Our address & phone number

Oh man. I messed up. I sent change of address cards out last June with the wrong address. Homer Simpson says it best: Doh!

Our apartment building is #8. Our apartment number is 17C. On the cards it says we live in Apt. 17-C, which is right, but without the #8, the mailperson can't figure out how to deliver mail to us.

If you send us mail (please do! Especially Christmas cards!!) be sure to address it to apartment 8-17C.

Also, I left off 4 digits of our China home phone number. Double Doh! If you want to call us, you'll need to start it off with 86 (the country code for China), then 1755, then the rest of the phone number.

If this is too complicated, you threw away or lost the change of address card, or you never received one (maybe I wrote your address wrong - who knows at this point?!) just email us. It's the digital age anyway.

Thanks!

Beware of HKG hustlers

Mom and Dad Adgate arrived in China last night after 24 hours of travel. This is their second trip here (they visited last June), but their journey from the Hong Kong Airport (HKG) was full of surprises.

We discussed via skype last week all the ways they could get to Shenzhen: ferry if their flight didn't get in too late, private hired car driven by a guy named Chester, bus, or metered taxi. In the end it seemed to make the most sense economically speaking for them to take the bus or a cab to Shenzhen Bay Port border crossing. This is also known as Shenzhen Wan Ko An in Mandarin, which I explained and spelled out for dad.

I got a text message from mom around 8:40 pm saying their plane had landed, which made me giddy, anxious, and very ready to see them. Two hours later, instead of a text to let me know they were through customs and ready to be picked up on the Mainland side of the border crossing, I got a phone call from dad saying they had been hustled at the airport into hiring a private car, had just paid a small fortune to get out of said car on the side of the road, and they had no idea where they were. Ack! Panic set in. Private car hustler was not one of the options we discussed last week.

Fortunately, they weren't completely lost. And they are experienced travelers. They were close to a bus station where they were able to catch a bus and eventually a shuttle to a different border crossing. I called Mr. Wong, the most wonderful driver in Shenzhen - maybe all of China - and begged him in Chinglish to pick me up and take me to the Honggung Customs location about a half hour from our house (Shenzhen Bay Port, where they were supposed to come through, is 10 minutes from where we live).

We met up about 11:20 p.m. Mr. Wong and I helped mom and dad navigate through a sea of hustlers and panhandlers, and we arrived safe and sound at the apartment around midnight. Wheh!

I'm very sleepy this morning, as I had to leave the house at 7:30 a.m. for work. I'm on the way to a printing factory where I will spend the day reviewing and approving / giving the OK for production of boxes for 6 new Paint craft kits. I'm already looking forward to going home to spend time with my family.

Catch up

Ahhh dear blog, I have neglected you once again. Time to play catch up!

October was a blurry balancing act between traveling for work and visiting with Matt's parents while they were in town. The time flew by! The Langford's were able to make it to Beijing, about 3 and a half hour plane ride north of Shenzhen, for several days during their China visit. With Dean in tow, they visited the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, ate Peking duck, and made friends with a lot of strange men and women who wanted to have their photo taken with a blond-hair blue eye foreigner baby.

While they shivered in the cold northern China air, I was sweating it out on the tradeshow floor of the Canton fair tradeshow. This is a biannual show (April and October) where people from all over the world come to find Chinese suppliers to make their goods. The suppliers set up booths of all shapes and sizes. Some looked like a picked-over yard sale or a toybox threw up in them, while others held good-looking things of all shapes and sizes that stirred something deep inside me, making me feel like I'm long overdue for a shopping trip. I saw a lot of stuff I don't need, like skillets with cool designs on them and Christmas decorations galore, but just because I don't need these things doesn't mean I didn't want them! I don't get out much, or rather ever, for shopping these days unless it involves the grocery store. Even that is minimal since we found an online grocery store selling import items like raisins and Del Monte canned vegetables. With a $20 purchase, they deliver free to our door within 3 hours after ordering. It's pretty nice, especially when we're out of toilet paper and diapers. Matt can only fit a small amount of these bulky items in the scooter seat, and my bike basket certainly doesn't make the cut.

The last weekend in October I was able to join Matt, his parents and Dean on a weekend getaway to Guilin. This city is well known throughout the country for its beautiful mountains. It was quick and easy to get to, less than an hour plane ride away. We thought we were heading to the countryside, but after we got there we found out it's a small city of 5 million people. We enjoyed a cruise on a riverboat down the Li river, saw a show with Chinese acrobats and dancers, and took in the views from a huge underground cave kind of like Ruby Falls in TN before heading back to Shenzhen. It was fun to get away from Shenzhen and see more greenery than we normally do.

Halloween was nonexistent for us this year since it's not celebrated in China. I wanted to at least carve a pumpkin for Dean, so I went in search of one at the local grocery store. The biggest whole pumpkin I could buy was only slightly larger than a softball, but we made it work. Dean enjoyed my masterpiece of art for at least 20 minutes before throwing it on the ground, causing the face to shatter into 3 pieces. If there had been a chance to dress Dean up in a costume, I would have made him go as Bam Bam from the Flinstones.

Matt's parents headed back to the U.S. on the 6th of November. The next weekend we bought tickets to see a concert in Hong Kong - the Flaming Lips. We saw them play in Atlanta once at the Tabernacle and it was such an energetic, fun show to attend. I was nervous about going because we've never left Dean alone all night with his Ayi Ms. Yiao. I know she loves him and takes great care of him, but I couldn't help but be wonder if the two of them would still be there when we returned on Sunday. I took Dean's passport with me just for peace of mind that he couldn't be smuggled out of the country easily.

As it turned out, I had nothing to worry about. We had a really fun time at the concert and even got to meet/shake hands with the lead singer, Waynne, before the show. He was staying at the same hotel as us, and we ran into him on the way out the door. He asked where we were from and what we were doing in China. We told him that we'd seen his band play in Atlanta once. His response was "oh, uh, yeah... I remember that show... It was really loud..." I got the feeling this is what he always says when people say they've seen him in concert before in some random city.

We were both giddy with excitement, and even though we'd just finished a playful argument about who would be "stuck" carrying the camera all night, neither one of us thought to ask for a photo with him until we'd walked away. Bummer! Maybe we'll run into him again at another show and we can say "we saw you live in Hong Kong!" I think we have a good chance he'll really remember this show.

When we arrived home on Sunday around 3 in the afternoon, Dean barely looked up from playing with his toy. He basically said, without words "hey guys, I see you're home... Man this toy sure is cool... I wonder if it will fly if I throw it across the room..."

This past weekend we enjoyed beautiful weather in the park right next to where we live, and on Saturday we went to a picnic. I emailed my friend Jess about it, and rather than retype, I'm going to copy and paste what I told her about it right here:

"We've met a few people and had good times here in Shenzhen, but it's still not the same kind of bonding like what we have with friends back home. We went to a picnic on Saturday with a bunch of families with little ones around Dean's age. It was all foreigners there, but we were the only ones from USA. The others were from Belgium, Ireland, Columbia, and a couple other European countries I think.

We took Dean's Radio Flyer wagon to the park and no one had seen something like it before. They were amazed, and had fun taking turns pulling the kids around. We also had a kickball and frisbee with us, and those were considered foreign as well. One guy was so amazed by the frisbee... can you imagine having never thrown a frisbee at our age?!

Anyway, we had a good time at the picnic, but even among the English speaking foreigners I still felt like such an outsider."

It's tough being away from the U.S. now when the holidays are upon us. We're experiencing so many adventures and new experiences, but sometimes I don't want to have any more "new". No more excitement. No more adventure. No more mystery meats. I just want to eat comfort foods like mashed potatoes, green beans and a cheeseburger hot off the grill. Or in the case of this week - mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and turkey. Lots of fresh baked turkey. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Good luck, Will!

I got a note from my dad last night by email and it made me sad in a surprising way. The email was an update on my youngest brother Will's search for his first job. Will interviewed with a mining company in South Carolina last month and he was really excited about the prospect, but they are either dragging their feet with the hiring process or they've found someone else. He was also offered a position kind of in his field of Geology, and he's decided to go for it. Here's what dad wrote:

"Hey, Don't know if anybody is keeping you informed about Will.  He left yesterday morning in the Jeep to go to Midland, Texas for training.  It is about 1200 miles and he spent the night last night in Plano outside of Dallas at Kit and Needie's house.  He has about 350 miles to go today.  The truck is not ready yet but the guy in Texas was tired of  delays and wanted Will there asap or not at all so he left out.  We will figure out how to switch vehicles later.  I think he may be in training about a month and then perhaps moving to Pennsylvania.  You guys are spreading out all over. Love, Dad"

Hope you don't mind that I shared that, dad!

My first thought after reading the note was "Not Pennsylvania - it's so far away!" Which is pretty ironic given that I live in China right now. But I know we will return to Atlanta in the future, and knowing that my little brother probably won't be living there when we return makes me very sad. It also makes me suddenly feel older. Andy is very settled in New Orleans with a wife and baby of his own. I have a little one running circles around me. My parents are truly empty nesters.

I'll miss Will poking his head in on skype calls when I talk to mom and dad, or knowing that he'll be home for the holidays - all of them. I have never been to Pennsylvania or even known anyone from there (that I know of), so it seems so foreign. Again, probably kind of ironic for me to say, but I can't help but think it. Pennsylvania is a strange new land for an Adgate to venture into.

Mom and dad, I guess this is what you get for exposing us to the world - we've scattered like seeds on the wind. I'm glad you have wings and you're always ready and willing to use them.

Beijing & Dongguan

So much for all the speculation on typhoon Megi. We are safe and sound in Shenzhen. As of Thursday evening the storm was on a path set to pummel us. Sandbags were in place everywhere, like in the lobby of our building and local restaurants, in preparation for hard rains and possible flooding. Fishermen were told to empty Shenzhen Bay and secure their boats, which made the water extra calm and a little eerie. Hong Kong elementary schools were even cancelled Thursday and Friday in anticipation of strong winds.

On Friday the typhoon took a bizarre, sharp 90 degree turn to the north of Hong Kong. We never saw dark clouds or even a drop of rain here. It seems as if the typhoon in the South China sea succeeded in blowing away all of the pollution and haziness we normally have in the city, leaving behind pure blue sky and sunshine. Instead of intense waves and flood waters, this morning I saw an amazing sunrise. As the sun rose over the mountains of Hong Kong (our apartment overlooks Shenzhen Bay and the New Territories island of Hong Kong), the sky held a candy apple red fireball which exploded into oranges, pinks, and rich shades of buttery yellow, then melted into a cool turquoise blue tickled with a few feathery clouds above us.

Matt, Dean, Tic Toc and Grandaddy Langford are on their way to Beijing this morning to do some touristy exploration. The capital is about 3-1/2 hrs from Shenzhen by plane. They plan to visit the Summer Palace, Tianamon Square and the Great Wall while there. Matt plans to take lots of pictures, so hopefully I'll have some good ones to post by the end of the week. I'm a little jealous that my baby boy gets to see these wonderful historic places in China before I do!

While they are off playing, I'm in a car for the next 2 hours heading to a city called Dongguan. I'll attend the Canton sourcing fair for work this Sun-Wed with the team from ATL plus several of my Plaid Far East colleagues. We'll meet with existing vendors we do business with as well as search out new suppliers for manufacturing. The show is also usually a source of inspiration, especially for Halloween and Christmas. Buyers come from all over the world to place orders now for 2011 products. I expect to see a lot of trinkets and dust collectors, but hope to stumble on some cool new ideas in the mix.

All About Dean

I haven't talked too much about Dean lately, so this post is dedicated 100% to him.

The little guy is now 15-months old and bursting with personality. He's starting to talk and his vocabulary consists of the following words: wow, hi!, ohhhh, daddy, mama (when he's clingy and upset), uh-oh, mmmmm, nummie nummie (for yummy yummy), eye (watch out--that one comes with a bonus eye poke) and a phrase that sounds kinda like "over there?" but comes out as "obbar dare?"

He can also say at least 1 word in Mandarin. If you hand him a cell phone he will hold it up to his ear and say "whaaah?" in an attempt to say "whey?" which means "to speak" in Mandarin. This is what people here say when they answer the phone, the same way we would use "hello?" It wouldn't surprise us if he knows more than this one word in Mandarin since his Ayi knows only a handful of English words, but we haven't heard any others clearly enough to understand quite yet.

The little guy is also fascinated with how things work, especially buttons like those in the elevator of our building (he knows where the number 17 is). Shoving stuff in holes is another favorite hobby (no drain is safe) and he recently learned to flush the toilet. He loves climbing on and off anything he can reach. Furniture, beds, toys, drawers, and boxes make up his indoor playground.

He can give a high-five, knows where his hair and belly button are, and is always ready to cuddle up on the sofa with a good storybook. He eats just about everything we put in front of him but is still super skinny, and he prefers eating from chopsticks over a fork.

I took this video of him last week playing with a stethoscope from a Dr. kit (hopefully it will post correctly - it's my first time trying a video using our China VPN). The stethoscope once belonged to his cousins Elizabeth and Will, and it's now one of Dean's favorite toys.

Dinner at Senor Frogs

We took Matt's parents to dinner this evening at a new restaurant two doors down from the Cheers bar near our apartment. It's a mexican restaurant called "Senor Frogs" with a squiggle over the n. The place opened about a month ago, and tonight is the first I've seen any real signs or menus. Previously we ordered off of the equivalent of a paper napkin with chicken-scratched food items written in ball-point pen. Bummer, they don't have white cheese dip, but their chicken quesadilla is pretty darn tasty.

We ate outside and enjoyed occasional bursts of extra strong wind due to the typhoon heading our way. At one point it blew over a sign next door and a large potted plant. We chatted with a few other "expatriates" from the U.S. about the coming storm and what to expect. We were reassured that the building we live in is very strong and built to withstand typhoon strength winds and rain. A guy name Paul told us we might see the glass windows in our apartment bow and flex in the wind, but we shouldn't worry because this is normal (he might have been pulling my leg, not real sure there). In any case, we were advised to not open any windows during the storm. (Duh! Who does that?!)

We also found out that the Cheers bar does a big Thanksgiving meal every year with deep fried turkeys and all the fixens'. I'm so excited! We were hoping to find a place that would serve a good meal, but thinking we'd have to go to a hotel to find it. Our back-up plan is still a duck with the head still on.

Dean was a little celebrity tonight as always, being passed to various extended arms from the Chinese women that work the bar. He was given a free bowl of chicken soup and also munched some nachos. We laughed about how when he's older, we'll have fun stories to tell about the ladies that oooh and ahhh over him here. We never have to worry about feeding or entertaining him when we go out.