Eight weeks in deep, dark China and hurrah, we are finally in our own apartment (albeit attached to the hotel…which in all honestly is proving more often than not, a 'godsend')! I've come to the conclusion (relatively quickly) living in the five star bubble is an outrageously indulgent, but highly necessary comfort when one is catapulted into central China. Sure, room service delivered at your beck and call and housekeeping every second day is not to be sneezed at, and a direct line to the hotel chef for groceries is part and parcel of hotel life, especially when food 'as you know it' is unavailable and the local supermarkets are filled with just that, 'local' goods displaying a plethora of puzzling Chinese characters. But more importantly when you're in a strange land and there's an emergency, be it serious or perhaps just the need for some decent coffee, oh how I'm thankful for the five star community. Our first night in our new abode (part of the Westin Residences) we'd spent the day packing and unpacking the few suitcases we have with us until our belongings arrive……(which miraculously seemed to have evolved into a fairly hefty amount of loot!) Unpacked and sorted, we looked around and exhaled - this was our spacious, bright, new and ever so modern 'pad' that would become our home in Xi'an. (BTW, now for no other reason than sheer interest value it might be a good time to mention we live above a RollsRoyce showroom? Oh yes we do! Mind you it's not uncommon with China's current insatiable appetite for luxury cars.) As I placed my one ornament in its lone spot, we stood back and exhaled with as much enthusiasm as we could muster, all the while swatting away the underlying but ever present realization that this meant we could no longer pretend we were on an extended sabbatical. This is real. China is officially home. Any self indulgent, self pitying thoughts though were soon met with an abrupt slap when our small person's fingers accidentally met the hot plate in our shiny new kitchen. Of course every parent in this situation silently prays it's not serious and all will be soothed with a cuddle and a kiss (and a lolly or three)…. Here of all places, I was desperately hoping it wasn't a hospital visit, where I suspected there would be no English and it would be a scene resembling anything that we know to be normal. "Please no," I whispered as I watched the tips of her red raw fingers bubble up before us. It was quickly apparent it was one of those moments where an expert opinion was called for, so through tears and anxious parental pacing (thank God for the long hallway) we frantically called the hotel's weekend Manager on Duty, who instantly knew which doctors did house calls and how to call or more importantly 'what' to say. Within 30 minutes they were on our doorstep, along with two hotel staff to translate. It was just as well - because in a moment of shock, dealing with the surreal experience of these two doctors who arrived - their white mini vans with giant red crosses - like something out of the sixties, marching out in their white coats, silver 'doctor's' cases at their side was more than enough to cope with. As anticipated, not a scrap of English was to be spoken as they crowded around me and my whimpering girl on the bed. I heard the words 'Soy Sauce' and 'burn remedy' mentioned in the same sentence and tried not to look alarmed. Thankfully it seemed it wasn't too serious, and their would be no soy sauce or painkillers issued ("these are unhealthy for the body" I'm told - mind you this coming from the land who gobbles up antibiotics sold over the counter sans prescription at an accelerated rate.) I was silently thankful for the kid's Nurofen stashed in the cupboard. The next day, frazzled nerves now calmed, I had the chance to revel in the number of cupboards it seems I now have access to… in my own. private. space. Or so I thought. But it has become rather apparent, you can't just pick and choose the elements of hotel life you prefer. Nicole! if you want the hotel life, you get all of hotel life. The door bell rang at 9am sharp, someone eagerly letting themselves in - at the ready to clean my rather sparse house. Er…um…. put on the spot and slightly conflicted between my want for privacy and those oh so hard to make hotel heavenly beds. My poorer better judgement prevailed and I sent them away….but they were not to be deterred…..before too long, two elderly Chinese ladies sidled on past our 'floor to ceiling' windows, wielding a large broom, evidently sweeping the already spotless balcony and not without having a good peek inside at us - the foreign species on the block! Taken aback but not too shocked - after all I had started to become used to a lack of privacy in my 5th floor hotel suite where maintenance men, housekeeping, laundry ladies, you name it, regularly knocking twice, walking in before I had the chance to get to the door. But things were about to reach a brand new level at the Westin Residences. The two ladies clearly not satisfied with meandering by, were now crouching down at the window of our bedroom, faces pressed hard against the window, waving furiously and smiling at us… I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Instead, I ran to another room to process (in private) what was unfolding on my balcony, before gingerly peering around to see if my daughter was still being eye-balled. Yes. Yes she was. Um…last time I checked I wasn't a goldfish, had two heads or looked liked Angelina Jolie. I gently closed the curtains with a tight-lipped smile. A couple of days later feeling a little under the weather with a winter lurgy, I had an unexpected snooze in the middle of the day (by now 'snooper' savvy, I made sure my Do Not Disturb button was on) but woke to a knock, ignored it…thinking like in any normal circumstances, they'd appropriately exit the building. But oh no…next thing a loud cacophony of "Ni Haos" echoed through the house. Stumbling into the hallway I found four faces looking at me as if to say, ah hello what are you doing here? Er Me? I live here! Who the hell are you!! It's all par for the course it seems when you take on the machine that is China. Xi'an is a city whose people until a decade ago had one five star hotel in their midst. A city that until recently established as a tourist spot very rarely saw a western face. With 8.5 million people all busily competing for a spot amongst the madness, privacy is respected in the loosest sense of the term. But alas, our curious friends aside, I am thankful for the hotel….heck my laundry is done and they serve wine 24 hours a day, even if most varieties are "out of order" unless it's the hard stuff (namely Bai Jiu) you're after. I'm thankful that (power cuts aside) in the hotel world we get a smattering of English channels like BBC, CNN and Sky News - even if the quality of the picture is influenced by seemingly outside circumstances. I'm thankful that when I've been out of the bubble into a foreign world where your brain is sapped of energy not only by the winter chill and imposing pollution, but by just going about your regular tasks like buying a coffee or a can of hairspray - not to mention fending off the constant stares, touches and chatter of passersby, more often than not chasing you down for a chance photo (yes even at midnight boarding a plane) -- I can return to the bubble and seek out friendly familiar faces to chat to in English (relatively easily) about trivial things and have a giggle at our foreign woes. Thankful that I have a driver(s) even if some of them can''t speak any English to take us where we need to go in the ancient capital that's overflowing with all manner of transport….from rickety three wheelers to luxury limos. Thankful that despite crossing five lanes of maniacal traffic, they expertly whiz us through the mighty Xi'an streets on our morning school run. For all intents and purposes, they greet us with a smile, wait patiently for us and most of all, watch our backs (not to mention teach me a new Chinese word every day). I am thankful for the staff who entertain my daughter in the lavish Lobby Bar while I catch up on some work, with a hot mocha in hand that I haven't had to chant the words 'no cream thanks' in Chinese over and over in my head before they take my order, in case I forget. I'm thankful for an internet signal full stop! Even if it's notoriously patchy and takes me three times as long to achieve anything. And as for the bigger things like visa fiascos, I'm thankful for Hotel's HR staff, fluent in English, who can fill in the blanks between our Qing's (please) and Xie Xie's (thank you's)! It's been a challenging two months, but gently cushioned by bubbles of the five star variety. For that I'm thankful! Cheers! … [Read more...]
China Visa Fiasco: Medically Speaking, I was Over-Exposed!
If you've ever had to obtain a visa to live in another country, you probably know where I'm coming from when I say, getting a China visa is like navigating an obstacle course! At every turn, there's a new unexpected hurdle, to test and torment you (aka as 'pushing you to the very edge')! Alas, we are still waiting for our permanent China visa, which means, five weeks in, we are also still waiting for ALL our 'belongings' to be shipped from Hong Kong. (Nothing can leave the fragrant harbour's shores until the visa is signed, sealed and delivered!) Did I mention the temperature is steadily dropping, already well below 15 degrees on many days and I packed no winter clothes in my suitcase, not a single, (knitted) stitch to be seen! No need to shed a tear for me though (ok, maybe just one)….because of course, behind every hazy cloud is a silver lining… and this silver lining, my friends is called 'retail therapy!' That of which I was desperately in need of, after my so-called 'visa medical' - another requirement before you are allowed to legally stay for this er China 'experience.' It was one of those frighteningly frequent days where I had an 'out of body' 'am I really living in China' moment. For starters, for me the eternal 'non-morning' person, it was 830am, I was up and at 'em - having already been to school in manic traffic and now bumper to bumper, back to front and sideways traffic on my way to a medical -- (wearing a sleeveless puffer jacket, no less)! (For a girl who's never owned a 'body warmer' as such, this was clearly just the warm-up for the extraordinary events that unfolded before me.) We arrived at Xi'an's Medical hall!! Yes, it was indeed a 'hall,' where it wasn't long before I wondered if someone had had a quiet word with the driver telling him that hotel life wasn't for me and perhaps I'd be better suited to a padded cell! After lining up at the front desk with seemingly a hundred other foreigners, all trying to get the green light to live in this (clearly) charismatic country, a quick smile at the camera balancing precariously on the bench, forms filed and it was time for some serious medical attention! (Sort of.) (I was waiting for the orange suit to come out and the clippers to shave off my hair.) My initiation was a hastily carried out blood test (in front of an audience). Shoved forward and plonked on a chair in the middle of the hall - there were none of the usual niceties from the smiling medical centre nurses, who gently feel for a vein, then politely distract you while they make a quick and mostly pain-free prick! Oh no! Here I was out in an open space with a man (himself behind glass) who is siphoning blood from his victims by the minute. He wrestled a thin rubber tube around my arm, tying it a little too tightly in a knot - there was no soothing voice, in fact there were no words spoken at all…just a roughly jabbed needle and a matchstick-style cotton bud thrust at me. NEXT! (I tried to hide my wincing from the onlookers waiting their turn and dared to hope he got my name on the right tube amongst the myriad of bottles splayed out before him)! A bandaid was not a luxury we were afforded…and we were quickly herded to the next station for an ultra-quick ultrasound. A rather unfriendly nurse gestured madly at our clothes (I'm sure she was saying 'hoist it up love' in Chinese) as one by one, she splattered gel across our torsos and brusquely ran the machine up and down our stomachs, in a matter of seconds. Done! Get off my bed - Next! By now I am in complete awe at the absurdity of the situation…. I can hardly contain myself as James is loaded up on to yet another bed and told to lift this, move that, roll down your socks... and electrodes are stuck to all and sundry! I giggle and snap a few photos and then it is my turn. They say karma is a b&*ch! No one had told me to remove my clothes but the nurse is motioning frantically at my top, which I pull up a little to make room for the electrodes, but no, she wants it hiked up, right over my, ahem... girls!! I'm desperately trying to maintain some sort of modesty here, aware the door is wide open with people shuffling in and out, but it appears next to impossible. The more I attempt to cover myself the harder she yanks. I am laughing so hard at the site of myself, flat on my back, strapped to the bed covered in electrodes, bazookas out, that tears are running down my face and I almost roll off the bed. I can tell the no-nonsense nurse is scolding me under her mask! She promptly wrenches my bra up to my neck and points - lie still missy! Of course, all the while, my lovely husband is taking photos - (none of which will see the light of day, I might add)!! It seems like forever that I am trapped in a state of undress, but at last, my girls and I are released! I practically stumble to the eye test, which has us haphazardly reading two lines (I am half making it up but it doesn't seem to matter) and then we are weighed, fully clothed with shoes! (Hopefully I'm measuring up to China's standards)?! A blood pressure machine quite unlike any I have seen is our next port of call - an arm is put into a long sleeve-like machine….(that just quietly leaves me pondering the hygiene of such a device -- remember we've just had blood tests with no bandaids)! I quickly move on, aware that putting too much thought into this will give me sleepless nights! Just for the record, I'm sure I've never seen a BP recording quite that low! Then it's down stairs, I'm told to strip off behind a shabby curtain, so by now, five stations into this medical circuit, I know the drill and I am undressing at breakneck speed, aware it will be jerked open to a crowd of randoms at any given moment…. I've been given a "communal" (ironically) orange t-shirt to put on, which I place gingerly over my head, before being rushed into the x-ray room. The man demonstrates 'wide arms' - the signal to hug the chest x-ray machine and behind a big glass window there are a lot of people shouting and giggling through a loud microphone at me. I feel like a rare specimen in a science project. Thankfully it's all over within the blink of an eye - so quickly, I wonder how they can get accurate results with previous x-ray experience involving precise positioning and standing ever so still before the exact shot is captured! We emerge into the daylight, half dressed and disheveled, feeling like we have been through the spin cycle in a washing machine! Oh how I wait in anticipation for these results. I've heard that many 'foreigners' get told they have an 'abnormal' nose or a fatty liver and with 99.9 per cent of the population having a positive blood type, a negative blood type can cause a small uproar. I am A-negative! Let's hope, after all that palaver, we get the stamp of approval (literally)…...I cannot get my girls out again, it's 11 degrees for goodness sake! And breathe……. This is China. … [Read more...]
Living in China: Week One – One Foot in Front of the Other
You know the feeling when you visit a city you've never seen before? That dizzying anticipation, the unbridled excitement, the curiosity and wonder of what lies ahead? Well, can I just say - for the record - arriving in a city you've never seen before to live, is nothing like that! Ok, so maybe that's a little over the top. The lead up to moving to Xi'an, China was like that, but actually arriving in one of the world's oldest cities, home to eight and a half million people (the 12th largest city in China), I won't lie - my heart was in my mouth. It's a short two and a half hour flight from Hong Kong, but it also feels a world away in north western China. As we disembarked and entered the airport, my stomach was in knots, as I tried desperately to keep an open mind, at the ready to embrace our new home! I foolishly found myself comparing right off the bat. (Bad move!) The airport was significantly smaller than I'd expected for such a massive city and ever so slightly primitive (of course this is compared to Hong Kong's modern, state of the art, award-winning complex)! I later found out all entrants from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan (China's SARS) come to their own individual terminal, so what I glimpsed was just a minuscule part of the largest airport in the north west! I could feel myself ever so tentatively putting one foot in front of the other as I literally stepped into my new life, in one of China's 656 cities, no less! Driving from the airport was at best 'underwhelming' (apart from driving on the wrong side of the road) it was raining and grey as we sped through a maze of highways and concrete; a deluge of chinese characters beaming out at me in their neon, indecipherable glory! I'm not deeply religious but it was about now I silently had a word to God, hoping James wasn't having a moment of serious delusion when he'd excitedly told me the city was really "quite nice." Meantime, our little blondie Ava was oblivious in all her three year old naivety; her primary concern on the journey, the delightful hotel gift of rainbow-coloured macaroons and how many she could eat in one go! Oh to be so innocent. Approaching the hotel, my spirits lifted… despite the incessant rain, leafy green streets splayed out in front of me and there was a distinct buzz of activity with restaurants, bright lights and traffic mayhem! (We may be in Central China, but it was a comforting sign, I wasn't in the middle of no where, even if I was hanging on for dear life!) The hotel was impressive - it's four stories though, the 'chalk' to the W Hong Kong's 76 story 'cheese.' My grand entry somewhat stifled as Ava's prized macaroons promptly fell out of the car onto the wet hotel driveway and a toddler meltdown ensued. Welcome to Xi'an! We quickly dropped our bags off in what would be our home for the next few weeks (until the hotel residences are finished). A suite that can only be described as embracing the typical minimalist Westin decor brushed with an enchanting oriental flair! With James likely to be bunkered down in his new GM role the next day year, we went for a quick scoot around the hotel to acclimatize ourselves with our new 'home.' We probably could've done with scooters because it's ahem, bloody huge. Unlike Hong Kong, space is no issue here in Xi'an and it's spread out, from a luxurious Lobby Bar, to an intriguing museum (yes, Xi'an being one of the four oldest civilizations in the world means, monuments, relics and artifacts are scattered everywhere, even below this hotel!) - to a grand sunken garden swathed in red cloth. (It's lucky my favorite colour is red, because this hotel is literally bathed in a glow of deep red!) To the beckoning cake shop, the three very different restaurants, Chinese, Japanese and Western….and the (wait for it) Rolls Royce show room! (Ahem just quietly the owner has sold 70 of these babies in just two years! Oh how the Chinese looove their luxury!) So, let the week begin. I think I probably spent 24 hours in a 'blur of speechlessness.' It's fair to say the first week is probably the hardest when you move to a new country. I know I bandy about the term 'culture shock' on this blog on a pretty regular basis, but over four years in HK, even I had forgotten what it's really like. Really like to wake up and your husband is at work and you are staring out from your hotel window into the absolute unknown (rain not helping your imagination) it all seems quite surreal. This is your new life and you know not a single soul. There's no routine, no familiarity, you can't order a comforting Mint Mocha or get a blow dry because you can't find the relevant words and even when you do, they can't understand you. You don't even know what's across the road. It's a new beginning on almost every level. And I won't lie, it's bloody scary. Forget being a big fish in a small pond - you're a tadpole in a giant ocean! For the first few days and beyond, tears sit just below the surface, threatening to spill over at a moment's notice, but then you pull yourself together because you know it's not the end of the world and there is a big adventure that you have been waiting for, wanting for! All I can say, is thank God for technology, even if it is slow and more than slightly intermittent (and I may be on the verge of throwing laptop out the window), Facebook, What's App, Twitter, Email all allow you to stay connected (loosely) with friends, family and familiar faces. You'll be amazed at how comforting it is to know online, nothing has changed. (Thanks to a VPN of course.) What's a VPN? In layman's terms, it's a service you pay for monthly that allows you to download an app which makes it look like you are in another country so you can bypass security blocks and access the likes of Google, Facebook, even my own blog (all banned in China). So deep breaths all round, the key to being in a new city, is to get out! So once the rain calmed, first stop - the shopping centre directly across the road; a very westernized Starbucks with all staff speaking reasonably good English (no Mint Mochas though), a peek at the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, you really can't miss. This is what this area's all about and it's what tourists from around the globe flock to look at. A roam around the streets, laced with green trees, striking monuments and waterfalls….it's a little European infused with traditional Chinese architecture. On the way back from another local shopping centre (thankfully sporting Zara and a kid's playroom worth it's weight in gold) I spy a street called 'Bar Street' that we eagerly try out a few nights later. A quirky cobblestoned street reminiscent of a Phuket or Bali or even Melbourne with cute, cottage like bars, side by side…live music, humming with people. A day in the heart of the city, we explore the city centre with the world famous Bell Tower and the ancient city wall - a 14 square kilometre cobble-stoned wall that you can cycle along on tandem bikes or do it the lazy way we did (this time) and jump on a golf buggy and hurtle around the historic fortress looking out across a sprawling city. **Quick Fact: It's the most complete city wall that's survived in China and the one of the largest ancient military defensive systems in the world! We stumble across quaint markets down idyllic lane ways not unlike a slice of Europe with fascinating artwork and oriental trinkets on display. So far, Xi'an is well and truly surprising us on every level….and slowly but surely it's about putting the pieces together. Working out which way is up. (Map reading is not my strong point!) You start to recognize the occasional landmark, hotel faces, and even more importantly remember a phrase or two of mandarin. Nevermind, that I told the housekeeper to come back to clean the room at 13 o'clock. Better luck next time eh? So a week in, it's been tough and more than likely to get tougher, but it's also the beginning of a once in a lifetime adventure, we'll certainly never forget. She chants the mantra, 'one foot in front of the other……' Proud to share this post over on Seychelle Mama's site for her series #MyExpatFamily … [Read more...]