Wheres Toto Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 DH may have an opportunity to work for 2 years in China (through the same company he's with now). The net salary would be enough that he could probably retire/semi-retire upon returning to the states (he's in his 50's). The younger kids and I would go with him while oldest dd would stay here (with family) to finish high school. She's okay with this and we'd stay close through Skype, email, text and frequent visits. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 Laura Corin did. She's in Scotland now so I'm not sure when it is daytime for her. Anyway - bump! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pata Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 I live there (here) now. We love it, most days. It does depend where you live, the bigger cities on the East Coast have alot more of the creature comforts Westerners like. But in general, the food is great, the culture is beautiful and travel is fairly easy by bus/train. Some downsides are that personal space doesn't exist and there's lots and lots of people everywhere. Hopefully Laura will chime in as she has quite a bit more experience living in China than I do :). PM me if you have more questions, I'd be happy to answer them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted June 20, 2010 Share Posted June 20, 2010 Hello. I lived in China from 2004 to 2008, having been in Asia for some years before that. What questions do you want to ask? Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted June 21, 2010 Author Share Posted June 21, 2010 Just about everything. We'd be in Fuyang, a couple hours west of Shanghai. We'd have our two littles with us and they'd be 3 and 5 when we first get there. Is it hard to get things like books in English and American foods? I've heard before about lack of space and someone told me that houses don't have yards at all, is that true? We would have housing provided, along with a driver and housekeeper so wouldn't have to worry too much about getting around and shopping for daily needs. Did you find a lot of people speak English? Is it hard to learn Chinese? What was the biggest thing you miss from the US? What was the hardest thing to adapt to? Are there environmental things you worry about with children? I know their regulations on lead, etc. in toys, clothes, etc. are not as strict as here. DH has been there a few times on business trips and has mentioned the air pollution is really bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 Well, I'm not American, but my husband is. Air pollution: it's a serious issue in many parts of China. One way to reduce the problem is to buy an air cleaner so that the children have clean air when in the house, especially overnight. We did this when we lived in Hong Kong. My husband did some professional research on the Chinese dairy industry and, based on that, we began to drink only imported (long-life) milk from New Zealand. The alternative is soy milk, which is highly available. I'm afraid I don't know anything about Fuyang. It's unlikely that many people will speak English, so working on your Chinese will be important. You need a get a good teacher who will work on pronunciation with you. After that, you shouldn't find the spoken language too hard - the writing is much harder, but it's up to you whether you decide to spend time on that. Similarly, I don't know about food supplies. Many cities have Metro supermarkets, which stock a lot of overseas products, but I don't know if Fuyang does. If not, you will find that there is plentiful supply of basics - meat, veg, etc. - but you will have to cook from scratch. The alternative is to eat out a lot: the standard of restaurant food is extremely high. My sister still lives in China and rarely cooks. Most people live in apartments - the nicest ones are arranged around landscaped courtyards. My boys made lots of friends and played in the courtyard for hours. There are single family homes with gardens, but they are unusual. It's a bit hard to say what we missed most, because we lived in Asia so long that it became normal. Similarly, the boys grew up in Asia, so there wasn't much adaptation needed when we moved to mainland China. There is at least one English language bookstore in Shanghai. There's also a bookshop in Hong Kong called Paddyfield that delivers to some cities in China. We had a wonderful time and the boys were very sorry to leave. We went back for a visit in February this year and it was great to be back. The boys are fairly fluent Mandarin speakers and are excited and open-minded about travel and international experience. Best wishes Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted June 21, 2010 Author Share Posted June 21, 2010 Thank you Laura, all that is great information to have. Especially the milk problem. Both my kids are really big milk drinkers so it's good to know we should have an alternate plan in mind to obtain milk. Good to hear that there's a bookstore not too far away. :) That would be something I'd miss a lot. Did you find it hard to order things from the US? Shipping is probably huge? An apartment with a courtyard would be good. My kids are young, high energy and runners so I am concerned about them having a safe place to play. I don't cook here at home so I doubt I'll start much there. Although, since we'll have a housekeeper, she may do the cooking too. DH does our cooking now and may continue then. From what I understand, Fuyang is a city that may be a government sponsored area for Pharmaceutical companies. This may mean that it's more International since a lot of the Pharma companies have offices all around the world. I would definitely try to learn to speak Mandarin. Whether I try the written will probably depend on how much I struggle with speaking it (languages have never been my strong point). Thank you so much for your response. I'm a little nervous about it since I've never really lived outside of NJ, much less the US but it also seems like a great opportunity to see more of the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 I would recommend making very good use of her. You want to find someone who speaks standard Mandarin (rather than a dialect) and who is good with children. Both my boys learned most of their Chinese from our housekeeper. She spoke only Chinese to them and slowly introduced them to the language. She played games with them (we bought several bilingual board games in Hong Kong) and generally made learning the language fun. Once they had basic Chinese then they were able to make local friends and their language learning took off. I would highly recommend buying a book called Third Culture Kids. It's about children who grow up abroad and will help you a lot with making the transition to living overseas. I followed many of its recommendations when we moved to Scotland and the transition went very well. Best wishes Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 You want to have very good medical insurance so that you can go to Hong Kong/Bangkok for anything slightly serious, and also so that you can be evacuated back to the US if necessary. Hobbes broke his arm when we were in China (nasty break - both bones, needed a pin) and we opted to have a temporary cast put on, then fly to Hong Kong to get it fixed. Best wishes Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pata Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 Is it hard to get things like books in English and American foods? This really depends where you are. We don't have many western restaurants where we live, but we do have a Metro and several import stores. So if you willing to cook from scratch you can eat like you used to. Also our local bookstore has an English book section, it's not the best, but you can get all of the classics. I have ordered English books from Amazon China with great success and little shipping cost. I've also had books shipped here from BetterWorld and Sonlight, both have come in good condition, but the shipping is expensive. I've heard before about lack of space and someone told me that houses don't have yards at all, is that true? Yes, most people live in apartments. My guess is though that your complex will have a green area for the kids to play in or at the very least be near a park. Did you find a lot of people speak English? Is it hard to learn Chinese? Where we live, very few people speak English, but they do understand hand guestures and are very forgiving for my lack of language skills. I have found Chinese difficult to learn (when compared to learning Spanish). The tones are hard and some of the sounds are very different from English, but once you have those down, it's just a matter of learning vocabulary. That is if you only plan on speaking Mandarin, writing is a whole other animal. What was the biggest thing you miss from the US? Right now, a hamburger on the grill :)! What was the hardest thing to adapt to? For me, it's been all the people. We come from small town America, with wide open spaces, it's just not like that here. Are there environmental things you worry about with children? The pollution can be bad here and there's the whole lack of regulation thing. We try to be as careful as possible about what we buy and we have an air filter for our home. I would echo what Laura said about health insurance. I had surgery here and I don't reccommend it. When my ds needed surgery, we flew to Thailand to have it done and our insurance paid for everything. Hope that helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 (edited) I would highly recommend buying a book called Third Culture Kids. It's about children who grow up abroad and will help you a lot with making the transition to living overseas. I followed many of its recommendations when we moved to Scotland and the transition went very well. Best wishes Laura And look up resources about TCKs online! As a TCK, I also highly recommend this. I lived during a time that many parents didn't even stop to think about how their children's culture was uniquely different from their own. My mama and stepdad expected me to just come back stateside and blend right in with the culture they were raised in (which wasn't even the culture I experience in earlier childhood as I was born and lived in my father's subculture with another family during that time). We see things through different eyes than our traveling parents did, due to our developmental stages. However, see this as a blessing, not as a detriment...your children will learn to be outside the box thinkers and viewers of the world. Edited June 21, 2010 by mommaduck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted June 22, 2010 Author Share Posted June 22, 2010 Thank you for the book recommendation. I put it on hold at our library (I'm sure I will miss ILL ;)). DH will be still working for the same US company so any health/medical problems, we should be able to come right home at their expense. I will have him check into other aspects of international coverage. I'm feeling better about the possibility after hearing first hand experiences. Thank you everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jld Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 I would definitely recommend taking advantage of this opportunity, Dottieanna. Good luck with it!:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhonda in TX Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Jimmie's Collage I'm not sure where she's located, but she has a lot of very practical information about living in China. She talks about cooking, ordering curriculum/books, culture differences, and many other things. Lots of great pictures and very interesting information. (They are currently back in the States for a visit, so a lot of her recent posts are about that.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 You might like to have a look at my old blog; it starts when I was in China and might give you a flavour. I haven't looked at it in a while and it has lost all the formatting I put in (when the provider changed to a new service) so it's pretty bare-bones. The entries and pictures are still there though. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 (edited) Good to hear that there's a bookstore not too far away. :) That would be something I'd miss a lot. Did you find it hard to order things from the US? Shipping is probably huge? The English language bookshop in Shanghai that I went to was not big - I suspect you would know the stock by heart pretty soon. There are quite a lot of classics printed in China which are cheap and are sometimes more widely available. And there may be other book shops in Shanghai. Mostly I ordered things to be delivered to a friend in the US/UK, then picked them up when we went on visits, or asked anyone coming my way to hand-carry it over. Not only is shipping very expensive, but - unless you use a special delivery service, like paddyfield does - packages have sometimes been known to go astray. Are you concerned about climate? If Fuyang is near Shanghai then it's probably a pretty humid climate. The summers will be hot, steamy and wet. The winters will be chilly (because of the damp) but not too cold. Heating used not to be allowed at that latitude (back in China's austere days there were rules about what in what areas residents could heat their houses) so think about heating when you are shown likely places to live. There probably won't be central heating, but plug-in radiators work fine. However, if you live in an older apartment, the electric system probably won't cope with having more than one heater going at a time, so it's worth asking specifically about this, so you don't end up huddled around one heater on chilly days. Laura Edited June 22, 2010 by Laura Corin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted June 22, 2010 Author Share Posted June 22, 2010 Are you concerned about climate? If Fuyang is near Shanghai then it's probably a pretty humid climate. The summers will be hot, steamy and wet. The winters will be chilly (because of the damp) but not too cold. Heating used not to be allowed at that latitude (back in China's austere days there were rules about what in what areas residents could heat their houses) so think about heating when you are shown likely places to live. There probably won't be central heating, but plug-in radiators work fine. However, if you live in an older apartment, the electric system probably won't cope with having more than one heater going at a time, so it's worth asking specifically about this, so you don't end up huddled around one heater on chilly days. Laura DH is in the area now and it is very hot and humid (which he hates) and the air conditioning at his hotel seems to be on a timer that switches it off at night. I never thought about heat being a problem. These are exactly the kind of things I was hoping to get by posting - all the things I wouldn't even think about asking or wondering about. I think I'd have to make sure to get as many things as we want/need shipped over when we first move since the company will be paying for that. Then, lots and lots of ebooks at least for my pleasure reading. Thank you again everyone. All this information is very, very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElaineJ Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Book Depository has free shipping to China. They have a wide selection and good service, at least in my experience. HTH Elaine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Book Depository has free shipping to China. They have a wide selection and good service, at least in my experience. HTH Elaine They only used to ship to Hong Kong. That's good news - Book Depository is a good company. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nono Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 DH will be still working for the same US company so any health/medical problems, we should be able to come right home at their expense. I will have him check into other aspects of international coverage. My 2 cents: Have him also get in writing from the HR department that expenses to return to the US at the end of 2 years is covered. Don't get caught in a "policy change" 12 months into the gig... :001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightly Salted Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 We lived in China for 6 years, but in the northwest in one of the poorer provinces. We loved our time there, and hope to return someday. It's radically different from 'home' but was truly amazing to experience! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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