How is life in China different?

I get this question from friends and family back in the States. How is life different in China? Whew! A loaded question. I can only compare it to where I have lived before which is the Midwest and also Tennessee for 3 years. Almost everything is done differently here.

Living in an apartment with 4 kids has been a little bit of an adjustment. One of our bathrooms is not very pleasant so often on a school morning 3 of us will be brushing our teeth at the same time (in the not as gross bathroom) with me spitting over Lily's head trying not to slime her. We pay in advance for our electricity and when we get very low our power goes out for a while and then comes back on. We have air conditioning and heat only when the government turns it on. It doesn't matter is it is 90 degrees in April, the air doesn't come on until June 10!

In China, people live their lives outside which I LOVE to watch. Anything can happen on the sidewalk or street. They exercise, take walks (sometimes in their pj's), get their hair cut, eat, cook, play mah jong, play cards, get keys made, bikes fixed, urinate, spit, sell bootleg movies, sell clothing, and the list goes on. Lately, we have witnessed a few fistfights. Being illiterate is very challenging. We get a receipt and the first thing we do is write down what it was for and where we bought it because otherwise we won't know later what it was for. We don't know what a store sells until we actually look inside the store.

Another difference is transportation. We don't own a car here and take a taxi, walk, or take a bus everywhere. Soon I will get up enough courage to buy a bike. We walk miles more than we did in Michigan. There are not many rules of the road followed here. I have had a taxi driver drive in reverse down a 4 land busy road because he missed the turn. As we were driving back from a Beijing doctor appointment, we have had a driver drive like a crazy man because he needed to get to our destination to have a cigarette. There is no regard for pedestrians, left hand turn lanes or lanes in general. It's amazing how fast you adjust and just accept that this is the way it is and we are in His hands!

There are many things that are different but that I enjoy. Because most parents work and people retire rather young, the grandparents are always seen outside with their grandchildren playing and talking with other grandparents. I love that we can walk 5 minutes and find a huge selection of fresh vegetables and fruit. I LOVE the food....simply the best. I love how our college age students always make sure we find a taxi and tell the driver where we live (even though we can do this ourselves). I'm sure they think we speak horrible Chinese and are amazed we can get anywhere by ourselves!! I especially love that that I can volunteer at the orphanage and spend time with the children there.

Life in many ways is simpler yet more complicated for us because of our lack of language. Living overseas you learn that different doesn't necessarily mean bad.......it's just different. I am so thankful that we are here and that our children are learning these things early in their lives.

Jing Jing

In November, at the orphanage, my friend noticed that a little girl looked a little like Lily. We inquired about her and learned that her name was Jing Jing (Lily's chinese name) and she was about the same age as Lily. I do not believe they are twins but this gave me a special interest in her. We also learned she has a severe heart defect and was having more and more problems with energy level, almost passing out, etc..

I couldn't get her off of my mind so I talked with David and we agreed we wanted to try to get her the help she needed. We met with the director of the orphanage and they were very agreeable and said they would even get her a passport if we needed to take her out of China for surgery. This is VERY unusual. During this meeting, we also found out that the director is good friends with a co-worker of mine and so we automatically had some guanxi or relationship which is crucial in this culture.

A man from our company's daughter lives in Beijing and works with a foundation that helps orphans so I contacted here and was able to take Jing Jing to Bejing last month for her first tests. They show that she has pulmonary atresia, ventricular septal defect, and collateral blood vessels and that she needs more extensive testing to see if surgery is possible. They did not have a bed for her then so they said they would call when one became available. Apparently, they have 60 beds but there is a shortage of nurses and support staff so they can only have 30 beds occupied at one time. Poor Jing Jing was carsick the entire way there and back and was just so pitiful.

The hospital called on April 16th and said they had a bed available--could she be there that night? After 4 hours of dozens of phone calls and text messages, we were on our way to Beijing for a CT scan and an angiogram. In a Chinese hospital, a patient has to have someone with them 24/7 for the entire stay. Also, they do not provide ANYTHING for you. When I say anything, I mean toilet paper, soap, towels, eating utensils, bowls, and so on. Also, the patients food is not provided and costs about $1.25/meal. I guess that is one way to keep costs down!

Kelly and I stayed with her on the weekend and what an experience. First of all, we were the only English speakers in the hospital. When we didn't understand what was being said, sometimes another Chinese speaker was brought into the conversation or sometimes they just spoke louder and louder as if we just couldn't hear properly. At lunchtime, I went out and stood in line for Jing Jing's food. When I put my bowl in front of the woman and said Jing Jing's name she informed me that they didn't have food for her. I couldn't understand the rest. I have found that I'm getting used to not know they "why's" of things I don't understand. You just move on. So, I fed her some of the breakfast I had bought on the street earlier. It was quite the adventure and special memories made for both of us.

Jing Jing was supposed to have her angiogram on Tuesday but we got the call that they couldn't do it then---maybe Wednesday or Thursday---or maybe next Tuesday. WHAT? Our Dad moved mightily and she was able to have the test on Thursday. My friend, Kimberly, was there and loved her through that test and recovery. The doctor concluded that she has a severe defect, made worse without treatment for so long, but is operable.

Please join me in lifting this little one up. All life is precious and our hope is that once she has the surgery she will be able to have a loving family. Please check out my link to the Tianjin International Committee for Chinese Orphans.

Catching up..

Since I had so much trouble accessing our previous blog I have about 3 months to catch up on. I will start with Thanksgiving. We thought it might be difficult to stay in Tianjin on the first major holiday away from home so we decided to go to Beijing. So, we headed off to the train station and somehow were successful in buying train tickets for the family. We stayed in a hostel located in the hutong (old city) section of Beijing not far from the Forbidden City. It was a dorm-style room with its own bathroom with no amenities but was perfect for us since we were only there to sleep. We reconnected with our guide from our last time in China, Mr. Lei, and had a great time showing the kids the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, an acrobat show and a great Beijing duck dinner! The kids really enjoyed learning about China's history and enjoyed getting out of the city to climb the Wall.

New blogsite....hope you found us.

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