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When we arrived in Shanghai, China it was a big move for myself and my family. It helped alot to be able to write down our experiences and e-mail them to our friends and family. They all gave us a lot of much needed support during that time. After a few months of "adjustment", it became commonplace for me to write updates. Here is an arichive of e-mails sent before creating this website and updates after the website was created.
Family Photo Album:
E-mail to our Friends and Family 1/5/07
We're here....
Hello Everyone,
Well, it’s been 4 ½ days and it’s rained every single day. It’s really cold and I forgot to pack Sophie’s tennis shoes. She has her crocks and her feet have been wet daily (bad Mom I know) but at this point who really cares. I’ve flooded the dish washer because I used the wrong detergent and have a week’s worth of laundry I can’t do because I can’t read the damn washer and dryer directions. They’re all in Chinese! What else? Sophie’s favorite thing in the world is to watch TV and none of her DVD’s that we brought from the US works here. She’s currently having Barbie withdrawals big-time!! Sean is doing so so in school. He likes it but it’s loud. He really misses everyone back home. Sophie was super depressed for the first 3 days and is finally coming out of it but, won’t leave my side for anything. Sean, Sophie and I are still getting over the jet lag (feel hung-over every day) while Scott is doing great and loving every minute. Our Ayi (helper) is starting Monday so we’ll finally get a home cooked meal. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Our driver is great but doesn’t understand English so just smiles and laughs a lot. Sophie has just started warming up to him and gave him her Chinese doll to keep him company in the front seat. I miss driving and setting my own schedule. (Maristella – I’m starting to understand what you’ve been talking about). It’s a huge adjustment, much bigger than I imagined. Scott is helping a lot he’s been wonderful.
Now for the good stuff, when the skies clear our apartment is going to have awesome views. We have the river on one side and Shanghai on the other. The kids love their rooms and often get lost. It’s a lot bigger than I remembered. The floors are all a gorgeous marble and are currently really cold but again once the weather breaks it will hopefully warm up. Sophie and I went shopping yesterday and left with huge headaches. Again, everything is in Chinese and is very hard to navigate. I really need to buy a coffee maker today, I think that’s half my problem. Sophie and I are going to try Wallmart today (sorry Mom but there’s no Target out here). The Ritz was amazing, we had a suite and they gave us free robes with our initials on them. How cool is that?? On New Year’s Day we went downstairs for a Champagne Brunch (Moet) and got hammered on good champagne and excellent food. (Jan – the dark chocolate truffles are amazing. By far the best I ever had.)
The flight was fun. The kids loved hearing XM radio and having their own TV’s to watch. It was very long!!!
I really need to get Sophie into a pre-school. She said she’d only go if Americans were in her class. She’s getting a lot of attention here that is freaking her out a little. So many people come up to her speaking Chinese. She really misses her friend Ella.
My computer is not right and am getting security errors constantly, probably people trying to hack into it! Well, I should go, I just wanted to let everyone know we made it and are adjusting. My next e-mail will be much more positive, I promise!!! And, hopefully my head will be a little clearer.
We miss you.
Jennifer