Getting more accustomed

It is 2:00 p.m. So far, day three has been great. Once again, the kids slept from 1:00 p.m. until midnight, then staying up until 5:00 a.m. We all were up again at 6:30 after a short nap. The sun was shining outside (it rained yesterday), so we decided to go for a family walk to the grocery store to get a few things.

On our way out the door, we had to dispose of a few of the dirty diapers that the girls had created. There is no huge dumpster that we know of, so we feed poop to the penguins. There are elaborate trash cans outside that are statues of penguins. They are trash cans and ashtrays, and we were told to put diapers in them. Therefore, feeding poop to the penguins is a daily activity.

At 7:00 a.m., the streets were full of activity. Dan noticed all of the people on bikes and motorbikes. There are tons of them, about 5 motorbikes for every car. We instructed Dan to stay close to us and the stroller, because the driving around here is crazy. For example, the person who picked us up from the airport would be classified as a defensive driver, because he only used his horn 10 times and cut off only 20 people. The others are much worse. You hear a horn in our apartment about every 5-10 seconds. When we were walking, we had to make way for one guy who was driving on the sidewalk, and we saw a few cars that were traveling in the wrong direction, though tons of traffic, on one way streets. No big deal, I guess.

Again on our walk, we got tons of stares. Though we are stared at and pointed at, it is obvious that it is out of interest and is good hearted. Today the girls wore matching outfits, so they looked especially cute. Common things heard (as relayed to me by Jane) are: “she (Etain) is so little”, “they are so cute”, and “wow, they have three kids.”

On our walk, we stopped to take pictures by a garden area. (All of the sidewalks though, are lined with nicely manicured bushes, flowers and trees). Jane took my picture with the kids, and when I was taking a picture of Jane and the kids, I stepped in a big pile of poop. Jane informed me that it was most likely human poop, because none of the babies here use diapers. Instead, the babies have slits in their pants or shorts so that they basically do their business as needed, where needed, such as the sidewalk. (This was the only poop pile I saw on our walk, otherwise it is very clean). So, I walked in a few puddles and shuffled in the grass, and got it all off. (I still cleaned my shoes when I got home as well).

We walked in the direction in which we thought the store was, but Jane forgot where it was because she was in a taxi the first time she went. So, we just decided to walk around. This town, if I had to think of an American counterpart, reminds me a bit like Chicago, but without the neighborhoods or districts. It is very interesting. Just outside of our 17 story apartment building are a park, a Komatsu plant, the Changzhou Environmental Industries Headquarters, several businesses, and many stores and restaurants. If you look out our apartment windows, it is buildings as far as the eye can see. Not finding the store, we just acquainted ourselves with our surroundings, finding a few coffee shops, convenience stores, places that advertised western food, a KFC, bars, etc.

We were all quite hungry after about an hour of walking. Because it was so early, some places were still closed, and we did not yet want to try the street food. Therefore, we went to a very fancy hotel about two blocks from our apartment. There were bellhops everywhere and they all spoke at least introductory English. The inside of the hotel looked amazing, I was curious as to their rates for any visitors, though we didn’t find out. Anyway, inside the hotel was a restaurant, at which we ate. Happily, we found out that it was a breakfast buffet. We all sat down at the fancy place, with white linens and waiters in suits, and ate. There were many other international people there as well. We feasted on eggs, bacon, sausage, French toast, watermelon (especially Evelyn), as well as wontons, fried rice, Chinese soups, etc. Our bill was 202 yuan, which was about $27. Though it was quite expensive for around here, it was well worth it. Jane and I thought that we might have to go there every other Sunday or so for a good filling breakfast.

When we returned to the apartment, the kids hung out with Jane while I cleaned the apartment next door (where we will be moving). It will be nice to move over there: the kitchen is much more functional, and there is more general living space (the family and dining area are noticeably separated).

Other than that, everyone is doing well. The kids are napping, though we are going to wake them in a few hours, trying to get them on track. Evelyn seems to be over her sickness, she ate a ton of noodles at 2:00 a.m. this morning and plenty when we went out to breakfast. She is surprisingly opening up to Chinese people, waving at them constantly. Jane says that she said hello, actually saying ni hao, to someone on her own. Dan is, as expected, doing great. Also, today Etain took her first steps. She has taken about three or four steps in a row, making it about a foot. Jane also says that she can feel a tooth coming through. Jane is out now with someone looking into nannys. She stopped in to say that it was not going as smoothly as she had hoped, but we have made it clear that both Jane and I will not leave without having worked with someone for at least a few days. We have been assured, though, that it will be taken care of. They also said that they will work with Jane’s hours at school to ensure that she can be home as much as possible. She said hopefully a nanny will only be needed for up to four hours per day.

I will keep you informed of updates as we get more and more comfortable.