Hello my faithful friends and family! I have not forgotten about you - nor have I been short any interesting tidbits to pass along. In fact, I have some really cool pictures to share with you if I could only work my way through the myriad of technical difficulties in our new home.
Let's start with cell phones. I have a nifty new phone (those of you that have one of the cards I had printed prior to our departure know that I had my new phone number weeks ago). The problem is, there is no cell phone signal within our housing complex. None. Zippo. Zilch. This seems to be an accepted situation among the residents here, but Jeff has charged forward and has China Mobile investigating. We may be the millionth person to have done so, and the answer may be "sorry, no can fix." but at least we feel like we are doing something - trying.
Then there is internet. We are supposed to have wireless in our house, but thus far, that doesn't seem to work. So we plug in with the cable. Then.......... it ......... moves......... really .......................slooooooooow. It took me about 15 minutes to get to the "compose" page on this website. And attempting to load pictures to share - thus far impossible.
The good news is Jeff is now home for the weekend and I have faith that if it is fixable, he can do it (among the many benefits of being married to an electronics/software engineer!)
Today we go in search of a trampoline. I attempted this the other day on my own. Went to the Metro Store (kind of like Costco, but not) where I was told they sold trampolines. After not finding it on my own I approached a clerk and asked. There were five clerks listening in, none of whom spoke english, so I began to play charades. I was jumping up and down - gesturing BIG, tall, jumpy moves. Ah! The group nods. Then three of them (really? We need three people for this?) begin to walk me through the store. They take me to ..... the water balloons! I ponder the inefficiencies of so many employees engaged in this interaction. This seems to be the norm. Never does one person 'help' - always two or three. My innate american manager cries "Get back to work!" But I realize, this is how it is here. There are soooo many people. Thus, many employees and much time to fill. After all, what exactly do 1.3 billion people do to keep busy every day???
It's never too late to mend.
Posted by: retro jordan | 01/29/2011 at 03:15 AM