Life in China

Sometimes we wonder why are we in shanghai and did we make the right choice. Is what we are doing good for us as a family?

At shanghai pudong airport getting ready to leave for the US for a meeting. Very sad to leave Megan and Yunan but this is an important trip. That and I am bring back stuff for them.

Summer grilling season has started in Shanghai! I fired up the weber grill yesterday. It is nice to have a little patio again. The neighbors are going to hate us. All the laundry they have hanging is going to smell like smoke. Specifically smoked meat. The only worry I have is about the humidity and constantly nightly rain. I hope it doesn’t rust out my weber. I think we need to get a cover for it.

The first creation of the season was two thing first was some grilled chicken tenders for Yunan’s lunch sandwich. Then for dinner a nice pork loin courtesy of the Alton Brown recipe. I don’t think my gas grill is hot enough compared to a charcoal grill. I had to cook the loin for twice the amount to get the internal temperature just right. The orange and lemon soak was a great flavor enhancer. Many future grilling to come.

I took yesterday off from work so I could take Megan to the hospital. It was a nice day out too. Nothing too serious just her normal 9 month check up. She is currently in her normal percentile weight gain. She had to get a hep B shot. A bit of crying but nothing a great big hug and cuddle from daddy and some cheerios made go away.

In the afternoon when the weather was better it was off to Century park via metro. The great thing is that the subway went straight from our house to the park. When the weather gets really nice moire trips for us there.

My days seem to get longer and longer. No matter how much work I get done there seems to be more to do. At least I have the self discipline to leave my laptop at work and go home. I know other people who can’t they are just workaholics. There are now many days where I think should I have taken this job. Is the pay commiserate with the amount of stress and hassle this job is causing me.

I have hit the break point in China. I have hit the cynical stage where it is not cute or culturally growing to see chinese people just being themselves. The shoddy work and the I don’t care attitude. The lack of sanitation and the all for themselves attitude. I am just hating on the I will do what ever it takes to evade responsibility and do less work. Or the fact that one they have made their cut *bleep* you.

Our little daughter is moving on to solid foods. We are having a grand time pureeing things for her to eat. Her favorite seems to be ground carrots. It is funny to watch her eat. When she first starts, she will pull the spoons into her mouth to stuff her mouth full of food. If you aren’t fast enough she will cry and complain. Then by the end of her feed she will signal she is done by pushing your hand away or actively swatting at the spoon.

This week I went to a different office to do some training on finance in downtown Shanghai. So to get there I decided to take the new light rail that runs in from of our house and to the metro station. I get to the light rail and wait at the station. The tracking on this is great. It shows the position of each train is shown on the electric board and where it was going. The tram shows up and I go to get in. The doors don’t open so I push the door open button and the tram pulls away. I was like what the hey. I wait for the next train and the same happens and I was like what! At this point I am running late so I grab a cab to the station.

The next day I decide to give it another shot. And the same thing happens. So here is my question, is the tram just running for show and not taking passengers? That is just stupid why was all this money spent and no one is allowed to use it. Now that I think about it I have never seen anyone ride the tram and I think I know why they won’t let you. Stupid.

The weather in Shanghai, well China in general, is getting terribly cold. This last week the temperature was only 40 degrees which is so close to freezing. Last week it was 70 degrees and I was in a T-shirt and shorts. This week we had to break out the cold weather gear and bundle up. We are worried about how to really keep Megan warm when she sleeps. We are glad we put in the sliding doors since we can separate of house and only warm our rooms. It is supposed to warm up later this week but the sudden cold front is really unexpected.

Things and responsibility are increasing at work. My boss has pretty much decided that it is time to hand over the reins. He is getting all of his personal stuff taken care of. And now he is starting to hand over the work stuff too. I am starting to do the financials and work flow tracking. Things are stacking up and I need to start passing on my responsibility. Stressful. And I just saw a news posting saying that manager have shorter lives. I think so.