Ni hao

This means hello, and I figure this is a good title, since that is all the Chinese I know. Unfortunately, it doesn't get you very far.
Well, since some have asked how the trip went and all you've gotten so far is Mike's version, I will now tell the whole story. We got to the airport with our 6 large bags and 2 car seats to check, and we had a backpack each, a rolling carry on, a double stroller, and oh, yes, 2 kiddos. Quite the circus! We had help getting our bags and other paraphernalia to check in, and it all went without a hitch. At the check in counter, the manager had to come look at our passports because they were so new, they hadn't seen the new style yet. A little apprehension on their faces, but no trouble. By the time we got through security, we didn't have a lot of time to kill, which was good. We let Kate and AJ run around some before strapping them in for 14 hours. When it was time to board, it was nice that we were able to go in Business class since we could skip the long line and get some help with our kids and all our stuff. AJ was in the window seat, I was on the aisle, Kate was on the other side of the aisle, and Rachel was in the middle seat. This worked out well since we took many trips to the potty. More on that later. We didn't have any problems at all with Kate and AJ at takeoff or ear pressure, which was great. We did however struggle with the harnessing system that I had bought. It was supposed to act as an extra safety measure instead of just the lap belt, but because the sides of the seats sloped in, they kept sliding down. Kate and AJ ended up slouched in their seats a lot. We finally took them off and they were much more comfortable. Mike told me I didn't need them, and he was right. Thankfully, he didn't gloat. So, what entertained my kids for that long? Mostly, colorforms, thanks to the brilliance of Kristy and Korean Air who gave them each one at the start of the trip. We tried watching movies, but the DVD player died before Kate even got through The Little Mermaid, and the computer was not far behind it. The personal tv's in the plane did not have any movies that were what I would choose for my kids, but they got to watch one anyway, mostly without sound. We also read books, made sticker pages, colored some, let them listen to music, played with my handheld Yahtzee game, which has lots of buttons that beep, meals were a long process, and don't forget the many trips to the potty. AJ also loved all of the buttons he had access to, and he turned the light off and on pretty much the whole trip. He loved that!
Mike was right in telling you that they didn't sleep much. AJ finally fell asleep about an hour and a half before landing(11:30 pm), and Kate fell asleep about 30 minutes before. As for the potty situation, of course, each time one had to go, the other saw it as their opportunity to get out of their seat. Usually, when I took one, the other wanted to go right after. You all know how small the restrooms are on airplanes, now imagine me squatting in there, holding a kid over the potty and then maneuvering around to get cleaned up. A little cramped. Now, imagine what you would do if you realized that your daughter has had a little too much juice and the diarrhea set in and leaked through her pull up and got onto her pants. So, in the little bathroom, your daughter is sad and feeling sick, you take off the pants trying not to streak it down her legs, get the pull up off without getting it all over you or the bathroom, get her cleaned up without making a bigger mess and then putting a new pull up on, all the while praying she doesn't go through all the pull ups you've brought on the plane! She got her extra change of clothes on and was clean again. Thankfully, we were fine after that, but it makes for a good story.
We got to Seoul, on no sleep for me or Rachel, and a cumulative 2 hours for Kate and AJ, not even a normal long nap for them, and your body is telling you it's two in the morning. Since we had to wake both of them up when we landed, they were oh, so crabby, and we felt so sorry for them. We got in the stroller for the long walk to the ticket counter to see if we could get our seats for our next flight together. Rachel was 3 rows back from the 3 of us, and we were not able to change that. We had a four hour lay over in Seoul, and we visited a playroom, where Kate and AJ took off playing as if they'd had a full night's sleep. I however was beat. I am more than thankful for my sister because I wouldn't have made it here without her.
On the next plane, we sat in the middle three seats, and Kate falls asleep as soon as I buckle her in, head bobbing all around. Apparently, the hour and a half was enough sleep for AJ, because, he was awake all but the last 30 minutes of that flight. I think I may have nodded off for about 15-20 minutes. Nothing that you'd actually call sleep, though.
So, we're finally in Shanghai, and we get the stroller, with a little trouble, and head out to go through customs and get our bags. Thankfully, one of the guards at the customs counter saw us at the end of the line and sent us to another lane for "People who need help", that was definitely me at the time, even though I am the first to say I don't need help. I hadn't realized, Mike wasn't able to come into the baggage claim area, so remember all of that luggage, and the stroller with two kids? Here comes the circus again, actually, the looks we got were more like Mike's description, freakshow! Of course, the way out is not a straight shoot, we had to make 3 turns, which made our arms burn, but we did it and were able to see Mike as soon as we got out, he's not hard to miss after all. It was a sweet reunion full of hugs, kisses, and some tears. Can't you just hear in the background, "Reunited, and it feels so good..."? That's the only part of the song I know. We found out quickly that ramps are not a big priority in Shanghai engineering, so we struggled with getting all of our luggage to the van and then in it was another challenge. We weren't able to get the car seats buckled in with the rest of us and all our stuff, so we were forced to hold Kate and AJ in our laps. Off we go to the apartment. It is night time in Shanghai, so I'm praying for a safe trip there and sleep for all.
We got to the apartment, and it is very nice. As I might have mentioned before, nothing is child proof like it is in the States, and so, my mom radar goes up again, and we start to figure things out. Kate and AJ share a room and a bed, which, besides not sleeping much yet, has not been a big deal. They, through all of this, have shown incredible flexibility.
So, we're finally done travelling, and we're in our new home. We thank you for all of your prayers, I believe they sustained us during our arduous travel, and we will covet them as we begin to get acclimated here.
As for our blog, we are able to post and read our post, but we cannot see the blog when the posts are published. We are not able to see the comments made either, so if you have our email, which I'm fairly certain you all do, please let us know your comments through that. We would love to continue to get your feedback that way.
As for prayer requests:
-Continual adjustment to the time change
-Finding some connection with other expatriates
-Figuring out how to get around town by myself with the kids(Rachel is here for another week, so after she leaves)
-Making our apartment our home
-Stress level for both Mike and I, especially regarding the safety of our kids
-Peace
I will post again soon on my first impressions of Shanghai.

The Gang is All Here and A Star is Born

Good News, Goods News...everyone is here and safe!
Just a quick note to let everyone know that Bekah, Rachel (Bekah's Sister), Kate and AJ all arrived in Shanghai last night safe and sound. From what I am being told, Kate and AJ did great on the plane except the fact that they only slept the last 2 hours of the trip. As you can guess, that means mom and aunt Rachel only slept about 20 minutes. They may have set a new record for the longest flight without at least getting a prolonged nap. If you need to know, apparently the Seoul international airport has 3 amazing kid play rooms that Kate and AJ tested ALL NIGHT LONG!!! Even after not sleeping much on the trip over, Kate and AJ's internal clocks were still set on Dallas time, thus resulting in the early morning wake up (5 AM) so Bekah and Rachel started out their first day in Shanghai on about 5 hours sleep in 3 days.
We were able to get some house keeping duties out of the way this morning by going for an early breakfast and stopping by the local grocery store for some essential food items. Apparently the Spicy Doritos, Low Fat Pop-Tarts, Coke Light, Peanut Butter, Captain Crunch and Cheese weren't good enough for Bekah. Don't ask me what amazing recipe I was going to prepare with those 6 items, but good news...the Capt'n still represents even in China!!!
After the shopping extravaganza, I decided to take the crew for a local lunch and to get a sampling of the world renowned "sticky buns of Shanghai". I was also thinking about dubbing myself "sticky buns" because of my amazing D in basketball and my big bum, but I will cover more of that in later blogs. Just a tease though...we are all used to teammates slapping us on the butt after a good play, but what happens if the hand rests, cups and slides just a little too long? "Sticky Buns"???
For the last three weeks, I have grown somewhat accustomed to the prolonged stares as I walk by, but nothing prepared me for the utter freakshow that Kate and AJ represent here in China. While partaking of our sticky buns, I noticed a table of Chinese folk taking pictures of Kate and AJ from across the restaurant. We also have several people stop buy and introduce themselves to Kate and AJ. AJ was pretty reserved, but Kate took the opportunity to steal the show. I don't know where she got her love of the spotlight. After lunch we walked around a local outdoor shopping area. During our walk, a young local girl stopped to have her picture taken with Kate. She pretty much took Kate right out of my arms and held her so that the picture wouldn't be ruined by including me in it. The local girl then noticed AJ and put two and two together to discover that they were twins. The full scale photo shoot was on. At one point she even got AJ to kiss her on the cheek for a photo op. AJ has been here 1 day and he's getting action. By the end of the 5 months, he may want to stay! In all, I think about 5 groups took pictures of Kate and AJ and countless others gave high fives or knuckles (which I started with Kate and AJ long before Jeremy started it with Brynna, so give me all the credit). Another side note, this may be racial, but I don't think that Chinese people give good high fives. Watching AJ and the locals was like watching my dad and his golfing buddies give high fives - a complete disaster - out of sync, hands wide open and flat also promoted by a loud announcement of "high five" and then the slight hold and release. Brutal to watch.
The lack of sleep finally caught up with everyone, so we returned "home" to unpack and put the kids and Bekah down for a nap. I am glad they are all here!

Gearing Up to Go

In our last few days before going to China, we are trying to cram in as much time with friends and family as possible while still packing, cleaning, etc. I think Mike is more than ready for us to be there so we can be together as a family again. As am I! I am not sleeping well because, even with my plethora of lists, I have things running through my mind constantly. Like right now, I really should be doing something besides this, but I'll get to it in a minute.

Let's see, funny things with Kate and AJ have been their fascination with the boy "part", which we call by it's technical term. Because we are potty training, this word gets said more than in your normal every day conversation(at least, my normal every day conversation). Pretty much every time Kate goes to the potty, she'll say, "Mommy, I don't have a -----, just boys." In response, I tell her that's right because that is how God made us. I know I'm not supposed to laugh, but call me immature, I do sometimes. The other day, she must have realized that what she was saying was the cause of my laugh, so she sat on the potty saying, "-----,-----,-----,-----", kind of in a sing-song voice. I didn't sing along, but AJ did. Oh, the joys of children. I'm just waiting for the ----- song to be sung in a public restroom.

Here is a pic from their last playgroup for a while. Besides the two little ones, all of the kids were born within 3 months of each other, and one little boy wasn't there yesterday. We all live within 5 minutes of each other, too. Fun Times!

Lunch time in Shanghai

Just got back from lunch - ate frog...not bad!

News from Shanghai

1 more week and counting until Bekah and the kids arrive here in Shanghai.
I have spent the last couple of weeks searching for our home for the next 5 months and seem to have found the perfect location. Depending upon how the negotiations go with the landlord, we will be living in the Skyline Masion in Pudong (East of the River). This apartment will be within walking distance of what hopes to be our new office here in Shanghai.
My first couple of weeks have been a lesson in adapting to a new culture. I have learned quickly that I will average more showers a day than meals. For those of you who know me well, this is an huge reversal as I am usually 3 to 1 in favor of meals in the states. Shanghai happens to be the most humid place that I have ever lived, thus creating my need for multiple showers. I have eaten mostly at chinese restaurants since arriving, with the acception of breakfast. The chinese really do not have a concept of breakfast as being dis-similar to any other meal in the day, so I have made frequent stops at the local McDonalds to get hotcakes and sausage.
I have spent most of my week working with the new associates from China Printing Solutions and looking for apartments and most of my weekends shopping at the local markets looking for good deals. I seem to have negotiated "friend" price at most every place that I have visited. I was able to get some Puma shoes for $16.00USD and probably overpaid by 50%. Not to mention that these Puma shoes indicate that I now wear size 10's. I have also gotten to play some basketball with the crew here. Shark is the basketball expert within the company and he has recently asked that I begin to play on his team for the weekend games. During the first game, they quickly realized that you can't leave me open for the baseline "j". Alan said "you like shoot at no backboard"...I said "when you have as sweet a shot as me, you don't need a backboard" and proceeded to tell him how I learned to play basketball on a dirt court shooting at just a rim on a wooden post with no backboard. They seemed to believe it! It also helps that the rim we play on seems to be a couple inches short of the regulation 10ft. I have found that I am much more accurate on a rim that is somewhere between 9'8" and 9'10".
For my first local meal, the team from CPS took me to a Budhist, Vegetarian, Chinese restaurant (I know - 0 for 3). I tried everything that we ordered. I didn't realize that tofu could be molded and flavored to taste like almost anything. My favorite item was "cow peas" which happen to be glorified green beans, but surprisingly enough, my 2nd favorite item was a tofu, beef substitute that had been compressed to the shape of a rib...think McRib made out of tofu. Mmmmmm - good. I am the largest man here! I will post later!

7 More Days!

I figure, what's a blog without some pictures, and since Mike has our camera, I had to pick some older pics. These are from Kate and AJ's professional 2 year pictures.

I love this picture of AJ
Such a sweet girl!

Well, we are only a week away now. Next Saturday, the kids, my sister, Rachel, and I will be leaving for China. This past week and a half have been long for both Mike and I. With so much for each of us to do and only getting to talk less than 30 minutes a day, usually, it has been a little hairy!

For Mike, he has found a place for us to live, now he has to get all the paperwork, etc. done on Monday in the hopes that it will be ready when we get there on Sunday night. He's hoping to be able to move in by Friday so he has the weekend to get ready for us. There were two options, both with lots of pros and a few cons. We decided to move into the Skyline Mansion, sounds fancy, I know. It is on the Pudong side where we are fairly certain the office will be when they move. Now, the office is in Puxi, which will be about a 30-40 minute commute from Pudong. When the office moves to Pudong, we have hopes that it will be within walking distance, but as with everything else, no guarantees. Either way, this apartment is close to necessities and things to do during the day. We also think it is where a lot of expatriates live, so we're hoping to meet some people there. Let's all pray that everything goes smoothly with the renting of the apartment.

This past week for me and the kids has been full of family, which has been extremely nice. I've been able to get a lot of things done with the help of my sister, Jamie and her fiance, Kevin, who were in town. It was also good to have some distraction, because being without your husband for 18 days can get very lonely, even when lots of people are around. My last week is full of last minute things to do, like haircuts for all of us, a vet visit for Kelty, one last playgroup, cleaning the house, getting things ready for our house sitters, and oh, yeah, packing! Should be fun!

Our Fun-Filled Sundays

Both Mike and I did quite a bit on our Sundays. Mike walked around to get more acquainted with Shanghai, and then Aaron and his fiance, LJ, invited him to lunch. Maybe they were being nice, maybe they were feeling sorry for him, I'm not sure, but they took him to an American Diner for lunch. It was almost out of the city, but Mike said it was good and he saw some American families there. After a good lunch and getting to know Aaron a little more, he went to see Transformers. Funny enough, it was still in English, with Chinese subtitles. Mike said that each time the script of the movie was going to say something about the U.S., it got jumbled. Interesting. Also, Mike made his first faux pax, and wore a green hat. Apparently in China, if you wear a green hat, it means your spouse is cheating on you. Great! I'm not even there yet, and I already have a bad reputation. Of course, being American, they don't necessarily apply the rules to him, but we thought it best that he not wear that hat anymore, just in case people start talking.
As for Kate, AJ and I, we went to church for the next to last time. Afterwards, we went out to my mom's lake house where my sisters were and played in the lake all afternoon. Kate and AJ had a blast! We let them sit on the jetskis with us and motor around, barely touching the gas, but they loved it any way. They also had their first popsicles, red ones. I wish I'd had my camera(Mike's got it in China), but you can imagine, red clown faces, red hands and then streaks of red down to their elbows. We did our first day with no naps, and they did great. Before leaving, we bathed them, put them in PJ's and head home around bed time. They were asleep in the first 15 minutes, and I'm surprised they lasted that long. When Kate gets snuggly, she's sleepy, and she was very snuggly before we left. All in all, a great day at the lake, and the only thing that would have made it better was if their daddy could have been there.

Some Shanghai R & R

Today was Mike's first Saturday in Shanghai, and some of the people he will be working with invited him to play basketball. Let's see if I can remember their American names, Shark, Fox, Dee Dee, Aaron, Alan, and Mike all played three on three. Aaron and Mike were the only two Americans, the rest were their Chinese co-workers. Apparently, Mike dominated on the court. No surprise to me. Shark, who is an avid basketball fan even complimented Mike on his abilities. After basketball, they went to have lunch together at a Buddhist vegetarian restaurant. Mike said he tried everything, but I'm not sure how much he liked it all. Then since Mike is still feeling sick and has not adjusted to the time change fully, he took a nice long nap. Sounds like a nice Saturday to me, wish I could take a nap!

Day 2

Day 2 for Mike was much better. He is not as discouraged about finding a place to live. He was able to talk with Aaron about different areas and also look for some office spaces in both the main areas, Puxi(West of the river) and Pudong(East of the river). It looks more promising now that there will be a family friendly place to live regardless of where the office is. Aaron told Mike there is a nice area in Puxi, that is called the French Quarter and has a lot of amenities for expatriate families.
Something Mike told me makes me a little worried about keeping up with the blog when we get there. He said when he tries to access the site to add to it, it is in Chinese, so unless we figure out how to change it to English, we're not going to be able to update it when we're there. Surely, there's a way, we just need to find it. Any ideas are welcome.
As for us here, we were close to selling Mike's car and then the buyer changed her mind and bought something different in the end. I feel bummed, but hopefully there will be another deal before I leave. If you know of anyone looking to buy, I have a great deal on a Volvo.
Kate and AJ are very anxious to go to China, even though they don't understand what that means. As long as they get to see their daddy again, they don't care. I guess I feel the same way.

Day 1

Day 1 for Mike in Shanghai did not go so well. On top of jet lag and still being sick, he went apartment hunting for our family. This was not a success. Our hope and prayer is to find a place where we can be comfortable as a family, and have it close to Mike's new office. One major problem is not yet knowing where the office will be, but going on where he thinks it might be, he went to look at places to live in Puxi. The first 3 were on the 60th floor or higher, which wouldn't be as big a deal if they didn't have open balconies. AJ seems to have an uncanny ability to figure out how to unlock and open doors, combine that with the fact that he likes to climb, and well, you can see that is going no where good. So, scratch the high rises with balconies, and go to more Western style apartments in Pudong. These seemed to be more what we were looking for, but it all goes back to where the office will be. If the office is in Puxi, and we live in Pudong, his commute would be close to an hour. We do that here, but we were hoping to not have that in Shanghai. So, all that to say, please be praying for Mike as he tries to find a place for us to live. Hopefully Day 2 will be better for him. Mike will be going with Aaron, the owner of the company they are acquiring, to look for a new office space.
As for us here in the States, we are doing well. We already miss our Daddy/Husband, and talk all the time about going to China to see him.

And He's Off...

We all went to the airport to drop off Mike this morning, and it was sad and exciting to see him go. The first leg of his trip will not be over until around 2 am our time and then he won't actually be in Shanghai until around 8 am tomorrow morning. I guess when you go to the other side of the world it takes a while.
Please be praying for him while he travels. Since yesterday he's been extremely congested in his head and chest and just not feeling well. That can't be fun if you are stuck in a plane for 17 hours. He has some good meds, so I'm hoping that will help.
As for us, we are getting ready to go ourselves. This morning Mike was getting ready and he looks at me and says, "You've got a lot of things to do before you go." My response with as much sarcasm as you can imagine was, "You Think!" So in the midst of getting ready to move my family to China for 5 months, I am also trying to potty train my kids, sell Mike's car, get our house ready for people to live in it, and stay sane. Thankfully, again, the Lord provides us with family and friends who have offered to help, so if you are one of those, expect a phone call!

Welcome to our blog!

Hello all. As most of you know, our family is about to head off on a big adventure to China for almost 6 months. At the request of some friends, I am going to try to keep up with this blog to let you know what life for the Russ family is like in Shanghai. Mike is leaving on the 10th, so in a few days, and then Kate, AJ and I will be leaving on the 28th to join him. My younger sister, Rachel will be flying over with us to help me during the flight and for the first week there, to get acclimated. For those of you who think we are not coming back, we will be back December 22nd, just in time for Christmas.

Since this is my first posting, I thought I would attach a few recent pics of Kate and AJ. They are now 2 1/2 years old, and we are having a lot of fun. They love to sing, run, scream, read books, watch Veggie Tales, chase Kelty(our dog), play with their friends, and are talking all the time.

I don't know if they are getting the whole potty training thing, do you? Your underwear should not be on your head! Actually, they are both doing really well with potty training, which has been a big push here lately since I found out diapers are very expensive in China.