Another rainy day. I spent this morning working on my resume and surfing the internet looking for jobs at American companies in Shanghai. One of Eric's coworkers knows a local headhunter and is willing to pass my resume on to her. That done, I went down to the apartment business center to print out a sign that says "Don't let the cat out" in Chinese for the maids.
小心,别让猫出去.
See the third character from the right? That is the character for 'cat'. I think it looks like a cat with ears on top and a tail to the left.
The computer in the business center is a challenge since the screen is mostly in Chinese (I know, what did I expect being in China). After waiting for 20 frustrating minutes, I gave up on the printer producing anything but noise.
I went back to the apartment and did laundry again. Our wardrobes are quite limited since much of it is still in transit. I attempted to iron some shirts with our odd little ironing board. I set the iron on it and the thing immediately collapsed. I picked the sad thing up and found 2 screws on the floor. Even a its highest setting, the board is so low that I need to stoop to use it. Mind you that I am about 5 feet tall, about the height of the average Chinese, so I have no idea who this ironing board was built for.
Going to the kitchen to make a sandwich, I discovered that the bread had turned into a science experiment. I suppose I could keep it around and hang moldy slices to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. On a positive note, that provided a good excuse to go to the bakery and get more bread and sweet buns.
In other news, my sister just had her baby on March 8. Little Juvon Choi Mitchell weighed in at 7 lb 6 oz. His big brother, Jamar, gets to hold him (with help). Jamar likes to give his baby brother kisses, but when he's finished, he's finished. Jamar pushes the baby away and goes onto more interesting things. Not unexpected behavior for an 18 month old. So, that's one baby here and one to go. Eric's brother's wife is due any day now. We got pictures of the nursery via email. The room is a beautiful shade of yellow. The color reminds me of the color I had in my kitchen in Indianapolis -- lemon parfait.
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4 comments:
I'm glad I stumbled across your blog. I am getting ready to move to China (Zhuhai) from upstate NY with my partner and cat -- I feel like I'm doing a bit of homework by reading about your adventures :) And your kitty is such a doll!
In regards to moving with your cat: Did you happen to use any guides/services when preparing for the move? I'm finding that to be the most stressful part of the planning process (figuring out what form are needed, what airlines allow cats in the cabin, etc.).
runningburro:
We used WorldCare Pet Relocation Services. They were recommended to us by my husband's company.
I had a hard time finding a single source of information, too. We had to do the following in order to bring our cat to Shanghai:
- Rabies vaccination that is more than 30 days old but not older than 1 year (unless multi-year)
- International Health Certificate (form # APHIS 7001), endorsed by USDA not more than 10 days prior to arrival
- Arrival stamp in your passport must be within 7 days of pet arrival, if shipping cargo.
- All documents (H/C, passport, AWB if applicable) must be in the same name.
- Pets must be implanted with microchip
I don't know if a microchip is required by China in order to bring your pet, but it was a requirement for the moving company. We got a hard-sided cargo carrier for him (I don't recall the size right off the top of my head, but it wasn't the small one, medium one probably). In the carrier I put a towel and one of my old shirts. They handled pretty much everything. They sent someone to pick him up the night before we were to fly out. He was flown cargo from Atlanta to Amsterdam and then Amsterdam to Shanghai (we flew separately). When he arrived in Shanghai, he had to sit in the quarantine facilities for 7 days and then he was released to us (the pet relo people had a courier bring him to us). You are allowed 1 pet per passport. Now, I don't know what the cost for this was since this was part of the relocation package we had negotiated for.
Supposedly, if you bring your pets through Hong Kong, you may not need to put your animals in quarantine. We were planning to do this in order to avoid the quarantine in Shanghai, but a miscommunication resulted in him being delivered directly to Shanghai. Grrr. I don't know about which airlines allow pets on board, but be sure to document everything. Make note of who you talk to and if you use a pet relocation company, be sure that you get all the details in writing. We neglected to get things in writing and that's why our cat ended up in quarantine (he's doing quite well despite that as you can see from the pics). I hope that helps you a little.
Good luck with the move!
Thank you for your extended reply and the helpful suggestions :)
We were finally able to make airline reservations with Asiana airlines -- they allow pet to be taken into the cabin on trans-pacific flights.
I did contact the pet relocation service that you used; they were very nice, but a bit beyond our budget at the moment (we're grad students).
Now, if I can just convince our cat that the cat carrier is really a nice place to hang out, I'll be set ;)
runningburro:
I'm glad you found an airline that will allow a cat on the flight. I'm sure your kitty will settle right down. If you want to talk further, email me at barbary_ape@yahoo.com. I'm having problems viewing my blog front page or comments because I'm living in China. Take care!
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