Meet the Housewives

 Elle Lay

Hey there,

I'm Elle Lay. Wife to Big Guy (BG). Mama to Little Guy (LG) and our family cat. The four of us boarded  a flight with a one way ticket from Los Angeles to Wuxi in June 2012 with nothing but the bags we packed. Little guy and I spend our days exploring all the Wuxi has to offer and making new friends, while Big Guy works hard to launch a new facility for his company. Being an expat wife comes with a unique set of responsibilities and challenges, and I hope to share some things that I have learned about life in China and provide insight as to what life is like here. So, grab a cup of xingbake and join us on this road less travelled.

Southern Belle

Hi Ya’ll! I'm Southern Belle. Glad you are thinking of moving to Wuxi!

I have to say, as much as I dreaded it at first, life here is fun. So come join!!!

Tractor Man and I moved to Wuxi in April of 2011 when our son was 3.5 months old. Talk about a transition...new parents and moving to a whole new world in a matter of months. We have learned quite a bit through this experience and want to share that with you. 

We are probably the only crazy expats in China that you will hear of that brought all of our own furniture with us. This created some major headaches at first as we had to get it on the boat a month and a half before we planned on leaving. So we ended up camping out in our house with an air mattress, a pack and play, and lawn chairs in the living room. Totally redneck, huh? Then the last week of our time in the US we were living in a hotel so we could get our air shipment sent. All of this was in hopes that our stuff would be there by the time we arrived. 

But alas, that was not to be. The boat took a lot longer than what we were told so we ended up living in a hotel here in Wuxi for another month and a half. When we finally got into our apartment and settled we were so thankful to have our own furniture. I’m not sure I would recommend this direction to anyone, but it has been great for us. 

We have now been in Wuxi for almost 2 years. During this time we have learned a lot, gotten frustrated over silly stuff (and some not so silly stuff), made wonderful friends, and started learning some of the language. I look forward to sharing some of my experiences with you and helping you see that life in China can be fun. 

Mitsy Mitten

Hey everyone! I'm Mitsy Mitten, and I'm originally from a place where I do have to wear mittens a good 4 months of the year.  We've been in Wuxi for almost 6 months now, my Six Foot Four and I. Yes, that's my amazing husband, and yes he's a whole foot taller than me. We came here for his job, and are finally starting to call this "home".  

No little ones for us yet, so my days are full of really good stuff. My life, as I knew it, has completely changed, including coffee mornings (and afternoons on occasion, including Netflix in the background....), cleaning, laundry, lunches, bible study groups, Chinese language learning, shopping, skype and facetime dates with family and friends, and many challenges, frustrations, laughing, and learning along the way in this new culture. 

I now have a new "title" in China, as I would be referred to as a foreigner or expat wife.  I hope you can enjoy my experiences, as we are still currently diving into this new culture, especially the culture here in China. I hope you enjoy what us real expat housewives have to say and share about life in Wuxi!