Hello from China

I made it to China.  I left last Thursday March 1, and arrived in Shanghai the evening of March 2nd.  There was a lot going on right before I left.  We had the Blue and Gold Banquet for Scouts the night before I left.  It was a great night.  Alauna is a leader in the Cub Scouts so we were there until about 9-10pm cleaning up.  It was a great night.  It hasn't snowed much all winter, but the day after I left it snowed quite a bit and the driveway was full of drifts.  Larry Fluckiger came over and cleared out the driveway with the snow blower.  Thanks Larry.   

I started my stay in China at the Westin Hotel.  It is nice because it's close to the office.  I just moved to the Crowne Plaza Serviced apartments.  They have quite a bit more space, a small kitchen, and is quite a bit cheaper.  The Crowne Plaza rolled out the red carpet for me.  They sent a car to the Westin to pick me up and when I arrived at the hotel, there were eight people waiting to greet me.  They took me up to the room completed the check in process in my room.  They then brought my luggage up a couple minutes later.  I'm not anything special, but they sure made me feel that way.  It should be a good stay here.  

I went an saw the kids school today.  It will be a great place.  It's a great environment.  The school serves a dual purpose for education for the children and a community center for the families.   There are two pools, a workout area, a dance/yoga studio, a basketball court and soccer pitch all for the families to use when the kids are using them.  They also have a small cafe geared towards the parents.  They have great learning environments.  The art room was a great space.  Lots of room for creativity.  They have a dark room as well as a pottery kiln.  They have chemistry, biology, physics and general science labs.  They also have a great theater and drama rooms.  They don't have a drama program for 11th-12th graders, but they have drama club, so Mikayla can still be in the school productions.  She'll be excited for that.  The school has a very interactive environment.  Each student grades 6-12 will have a Mac book.  They have computers in each classroom as well.  Each classroom also has a projector with smart board in it.  I'm excited for the kids.  I really think they will do well and excel in the environment.  

I started my new job on Monday.  I'm very excited about what we will be doing.  We have a great team.  We have people from China, UK, Ireland, Canada, and US on our team.  We have spent the last few days visiting many Five Star stores as well as our competitors and trying to understand the buying experience for the consumer in Nanjing.  It has been a great experience.  I look forward to the work opportunity we will have here in China.

I have attached a picture of a local Chinese taxi.  These are pretty common in tier three and four cities.  We didn't have the opportunity to ride in one of these, but thought it was worth a picture.  They also have standard car taxis as well.  

I really enjoy the Chinese people.  I try to connect with the locals that I interact with every day.   We had a cab driver that was a bit ornery the other day.  By the end of the cab ride I had him smiling and laughing.  This past weekend, I was walking near Xuan Wu Lake and a guy was selling cotton candy.  It was only about .15 cents so I bought one.  I was eating it and then this guy tried to sell me these candy covered plums.  Another older guy came up to me and told me that the cotton candy was bad for me and had no nutrition but that the plums would be good for my health and I should buy the plums.  I thought is was pretty funny.  I bought the plums.  They were pretty good also.  

I have really missed my family.  Trevon had his sixth birthday yesterday.  I missed not being there.  Trevy did get compensated though for me not being there, however.  I think he had four birthday celebrations, so I suppose he was pretty happy about that.  The family still can't kick the strep virus.  They are all on antibiotics now to try to get the virus out of our house.  I think we have had 9 or 10 positive strep tests in the past 6 weeks.  No fun.  I'm sure grateful for an amazing wife to support me in all my craziness.  I know she would rather stay in the great situation we have in Utah, and I really admire her for her willingness to put everything in storage and move to China.  Alauna, you really are amazing.  I love you.   

Boyd