First Week

Our first week went pretty well. The first few days are a blur due to lack of sleep and getting ourselves acquainted with the area. There is a grocery store called 'City Shop' on our complex. It's a bit more expensive than the regular grocery store (Carrefore), but it's very convenient. We've gone there for milk runs in the evening.

Akemi has adjusted to Shanghai. I've been taking her to the indoor playground every morning, but lately she seems to be getting bored. From our 24th floor bedroom window, we can see a big elementary school's playground. She keeps telling us that she wants to go there and puts her little pink Hello Kitty backpack on. We finally decided to put her in a Chinese nursery for half a day. It's also conveniently on our complex. Today was her first day and she seemed to liked it. It also gives me a break in the morning to unpack more of our things as the Aiyi watches the baby. The teachers asked if Akemi knew any chinese and were a bit taken back when I said no. They were telling me that Akemi keeps talking to them in English and I didn't know what to say, so I just smiled back and shrugged my shoulders like 'oh well'.


I'm hoping to find her a pre-K soon. I've heard thru other moms that there is a long waiting list. The school here is ridiculously expensive. For kindergarden, it's $22,000 a year!!! We definitely can't afford that so we may need to look at a Chinese school that teaches some English.

Ayumi is going through the 'I want to be held all the time' stage. We're struggling with her sleeping during her naps and bedtime. We've been patting her down constantly and checking on her every few minutes. A few nites, we're so exhausted and we just let her cried to sleep. The poor girl lost part of her voice and would cry in a funny voice the next day. I'm just glad that the girls are both healthy.

Of course, first week into Shanghai, and I caught a cold. The weather here is freezing for a Hawaii girl. It's 35 degrees with crazy winds. All the expat moms just laugh at me and tells me, 'You think this is cold, wait till winter.' I've been keeping Ayumi indoors and bundling up Akemi when we go out.

This afternoon, I caught Aiyi sleeping on our couch. She continued to sleep, even though she knew I was watching her. I finally woke her up and asked her to help me to watch Ayumi so I can sleep. When I woke up from my 45 min nap, I found her still sleeping on the couch with Akemi rolling on the floor. Thankfully Ayumi was in her crib. I was little caught of guard that she would feel at ease to sleep on our couch.

We asked the Aiyi if her schedule is flexible where one day she may come at 8am vs 9am. She shared that she has to work another job since we don't pay her enough. I was a little annoyed that it's only been her first week and the subject of a pay raise is coming up. Jonathan and I are planning to have a talk with her and share that we will pay her the rate we agreed for this month and if she does well, then we'll pay her 200 rmb more, but not 600 rmb that she's asking for. It's also customary that we pay her 1 month extra salary for chinese new years and she gets that 2 weeks off paid. We'll see how the conversation goes as well as sharing 'No sleeping on the job'.