rain, cold and more cold rain

English version follows

C'est Vendredi, y fait frette et y mouille encore. On a eu de la pluie chaque jours de la semaine, et la fin de semaine s'annonce pareil. Y fait froid dans la shop, y nous manque un morceaux pour les balances donc on peut pas finir l'alignement des 8 Formule campus donc on a pas grand chose a faire. Pete est parti pour 2 semaine enseigner/piloter a Zhuhai donc moi et Jes on a l'appartement a nous tous seul. Si jamais vous avez des suggestion de film a regarder, laisser nous savoir, on a pas grand chose a faire le soir, on ecoute beaucoup de film.
Sinon a part du froid, la pluie et une envie de sortir de l'appart en fin de semaine sa se passe bien en Chine. La biere est pas chere. On a trouver du "nutella" chinois qui est ben meilleure que l'original. Demenager a l'autre bout du monde avec une fille fantastique est peut etre une des chose les plus heureuse qui me soit arriver!



It's friday, it's a cold rainy day again. It rained everyday of the week and the week-end will probably be the same too. The shop is cold, we don't have much to do, we are missing one part of a tool to finish the work on 8 cars. Pete is gone to Zhuhai for 2 weeks, he'll be instructing there, so me and Jes have the appartment for ourself! We have been watching a bunch of movies at night because we don't really have anything else to do so if you have any suggestions, let us know.
Other than the rain, the cold and a little of " I want to get out of the appartement this week-end" life in China is treating us well I think. We found the best chocolate spread ever! The beer is cheap. And moving with this amazing girl is the best thing that could happend to me


Vincent

yay photos

Some of you have asked for a few more photos. They aren't anything special just a little something to put up until we get out and I can get you some real updates.

Vincent eating some dumplings from the store down the street... they look super tasty if it wasn't for the random meats put in... the boys didn't complain though

This is sheer boredom .. lights above our table... I do think they add a lot to the modernness of the apartment though.

Cute little sitting area in our complex. haven't seen anyone use them - but it may be too cold and rainy still

Again with the boredom after a walk... bikes in front of the apartment... 

random street - a little quieter then most

this is just photos left and right to where I was standing on the street...

so. nothing too exciting, but its something!

Spring showers.

I know a lot of you are still dealing with the winter blues, and I sympathize with you, I really do. I'm glad that we've gotten away from the cold and the snow, but the past two weeks here has been quite grey, gloomy and rainy.  I'm not complaining, well maybe a little because the days that I feel the courage to get out and taking some photographs of the town we're in, it seems to rain more then usual. It's a bit unfortunate because I would love to show you all where we are living, because words can't explain the amount of people, cars and scooters around us.  But there is more then that - buildings, parks and markets are a bit different as well. 

We have been out grocery shopping quite a bit, maybe twice a week.  It has been a challenge, but a bit exciting.  We have to rely on the pictures on the cover of packages to choose what we want to eat and its always a guess to know if we are going to enjoy it or not.  We also have enough condiments to change flavors every day.  

So with that - aside from the boys getting out for work and the occasional journey to the supermarket we have been staying in to avoid the weather.  (But now that we have the internet set up, while I'm at home I have found some decent websites to study a few languages mandarin to help survive here if Pete has to go back to Zhuhai and Vincent and I need to go out - and yep french too.. so maybe by the time we get home I'll be able to be more social! but I'm definitely going to need the year to work on it)

Also - Pete took a video of Vincent at work, its short but it show's the shop and some of the cars he's working on , so enjoy

Vincent at work

un petit update de Vincent

Bon apres un peu de pression de la part de Jes pour que j'ecris un petit quelque chose ici, je vais vous donner quelque update, surtout a propos de la job.

Donc mardi, moi et pete on a fait un peu de testing pour les formula campus, voiture pas mal semblable a ceux de l'ecole cote mecanique, en fait c'est la meme transmission. donc j'ai pu piloter un peu, un peu parce que j'ai seulement fait 2 tours et demi, la batterie de l'auto que je conduisait c'est vider de sa charge et j'ai "staller" en plein millieu de la piste. Pete ma dit qu'il est aller dans la salle de tele, imaginer vous comme dans les films, un sale avec 45 milles ecrans sur un mur et qu'il pouvait me voir sur la piste, que le chinois qui etais dans la salle a meme zoomer sur moi....
donc imaginez moi arreter en plein millieux d'une piste de course, a environ 2 km des puits, staller la... apres quelque minute de reflexion et quelque sacre, je me suis dit que je pouvais bien essayer de partir l'auto sur la compression. je sors du char, le mets sur le neutre, commence a pousser, saute dans le char, embraye donne du gaz. Surprise sa marche! j'ai reussi a me raprocher un peu des puit et je stalle encore, seul probleme, jai pas le gout de pousser pour monter la cote en avant de moi. donc j'ai attendu et finalement il sont venu me chercher, et on a pousser le char a 2 a la place...

Pete a tester les autre auto, de son coter sa bien ete on a trouver quelque probleme, j'attends juste les truc d'allignement que la shop de zhuhai avait en double pour pouvoir finir le travail sur les formules.

Mercredi j'ai eu mon premier meeting avec le big boss de la compagnie! J'ai donc plus de details sur se que je vais faire ici! Je suis donc Shop Manager! en gros on change de batisse dans a peu pres un mois, je dois m'occuper d'organiser le coter shop de la batisse, je vais tenir un inventaire de pieces, tenir une liste des reparations faites et a faire sur les voitures, je vais avoir deux mecaniciens(chinois qui parle anglais) a partir de la semaine prochaine pour m'aider a faire la mecanique en plus! Et je pense bien continuer a faire du testing quand on a besoin d'en faire! Grosse responsabiliter, mais je suis pas si inquiet que sa, juste un peu sa devrais pas etre si pire apres tout.

J'ai aussi eu un email de job, je capote la, shop manager, avec mon bureau, mon ordi, mon adresse email! Reste juste a pouvoir parler chinois, pis je vais etre all set!

Sur ce, bonne fin de semaine a vous, moi je men vais dinner!

No internet :(

(NOTE: we have no internet at the apartment so this is a post from Sunday night that I couldn't get up (I'm stealing a weak signal from the balcony so hopefully this posts)- also Vincent has had a very busy few days at work (and he might even do some driving today - so check back to see if he has some fun updates from the track!))

After a day stuck inside we all started to get a bad case of cabin fever, so the need to get some errands done came in very handy.  The main task was to get a key cut for the main door, that way I wouldn't have to wait around for the boys to get home from work - nor would they have to worry about my new found nap time which has already left them outside once before.  Because of our need to get out, we decided to walk to the downtown area (where Vincent and I had found key cutters on our first adventure), however walking from the opposite direction we missed the initial road we were to take.  While deciding what to do, Pete had one of the most brilliant ideas - STARBUCKS!!! We had passed it several times before on our way to dinner, however I was a little afraid to attempt to order on my own.  Once we got in, I felt like I had found a little piece of western heaven.  Not only did they have my usual (a carmel machymak (just for you Carolynn)) but they also had a lavish variety of desserts, from double chocolate brownies to new york cheese cake.  

After taking our time to enjoy a little western flavor we set off to get a key cut.  Tasks like this it is a good thing that Pete was with us, his little bit of Mandarin helps a tremendous amount. For only $5 (equivalent to pennies on our currency). Once again we opted out of the taxi ride home so we could get a little extra exercise, and stay out of the apartment just a little while longer.  We stopped at the grocery store and headed home.

Once home we relaxed to a few movies before turning in for the night.

Tesco journey

After waiting for a house guest to leave I finally set out with grocery list in hand to get some more food for the apartment.  The Tesco store (which is a lot like Costco back home, only a 5 floor mall as well, which is really easy to get lost in, as at times you walk in circles being unable to read the signs and all) is just around the corner from our apartment which is extremely convenient.  I made it across the very busy street, sometimes it feels like real life "frogger" (you know that wicked 80's atari game!) the way these cars and scooters drive. I nearly made it to the front doors when I was approached by several ladies talking to me in Chinese giving me random flyers. I tried to say no, but they were insistent and started rushing me towards the mall. We finally got to this little shop and opened a door. I was really hesitant but they started rushing me behind the door to a little white room.  Two ladies got me to lay down, and told me "no money" so I trusted them. It turns out it was a massage shop and they gave me a facial massage.  It would have been quite enjoyable if the situation to get me there wasn't so overwhelming.  So once they finished, I rushed out of the room and tried to find my way to the grocery part of the mall.

Wondering in circles for about half of an hour I found where I was going and gathered most of the food on the list.  Still a little taken back from the events earlier I was looking forward to getting home and relaxing on the couch with a snickers bar... and thats exactly what I did.

First solo adventure.

Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous, the sun was out and there was a high of 23.  How could I not get out of the apartment and explore our new city? I waited until noon - with the time change morning seems to be the best time to talk to everyone back home, so once everyone went offline I made some lunch and prepared to head out.  Not realizing it was as hot as it was, I think I was a bit over dressed and sweating before I got to the gates leaving our complex but it was too late to turn back.  I found it strange that the locals were still sporting leather and other heavy jackets while I could barely stand a light hoody. 

I made my way to the "downtown" area which is filled with people, scooter, bikes and cars and actually gave myself a chance to embrace this new culture.  The first thing that I really noticed was no matter how large the crowd I walked it - being the only white female in this town, I will always stand out and have nearly everyone I pass stare.  I'm actually okay with that, and a simple smile as I pass seems to ease their mind to why I foreigner is walking through their town.

So I made my way to the main street where all the shops are.  The style isn't much different from home, but I still went through some shops and looked around.  I found one really nice dress and wanted to try it on, but knowing nothing more then "hello" and "thank you very much" in Mandarin, the communication let alone small talk was a bit of a challenge. As awkward as it was for everyone in the store, we got through it and I left with a nice new outfit.

I finally made my way home thirsty and hot from the weather (we went from extreme winter to summer and I don't think I was ready for it...).  A little tired I fell asleep just in time for the boys to come home from work (but I slept through the door bell and locked them out for about an hour!) Sorry boys! i still feel bad!

La Chine c'est different... A peine 4 jours ici et plus sa va plus je le realise.

Sorry if this post is not in english, but some of my friends only speak and read french, plus I feel like writting in french

Se promener a pied a montreal a rien a voir avec ici. Le pire conducteur montrealais conduit mieux qu'un bon conducteur chinois. Ici, on klaxone beaucoup trop, le pire c'est que la plus part du temps le conducteur l'utilise juste pour avertir. A date j'ai vu plein de chose asse bizzare, meme peut etre illegale, je sais pas j'ai vu 2 police seulement, en scooter, et je pense qu'il etaient la pour la circulation et les parkings seulement. En Chine, si ta un scooter, t'as pas besoin de casques, tu peut rouler sur les voient reserver au velo ou les troitoirs. En auto t'as meme le droit de faire des u-turn ou tu veut, un chauffeur de taxi la fait meme si il coupait les auto qui s'en venait sur nous. Dans les taxi, ya pas de ceinture de securite pour les passager. Bref je suis bien content de pas avoir de velo ici, c'est un peu trop dangereux, je fait le saut a chaque fois qu'une auto, ou moto(sur le trotoir) me klaxonne.

Mais ya quand meme des chose bien. J'ai un bureau avec un ordi a la job. Le seul probleme l'ordi et msn sont en chinois... J'ai aucune idee se qu'il a dessus, et je me souviens pas si c'est possible de le changer. Anyways, trouver solitaire etait un petit defi...

Parlant de la job, a date c'est super relax, j'ai meme le temps d'ecrire sur notre blog. mais d'ici quelque semaine, ou mois sa devrais etre mieux, la saison va vraiment commencer, la shop change de batisse, sa va etre plus gros, neuf, meme si ici c'est super propre anyway. j'ai hate de faire plus de mecanique, a date je fais plus de menage et du classement. Mais au moins on a commander mon coffre a outils aujourd'hui! je me sens comme un king ici!

bon j'imagine que je devrais retourner travailler la!
je vais prendre des photo d'ici eventuelement!

p.s. desole pour les mauvais francais, mon clavier a pas d'accent pis je me fou un peu de la grammaire en chine....

Ni Hao!

I just started my day - so there really isn't much to write... but I thought it would be fun to stick my camera out our sunroom window and take some snaps of the apartments and scenery around us... Honestly - looking out the window (for the most part) it doesn't really feel like I'm in a different country... but then again...

we do hang our laundry outside to dry - but not so much chickens ... laying on top of the air condition is a chicken that has been placed outside every morning since we moved in here.  I think its some sort of slow cooking process since we don't have an oven in our apartment... 

So.. this is what we are surrounded by... The only downfall is the lack of scenery. I woke up really early this morning and just so happened to catch the sunrise, the sky was filled with beautiful colors between the complexes across from us... I'm sure a landscape will bring more beautiful images.

Virtual tour of our apartment

We woke up nice and early today, had a nice amazing breakfast at the hotel before packing up and checking out.  Pete talked the apartment up so much I was getting excited.  49lb luggage was a bit of a struggle but well worth it.  We dropped off our bags and went out to get life's necessities to make our apartment a home...

The kitchen is probably the smallest room in the apartment, but has enough room to get the cooking job done.

One of the lovely bathrooms....

One of the bedrooms... the only downfall to these rooms is the rock solid bed... we've layered pads to make it a more comfortable sleep.

Second bathroom (note for my brother: toilet water still goes counter clockwise, and we still don't plan on westernizing it)

Other bedroom with a nice little sitting spot in the window.

Our study and guest room - the couch folds out to a cute little bed. 

Finally a panoramic of our dining room and tv room.  Its quite a comfortable living space.  The french sliding doors opens up to a sunroom with a laundry machine which is extremely convenient.  

Now that we are all settled in and Vincent has had his tour of SIC (Shanghai International Circuit) we are settled in for a year of Shanghai.

photo update

Here's a quick photo update on our first day in Shanghai.  

When we first got to the hotel, we spent a few minutes in the dark, clicking the switches on and off trying for figure out how the power works... we finally found out that the key card is the magnetic power switch for the entire room, once you remove the card, the power goes out.. pretty interesting.

Bathroom photo, nothing too interesting... (side note for my brother, the water goes counter clock wise in the toilet...)

The rest of the room with Vincent checkin out his facebook.... it's been a nice stay, the room service is absolutely amazing - we asked one of the men for something and he actually ran to bring back our request.  Aside from that it took an entire day of button pressing to get our heater to work.. 

Although it took a few hours to get motivated, we finally set off for our first adventure around the town. The lack of motivation was mostly because the day was fairly grey, cold and misty - but we finally set off and explored for an hour.  It seems difficult to get lost as the roads are gridded well and easy to follow (and Pete has made the McDonald's the official location to find our way back)... There wasn't much to fear walking around, except the vast amounts of cars, bikes and motorized bikes that have no awareness of pedestrians.. or maybe they do and just don't care.  So it was a good lesson for being aware of your surroundings.

The building in the back ground is the Pagoda, I'm not sure of the purpose or if there is historical value to it, but it was neat.

I didn't feel comfortable photographing on the busy streets yet (something about looking like a tourist that I'm not a fan of) but this was a building on a side road that I was drawn to.

As I'm typing - there has been a fire work display going for the past hour... and they go off one on top of the other.  Pete isn't quite sure what the celebration is for let alone if this is going to be a nightly event - part of me hopes that it is, it could be a great night event to go and see what is going on. 

edit : the fire works have lasted 4 hours and at this point we hope its the only night this party happens.

We made it

After an hour delay at the airport and a long and restless 14 hour flight (with an interesting meal service), we finally arrived at Pu Dong airport.  We made it through customs with no questions and were met by Pete and our driver.  We got to the taxi where we quickly learned that trunks aren't built for people packing for a long stay, so the driver decided to take us the 45 minutes with the trunk open.  As we drove down the free way - the streets were light with fire works. As much as we like to think it was to celebrate our arrival, it is probably more a continuation from new years (Vincent read somewhere they celebrate for 15 days)

The signs, smells and sounds (the cars seem to use their horns a lot more liberally here) is a lot different from the western world, but I'm sure it wont take long to get accustomed to it.  We finally got checked into the hotel and found ourselves completely in darkness.  Turns out the room key is the power source to make the lights go on... 

Time to catch up on sleep... stay tuned for more updates as we are venturing the streets alone tomorrow.