Today (11/11) is exactly one year since we left Athens and moved to China. Well Kostas had already moved in August but me and the children came in November. What can I say... It's been really fun, though I haven't stayed here for 12 months in a row, (we were in Greece for 4 months, from Easter until end of August). I still must say that I have really enjoyed the stay. It's remarkable how you change your view of things when you get used to it. In the beginning I thought everything was dirty and I ran around with sanitizer everywhere cleaning my and the kids hands all the time. I couldn't for a minute think of shopping in the local supermarket we have here, everything seemed strange, I thought we would get all kinds of diseases from the food. Now I don't have any problem at all, not that China is cleaner but now I know what to buy and where to avoid non sanitary places. Also I can communicate with the Chinese much better now, (not in Chinese) their English has not improved but I have found a way to understand what they say and also to make them understand me.With Danae and Teo going to school has brought us new friends, not only for them but also for me. Almost everyday I spend some time with some of the mothers, they are really happy to practise their little English and they can see that they have improved very much. They like to invite us to their homes for lunch and dinner. Also after school we get together for one hour or two so the children can play a little longer. We talk about many things, but most of how it is to be a mother ans shopping. I have baked some cakes (Swedish) for them to taste and I have made Greek coffee or mountain tea (Greek). We compeer China with Europe and how it is to live here and there, in the end it's not such a big difference...
What I have learned, though, is that some parents prefer to leave their kids in school on Monday morning and then pick them up again on Friday afternoon. They think that they are too busy to have their children at home during the week. I don't know why, usually they finish work at 17:00, and what I know, they all go home, no overtime. And also most of them only have one child, two is not aloud, only if the first one is a girl then they can have one more, but after three years. Otherwise they have to pay extra taxes for more children...
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3 comments:
Nice to hear you reflections about living in China. But are you kidding about leaving your kid in school the whole week?? Overnight?
That is different...
No, I'm not kidding. Some parents choose to leave their kids in school the whole week. Not in the school that Teo and Danae goes to but in other Chinese schools this is an option. I met a little girl (10 years) old that goes to the biligual school near here and she told me that she doesn't live with her parents, only on weekends. I asked her if it makes her sad and she said it's ok.
But it makes me sad!
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