Moving Day

We are starting to feel settled in our new apartment. Moving day was
Thursday, April 29th, so we’ve been in a little over a week. It was
raining that day and I was returning late from a business trip, so I
really didn’t want to try to gather our suitcases and rush to the
apartment (the 29th was the first day we could move in).

However, Simon at the Plaid office said that 4/29 was a very lucky day
to move based on the Chinese lunar calendar, and it was very important
that we at least start the process that day. In the cab on the way
back to the hotel from the airport I told another coworker, Kathy,
that I thought it was too late, too dark and too rainy to move that
night, and we would wait until the morning. She was very concerned,
saying something along the lines of “if Simon said today is the day –
I think you might regret it later if you don’t move today.” How could
we argue with that?

In addition to being a lucky day, Simon recommended we light a fire at
the hotel and bring it with us to the apartment to light the stove.
Huh? We weren’t so sure about this, although I did enjoy a chuckle at
the thought of Matt carrying an Olympic torch-like device down the
streets of Shenzhen.

After digging deeper, we discovered it is a tradition when you move to
a new home to light a fire in the fireplace of your existing home
before you leave. You then take some of the burning wood - or maybe
just smoldering wood - and relocate it to the fireplace in the new
home to light a fire.

In modern times, and apartments without a fireplace, it’s seen as
acceptable to light a candle in your old home and move it to your new
home while it is still lit. I was curious about how you do this while
riding in a cab or car, and Simon explained that you set the candle
into another container and watch it carefully throughout the ride to
make sure it doesn’t turn over.

We did not have a candle on hand, but my coworkers were not worried.
The opposite natural force of fire is water, so it was seen as
acceptable to take water from the hotel to the new place and sprinkle
it in all of the sinks. The water had to be from the SINK at the hotel
– unopened bottled water would not suffice since it came from a source
outside of the hotel we lived in for 2-1/2 weeks.

We were also instructed to drink tea the night we “moved” into the
apartment. Matt bought a bottle of Lipton iced tea and we all took a
swig of it (Dean included) that night. I doubt that’s the kind of tea
he was talking about, but since we’re from Atlanta, we figured it was
a good compromise between cultures.

After walking around the apartment in awe (it is so beautiful!),
dumping several boxes on the floor, sprinkling water in the sinks, and
drinking tea, we headed back to the hotel for our last night.

The next day we checked out and officially moved into our new home. It
was late in the afternoon, so by the time we finished, it was
dinnertime. We took a cab to a place called “Seaworld” (more about
that to come in another post) for a family dinner together - just Matt
Emily & Dean.

When we got home it was around 9:30, and we realized we didn’t have
any sheets for the bed. Eek! We’d packed a few beach towels, so we
slept on the mattress without sheets using the towels as covers.

On Saturday, May 1st, we headed out exploring. We walked to the
closest grocery store, about 15 minutes away. The place is like a
small WalMart, and we were able to purchase a fitted sheet and pillow
shams. They don’t match and they look like something sold in the 80’s,
but we were more concerned about function over style at the time.

The grocery store is filled with so many mysterious and new things.
Some are a little scary and will take some getting used to, especially
the meat aisle. So far we’ve been pretty successful deciphering what
is inside the package we’re buying. Don’t worry mom and dad – we’re
NOT going hungry.

In fact, we have all fallen in love with Chinese food, especially the
noodles. Dean’s new nickname is “noodle bowl baby.” He’ll scarf down
so many noodles that his little “Buddha belly” pokes out.

Little noodle bowl baby is down for a nap right now, but will be
waking soon. We’re heading out for a Saturday afternoon walk when he
gets up. There’s much more exploring to do in our new neighborhood.