These are a few of my favorite things....

1. Chicago Coffee - where you can get All-you-can-handle pizza and soda on Friday nights, same with pancakes the very next morning, and delicious lattes any time!

2. The indoor play place (which just happens to be right next door to Chicago Coffee)

3. Scooters! Yes they can be annoying when trying to cross the street, but such fun to drive and very convenient

4. Walmart - boy am I thankful for this place! Only a bus ride away.

5. HoMart - Walmart's little sister that is just within walking distance.

6. Yogurts that you drink that can be found on every corner

7. Singers, dancers and taichi-ers in the park on any given morning or evening. For the singers, just imagine really really bad karaoke.

8. Delivery people - they come to your door, install, put together, set-up, clean up and leave - without demanding a tip

9. Shopping without hassle or bargaining. No one follows me around and asks me questions or says "come into my shop, my friend"

10. Really, really old people, who must know this city and this life so well. I'm sure they have a wealth of knowledge, I just need to learn how to get it out of them in their language.

11. Our courtyard - our own little jungle paradise perfect for hide and seek or just to get away

12. Friends! Who have so graciously held our hands every step of the way and offered their assistance each and every day.

13. Fake-kea: Just like the real Ikea, only fake. And cheap. And pretty much where we bought everything in our apartment.

14. The Market - where I can by fresh fish, tomatoes, carrots, chickens (alive or dead), cow tail, dishes, dumplings and even steak knives (8 for for about $1.20)

15. Skype - so I can call or video chat with anyone who wants to :)

Home Sweet Home

I feel like I have written that blog title MANY times in the past 10 years. Although I can honestly say it's never quite felt like this before....

Life is a little different here. But we are realizing how much LIKE it is the rest of the world. So, maybe it is America that is different...?

Old ladies ride around on bikes loaded to the max with recyclables; young babies walk around in split bottom pants as their mommies whistle to make them pee on the sidewalk; people ask me if I am a movie star; the guard at the gate salutes you as you pull into the parking garage; various cuts of meats from an asundry of animals hangs in restaurant doorways beckoning you to come inside and partake; women wear 4-6 in high heels with their shorts; you have to take your own TP to the squatty and be sure to throw it in the trash can, not the "bowl"; at 7pm everyone leaves their homes and empties onto the streets to eat dinner and visit with friends and family. Yes, none of these things ever happened to me in America.

This city is larger than I expected. It's cleaner than I expected. There are less people than I expected. We've spent the last three days shopping, shopping and shopping. First we had to get our $10,000 cash turned into RMB. We left the bank with a backpack FULL of little red bills. We spent a good chunk of change at the appliance store and another good chunk at the fake Ikea. They actually have a store here that is JUST like Ikea - all the way down to the blue and yellow bags and tiny pencils. They've totally made a knock off store! The funny thing is when I was there today one of the sales people asked me not to take pictures because she didn't want me to reproduce or copy their product.....I think that is the kettle calling the tea pot black.

As far as our travel and arrival went, everything was just perfect. We couldn't have asked for a better trip. We checked all 10 bags without any problems. They were all 69.5 -70 pounds - the exact limit. The kids enjoyed flight #1 to Dallas - just excited to finally be on the plane! They slept on Flight #2 to LAX. We got checked into Cathay Pacific and thru security (at midnight) with all of the other millions of Asians without any problem. We actually got to skip to the front of the line because we had kiddos :) Flight #3 was our long one - about 14.5hrs! The kids were awake for the first 2 hours or so. They served us dinner and the kids got special kids meals with fun straws and snickers bars. Everyone fell asleep for about 5 hours after that. Then we slept on and off for the next 2 hours. We all took turns on the floor or stretched out in the seat. Hannah got a little bored at times, but the on demand movies and games kept us going Flight #4 did not occur until after our 6 hour layover in HK. We LOVED this part of the trip! Since we somehow got booked in business class we were able to enjoy the business class lounge for all 6 hours - free food, free WiFi and free shower! Now I know you are thinking - free shower? Gross! Like those ones you see at the truck stop?! no, no no. Think spa. Think Zen. Think Paradise. Seriously. The best shower I have ever taken in my life. It was amazing! During Flight #4 the kids slept so hard they didn't even eat their lunches. David and I enjoyed some awesome Asian fare with Haagen Daz for dessert. They called us Mr. and Mrs. Slocum....we felt like royalty.

On arriving in K-Town, we moved quickly off the plane and onto immigration. Simple and quick. Then we had to wait about 30 min for all of our bags to arrive. Then onto customs (which consisted of walking through a gate), then to our new friends. We have 4 luggage carts, a stroller and a sleep walking child. We looked like crazy americans.

Everyone has slept really well since we have been here. The jet lag has not been bad at all. Jacob had a rough day yesterday since he refused to nap and David has been up at 5 each day, but other than that we are all doing well.

We had our washer, frig, microwave, water dispenser and king mattress delivered today. Our couch, chair, coffee table, TV stand, buffet, Jacob's bed, our bed and our dresser will arrive in about a week. In the meantime we are staying at an apartment across town. It' very nice but we would like to move into our place ASAP so we can begin to unpack and feel settled. My next goal is to go to Walmart and buy some basic staples and supplies to get started. We need to find a helper too.

Okay, pictures will come later. I'm have difficulty getting them to load. I have a bunch to share, as well as a few other stories, but I am zonked and ready for bed.

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go....well, not really....

When you can only take so many bags, every ounce of space matters. Here are some of the kids shoes packed SOLID with shirts and pajamas.

We've been packing, weighing, redistributing, repacking, reweighing ALL WEEK! And we're still not done yet. Part of us feels like this really isn't happening. We've been trying to label each bag as we go so we can tell how much more space we have. As you can probably tell, each of these is packed to the limit - 70 pounds.

This is the redistributing phase....also known as CHAOS! Esp when little ones come in the room and want to 'help" by letting you know what is MOST important to them....also sounds like "but I NEED that!"

My poor mother in law has been a saint to allow us to leave our things all over her living room(s). We kinda took over, but I promise we put everything away before the little cousins showed up this week. I think everything in this picture got packed - except the Ikea jungle gym equipment. First person to come visit can bring it to us!!!!!