A Day in the Life: Until it changes again

A Day in the Life

It occurred to me that it might be fun to follow one day in our life, so far.  You might be thinking wow I wonder how exotic and exciting there life is than the one in Charlotte.  I hate to be a buzz kill, but with 2 small children, it's more like the Buckaroo Bonzai "No matter where you go, there you are" kinda thing.

Other than the constant background sounds of Cantonese, allot more people, a very well developed mass transit system and none of our great friends to lean, laugh and live with, it's pretty much the same type of routines and worries.

5 AM. David gets up to run outside.  The gym here at the complex doesn’t open till 6AM.  This is of course in complete alignment with most of Hong Kong which seems to run on a 10AM to midnight schedule. Early risers and morning people will find a very quiet city.

5:50 AM.  David gets back and Katy is getting ready for going to the gym.

6 AM. (otherwise known as the mad rush) Katy is out the door. David tries to shower and get ready before one of the 2 kids wakes up.

6:35 AM.  Katy gets back, showers and gets ready while David prepares Maggie’s lunch and gets everyone’s breakfasts ready.

7:00 AM. Katy and David switch roles.  Katy watches kids and David dresses.

7:00 AM to 7:30AM.  Now this is the tricky part: Maggie and David have to get dressed, packed and ready to go out the door in order to catch the taxi to the bus stop.

7:30 AM. David and Maggie out the door, go down to lobby and wait in line for a taxi which drives us to the school bus stop.  Maggie’s preschool does not pick up and Bamboo Grove, so we have to drive to the local city bus stop.

7:45 AM.  Arrive at the stop. We wait for the bus.  Read chit chat.

7:55 AM school bus picks Maggie up and David hails a Taxi to return to Bamboo Grove OR on days I need to go directly to work.

REWIND 7:30 AM: Katy gets ready to go and eats breakfast.

8 AM: Nanny comes to watch Nicholas, Katy heads to lobby.

8:10 AM. David meets Katy in lobby and we take the shuttle bus to a drop off and walk to our own buildings.

8:30 AM In the office.

5:10 PM David heads over to Katy’s building because it is easier to catch a taxi from there.

REWIND:

3:30 PM: Nanny picks Maggie up from preschool and heads home or to a play date.

5 PM: Nanny and kids back at apartment.

5:30 PM: Katy and David take taxi back to apartment.

5:45 PM: back at apartment, start dinner let nanny go home.

7 PM: Tubbies for kids start.

8 PM: kids in bed.

8 PM to 10 PM: potential calls from the states for Katy or David.  You see as we both have to work with teams in the US, we have calls sometimes back to back.

9:30 PM. Collapse in bed.

5 AM next morning. Rinse, repeat, rinse.

Now on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Nicholas has a 1 and ½ hour playgroup at a preschool closer in the city.  He is accompanied by the nanny.

Our new Apartment in Bamboo Grove

This is our new apartment in the Wan Chai district of Hong Kong.

Comply to Win! Random Thoughts from the Life in Hong Kong

* Language is a funny thing. We all I think at times make fun of other people who try and fail to speak English.  But if you ever yourself worked at a language, you instantly become not only patient but forgiving with others.  I passed a bank promotion in a mall in Beijing.  The large banner near the signup table said in english "Comply to Win."

Then after our visits with the Beijing Branch, we took a group picture with our boss in the middle.  I was taking the picture and decided I would count to 3 in Chinese and of course impress everyone. So I stood on the chair, told everyone that I would take the photo on "sun" (3).  In my head I said ee, ar, sun (1 2 3), but what came out of my mouth was ee, ar, ar (1, 2, 2)  Everyone had a big laugh.  Language may be what divides us, but trying and failing to speak someone else's language instantly bridges any divide with laughter. Maybe I will comply to win, because you can't win unless you comply.

* If you ever thought, "you know if I was in some other exotic part of the world, say Hong Kong, my child would not spent his entire haircut screaming in the salon."  You would be wrong.

* Every 4 and 1/2 year old should learn to hail a cab.

* If you ever thought,""you know if I was in some other exotic part of the world, say Hong Kong, my child would not spent his swim lesson screaming at the top of his lungs."  You would be wrong.

* one of the most important things to learn in a foreign language is "Turn right" and "Turn left."

* a warm smile from a 22 month year old boy is an instant ice breaker between people from different countries.   Maybe they should be running the UN.

* If there is an secret international society manipulating the world, it is a bunch of electricians who came up with the idea that different countries in the world should be adamant about their special voltages and differing plugs. You spend a mint buying duplicate appliances that oh by the way, you can't take back with you because if you ever tried to plug in that Hong Kong dehumidifer you would cause a blackout in Charlotte.

Month Number 2 in the Record Books

Well we have moved into our new apartment.  It's hard to believe we spent 2 months in a 2 bedroom, 1 family/dining room hotel room. But now everyone has their own rooms, space and the ability to actually walk to a Starbucks, McDonalds and stores.  While I know it doesn't work for everyone, we love to be living in the city.