My aunt's universe rocks

I have to start this post with a little story. My Aunt Nancy has this theory that if you put stuff "out in the universe" it will eventually happen, but if you don't even put it out there it can't happen. Case in point: her car broke down several months ago and while having a conversation with some of her friends, she said "you know, I just want the universe to give me a free car" . After saying that out loud, her friend said "we have an extra car while we're waiting for our daughter to turn 16, you can drive that if you want." And BAM, she had a free car. Then a couple months later I offer that she can drive my car while we're in China, giving her another 2 years of a free car. Pretty cool.
So, here we are in China. On Sunday night, Joe says he thinks we should just put it out there in the universe that we need a really good Ayi. Now, the Ayi concept is why so many people think that being an ex-pat in a country like China is wonderful. "Ayi" is the Chinese word for aunt and refers to someone you hire to come into your home to clean, do laundry, cook, childcare, etc. This kind of domestic help is extremely inexpensive in China, $200-300/month to have someone working for you 5 days/week, 9 hrs/day. Part of me was a little reluctant about getting an Ayi because I'm g oing to be staying home with the girls. Shouldn't I be able to handle the housework as well? But I had plenty of friends who were like "are you crazy? that would be so awesome. you HAVE to get one of those people!" Now that we're here and the reality of the tiny washer and dryer has hit home, I'm very clear that I will need some help or I will never leave the house. So we had it in our minds that we would hire an Ayi after we had been here a little while. Since we don't speak any Chinese yet, I was very nervous about attempting to hire someone...and there are some stories out there about really bad Ayis.

OK, sorry for the big aside, but the whole Ayi thing had to be explained. So back to the universe. Sunday night Joe and I say out loud (to the universe) "we need a really good Ayi". We wondered if we should burn incense or make an offering or something, but we were tired so we just said it out loud and called it good!
Monday morning I am taking the girls to the playground in our apartment complex and our friend Dana calls. She excitedly tells me that her friend Melissa has to leave China and go back to the US, her husband is being transferred back. That's not the exciting part, the exciting part is that she is trying to find an American family to place her Ayi with. And her Ayi has 6 years of experience, 2 years with Melissa, and cleans a house 50% bigger than ours and helps take care of their 4 kids. AND she trained Dana's Ayi, whom Dana loves, so Dana can vouch for Melissa's Ayi being great. But she's had a few interviews with other families, so if I'm interested, I have to interview her right then. My first thought is "HOLY COW! This universe thing is amazing and it really works!" My second thought is "how the heck do I interview her?" And my third thought is "Olivia, stop whining, we're all hot and sweaty and Gigi stop hitting your sister!" Luckily Dana has a copy of the 'Ayi Survival Guide' that she can let me borrow (yet another amazing book written by ex-pats for ex-pats, and it has Chinese and English translations in it). I pick up the book from Dana, and go to the playground with the girls.

It's 11:15 and Melissa and the Ayi will be at our apartment at 12:15. While the kids are playing, I'm frantically flipping through the book to find the interview questions. And of course, while I am reading this book and ignoring my children (another accomplishment for my Parent-of-the-Year application), Gigi falls and splits her chin open on the stairs. EEEEEEE! Now we're all running back to the apartment with blood streaming out of Gigi's chin, but she won't let me get a look at it. Olivia is crying because she can't run this fast and she's scared of the cars in the road ("because they don't look out for people here like they do in Oregon"). We make it back to the apartment all sweaty and shaky, I clean up all the blood and discover that the cut isn't as long as I thought and not that deep, but in true head-wound fashion it bled a lot. Now it's 11:45, my cell phone rings. It's Rebecca, our friend from the shopping excursion, telling me that the chair we ordered is here and they tried to call the apartment but I didn't answer. Ah, so that's the weird musical sound I heard while trying to clean Gigi up. So I sit the kids in front of the TV (exciting CNN) and run downstairs to let the delivery guys in. Back upstairs, making the kids a quick lunch and realize that Gigi is nodding off on the couch. I freak out thinking about head wounds and concussions and why oh why didn't I pay more attention in that first aid class I took before Olivia was born??? Gigi perks up with a little lunch and Melissa and the Ayi arrive at 12:15. I am so frazzled I can't get the stupid door unlocked.
But the moment Melissa and Xiao Chen (pronounced Shou Chen) walked in, I knew the universe had been very kind to me. Xiao Chen went straight over to the kids and even though they've been very shy with all Chinese people up to this point, they had no reluctance whatsoever with her, and that's the best barometer of all. Xiao Chen was down on the floor playing tea party with them within 3 minutes. Play is an international language.

I sat and talked to Melissa about everything Xiao Chen does for them, and just the fact that she was trying so hard to find her a good family to work for told me a lot. When I put the kids down for their naps, Olivia complained "I have a new friend and you're not letting me play with her. It's not fair." I whispered to her that I would try to get Xiao Chen to come back lots more and that satisfied her. Back out in the living room, Xiao Chen has folded the load of laundry on the couch while waiting for me. Melissa explains that she's a very good Ayi and just does whatever needs to be done and has a lot of initiative. After a few more questions and some discussion about start date and salary, I hired her on the spot! I can't believe it happened so quickly. I hope it's as good as it seems. In two weeks I will have someone working in my home doing the cleaning and the laundry, and she is also willing to cook some for us, and help me learn to cook a few Chinese dishes. I'm in heaven. If this works out like I hope it will, I may not want to go home to Oregon. :)

Despite the craziness of Monday morning, by the time Joe got home from work I was feeling like things were falling into place. Until he asked what we were having for dinner. Oh crap, that's my job to figure out now, isn't it? :) I'm still getting used to the new division of labor in our marriage. First we went shopping for a few things at the B&Q, which is China's version of Home Depot. And it literally is Home Depot, without the orange color splashed around. Big warehouse with concrete floors and aisles of hardware, paint, toilets, sinks, plants, etc. We found our stuff and then headed over to Simply Thai, a Thai food restaurant that has 50% off your bill on Monday nights. BIG mistake. The place was packed and it took an hour and a half to get our food. Soooo, now we've learned not to go to Carrefour on Sundays, or Simply Thai on Mondays. Luckily my sense of humor is still in tact about all these "lessons learned". Oh, and Melissa also warned me not to go to Carrefour on "Fresh egg Tuesday". She said the Chinese go crazy for fresh eggs and that it's impossible to shop there the day they deliver fresh eggs. With my luck, I'll be smack in the middle of Carrefour when they deliver the eggs. :P

But to my Aunt Nancy, I would like to say a big "thank you" for giving us the idea to "put stuff out in the universe". You rock. And to our friend Dana, who has been looking out for us since before we arrived in Shanghai, thank you for the Ayi, and for a hundred other pieces of valuable information!!!