28 days in New Zealand

I barely posted while we were there, and the jet lag and six straight days of work have kept me from reporting on our once in a lifetime trip to the other side of the equator.

We started by landing in Aukland. Flying down was way longer and harder than we expected. All of the Clarks (except Joe) were on the other side of the wall waiting for us, but it took us more than an hour to go through customs. They are super strict about not bring any food, seeds, even dirt on your shoes!

By the time we saw them, we were all a mess of tears. Jodie has a van that holds 8 people and a wheel chair. So we all piled in and headed to her friends’ house on the ocean where we spent our first three days. It was gorgeous and luxurious and had access to the beach. We were in the water within an hour of arriving.

Aukland, NZ

One Tree Hill, Aukland, NZ

After we left there, we went on a road trip from the top of the north island to the bottom. We stopped in Taupo for the night. Jodie had made reservations for this cabin like place in the middle of nowhere. In the middle of the night we hiked about 1k through the woods to this hot springs waterfall. Might have been on of the craziest things I ever did, but I saw the Southern Cross for the first time.

On this part of the road trip we saw some rapids that were so loud, some blue green river that seemed unreal, and of course, bungee jumping platforms. No one brave enough to use them.

Taupo, NZ

Once we got to Masterton, one of the first places we went to was a sunflower field.

Masterton, NZ

The second beach we hit was Riversdale. It was a great day to go to the beach and we all got a nice tan.

Riversdale Beach

Rumi had the best 17th birthday ever! The day before, Lulu, Maddy and Raine all baked her a cake, BUT Raine was blindfolded, Lulu had sound canceling earphones, and Maddy had her mouth taped. It was hilarious, but still well-done. At midnight, the girls all sang her “happy birthday” and they ate brownies and chocolate. The next morning she opened lots of girly presents, and then we went to our third beach called “Castle Point.”

Castle Point Beach

There were two times that we went to the horse stables. Once just to see it and pet the horses, the second time, to ride them. I think that might have been Raine’s favorite day. They didn’t just ride them, they did the morning care for them. You might notice the winter coats. The weather was truly crazy.

Maddy, had planned a “girls day” long before we got there. It started with a fancy picnic and ended with a pool party. That was a really beautiful day! she put so much planning and preparation into every detail, and it just turned out spectacular.

There was a day, when they were at school and we went to the sheep shearing museum and an art gallery. Masterton is the Sheep shearing capital of New Zealand, and Joe’s ancestors (in the picture) were a long standing family in that trade. The museum actually had sheep bones you could put together like a puzzle —for the children!

Rumi wanted to pet a sheep so bad. Jodie somehow arranged it before we left. We went to a sheep farm and learned all about it.

Peter Jackson is the closest neighbor to this farm

On one of the last days, they had a big Chinese New Year BBQ and pot luck where a bunch of friends and family came over.

The Wellington Airport that we left from wanted everyone to know that this is the land of the Lord of the Rings.

Of course, I left out sooooo many things. We went to the National museum, and a Maori Community house. I think I went to 8 bookstores. We all went to the movies at some point. Having tea time everyday in a coffee shop. Going to the town festival. We did shopping days, made lots of dinners, watched lots of movies and it just felt so good to be with friends!

The year in a nutshell

I don’t think I’ve ever done a year in review, but this year deserves it. Especially since I didn’t blog that much.  This year was filled with super high highs and super low lows. A lot more drama and adventure than I am used to. I’ve spent the past week in my pajamas, and looking back, I see why.

We started the year leaving my favorite job at my favorite school going to a new job in a new district. So, we had to move on Rumi’s birthday and we found a great apartment in a great location, that was under-budget because it’s a 6th floor walk-up. 

Within a week of working at the new high school, I was let go. It’s the first time I’ve ever been let go. (Well, one time I was laid off). I should say, I was let go because the school I would be teaching at was Canadian, and I need some specific Canadian certificates, that were taking too long to process. Anyway, this was horrible, because I would not have a work visa and could be deported. All I wanted was a good international school for my girls and it was all a huge mess.

Then, I had brunch with my friend, and I was venting to her, and I suddenly got deathly ill. We rushed to the doctor, and it took him a few hours to see that I was having a very bad gall bladder attack. It was worse pain than pregnancy, and my doctor drove me to the hospital.

I had about 2 weeks of health insurance left before everything expired. And I had the same two weeks to find a new job. I went on 4 interviews and 4 demo classes all while waiting for surgery. The doctors explained that a scheduled surgery is way better than an emergency surgery. 

My doctor arranged for me to get the best gall bladder doctor in the country, possibly the world. He’s pretty non-invasive and goes through the belly button.  I have no scars. I also had a hernia that he fixed at the same time.

The problem was that this teaching position was 4th Grade homeroom (no experience in primary) and it was in a different district which could be 25 minutes to 2 hours by car depending on traffic. Still, they saved me, AND gave me a raise, AND paid for half our summer trip to America.

While waiting for the surgery I got rejected by one job after the other. It was freaking me out. I’ve never been rejected before either. Finally, while in the hospital, I got a call from a school who wanted me. Now this was March, at the end of a school year, and they still wanted me. So, I could go under knowing that my insurance was fine, my salary was the same, and the girls could stay where they were.

So that summer, for the first time in seven years, we went to America. Oh my God! Best time ever! We didn’t expect every single day to be filled with so much activity! What didn’t we do is an easier question than what we did. Six weeks of family and friends we hadn’t seen for seven years, road trips, sight-seeing, and summer fun. 

School started on Raine’s birthday, and it’s been a good year so far. Rumi likes and is doing well in all of her classes except math. Raine is the same, but she also joined the soccer team. Both are in extra-curricular art club. And they’ve gotten the best comments from their teachers, so I’m happy. 

I am on the 4th floor at school and the 6th floor at home, so stairs have become my enemy. I do get massages regularly, but still my back and legs hurt a lot. Actually, post-surgery things aren’t quite back to normal anyway.

However, this month has been filled with Christmas markets and Christmas parties, (many of which we didn’t go to because of colds/flu). Still our Christmas has been good, and our big present is tickets to New Zealand in January, and we’re all looking forward to that like crazy! 

So as the year winds down, we are thankful for so much and we look forward to so much more in 2024.

Everything that has been keeping me busy…

There’s so much to catch up on, and of course there is good news and bad news. But the bad news is behind us, and the good news in front of us, so let’s focus on that. There’s also, just plain news that is neither good nor bad, it just is.

If you don’t want to hear about female health problems, skip this part, but it was quite the problem for over two weeks. First, can I say, I felt so good in America, all vacation, but since we’ve been back it’s like we’re sick all the time. Anyway, on day 500 of being period free, I started bleeding. I called my doctor immediately, and he set me up with a gynecologist that afternoon. She couldn’t do a lot, but she did do an ultrasound. I will share too much and tell you it was disgustingly messy. Still, they could only conclude that yes, I am post-menopausal, and my endometrial lining was too thick. 

After cleaning up, I sat in her office as she said, “Well, since you had cancer from HPV, and you had endometriosis it’s probably uterine cancer.” She just said it, just like that. She didn’t know 100%. And I cried right there. “Why are you crying?” she said. “You’ve been through cancer before.”

Then, they told me, the minute the bleeding stops, to come right in so that they can perform a battery of tests. They said that they didn’t know what was causing it, and it may start again, so I had to come in as soon as it stops.

About eight days later it stopped, and I went right in. This time it was a different gynecologist. She was really nice, not so clinical. After A LOT of poking and prodding, she said everything look perfect, and that they can’t explain it. It’s just a strange anomaly. So, I’m perfectly fine now.

Ok, deep breaths. I guess here in China they tell you the worst first, even if they don’t know.

That was the bad news. The good news is, I was able to get tickets to New Zealand for Chinese New Year. We will be there for about 4 weeks and it will be summer there. We will be looking forward to seeing the Clarks again, and were starting with a road trip all through the north island! We will swim in the ocean, and none if us can wait! Christmas will be sparse, and we won’t be eating out too much this month, but this is such a once in a lifetime opportunity! 

We have never gone on a trip during Chinese New Year. We always just stayed in this dead town when everyone else is gone. But we’ll only be here until summer of 2025, so we might as well get every trip in as possible.

Also, I went to both girls Parent/Teacher Conferences. They may not be the best in math —like me, but I never once heard the word “should.” Not one teacher suggested that they should do anything differently. They all said that both were the best participators, they both put their all into everything and they just need to keep doing what they’re doing. I couldn’t ask for more than that!

Also, Raine’s school has developed their first soccer team, and she is goalie, and she did a live painting at an Art Soirée on Friday, which was an all around lovely event. Rumi’s been helping me with my over-whelming amount of work.

A small view of two free days.

I was thinking about something this week. We’ve had the week off. Golden week. It’s the Independence Day combined with Dragon Boat festival. Seven days off. 

There’s this weird thing about holidays in China though. Basically, they just move days around so that everyone has the same days off, but you have to “pay” for those days. So, yes, I had seven days off, but then I had to work the following Saturday and Sunday, making my week, seven days in a row. I should be used to it by now, but it still gets me that free days aren’t free.

Anyway, I want to talk about two very “Chinese” days on my holiday. The girls were at youth group camp for three days. Mostly, I didn’t get out of my pajamas, but one day, I decided I would leave my apartment and do something.

It was about 1:15, so as I headed down the stairs, I booked an appointment for a massage at 1:30. There is a fabulous spa three doors down from my gate. I go several times a month. I had the best massage of my life, this time. This place was the best I had been to already, but they outdid themselves Thursday. I should have gotten the name of the guy, so I can only request him every time now.

After that, I was feeling amazing, so I crossed the street to Starbucks and got a Pink Drink. Rumi had gotten one the other day when we went on a very long walk around the neighborhood, and said I should try it. It was a good call.

Then I went next door to our Swiss butcher. It might be our new favorite place. They sell imported meat, especially steaks and stuff, but it’s not frozen. I got the girls hooked on their first steaks ever from here a month ago. They are expensive, don’t get me wrong. Can’t eat this every week or anything, but it’s a nice splurge once in a while. They also have perfect fresh vegetables, and jars and cans of more upscale imported sauces and condiments. 

I didn’t want to spent too much on a steak, but all the ones he kept weighing for me were around the $30 mark. I couldn’t justify that. Then he said, “I’ll just cut you one a little smaller.” And he did, the price was good and he gave me some herbs to cook it with.

I went home, made my melt-in-your-mouth steak with mushrooms and some grilled Brussel sprouts, took a shower, and went to my friend’s house for a wine and cheese party. She’s from Canada and cheese is a staple for her. I brought over some olive bread from the butcher, and an unopened. bottle of Prosecco that had been sitting in my fridge from some holiday.

As I was walking from her gate to her apartment, I was watching some videos that the girls sent from camp and it was a practically perfect day.

The next day was my last day of the holiday, Friday. The girls don’t have to go back to school until Monday, but I had to go on Saturday. I am currently teaching in the local stream of an international school. The girls are in the international stream, so that is probably the difference.

I have to eat something for breakfast, because I need to take pills before and after breakfast. I had these addictive, crack-laced Cheerios in America, some sort of Almond Crunch something. I finished by the box I had brought with me two weeks ago, and I’ve been trying to create my own. I add some kind of nut Musli to Cheerios. No concoction has been close yet. This time I tried Nestle Cheerios, and that was the worst attempt.

We had an appointment to get our dog Pumpkin fixed, but then she started menstruating. We’ve been trying to keep diapers on her, but she keeps ripping them off in pieces all over the house.

I needed to pick the girls up at a burger place when they got back from camp around 5pm, and it was only 1pm, so I decided to throw some laundry in, and take a nap. It would be my last nap for a long time. Just as I fell asleep, naked, windows open, maybe sleeping for about 20 minutes, the doorbell rings. 

The dogs go crazy. I’m not expecting anything. I can’t find any clothes. I’m yelling at the dogs to shut up while whoever is at my door is incessantly pounding, making the dogs bark louder. I’m yelling at them to wait a minute while still trying to find something to put on. When I answered the door, knowing full-well it was not for me, and I wasn’t expecting anyone, there was a man holding a window.

Raine’s window had shattered –in March. He was just now getting to it. It was currently shattered, but together. Anyway, now is the time he decided to fix it, on a holiday. I guess it was a good thing I was home. 

In the course of fixing it, he took the broken window, held it outside, and shook it out. So much glass falling six stories down. I heard him talking to someone so I assumed he had a workmate cleaning it up. Then he took the rest of the glass and shook it out on my hall floor! 

As I’m handing him the broom, because it was his mess, there’s another knock on the door. Its our Indian/Chilean neighbor from the first floor. “Are you throwing glass down?” he asked. I told him some man was here fixing my daughter’s window, and he must have done it. (I didn’t know at that time, I just saw him yelling to someone). The man said he was yelling to him from down there.

So we start talking, very nice guy, then he asks if he can talk to the worker, and he does, in Chinese! I know this guy speaks Hindi and Spanish, his English is flawless and without accent, and then he goes and speaks Chinese to the guy. Hats off to you sir. Before he leaves, he promises to invite us to his next barbeque. It does always smell good going past his door, so I’m looking forward to it.

By the time that was over, I was so hungry, so I decided to go to the burger place and have a spiked milkshake until the girls arrived. Then, when the group arrived, I got to sit with some wonderful mothers, and have a lovely conversation about our travels and experiences in other countries. Though it started out sucky for a while, it still turned out well, and that’s what it’s like to live in China.

What didn’t we do?

It’s been such a long time since I’ve blogged, that I actually thought that maybe I might just quit. To be honest, after ten years here, nothing really seems new. It’s all pretty normal –for us. 

I realized that when I was seven, my parents moved us to the suburbs (of Cleveland). I spent my whole childhood there all the way until college. In fact, it was “home base” until they moved when I was in my 30s. What I realized is that Shanghai will always be my girls’ hometown. It is where they grew up from toddlers to teenagers. When we leave, it will still always be that for them.

This summer might have been one of my best summers EVER. First, because after more than three years of lockdown, we could finally leave the city. Second, because we took six whole weeks, my longest (away) vacation ever. And third, we saw our family and friends. Some we haven’t seen for four, seven, or even twelve years, and some new ones we got to meet.

I drew out a calendar, so that I could make sure to fit everything in and to not let anything overlap or be forgotten. On the last day, every box was filled with activities and memories. We had three down days, but for the introverted homebodies we are, it was a crazy stretch. The funny thing is, I think my 81-year-old dad expected us to do even more!

Some highlights are: meeting my brother’s new awesome wife, road trips around Ohio with my dad, hanging out with my college roommate and her whole family in Columbus, hanging out with my good friend at all the cool hot spots in Cleveland like the Rock Hall, The Art Museum, and the beach, but also just driving around to old haunts. We did that with my little brother too. Our haunts were different. We flew over to New York to see my step-daughter, and meet my grandson. Spent a week there, with the girls all being sisters, sharing clothes, doing hair and make-up, and she even let Rumi practice driving three times. That weekend, she took us to the girls’ other grandparents. Wow! That was such a shock, I thought they might have a heart attack.

Time with my dad

Time with my brother, and around

Time with Rita

Time with Julie

Time with Anias and the in-laws.

There were a few SNAFUs. Like I wanted to renew my expired driver’s license, but I didn’t bring my social security card. I had a scan of it, but it didn’t matter. Also, for the first time in my life, we missed a flight (home from New York), but they got us on the very next flight an hour later. They couldn’t have been nicer! –Shout out to United. We missed our shot at going camping (twice) because my poor brother got pneumonia! We ended up visiting him in the hospital instead. Oh, and spending time with his lovely dogs. A funny problem was that both my dad and my brother got me a birthday cake for my birthday. We were eating cake for weeks!

Leaving Shanghai was way harder than coming back. The airport process took no less than four hours. Getting through TSA and all that was ok, but figuring out how to get my new Covid-free health code was almost impossible because the instructions were all in Chinese and the questions didn’t make sense. For example. What country have you visited in the last two weeks? None. I haven’t left Shanghai, China in four years, but I needed to write my home address with a date exactly two weeks before. It took me more than thirty minutes to figure that out, because absolutely no one would help. The lines in Shanghai were crazy long, because EVERYONE was leaving. We were finally free to come and go, and everyone was going. I imagine Shanghai was very quiet this summer. I can’t ask anyone I know because they were all gone too. 

We flew from Shanghai to Munich to Newark to Cleveland. My doctor gave me sleeping pills, because I’ve never actually slept on a plane in my life. This time, I slept on both long flights. Munich airport was so weird! It was stark white everywhere. No decorations, no colors, no curves. Like dystopic minimalism, or retro insane asylum. Also, it was 5am and nothing was open, not even our gate. We had to stand at a rope and wait about an hour for someone to open the gate up. I’d heard good things about Luftensa Airline, but I wasn’t impressed at all. 

We flew Swiss Air back, with a layover in Zurich and it was all so noticeably better. Add to that, a minor error with United and we got to stay in an airport lounge for free. We chose Zurich and felt special and awesome. It was Cleveland to Chicago to Zurich to Shanghai, and it really was just easier and better.

Another SNAFU, though, was this. When we got back to China we had to get our finger prints scanned in machines. I tried 10 times on 7 different machines and none of them registered me. The girls, on the other hand, had no problem the first time. I remembered when I used to have to clock in at one job with our fingerprint, mine didn’t work then either, and I always had to sign a piece of paper. Anyway, we get to emigration, and I tell them the machines couldn’t read my hands. She tried three times with her scanner, and finally just let me go. I have no idea why my finger prints are so faint.

The three of us have done some soul searching. We really loved being around family. I loved not sweating. Rumi loved the air. Raine loved all the babies and animals.

Some things were weird, like SO MANY advertisements and commercials! For example, my Spotify in China has no commercials, but the same Spotify in America had a commercial after every single song. And China is so much more convenient. Anything you could possibly want is either downstairs in front of our building or can be delivered in record time. And the sticker shock! We went to a convenience store in Ohio and spent $18 on three Gatorades and one candy bar. The same things would be $3 here. 

But still, hanging out with family weighed heavily against the conveniences and economic benefits. So we’re trying to decide about leaving China after this year or next, and should we go to America instead of Germany as planned. I didn’t plan on ever going back to America, but this time felt really different.

It’s all working out!

Don’t you love when everything works out? It reminds you that worrying never helps. It also reminds you that some things are just out of your hands and you just have to play the cards that are dealt to you. 

First, I think I should tell you what it’s like to be in a Chinese hospital. There are some very significant things that are awesome improvements from what I’m used to, and a few weird things. First, there is a level system. I was in a public hospital, not a private one. Second, because of timing, I was on “payer” floor rather than an insurance floor, and yet, it was an absolutely lovely room. It was a double room that I had all to myself. Second, they assigned me an “auntie.” This is lovely woman stayed with me 24/7. She helped me up, massaged me, washed my hair, helped me dress, eat, just everything. Can you imagine how wonderful that was? 

In addition to that, my GP assigned to me a doctor assistant who could translate conversations with the surgeons and advise me on everything that was going on. He also bought me snacks and things I might need, took me through every process, and handled all paperwork. In fact, they paid for things upfront until my insurance covered it.

There were some weird things. The hospital does not provide towels.  You are supposed to bring your own. I did bring my own everything, but I didn’t think of towels. The food absolutely sucked and I was limited on what I could eat anyway. And for the day before I went in, and my first two days in, I had to fast anyway. Most people just get delivery.

The other weird thing is this. In America, when I have undergone surgery, you are usually in a prep room, they put you under, and then you wake up in recovery. However, here, they rolled me on the gurney to the surgery floor and parked me outside the surgery room. Put a hat on me. Wheeled me in, and got things ready, and then gave me the anesthesia. I woke up on that floor with a tube in my throat trying to cough so hard. Then they took the tube out and rolled me back to my room. So, it was weird being conscious during parts you don’t expect. 

The reason why I went to the public hospital, is because they have the best gallbladder surgeon in the country, possibly the world. He invented a procedure that is unlike anything done in the states or anywhere. Usually this is done one of two ways. One big 3-4 inch cut or three to four small cuts. They need to get a scope in there and everything. My surgeon goes though the belly button. The whole surgery, and hernia repair was in my belly button. No visible scar. 

Surgery was on Wednesday. On Thursday I woke up to the news that I officially had a job on another campus. So yes, it worked out as well as possible. One downside, it’s a 30-45 minutecommute both ways, which costs money. That is THE ONLY downside. Oh my gosh! I love it SO MUCH!  The students are so well-behaved. They love me. The other teachers are so warm and welcoming. There’s always snacks and desserts in the office, and my co-teachers are constantly telling me, “Have a rest.” It doesn’t feel like work. It’s joyous.

So, everything is working out in the best possible way, and you’ll see me with a big smile now.

Upheaval?

Do I have some crazy, detailed stories for you! Where to start? *Grabs hair and starts pulling*

Ok, so we moved districts from Pudong to Minhang in February. That was an event in itself. The good thing was that we had an agent who didn’t waste our time. I’ve never had that. We gave her our requirements and budget, and she stuck with them. The bad thing was, it was hard to choose. But we did, and we absolutely feel that we got our money’s worth. It’s big, modern and beautiful. It’s on the 6th floor, but there’s no elevator, which might be why it was ultra-nice and still in budget.

This is not without so many snags here and there. For example, our building is in a complex with about 40 other buildings, however, only our building has one specific WIFI company. You can’t just transfer what you have, we had to change everything. Getting the piano up six flights was interesting. Our shower didn’t work, Raine’s bed broke on the first day. It took a while to sort these things out, but it’s all good now.

As we all know the key to a good place is location, location, location. And this may be the best location in Shanghai. You know how some cities have a Chinatown, or Little Italy, or whatever, this is Shanghai’s Foreign town. All the food, groceries, schools, and foreign things are there. We can walk to the best tacos, burgers, curries, sour kraut or bagels in the city. Plus, our hair salon, doctor, dentist, and the best hospitals are there.

Laowai Jei (Foreigner street)

This is an important detail, because last weekend I had a severe gallstone attack. Pain worse than childbirth. After a huge amount of testing and a long stay in the highest tech hospital that I’ve ever seen, we found out, that 1. My gallbladder needs to be removed. 2. I have a hernia that needs repaired. And 3. There are loose stones clogging my pancreas. Add to all of this a BP of 230/140. (That’s not a typo).

Why is my blood pressure so high? Ummm stress. So a few days before this, my new school told me I was being let go. They said that my attempt to getting my British Columbia Teacher Certificate was taking too long. I was never given a due date. I was told from them and all the other teachers that the whole process can take up to two years. My contract, and our verbal agreement said that I needed to be “in process.” I am currently “in process.” 

Then, in this meeting, they told me I had 60 days to find a job. Second semester was in it’s second week. How in the world do you find immediate need in March? Schools are looking for August starts, but by March, most schools have figured things out. I went on a resume sending/interviewing/demo class giving spree. There were two openings down the street from my current school at a sister school who was in desperate need. I nailed everything. But I got turned down. Now things were getting very suspicious and desperate. Then my school said I only had until the 24th.

Clearly, I have a strong court case. I have everything in writing. But that doesn’t help me get paid or get a visa. Then the gallstone attack. 

I was having brunch in my neighborhood with a coworker/friend, Busi from my last school, and I just got hit with so much pain. She insisted I go to the doctor. At first, he thought it was and anxiety attack and/or food poisoning. I even threw up several times. Pain killers weren’t touching it. Busi called Raine to bring me a bag, and Raine and Busi stayed with me the whole time. Previous to this, I had always managed medical things by myself. It was nice, but also weird to not have to be alone.

Then my angel of a doctor drove me in his car to the hospital and checked me in. I feel the need to point out that my doctor is not Chinese, he’s Indian. I’ve had him for about 4 years now and trust him immensely. Not that I don’t trust Chinese doctors or anything like that. A Chinese doctor performed a miracle and saved me from cancer. But, I really love my current doctor.

After staying in the ER until 3am, they managed it with medication. Took lots of tests, and sent me home. Their reasoning was that a planned surgery is way better than an emergency surgery. So, they planned a surgery.

My doctor wanted a second opinion because three things need to be done. 1. My gallbladder needs to be removed. 2. My hernia needs to be sutured. 3. The loose stones need to be removed. The first hospital planned surgery was to do the first two and worry about the third later. My doctor (and I) thought the loose stones should be taken first since they were the ones causing the problems and pain. So, he set up a second opinion for me –with the number one gallbladder surgeon in the country.

That specialist agreed with the order of things, and he also agreed to do it. He invented a less invasive procedure that involved one small incision rather than three small ones or one big one. That is scheduled for next Wednesday (22nd), with the pre-op being on the Tuesday before.

While I was at my doctor’s office yesterday for testing, I got a notice that the school I did a demo class for yesterday wants me. It’s another sister school which allows the girls to stay where they are. Salary and benefits should be the same. I’m not sure exactly when I will start there, but I can finally breathe.

A Big Transition…again

Life is full of ups and downs, sharp curves and steep hills. Rarely is there a smooth straight road, but what I wouldn’t give for that, even for a small time. Ah, such is life, I guess.

First: COVID stories. After the protests, the Chinese government decided, “Ok, no rules now.” It was crazy.  In school, we all still got tested every day. In the city, we all wore masks in pubic no exceptions, but that was it. Teachers got tested first thing in the morning when they arrived. The results usually showed up on our phones before we left for the day. Our classes were down to about 50% students in class, and 50% at home because of a positive test for the students or someone in the house. And of course, staff was down about 50%

What was weird is that one Friday, I didn’t get my test results. A lot of us messaged on a group chat at 10pm, some did and some didn’t. We didn’t know what was happening. That Saturday morning, still no results. I had lunch and the chills started. I took a hot bath, and the fever and headache started. Then, intense body aches in bed, so bad that I couldn’t sleep.  At 3:30, the positive result came back, 38 hours after taking the test. I could have been all over the city. That was a bit suspicious.

I was intensely sick for about 14 days total. Around 5 days into it, both girls got it. I had stayed locked in my bedroom, and I have my own bathroom in there. I wouldn’t even let the pets in. But Raine would bring me tea or broth or something, and never wear a mask. I think she was trying to get it. For them, it only lasted about four days. Sadly, all of us were sick on Christmas. They were better the next day though.

Since China had done away with all the rules, there were no rules of not working. You were “allowed” to work while sick. My principal expected me to teach on-line as early as Monday! She said she “didn’t mind if I just propped myself up and showed a video.” I couldn’t even do that much until Thursday, but the whole idea was insane to me.

By New Years, we were all perfectly fine again.  School did not resume in the building though. We continued on-line for the next two weeks which was the end of the semester. We had two in-service days without students where we went to school. Everyone had their own COVID stories to share. We all seemed to get it over the holidays. Those were my last days there.

Our next step as a family was to find a new apartment near the girls’ new schools.  Next semester, we thought, (though I’m not sure now) that we might all be in different schools for the first time ever. That will be weird. Though they are all different campuses, they are just blocks from each other.

We found a HUGE, gorgeous apartment that we are all in love with. We saw three great apartments in one day, in one complex. That NEVER happens. They usually wear you down and waste your time showing you six crappy apartments and then one that fits your needs which appears fabulous after all of that. This did not happen. We saw three great ones. One was a bit too expensive. One was in our budget, huge, and lovely, but needed a bit of surface work. And the last one was underbudget, newly remodeled, a lot of attention to details, but…it’s on the sixth floor with no elevator. We took it anyway. It was too good to pass up.

The location couldn’t be better! It’s in between all of the schools, but also, across the street from the girls’ youth group, and on the same street as many of their friends. They will finally have a social life!

You know how in big cities they have areas like Chinatown and Little Italy? This is an area  where the foreigners live and hangout. Our doctor, dentist, and hair salon are all there. There are two imported grocery stores right by our gate. I love this neighborhood, so I’m excited to live there. But our apartment also has a HUGE TV with surround sound, so I may not leave that often.  And there’s enough room for the three of us to do yoga at the same time if we want.

I believe that I start my new job on February 8 and the girls (and my students) start on the 20^th. Because of the holiday, we can’t move until February 2. I had to pay almost double for the movers because of the stairs. Still, its not that expensive since they pack and unpack.

Hopefully, this is our last place that we live and I work in China. After Rumi graduates, we’ll be off to somewhere else. Unless she goes to NYU here in Shanghai.

By the way, I’ll be back to teaching high school English Literature and I’ll be in charge of the yearbook. My school is Canadian, but the girls will be going to the British branches.

Right now, we’re just down-sizing and getting things ready. Everyone we know is some place else, but my work visa is being transferred, so we don’t even possess our passports right now. We would have loved to go to New Zealand to see our friends, but that will have to be some other time.

What I feel most bad about is that Feb. 4^th is Rumi’s 16^th birthday! 16! And we have no plans. We will have just moved and that’s it. She keeps telling me she doesn’t want anything. And I had to replace her phone before Christmas, so she said that could be her present, but I’ve been thinking about this for a year. I really wanted something special and big. We’ll see what I can drum up with a very limited budget.

Oh, Happy New Year of the Rabbit! Full of Luck and New Beginnings.

Frustrating days in bed

Now is the time for us to be grateful and thankful and there are things I’m extremely thankful for, but I’m also having a hard time getting over the unfairness of things lately. It seems I’ve often had my share of luck, especially when I wasn’t looking or trying. But this week, I’m mad about all the hard work for nothing. It’s not the first time for me, but it’s so frustrating!

Fourteen years ago, when I was in labor with Raine for three days, three long days, of non-progressing labor, my ex gave me a smoothie with magnesium to relax my muscles. I was getting Charlie horses on top of everything. Within an hour of drinking the smoothie, the labor stopped. That was frustrating, because I had put in 72 hours or more of labor, and it just stopped. I was already emotional, but I cried.

When I was 42, and I was diagnosed with cancer, again, I mad and frustrated for the same reason. I had been a vegetarian for 18 years, and a vegan for most of that. I had gone to five yoga classes a week for years. I devoted more than half of my life to living cleanly and healthily. Why was I the one to get cancer. I had never smoked a day in my life. Didn’t really drink since my freshman year of college. Of course, no drugs, not even processed foods, or chemicals. It didn’t make sense.

And now, living in China during COVID, being seriously locked down —twice. I’ve been wearing a mask for three straight years. We get tested every day. We haven’t left this city for three years!  We did everything right. We should have gotten through unscathed. But, again, life isn’t fair, and we all got COVID in the middle of December.  It took me about 12-13 days to get out of bed. It was the day after Christmas when I could finally stand and walk more than just to the bathroom.  The girls, luckily were sick all of about 2-3 days. Sadly, we were all sick on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

The worst part about getting it now is that there are no more rules in place. You are expected to work now, even if you have symptoms. We started teaching solely online the day after my positive diagnosis. This means, there should be no problem to prop yourself up in front of a camera and teach your class or show a video, because by this point more than 50% of the teachers and students at my school were positive. I started teaching again on day four of being sick, teach a class, sleep, teach a class, sleep until the next day and repeat.

All of the pharmacies are out of medicine and the hospitals are out of beds. Luckily, I had just stocked up on some American Aleve and Excedrin a few weeks before, so that helped a lot.  Groceries took 4-5 days to deliver because it seems that half the city is sick right now, and that includes delivery drivers.

In the meantime, we also have to get our report cards and comments together. And I have to find a new job. I mean I have one lined up, but they actually yelled at me for not being in process to be certified in Canada because I was sick in bed. It’s very stressful, and I’m kind of over jumping through all the hoops. I will see it through, but if it doesn’t work out, I need a plan B and C by Feb. 8^th when my resignation takes effect. I’ve talked to some agents and there are some good things out there that they can help me with, but I have to wait until Tuesday.

I’m also mad that my current school put me in this position. I really wish I wasn’t in this position and that this was the last school we were at before we leave China, but now it will be one more school and one more apartment. I want to stay in bed, but I have keep searching and applying for jobs, and figure out where we might move in a month. So, I’m a bit frustrated, but I’m looking forward for 2023 being a much better year.

Jumping through Hoops

These past few weeks have been the absolute busiest days I have ever lived through. They were nearly humanly impossible. For some reason, having parent/teacher conferences, a HUGE charity event where we must provide a class project to auction off, we had a sports day, a third-grade expo, parent observation day, finals, grades and comments are due, among all of our daily duties. Who in the world planned all of this at the same time? Let’s make it worse, they lost our charity project. My co-teacher and I just don’t get along. And I don’t have a single minute to prepare for my new job.

This is the real story of jumping through hoops. For the new job I need to be certified for Canada. Apparently its not difficult, but all the red tape is crazy! I need to apply on a website that sends you endlessly in circles. One Saturday morning, I woke up early to have a conference call with my new principal to do screen sharing. She couldn’t believe how un-userfriendly it was too. We did get somewhere. I’m in the process, but I have no idea how long it will take. Its’ a lot of hoops for a job though.

Yesterday, when I came to work, there were a few surprises. Masks are mandatory. Ten teachers are out with COVID, and eight students in my class elected to stay home. That means I teach online and in the room at the same time.

Our school right now has no first grade, and ninth grade classes, and most other grades are down to 2-3 classes out of 6. I do not know why we are still open. Rumi and Raine are studying online, and I am still at school with half a class.

To make everything worse, we haven’t had a single day off since the first week of October. That’s a long time. We are all pushing it way past the edge. In ten days, the foreign teachers get a week off for Christmas, thank God! Some schools have gone to holiday early because of these huge COVID outbreaks.

I’ve never felt so tired, worn out and pressured. During our winter break there will be no rest too, as we need to pack and move to a different district. We haven’t even looked at apartments yet. We’ve moved six times since we came to China. I did not think we would be moving again. Exhausted is not even the most accurate word.

But on a possibly good note, the Womack family has a strange tradition of opening all of our presents before Christmas. We open them over time so that we appreciate them more. We are currently almost out of presents. I can’t help it. I’m the worst culprit. To get us even more in the mood, we went to a Christmas Market this weekend.