The Krusers

Kruses in Shenzhen

2008-05-22T15:49:00.000-07:00

Well, now it was time to come back to our house and relax a little. We tried not to do too much.
The first day the boys all went golfing with one of David's best buddies and golf pro, Jeff.

Jeff, David and Mr. Kruse

We also took a trip to see David's factory.

And a trip to see Michaela at school.

Michaela with her pengyous (friends).

The teacher shows us Michaela's art work.

Claudia got a manicure.

Beautiful piggies.

Claudia was VERY impressed with David's car. She insisted on taking a picture to show other people back home. So here it is.

The nicest car David's ever owned.

We fellowshipped:

Family devotions.

And finally, we walked around town a bit.

Michaela at Dragon park

Mr. Kruse pushing LJ

It was a wonderful visit. Thanks so much to the Kruses for making the long journey. We had such a fun, exciting and uplifting time together. We can't wait to see you this summer!

Kruses in Yangshuo

2008-05-22T04:32:00.000-07:00

After Longsheng, we took a four hour car ride to Yangshuo. Yangshuo is a small city surrouded by beautiful karst formations. It is known for being a backpacker town and the preferred choice for most foreigners who visit the area (as opposed to the bigger tourist city, Guilin, that the Chinese prefer to visit).

First we took a trip down west street. It is named for the western food primarily available in the small cafes lining the quaint, traffic-free street. We drew attention as usual.

Michaela made a friend. Isn't she adorable?

The next day we hired a car to take us to see the area. It was raining on and off and Mr. Kruse did not think he'd fit on the Chinese-made and Chinese-sized bikes so commonly used to sight see the area. First we saw the beautiful Li river

Family picture in front of the Li river.

The area is surrounded by rice paddys.

The village on the other side.

Strange touristy activities on the river. This is one where you get into and inflated ball and float along while rolling in a small amount of water. Everyone says it is a lot of fun. I thought it was way too cold to get wet, but some people were giving it a try.

Next, we went to visit the old town. It was a long and back-achingly bumpy ride. With all the jarring bumps, I was actually worried for the safety of the baby. The old village seemed really poor and mostly dirty.

Sharing the road.

They really didn't have much, but everyone did have a TV which seemed out of place in these ancient open-air houses.

An adorable, sweet old lady with crooked teeth.

It was then time for lunch. I was famished so I ordered a 10 course meal that took an hour to get to the table and ended up only half-eaten. At least everything tasted pretty good.

Leonardx3 waiting for the meal.

Next stop was a complete tourist trap which ended up being the place Michaela liked best. At least the silly, stupid activities were inexpensive.

Hand-made flower hat for 30 cents.

Sit on a decorated horse -- 50 cents.

Sit with ridiculously-dressed monkeys -- 1 dollar.

Dress like an ancient Chinese princess for another dollar.

Meet other princesses -- free!

Last stop -- see moon hill -- a strange formation that has a moon-shaped hole in it.

Trains in China

2008-05-22T03:25:00.001-07:00

Trains in China are both fun and miserable. Riding them is really a cultural experience that all visitors should try at lease once. We did it twice on this trip. On the way to Guilin we took an overnight soft sleeper. It was quite comfortable and relatively clean. We had four bunks in one room and a door that locked. The way back to Shenzhen from Guilin was a bit different. We had hard sleepers (they were all out of soft sleepers). In this case there are 6 beds in one room and no door to separate your compartment from the other compartments. It is somewhat comfortable and kind of clean. Your experience can depend a great deal on your bunk mates. On our way back there were two empty bunks a lady that never said a word and then us on the bottom so it wasn't so bad.

Siblings sleeping together.

The dining car. Mr. Kruse liked the food a lot. I refuse to eat on trains so I just had some muffins that I brought from Hong Kong.

David and Yaya

Sometimes you meet fun people on the train. This is Sudoku Jack. He saw Mr. Kruse doing a Sudoku puzzle and wanted to learn how.

Jack trying his first Sudoku puzzle.

There is really no way to explain this -- it was messy and we all had to just laugh.

Longsheng Rice Terraces with the Kruses

2008-05-22T02:16:00.000-07:00

So the trip was long, but clearly worth it as you will see. We took an overnight train from Shenzhen to Guilin. We then took a car from Guiling about a three hour trip to Longsheng. Longsheng is a beautiful area with famous rice terraces and several minority groups.
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/guangxi/longsheng/dragon.htm

The ride was long and rainy.

The entrance -- at the bottom of the mountain.

We drove a bit further and then had to walk about 40 minutes up the mountain to the hotel.

The hotel was amazing -- expensive but wonderful in every way. Each room was decorated in a different theme with beautiful Chinese artwork and handicrafts in every corner. The atmosphere and beauty was a perfect accent to the scenery. If you need some decorating ideas, check out their site where they display each room. http://www.lianlodge.com/

A village path

Bamboo pipes worked as water drains

Once we settled into our hotel we headed out to see the beauty of the rice terraces. It was raining, but only lightly.

Looking out at the village below.

Looking out over the terraces.

The three Leonards

We met some minority women from the neighboring village.

They never cut their hair.

On a walk.

After a long walk we went out for a meal which included the local specialty -- chicken cooked over a fire inside bamboo.

The next day it was raining too hard to do more exploring so we headed down the mountain to make the long trip to Yangshuo.

Me and LJ before heading down.

Claudia carried Michaela on her back the whole way down.

Down narrow streets in the poring rain.

A very wet family -- I carried LJ in a front carrier which made traveling down the narrow, slippery steps very difficult.

On the way out we grabbed a cup of warm dou nai (bean milk) made from this old grinder.

Hong Kong with the Kruses

2008-05-22T01:24:00.000-07:00

So when the Kruses came to Hong Kong we had lots of fun. We stayed on Cheung Chau Island. It is a small fishing village about a 30-40 minute ride from down town Hong Kong.

Cheung Chau map

We stayed at Bethany House which is basically at the top of "peak" road. Did I mention there were no cars on the island? So we had to lug our luggage all the way to the retreat center.

Not an easy task -- Imagine this at 90 degrees and 100% humidity!

I think the Kruses would agree that it was worth it. Getting to the top meant meeting and holding LJ for the first time.

Claudia meeting LJ

The next day we went into Hong Kong to look around and as we landed at the ferry dock where there were huge crowds lining the streets. We quickly realized that the Olympic torch was passing by right in front of the dock in a matter of minutes. What and unexpected surprise! We decided to wait for it.

We drew some attention while waiting. As usual.

Claudia and Leonard looking patriotic.

Michaela getting a better view.

Here it comes . . .

The passing of the flame.

A family picture.

We then spent the day in Hong Kong and went out for some Indian food for dinner. There are lots and lots of Indians in Hong Kong and the fare is fantastic in HK. We happened to pass by a restaurant called King Ludwig's. We all had a good laugh -- if you know the Kruses you'd understand.

It was late and we headed home on the ferry. We had a wonderful and eventful HK day. We took a ferry from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island and then a ferry from Hong Kong Island to Cheung Chau. The trip took just over an hour.

LJ on the ferry. He got burned on the beach several days earlier and it took about a week to fade away. It was cloudy and raining lightly that day but I guess I should have known better. He still looks cute though.

Hong Kong from the Star Ferry at night.

The next day we headed out. Cheung Chau is a great place to relax and eat (the seafood is fantastic!). Lots of fresh fruit also.

Buying some fruit on our way to the ferry.

We are now heading to Shenzhen where we will catch a train to Guilin.

Cheung Chau with the Ambrose family

2008-05-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

Coming up on Cheing Chau

I had to go to Hong Kong to meet the Kruses. We made a booking mistake and booked a day early so instead of change the plans, I went a day early with the kids and the Ambrose family. We stayed on Cheung Chau Island: http://karws.gso.uri.edu/China/HongKong/Cheung_Chau/CCI1.html (some girl's site with cool pics)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheung_Chau. (basic wiki entry)

We stayed at a missionary house which I was first introduced to when I taught in China with ESEC. It is a wonderful retreat that helps overseas workers rest and recooperate from ministry. Even thought we are not longer doing service work in China we still like to frequent this place because it is such a wonderful place. See their website: http://www.bethanyministries.com/join.htm

Relaxing in the common room

It was wu yi or May 1st holiday

Boat races for the holiday

We walked to the famous pirates cave. It took forever! We were exhausted and the cave was too difficult to climb into with the kids. Oh well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheung_Po_Tsai

We were so exhausted that we took a boat back around to the other side of the island.

Jen and Randy recovering from our two hour hike.

The beach was more kid friendly. Michaela got naked pretty quickly. I acted like we were European so it was ok.

Myles had better manners and stayed clothed, but he had just as much fun.

We tried to keep Jonathan out of the sun as much as possible, but the next day he was pretty burned.

Thanks to the Ambrose family for such a fun trip!

Kevin's Visit

2008-05-21T23:46:00.000-07:00

Hun Jun aka Kevin
Whoa 60's

Kevin and Yaya

Kevin and Jonathan

Our old friend Kevin came for a visit. Well Kevin is her old name. Her parents paid the fee to have another child (their first was a girl) and of course it was a girl so they gave her a boy's name anyway. Her name in Chinese means army. So when she picked an English name she picked a boy's name. We met her in Wuhan when we taught there in 2000. She has been a dear friend ever since. She changed her English name to Samantha for business purposes but we still know her as Kevin. Thanks for visiting us, Kevin!

Michaela loves green veggies

2008-05-13T10:21:00.000-07:00

I don't know how it happened, but my daughter loves green vegetables. I guess it is just a matter of offering it at every meal which is not hard here in China where everyone loves stir-fried greens.

A typical meal

She really likes it!

Pascha 2008

2008-05-13T09:32:00.000-07:00

There is an Orthodox church in Hong Kong but we almost never go there. It is a three-hour trip each way. To make the trip in a day is so hard on everyone. To spend the night in Hong Kong is over a hundred dollars. So we mainly go to the Russian Orthodox church in Shenzhen. It only meets once a month at most and it is all in Slavonic, but we can partake in the sacraments there. The priest is wonderful. Unfortunately at Pascha, Father Dionisy (the usual priest) is usually serving in Beijing. Like last year, he arranged for a Hieromonk (basically a monk who is ordained) from Russia to come down and conduct services for the parishioners in Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Father Melety is also wonderful -- pretty much like every Orthodox priest I've ever met. This year the service was on Sunday night rather than the typical Saturday night so there weren't many people there. Father Melety had to perform the service in Hong Kong on Saturday night and then again in Shenzhen on Sunday night.

We had one Holy Week Service: The Reading of the 12 Gospels:

David holding LJ at the service.

The 11th reading

After the Service of the 12 Gospels, Father Melety read the prayers for my "churching" aka returning to church after 40 days following the birth of a baby.
See the churching prayers at:
http://www.goarch.org/en/chapel/liturgical_texts/churching.asp

Churching of Katie and Jonathan

Pascha 2008 Shenzhen

Confession is done right before partaking in the Eucharist. This must be a Russian tradition because I've never seen it before. A strange break in the otherwise very formal service.

http://www.orthodox.cn/news/20080430paschachina_en.htm
http://www.orthodox.cn/contemporary/guangdong/shenzhen_en.htm

My favorite restaurant

2008-05-13T08:48:00.000-07:00

This is a Hakka restaurant that we love going to. We have a date night once a week and we love going to this place for dinner. Michaela loves it also – there is a pond with fish and an outside patio with a small playground. Here are some of my favorite dishes:

Crispy pork. The sauce makes it great!

Onion chicken.

This is delicious until you learn what it actually is. Basically papaya with warm milk and coconut milk inside. Something jelly-like also but with very little taste. You find out later that this is some part of the frog's reproductive system. Yuck! So I make it at home now -- without the jelly stuff of course.

Who are hakka people?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakka

LJ at two months

2008-05-13T08:43:00.001-07:00

Jonathan is a beautiful and delightful baby!

Installing air conditioning

2008-04-23T19:33:00.000-07:00

Yes, he is hanging out the window with a rope around his waist!

We moved into an empty apartment so there were no air conditioners. Until now we haven’t needed them, but it has really gotten to the unbearable point. So we finally had them installed this week. I’ve seen this process before, but it never fails to amaze me when these men tie a rope around their waists and then climb out the window (10 floors up) and are lowered by their colleague to the little ledge where the air conditioner gets placed. Really, you could not pay me enough money to do this. And I highly doubt this job comes with a nice life insurance policy.

Puppet Show

2008-04-23T19:13:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite gifts from this past Christmas. Endless hours of entertainment. Michaela just loves making up her own show or watching one of ours. David’s shows are the funniest of course.

The T issue

2008-04-23T18:56:00.000-07:00

The T issue/News in China

News has been blocked over the Tibet incident. We haven’t had the English news for over a month. I can get articles in English about Tibet on the internet sometimes (I guess they don’t regulate the English internet news as much). Things are tense though. When we came through the border after going to Disneyland, the border security was increased and they scrutinized everything about us. So we do have limits to our information flow, but so far not much else has changed for us.

We asked out Chinese helper about the incident and she knew nothing about it. She said, well it must not have been very big or I would have heard something. Ha! A week later or so we asked if she still hadn’t heard anything and she said, yes, she looked into it and she discovered that Tibetans were killing all Han Chinese people. So that is the news that the Chinese people get – either nothing or very extreme versions of the story.

Foreigners just do not realize the news that the Chinese read is so vastly different. For a sense of what is being said check out our city's English newspaper The Shenzhen Daily or China's English newspaper The China Daily.

Shenzhen Daily: http://paper.sznews.com/szdaily/

China Daily: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/

Here is a great article written by a "foreign expert" on the subject of Tibet and America's relationship with the DL:

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-04/16/content_6622346.htm

Helper

2008-04-23T18:54:00.001-07:00

I take back every bad thing I said about my helper, Zhou Jie. Now that I have a baby and a three year old, I feel like she is my life saver. So she doesn’t clean that well and so her food is a bit oily and repetitive. Every woman will agree that when you are tired and need a break and there is someone who will let you rest or hold the baby for you that person is an angel to you. I love you Zhou Jie!

Western Easter

2008-04-23T18:36:00.000-07:00

Chinese Catholic Church -- Easter Mass

My mom was here so we celebrated Western Easter this year. One of the five star hotels has a huge brunch. It is about 40 US dollars per person, but the buffet is huge and the kids are free. They also have a kids section for painting Easter eggs and an egg hunt with a bunny. Very secular, but also fun and since this is not our Easter and not a religious holiday for us, it really is just like a fun outing. We did go to the Catholic Church for Easter mass which was really nice. It was held outdoors and there was a baptism. There was some drama also. Some guy came up and hit the child-who-was-getting-baptized’s father in the middle of the baptism. I didn’t understand what he was saying, but I suppose he objected somehow. Then at the end a huge rat ran under my chair. Upon seeing this David said something un-churchworthy. I had no idea what was happening since David wouldn’t tell me why his eyes were popping out of his head or why he suddenly shouted. I knew it was something crazy because David’s face was so revealing.

Great buffet!

Michaela with the Easter Bunny.

Lots of friends

Visit from teachers

2008-04-16T19:13:00.000-07:00

Michaela with her teachers

I have been quite happy with Michaela’s pre-school. They seem very professional there. They take the schooling-at-three a bit too seriously (giving homework and grades), but overall everything has been quite nice. One cool thing they do is the teachers (four of them for a class of 25) go to visit all their student’s homes in the beginning of each semester. It really is a great ice-breaker and a way for younger kids to feel more comfortable with their teachers. Michaela was thrilled.

Michaela's Birthday Party

2008-04-16T18:25:00.000-07:00

Birthday Girl

LJ celebrates

Michaela turned three! We were planning on having a birthday party at the school. I really did not want a big party since we already went to Disneyland and I just didn’t have time for a huge party (the party last year was amazing). However, on Wed. (we were going to have the party on Friday) the school told us that they changed their minds about the party and would allow it, but no food could be brought in - so no cake. Well, all I had was 10 minutes at the end of class anyway and what is a birthday party like without a cake? So after going over some ideas, we decided to invite the whole class (25 kids!) over to our house that evening instead. I spent the day alternating between fretting over no one coming and everyone coming (our apartment is pretty small). In the end most, but not all students came and although it was a bit cramped, it seemed that everyone had a good time. Since Chinese kids do not generally have kid/group birthday parties I think it was a fun and different experience for everyone. We told people no gifts, but most brought one anyway.

Michaela with her pengyous (friends in Chinese)

David entertaining the crowd with a song in Chinese

Disneyland

2008-04-16T14:49:00.000-07:00

All of us at the entrance

March 22^nd is Michaela’s birthday. This year we wanted to go to Disneyland. So it worked out that the best time to go was the weekend before her birthday. LJ was only three weeks old. All the Chinese people thought we were crazy bringing a baby of that age out of the house. It seemed pretty easy to me. He pretty much just sleeps and eats, so traveling was quite stress free.

So we stayed the night at the Hollywood Hotel which is the four star hotel on the grounds. There is a five star one also, but I didn’t see the big advantage to staying at that one since we would be spending most of the time at the park. We got two day passes and the first day it was just Michaela, my mom and myself. David was on a business trip and joined us the following day.

Hollywood Hotel

Hong Kong Disneyland is really small and can be seen in its entirety in a day or two. There are really only four parts and most of the rides are small rides. It really seems more geared toward younger children. It also didn’t seem that busy and we were there on a weekend. The average wait time for a ride was one to five minutes.

Michaela in front of the castle

Michaela’s favorite parts were: Fantasyland: Teacup ride and Dumbo ride, Meeting the characters (especially the princesses) and going anywhere near the castle. My feelings: It was fun. I never felt so happy to spend so much money in my life. I could go into some rant about the damage that Disney has done to our culture and the negative aspects of the commercialism it developed (you could very well put “Disney” down for a definition of commercialism among other things of course). However, whose fault is it: those who buy into it or those who see the opportunity? If too much is not made out of Disney, the park, the movies the products, it really is a fun activity to enjoy with the family and since most of us can only afford to go to the park once maybe twice, it isn’t worth too much analysis regarding its impact on society.

Meeting Winnie the Pooh

Dumbo ride

Teacup ride

Disappointing: the food! This was definitely an Asian park and the food demonstrated it. The cute main street that looked like America had almost nothing that smelled or tasted Western. I remember when the park opened they had a lot more Western food and the people complained that there was not enough Chinese food. Chinese, Asians in general love almost all Western imports except Western food. Most Chinese won't even so much as sample "Western" food.

Yucky snacks!

Just plain weird: the crowd which was mostly adults. The only thing weirder than realizing you want to go on the tea cup ride again because you had more fun than your kid is realizing that almost everyone else on the ride is an adult without any accompanying children. Even weirder: waiting in line to see Winnie the Pooh and realizing that your child is the only one under the age of 10 waiting in line made up of 40 people. My conclusion: these people did not get to grow up with Disney and are making up for their cheated childhood as adults.

Meeting Cinderella

Group picture with Snow White and Cinderella

The train to Disneyland -- very cool

Man Yue

2008-04-16T13:57:00.000-07:00

If you lived in China and had a baby, there are some key Chinese phrases you would undoubtedly learn in about a day. Two basic ones are nan har hai shi nu har? Or Is it a boy or a girl? The other is Duo da le? Or How old? You would also learn the term Man Yue since after you told people the baby’s age, they would mention something about not having completed you Man Yue or 30 day home rest (or confinement as I see it). They do believe in it strongly though. I’ve had old ladies get into my face and yell at me about going out during Man Yue. This is when I pretend I do not speak any Chinese as this makes the situation easier. At the end of Man Yue you are supposed to have a big party. Sometimes people shave their boys head and make paint brushes out of the boy’s hair.

There are lots of goofy ideas in China about pregnancy and childbirth. I could devote an entire page to Chinese old wives tales. We have these in America also the only difference is most Chinese still believe them. Some have good cause, but most are totally ridiculous (no bathing for a month after birth, no air conditioning, no cold things, etc). I would have put Man Yue in the ridiculous category, but after speaking with a multitude of women, I think American culture is in the minority on this one. The idea behind Man Yue is that the newborn should be protected from the harsh world and possible infections and the woman’s body needs time to recover from the birthing process. They believe if the woman does not rest after birth, she will have ailments later in life. I still think the idea of having ailments later in life is silly, but in general it seems that many cultures observe some form of this tradition. The Korean women I spoke with spend 3 months inside. Thai women do about a month. Japanese women also observe some form of this home confinement. Even a Bulgarian woman said they spend a month inside also. I suppose even my own Orthodox faith observes some form of this in the Forty day churching blessing in which women are reintroduced to church after forty days with the assumption that they haven’t been there since the baby was born i.e. they have been at home in isolation.

I don’t like it. I’m not good at doing nothing. My idea of bed-rest is sitting down for an extra hour or two a day and even that is pretty hard for me. So I intrinsically do not like the idea. However, it is interesting how important it seems to some cultures and how unimportant and unnecessary it seems to most Americans. I think it is the difference in the family unit. In many cultures (Chinese, Korean, even Eastern European), a woman’s mother or mother-in-law is expected to come and take care of a woman after she gives birth. In many Asian cultures, this care-taking lasts for a year or even a lifetime in which the child is often reared by the grandparents. In America, we do often have some family help, but it usually only last a couple of days and is not extensive. I’ve often heard American women groan at the mention of their mother’s coming to help for even a couple of days. I’ve heard women color it as obtrusive. But in general shouldn’t it be nice to have someone help you for a month. In the Chinese tradition, the family cooks, cleans and takes care of other children for you. What is so weird about that? That’s just plain nice. It seems our cultures are just so different and, in my opinion, the American culture is the one that is strange.

Orthodox Blessings

2008-04-16T13:17:00.000-07:00

There are several blessings traditionally offered in the Orthodox church when a woman has a baby.

There is the Blessing on the first day which is usually done in the hospital (or home for those crazy home birth people). Here the priest offers prayers for the recovery of the mother and the protection of the child. Father Dionisy was kind enough to come to the hospital to perform this blessing. All the nurses there thought we were Jewish and just performed a circumcision. What would give them that idea?

There is the Blessing on the eighth day. This blessing inolves the naming of the child (in the tradition that Jesus was given his name on the 8th day, Luke 2:21). This blessing was given by Father Dionisy in Shenzhen at the small Russian parish. Sorry, no pictures.

Fourty day blessing: This is often the first visit that the mother and child make to the church. This is a continuation of an old testament tradition (see Luke 2:22-24). Women usually wait until this ceremony is performed before they partake in the Eucharist. However, this tradition is not strictly observed at my former parish All Saints Orthodox Church and although I celebrated this ceremony on the 40th day, I was allowed to participate in the Eucharist before the ceremony was performed. I also took the baby to church and I myself attended church before this time. We attend a Russian parish here and I was not allowed to take Eucharist until this ceremony was performed. Since the church only meets occasionally, we haven't done this ceremony yet.

Naming rights

2008-04-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

So David won a dumb bet and has long gloated over the right to name the first boy, Leonard. I would elaborate on the specifics, but it makes me look really stupid so I'll spare the details. Anyway, I have never been fond of the name and have long tried to find ways to de-legitimize the agreement. David himself is named Leonard which many people do not know. David’s parents wanted to keep the family name alive, but Claudia, his mother was not fond of the name either so they named him Leonard David and called him David. It seems we have followed in this pattern. Just a couple of weeks before the baby was born we were both playing around with other names but nothing stuck. In the end, I came to the conclusion that I would rather name my son after people I know and admire rather than finding a cool and interesting name that I like the sound of. I guess I am traditional. David is VERY traditional. So for us it does make more sense this way.

David and I are both blessed to have wonderful fathers. I think we can safely say that both our fathers are amazing people -- not only to us but to a multitude of people. So it wasn’t that hard in the end to settle on naming him Leonard Jonathan and calling him Jon or whatever names happen to develop over the years (Anyone who knows the Kruse family knows that there will be many). We chose his saint name (baptismal name) to be Jonathan rather than John because of the wonderful relationship between King David and Jonathan. So in this way, our son’s name has a connection to the three most important men in his life.

I made a plaque for his name (Claudia designed it). The bottom script says:

You have been given the name Leonard after your grandfather, Leonard Lawrence Kruse because of his faithfulness to the Lord, never-ending patience and his kind and helpful nature.

You have been given the name Jonathan after your grandfather, John Patrick Howe because of his hardworking character, unceasing ability to listen ad his generous and self-sacrificial nature.

Baby Jonathan

2008-04-16T12:42:00.000-07:00

Baby LJ, Jonathan aka Peanut

Well my tension-filled pregnancy all came to a wonderful end when we had baby LJ in Hong Kong on Feb. 27, 2008. We got accepted to have the baby at the hospital (Matilda) about three days prior to having him. Pretty much as soon as we got the acceptance letter, my HK doctor wanted to induce me. It all worked out well. My BP was getting pretty high so it really was necessary. My induction only took about 8 hours. They made me have an epidural, but they allowed the medicine to run out so I could feel the contractions. I just wanted to know what they felt like. This experiment took place at the very end when the contractions were on each other’s heels and very strong. I think about thirty minutes or so into it I was asking for the whole experience to be over with. It took a while for the medicine to kick in and never really felt like it did before they took the epidural away. Overall assessment: stupid experiment. I’ve changed my mind completely over my long held dream of an all natural water birth.

It's a boy, 7 lbs 12 oz

The whole experience was so different from when I had Michaela. First off, I had no idea people pushed for a long time to get the baby out or that this stage was difficult and exhausting. Michaela was 3 lbs and crowning when I started pushing so I only pushed twice. In the end pushing out LJ only lasted 25 minutes or so, but I was completely taken by surprise by the difficulty and length of this stage. I also wanted to get all emotional and angry in labor and yell and scream like women do on TV, but it just wasn’t that way even when the pain was the worst and I guess this is just not a part of my personality. I do remember when the contractions were really bad Michaela was in the room watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and they were singing that song “Whistle while you work.” It was really annoying to hear that song during the contractions. I was so happy when the China-bought copy suddenly seized up. I think it was truly an answer to prayer. It was also so nice to hold LJ right away. With Michaela they let me see her for a brief second (I couldn’t see anyway because of the magnesium sulfate and all the swelling) and then whisked her off the NICU. And then to get to go back to the room with him right away, it felt amazing. And he was (and still is) a really good baby. Even the nurses remarked about how rarely they see a baby keep their eyes open and look around so much without fussing.

Our house

2008-02-25T23:01:00.000-08:00

Our guest bathroom. I love purple and green together.

The living room

The icon stand

The kitchen and the ikea cabinets -- finally installed!

Michaela's room

Our room with the fancy furniture that David bought. It is imported from europe and ate up most of our furniture budget, but it is beautiful!
Our beautiful bed. Notice the bars in the background though. I know it looks awful ut we are very high up in an apartment building and we would not want any curious little girl to try to pretend she is tinkerbell and jump out.

Our beautiful bed. Notice the bars over the window in the background though. I know it looks awful ut we are very high up in an apartment building and we would not want any curious little girl to try to pretend she is Tinkerbell and jump out.

Our bathroom. We have mini heater in there because one of the worst feelings in life is to go potty in the freezing cold.

Vince in jail

2008-02-25T22:14:00.000-08:00

Yes, I’ve mentioned this before. I won’t tell you why he is in jail because I really feel badly about sharing such private information. However, what I will tell you is jail in China is nothing like jail in America. Vince was arrested in November and placed in a holding cell. Yes, that is right; he has been there in holding for almost 4 months now – so far no trial has occurred. He has not seen a judge. He is just there waiting to present his side of things. And the waiting is not fun. His cell is open air (windows are not sealed, just bars) and shared with many others. They took his glasses and heart medication away. They told us they gave both back to him, but a recently released prisoner who was in holding with him, came and told his wife that this was actually a lie. So he can’t see and he hasn’t taken his medication in months (he’s had several open heart surgeries). He also suffers from gout so I’m sure he is miserable. The prisoners get one cup of rice and one cup of vegetables at every meal. Anything else they might want, they need to buy. As a result of this, Lily, his wife, is sending him 2,000 RMB per month (about $250) to supplement his meals. There is no entertainment and he has not been given any books although he requested his Bible. They told us they gave him his bible, but the man who went to see Lily also said that was a lie. He gets one letter per month from family and he can write one letter per month to family (only one page long though). All of the correspondence is screened. We have been told that the trial will take place in April, but of course we have no guarantee of that. I actually think Vince deserves some punishment for what he did, but the Chinese system is really harsh and has made me feel quite sorry for him. If you think of it, do pray for Vince. He made a mistake, but he should get the chance to go before a judge and get a fair hearing.

Waitng is over

2008-02-25T21:38:00.000-08:00

Here we go. They finally found a place for me at the hospital and my Dr. quickly decided it is best to induce me now. My BP was also high, but it was a change of tune from what she said before about how much better it is to wait for natural labor to start. In any case, we are glad to have the worrying and waiting part over since it has been a long and stressful final month.

We will put pictures up as soon as baby Kruse arrives.

Orthodox parish in Shenzhen

2008-02-25T21:33:00.000-08:00

Natasha holding Michalea

Father Dionisy

Church inside

I finally had a chance to go to the Russian Orthodox parish in Shenzhen. There was one other service since we’ve been back, but we missed it due to going to Hong Kong for some tests. The services are held on odd days and at odd times because the priest, Father Dioneszy, has a parish in Hong Kong that he serves at on Sundays and church holidays. So the services for us are sometimes on a Monday morning or a Friday evening. Father Dioneszy also serves liturgy in Guangzhou and even sometimes in Beijing. He is truly a busy man. He is also a wonderful priest – gentle, caring, but also firm and directive. This combination of both soft and firm is something I find in most Orthodox priests.

It was a wonderful service. I went with Michaela and there were two other people there. Then there was Father Dionisy and Natasha who lives at the small apartment that doubles as a church. She also does all the singing and greeting and candle lighting. It is a small parish. Most times we go we are the only attendees there. Feasts are busier of course. It is mostly in Russian, but when we are there he does quite a few prayers in English.

Father Dionisy is quite well known for his efforts in China as well as his success in translating many Orthodox materials into Mandarin. I really did not know about all of Father’s effort or how well-known he was until I read an article in a journal called Road to Emmaus (order this issue at http://www.roadtoemmaus.net/backissues2005.htm Fall issue). It really is a wonderful article. You would get this impression from the article that Father lives this exciting and rewarding life journeying into China to conduct Orthodox services. I know from experience though that most of the time Father is conducting services with few to sometimes no attendees in small dingy apartments that double as churches. This to me is the beauty and inspiration that was missing in the article. Father Dionisy has been faithful in the small things. He just keeps conducting services even though there isn’t much growth in the parishes he leads. I see this as how most saints’ lives probably were. Being faithful in the moment rarely feels exciting which is why it is easy to give up or be drawn astray. This is what makes some people’s lives extraordinary. In spite of progress or excitement or reward, people like Father Dionisy do what is good; what is right even when it isn’t exciting or doesn’t seem successful by the world’s standards. Natasha is amazing also. She doesn’t speak English or Chinese and she lives in China in a small church/apartment in order to keep the church working and worshiping even though most of the time no one goes to the services.

Michaela goes to school

2008-02-25T21:06:00.000-08:00

Entering the school -- you can't see it in this picture, but it is shaped like a castle.

Warm welcome and greetings from the principal.

Michaela went to her first day of school. I felt she was too young, but she really wanted to go and David really wanted her to go. I also knew that living here in Longgang was really boring for her and the only way for her to make friends is to go to some sort of school. The only problem is that there is only one option here – preschool. They are pretty much all the same. Kids start at two and a half. Almost all Chinese kids go to school at this age. The day starts at 8:00 am and ends at 5:30. They eat breakfast and lunch at school. Some kids go home for lunch and rest hour which is 12:00-2:00. I am not crazy enough to agree that my not-yet-three-year-old daughter go to school for the entire day. The only other option is to not even a regular choice, but something we requested – a half day. She goes from 8:00-11:45 which I still think is a really long time for someone of her age.

Beginning of the day, group sing time

Very, very loud!

I was nervous the first day and stuck around the whole time. Michaela did really well though and seemed to enjoy it. All they do is play—inside then outside then inside again. The only structured activity I saw was singing time. Other kids cried, but not her. She mostly played by herself, but she had fun. Since then she looks forward to school and never complains or cries even though I don’t stay anymore. I’m still not really crazy about the idea, but it doesn’t seem to be as traumatic as I thought it would be. She seems to be a pretty independent girl.

Inside play

Outside play

Outside play area

Having a Chinese helper

2008-02-25T20:58:00.002-08:00

Zhou Jie from Sichuan province

I hesitate to write this because it will sound so ungrateful to some people, but having a helper is not as wonderful as it sounds. What I mean by this is that having hired help in China is not comparable to having a housekeeper or a nanny in America. Hiring a Chinese helper or bao mu as they are called is hiring someone from the countryside to come work as a housekeeper. We’ve had two since we came here. They have both been really nice wonderful people. However, they are not always the best housekeepers. My current helper is Zhou Jie and she is about the nicest person I’ve ever met. No matter how hard I try to get her to separate the colors when she does laundry, use cleaning solutions for cleaning (only organic ones of course) or dry dishes before putting them away or store meat in the fridge and keep raw meat separate from other vegetables it really is no use. She comes from a village where there was no electricity most of her life and her house has never had a fridge. All food was kept out and uncovered. I don’t even know if these things are that important, but I find myself cleaning after she cleans, redoing laundry, covering and storing meat properly, etc. She basically uses one wet rag to wipe the whole house down and the other day I saw her cleaning the toilet with my dish towel. Which I’m sure has happened many times before.

Cleaning with her wet rag

The one thing she does that is truly helpful to me is she cooks. I have nothing to say about the cooking as she makes Chinese food and I have no experience in that area. The food is greasy, but tasty. She buys the produce and meat every day so it is fresh. So two meals a day, I just sit down and eat. Now that is a luxury I admit.

Another trip to the Chinese hospital

2008-02-25T20:58:00.001-08:00

I was actually very happy with my first trip to the Chinese hospital. The doctor there seemed caring and competent. She knew about my situation, knew what test needed to be done and gave me good advice. I really would feel comfortable if she were my OG/GYN. I wouldn’t want to deliver at that facility, but I would trust her as my doctor. However, the next time we went there, we saw a different doctor. The way the place works is that you stand in a line to see the doctor on duty at the time. There is no personal doctor that oversees your case. Well, this doctor was the complete opposite. She was unconcerned and very much incompetent. She ordered the wrong test for me. Then when we got the right test, she saw the results and said “mei wenti” (no problem). I knew she was wrong at the time. Everything was sent to my Hong Kong doctor who was very concerned of course. I guess that just highlights the problem with the Chinese hospital. I see it as something like the teaching profession in America. It draws a lot of really intelligent and dynamic people who are passionate about teaching and don’t care that the salary is low. On the other hand, the freedom involved in teaching (very little oversight) and some of the benefits (summers off) also draws a lot of lazy people looking to collect a paycheck with as little effort as possible.

Potty Training

2008-02-25T20:57:00.001-08:00

I was very disappointed when Michaela was not potty trained by the age of 2. In China, most kids stop wearing diapers after a couple of months of age. This concept has become popular in the US now -- they call it EC or elimination communication. I’ve seen these websites and they often reference China as an example of how children can be potty trained by 6-9 months. What they do not know is that just because Chinese kids stop wearing diapers does not mean that they are potty trained. In reality, Chinese people are just more comfortable with kids having accidents all the time. They think diapers are harmful to kids and prefer lots of accidents to the harm of diapers. I still think that in general Chinese kids are trained earlier than American kids. However, I did work at a Chinese kindergarten for a year and my experience was that even 2-2.5 yr olds had accident once or twice a day. I still felt embarrassed having Michaela in diapers around other Chinese children who haven’t worn them for two years.

So when we were in America for six months, I tried to train her several times, but without success. My mom kept telling me not to push it and to wait until we got back to China (which I did not want to do because I was embarrassed). But she was right. It was just about timing for us. When we got back to China, it really went easily. It took about a week and it was stress free for the most part. China, due to the reasons listed above, is a much easier place to potty train children. First of all, Chinese people expect kids to have accidents so it is much les stressful when you go out. Also, it is acceptable to let kids pee just about anywhere – in the grass, on the street, over the garbage can. Kids can’t wait; they think and therefore must go wherever they need to go. So if you are at the park, let them pee in the grass. If you are at the store, let them go in a garbage can if you can’t make it to a rest room. If you are in the car, pull over and pee on the street. The whole process was so easy once we did not have to think about waiting to find for a bathroom all of the time. The only really bad part is if you do need to use an actual bathroom because they are usually disgustingly dirty and almost always a squatty potty.

Hospital in Longgang

2008-02-10T16:01:00.003-08:00

So I was having some other symptoms (headache, pain in my upper right-hand side) and we decided that going to Hong Kong was not a good way to determine whether these things were serious or not. So we decided to go to our local Chinese hospital. This is not the first time we've been to a Chinese hospital, but it is always quite an experience. Here is how it goes.

First you have to register at the hospital. You pay a fee and get a green medical book.

Then, go to the cashier lady and pay some fees.

Once you have gotten your registration book and then paid some fees, you go to see the Dr. which basically means you stand in a line (like the "line" seen above until you can muscle your way to the front and get some face time with the Dr. in the room. Lots of pushing involved. The Dr. evaluates you and orders some more tests which you need to pay for so back to the cashier lady.

Yes, we are familiar with her by now. The good news is that an ultrasound is only 57 RMB (about 7 dollars). Later the Dr. ordered more tests --ultrasound of the liver, kidneys, and lots of blood tests which came to a whopping total of 250 RMB (about 30 dollars). Good thing is we can get reimbursed from our insurance company. Whew!

So then we walk around to all the different rooms for the different tests and each room has a "line" just like to one in the previous picture. I don't know if you can see clearly enough, but yes, he is smoking in the hospital. Everywhere we went in the hospital, people were smoking (including Doctors). I don't think that was ever allowed in my lifetime in the States.

So then we were done. What an experience. I think the best word for it is a ton of rigmarole. But then it is better then making the haul all the way to Hong Kong. And I got to get out of the house for a little while.

Good news is, everything looks fine so I think I might be able to wait it out a little longer on bed rest.

Bed rest

2008-02-10T15:57:00.000-08:00

I have been put on bed rest. My blood pressure was high and so my Dr. Insisted we rush to Hong Kong to get some tests done. What a night. They had to fight to get me to be seen in the hospital because I do not have a booked room for delivery, but in the end it was fine. All the other tests came back normal and she sent me home on bed rest in hopes to wait one or two more weeks before inducing me. I also think they are waiting because there is currently no bed for me (this factor in the decision making process worries me). She really wanted me to rent a hotel in Hong Kong for a week or two so I could be closer to the hospital (at 100 US dollars a night, we aren’t about to do that). She actually suggested the Shangri-la (about 200 US a night!). Hong Kong people are way too uppity for me.

Bed rest is pretty boring. My body actually hurts from doing nothing all day. But, the good thing is it seems to be keeping my blood pressure under control which is great.

Congrats to Lily and Vince

2008-02-10T15:35:00.000-08:00

Vince and Lily had a baby (that’s right the Vince who is in jail, more details to follow). James Harold Edwards born in Longgang city center hospital. He was 8lbs 4 oz. Lily, his wife, had her grandmother and her sister there, but of course no Vince. He might know about the baby by now, but I’m not sure since there isn’t much communication between the inmates and family. It really is a horrible situation, but we are all thankful for little James.

Lily trying to recover. The Dr.'s told her the 8 lb. baby was too big to push out and she needed a C-section. This is a common hospital scam in China, they tell all the women this because the C-section is much more expensive than natural birth. The article listed below suggests a 50-60%C-section rate in China. http://www.china.org.cn/english/health/199658.htm

Hospital room inLonggang. How many people can you fit in one room? And the amazing thing is all those people you see are not just visiting (except us). They stay with the mom in the hospital the whole time -- 5 days. Lily had her sister, her sister's son and her grandmother all staying with her in the room (and sharing the bed).

Katie and Michaela saying hello to James.

Guangzhou and Ikea

2008-02-10T06:08:00.000-08:00

We went to Guangzhou a couple of weekends back (about a two and a half hour drive). We mostly wanted to check out some hospitals there that some people had recommended. Overall, we were impressed with both hospitals and I could see myself delivering there. The only drawback was getting there – it was really hard for David to find both places. We couldn’t find the one place by driving so we parked and took the subway, which was also difficult, but we did eventually find it. We got really lost on the way home and got back at two in the morning. In the end, I think we are going to stick with Hong Kong. It takes us as long to get there, but we know where the hospital is, we can freely communicate with the staff in English and we know the medical care is equal to that of the US.

Guangzhou crowds

What was amazing about Guangzhou was the amount of people there. We were there on a Saturday, but it was ren shan ren hai as the Chinese say (or literally people mountain, people ocean which means people in every direction). It was pretty much like walking around at the Taste of Chicago everywhere you went – inside outside, it didn’t matter, everywhere was one long stream of people in both directions. Really, I have lived in China, the most populated country in the world for a long time. I am used to people being everywhere, but this was something exceptional.

After the hospital visits we went to Ikea. Yes, there is Ikea in China. There will soon be one in Shenzhen, but it hasn’t opened just yet. I was so very excited since I knew that this was one place where I could get a lot of the things I never see anywhere else. You can buy with an international credit card also which is truly a wonderful convenience (and not common in China). We got to eat there too which was great – Swedish meatballs, YUM. So things were wonderful until we experienced Ikea service. We ordered lots of things and we paid to have them delivered and then assembled at out house. What a nightmare. They delivered three days later, but a separate guy has to do the assembling and he didn’t come until three days after that and when he did come it was 10PM which meant he didn’t have time to finish. And he told us, putting the wall cabinets on the wall was not included in the fee. A different guy came three days after that and did agree to put the cabinets on the wall, but he said not to put too many things in them because they could fall. This is all in addition to the fact that what we ordered was not what we got. We pointed to a display piece in the store, but all we got was the skeleton. Apparently, the drawers, doors, and legs were extra and were not ordered. It really was a mistake on the seller’s part because we would have paid more for the extra parts had we been told they were extra money and not included in the order. Really, a frustrating experience. Meatballs were excellent though.

Good Meatballs

Disappointing cabinets.

Correction about mass of people at train station

2008-02-10T06:03:00.000-08:00

I think I said there were about 80,000 people at the Guangzhou train station several weeks back. Well, I was way off, it was more like 800,000. Yikes! Here is a link to a good article about the situation:

http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10650768

Some other unfortunate events

2008-01-30T14:47:00.000-08:00

Rainy, cold days --one after the other have made life depressing

I did say some unfortunate events last time. The other several are the weather, the hospital situation, my blood pressure and a friend in jail (which I will talk about next time).

I spoke a bit too soon when I said the weather was awesome. It was, but then it changed to being horrible. I guess compared to freezing Chicago right now, temperatures in the low 50's shouldn't be so bad. However, it is also raining everyday and as we are in the south so there is no heat in any building including our own. This was a problem that I thought was easily fixable. I had David go buy several space heaters thinking that would do the trick. The problem is that only one large heating unit and a small heating unit can run together at any given time. Otherwise we blow a fuse. Figures. This is China and if things work out too well it just wouldn't be China. So we are pretty cold here. Due to the concrete nature of the building we live in, it is actually colder inside than it is outside. I need to get an inside thermostat and then I can say with certainty what the temperature is inside. We wear our coats in the house most days though. I did buy a dryer (a very rare thing here) so that helps a ton. Putting damp clothes on in the cold only adds insult to injury. Our helper who does most of the laundry pretty much refuses to use the dryer because it uses too much electricity (lan fei dian she says, literally wastes electricity). So I usually put the clothes in the dryer after they have been hanging on the cold and rainy balcony for a day or two.

The weather is a current national problem. The whole country has been experiencing bad weather and it has led to national chaos. Right now is the start of the biggest holiday in China -- the Lunar New Year. The holiday when everyone goes home for a few weeks. This national holiday causes huge problems every year. This year there has been cold weather and freezing rain all over the country. So for days, the trains have not been running at all and thousands (as in numbers like 80,000 in Guangzhou) have been stranded at the train stations waiting for a train that has been canceled. Getting another ticket is unlikely since they are sold out through the holiday. The buses aren't going either and of the ones that have tried, several have slid off the icy roads causing both injuries and fatalities.

So other things are that my blood pressure is up a little and we still have no spot in a hospital in Hong Kong. The crazy thing about Hong Kong and having babies is that you need to book a room in a hospital as much as 9 months in advance (as soon as you find out). As of right now, most hospitals are booked up for the next 9 months. I imagine this can do no more than help the hospital get a good guesstimate since the precise date of labor and delivery can not be accurately predicted (the stats are that 80% of babies are born between 38 and 42 weeks -- so anywhere in the range of two weeks before or after the due date which to me would seem like a very broad base on which to make scheduled "bookings"). The midwife at my Dr.'s office says that they will get me in when the time comes and not to worry too much. It still is a bit nerve wracking not knowing what will happen in the event of early labor or an emergency. So we have been checking out hospitals in Guangzhou as a possible back up to Hong Kong. So far two are quite nice -- Clifford Hospital and the VIP Birthing Center. We really need to figure this out soon since my blood pressure is in the upper 130's over the upper 80's and sometimes reads above 140/90. So we might need to decide within the next week or two even though I am not due until the end of the month.

Unfortunate events and bus rides

2008-01-24T16:56:00.000-08:00

Last week had some unfortunate events. One was when someone smashed the windows to our car and stole our portable DVD player (a Christmas present from my mom). I guess you can say it was our fault. We hid the DVD player in the pocket of the seat, but the case was visible. It was really more of a present for Michaela as she uses it during car rides. She was pretty upset. But kids get over things quickly. We were on our way to a day of social events in Shekou (where all the expats round here live -- about an hour and a half away). I was most disappointed about forgoing our trip since it had been about two weeks for me without any social interaction in English. Since we hadn't had the DVD player for more than several weeks and had only used it 3-4 times at most, it wasn't hard to get over not having it. I just pretended we never had it in the first place. What was amazing was the price to replace the window. It was only around 20 us dollars and they had it done by the time David got off work. David and I had just been discussing (the night before) why we don't pay the monthly fee for parking in our parking garage. David said the price is too high and as there is abundant street parking, there is no need for the parking pass. We might want to rethink that now though.

As I was bummed about not joining the the few activities I participate in, I decided to take the bus down to Shekou that evening so I could at least participate in the book club that I belong to. After all, I had already read the book (A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini). It had been a while since I had taken that bus or any bus in China at all (we have our own car so David usually drives). I really had forgotten how insane the buses here are. It took about two hours and the best reference point I have for this experience is a plane ride during which there is severe turbulence for several hours straight. The difference, however, is that these buses have no seat belts and passengers are made to keep themselves in their seats through their own sheer strength and will (which over the course of several hours weakens significantly). I think the average person might find this sort of experience exciting as a one-time event. I don't really recommend it for pregnant ladies like me. So I don't think I'll be making a habit of this bus route. The price is very appealing though. It cost me 10 RMB for a one-way ticket to Skekou. The taxi ride home by comparison was 200 RMB.

Favorite things about being back in Shenzhen

2008-01-15T19:22:00.000-08:00

Some things I enjoy about being back here in Shenzhen:

1. These little rides are everywhere --dirt-cheap fun. For some reason there are two of these animal rides outside of every pharmacy in China (regardless of which chain of pharmacy it is). It costs 1 kwai (about 12 cents) and lasts at least 3 minutes maybe even 4 minutes. It moves up and down and plays several Chinese children's songs. Whenever we are on a long walk, these diversions make the trip bearable for both of us.

2. The weather is awesome right now. It is 60-75 degrees and sunny almost every day. There are great parks (think as nice as Grant park in Chicago - no joke!). So there is no shortage of places to wander outside.

3. There is a play area (Michaela calls it a play-yeah) in every major department store here. It costs about $1.50 for an hour and, if your child is old enough, you can just leave and wander around the store for whole time. They are perfect for 2-6 year olds. I have no idea why they don't have more of these in the States. Even when Michaela was little, I'd go in there with her and let her crawl around and touch the brightly colored balls and mats. It really is a ton of fun.

4. Funny signs -- no shortage of those here.

5. McDonald's. I've just spent 6 months in the States during which I ate McDonald's a total of one time. Since being back in China, I average about twice a week at least. Something about seeing the golden arches gives me warm fuzzies here. I just want to go in and get something, anything. In Longgang (where we live) there is this new one pictured above. It is very rare to see a McDonald's counter in China with so few people cluttered at the front. Most of the time, I wait for an average of 5-8 minutes just to order my food. This one just opened so it isn't so busy yet. The front of the counter is advertising that it is now open 24 hours. Yipee!

2008-01-15T19:07:00.000-08:00

Well, we are back in China now and it is about time I started this blog thing up. I am so happy that I am able to get to this website to post. I wasn't sure about that when I signed up for this blog back in America. So it has been about two weeks back here and very hectic. The original idea was to get an empty apartment so that we would buy some furniture to fill it. Since we are planning on moving back to the States in a year and buying a house, it would be nice to have some furniture to start with. This might seem obvious to those of you who are from the US, but in China, almost all apartments come fully furnished (usually in very poor taste I might add). So the idea was a good one except that David's idea of empty and my idea of empty are a bit different. I figured just empty rooms, but as it turn out, it means, nothing -- no kitchen, only a toilet and a sink in the bathroom, no washing machine, no AC/heat, no hot water. David took care of some of this stuff, before I came, but it really is an overwhelming task to get absolutely everything needed to make an apartment livable. So we are at about 80% in my opinion. There still are no cabinets or counters in the kitchen, no mirrors in the bathroom and no furniture for the baby room. But we have TV service and internet now so we are feeling connected to the rest of the world at least. And with all the craziness, I forgot about our 9 year anniversary today. David reminded me yesterday and seemed happy to discover that he remembered and I didn't. Overall, it has been a wonderful 9 years and I feel happy and proud to have such a great husband.