A yi and a driver

Well, we finally found a driver. It is a huge relief! Chris has been having to catch a ride with his boss who lives an hour away. The boss would send his driver out to pick up Chris and then go pick him up and then head off to work another hour away. We only live 30 min from Chris work place so having a driver means a lot less driving time. Also, it means I can have someone drive me and the kids where we need to go during the day. Wahoooo! So exciting.

At first we didn't know what we were going to do because in our first meeting with him we found out that he smokes. That's really common among drivers here. He seemed so nice and he lives right in our neighborhood. That makes it very convenient for him to get to our house and for him to get back home after work. We just don't want our car to reak like cigarette smoke. The next morning Chris talked with the driver and asked him if he would not smoke at all during his work hours and he said that wouldn't be a problem. After his first day (Friday) with the driver, Chris felt like he would be a good driver for our family and that he would keep his word about the no smoking thing.

Our A yi ( house keeper) who's name is Wang lin has turned out to be great too. At first, I didn't think we would keep her because I couldn't understand her Chinese very well. In fact I still can't but she's a hard worker and I trust her. Those two things, I decided, were more valuable to me than the speaking perfect Chinese thing. She has two children, a girl 10 and a boy 13, living in Si Chuan with her parents. Si Chuan is a province about 50 hours away on a train. She and her husband moved to Shanghai to make money to put their children through school. In China, you have to pay for your kids to go to high school, even public ones. Wang lin also has to pay heavy taxes because she has more than one child. I offered her more hours and she was thrilled about it.

Wang lin and I are getting more comfortable with each other now and she's getting used to our strange American ways i.e. using a dishwasher and a clothes dryer. I even taught her how to make sweet and sour chicken ( American style) the other day. She really liked it and wants me to teach her how to make more American food.

The kids are warming up to Wang lin and like to give her a big "Ni hao," when they see her. Gabe walked in the door the other day after school and made a point to find Wang lin and show her his art project. Gabe has a hard time saying Wang lin and mostly just calls her Wing Wong. It's all the same to him.

We hope everyone has a great Easter!