First Impressions

We have safely arrived in Zhuhai, China and our first impressions go something like this...

1. The tropics are beautiful - palm trees, rhododendrum bushes, banana trees, lush green.

The view out our living room window

Another view from our apartment

The Club House (Community center for our apartment complex)

2. Zhuhai in August is hot, beastly hot, walk 10 minutes and you are drenched-in-sweat kind of hot.

3. The Chinese smile a lot, nod a lot, are friendly, and know very little English.

4. The ex-pat community is warm and welcoming.

5. Everything takes a lot longer to do when you travel by city bus (and bus maps don't exist), don't know where anything is, can't read the road signs (if they even exist) and can't speak the language. On the other hand, we don't have a lot to do yet! Every day we feel great when we have accomplished one new thing successfully and many days we have managed to accomplish more than one thing.

6. So much here is confusing. Why did the apartment complex security men come to our door and jabber Chinese at us the first two nights? How do you cross the street when the traffic doesn't stop? How do you start the washing machine when all the knobs are in Chinese characters?

Which button should we push on the air conditioner remote? How do you tell the shuttle bus driver you want to get off? How do you communicate to the grocery clerk that you are looking for cooking wine? How do you install a wireless router using directions in Chinese? The answer to these questions is with help from bi-lingual staff at the college (cell phones are a neccessity), with a dictionary, with a sense of humor and with lots of patience. Every day we solve another small piece of the puzzle of how to navigate the city and culture. Every day we feel more comfortable.