Welcome to Changzhou China!

We made it to China after a 14 hour airplane ride, 2 1/5 hour car ride and not much sleep!  We have checked into our hotel which will be our home for the next 2-3 weeks until we can move into our apartment.  Day One: we went in search of an apartment and found one which we are securing now, a few photos below.  We went to the local China Mobile store and I was able to pick a phone number from the wall and then decide on which type of cell phone plan i would like, mind you i must go in each month and pay the bill in cash...no auto pay here folks!  An adventur to the bank was my next stop with a translator on hand i was able to open a bank account, only in my name, no join accounts here, then deposit USD in the account only to find out an hour later they didn't convert it to RMB so i have to withdraw the money, go to the hotel and convert it, then come back and make a deposit???  strange....but then i also had to purchase a USB device which will allow me to plug into my home computer and see my account in Mandarin for balances and such, but you must come back another day to activate it at the Bank.  Now to figure out transferring money from the US Bank to the China Bank.  All in all i was successful at getting my list of To Dos completed for the first day!

Day Two:  Blake and I ventured out of the hotel while Brian went to work and we discovered Walmart in the Wanda Mall next to our hotel.  We were able to pick up some snacks such as lay's potato chips, goldfish, apples, oreos, cereal and peanut butter.  I think once i have a kitchen we will purchase more adventurous items to prepare!  There was everything from meat unpacked in the cool cases, eggs not refrigerated, chicken feet, tongue, marinated "drunken" meats, and lots of noodles, chicken powders and beverages.   When we got to checkout we learned that not only did Walmart not take USD, they didn't take Visa, AMEX, or Discover Card, only local currency so off we went without any thing.  Later that day we returned with RMB in hand.  The money here looks like monopoly funny money, very strange to pay with it.

Day Three:  We had Brian in tow with us and were able to venture out to more restaurants and stores, we checked out the local TESCO which i would equivilate to Target at home in the states, The Blue Marlin, and a German beer restaurant.  We were able to try a quesidilla, grilled salmon, hamburgers, french fries, mashed potatoes.  We also went to an Italian place that was tasty, with brick oven pizza and a giant parmesan cheese wheel that he places the hot pasta in and the cheese melts on it to make a sauce, I will take a picture next time!  There is some good western food here, most of it is close to the hotel and since we can't cook we have been sticking to it!

Some things to note:  Don't drink the water, this includes the ice!  Don't walk around with a stroller unless you are prepared to lift it over barricades set up to prevent the scooters from driving on the sidewalk.  Always have RMB to pay for anything, credit cards only work at hotels and some restaurants.  They LOVE American babies here, Blake is a celebrity!  KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Hut and DQ are nothing like the states but still make you feel like your eating a piece of home!

Ok this is all for now, i will take more photos so i can show you all more of what we are seeing here.