Bedlam and the Boondocks

When we first moved here last year, I scoured the furniture stores looking for a toddler bed. I found plenty of beds that were low to the ground, but none had rails around them. We decided to have one made, but I was advised by my friend who was helping me to have it made into twin size, so she could grow into the bed. We had nice, removable rails made for it, too. Unfortunately, the rails were way too short once we made the bed longer - not nearly long enough to keep her in the bed if she flops around too much. Which she does. So, after a few late-night falls and fears, I have been surrounding my dd with pillows and putting polarfleece blankets on the floor to cushion her.

Last Tuesday, I was at the Ikea store in Guanzhou, which is about 1 1/2 - 2 hours away, depending on traffic. Lo and behold, there was a beautiful little white toddler bed with a nice removable rail - it was perfect! I didn't buy it because we already had the other bed. However, after getting up every night this week (and the week before, and so on...) to adjust my dd and make sure the pillows are still there to try to keep her in, we decided to just buy the Ikea bed.

We drove to Guanzhou, and it only took about 1 1/2 hours - we made great time! We found the bed and tried to purchase it, but were told that we wouldn't be able to pick it up until tomorrow (not gonna happen!). My husband convinced them to let us pick it up at the warehouse, which was on the way home anyway.

Then we found out that the highway back is closed and we had to take all detours to get home. Some were sort of marked, some weren't marked at all. We spent a good portion of our afternoon in typical Chinese city-area. China is full of tiny storefronts, one after the other, down every single street it seems. They have apartments over them, usually 5 or more stories tall. The little shops sell flowers, or tires, or clothing, or possibly they house a tailor or hairdresser. Nothing ever looks new here or clean (except the hairdressers!). There is almost always a table and plastic chairs set up, with people eating or playing mah jong or else just sitting around talking, and food wrappers all around the table. It's the same in every section of every Chinese city I've been in. Occasionally you will see a large, green area with low houses and people wearing those big triangle hats and pajamas to do their work, hauling water, riding an old bike, or working in the field. If you see a body of water, it's usually crowded with boats hauling stuff from one place to another or fishing. Every square inch of land and space seems to be utilized here.

Another thing very typical of China are the many, many huge factory campuses. Most of the employees are migrant workers, so you see so many large, rectangle dorms for the workers. You can tell they're not just normal apartments because all the clothes hanging out to dry on the balconies (nobody has a clothes dryer here) are exactly the same - uniforms. It's basically a little town and also a giant family. Meals are served in a big hall and they all work, live and relax together. They say China is the world's factory, and I believe it!! Right down to the giant smokestacks and chimneys spewing who-knows-what into the air, blocking the sun so it looks more like the moon, and shoveling money into the booming Chinese economy.

Another thing you see quite a bit, and I've mentioned this about the kids here, is that people will take a whiz anywhere! We frequently see cars stopped along the highway, and all the men from the car are standing with their back to the road relieving themselves. It's really a little disconcerting, but you get used to it after a while.

To get back to our afternoon, we did manage to get sort of lost for a few hours in all the mazes of shops, restaurants and factories. In all, it took us six - SIX!!!! - hours to get home. We didn't get home until 9 p.m., when it was too late to get the bed put together anyhow! We ordered a pizza, fed the kids, and put them to bed, very late! As it was, I was stressed enough with the awful, chaotic and incredibly frightful traffic. Glad to be home, and I'm glad my girl will finally have her toddler bed. Tomorrow.