We have been very busy. I send this out to our friends and
family that are not on Face book. If you do not know, we left Panama at the end
of January and had a family vacation with our girls in California we went
skiing at Big Bear Mountain, 1st time we seen snow in 4 years. Then we went wondering
the beaches in Malibu with Colleen’s Aunt Chris and cousins, we had a great
time. Colleen was not overly thrilled with the cold in the mountains but I
really enjoyed the skiing.
From there we started our move to Shenzhen China, (Feb 4th)
where we have spent the last 2+ months. Shenzhen is on the mainland just over
the bridge from Hong Kong, or you can as we did, take the ferry there. You can
also take a ferry to Macau. It was cold when we got here, let’s say 50’s. This
is cold for Colleen. We are relocating to start a new division for the company
I work for. I started the special machine division in Wis so I know so much
about all aspects. So they could send me by myself our send 3 or 4 other guys. We
signed up for up to a year in China with Colleen getting a free get out of
China card. We really plan on being here for 6 months.
After being here 3 weeks Colleen played the get out of China
card. We were scheduled at one time to come home on March 24th but
the weather has warmed to an acceptable level, short sleeve weather for me and
Colleen is still bundled up but a least warm, so she said it is OK to stay for
the summer.
We live in an apartment/ hotel it is small but nice. It is
mostly foreigners living here but most of them are still Asians. We have met so
many people from all over the world. Where we stay is a complex of 5 buildings.
It has a clinic; it is very close to shopping and the subway.
After 2 months we have hired a girl, Alice, to help me with
Cooking and cleaning and she is trying to take care of Colleen. We met her just
while we were walking in the park.
Colleen has been a real trooper. The rules for me coming
here, I only work part time, no sales calls and Colleen comes with me everywhere.
This is our 3rd trip in 4 years so we know what does and does not
work. Colleen comes to work with me every day. She watches TV. We watch
American TV from Chicago where our daughter Bridget lives. We have a Slingbox
in Chicago that thru the internet allows us to control Bridget’s cable box &DVR
so Colleen gets to watch all her favorites, dancing with the stars and whatever.
We have this for watching TV when we are in Panama.
We have been to Macau for a weekend. It was nice not overly
different then here. Macau was a Portuguese colony similar to Hong Kong. Both
where leased out for 100 years, HK to England, and were returned I think in
1997.
| View of the Macau tower |
Last weekend we finally figured out the subway system. Not
that it is hard to move around the city, it is very easy, we were told not all
subway stops have an elevator to get down to trains. We found out, this is not
true and now this has opened up a lot of opportunities for us. Taxis are a hassle
with the wheel chair because our chair does not break down far enough to fit,
so we always have to call for a driver.
We have spent time at a job fair trying to hire technical
people. The guys that were supposed to go with me had to go to a customer at
the last minute. So me and Colleen went there by ourselves. It is a large hall
set up to do this every weekend. Different Saturdays they have different
interest. 1 week maybe medical the next industrial then educational or
hospitality. You pay 600RMB about $90USD and you get a small booth with your
job description over your booth. People walk around, read what you are looking
for and introduce themselves if they think they can do the job. We spent half
the day there then the crowd thinned out. It was the 1st nice day
outside. Only 2 guys worth interviewing and none worth hiring.
The people are generically very nice to us. A taxi driver
did not charged us, once a guy just walked up to us and gave us money( I have
to chase him to give the money back but cannot catch him), couple of free
prayer sessions and messages. The people are very hard working. Most live in high
rise buildings with a small apartment, so I think they do not mind work it is
somewhere to go and something to do.
Had our first stop at the hospital this week. Normally for Colleen’s blood test we would go
to a clinic where we live. They are very expensive they charge us $75, in
Panama we pay $6, in the USA after all the discount we pay $20. The China
hospital is $15. Our driver takes us there. There were 30 people in line, I
think he paid someone extra we went to a special room and got in and out in 15
minutes. We now have been there twice. Colleen is the hardest person get blood
from. Our last trip to Hartford we made
2 trips to the clinic and then drive to West Bend to have it done... The nurses
here are some of the best at getting Colleens blood. They showed me tricks I
have not seen before.
For work we drive 30/45 minutes depending on traffic. I
would like to get an apartment closer to work. Something we can walk to work
from. But Colleen does not want anything that sounds anything like something
longer lasting. The rent here is expensive and the driver, although is only $15
each way at the end of the month it adds up. My plan would be to travel here
and stay for a month or two. Colleen is not onboard with this plan. We would
also use this apartment for other employees from the USA.
We did go look at other apartments this week .It would be
nicer to be closer to work. We were all
set to rent, we had a painter come, give us a price to paint and clean everything
and he was going to start the next day. Then the owner showed up and for the
first time in my life I felt discriminated against. He was not comfortable with
Colleen’s Chi and thought it may be bad luck. So we looked at another place and
the same thing happened. So we will stay where we are at for now. We may move
in to a Chinese hotel within walking distance to work. But it does not have a kitchen
or washer/dryer.
Everyone always wants to know about the food. Chopsticks are
no problem we have been here many times. There is Mac D, Pizza Hut; KFC is big,
Duncan doughnuts and most of the others. I will not eat at these in the states
so we never stop there. Someone wanted to take me to KFC and I said no thanks I
will eat at the Chinese place. This is always an experience, I do not understand
why the chop up a chicken breast when it is still on the bone. It gives flavor
put you always are spitting out bones. We rarely go out. I usually just do my
own cooking. My Goal is to train the girl we just hired to cook my food the way
I like. This is how I have our helper in Panama do it.
Right now we are on a plane to Shanghai for 10 days+/-. The
domestic airlines are not very friendly or handicap tolerant. 1st we
had to go to a first aid station and get checked out to make sure it was safe
for Colleen to fly. Then we had to check the wheelchair and the give us a loaner.
I was almost ready to say we will stay in Shenzhen. It will be much cooler here
I hope Colleen won’t be to upset. We are
up here for a trade show and visit some customers.
Ok now we are on the way back to Shenzhen. Was a quick trip,
no sightseeing. We have been here before and Rachel will tell you how much fun
we had the last time we were here. We were in need of some medicine and we knew
there was an American hospital here, so we got the meds, the bill and financial
raped. They know you need and want it and they make you pay. 4 times American
pricing and 10 times Panamanian pricing. Oh well we got it and are happy for
that. We did buy some nice big kites. I did buy 3 sets of specialty knives for
Pineapples. I have about 300+ pineapple plants in Panama.
Colleen really took one for the team this week. She just
stayed at the Hotel with Alice all week. She is such a trooper, I love her so.
The 1st day I came home she had the biggest proudest smile for me. She had made it through the day; I did
come home once just to see how it was going. The rest of the days I still came
home but no big smile for me when I got home.
We are looking forward to being back in Shenzhen in an
Apartment vs the hotel.
Our current plan has us returning to the USA at the end of July
and then shortly after returning to Panama for the winter.
If you want to be a Facebook friend look up Colleen Hahn
from David. Panama.
Sorry for the wording and hodgepodge of stories wrote this
over the last 6 weeks.
Love and bless you all
John and Colleen
