A dilemma with chicken

So, I 've tried about 6 different grocery stores now and have a fairly good handle on the import section, the meat section and the produce sections at each of these stores. And I definitely have favorite sections, unfortunately they are all at different stores! But yesterday I finally found a grocery store that has the big bins of raw chicken (see previous post re: bins o' chicken) in a refrigerated case. This to me is a huge improvement. And since my family would like to eat chicken again sometime and I can't put it off forever, I put a plastic bag on my hand and braved it, pulling 3 chicken legs out of the bin. Note - I said chicken legs, not chicken FEET - that's a whole different bin! I may never be brave enough for that, and I KNOW I'll never know how to cook them. (On a side note, while I was pulling chicken out of the bin my kids finally noticed the tanks with live fish swimming in them. Olivia asked why the fish were there and I totally wimped out and said it was kind of like a mini-aquarium for people to look at while they shop. How lame am I???)
Back to my chicken dilemma. I got the chicken out of the bin, and even though it was refrigerated I clearly need to wash this chicken because who knows how many bare hands have been in that bin. And the tap-water is not potable, but you can use it with a drop of dishwashing liquid to wash vegetables and fruit, so should I use the tap-water to wash the chicken? Seems like the tap-water by itself isn't a good idea, but if I put the normal drop of dishwashing liquid in the water and wash the chicken, is my chicken going to taste soapy? Ugh, that sounds really gross. Or do I use the bottled water to wash it and forget about the fact that we're going through this bottled water at an alarming rate and the guys who deliver it to the apartment know me by name now?
At least for today I was saved by my own short-sightedness. Once again, I planned a meal for which I did not have the right equipment - no broiler pan for the one and only chicken recipe I have memorized. Yes, you guessed it, both the broiler pan and the rest of my recipes and cookbooks are in the famed shipment from the US. Which, by the way, is IN the country. It's so close I can almost feel my towels and sheets! Now if we could just get the moving company copies of our passports, residence permits, work permit and probably Olivia's right hand, we would only be one more week away from getting all our stuff.

Tomorrow is a big day for us. Olivia starts pre-school at an international school. That in itself is not such a big deal because she's been in preschool for the last 1.5 years. But this time she's putting on a school uniform and riding a schoolbus all by herself to school. She's excited about the bus ride, I'm traumatized. But every parent and teacher I've talked to said they all get used to it really fast and there is an ayi on the bus to look after the little kids. Like I said, Olivia is excited. But I tell you what, I could really get behind this whole uniform thing. They are basic, inexpensive and totally solve any morning hassles about what to wear.

The other reason tomorrow is a big day is that I'm finally going to the Fake Market. The famed fake market recently moved and is now located in the #2 subway station. :) Before we left for China I really needed a new purse and a new watch. But knowing I was coming to China, I refused to buy either of these items full-price in the States. And tomorrow I finally get to see what kind of bargains I can find. Maybe this doesn't sound all that exciting to you, but to me it's the first time I'm going shopping for something that's not going to be used in my kitchen, bathroom, or office. I'm also looking forward to only having one child with grabby hands in tow instead of two.

Speaking of the one child that I will have left at home, Gigi and I are going to go visit a Chinese preschool tomorrow or the next day. I am not adjusting very well to being a stay-at-home Mom (read that to say I have been short-tempered, unimaginative, snappy and downright crabby). And today at the school orientation for Olivia, the way that Gigi jumped right in and starting playing with the toys and interacting with the kids told me that she is yearning for more stimulation than I'm giving her right now. Rumor has it that there is a good Chinese preschool a few blocks away that does a 2 hour program every day and is fairly inexpensive. Plus it would be a fast-track for her language exposure. I know we've only been here for 2.5 weeks, but I am seriously struggling with being a full-time mom, I just don't think I'm cut out for it. I'm not capable of being consistent, and pleasant, all day long! So we'll see what the Chinese preschool looks like and maybe Gigi and I will both win with this solution.

On a very happy note, we have met another family who lives one floor above us who has a little girl, Shuen, who is 4 years old. The mom, Ai Chen, seems as eager as I am for playdates for the girls and adult conversation. Her older kids are in school already but her 4 year old daughter doesn't start school for another 2 weeks. She is in a Chinese pre-school as well, so we may take a look at that school too. I am looking forward to getting to know Ai Chen and Shuen, and hopefully making friends. They are from Singapore originally, but lived in Vancouver Canada for the last 8 years. They have been here a year and she has volunteered to help me in any way I need, which will probably be soon since it turns out she speaks and reads and writes Mandarin!

One of the things that struck me tonight, as I was buying some fresh flowers, is why being an ex-pat in China is considered such a sweet gig. It's not that living in China is cheap, it's really not that cheap for us. We don't buy food at the street stalls or the wet markets, so it's not dirt cheap. And the furniture and goods they have for sale are about equivalent in price and sometimes much worse on quality. (The quality control on goods in China is horrible.) And the apartment we live in is outrageously expensive by American standards. Our mortgage in the US is about 30% of the rent for this place.
But it's the fact that you can indulge in luxuries here that we can't get in the US. Or, it's not that we can't get them in the US, it's that only the really rich have them. For instance, having an Ayi, someone who comes to my house every weekday and cleans and cooks and nannies, for about $300USD/month. And having a driver. And buying fresh flowers every week. And getting massages. These are not things that we could ever afford in the US, but here they are inexpensive, and it seems to be part of the expectation of the ex-pat community to hire ayis and drivers. I think that's what people mean when they talk about what a sweet deal this is. I hope that when we finally return to the States, we think it was a sweet deal for that, but also for all that we were exposed to and all that we learned.

Seems like tonight I did a lot of rambling in my blog (blambling?), but it's just been that kind of day, with my mind wandering from subject to subject with no clear destination!