When we first moved here, we kept hearing about how great having an ayi was, and kept getting asked if we would be hiring an ayi. What is an ayi you might be wondering? Ayi is the Chinese name for aunty. Ayi's do anything from housekeeping, cooking, laundry, ironing, grocery shopping, childcare, and some even do pet care! There are ayi schools, and even services to help you find an ayi. Ayi's can be hired part-time or full-time, and some will even live-in if needed. At first, searching for 'the perfect' ayi seemed daunting, but our landlord was able to refer us to Xiao Lin, an English speaking ayi who has over 20 years of experience working for British, French and American families. She taught herself English while working for English speaking families, and is now very valuable for people like us who don't speak Chinese. Things like ordering water bottle service, calling a maintenance worker, or reading one of the many utility bills we receive is not an easy task without knowing the language. Xiao Lin has been a life saver when it comes to these things.
For example:
Although we can see numbers, until we learn what each of the bills are for, we would have no idea what we are paying for. Also, this particular bill is for dates before we moved in -- so it was nice to know that we aren't actually responsible for this one.
When it comes to laundry, I am pretty particular about it and continue to do the laundry; however, one thing I don't do nor am I any good at if you ask Nate, is ironing. A long time ago I attempted to iron Nate's work shirts. It took me almost 15-20 minutes per shirt and when I was finished Nate would sometimes ask if the shirt had been ironed! Xiao Lin? She does 5 shirts in what I swear is under 10 minutes and Nate hasn't said a word about her work.
Xiao Lin is also a great cook and has helped to get us away from eating out every evening. We have her cook for us twice a week. Some ayi's know how to cook western food, but for now we are having Xiao Lin cook whatever she wants with minimal suggestions since we want her to cook what she knows. Other than requesting the type of meat to use or not use, she's already cooked us many yummy meals. She's also a lifesaver now that I don't have Trader Joe's! Trader Joe's use to be my lunch and dinner when Nate would go on business trips. Now, instead of having to order from Sherpa's (I'll blog about that later) I can have a home cooked meal. Xiao Lin thinks its funny that I don't know how to cook and that I'm very lucky to have a husband who does. Here's some of the dishes that she has made for us:
Xiao Lin is also attempting to teach me a phrase in Chinese each time she comes. If my lack of remembering anything she's taught me is an indication of how I'll do in my university classes, all I can say is good luck to me!
~ Trisha