A year ago, we moved to Hangzhou, China for my husband's job. He runs a plant out here that makes carbon fiber wheels. He is super busy and I have been a stay at home mom here with Ava. I am not used to the whole not working thing and sometimes I miss it. It has been nice spending the extra time with my little one but I think we get on each others nerves some days :)
A lot of people have asked me how it is living out here and if I could only use one word that I think best describes how it is is "Crazy". Everything is so different in every way. The language, the mannerisms, food, cooking, cleaning, money,the water, driving, bathrooms, apartments, internet, television, jobs...the list goes on. Just the way of life in general is totally different than what most of us are used to in America. Things that we use everyday like a dishwasher, a dryer, an oven, and tap water they don't use over here. I have had to plan ahead on what clothes I will be needing and how long they will take to air dry. I have learned a lot of new recipes since the wok is the main cooking device. And washing every dish by hand isn't so bad but it was just something different. Then there is the water. We have seperate water for drinking b/c you can not drink and even cook some things with the tap water.
The biggest difficulty out here has been going out in public. Ava and I (Ava more so) just get swamped with people wanting pictures and wanting to touch her cheeks, hair, and hands. We have people follow us and try and sneak pictures. I have had some lady just come over to Ava, pick her up, and start walking off with her to show her friends! It has gotten to the point where Ava and I have become homebodies while Joey is at work b/c it just gets too overwhelming if Joey isn't with us. Plus, they seem to leave us alone a little more when he is with us. I never would have thought we would attract so much attention. I honestly feel like a freak show when we go out.
There are some fun things here though like we have loved the night markets. It is a street that is filled up and down with vendors selling all sorts of things from jewelry to shoes to pirated DVDs, purses, decorations, electronics, watches, just a ton of stuff! Everything is pretty cheap if you are willing to barter.
We have also loved a lot of the food here. You haven't had true Chinese food until you have come here! Panda Express and P.F. Changs does not even come close to how Chinese food really is and how it tastes.
We have learned how to make homemade dumplings and I have learned a lot of new recipes. There are a ton of food carts that are out and have certain foods on them where you can just stop and pick out what you want and they will cook it for you and it is so cheap! my husband and I can eat for 3 bucks! They also have these eggs called tea eggs that are really good! They are like hard boiled eggs but they simmer them in a crock pot with tea leaves. I will miss those for sure.
The fruit here is amazing and is very cheap as well! They have fresh fruit stads/markets everywhere. During the winter and spring, the sugar cane is in season and you can get a whole stick of sugar cane for 75 cents! It is so good! And they have fruits here that I have never seen in my life!
The whole bathroom situation has been kind of alarming! No one warned me that the toilets were in the ground! It's like they took a toilet bowl and just put it into the ground. We call them the squatty potties. Most of the time there is no toilet paper in any bathrooms so I always have tissues in my purse. Going potty for the little kids though is a whole nother story! When they are getting potty trained, they wear split pants, that way, when they need to go, they just squat wherever they are and go! Grown men also just whip it out and pee wherever and whenever. So gross!
One thing that I have never thought about missing is just lawns and back yards. Everything here is huge buildings and no yards. The only grass you see is at parks. I don't love that we live on the 18th floor especially when I go out on our balcony to hang up our laundry! It is a long way down!
So, I know that driving can be super frustrating and can bring out the worst in people but you might never complain again if you drive once here in China! It is absolute chaos! People just doing whatever they want when they want! Stopping in the middle of the road to text, flipping "U" turns wherever, driving backwards if they missed a turn, running red lights, making their own lanes, and driving in the oncoming traffic lane. All of that and then stir in all of the hundreds of scooters and pedestrians doing their own thing is just madness!! Luckily we have only been in one accident since we have been out here.
We live by a tourist area called West Lake and it is really beautiful. We love going there and walking around. They also have a really cool zoo here with a Panda bear!
They also have seals that put on a show and sea lions that you can feed. Ava loves going there.
There are some pretty amazing places here that are beautiful! There are a lot of Pagodas that are just amazing! They really go all out on their architecture here.
And further out of the city, there are some beautiful natural springs and it's just green everywhere and peaceful. We loved going there and getting away from the busy and noisy city we live in.
Another thing that is so weird is that there are ALWAYS fireworks going off! It doesn't matter what day it is (or time), you will see or hear fireworks going off somewhere everyday. During the Chinese New Year is is pure craziness!! They were hitting our windows of our balcony! and going off all hours of the night. It is impossible to get a full nights sleep during that week. While is can be more than annoying, it can also be very beautiful at night going out on our balcony and seeing the entire night sky just filled with fireworks everywhere you look.
A bug that I have never encountered until moving out here were Cicadas. They are all over in the trees and you wouldn't even know they were there if it wasn't for how LOUD they are! I have never heard anything like it. while walking outside, there are times when you would have to shout over their noise just to talk to the person next to you. And of course when they die, they fall out of the trees and onto the ground or, sometimes right on top of your head. It was a little creepy.
And of course there are the cockroaches, which, until moving out here, I never had come across one. This big guy was just chillin in my little girl's room.
One morning, I went over to out bedroom curtains and opened them up to let the sun in and there was this monster bug on the other side!
Because there are so many bugs, there are a lot of bats! If you go out at dusk, they are everywhere just flying over your head! I have screamed outloud a few times b/c I swear a few were coming right for my jugular ha ha! It really is a litte scary for me though to just have bats flying all around.
This post is getting pretty long! There is so much more I could talk about and I'm sure I will in future posts but that was some stuff that have been really quite different from the US. This whole experience has been so crazy, fun, hard, and memorable. I have been humbled in so many ways and feel so thankful for what I have. The homesickness has definitely kicked in these past couple months and we are ready to be home in AMERICA!! But I am glad to have had this whole experience and I will never forget it.
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