This morning(Thursday) I had to go and apply for our resident permits so we would be legal and not get thrown out of the country. The kids were in school so I took their passports with me so I could take care of them too and not pull them out of school. It was only their second day after all! So I met Mr. Yang down stairs and called Mr. Lee(no relation, of course,) so he could tell Mr. Yang where to take me sine I had not a clue! Mr. Lee works for Santa Fe who basically does all the "stuff" to keep you legal and make your transition easier when moving to China, they handle all of Intel's relo stuff here... So I met Mr.Lee and noticed their was an Indian couple with their two kids also with Mr.Lee. Of course the kids were young and antsy and it reminded me of not to long ago when Asia and Javi were wild children, what like last week??? Anyways, we struck up a conversation and yep, just as I thought, they were from Intel too. I was surprised when I saw their American passports because of the thick Indian accent they both had, just goes to show you can never tell! That's the great nation of ours! Anyways, the officer took me first and I was out if there in a half an hour! WOW! Thanks to me not having the kids with me, I got done first and had all kinds of time until I needed to be home.
I decided I was going to brave the market by myself! Well, almost, I decided to ask Mr. Yang to come with me. He kinda looked at me a little puzzled when he handed me the bags to shop and I said, "you come with me". And he said, "ah ok". So we were off and I was on a mission to find tortillas. Thank Goodness there are some Mexican American families here and have paved the way for us so we can get tortillas and get our Mexican food craving met, even if it is only a quesadilla! But hey, that is staple for Javi and his diet and I did not lug 30lbs of cheese back from Hawaii for nothing! Yes, you read that right, 30 POUNDS!!! and I am glad to say, I did it. Yes, you can get chedder cheese here but it's pretty pricey! There are a few places that are carrying it now and the price has come down a little but still, I LOVE CHEESE and could not imagine giving that up completely and I'm not willing to go into the poor house to get my fix ok? ANYWAYS, back to the shopping. So with several calls to Suonllen to get the appoximate location of the vendor who sells the tortillas, I started my hunt. Mr. Yang watched me intently as I scanned the place, tried to decide which was the back left corner that Suonllen described. Forgot to ask, which way did you come in? so it took several trips to the corners and on the third one, I found them!!! ahhhhhhh( can you hear the ding ding ding bell sound going on right now???) I had Mr. Yang ask, how much because even though I started Manadrin classes at home, twice! I still could not remember how to ask that simple question. I was told 15RMB, which is a little over $2 for a package, GREAT DEAL as far as I was concerned! I did not even try and talk down the price. One thing I have learned is EVERYTHING is negotiable in China! I figured since Mr. Yang asked the price, maybe they give him the good price from the start? (REMEMBER this when you read about my converstation with Virginia that is coming up...)
So I decided to try to get a few more things so I could plan a meal or two in case it takes a little longer to get an Ayi than I want it to. Planning on meeting and interviewing one today after the market. Theresa is bringing over her Ayi and Viriginia's driver to translate for the one who wants to work for us who is related to one of them? So I purchased a few things from a woman that smiled at me as I was walking by and her tomatoes looked really good compared to the one I bought the other day. I actually ended up buying all of the fruits and veggies from her and the more I bought, the better the price got. I think I am going to keep going back to her as long as I do not feel that she's trying to charge an arm and a leg like the lady behind her(we bought from her my last trip and have decided now, we got screwed!) I do know how to say "too much!" now and will walk away because more than likely you can get the same thing, of the same quality if not better, another isle away! so I felt accomplished that morning and decided to end it on a high note so that I would be ready for the meeting with the potential Ayi...I am really praying it works out with this one so I do not have to go through the interview process again! Especially since my Manadrin is next to non existant right now!
So the Going rate for a FULL time Ayi is 1500-2000RMB from what I understand talking to other Intel wives. Theresa and Virginia however, both have part time Ayi's and pay them very well! 1400-1500RMB respectively. I should have thought of that before I met with one of their Ayi's recommended persons, now I know they think they should get that much regardless of how many hours less I was going to have them work. We went through the whole process of what would be expected and showing her what cooking supplies and spices I had, which were no good and she said we would need to go shopping for chinese spices. I said no problem but I do have Chinese spices, I am married to a part Chinese man and began to show the three of them my Chinese "five spice" and my soy sauce as well as the black vinager, sweet soy, fish sauce, etc...all of it except the soy and black vinager was in English because Suonllen brought them from home. I was told they were no good, but I do not believe it was because they were not the right spices but because they could not read the english words telling them they were! HAHA, I think I would have done the same thing! From what I understood, all was good and then it was time to talk hours and money. We are lucky that we have an Ayi who works for the complex we live in and we have her two days a week to do general cleaning. She comes in and does the bathrooms, kitchen, floors and changes the beds. She used to do laundry but now that the kids and I are here, she does not have enough time to do it...I think she was like, one person laundry, ok...four person laundry, no way! We do not have to pay for this service which is great! She comes Sunday and Wednesday. So really we only need an Ayi four days a week. I figured on the weekends, we will eat out most of the time anyways so M, T and Th F 2-6 so the new Ayi could make dinners before she left, that seemed simple and was all I was going to shoot for. Virginia's Ayi is there from 1-6 M-F and I believe she helps out occasionally with the kids, Theresa has her Ayi from 2-6 five days a week and she does some stuff with the kids, and they pay, I believe too much. I figured I was looking a one less day and less hours and there were no kids to deal with, mine are older-no childcare needed for them. When we asked what she wanted to get paid for working for us, she quoted 1400RMB. We tried to explain that she was going to be working less hours than the other Ayi's but decided that maybe the Chinese did not think as we Americans do....after all, T.I.C. I have no problem paying for good services, do not get me wrong. But I also believe in paying a fair price, not just paying like many people do. I do not want my actions to affect others and if I pay a crazy amoutnt just because it's what everyone else is doing, it raises the price for the next person. I have one friend who pays 800RMB for part time.... So I figured out what the daily rate of what Virginia and Theresa paid, figured out the and offered that. I was strong and said no to her initial rate , and offered the top of our high range which the potential Ayi countered with 100RMB more and I decided no, I was not just going to buckle and agree to pay it because I REALLY did not want to have to go through this interviewing again but I was going to blame my husband and say I had to check with him...I thanked Theresa and the others for coming and then called Suonllen when they left. We both agreed we wanted to start the Ayi at our lower rate and then increase it when we could see if she was worth more and then pay her more to keep her. So it was decided that I would interview again, but not happy about it. Before I could call Theresa, she called me to tell me the Ayi had decided she would work for the 1100RMB after all...well of course she would! but I told Theresa that I needed to interview one more before we could make a decision. I asked a few other Intel women I knew and am waiting to see what else is out there but until then, the two day a week Ayi is going to have to be good enough and I am going to have to cook a few more meals before I can truly be a full time "Lady of Leisure"....
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