Nin Hao From Haerbin

Hello to everyone. Well, the adventure begins and it has been interesting. Our departure from Canada and entrance to China was relatively easy and with only a few hiccups. Leaving Canada we were very careful to weigh each of our three bags, assuring that they weighed no more the 24 kilograms each, taking advantage of the maximum we could stuff in each bag. We'd been caught being over weight on a previous flight and had to carry out an unplanned repack of our luggage. Not fun in the middle of a busy airport so something we wanted to avoid. However our outbound flight from Beijing to Haerbin had different rules but with a little extra cash ($250 RnB or $42 Cdn) paid out and the appropriate receipt we were on our way.

Arriving in Harbin about 11:00 PM (Haerbin Time), we were met by our HIT contact Lui Guodong and quickly loaded into a van along with our 150 pounds of luggage. We were joined in the van by Brian. Brian was returning to HIT for a second year of teaching. As we travelled, Brian provided some insight into Haerbin. The roads are quite dark compared to North American lighting standards so not much was visible to us. Something we might want to emulate in NA. To much light pollution in my opinion. We had been travelling for about 18 hours and were feeling a little punch drunk so not much was sinking in at this point anyway.

We arrived at the campus by driving through a guarded gate. As we drove up to the gate and with a timely honk of our horn a guard leaped out of a guard shack and moved the barrier quickly so we could pass through the gate with out stopping. I am pretty sure he saluted me as we passed. Felt very special at this point. Arriving at our new home, we discovered the building was 16 stories high and housed both international students as well as foreign teachers.

Our apartment is a corner suite on the 15th floor. Feeling special still! We were quickly issued keys and taken upstairs. That special feeling quickly dissipated once we entered our new home. It was apparent the place had not been cleaned prior to our arrival and was littered with various personal effects from the previous occupant. The worse item being a pair of used and dirty whitey-tighties Nonie found behind the bathtub. Brought back vivid memories of a really groady place we stayed at on a visit to Nice where Nonie refused to walk on the floor in the room. To get around she would jump from bed to bed to chairs strategically located around the room. She would only enter the washroom with socks and shoes on. Kind of made it tough for her to shower.

Our Haerbin apartment had a bare mattress with some gritty looking covers. Three really ugly looking pillows with no pillow cases. And as expected the mattress had the same comfort qualities as a sheet of plywood. If you have ever wondered where those old box springs go to die, look no further than China.

The bathroom was very dark with a 13 watt florescent lamp recessed into the ceiling providing basic illumination. Bats could sleep comfortably in this washroom. The bathroom had a funky, somebody forgot to put on the fan after using kind of smell. Chinese plumbing codes do not require a p-trap on any grey water drains so smells are just a fact of life.

That special feeling quickly became "what the hell were we thinking" The next morning, (5:00 am), with the sun just rising we awoke for our first day in our new home. It did not look as bad in the light of day. By day three Nonie had the place cleaned and acceptable. We arranged the furniture, bought sheets, pillow cases and rearranged the furniture again to our needs. We are now calling it home. The bathroom smells will always be there, but that will just be something that will make our time here more interesting. Periodic bleach and boiling water down the drains will also help. I am getting used to the bed but we will keep our eyes out for some foam pads.

So much, has happened to us in our first few days that I will post a few extra blogs this week. Our plan is to complete weekly installments.

Brett and Nonie

Let the Games Begin

Well, our retirement is fast coming to an end. We leave on Sunday for Harbin. It was nice while it lasted, though not quite what I had envisioned it would be. I saw myself each morning lounging over a Grande coffee at some coffee bar, reading the newspaper, watching life go by and dolling out snippets of wisdom to all who sought it. Didn't quite happen. I did however discover naps. Why did it take me so long?

Nonie continued to buzz around like she always does, on a mission to finish a number of quilts that were due. It constantly amazes me how she creates them so quickly. Her never ending list actually looked like it might have an end. HAH! As we approached our departure date it once again became the never ending list and her list became our list.

The first three weeks saw us intensify our training to complete my first (and last?) triathalon. Nonie accompanied me on my runs up Westbench and watched as I swam along Lakeshore. Didn't leave a lot of time for coffee and wisdom dispensing. Sucessfully completed the race in 3 hours and 51 minutes. Our son Keegan, with about four weeks training competed the race in under 3 hours. He was awesome. I think I will do another one someday. Nonie is not a swimmer so won't be joining me, I am afraid. We completed all the necessary paperwork for our working visa and sent it off to HIT. You will be pleased to know that both Nonie and I are reasonably healthy and that we do not have criminal records.

On Monday of week four, we started a whirlwind tour of the coast visiting family and friends. Nonie and I have travelled the world and seen many beautiful placed but we continued to be amazed at the beauty of B.C. We managed to get in a short visit with Nonie's Auntie Rose who has been battling cancer. And if you know Rose, battling is a good description. Sadly she passed away this week. It was great to see everyone we could.

Weeks five and six saw me returning to work and try to pass on 6 and 1/2 years of knowledge to my replacement. Didn't happen, I am afraid, the poor bastard! Two weeks were just not enough. I remember my first few weeks at Valley First. At least I had the advantage of living here while he has immigrated from Alberta. Just finding a place to live was a challenge for him. He is a quick study though, so I think he will do all right. Hopefully he won't have to deal with to many of the screwups I left behind. We are leaving for Ottawa on Saturday for a some grandson time and still no documetation back from HIT for our visa application. Starting to stress a little. AHH! It manages to arrive on the Thursday before our departure. We can hit the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa for our visa.

Week seven was spent in quality time with our Grandson. What is quality time you ask. Well no dirty diapers is a good start. Didn't have to deal with one the whole time I was there. Melt downs. HAH! Here son, deal with your son. I loved it. He is not talking a lot or at least saying much that I can understand. He is doing it bilingually. He attends a daycare where the caregiver is french so he is saying unintelligible things in both of our official languages. Mom and Dad are Momma et Poppa and when he wants "more" he says "encore". Too Cool!

Our trip to the Embassy was reasonably painless and the pain we did experience was mostly due to my stupidity. The visa applications requires that you have confirmation of an airplane ticket with your application. I was afraid to purchase a ticket in case our application was refused. We arrive at the embassy before it opened and there was already 6 people ahead of us. Inside we watched as the six people before us approaced the wicket. Of the six, only one couple were able to actually get their visa application approved. Oh Oh. Did not elicit a lot of confidence in our chances. Thankfully, all the paperwork was in order BUT we were missing the important confirmation of flights. Se this required a return back to Brennan and Stephanies to some quick interneting and organizing our flight to Beijing. Tried to book onward flight to Harbin but that proved a lot trickier trying to book. With time running out we decided to return with just our Beijing flights confirmed hoping they would not notice. Luckily we were told to go to the front of the line when we returned as the line was just as long as when we left. Everything was approved and we could pick up our passports with visas attached the following Thursday. One less problem for us to stress over.

We are now back in Penticton, cleaning up the last few details. Packing has been completed with three bags weighing almost 150 pounds. More on that later. Our next blog will be from Harbin. So stay tuned. The game is afoot.

Brett and Nonie