Tourism and Water Buffalo

I'm finally updating. Sorry for the long wait, things have been a bit hectic here, what with classes, illness, and the Chinese government's propensity to rearrange the weekends however they please. I will try to be more consistent in my posting from now on.
 Yesterday , on our way to the Sanxingdui museum, we discovered that the city here does not transition slowly from skyscrapers to countryside. There is no suburban buffer to separate the city folk from country life. So, as we came around a bend, past a line of gigantic skyrises, we found ourselves suddenly in the midst of rice paddies and melon farms. We could see families working the land by hand, their small homes just off the side of the freeway. Some live in dilapidated old houses whose enclosed courtyards and tile roofs evoked in my mind all of the stereotypes about classical Chinese architecture, though more often then not the tile roofs have been replaced with sheets of corrugated metal.  Other families live in ramshackle huts made primarily of trash and discarded construction materials. The visibility out there is much better than it is in the city, where the smog (or is it fog?) cuts your view off at about four blocks, and in the clear air skyrise apartments were still visible in the distance. What truly surprised me about these farms was how small they were. The land is divided into tiny wedges, few of which are any bigger than the hobby garden that Vanessa's father kept back in Kansas.  I was told that these farms used to be bigger, but that the expanding city was squeezing the nearby farmers together into smaller and smaller plots of land.  Just as suddenly as we had left the city, we were back in it again. Buildings rose in the distance and it became apparent that what we had experienced was a small bubble of countryside surrounded by urban sprawl. I desperately wanted to get a video of it, but the camera refused to turn on.

The museum itself was fantastic, though my class set a pace through it that barely allowed for enough time to take a look at everything, and I also feel that the 200 times life size reproductions of certain artifacts are a bit misleading. The museum is a showcase for the archaeological discovery of an ancient city in the Sichuan basin. The collection consists mostly of a large number of bronze pieces and jade ceremonial objects.   I think that I can best share the museum through photographs, so, here you go.

also, on the way home, we saw several water buffalo, strolling about casually or standing in the muck by the river.

Walls

Hey everyone, sorry I've been out of touch.  I haven't been online much because this site has "poor connectivity" in China (meaning that it's blocked by the Chinese government). Anyway, I'm currently sick as a dog, so I'm not up to posting anything substantial right now, but I promise that I will soon fill everyone in on whats been happening here. Here are some pictures of Echo to hold you guys over. -Dad

The First Day

Echo on the Air-plane

Today is our first day in China. It's somewhat strange, and I still don't really believe that we're here. Some initial impressions: the people are very friendly, the streets are stunningly filthy, and everyone loves Echo. In the Shanghai airport alone she had her picture taken at least sixteen times, was held by two total strangers, and was surrounded by a throng of admirers...she loves the attention. In |Shanghai we also met a very helpful young lady who had travelled with us from L.A. and was heading with us to Chengdu. She helped us to find our terminal, and then find it again when it was changed, and even went so far as to call the driver who would pick us up from the airport to tell them that our flight had been delayed. I was actually somewhat stunned by how far she went out of her way, without any prompting, to help us. I couldn't help but wonder if the Americans she met in L.A. would have treated her so kindly.

Shanghai Airport - Our first landing in China

We stayed in a hostel last night, and met Guo Wei this afternoon so that she could show us around town and move us into our apartment. The apartment is bigger than I had expected, but it's filthy. We can't even put echo on the floor for fear that she would gain a permanent patina from the thick film of er... scuzz coating the living room floor.  So, tomorrow, we buy a mop! -Dad

Goodbye Kansas

We leave for China in about three hours.  I'm going to miss our Kansas hills, and even our Kansas weather.  I didn't realize it until a few days ago, but these hills have become my home. Wherever I go, I feel that the flint hills will always be home to me.  I'm also going to miss most of you people.  If anyone would like to visit, we might be willing to put you up in our apartment for a few weeks.  You'll have to get your own Airline tickets though.  See you guys in a year.

Authentication, it's not as hard as you think!

Bringing your family to China on a student visa is not that hard as long as you
     1)Know what your doing
     2)Are willing to do a little leg work

We found out (at the last minute, after searching EVERYWHERE) that in order to have your family stay with you, on a student Visa, you need to get a residency permit.  Residency permits are received in China and in order to get them you have to have authenticated copies of the birth certificate/marriage license for each family member you are bringing with.  Authentication requires a little money, a little more legwork, and TIME.  In order to get something authenticated you first need to have the certified copy of the certificate from the vital statistics office (~$15).  Next you need to bring that copy to the secretary of states office (most likely located in your state capital) where two very nice women will notarize it, get the signature, the official seal, and staple it in the correct order, while warning you not to undue or mess with the finished product (~$7).

Example of Chinese Authentication Seal

After that you can take the non-tampered packet and mail it into the embassy along with the application, correct payment, and other documents. After the said time, it will be mailed back to you with an official seal from the Chinese embassy.  Remember, this all takes lots of time, so make sure to begin with time to spare.

Being a Parent

     As the time for us to leave gets closer I feel myself becoming increasingly more excited, but also more nervous as the prospect of raising Echo in China, even if it is for only nine months.  I've found that information is not necessarily scarce but buried among lots of articles. Specific questions are hard to find answers to.  I have found that although articles are great, the best way to get information is through blogs and networking with individuals that already live over there.  Program advisers can often get you in contact with people like that.  Some people also leave emails on their blogs so that you may contact them.  One of the most helpful people I've come into contact with was a lady who is in the same program as us, but has also lived in China the past year.  She is very helpful and we email back and forth.  The other person I got into contact with by commenting on their blog.  Both have been very helpful in answering questions about child-rearing in China. (Split-pants anyone?)

Edit: Yes, we did see these in Chengdu!  I think they are awesome!

      So, I'll continue to browse, and probably still get a heavy dose of culture shock.  But, I think I'm ready for it (Yikes!). -Mom

Visas

Thought that applying for a Visa would be one of the easier steps in this process: just fill out the paperwork, photocopy some records, and send in your passport.  Not so, apparently.  First of all the Chinese embassy, for some reason, does not accept Visa applications in the mail.  Any Visa application must be handed in by a human being.  At first I feared that I would have to either hire a travel agency or go down to Chicago personally to hand in our applications, but, as it turns out, the embassy doesn't care who hands in your application as long as its physically handed to them by a human being.  It could be a travel agency, your aunt, your best friend Max, some Joe Schmo off the street, anybody, just so long as its not the postman (they are, after all, no longer considered human beings).  I'm not particularly interested in hiring someone to hand in an application (I could be wrong here, but it just seems too easy a task to be paid for), but I do happen to have the aforementioned friend named Max who lives in Chicago.  Hopefully he will be able to turn this paperwork in for us. (one phone call later)  Yes, he can. 

Motivation Mojo!

So, we decided to make a poster in order to keep motivated and to remind us of our goals.   It also helps to keep us on track with what we need to do next, with a handy little "to-do" list.  We are slowly going to be adding to it as we go.  Putting on pictures of the passports once they arrive, checking off the to do  list, etc.  Because we spend the most time in the kitchen, we have put it front and center on the fridge. It's awesome :) 

The Start of Our "Dream" Poster

 -Mom

糟糕！

We have made a terrible mistake! Our flight into LA and our flight out of LA to Shanghai are only about 45 minutes apart. This is normally (in my experience) more than enough time between domestic flights, but apparently not nearly enough time to get from a domestic flight to an international one. the recommended time is apparently three hours!

Changing flights now will cost us more than 200 dollars per ticket. This isn't really an option for us, so we decided to call up the airlines and see what they suggested. Our first call to Delta was somewhat unsatisfactory: after waiting on hold for twenty minutes we were redirected to the Spanish help line, who promptly hung up on us. On our second try, however, we got into contact with an extremely helpful lady who told us about a another way out of this mess.

It's possible to change your ticket to an earlier flight on the day of your departure. The process goes something like this. First you call the airline the night before your flight to check for the availability of seats. Apparently early morning flights are usually pretty empty. If availability is good, you need to call again no more than three hours before the flight departs and ask to be switched over. The Airline will switch you over and charge you fifty bucks per ticket. not too bad considering it would cost us 200 if we tried to change right now. There are three flights available on the 22nd that would get us to LA on time...I hope this all works out!

We Have Our Tickets!

We booked our flight last night around midnight. It feels like this trip is official now. Set in stone.

Our itinerary isn't the most desirable imaginable, but it saved us a lot of money. We leave bright and early at six in the morning on the 22nd August and don't arrive in Chengdu until midnight between the 23rd and 24th.

Vanessa and I spent about 4 hours searching for an affordable flight. We looked at all the typical discount flight websites. We first searched for one's going from our home in Kansas all the way to Chengdu. While this is easier, you can often find better deals by buying two separate tickets. We saved around $200.00 a piece by finding two separate tickets vs. a packaged deal. Same amount of plane switches involved. If you are centrally located (like we were) it often is cheaper to look for a flight to the coast first, and then to your final destination. Also, booking in advance can often save you quite a bit. This is because as the flight fills up, so does the cost of the remaining seats.