Given that this was the second time we moved our family continents, I naively thought it would be easier, that I would be better at it, that we would get on our feet quicker.

I was wrong. It was just as confusing, difficult and scary as the first time. Don’t get me wrong parts of it I loved, at times it’s like being on a holiday, the excitement of the new sights, sounds and smells, the adventure and the exploring.

Exploring Yu Garden Bazzar

But unlike a holiday you have to start building a life. For example not having a bottle opener in a holiday apartment would be an annoyance but in a new home is a disaster. Don’t worry though I was very proud when I managed to buy on on day 7!

Other major achievements in the first few days included:
Day 1: Unpacking and not falling to sleep in public. Finding out the apartment compound had a play park, and there is a Starbucks just outside. 🙂
Day 2: Finding a restaurant with items the kids would eat. First food shop, where the boys couldn’t believe there was alive fish with bar-codes on them.
Day 3: Residential permit medicals and local SIM cards. (A very long day for the boys with a lot of hanging around.)
Day 4: Finding a reliable source of water delivered to the door (  I was previously carting it home with 3 kids in tow, with 80% humidity and temperatures averaging 31°C that was not a long term solution.)
Day 5: Surviving a day by myself with all 3 monsters! (This is the day I dreaded but we did it and even ventured on public transport to a park.)

 

Those first few days are full of highs and lows. My advice for anyone moving country is:

“Don’t expect to much of yourself. Things that would be simple in the last country may be practically impossible in this one. If you manage to achieve one thing a day (no matter how small) you are doing great. “

As well as completing the impossible daily task such as putting on the washing machine (I had to ask for help on a Facebook group) I had to deal with my own jet lag and the kids.

(I found this amazing app about 2 weeks into our time in China. It translates Chinese characters live from phone camera. Can have some funny results but a life saver on many occasions.)

I’ve read loads of articles on best ways to avoid jet lag in kids but honestly I haven’t found anything eliminates it for us. For us it’s a matter of dealing with it not preventing it. I accept kids and husband will be awake in the middle of the night (movies on tablets are my savior for this), I accept kids will fall to sleep anywhere (it did mean the impromptu purchase of a pushchair to get middle man home), I accept there will be bad moods and tempers (from kids and myself), I try to look on the funny side.

Things I found did help adjust is eating main meals at roughly the right time (with lots of snack to keep kids going), making sure the house was dark in the evenings and light in the days, constant explanation to older two about why they felt the way they did and that it won’t last forever. And it didn’t, i would say it took us about 3 days to adjust the 8 hour time difference.

After surviving the jet lag and achieving the life sustaining task such as food and water (honestly not always easy in a country where there is a massive communication barrier) it was time to build a life.

We opened bank accounts, bought school uniforms, found local shops, ate unrecognizable foods, got our heads around the how expensive Shanghai is, worked out the metro and buses, accepted every offer of meet ups, found day care, hired an ayi and bought plastic cups and plates.

 

We also allowed ourselves to be tourists, enjoying shanghais top tourist spots. Although sometimes it felt like our 3 blond haired boys were a bigger attraction than the ones we were visiting.

After 3 weeks the husband had started work and the big boys had started school. The routine of our new life was starting to take shape. Would I say we were settled? No! But I was no longer a rabbit staring into the big city headlights.

Oh and it took 3 months till I got a mattress cover!