This story broke on ESPN today... Congress is trying to legislate that you can only call a college football game a 'National Championship Game' if it is the result of a playoff.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4727426
I have so many issues with this...
1) This is what Congress chooses to spend their time on... One member of Congress responded that they can 'walk and chew gum at the same time'... indicating that they have plenty of bandwidth to tackle many hard problems at the same time... GREAT - how about: health care, jobs, the national debt, Afghanistan, Bin Laden, etc, etc, etc... I don't see how this issue even makes the top 20 of the critical issues facing our nation?
2) Some people say the action is warranted as the BCS is in anti-trust violation... I am no legal or anti-trust expert, but the way I understand it, anti-trust issues are dealt with through an investigation by the justice department, not legislating what you can or can not call a football game.
3) All this would effectively do is have the BCS rename it's game to 'The BCS Championship Game', removing the 'National' designation. Then the AP votes whoever they want (as they do today) and the Coaches vote the winner of the BCS game. Nothing changes with the exception of the use of the word 'National'. Thank goodness we have 2 houses of Congress working on this.
4) Is this even constitutional? Can Congress limit the freedom of speech to dictate who can and cannot use the term 'National Championship'? Don't I have the first amendment right to call my basketball intramural championship the 'national championship'? People can disagree and people can laugh, but don't I have that right? What harm is being done to the citizens and consumers of the United States such that you can justify the restriction of the first amendment right to freedom of speech?
Now, I feel like for the sake of truth in advertising I should explain that I am not one of the people clamoring for a playoff... I am indifferent to a college playoff. I like the bowl system as it existed before the BCS, I like the bowl system as it exists today and if there was a playoff tomorrow, I'd probably be OK with it. I just can't get that excited about how we decide who is the best set of 18-22 year old football players.
In a different post I might explain how I think that people want a playoff simply because they like playoffs and that it's not really going to accomplish determining 'the best college football team'. :)
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Scappoose High School Basketball
Odd post title, huh? Especially considering my oldest is only in first grade, I don't live in Scappoose, and I work at Intel.
Well, as many of you know, my first love was basketball. I fell in love with the game as a kid and played through high school and into college. My playing career (if you would call it that) ended after 2 years of Junior Varsity Basketball at Linfield College. Then I was lucky enough to be offered a position coaching for Larry Doty. I spent a year as an assistant on both the varsity and JV coaching staff. Then my senior year I took over coaching the junior varsity team.
I loved it.
Then reality set in. I was graduating and had student loans I needed to start paying off in 6 months. So I left McMinnville and started a series of jobs that have delivered me to where I am now - a 10 year veteran of Intel Corporation.
Part of the 'when I win the lottery plan' involves going back to coaching.
So why 'Scappoose High School Basketball' post? A very good friend of mine is the first year head coach of the Scappoose boys varsity basketball team. I mentioned to him years ago that when/if he got the gig I would help him out. Well, he got the gig and he called my bluff.
After some intense negotiations between the two of us, and then negotiations between Steph and I, we collectively agreed that I would volunteer as his assistant coach with his varsity squad.
It's been hard on everyone as I try to balance my evenings between time with family and time spent coaching and scouting. It's not been easy, but to this point, I love it... Steph maybe not so much!
Intel is supportive of people volunteering in local schools, but of course my day job is #1, so the basketball team is taking a back seat to my work schedule... So really it's a part time gig as assistant coach.
We have a good group of kids that play hard. We aren't big though. Our tallest guy, while strong as a bull, is only about 6'2" tall!
Our strategy is simple... and only successful if the kids buy in: play hard for 32 minutes, tough full court man to man defense, be in the best shape of any team in our conference and push the ball up the floor every trip.
We played our first game last night at Rainier High School. Rainier was at a disadvantage with a number of their varsity basketball players still playing football as well as their Division I 6'11" center having broken his leg. They played hard given the boys they had available, but even with us only having our football players out for a couple of practices we were able to jump on them early and ran out to a 20-6 first quarter lead on our way to a 67-24 win.
First game of the season so there are plenty of things to work on, but the overall effort was very good. Kids played hard, ran hard and gave good effort... which means they understand how we want to play and are bought in for now. Opponents get better, competition gets tougher starting Saturday when we play at Cascade High School... It should be a good one!
Well, as many of you know, my first love was basketball. I fell in love with the game as a kid and played through high school and into college. My playing career (if you would call it that) ended after 2 years of Junior Varsity Basketball at Linfield College. Then I was lucky enough to be offered a position coaching for Larry Doty. I spent a year as an assistant on both the varsity and JV coaching staff. Then my senior year I took over coaching the junior varsity team.
I loved it.
Then reality set in. I was graduating and had student loans I needed to start paying off in 6 months. So I left McMinnville and started a series of jobs that have delivered me to where I am now - a 10 year veteran of Intel Corporation.
Part of the 'when I win the lottery plan' involves going back to coaching.
So why 'Scappoose High School Basketball' post? A very good friend of mine is the first year head coach of the Scappoose boys varsity basketball team. I mentioned to him years ago that when/if he got the gig I would help him out. Well, he got the gig and he called my bluff.
After some intense negotiations between the two of us, and then negotiations between Steph and I, we collectively agreed that I would volunteer as his assistant coach with his varsity squad.
It's been hard on everyone as I try to balance my evenings between time with family and time spent coaching and scouting. It's not been easy, but to this point, I love it... Steph maybe not so much!
Intel is supportive of people volunteering in local schools, but of course my day job is #1, so the basketball team is taking a back seat to my work schedule... So really it's a part time gig as assistant coach.
We have a good group of kids that play hard. We aren't big though. Our tallest guy, while strong as a bull, is only about 6'2" tall!
Our strategy is simple... and only successful if the kids buy in: play hard for 32 minutes, tough full court man to man defense, be in the best shape of any team in our conference and push the ball up the floor every trip.
We played our first game last night at Rainier High School. Rainier was at a disadvantage with a number of their varsity basketball players still playing football as well as their Division I 6'11" center having broken his leg. They played hard given the boys they had available, but even with us only having our football players out for a couple of practices we were able to jump on them early and ran out to a 20-6 first quarter lead on our way to a 67-24 win.
First game of the season so there are plenty of things to work on, but the overall effort was very good. Kids played hard, ran hard and gave good effort... which means they understand how we want to play and are bought in for now. Opponents get better, competition gets tougher starting Saturday when we play at Cascade High School... It should be a good one!
Sabbatical Wrap Up
Many friends have been asking me about my sabbatical and I have replied with the quick answers I assume they have been looking for... Great, Wonderful, Awesome.
I think in reality my response has not been more robust for a lack of the words to describe it. It was, in no uncertain terms, the best 9 week stretch of my life.
Now, if you shrink the time frame to be much shorter, the list of 'best times in my life' would include life changing events like meeting my wife, first date with my wife, wedding day, day each of the girls were born, day The Ohio State University won the National Championship over Miami...
But if you extend the time frame and make it 9 weeks long... this was simply the best.
The first few days included our first 4th of July in Oak Hills. Normally we are with Steph's family at Lake of the Woods in Southern Oregon, which is where our hearts were this year, but having returned to the US so recently, we decided we couldn't handle the trip so soon. The celebration in Oak Hills was great. Steph's mom and step-dad came up to help us unpack boxes and spend time with the kids. The neighborhood had a parade, a BBQ lunch and then the Portland Metro Area famous Oak Hills Fireworks display. We had friends over for dinner and then took in the fireworks... it was so much fun... won't replace LOTW on a regular basis, but it was great!
Then shortly after the 4th of July and after unpacking a few more boxes we headed to the lake for nearly 2 weeks of family time. Days on the beach with the kids and our good friends (the Wing family). Pink foofoos and beers at lunch, golf with Michael and Jerry... Crazy boat rides with the kids... Family in and out the whole time we were there... it was wonderful!
Then the crown jewel of the 9 weeks... my month in Scotland. I flew out of Portland and headed to Edinburgh (via SFO and London-Heathrow). I arrived and met my good friend Ryan and we headed off on the first leg of my golf adventure. He and I moved from Ayrshire in Southeast Scotland to St. Andrews on the East coast of Scotland, then North to Aberdeen.
I dropped Ryan off in Edinburgh the same day I picked up 3 other friends and returned to St. Andrews. We rented an apartment that was perfect for four golfers and I would recommend to anyone going for a trip to St. Andrews with a similar sized group. The company was amazing the golf outstanding and the whiskey (while expensive) was superb... that is enough adjectives to choke a horse and might lead you to believe I am exaggerating, but I assure you I am not.
At the end of the 8 days with the guys I dropped them in Edinburgh and continued my trek North to the highlands and Inverness. Inverness was attractive not only for the golf, but the scenery and the distilleries. It failed to disappoint. Golf courses, while most not as famous as those in Aryshire and St. Andrews were just as challenging and just as beautiful, the people even more friendly (I would not have expected it to be possible) and the distilleries plentiful!
Having been abandoned by friends removed the distractions that kept me from missing Steph and the kids... Being alone in Inverness, even with the golf, pubs, castles and distilleries, made me homesick like never before... So I called United that first night and changed my flight information, cutting off the last city on the itinerary and coming home 4-5 days early. I surprised Steph and the kids, not letting them know until I hit SFO.
I used some miles to send Steph on a trip to Toronto to see a friend from Shanghai that had repatriated before we did, then to North Carolina to see her best friend from high school... my little peace offering for having been gone for nearly a month playing golf. I packed up the kids and headed to Seattle to see some of our good friends.
Then we all reconvened at home and settled in for the return to work and the start of school for the girls!
That's the summary... here are some of the stats on the trip that'll give you a better feel for the experience I had. It should also answer some of the questions people have asked.
Best Golf Course: Tough, tough call, but based on history and nostalgia I'd have to go with the Old Course. I still struggle to put into words the experience of hitting from the first tee, hitting over the hotel on 17 and putting on the 18th green with people surrounding the green watching - hoping you sink that birdie putt...
Best Golf Course Runner Up: Kingsbarns was a BEAUTIFUL track that I played TERRIBLY on. I was horrible, the course tough, but fair and really spectacular.
Toughest Golf Course: Much of the difficulty of the links courses is dictated by the weather. It's the weather that probably made Prestwick Golf Club the hardest course I played. 30 mile an hour winds, gusts to 40+ and lots of blind shots... this was one of the few times I was truly happy to be done with a round of golf. Carnoustie was a close runner up for the toughest course... part to do with the wind, and part to do with just being a tough track!
Best golf value: Western Gailes in Ayrshire. 115 GBP included 18 holes on their beautiful links course and lunch in the clubhouse afterwards.
Worst golf value: Turnberry in Aryshire. It had just hosted the Open Championship the week before, so the stands and leaderboards were still up, which was cool, but at 240 GBP it was overpriced for what you got - which was the golf.
Best golf shot: The 17th at The Castle Course at St. Andrews. 175 yards over the North Sea, into a slight breeze. Hole playing 190ish, I hit a 4 iron to about 8 feet and made the putt for a birdie 2. Runner up includes a 40 foot eagle putt on one of the craziest greens you'll ever see!
Worst round: 100 at Prestwick
Best round: Shot a pair of 77s in the Highlands, the best probably being on Nairn which carries a 136 slope.
Best photo op: Has to be a tie between 3 pictures: 1) Ryan and I in our knickers on the Swilcan Bridge on the Old Course (at the top of this post) 2) The foursome on the first tee at the Old Course (below) 3) Me behind the bar with Mike and Lizzie at the Dunvegan (also below)
Best caddie: John Boyne at the Old Course in St. Andrews. A long time caddie and runs a golf tour business on the side. In between my 2 visits to St. Andrews he headed off to Wales where he caddied for a Scottish woman playing in the Welsh Open.
Worst Caddie: Some lady at Cruden Bay who's name I can't remember that gave bad advice, bad yardages, could not find balls and knew no history about the course.
Best Pub: Without a doubt, the Dunvegan in St. Andrews. A 9 iron from the old course (they actually did this one night, after what I assume was much whiskey), it's a golfers haven in St. Andrews. Visitors to the pub include Open Championship winners and celebrities (as chronicled in photos around the bar) as well as just about every other pint or whiskey loving golfer to pass through St. Andrews. Jack and Sheena (Jack a yank from Texas, and Sheena a Scot) have hired a friendly staff and have a decent menu. Beer is cold and whiskey choices are plentiful.
Great side note about drinking whiskey there one night... We were working on their bottle of Auchentoshen 10 and pretty much drank it all night long... we were sitting in a corner watching golf and playing cards and drinking (a little)... I went to the bar and ordered another round and Lizzie explained that we drank them out of their bottle of Auchentoshen and that normally they would have asked us to drink something else, but given how good of customers we were, they sent someone from the bar staff to the local whiskey shop to buy another bottle for us!
Best new scotch: Auchentoshen Triple Wood; a lowland distillery outside of Glasgow... If you can find it, try it!
Best B&B: The best B&B we stayed in was in Prestwick in Ayrshire. It was Golfview Guest House and was right across from Prestwick Golf Club - home to the first 10 Open Championships. It was clean, friendly and had a large fresh cooked breakfast. All of the B&Bs were nice, but Golfview stood out.
Biggest disappointments:
1) Scotch (which in Scotland is simply called whiskey) is not cheap in Scotland. It's similar to when we were in New Zealand and expected lamb to be cheap. It's plentiful, but not necessarily cheap.
2) Aberdeen... The B&B was not very nice, the gal had lost our reservation and had to put us in a different room than was booked, the city was very commercial and gray compared to the quaint beauty of St. Andrews where we were immediately before.
3) Cruden Bay is a golf course laid out by Tom Morris north of Aberdeen. It is consistently ranked in the top golf courses in the world. I thought it was 16 decent to very good links golf holes, and 2 terrible golf holes that nearly ruined the experience. It also might have had something to do with the worst caddie in Scotland.
4) That we couldn't work it out to have Steph or the whole family join me for part of the trip.
5) I was really excited about visiting a lot of different distilleries... which I did... but after a couple, how many big copper tanks can you see and get excited about? I learned it's not about the number of distilleries you see, but finding the unique distilleries.
The top 3 highlights:
1) The Old Course
2) The Dunvegan
3) Improving my overall golf game and links golf game to reduce my handicap to 8.8
If you know anyone planning a trip to Scotland, have them get in touch with me... I have enough information to choke a horse!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Scotland - First Leg
This very well may be more of a history of this once in a lifetime trip for me to read and remember my trip later than actually be interesting to anyone else... Even my Mother - the sure lone reader of the Joe Welsh blog may draw the line at the golf / Scotland blog...
So I left Oregon emotionally conflicted... Wife and THREE small kids left behind as I chase the dream of the Old Course (and beyond) in Scotland... It's testament to the love and understanding my wife has that she let this boondoggle proceed!
Anyhow - here I am... The mother country of golf. I have chosen to start my stay in Ayrshire - the home county/parish to the first 12 Open Championships, starting in 1860 and run through 1873 (there was no Open on 1871)... Before playing the original Open Course we played the current host of the Open (Turnberry) and a current Open Qualifier (Western Gailes). Then we played the course where it all began - Prestwick! Here are some summary thoughts on this first leg of the trip...
Turnberry - Expensive... Had just hosted The Open Chamionship...beautiful views, but nothing that exceed Pebble Beach (from what I have been told) or Bandon Dunes/Pacific Dunes (which I have played)... And in Scotland the most dramatic
views go to the Castle Course (which I'll write about later) at this point, but it's early...
Turnberry had just hosted the Open and the grandstands were still up... It was weird to play the course with all the stands still in place... I can't imagine the electric vibe that must have surrounded the 18th as Tom Watson's 8 iron settled behind 18 green on the 72 hole of the tournament! I had a great Scottish caddie named Steven... a hard workin' guy with loads of local information... Medium wind and I shoot an 88 from the Trophy Tees (think white tees at your home club) with blue and black still behind (and the Championship tees still behind those!) - still a 71 slope and 125 rating.
For the money I would not play it again - unless it was discounted or included with another round at a discount. At over $300 for the round, I'll take a round and a half at Bandon Dunes or 2 rounds at the next course we played - Western Gailes.
Western Gailes - best value for the money. Wecoming clubhouse and outstanding caddies with charachter. The course was difficult but fair and playing conditions excellent... Winds were mild 15 - 20 MPH... And whe you finished, your lunch was included in the cost of the round...
At this point it was my favorite, ahead of Turnberry! My caddie - Tommy - is 72 years old and still carrying the bag as well as playing 3-4 times a week... A joy of a guy, gave a little playing lesson on how to play links golf... Actually threw balls out in the middle of the round and had me practice a few shots!
The last course we played was Prestwick... The home of the Open, first played in 1860 and host to their last Open in 1925... This course should be easy... Lots of irons off the tee, not a tremendous amount of rough... Alas the winds off the neighboring ocean were fierce the day we played gusting to 50MPH! And the way the course is laid out, there is only one hole that the wind is behind - and it's a completely blind shot on a par 3 over a 50 foot sand dune/washout! Every other hole is either into the wind or a cross wind... The fairways are tight and the rough is penal... It is simply (in the conditions we played) the hardest course I have ever played. Thus the 99 score from the middle tees! I would hesitate to play it again, but would recommend it to every golfer on the pilgrimage to the mother land... Just take a caddy and check your ego at the pro shop!
Next update will be on my first stay in St. Andrews...
So I left Oregon emotionally conflicted... Wife and THREE small kids left behind as I chase the dream of the Old Course (and beyond) in Scotland... It's testament to the love and understanding my wife has that she let this boondoggle proceed!
Anyhow - here I am... The mother country of golf. I have chosen to start my stay in Ayrshire - the home county/parish to the first 12 Open Championships, starting in 1860 and run through 1873 (there was no Open on 1871)... Before playing the original Open Course we played the current host of the Open (Turnberry) and a current Open Qualifier (Western Gailes). Then we played the course where it all began - Prestwick! Here are some summary thoughts on this first leg of the trip...
Turnberry - Expensive... Had just hosted The Open Chamionship...beautiful views, but nothing that exceed Pebble Beach (from what I have been told) or Bandon Dunes/Pacific Dunes (which I have played)... And in Scotland the most dramatic
views go to the Castle Course (which I'll write about later) at this point, but it's early...
Turnberry had just hosted the Open and the grandstands were still up... It was weird to play the course with all the stands still in place... I can't imagine the electric vibe that must have surrounded the 18th as Tom Watson's 8 iron settled behind 18 green on the 72 hole of the tournament! I had a great Scottish caddie named Steven... a hard workin' guy with loads of local information... Medium wind and I shoot an 88 from the Trophy Tees (think white tees at your home club) with blue and black still behind (and the Championship tees still behind those!) - still a 71 slope and 125 rating.
For the money I would not play it again - unless it was discounted or included with another round at a discount. At over $300 for the round, I'll take a round and a half at Bandon Dunes or 2 rounds at the next course we played - Western Gailes.
Western Gailes - best value for the money. Wecoming clubhouse and outstanding caddies with charachter. The course was difficult but fair and playing conditions excellent... Winds were mild 15 - 20 MPH... And whe you finished, your lunch was included in the cost of the round...
At this point it was my favorite, ahead of Turnberry! My caddie - Tommy - is 72 years old and still carrying the bag as well as playing 3-4 times a week... A joy of a guy, gave a little playing lesson on how to play links golf... Actually threw balls out in the middle of the round and had me practice a few shots!
The last course we played was Prestwick... The home of the Open, first played in 1860 and host to their last Open in 1925... This course should be easy... Lots of irons off the tee, not a tremendous amount of rough... Alas the winds off the neighboring ocean were fierce the day we played gusting to 50MPH! And the way the course is laid out, there is only one hole that the wind is behind - and it's a completely blind shot on a par 3 over a 50 foot sand dune/washout! Every other hole is either into the wind or a cross wind... The fairways are tight and the rough is penal... It is simply (in the conditions we played) the hardest course I have ever played. Thus the 99 score from the middle tees! I would hesitate to play it again, but would recommend it to every golfer on the pilgrimage to the mother land... Just take a caddy and check your ego at the pro shop!
Next update will be on my first stay in St. Andrews...
Monday, July 27, 2009
On The Ground In Scotland
Flight was uneventful... Was able to get a few hours sleep... GPS with the maps of the UK loaded up got me to Ryan's B&B in Edinburgh and then got us to the Guest House in Prestwick... The 'residents lounge' overlooks the Prestwick Golf Club - home to the first Open Championship (known as The British Open in the US)... The Open was held here the first 10 times (between 1860 and 1870) before starting the rotation among other courses as we are familiar with today... Speaking of Open Championship courses - tomorrow we start this golfing oddessy at Turnberry - host of the Open that just finished up this past weekend... We drove down to the course this evening to be sure of location and drive time, and they still have all the grandstands in place... Wonder how many locals will be sitting in the stands to see Ryan and I hack our way around (and through) the gorse?
I thought driving would be a piece of cake - afterall I piloted a campervan on the 'wrong side of the road' in New Zealand for a couple weeks... Bring on the little cars of Europe, right? What I forgot is that these little cars come almost exclusively in manual transmissions... So not only am I trying to remember to 'keep left' at every intersection and roundabout, but I am trying to do so while shifting with my left hand! More difficult than I imagined... Oh, and never had to parallel park the campervan... That was 5 minutes of our lives that Ryan and I will never get back!
The guest house (Golfview Guest House) is lovely... Allison is a great hostess and we are looking forward to meeting her husband Neil tomorrow.
So far in Scotland - so good.
Cheers,
Joe
I thought driving would be a piece of cake - afterall I piloted a campervan on the 'wrong side of the road' in New Zealand for a couple weeks... Bring on the little cars of Europe, right? What I forgot is that these little cars come almost exclusively in manual transmissions... So not only am I trying to remember to 'keep left' at every intersection and roundabout, but I am trying to do so while shifting with my left hand! More difficult than I imagined... Oh, and never had to parallel park the campervan... That was 5 minutes of our lives that Ryan and I will never get back!
The guest house (Golfview Guest House) is lovely... Allison is a great hostess and we are looking forward to meeting her husband Neil tomorrow.
So far in Scotland - so good.
Cheers,
Joe
Sunday, July 26, 2009
The Adventure Begins!
6:17am and I find myself in the Portland airport waiting on my breakfast and eventually my flight to SFO. From SFO I head to London and then connect to Edinburgh... I'll be updating my blog and facebook notes as often as I can, hoping to post pics of the golf courses, castles and distilleries I visit in my month in Scotland.
I explained to Steph last night that leaving for this trip was a huge conflict of emotions for me... On one hand, I am beyond excited about the golf trip I have built, and look forward to catching up with some friends and making new ones... on the other hand - 1 month away from the family is a little depressing. Steph explained that once I hit the ground I'll manage to find ways to deal with the homesickness... I know she is right - which is where the guilt begins... especially as I left for the airport and she was walking the floors of the house trying to get the baby back to sleep - at 4:30am!!!
I know I'll miss the family terribly, but look forward to all the interesting and exciting things I hope this trip - 4 years in the planning - holds for me!
Stay tuned, and say a few extra prayers for my wife and kids! :)
Cheers,
Joe
I explained to Steph last night that leaving for this trip was a huge conflict of emotions for me... On one hand, I am beyond excited about the golf trip I have built, and look forward to catching up with some friends and making new ones... on the other hand - 1 month away from the family is a little depressing. Steph explained that once I hit the ground I'll manage to find ways to deal with the homesickness... I know she is right - which is where the guilt begins... especially as I left for the airport and she was walking the floors of the house trying to get the baby back to sleep - at 4:30am!!!
I know I'll miss the family terribly, but look forward to all the interesting and exciting things I hope this trip - 4 years in the planning - holds for me!
Stay tuned, and say a few extra prayers for my wife and kids! :)
Cheers,
Joe
Monday, April 20, 2009
Movie Theater in China
So last weekend I decided to get the girls out of the house on a rainy Sunday afternoon and take them to the movies. I had myself all geared up for a complex and frustrating process, imagining that only in China could a simple trip to the movies be anything but simple.
I have to admit to being pleasantly surprised. I knew what movie I wanted to take them to... they had seen a preview on one of their 'corner video store' DVDs for 'Monsters vs. Aliens'.
My first challenge, which I expected to be complex was to figure out where it would be showing, since all the theater's websites are in Chinese. There's an expat focused website that had an article/review of the movie and included a list with links to the websites of the theaters showing the movie. It also included links to reviews of the theaters themselves.
The review of one of the theaters said that it was the only theater in town that the reviewer knew of that served salty popcorn as opposed to sweet popcorn. You may not know this about China, but popcorn here - almost all of it - is sweet... think kettle corn, but not quite the same. It was very disconcerting when I first popped some 'corn into my mouth at the FIFA Women's World Cup shortly after arriving in China to taste sweet corn instead of salty popcorn.
So, despite the fact that it was not the closest and most convenient place to see the movie, it was where we were going... because for me you can't watch a movie in the theater without popcorn, and that popcorn must be salty, not sweet.
Now, I needed to figure out show times, and the theater's website was all in Chinese. I got lucky though... They had little pictures of the movie poster next to each showing and the times were in standard numbers. 3:05pm showing in Xintiandi - perfect.
So we trek across town, about 40 minutes, to the theater. It's in a mall in a nice retail development in Shanghai. We buy tickets at the ground floor ticket booth to the tune of $14 USD each. It turns out this movie was a little more expensive to see as it was being shown in 3D. When I purchased our tickets (and provided another $14 USD each for deposit on our 3D glasses) I was shown a layout of the theater with some seats occupied and others free. It turns out in China the movie theaters have assigned seating. So on the spot I pick 3 seats in the middle of the theater both front to back and side to side (a personal preference/peeve of mine - I need to be as close to the center of the theater as possible). When you get to the theater there is an usher that shows you to your seats.
So I only have a single data point - since we buy most of our movies from the corner video store for $0.87 USD about 2 weeks after they come out - but data point seems to indicate that the movie going experience in Shanghai is a little more expensive and a little more orderly than in the US.
I did notice that the theater was 80% empty... I imagine it's hard to compete with the $0.87 USD movie stores on the corner when you are charging $14 USD... or perhaps there was not a lot of local interest in 'Monsters vs. Aliens'... but my kids loved it!
I have to admit to being pleasantly surprised. I knew what movie I wanted to take them to... they had seen a preview on one of their 'corner video store' DVDs for 'Monsters vs. Aliens'.
My first challenge, which I expected to be complex was to figure out where it would be showing, since all the theater's websites are in Chinese. There's an expat focused website that had an article/review of the movie and included a list with links to the websites of the theaters showing the movie. It also included links to reviews of the theaters themselves.
The review of one of the theaters said that it was the only theater in town that the reviewer knew of that served salty popcorn as opposed to sweet popcorn. You may not know this about China, but popcorn here - almost all of it - is sweet... think kettle corn, but not quite the same. It was very disconcerting when I first popped some 'corn into my mouth at the FIFA Women's World Cup shortly after arriving in China to taste sweet corn instead of salty popcorn.
So, despite the fact that it was not the closest and most convenient place to see the movie, it was where we were going... because for me you can't watch a movie in the theater without popcorn, and that popcorn must be salty, not sweet.
Now, I needed to figure out show times, and the theater's website was all in Chinese. I got lucky though... They had little pictures of the movie poster next to each showing and the times were in standard numbers. 3:05pm showing in Xintiandi - perfect.
So we trek across town, about 40 minutes, to the theater. It's in a mall in a nice retail development in Shanghai. We buy tickets at the ground floor ticket booth to the tune of $14 USD each. It turns out this movie was a little more expensive to see as it was being shown in 3D. When I purchased our tickets (and provided another $14 USD each for deposit on our 3D glasses) I was shown a layout of the theater with some seats occupied and others free. It turns out in China the movie theaters have assigned seating. So on the spot I pick 3 seats in the middle of the theater both front to back and side to side (a personal preference/peeve of mine - I need to be as close to the center of the theater as possible). When you get to the theater there is an usher that shows you to your seats.
So I only have a single data point - since we buy most of our movies from the corner video store for $0.87 USD about 2 weeks after they come out - but data point seems to indicate that the movie going experience in Shanghai is a little more expensive and a little more orderly than in the US.
I did notice that the theater was 80% empty... I imagine it's hard to compete with the $0.87 USD movie stores on the corner when you are charging $14 USD... or perhaps there was not a lot of local interest in 'Monsters vs. Aliens'... but my kids loved it!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Amelia Jane Update
All,
It's been a few weeks since we updated you on Amelia Jane's progress. She has struggled with gaining weight over her first month, not getting back to her birth weight over that time - normally they like to see infants back to birth weight by the 10 day mark or at least within 2 weeks.
So numerous doctor appointments, weight checks, visits from the hospital mid-wife and a visit with someone from Le Leche League (spelling and naming possibly incorrect) we have settled on the follow root cause / diagnosis for the weight issues... This child is too much like her father... The consensus is 'impatient and lazy'. :)
It seems that she has a 'weak suck'. This means that she doesn't get fed at the rate she would like from breast feeding so over the last week we have focused on giving her bottles of expressed/pumped breast milk and supplementing with formula only when she needs it.
After a weight check today at exactly the 4 week mark, the results are in, and... SUCCESS! She gained 500g over the last 7 days - roughly 1 pound. Big sighs of relief from Mom and Dad and Pediatrician.
So in terms of a more general update - things are going OK. She is a better sleeper than the first two kids were... but still seems to save the highest pitched screaming for whenever Dad happens to be on duty. She's up every 2-3 hours at night still, but does a reasonable job of going back to sleep fairly quickly.
I've been working an offset schedule of sorts, to align my day with as much of the US day as possible, so I am usually at work by 6am, but gives me the chance to get home at a reasonable time to help out in the late afternoons. It still means that many mornings Steph is trying to juggle feeding the baby, pumping, getting Olivia ready for school, breakfast and to the bus, all the while making sure Gigi is taken care of as well... I swear my job seems less complex some days.
I returned to the golf course over the last few weeks, playing a round on the holiday here last week and then again this last Saturday. I am as inconsistent as you would expect for playing as infrequently as I do. I'll be honest - any chance to play right now, regardless of what I shoot is a gift that I treasure.
I'll be back in the US for a rare business trip for a couple weeks spanning the last week of April and first week of May. I have a short term assignment working on a pilot program for the next 2-3 months before we return home and I take my sabbatical. I'll be using the trip to both meet face to face the broader program team and host a Map Day (all day long planning meeting) for the pilot. I'll also use the trip to meet the members of my permanent team which I'll be joining in September when I return from sabbatical.
Working for a 100% US based team from PRC is challenging - more so than I thought it would be... but the reality of having a newborn in the house makes it 100% clear to me that moving home any sooner than we have planned would be damned near impossible!
Easter was really laid back this year. Kids woke up really early to hunt what was left by the Easter Bunny the previous night. We didn't make it to church, as the timing of the English service conflicted with both older kids naps, as well as the napping, feeding and pumping schedule of the newest addition. Only partially related to the scheduling of the English service, it'll be so nice to get back home to our home church!
Hoping you all had a wonderful Easter holiday and are seeing the consistent signs of Spring where ever you are!
Cheers,
Joe
It's been a few weeks since we updated you on Amelia Jane's progress. She has struggled with gaining weight over her first month, not getting back to her birth weight over that time - normally they like to see infants back to birth weight by the 10 day mark or at least within 2 weeks.
So numerous doctor appointments, weight checks, visits from the hospital mid-wife and a visit with someone from Le Leche League (spelling and naming possibly incorrect) we have settled on the follow root cause / diagnosis for the weight issues... This child is too much like her father... The consensus is 'impatient and lazy'. :)
It seems that she has a 'weak suck'. This means that she doesn't get fed at the rate she would like from breast feeding so over the last week we have focused on giving her bottles of expressed/pumped breast milk and supplementing with formula only when she needs it.
After a weight check today at exactly the 4 week mark, the results are in, and... SUCCESS! She gained 500g over the last 7 days - roughly 1 pound. Big sighs of relief from Mom and Dad and Pediatrician.
So in terms of a more general update - things are going OK. She is a better sleeper than the first two kids were... but still seems to save the highest pitched screaming for whenever Dad happens to be on duty. She's up every 2-3 hours at night still, but does a reasonable job of going back to sleep fairly quickly.
I've been working an offset schedule of sorts, to align my day with as much of the US day as possible, so I am usually at work by 6am, but gives me the chance to get home at a reasonable time to help out in the late afternoons. It still means that many mornings Steph is trying to juggle feeding the baby, pumping, getting Olivia ready for school, breakfast and to the bus, all the while making sure Gigi is taken care of as well... I swear my job seems less complex some days.
I returned to the golf course over the last few weeks, playing a round on the holiday here last week and then again this last Saturday. I am as inconsistent as you would expect for playing as infrequently as I do. I'll be honest - any chance to play right now, regardless of what I shoot is a gift that I treasure.
I'll be back in the US for a rare business trip for a couple weeks spanning the last week of April and first week of May. I have a short term assignment working on a pilot program for the next 2-3 months before we return home and I take my sabbatical. I'll be using the trip to both meet face to face the broader program team and host a Map Day (all day long planning meeting) for the pilot. I'll also use the trip to meet the members of my permanent team which I'll be joining in September when I return from sabbatical.
Working for a 100% US based team from PRC is challenging - more so than I thought it would be... but the reality of having a newborn in the house makes it 100% clear to me that moving home any sooner than we have planned would be damned near impossible!
Easter was really laid back this year. Kids woke up really early to hunt what was left by the Easter Bunny the previous night. We didn't make it to church, as the timing of the English service conflicted with both older kids naps, as well as the napping, feeding and pumping schedule of the newest addition. Only partially related to the scheduling of the English service, it'll be so nice to get back home to our home church!
Hoping you all had a wonderful Easter holiday and are seeing the consistent signs of Spring where ever you are!
Cheers,
Joe
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
What’s different about having a baby in China, you ask?
OK, so maybe you didn’t ask, but the beautiful thing about Blogs and Facebook notes is you don’t have to read them if you are not interested!
Steph and I were taking mental notes throughout our time in the hospital about everything that was different between our delivery in China and our delivery in the US. So this post will review some of our ‘birth story’ in a means to highlight some of the crazy (and mundane) differences between the two. For my male friends who saw ‘birth story’ and quickly closed out the window on their PC – rest assured, this was written by a man – there will be no details which you’ll find uncomfortable!
Chinese ‘Privacy’ Expectations
We had a regularly scheduled doctor appointment on Friday morning. The location of the birthing unit is directly connected to the doctor’s office. The operating room that they use for C sections is upstairs. We are sitting in the waiting room before our appointment, and a couple of orderlies come off the elevator, pushing a woman that is unconscious or asleep or embarrassed enough to act asleep, out of the elevator, through the waiting room and into the birthing center. This would not normally be that big a deal, except that they have a blanket over her that only covers up her topside from neck to feet, not her completely naked sides. Privacy has its own application here in PRC – even in western clinics! We’ve become desensitized to these things, because all we did was look at each other and shake our heads… TIC (This Is China).
The Oddest Paper I Have Ever Had to Sign
This might be the only part of the birth story that the guys I referenced earlier might want to skip over. But now that I have said that, I expect it’s like a car wreck – they really don’t want to look (read, in this case), but they can’t help themselves. As the mom’s (and women) reading this know, after mom gives birth to the baby, she delivers the placenta. Along with some admissions paperwork (that I had to fill out for both the mom and the yet to arrive baby) I had to sign a piece of paper that allowed the hospital to take some of our ‘personal property’. It seems that in China, the woman’s placenta is considered ‘personal property’ and many of the woman choose to have it bagged up/bottled up (honestly, I don’t know how the hell you would transport it) for them to take with them. Evidently it’s popular (if that’s the right word) for the family (especially grandparents) to eat a bite of the placenta after the birth. The placenta being so rich in nutrients for the baby it is thought to be good luck for the family to partake in at least a bite. Needless to say, we signed away our right to leave with the placenta… just the baby thanks!
The Room
We checked into the hospital about 10:30pm on Friday the 13th. Steph was hooked up to all the appropriate monitors, and while ‘the monitoring’ progressed we were struck by the size of the room we were in. There weren’t many people in the Labor and Delivery section that night, so I know we got one of the larger rooms as opposed to the smaller rooms, but this room as at least 30-40% larger than the delivery room in the US. And in the US we were moved from the delivery room to the ‘post partum’ room very quickly. Here we stayed in the same room for the entire delivery and it was at least 2x the size of the US post partum room. Of specific note to Stephanie was the size of the bathroom – which was larger than at least 2 of the bathrooms in our home in Portland!
The other nice thing about the room, due in large part to its size, was that the couch was actually a hide a bed. This meant that although sleep would be in short bursts, it would be more comfortable for dad than the ‘plastic couches’ that were in the rooms in Portland. That being said, I would have preferred the plastic cushions from a cleanliness perspective.
Speaking of cleanliness of the room – it was more clean than the rest of the office. However, it was still not as clean or kept as clean (like maintenance – i.e. removing meal trays, etc) as what we experience in the US.
The Lie and the Medical Chart
The doctor that was going to deliver us was not our primary OB. We had a regular scheduled appointment earlier in the day with our primary OB and she explained how she had pretty much been awake all night with a couple other deliveries. So when we checked in and it became clear this would be the second straight all-nighter for the doctor, we just let the OB on call (who Steph had seen previously) manage the delivery.
While ‘the monitoring’ continued, the nurse came in and explained that they wanted to take some blood from Steph to test for coagulation for the epidural. We explained that this was not necessary, that since an epidural was a part of the birth plan from the start (as it was with Olivia and Genevieve) and our doctor had already taken blood a week or two earlier, so this was done, and to check the chart. That’s when the nurse said ‘well, we can’t find your chart’. To say the least, we were a little uneasy about this. It seemed that they had all the nurses (4-5 of them) as well as the doctor searching for the chart. We explained that we had just been here earlier in the day for an appointment. It seemed to make no difference; the chart was nowhere to be found. I told the nurse that she needed to find the chart, and that she needed to call and wake up our doctor to find it.
Then the on call doctor came in to explain why the blood test was needed – not the real reason: they lost the chart – but the medical reason: the coagulation test. We explained that we knew what the test was for, that is was already done, and that she needed to find our chart – the test results only being a part of the issue we had! I said ‘I told the nurse to call Dr. Ferguson (our doctor) and find out where the chart is’. This is when the doctor looked me straight in the eye and said ‘We did. She doesn’t know where it is either.’
We acquiesced to the blood test – which of course we knew we were going to do from the start, as the epidural has always been a central part of the birth plan. When they left the room, Steph and I looked at each other and knew they had not called Doctor Ferguson. The next morning when Doctor Ferguson came to see us she said ‘I was surprised when I got here this morning and they told me you delivered last night! You did not call me.’ Our suspicions were confirmed. We didn’t tattle at this point, but we would do so later, since Dr. Ferguson is the head of OB, we thought it important for her to know.
While Steph and I have become accustom to a lot of differences between the US and China, this new one – the fact that they would progress with a major medical procedure, that was not emergency related without a medical chart – did actually surprise us greatly, and concern us a little.
Steph gave them a quick verbal medical history to get them up to speed on what she thought were the most important items from previous pregnancies, and that was that. Now it’s important to note that Amelia did not show herself until nearly 8 hours later, and still no chart was ever produced. Finally, after the delivery, I saw the doctor updating the chart, so it was found at some point.
The Epidural
The interesting thing about the epidural here in PRC was that it is considered ‘a walking epidural’. This seems to have two differences from our previous experiences. One, it is not as strong, and as can be assumed from the name, theoretically the woman could get up and walk to the bathroom if needed. With Olivia, Steph remembers not being able to feel ‘from her boobs to her toes’. With Genevieve it was not that strong, but still she could not walk. The second interesting thing is that it is ‘self administered’. This means there is a very small constant dose of medicine being delivered, but that the patient can press a button and get an ‘extra shot’ of medicine every 15 minutes. They have determined through studies that women actually use less medicine this way.
Now, the epidural worked as advertised for almost the entire pregnancy… almost. About 20 minutes prior to delivery – it wore off. Needless to say, no one in the Welsh family was happy about this, primarily mom. I think even Olivia and Genevieve were in a bad mood when they woke up, but didn’t know why! Steph did a little screaming/yelling during delivery, but luckily, this being the third baby, there were only 2 pushes required. One small funny story about the yelling was that the couple in the room next to us were in for their first child and were a little uneasy about the upcoming delivery based on what they heard from our room. They ended up in a C Section after nearly 24 hours of pushing, so I think they got passed the concern about our yelling very quickly.
The Food
Hospital food in the US has a certain reputation… and it’s not good. The interesting thing about the birthing center was that the meals were ordered in from local restaurants: one western and one Chinese. Every day Steph was offered a western and Chinese choice for each meal and the hospital ordered in. So the food was not great, but it wasn’t terrible either. One weird thing was that the first meal Steph had, we had missed the standard order time based on when we arrived, so they gave her the delivery menu from the local western restaurant (Element Fresh – a place we actually enjoy eating). Steph picked something basic, a club sandwich maybe. They then returned to explain that they only paid up to 40 RMB for the meal, and since Steph picked an item that was 58 RMB we would have to pay them the 18 RMB before we checked out!
In the US hospital we delivered in, there were a lot of snacks (popsicles I remember distinctly and maybe ice cream?) and drinks for mom and dad. Not so here in China. There was a small ‘dorm sized’ refrigerator in the room, but it was empty. Apple and/or orange juice could be requested and brought from a locked up room on the floor. There was nothing in the way of snacks. Luckily Steph had, in the way she does, thought way ahead and had snacks already packed in her hospital bag. One of the surprising things was that they offered ‘cold’ water – which was just slightly below room temperature. This is very ‘not Chinese’… evidently childbirth is the one activity that allows ‘cool water’ is childbirth!
Staffing and Staff Actions
First of all, it’s important to note that at no time did we feel like the education or the skills of the people in the birthing center were inadequate. I can’t say the same for the English skills (which I’ll get to later), but the medical skills were just fine. Here are some of our observations about staffing.
The parade of nurses… In the US it seemed that the nurses were always coming into the room – constantly. It was annoying, especially on the first night, the only night in the hospital everyone (mom and baby and dad) seem to be able to sleep. We remember lots of blood pressure checks for mom, and lots of general ‘in and out’ throughout the stay in the hospital. Our recollection of this was generally negative. China is the other end of the spectrum. Unless you call them – especially a family like us with 2 other kids at home – they generally leave you alone. We feel like we know what the happy medium is – at least for us. Being left alone on night 1 was great; no one in and out all the time to check on things. However, as the stay continued, it would have been nice to be checked on a little more frequently. Especially since Amelia was having trouble being woken up. We had to set the alarm to get up to do the feedings every few hours, as she was content to sleep. Even after we spent 30+ minutes waking her up, she would easily fall asleep while nursing. This was not the experience we had with either of the first two girls. It would have been nice to have someone checking a little more frequently then.
The shift change… When we did see nurses we tended to see a lot of them at one time. It seems that the standard operating procedure for ‘shift change’ is that every nurse on duty, including those leaving shift and those coming on shift – even if they seemed to be assigned to other patients, was required to come into the room together, one of the nurses announcing ‘shift change’, ogle over the baby momentarily (not actually check anything) and then leave. This shift change was very strange to us, being used, in the US, to our assigned nurse coming in and actually introducing the newly assigned nurse personally and then the two of them leaving the room.
The non-English speaking neonatologist… I am sure this woman was completely competent, but her English skills were extremely poor. It was the only person on the staff that we really had communication issues with. Everyone else’s English was good to very good. The issue we had was with Amelia sleeping so much, we were concerned about what that meant… surely there must be something wrong with a sleeping baby (it’s almost absurd to write it down now). I was specifically concerned about the weight loss… it’s normal for babies to lose weight after birth and before they go home, but they don’t want them losing more than 10%. We tried to talk to the neonatologist about both the sleeping and the weight, but weren’t getting anywhere, so we had to call in a nurse to translate. This was a frustrating point for us. As long as things seemed to be going according to plan, we were OK with her, but when it took a longer conversation, specifically about some concerns, and we couldn’t do it, we were easily upset. It all worked out in the end!
Chubby is a good thing… I am a little sensitive about this, but growing up, I had to wear ‘Husky’ jeans. You might not know this if you weren’t a chubby kid, but they had sizes when I was a kid that were meant to be easier on a kid’s ego. Instead of ‘fat pants’ or ‘large’ they called them ‘Husky’. Amelia was 8 pounds, 10 ounces at birth (3935 grams) – which is big by Chinese standards. When the midwife asked what her name was and we said ‘Amelia’ she just started calling her ‘chubby baby’ and ‘chubby’, which she did for the remainder of our stay. As it turns out, this is just a ‘pet name’ for the Chinese, and meant to be a kind thing to say… being ‘chubby baby’ is a good thing. Man, could I have used this story when I was a kid! The other funny story is that our OB (who is the head of OB for the hospital) was in talking with us, and we were telling a story about the midwife, and she said ‘oh, you mean the chubby one?’ Wow, were we surprised. The first thing we both tried to say as soon as the doctor left was, ‘you’d never get away with that in the US!’
Chinese inefficiency… There have been plenty of stories on my and Stephanie’s blogs about Chinese inefficiency. How could we have imagined having a baby in China and not find another example? This one revolves around the testing that is or is not done in China and the vaccinations that can and cannot be completed. Every person we talked to gave us different answers. One of the standard tests in the US at birth is the ‘PKU’ or commonly known as ‘the heel prick’, where they take a small amount of blood and put it on a card for testing – this is done almost immediately after birth in the US. We were told by the pediatrician that we met with a few weeks ago that this was not done in China. Steph went to a prenatal class to ‘brush up’ and to learn what to expect differently here. The class was given by a couple of midwives who said that the test was done here. Then during the hospital stay we asked about the visit that was supposed to be made by the pediatrician. It was explained that the pediatrician was on medical leave (and again with the privacy issues in PRC) for a heart disease. When we asked about seeing another pediatrician we were told there was not another one on duty. The in hospital visit by the pediatrician is a standard part of US births (based on what we are familiar with), but here, evidently optional.
We had a question about the vaccinations (since there are both Chinese made vaccinations as well as imported vaccinations from the UK). They asked a family doctor to come in and talk to us, since there was no pediatrician available. He did a good job of talking through the vaccination options with us (we ordered ours in from the UK). We asked again about the ‘heal prick’ test. He said ‘they don’t do that in China’. Shortly after he left our room, he returned and said, ‘well, actually, they do the ‘heal prick’ test here in PRC, I just don’t normally work OB, so I didn’t know’. What amazes us is that it’s not clear if we would have had this done had we not asked again… or would we have been ready to leave and have them rushing to complete this at the last minute? Either way, it got done – that’s good news.
Visitors
In the US there seems to be a steady stream of visitors when you are in the hospital. Being an expat in PRC is different. Maybe it’s that we have a smaller group of close friends, maybe it’s the complexity in some of friends lives right now, maybe it’s the difficulty of getting to the hospital for what is going to be a very short visit, but for sure it’s the lack of real family in China. It’s not good or bad, just an observation – and by no means were we concerned or did we feel slighted or offended – we don’t want our Shanghai friends to feel judged, nor is the intention for US friends to feel sorry for us – we didn’t expect many visitors.
Almost everyone plans on visiting once we get settled in at home. I think they believe (and correctly to some extent) that managing the international delivery experience is complicated enough without the additional stress of visitors.
The funny thing is the one set of friends that did come visit are a couple that we used to joke about if we had moved beyond acquaintances to friends, and now tease us that we are ‘dead to them’ since we are repatriating…
The Departure
Communication… In the US it seems to be very cut and dried about when you leave the hospital. Vaginal delivery = 2 days; C Section = 5 days. We were estimating our departure date as Monday, since we delivered on Saturday morning at 6:18am. When the on call OB came in on Monday morning (a different on call OB than the one that delivered us) she asked us ‘if we wanted to leave today’. It was weird. Not sure if it was the Chinese lack of being direct… not sure if it was just translation issues, as her primary language is Chinese. But the lack of clear direction and communication was weird.
Chinese Birth Certificate… OK, there’s no real story here, but it’s weird to look at our child’s first birth certificate and see that it’s an official Chinese government document. Note: there is no dual citizenship with China. They give us the birth certificate only so we can get US birth abroad documentation to get a passport. Amelia is a ‘natural born citizen’ as defined by the Supreme Court since she was born to American citizens, even if it was in China – so she can run for President one day… at least this is my understanding!
Goody Bag… They give us a goody bag of thing when we left the hospital, similar to the US. The primary difference is the make-up of the items in the good bag. In the US you leave with reams of paperwork. Paperwork on the baby blues, breast feeding, resource numbers, organizations you can contact, and the ‘this side up’ onesie and the hat. In China the relationship of ‘stuff’ to paperwork is the opposite. The goody bag had a very nice Gymboree onesie… I looked at it and was surprised they handed out Gymboree, since it’s so expensive… then Steph pointed out and I realized this was closer to Jim-Boree than Gymboree. There was also a Disney baby clothes hamper, closer to Diz-Nee than Disney. They also sent home the remainder of the Pampers (actual pampers) and Johnson’s Baby wipes, along with the first thermometer they used on her. Which will only ever be used for her, considering it is a rectal thermometer, and she deposited meconium all over it during its first use!
Car Seat Check… In the US they insure that no baby leaves the hospital without a proper car seat check. Not so here in PRC. So many people take taxi’s home, or walk that car seats are not common practice. Also, in PRC in general, they don’t get used, even if you do have a car. There was a question about it in Steph’s pre-natal class and the official communication from the hospital was ‘hold the baby in the car/taxi on the way home’. Steph and the other folks from Europe all cringed.
Held Up for Cash… The very last item was checking out at the business office, which should have been a piece of cake. Our insurance covers labor and delivery 100%. The business office, however, indicated they needed a 10% co-payment to settle the bill. We had been paying 10% of all our bills to this point, but I and checked in advance and confirmed the 100% coverage. I knew if I parted with my $800 USD and had to try to get it back from either a Chinese hospital or an US insurance company, it would happen sometime between a really long time and never!
So we’re home now. It’s day 2 and things are going well. Amelia is easier to wake up, Steph’s milk is in, and she’s fussy and does not want to be put down at night (Amelia, not Steph)… sounds like a normal baby to me!
Hope this finds you all well!
Cheers,
Joe
Steph and I were taking mental notes throughout our time in the hospital about everything that was different between our delivery in China and our delivery in the US. So this post will review some of our ‘birth story’ in a means to highlight some of the crazy (and mundane) differences between the two. For my male friends who saw ‘birth story’ and quickly closed out the window on their PC – rest assured, this was written by a man – there will be no details which you’ll find uncomfortable!
Chinese ‘Privacy’ Expectations
We had a regularly scheduled doctor appointment on Friday morning. The location of the birthing unit is directly connected to the doctor’s office. The operating room that they use for C sections is upstairs. We are sitting in the waiting room before our appointment, and a couple of orderlies come off the elevator, pushing a woman that is unconscious or asleep or embarrassed enough to act asleep, out of the elevator, through the waiting room and into the birthing center. This would not normally be that big a deal, except that they have a blanket over her that only covers up her topside from neck to feet, not her completely naked sides. Privacy has its own application here in PRC – even in western clinics! We’ve become desensitized to these things, because all we did was look at each other and shake our heads… TIC (This Is China).
The Oddest Paper I Have Ever Had to Sign
This might be the only part of the birth story that the guys I referenced earlier might want to skip over. But now that I have said that, I expect it’s like a car wreck – they really don’t want to look (read, in this case), but they can’t help themselves. As the mom’s (and women) reading this know, after mom gives birth to the baby, she delivers the placenta. Along with some admissions paperwork (that I had to fill out for both the mom and the yet to arrive baby) I had to sign a piece of paper that allowed the hospital to take some of our ‘personal property’. It seems that in China, the woman’s placenta is considered ‘personal property’ and many of the woman choose to have it bagged up/bottled up (honestly, I don’t know how the hell you would transport it) for them to take with them. Evidently it’s popular (if that’s the right word) for the family (especially grandparents) to eat a bite of the placenta after the birth. The placenta being so rich in nutrients for the baby it is thought to be good luck for the family to partake in at least a bite. Needless to say, we signed away our right to leave with the placenta… just the baby thanks!
The Room
We checked into the hospital about 10:30pm on Friday the 13th. Steph was hooked up to all the appropriate monitors, and while ‘the monitoring’ progressed we were struck by the size of the room we were in. There weren’t many people in the Labor and Delivery section that night, so I know we got one of the larger rooms as opposed to the smaller rooms, but this room as at least 30-40% larger than the delivery room in the US. And in the US we were moved from the delivery room to the ‘post partum’ room very quickly. Here we stayed in the same room for the entire delivery and it was at least 2x the size of the US post partum room. Of specific note to Stephanie was the size of the bathroom – which was larger than at least 2 of the bathrooms in our home in Portland!
The other nice thing about the room, due in large part to its size, was that the couch was actually a hide a bed. This meant that although sleep would be in short bursts, it would be more comfortable for dad than the ‘plastic couches’ that were in the rooms in Portland. That being said, I would have preferred the plastic cushions from a cleanliness perspective.
Speaking of cleanliness of the room – it was more clean than the rest of the office. However, it was still not as clean or kept as clean (like maintenance – i.e. removing meal trays, etc) as what we experience in the US.
The Lie and the Medical Chart
The doctor that was going to deliver us was not our primary OB. We had a regular scheduled appointment earlier in the day with our primary OB and she explained how she had pretty much been awake all night with a couple other deliveries. So when we checked in and it became clear this would be the second straight all-nighter for the doctor, we just let the OB on call (who Steph had seen previously) manage the delivery.
While ‘the monitoring’ continued, the nurse came in and explained that they wanted to take some blood from Steph to test for coagulation for the epidural. We explained that this was not necessary, that since an epidural was a part of the birth plan from the start (as it was with Olivia and Genevieve) and our doctor had already taken blood a week or two earlier, so this was done, and to check the chart. That’s when the nurse said ‘well, we can’t find your chart’. To say the least, we were a little uneasy about this. It seemed that they had all the nurses (4-5 of them) as well as the doctor searching for the chart. We explained that we had just been here earlier in the day for an appointment. It seemed to make no difference; the chart was nowhere to be found. I told the nurse that she needed to find the chart, and that she needed to call and wake up our doctor to find it.
Then the on call doctor came in to explain why the blood test was needed – not the real reason: they lost the chart – but the medical reason: the coagulation test. We explained that we knew what the test was for, that is was already done, and that she needed to find our chart – the test results only being a part of the issue we had! I said ‘I told the nurse to call Dr. Ferguson (our doctor) and find out where the chart is’. This is when the doctor looked me straight in the eye and said ‘We did. She doesn’t know where it is either.’
We acquiesced to the blood test – which of course we knew we were going to do from the start, as the epidural has always been a central part of the birth plan. When they left the room, Steph and I looked at each other and knew they had not called Doctor Ferguson. The next morning when Doctor Ferguson came to see us she said ‘I was surprised when I got here this morning and they told me you delivered last night! You did not call me.’ Our suspicions were confirmed. We didn’t tattle at this point, but we would do so later, since Dr. Ferguson is the head of OB, we thought it important for her to know.
While Steph and I have become accustom to a lot of differences between the US and China, this new one – the fact that they would progress with a major medical procedure, that was not emergency related without a medical chart – did actually surprise us greatly, and concern us a little.
Steph gave them a quick verbal medical history to get them up to speed on what she thought were the most important items from previous pregnancies, and that was that. Now it’s important to note that Amelia did not show herself until nearly 8 hours later, and still no chart was ever produced. Finally, after the delivery, I saw the doctor updating the chart, so it was found at some point.
The Epidural
The interesting thing about the epidural here in PRC was that it is considered ‘a walking epidural’. This seems to have two differences from our previous experiences. One, it is not as strong, and as can be assumed from the name, theoretically the woman could get up and walk to the bathroom if needed. With Olivia, Steph remembers not being able to feel ‘from her boobs to her toes’. With Genevieve it was not that strong, but still she could not walk. The second interesting thing is that it is ‘self administered’. This means there is a very small constant dose of medicine being delivered, but that the patient can press a button and get an ‘extra shot’ of medicine every 15 minutes. They have determined through studies that women actually use less medicine this way.
Now, the epidural worked as advertised for almost the entire pregnancy… almost. About 20 minutes prior to delivery – it wore off. Needless to say, no one in the Welsh family was happy about this, primarily mom. I think even Olivia and Genevieve were in a bad mood when they woke up, but didn’t know why! Steph did a little screaming/yelling during delivery, but luckily, this being the third baby, there were only 2 pushes required. One small funny story about the yelling was that the couple in the room next to us were in for their first child and were a little uneasy about the upcoming delivery based on what they heard from our room. They ended up in a C Section after nearly 24 hours of pushing, so I think they got passed the concern about our yelling very quickly.
The Food
Hospital food in the US has a certain reputation… and it’s not good. The interesting thing about the birthing center was that the meals were ordered in from local restaurants: one western and one Chinese. Every day Steph was offered a western and Chinese choice for each meal and the hospital ordered in. So the food was not great, but it wasn’t terrible either. One weird thing was that the first meal Steph had, we had missed the standard order time based on when we arrived, so they gave her the delivery menu from the local western restaurant (Element Fresh – a place we actually enjoy eating). Steph picked something basic, a club sandwich maybe. They then returned to explain that they only paid up to 40 RMB for the meal, and since Steph picked an item that was 58 RMB we would have to pay them the 18 RMB before we checked out!
In the US hospital we delivered in, there were a lot of snacks (popsicles I remember distinctly and maybe ice cream?) and drinks for mom and dad. Not so here in China. There was a small ‘dorm sized’ refrigerator in the room, but it was empty. Apple and/or orange juice could be requested and brought from a locked up room on the floor. There was nothing in the way of snacks. Luckily Steph had, in the way she does, thought way ahead and had snacks already packed in her hospital bag. One of the surprising things was that they offered ‘cold’ water – which was just slightly below room temperature. This is very ‘not Chinese’… evidently childbirth is the one activity that allows ‘cool water’ is childbirth!
Staffing and Staff Actions
First of all, it’s important to note that at no time did we feel like the education or the skills of the people in the birthing center were inadequate. I can’t say the same for the English skills (which I’ll get to later), but the medical skills were just fine. Here are some of our observations about staffing.
The parade of nurses… In the US it seemed that the nurses were always coming into the room – constantly. It was annoying, especially on the first night, the only night in the hospital everyone (mom and baby and dad) seem to be able to sleep. We remember lots of blood pressure checks for mom, and lots of general ‘in and out’ throughout the stay in the hospital. Our recollection of this was generally negative. China is the other end of the spectrum. Unless you call them – especially a family like us with 2 other kids at home – they generally leave you alone. We feel like we know what the happy medium is – at least for us. Being left alone on night 1 was great; no one in and out all the time to check on things. However, as the stay continued, it would have been nice to be checked on a little more frequently. Especially since Amelia was having trouble being woken up. We had to set the alarm to get up to do the feedings every few hours, as she was content to sleep. Even after we spent 30+ minutes waking her up, she would easily fall asleep while nursing. This was not the experience we had with either of the first two girls. It would have been nice to have someone checking a little more frequently then.
The shift change… When we did see nurses we tended to see a lot of them at one time. It seems that the standard operating procedure for ‘shift change’ is that every nurse on duty, including those leaving shift and those coming on shift – even if they seemed to be assigned to other patients, was required to come into the room together, one of the nurses announcing ‘shift change’, ogle over the baby momentarily (not actually check anything) and then leave. This shift change was very strange to us, being used, in the US, to our assigned nurse coming in and actually introducing the newly assigned nurse personally and then the two of them leaving the room.
The non-English speaking neonatologist… I am sure this woman was completely competent, but her English skills were extremely poor. It was the only person on the staff that we really had communication issues with. Everyone else’s English was good to very good. The issue we had was with Amelia sleeping so much, we were concerned about what that meant… surely there must be something wrong with a sleeping baby (it’s almost absurd to write it down now). I was specifically concerned about the weight loss… it’s normal for babies to lose weight after birth and before they go home, but they don’t want them losing more than 10%. We tried to talk to the neonatologist about both the sleeping and the weight, but weren’t getting anywhere, so we had to call in a nurse to translate. This was a frustrating point for us. As long as things seemed to be going according to plan, we were OK with her, but when it took a longer conversation, specifically about some concerns, and we couldn’t do it, we were easily upset. It all worked out in the end!
Chubby is a good thing… I am a little sensitive about this, but growing up, I had to wear ‘Husky’ jeans. You might not know this if you weren’t a chubby kid, but they had sizes when I was a kid that were meant to be easier on a kid’s ego. Instead of ‘fat pants’ or ‘large’ they called them ‘Husky’. Amelia was 8 pounds, 10 ounces at birth (3935 grams) – which is big by Chinese standards. When the midwife asked what her name was and we said ‘Amelia’ she just started calling her ‘chubby baby’ and ‘chubby’, which she did for the remainder of our stay. As it turns out, this is just a ‘pet name’ for the Chinese, and meant to be a kind thing to say… being ‘chubby baby’ is a good thing. Man, could I have used this story when I was a kid! The other funny story is that our OB (who is the head of OB for the hospital) was in talking with us, and we were telling a story about the midwife, and she said ‘oh, you mean the chubby one?’ Wow, were we surprised. The first thing we both tried to say as soon as the doctor left was, ‘you’d never get away with that in the US!’
Chinese inefficiency… There have been plenty of stories on my and Stephanie’s blogs about Chinese inefficiency. How could we have imagined having a baby in China and not find another example? This one revolves around the testing that is or is not done in China and the vaccinations that can and cannot be completed. Every person we talked to gave us different answers. One of the standard tests in the US at birth is the ‘PKU’ or commonly known as ‘the heel prick’, where they take a small amount of blood and put it on a card for testing – this is done almost immediately after birth in the US. We were told by the pediatrician that we met with a few weeks ago that this was not done in China. Steph went to a prenatal class to ‘brush up’ and to learn what to expect differently here. The class was given by a couple of midwives who said that the test was done here. Then during the hospital stay we asked about the visit that was supposed to be made by the pediatrician. It was explained that the pediatrician was on medical leave (and again with the privacy issues in PRC) for a heart disease. When we asked about seeing another pediatrician we were told there was not another one on duty. The in hospital visit by the pediatrician is a standard part of US births (based on what we are familiar with), but here, evidently optional.
We had a question about the vaccinations (since there are both Chinese made vaccinations as well as imported vaccinations from the UK). They asked a family doctor to come in and talk to us, since there was no pediatrician available. He did a good job of talking through the vaccination options with us (we ordered ours in from the UK). We asked again about the ‘heal prick’ test. He said ‘they don’t do that in China’. Shortly after he left our room, he returned and said, ‘well, actually, they do the ‘heal prick’ test here in PRC, I just don’t normally work OB, so I didn’t know’. What amazes us is that it’s not clear if we would have had this done had we not asked again… or would we have been ready to leave and have them rushing to complete this at the last minute? Either way, it got done – that’s good news.
Visitors
In the US there seems to be a steady stream of visitors when you are in the hospital. Being an expat in PRC is different. Maybe it’s that we have a smaller group of close friends, maybe it’s the complexity in some of friends lives right now, maybe it’s the difficulty of getting to the hospital for what is going to be a very short visit, but for sure it’s the lack of real family in China. It’s not good or bad, just an observation – and by no means were we concerned or did we feel slighted or offended – we don’t want our Shanghai friends to feel judged, nor is the intention for US friends to feel sorry for us – we didn’t expect many visitors.
Almost everyone plans on visiting once we get settled in at home. I think they believe (and correctly to some extent) that managing the international delivery experience is complicated enough without the additional stress of visitors.
The funny thing is the one set of friends that did come visit are a couple that we used to joke about if we had moved beyond acquaintances to friends, and now tease us that we are ‘dead to them’ since we are repatriating…
The Departure
Communication… In the US it seems to be very cut and dried about when you leave the hospital. Vaginal delivery = 2 days; C Section = 5 days. We were estimating our departure date as Monday, since we delivered on Saturday morning at 6:18am. When the on call OB came in on Monday morning (a different on call OB than the one that delivered us) she asked us ‘if we wanted to leave today’. It was weird. Not sure if it was the Chinese lack of being direct… not sure if it was just translation issues, as her primary language is Chinese. But the lack of clear direction and communication was weird.
Chinese Birth Certificate… OK, there’s no real story here, but it’s weird to look at our child’s first birth certificate and see that it’s an official Chinese government document. Note: there is no dual citizenship with China. They give us the birth certificate only so we can get US birth abroad documentation to get a passport. Amelia is a ‘natural born citizen’ as defined by the Supreme Court since she was born to American citizens, even if it was in China – so she can run for President one day… at least this is my understanding!
Goody Bag… They give us a goody bag of thing when we left the hospital, similar to the US. The primary difference is the make-up of the items in the good bag. In the US you leave with reams of paperwork. Paperwork on the baby blues, breast feeding, resource numbers, organizations you can contact, and the ‘this side up’ onesie and the hat. In China the relationship of ‘stuff’ to paperwork is the opposite. The goody bag had a very nice Gymboree onesie… I looked at it and was surprised they handed out Gymboree, since it’s so expensive… then Steph pointed out and I realized this was closer to Jim-Boree than Gymboree. There was also a Disney baby clothes hamper, closer to Diz-Nee than Disney. They also sent home the remainder of the Pampers (actual pampers) and Johnson’s Baby wipes, along with the first thermometer they used on her. Which will only ever be used for her, considering it is a rectal thermometer, and she deposited meconium all over it during its first use!
Car Seat Check… In the US they insure that no baby leaves the hospital without a proper car seat check. Not so here in PRC. So many people take taxi’s home, or walk that car seats are not common practice. Also, in PRC in general, they don’t get used, even if you do have a car. There was a question about it in Steph’s pre-natal class and the official communication from the hospital was ‘hold the baby in the car/taxi on the way home’. Steph and the other folks from Europe all cringed.
Held Up for Cash… The very last item was checking out at the business office, which should have been a piece of cake. Our insurance covers labor and delivery 100%. The business office, however, indicated they needed a 10% co-payment to settle the bill. We had been paying 10% of all our bills to this point, but I and checked in advance and confirmed the 100% coverage. I knew if I parted with my $800 USD and had to try to get it back from either a Chinese hospital or an US insurance company, it would happen sometime between a really long time and never!
So we’re home now. It’s day 2 and things are going well. Amelia is easier to wake up, Steph’s milk is in, and she’s fussy and does not want to be put down at night (Amelia, not Steph)… sounds like a normal baby to me!
Hope this finds you all well!
Cheers,
Joe
Saturday, March 14, 2009
21st Century Birth Announcement - Amelia Jane Welsh
All,
A dinner party was cut short Friday night when Stephanie asked me to stop drinking wine and start timing contractions. About 30 minutes later, after timing contractions separated by anywhere from 4 to 10 minutes, we were on the phone with the doctor. Upon learning that this was our third baby, not our first, the doctor advised that we come directly to the hospital.
This addressed my greatest fear about having a baby in China – the speed with which third babies are reputed to arrive and the prospect of delivering in part or in whole in a taxi or minivan. We checked into the hospital at 10:30pm and proceeded to wait for the baby to arrive. Stephanie was having productive contractions moving toward delivery, but at a much slower pace than one might expect with a third baby. Finally at ~4:00am they administered oxytocin to ‘move things along’.
And at 6:18am, Amelia joined the family! After getting settled in to some extent, I went and picked up Olivia and Genevieve to bring them to the hospital and see Mom and meet their new little sister. Everyone got along famously!
We expect to be in the hospital here in Shanghai until Monday morning.
Here are the pertinent details about Amelia upon her arrival:
Name: Amelia Jane Welsh
Date: March 14, 2009
Time: 6:18am
Weight: 8 lbs, 10.5 oz (3.935 Kg)
Length: 20 inches (51cm)
We have attached a couple of pictures and will post more when we get a chance.
Hope this finds you all well.
Joe, Stephanie, Olivia, Genevieve and Amelia
Monday, March 9, 2009
Lots of stuff getting real!
I use iGoogle for one of my home pages in Chrome (Google's browser, which I have been using almost exclusively lately). One of the widgets I have been able to add is a countdown timer. As most of you know, there are 3 significant things the Welsh family is counting down to... These things are really how we define our life at this point, so I thought I would give an update on each.
1 - Baby Welsh #3: 11 Days, 1 Hour, 42 Minutes, 57 Seconds (Estimate)
Steph continues to grow, although she doesn't see how there is any room left for this child to grow for 11 more days! So far, so good. We are into the weekly doctor appointments. At our 36 week ultrasound a couple weeks ago, the doctor was muttering over the chart while the ultrasound tech was taking pictures... When we asked her about it, she was estimating the size... she was projecting a 9 lb, 12 ounce baby! Steph was a little concerned, for obvious reason. Then I reminded her that I was a 10 lb, 10 oz baby... Probably not the best thing to remind her! She has since heard from some folks that those estimates are very inaccurate - we're hoping that's true! The biggest concern at this point is the speed with which third babies arrive... We're anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour away from the hospital depending on traffic. It's one thing for this baby to be able to say they were born in China, but we'd like the excitement to stop there and not extend to being born in a car or taxi!
2 - Repatriation: 110 Days, 1 Hour, 46 Minutes, 40 Seconds
Steph said it finally seems real now since we have tickets booked. 4 tickets booked out of PVG to PDX on 28 June 2009. I used a bunch of my system wide upgrades to move the family into business class... That should be nicer with the 2 kids and the baby. We'll get a ticket for the baby once he/she is born, and see if we can't upgrade that one as well. I discounted the rent for the people in our house to get them out a little early so they'll be out on 25 June. Then we have a cleaning crew coming in on the 26th and carpets being cleaned on the 27th. We land on the 28th and will only have to spend a couple days in a hotel, as our things in storage will be delivered on the 30th. So if all goes according to plan, we'll be sleeping in our own beds (and crib) on the night of the 30th of June. Then hopefully we're mostly unloaded and settled in by the 4th of July. We won't be able to get to Lake of the Woods for the 4th of July this summer, as we'll just have arrived home. The upside of it is that we'll get to actually enjoy the Oak Hills 4th of July celebration, which we hear is very nice - including a neighborhood parade and our own fireworks display!
Returning to the US is really bittersweet. While we are looking forward to seeing our friends and family, we have come to really enjoy China and the Chinese people. We have come to enjoy our friends and 'expat family' here in Shanghai. We would have preferred to stay, but understand the reality of the economic situation that is bringing us home.
3 - Sabbatical: 137 Days, 20 Hours, 47 Minutes, 1 Second
So my Sabbatical will actually start sooner than that. It starts shortly after we arrive back in the US, on July 6th (actually the 3rd, since the 3rd is a US holiday). But for the purposes of the countdown, I am using 26 July, 2009 @ 7:55am. That is the day and time I leave for Scotland. Before Scotland we'll have about 3 weeks as a family in Oregon in the summer. This will be great. We'll spend time settling into the house, we'll spend time at the pool in our neighborhood, we'll spend time at the Lake of the Woods, and Olivia and I will spend time doing some volunteer work before I leave. The trip itself has been well covered in another post (27 Rounds of Golf in 31 Days), so I'll skip over that. When I get back the 25th of August, the hope is maybe one more trip to the Lake of the Woods before getting back to Portland to start the preparations for my return to work and Olivia's first day of first grade at Oak Hills Elementary School. We should both start those new adventures on the same day, I believe - the day after Labor Day.
People keep asking about my job situation... And it's still fairly unclear. What I am confident of is that I will have a job! There are some layoffs happening within my division in the next few days, and I am assured that I will not be affected... I am assured of a role, and have had some very general conversations about what that role will be, but until the legal and organizational announcements are made, everything is very fluid. In the mean time, I have been staying busy in China helping to shut down the business we were developing here, teaching class to some of our Chinese leaders and managers and working with our training department on how to adapt the class I teach for a different delivery timeline. Lastly, I have continued to mentor some of the local Chinese employees.
So that's the update on the Chinese Contingent of the Welsh/Kratochvil/Merryman Family. Steph is spending her last days of pregnancy driving all over town trying to cross off her list the things that we want to buy before heading home - and that are easier to take care of before we have a 'wiggler' to take along. Some pottery for her, stone lions for me, some clothes being made for all of us... taking advantage of the deals China has to offer while we can.
1 - Baby Welsh #3: 11 Days, 1 Hour, 42 Minutes, 57 Seconds (Estimate)
Steph continues to grow, although she doesn't see how there is any room left for this child to grow for 11 more days! So far, so good. We are into the weekly doctor appointments. At our 36 week ultrasound a couple weeks ago, the doctor was muttering over the chart while the ultrasound tech was taking pictures... When we asked her about it, she was estimating the size... she was projecting a 9 lb, 12 ounce baby! Steph was a little concerned, for obvious reason. Then I reminded her that I was a 10 lb, 10 oz baby... Probably not the best thing to remind her! She has since heard from some folks that those estimates are very inaccurate - we're hoping that's true! The biggest concern at this point is the speed with which third babies arrive... We're anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour away from the hospital depending on traffic. It's one thing for this baby to be able to say they were born in China, but we'd like the excitement to stop there and not extend to being born in a car or taxi!
2 - Repatriation: 110 Days, 1 Hour, 46 Minutes, 40 Seconds
Steph said it finally seems real now since we have tickets booked. 4 tickets booked out of PVG to PDX on 28 June 2009. I used a bunch of my system wide upgrades to move the family into business class... That should be nicer with the 2 kids and the baby. We'll get a ticket for the baby once he/she is born, and see if we can't upgrade that one as well. I discounted the rent for the people in our house to get them out a little early so they'll be out on 25 June. Then we have a cleaning crew coming in on the 26th and carpets being cleaned on the 27th. We land on the 28th and will only have to spend a couple days in a hotel, as our things in storage will be delivered on the 30th. So if all goes according to plan, we'll be sleeping in our own beds (and crib) on the night of the 30th of June. Then hopefully we're mostly unloaded and settled in by the 4th of July. We won't be able to get to Lake of the Woods for the 4th of July this summer, as we'll just have arrived home. The upside of it is that we'll get to actually enjoy the Oak Hills 4th of July celebration, which we hear is very nice - including a neighborhood parade and our own fireworks display!
Returning to the US is really bittersweet. While we are looking forward to seeing our friends and family, we have come to really enjoy China and the Chinese people. We have come to enjoy our friends and 'expat family' here in Shanghai. We would have preferred to stay, but understand the reality of the economic situation that is bringing us home.
3 - Sabbatical: 137 Days, 20 Hours, 47 Minutes, 1 Second
So my Sabbatical will actually start sooner than that. It starts shortly after we arrive back in the US, on July 6th (actually the 3rd, since the 3rd is a US holiday). But for the purposes of the countdown, I am using 26 July, 2009 @ 7:55am. That is the day and time I leave for Scotland. Before Scotland we'll have about 3 weeks as a family in Oregon in the summer. This will be great. We'll spend time settling into the house, we'll spend time at the pool in our neighborhood, we'll spend time at the Lake of the Woods, and Olivia and I will spend time doing some volunteer work before I leave. The trip itself has been well covered in another post (27 Rounds of Golf in 31 Days), so I'll skip over that. When I get back the 25th of August, the hope is maybe one more trip to the Lake of the Woods before getting back to Portland to start the preparations for my return to work and Olivia's first day of first grade at Oak Hills Elementary School. We should both start those new adventures on the same day, I believe - the day after Labor Day.
People keep asking about my job situation... And it's still fairly unclear. What I am confident of is that I will have a job! There are some layoffs happening within my division in the next few days, and I am assured that I will not be affected... I am assured of a role, and have had some very general conversations about what that role will be, but until the legal and organizational announcements are made, everything is very fluid. In the mean time, I have been staying busy in China helping to shut down the business we were developing here, teaching class to some of our Chinese leaders and managers and working with our training department on how to adapt the class I teach for a different delivery timeline. Lastly, I have continued to mentor some of the local Chinese employees.
So that's the update on the Chinese Contingent of the Welsh/Kratochvil/Merryman Family. Steph is spending her last days of pregnancy driving all over town trying to cross off her list the things that we want to buy before heading home - and that are easier to take care of before we have a 'wiggler' to take along. Some pottery for her, stone lions for me, some clothes being made for all of us... taking advantage of the deals China has to offer while we can.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
5 Trips to 4 Police Stations
Some people ask if I ever feel like I am in a communist country. The answer is hardly ever. Actually, Shanghai feels more like a capitalist country than the US. There are people doing anything and everything they can to make money. From impromptu ‘bike repair shops’ on the corner (guy sitting on a chair surrounded by tubes and chains and grease) to the ‘corner video store’ (no copywrite laws, so movies show up on our corner within 2 weeks of their debut in theatres in the US), everyone is doing whatever they can to ‘make a buck’.
Shanghai is first and foremost about money. It’s called ‘the Western facing part of China’… It’s known as the ‘financial capital of China’ while Beijing is the ‘government and cultural capital’.
The only time I feel like I am in a capitalist country is when it comes to getting anything done with the government.
Case in point is when we have visitors come into town. If you are not Chinese, the government wants to know where you are. We are supposed to take our friends and family to the local police station to get a visitors permit within 24-48 hours of their arrival. Repercussions of not registering and being asked for paperwork are unclear, but urban legends include hours at the police station sorting it out, and in extreme cases, people’s visas being taken away.
This story is a classic example of bureaucracy and paperwork for the sake of bureaucracy and paperwork.
When we arrived, we were issued ‘Residence Permits’ by the Chinese government. They are pasted into each of our passports. Olivia’s passport was set to expire last summer, so when we were home in June/July we got her a new passport. Now she has a new passport, but the residence permit is in the old passport. So I contacted the company Intel uses to handle our immigration issues in PRC and asked for them to take care of moving the permit from one passport to the other… pretty straightforward, right? Well, not if you are in China!
In my discussion with the immigration company, he explains that I need to get new temporary residence permit in order to get the residence permit moved from one passport to another. I ask the obvious question: why would I need a temporary residence permit, when we all have permanent residence permits in our passports that are valid until July 31 of 2009? After a 5 minute conversation, the answer boiled down to: “I know it makes no logical sense, but to move the residence permit, we basically need to start the whole process over, and your actual valid residence permit is worthless”.
So then I resign myself to go get new temporary residence permits. Normally the same immigration consultant takes care of this, but since this is ‘out of cycle’, I am on my own. I am told by an acquaintance that she had to do the same thing and it was easy. She simply went to the local police station with her driver with all their passports and the police gave them new temporary residence permits. She said the driver basically took care of the entire conversation. “No problem” I think to myself.
I get in the van one day and ask Daniel to take me to the local police station so I can get new paperwork. First police station sends us to a second police station saying they don’t do this type of paperwork. The second police station tries to send us back to the first one (which Daniel was prepared to do, until I got very angry and loud – it’s the Chinese way to get things done). So the second police station gets on the phone to a third police station and confirms they do this type of paperwork there. So off we go to police station #3. Once at this police station, the officer explains there are 2 problems. This station does not handle my neighborhood, and I must go to a station much farther away from my neighborhood than this one to get what I need… That’s right – this station is closer to my neighborhood, but doesn’t handle my neighborhood. I was initially flabbergasted, but then realized this really isn’t any different than the Beaverton High School district, and the fact that I could hit Driver – 4 Iron to Sunset High School, but will have to take the kids to Westview, which is practically in Hillsboro!
The other problem is that there are lots of things I need to produce to get the temporary permits: Rental contract, passports, copies of the landlord’s Chinese ID and a letter from the property management company. When I explain that a friend walked in and got what she needed without any of this, the person suddenly spoke no English and just pointed at the list of what I needed.
A week or so later, once I had successfully collected the required documents, I headed to police station #4. I walked in, confident that I had what I needed, and I would finally get this crossed off my ‘honey do’ list.
I hand the officer all the paperwork and she starts to explain to my driver that I am missing something. Daniel translates and says ‘you need copies of specific pages of your passport’. I point to the list that I was given at police station #3, which just says ‘Passports’. He points to the much longer line above in Chinese and basically says ‘they don’t really know English and didn’t know how to translate everything, but in Chinese this says you need copies of specific pages of your passports’. I decide not to blow my top, and say ‘well, can they make copies here, do they have a copier?’ ‘No’, is the simple response.
So once again, I come away empty handed.
Yesterday I was working from home, and I decided I was going to get this taken care of for good. I made copies of the required pages of our passports, along with other pages I thought might be important, just in case. Off Daniel and I went to the police station. I think he was tired of having to translate for ‘angry white man’ as he didn’t accompany me in this time.
So in I go. I hand over everything, and the officer takes it all and hands me 4 forms, asking me to fill them in and sign them. While I am doing this, I notice that the officer is scanning in our passports to the computer. All I can think is ‘why do you need my copies if you can simply scan these things in?’
Anyhow, I was happy at making this much progress, so I just focused on filling out my forms. Once I am done filling out the four forms (same info for each family member), she hand me 4 forms to sign. They are the EXACT same forms I just filled out by hand. The computer had taken the information from our scanned passports, combined with her entering the information into the computer and printed out the exact forms, which she pushed through the glass and asked me to sign.
I had not been able to fill in all the information on my hand written version of the forms, as they needed some information from the passports she had. When I tried to explain this, she simply said ‘no problem’. She took all the forms and all my copies and shoved them all together, not in any order, some parts intermixed with other parts, handed me my temporary residence permits and said ‘all finished’.
On days like this, it is clear to me I am in a communist country… but most other days, not so much.
Deals to be had in China - The bedroom set!
Steph has always wanted a bedroom set. I thought we had one... it included a metal frame for our queen sized bed, my old dresser from when I was a kid, a couple of mismatched nightstands and the dresser from when she was young. It also included very nice piece of furniture handed down through her family that originally belonged to her 'Nonnie'. Then when we moved into the new house in Beaverton (Oak Hills) we went to Consignment Northwest and found a nice dresser with 2 end tables.
This was the point at which I was sure we had a bedroom set. Gone was the old dresser from my childhood (up to the guest room to be more accurate). Gone were the mismatching nightstands. Gone was her dresser from when she was a kid (since it was part of a matching set of furniture that's from Ethan Allan and is the girls bedroom set now). In was the 'new to us' dresser and nightstands. While not matching the style of the vanity/dresser from Steph's Nonnie, they were still in dark stain, and therefore 'close'. Still no bed beyond the metal frame, but I was sure we now had a 'bedroom set'.
When it became clear that we would be headed home in June, as opposed to on time (end of July) or the extended date I had been talking with my management team about (end of 2009), we started to have the conversation about what we wanted to have done or have made to take home with us. Steph explained that she wanted to have a bedroom set made, that it would be so much cheaper than it was in the US. I asked and was quickly educated on what was wrong with our 'bedroom set' at home... seems an actual bed (headboard, foot board, etc), beyond a metal frame was the key component of a bedroom set. My argument that random styles of furniture thoughtfully put together met the requirements of a 'set of furniture' not only lacked the key piece (an actual bed) but I was clearly told that our ecclectic collection of furniture was not a good example of a successful attempt at such.
So we started the process of deciding what bedroom set 'we' would like, so that we could compare the pricing to what we could have made in PRC before we head home. Stephanie picked out a set from Pottery Barn - a line they call 'Montego'. The cost for all 5 pieces was ~$6000 including shipping. OUCH. The Pottery Barn construction is a combination of mahogany, mahogany veneer, plywood and MDF.
Off we went this afternoon to a furniture store that Steph found here in our part of Shanghai. We had a set of cubbies made for the girls from ash that turned out well, and we like very much. Stephanie has been leading a furniture tour of our part of Shanghai and has included this place in her tour, so she has some goodwill built up.
We started the conversation with the gal who runs the show there, and once she confirmed that they do many of these types of sets, the conversation moved quickly to money. First was the type of wood we wanted to use. There was no combination of wood, plywood, veneer and MDF, everything was made of wood. This is why had we had the entire bed made in mahogany, it would have tipped the financial scale at 40% more than we paid! We opted for elm with a dark stain (trying to match our best memory of the piece from Nonnie that's carefully tucked away in storage in the US).
All 5 pieces came in, after a little negotiating) at 17,000 RMB. This equates to $2,500 USD. LESS THAN HALF of the delivered cost of the Pottery Barn set! Again, it's not the mahogany that the Pottery Barn set is, but it also won't have any MDF. For less than half, we'll take the elm!
Now we are lucky that we'll be able to get the set home to Oregon as a part of our return shipment from PRC - otherwise, perhaps the cost would really not be that much better... But at less than $0.50 on the $1.00, this was a deal that could not be beat.
So today a deposit was made and in 5 weeks, we'll have our new bedroom set delivered here to our apartment. We won't set it up, instead leaving it wrapped and disassembled to ease the packing and shipping process.
The only problem that exists now is that we have to temper our enthusiasm for the great deal that furniture is here in PRC with the reality of spending money on things we 'want' as opposed to things we 'want'.
The dresser and night stands will make their way into the guest bedroom upstairs (much nicer for Barb and Jaques and my mom when they visit). The old stuff in the guest room will likely make it into a summer garage sale.
At the end of the day, Steph is happy for the matching bedroom set - that meets all the requirements and definitions of an actual bedroom set - and I am happy for the killer deal we got!
There are lots of things on the 'what to get before returning to the US' list. The criteria for making this list are either it's something to remind us of our time in China, or it's so much cheaper to get here. The list is budget dependent, but these are some of the things we'd like to get to take home with us!
Stone lions for either side of the door at home
Couple custom made suits for Joe
Some golf pants for Joe
Coats for Steph
Framing
Some jewelry
Some pottery
Can't wait to see everyone again - it's been a great couple years in China, and we would have preferred to stay through 2009, but I am getting excited to be home again!
Cheers,
Joe
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
27 Rounds of Golf in 31 Days
As many of you might know, Intel offers a benefit unique in its industry, perhaps any industry. That benefit is a sabbatical. Every 7 years of service, Intel grants you an 8 week ‘recharge time’. An 8 week vacation (in addition to your standard 3 or 4 weeks). As explained to me, although there is some disagreement within the employee ranks on this, it is recognition of the stress and strain working in an aggressive technology company like Intel can put you under. It’s recognition that after 7 years, you need time away from work to recharge the batteries and come back ready to bring your best self to work.
We are on track for returning from our assignment in China in June of this year, and given the nature of my chosen trip, I will be taking it shortly after I return. This allows me to both spend time with the kids (Olivia (6), Genevieve (4), and soon to arrive baby #3), before Olivia starts school in the fall, as well as exercise one of my passions (some might call an obsession) – play golf.
The plan as it stands is to spend ~3 weeks in Oregon with Steph and the kids before heading off to Scotland for a month long golf trip. I know what many of you are thinking – you are taking Steph and the kids to Scotland for a month? Now, let’s be clear, that is a trip we cannot afford. I’ll be going by myself. Now many more people are thinking – you are going to Scotland for a month and leaving your wife to deal with a 6 year old, a 4 year old and a 4 month old? Now, let’s be clear…. That’s exactly what I am doing. The more I think about it, the more ridiculous it sounds.
So, a little background is necessary. When Steph and I were both working at Intel, we reached an agreement – our first sabbaticals would be whatever we wanted them to be. Our choice alone, the spouse just went along with it. For Stephanie’s sabbatical she spent ~6 weeks in Italy. She rented a villa used as home base and hosted family and friends and traveled and saw the sights of rural Italy. Admittedly she did this with an 18 month old Olivia, while pregnant with Gigi… but nonetheless, her trip. When we reached this agreement, it was clear that my trip would be to Scotland, the home of golf.
Original plans involved all of us going, which we quickly realized was fiscally near impossible. Then we thought we could get grandmas and friends to watch the girls while Steph headed over for a week to 10 days of my time there, maybe hitting Scotland and Ireland. The monkey wrench thrown into this plan was Baby #3. Due in March, Baby #3 makes that plan near impossible. Instead of taking care of a 6 year old and a 4 year old, the volunteer for this suicide mission would be signing up to care for a 6 year old, a 4 year old and a 4 month old.
So, in what can only be described as a gesture of unequalled generosity and caring, Steph has continued to hold true to our original agreement and is letting me continue to plan and execute on the trip to Scotland.
Before Scotland, I hope to be able to accomplish a few things in the early part of my sabbatical. These will be dictated by how well we are adjusting to being a family of 5 and being ‘fresh off the boat’ returning to the US. I would like to spend some time at the cabin (Steph’s family’s cabin at Lake of the Woods). Also, I would like to do some volunteer work – ideally something I can take Olivia with me to do, but another option would be a Habitat for Humanity project. My time is normally so consumed with work and family in the normal course of life that I would like to spend some time dedicated to the service of others. If you have any specific ideas, shoot them my way!
Now, for the ‘trip of a lifetime’ as I am calling it. I cashed in a bunch of airline miles and got a ticket to London, where I’ll catch a regional airline up to Edinburgh. Once on the ground in Edinburgh, I’ll grab my bags, pick up the rental car and head off to Prestwick – the home of the first Open Championship (called the British Open on this side of the pond). This will be the start of what will equate to 27 rounds of golf in 31 days.
One of my old Fraternity brothers (Ryan Svenson) will be joining me in for the first 10 days or so, so that will be nice for a couple of reasons. The primary reason is, having been in China for the last 2 years, I miss my friends greatly. It will be great to have time to catch up with him on what’s been going on in his life. It will also be great to have a fellow golf addict along to share the trip with.
Then the second week of August the next group of guys comes in. The same day I drop Ryan off at the airport in Edinburgh, I’ll be picking up a minivan along with 3 other friends, forming a four ball (known as foursome here in the States) for a week in St. Andrews – known widely as ‘the home of golf’.
Then I put the group back on a plane to North America, trade in the minivan and get a small car and head out for the last ~10 days and 2 cities on my own.
I have opted for staying in Bed and Breakfast or Guest House accommodations, as they generally run less than half of the cost of a hotel – and they include full Scottish breakfast (I’ll pass on the Haggis, thank you very much). While no means a cheap trip, I have maximized my ‘approved budget’, with the frequent flier ticket and use of B&B/Guest Houses.
I have included an itinerary of my trip below… If you have reason to be in Scotland this coming summer, let me know… I’ll find a way to accommodate you in my plans and share a pint, if not a meal, if not a round of golf!
Cheers,
Joe
Day Date Activity Sunday 26-Jul PDX -> LHR Monday 27-Jul LHR -> EDI Monday 27-Jul EDI -> Prestwick Tuesday 28-Jul Play Turnberry / Prestwick St. Nicolas / Kilmarnock / Dundonald Wednesday 29-Jul Play Western Gailes Thursday 30-Jul Play Prestwick Friday 31-Jul Drive Prestwick -> St. Andrews Saturday 1-Aug Play St. Andrews Castle Sunday 2-Aug Play Carnoustie Championship Monday 3-Aug Play St. Andrews New Tuesday 4-Aug Play Golf in AM -> Drive to Aberdeen Wednesday 5-Aug Play Royal Abderdeen Thursday 6-Aug Play Cruden Bay Friday 7-Aug Play Murcar Links Saturday 8-Aug Drive to EDI, Drop Ryan, Pick Up Golfers, Drive to St. Andrews Sunday 9-Aug Play The Dukes Monday 10-Aug Play St. Andrews Jubilee Tuesday 11-Aug Play St. Andrews Old Course Wednesday 12-Aug Play Carnoustie Championship Thursday 13-Aug Play Kingsbarns Friday 14-Aug Play St. Andrews New Course Saturday 15-Aug Play St. Andrews Castle Course Sunday 16-Aug Travel to EDI - Drop Off Golfers - Travel to North Berwick Monday 17-Aug Play Dunbar Tuesday 18-Aug Play Muirfield/Glen Golf Club Wednesday 19-Aug Play Gullane No. 1 & No. 2 Thursday 20-Aug Play North Berwick Golf Club Friday 21-Aug Drive to Inverness Saturday 22-Aug Play Brora Sunday 23-Aug Play Nairn Monday 24-Aug Play Royal Dornoch Tuesday 25-Aug Drive to EDI -> Fly Home
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