole box to ensure the evil spirit has been chased far far away.  What makes this even more interesting is the fact that this is a large city with many tall buildings, the echoes from the explosions magnify the sound ten-fold.  Here is the video and also a picture of the skyline at midnight.

I am glad I was able to experience this first hand here in China.  Each day this week you hear fireworks going off as the traditions continue and we find it is not all that annoying.  Rather it is a good reminder that we are experiencing a century old traditional that I never cared to understand prior to living in China.  It sounds odd to say this but nonetheless it is true and the reality is that there is so much more to understand about others than we often put forward the effort.

Lastly, interestingly Cooper is becoming the ladies man here in China with Brady as his wingman.  Brady attracts the attention by saying "Ni Hao" with this huge smile.  The young ladies think this is the cutest thing ever because he is a "westerner" and that he is speaking Chinese (he is darn cute, but it is becoming tiresome!).  Then Cooper quickly takes the lead and smiles, winks, and makes a heart sign with his hands.  He loves the giggles that are returned and when I try to correct his behavior he says, "Dad they are laughing and enjoying it".  The young ladies in the lobby seem to have something for the boys each day, whether a big smile or a dragon balloon (received today).  Cooper is reciprocating with colored pictures he makes during the day... 

We are thinking of planning some sightseeing trips here in Nanjing once Spring arrives (March), perhaps a trip to Hong Kong Disneyland in March, and then Thailand in April.  We have booked our flights home for the summer so we are looking forward to seeing friends and family!  Daily life at home for Natalie is certainly challenging and work for me as well, so we are looking forward to the adventures ahead!

Gearing Up for the Holiday!

Next week is the beginning of a very important holiday in China, The Chinese New Year.  So I thought I would give a little background and our experiences thus far leading up to next week.  In China this is also known as the “Spring Festival”.  The festival begins on the first day of the month in the traditional Chinese calendar and ends with the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day.  On Chinese New Year's Eve (January 22^nd) Chinese families gather for their annual reunion dinner.  If you want to learn more there is plenty of content on-line.  Rather than a history lesson I thought I would mention what we have personally witnessed thus far.  There are many decorations where we live and also all over the city. Windows and doors everywhere you go are decorated with red color lanterns that signify good fortune, happiness and longevity.  The decorations really make the city and shopping areas look very nice, I have attached a picture from a local shopping mall (similar to Somerset in Michigan but higher end retail) decorated with the red lanterns.  

Another tradition we are participating in (and it applicable to our situation here in China) is the “red envelopes”.  These envelopes are filled with a denomination of money and are passed out during the Chinese New Year's celebrations to show appreciation to certain individuals.  We will be providing these to people who have helped us during our first month in China.  For example we will provide red envelopes to our housekeeper and to key staff members where we live. Per custom, the amount of money in the red packets should be of even numbers as odd numbers are associated with cash given during funerals, also should avoid 400 and 250 RMB as these are unlucky numbers (strangely enough odd and even numbers are determined by the first digit, rather than the last. Thirty and fifty, for example, are odd numbers.  Many things to keep straight!).  

The one tradition which we have been forewarned about is the fireworks.  When I say fireworks I do not mean like the ones at Ore Lake or at traditional 4^th of July celebrations.  The Chinese are all about the BANG!  We saw evidence of this on New Year’s Eve however everyone has told us the noise is constant for the entire week.  The reason for the noise is that explosions were once used in ancient China to drive away evil spirits.  Next week I will post a short video off our balcony, the continuous noise is amazing and it is all over the city.  I should also mention that they use fireworks to celebrate marriage, promotion, good fortune, etc throughout the year.


They have decorated our lobby with a Wishing Tree.  This is an expression of the Chinese traditional culture and belief that you could make wishes for your family, loved ones or even wishes for a better life.  The kids wrote down their wishes and they were tied to the wishing tree.  We gave the kids the freedom to write whatever they wanted.  Brady did not have too many ideas so we suggested “making good friends at school”.  Cooper however insisted on writing his wish for “more Lego’s and magic tricks”.

Off topic but interesting to share is a cultural trait that we have noticed with the Chinese.  This is a much smaller area set aside as “personal space”.  As seen with the similarities in driving, there is no order when waiting in line at a register or to be helped in some manner.  For example, instead of waiting in an orderly line, people crowd counters and you will often find Chinese nationals shoulder to shoulder with you or immediately behind peering over your shoulder.  All you can really do is laugh to yourself when in this situation.  Back home you would think it is rude for someone to step in front of you, here it is common.
  
Lastly we have learned that our air shipment which was to arrive this Friday, just prior to the week long holiday, is likely to be delayed.   They are questioning the “four DVD players” that the movers labeled, officials wondering why I need four DVD players.  In actuality it is two home DVD players and two portable players.  Having explained this to Senior Custom Officials they are now satisfied that I am not looking to start my own black market…  Yet, it now has to go back through the process again.  Ugh!  We are all looking forward to the shipment arrival for some more comforts from home…

Looking Forward....

Thought I would share a short blog this evening before going to bed.  At the dinner table this evening I asked the family to name some things that they are looking forward to receiving when our air shipment arrives in the next few weeks.  It is also important to note that our ocean shipment follows the arrival of the air shipment so the question was not all inclusive of everything we packed.  Here was the responses:

Natalie - She was looking forward to receiving the memory foam mattress topper that we bought for our king bed that came furnished in our place here in Nanjing.  I immediately responded that her thought was a great one.  The mattresses here in China are pretty firm, certainly not like the pillow top we enjoyed back in the United States.  Luckily through with the help of our expat friends we were advised to purchase a mattress cover...

Cooper - He was looking forward to receiving some of his Christmas presents.  In particular he mentioned his science kit, majic tricks, and also his lego sets.  We are all becoming tired of the card games so it will be nice for some of their toys' to arrive.

Brady - He was looking forward to the arrival of his talking chipmunks; Alvin, Simon, and Theodore!  Also he was anxious to receive his programmable robot that Grandma bought for him.

Jim - I mentioned the arrival of the portable ice maker that we bought.  In restaurants and all around China you need to be careful of the water you drink.  In our place we have a filtration system and also have the big purified bottles of water delivered, however outside of the home it is rare to have ice served in your drinks.  This is something small that I miss.  In reality I am looking forward to everything on the air shipment because it will move us one step closer to a home environment and becoming completely settled.

We are all becoming comfortable here in Nanjing and feel fortunate that things have been going well up to this point.  The children start school tomorrow morning and so this is an exciting week.  Natalie is planning to blog about some of her more personal adventures in the days to come.  To conclude here are a few notable mentions about living in Nanjing so far (I am sure there is many more that will come to mind);

* There are no stop signs, not that anyone would follow them anyway...
* At the stop lights there is a big clock that counts down until the light is to change color...
* It is acceptable to muster the largest throat clearing sound followed by spitting outdoors...
* Split pant babies (Natalie will cover this one...)
* Constant eyes upon you and the children in public, they have great interest in westerners (all are very nice however and like to practice their english "Hi".  Funny story, our driver in the car looked at the kids yesterday and said "quiet, quiet" with a big smile on his face (oh boy what are we teaching this guy...).
* High fashion, all the young people dress very nicely
* Everyone hangs their clothing outdoors in the high-rise apartments to dry (counter intuitive given the dust in the city).
* All the western stores in the nice shopping malls (summerset equivalents) are triple the price than in the US, hard to understand who buys the merchandise...
* I have almost got hit by a scooter 5 times...
* Badminton is very popular, I am to try it this week with a Chinese friend I have met who is an employee here where we live...
* Plenty of street food, have not tried yet....

Enough for now, loving all the new experiences.....

When in Rome.... Do as the Romans do!

Today I am writing as my temporary driver escorts me to work (yes I actually sit in the back seat…).  Yesterday I watched throughout the drive and found it very stressful so I have now determined I will use my driving time to read e-mails from work, catch up on the news (once I get my phone next week), or write about our experiences in China.  The drive to work is approximately 30 minutes unless I leave at peak rush hour which then means it will be extended to 50 minutes.  Yesterday I hit peak rush hour and was able to experience first-hand how the Chinese drive in heavy traffic.  Vehicles are literally bumper to bumper as drivers allow little room between the car in front of them, this results in short intervals of quick acceleration and braking while only moving 6 feet at a time.  The close proximity to the car in front of you is a result of every driver wanting to occupy the 12 inches of space available to them to progress further.  This also creates what I call continual swaying from lane to lane or perhaps on the median as you try and merge into traffic at the last possible moment.  Think about the person in the US who either merges at the final moments or cuts your vehicle off forcing you to hit the brakes, this is the norm in China.  I mentioned at the start I am with my temporary driver, Mr. Chen (I think this is his name…).  You see he speaks even fewer words to me in English than I speak Mandarin to him.  Although each morning he greats me with a smile and a “good morning” which I believe he picked up on from our family.  Yesterday I was very impressed with myself as I instructed him “please arrive tomorrow at 7:15am” in Mandarin.  Small victory!  On Tuesday next week our permanent driver starts with our family, Mr. Xiao Fan.  Yesterday I was able to interview two drivers, through a translator, and I selected Mr. Fan.  He is 43 years old, former taxi driver, with a wife and 12 year old son.  He appears very nice and was very attentive to our family needs in the interview.  Only time will tell, stay tuned.

One thing to know about the culture is the morning breakfast routine.  Although we are not deep into Chinese culture in our complex, the breakfast buffet each morning does reveal a little into how the Chinese eat in the mornings.  The buffet contains the normal US items like toast, cereal, omlette’s, fruits, coffee and orange juice to name a few.  However you will also find how the Chinese use breakfast as a bigger meal of the day (Natalie tells me this is what Dr. Oz calls eating in reverse).  For example this morning I found stir fry noodles, pepper steak, and mashed potatoes.  Each morning there is also a salad bar to select from.  Each day will contain some food that we would normally consider lunch or dinner appropriate in the US, although the boys were happy the day when they served chicken nuggets ;)

Jump forward 9 hours and I am now on my commute home for the day.  To my surprise I have discovered how the drivers, including my temp, pass the time when they are waiting for the next pickup.  Unfortunate for me when I left the building today my driver was nowhere to be found.  I located the car in the parking lot and another driver pointed me to a building where he could be found.  I walked in a smoke clouded room of Chinese men playing cards.  Everyone in the room looked up at me where I pointed at Mr. Chen and he came in a rush, must have been a little embarrassing for him…  LOL. 

So, the last thing I will touch on is lunch which is served daily and provided by Ford at the office Canteen.  Like a mass exit, promptly at 11:30am all the staff rises from their desk and begins to head to the Canteen, holding their lunch cards.  This is similar to the start time in the office, since most take the mass transit system they all arrive right at 8:30am and leave at 5:30pm.  Yesterday I followed the routine to the canteen with an Australian colleague I met whose family relocated the same time as we did.  Once in the canteen you swipe your card and then can choose from several Chinese dishes.  There is a variety of meat items, I chose the ones that closely resembled either beef or pork.   In addition you can have a bowl of soup, bowl of white rice, vegetables, and/or a noodle dish.  I am finding the food hit or miss from day to day, some days it is good and others not so much for a westerner.   But it is hard to complain about a free meal.

Arriving home now to Natalie and the kids.   Time to eat dinner, play a few games, and then join my 8:30pm conf. call, stupid Americans don’t they know it is late here in China!!!