Once again more than two weeks have passed since my last blog post. No I did not lose motivation when it comes to blogging nor do I have a writer’s block. It is just that way too much is happening in our everyday life that I find only very limited time to invest into my blog/ following other blogs on a regular basis. In my last blog post I talked about our Life with two kids and how hard it can be to balance raising them and running a company besides trying to find some spare time in the end of the day.
Back then I did not imagine that things could get much harder for us but I was so wrong. Just two days after that article was published I got a call from the local tax office that they want to check out our company tax paper. Even though we always did all of the tax work properly we had to double-check everything. I think I might have nightmares about those two weeks of double checking for the rest of my life. We finished with everything at 4.30 am last thursday and the person from the tax office came at 9am! For the last few days I have been trying to just recover from this madness as there was nothing else each day than working, taking care of the kids and going through the tax papers till very late night. Now that this is mostly taken care of (still one small visit next week but nothing we can prepare anymore) I can finally start doing other things in life again such as going to do some sports in the morning before work, reading and thinking about my blog again.
So what has happened to us in the past months besides tax office madness, too much work and being all the time ill due to Nathan bringing all possible diseases from kindergarten? Not too much as that is already enough but we also won’t be able to go to Poland this year even though we still had plans for that this summer. Reason for this is a surgery my father had recently and he needs to recover from it so the trip will hopefully happen next spring or latest next autumn. Apparently we are also buying an apartment in Xi’an but that is not 100% certain as of now. No we won’t be buying it for living there ourselves but it will be for my in-laws. There is this new apartment block and it is on the property of the old factory the whole family used to work. Because of this (I actually don’t understand why) they get some discount on the price so the apartments are roughly 25% cheaper for them. In fact the whole crazy family is getting apartments there so they can live together.
I am myself not convinced about that area as it is first of all more in the outskirts of Xi’an and then there is also nothing really close by. No supermarkets or anything so my in-laws would need to take bus everywhere compared to their current prime location right in the historical old town of Xi’an where everything is just a short walking distance away. Another problem is that they renovated their current apartment few years ago entirely so in case they want to rent it out it will be trashed within short time. Personally I just hope they decide to stay in their old apartment. Not only because I have zero interest in living in that new area when visiting them and needing to go everywhere by bus but also because it would be probably better for them to stay there. I mean they are also not the youngest people around any longer and then moving from a place they have lived for over 25 years to another area where nothing is close by and they don’t know any of the neighbours?
What is your opinion about my in-laws moving to a new apartment?
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I feel you. My daughter was always sick since she started Kita. With this crazy weather and everything, I am not surprised that almost all kids are getting sick, and that means extra stress for parents. Hope He recovers fast. They said that they will eventually strengthen their immune system from all these virus !
Goodluck with all the tax paperwork, i know it can be a daunting experience.
The bad thing about Nathan being sick all the time is that Nathalie also gets ill. Nathan is basically one week in kindergarten and one week ill.
Taxes are a nightmare, I hope everything will go well, so that you get a bit more sleep.
Regarding your inlaws, I absolutely agree with you. It would be better if they stay in their apartment. Adjusting to a new environment after such a long time is difficult, especially if it is so much more inconvenient.
But I guess like everything with MIL it won’t be that easy 😅
Taxes are more than just a nightmare. Wish it would be an automatic system like in Finland where they send you the complete tax papers filled out and you only send it back in case you found some mistake
The new tower looks beautiful. But I would hate to live in a building that was far from places I frequently visit. It’s especially nice to be able to walk to see friends and do shopping. Your in-laws might feel trapped in the new building.
Though the new building looks fantastic especially when thinking how bad condition the old one is. However it is true that such new apartment complexes are more like prison cells rather than alive communities as the one they live in now.
It’s such a big move at any age but for your elderly parents in law being without long term friends and shops might be very hard.
I really hope that they decide to stay where they are now. The whole new surrounding wouldn’t be good for them. Now they have everything they need just around them starting from grocery shops over to their hobbies to their friends
You’re right, your MIL is wrong, but good luck trying to tell HER that.
This time it is actually her wanting to stay and her husband wanting that new apartment. But then again I understand him as the new apartment is nearly double size so he has more opportunities avoiding her at home
If it really is way cheaper than the usual price, maybe they can buy it, rent it and stay in their current place? Or do they only have money to buy it if they sell the current one first? Anyway, that area will probably be developed soon, maybe in 4 years there will be another “city center” there (it happened in my area… as you know things change crazy fast in here!).
Well the thing is about the new apartment that they still need to invest money to make it liveable (nothing inside, just bare walls). So it would cost a lot of money and then the rent aint really high so costs would be back in like 20-30 years by renting out 😮
But they can sell it in 5 years and price will have probably increased by at least 30%. At least that’s what happens here in Suzhou!
Don’t know about the increase right now/ what is predicted in that area. Thing is that area exists already for over 50 years and nothing has happened there this far except that those high apartment blocks are growing like mushrooms for the past 15 years without building/ creating any opportunities for the people like shoppi g malls/ supermarkets or similar
My instincts agree with you here! I’ve lost count the number of times over the last 20 years where there was a ‘deal’ to buy something on the edge of the city when there was nothing there and now the value has exponentially increased. Even if I’d just had it as an investment and sold after 5 years – just keeping it clean and unoccupied would have made huge sums of money. To be honest, I’m even considering trying to buy a small place near my new office as flats have already doubled in the last year and I suspect will double again. Versus our area which is already at a huge premium and we could never afford to buy. But hey if for in-laws… their life, their choice even if its partly your money. 🙂 The way it goes!
Hope the kids work through their virus sharing and what a relief to nearly get through tax ‘check’! A complete nightmare I’m sure.
There are also some places I wish we would have bought some apartment few years ago as the prices have increased so much even here in Germany. Even in my small hometown the property market is going crazy as the prices have went up by 50% just in the last year!!
Ahh, family is a wonderful thing to have, isn’t it? Even when they don’t want to listen…dealing with plenty craziness at home now too due to my sister planning her wedding…anyway, it’s good that you will have a breather now. I remember when my company had to undergo checks like that…I stayed back so much just to make sure all the papers were in order…it was a crazy crazy crazy period…hopefully things will get better! 🙂
Any kind of paperwork involving numbers is just too much for me 😂
Anyhow tomorrow is the last visit by the tax office people and the things can finally calm down for us. Okay not really thanks to the crazy family
I’m the same too when it comes to numbers…I’m hopeless! Good luck for tomorrow then and with the rest of the family…haha
Thank you so much for your support 🙂
It may not be a good idea they move to new apartment. But then you said eventually developers will tear down old??
Indeed the old complex will be torn down eventually. However no one knows when this might happen. The good thing about it is that they get guaranteed the same squaremeter apartment in the new building then/ can get a bigger one with only little more payment. Another good thing about their location in the old town is that the new building (which will be built at so e point ) will look more traditional and will be much lower than those skyscrapers outside the city walls
Life is like that, busy all the time 😦 Good that the tax thing is almost all sorted out and hopefully it will be the end of that for a while. When I saw your photo of the papers and folders, it reminds me I have to get my own record keeping straight about my freelance and selling things. Paperwork has so many small details you need to take note of and one small slip everything can get jumbled up :S
Agree with you that your in-laws should stay where they are. To be honest, I like living in a place where there are things nearby, like the shops, doctor, restaurants – civilisation in other words, and if I need something or something happens, I could probably get help much more easily. I do know many elderly people like to retire somewhere quiet, but in practical terms it would be much easier to get things to and fro if they were nearby. Even for me now that I am still fairly young, I am quite paranoid and don’t like living in the middle of nowhere. Driving can be quite tiresome, as if taking the bus for a long time can be boring.
Paperwork is always troublesome…especially right here now as the tax office has been checking all the Chinese companies in the area!
Anyhow I will have another post about the apartment issue this sunday. There are some updates regarding this whole mess. But you are right, I also prefer living right there where I can reach all neccessary places easily. However I think I do not have that big of an issue to live a bit further out (especially as the houses are much cheaper there), the only thing stopping us from doing so are the kids. The further we are outside the city the harder it will be for them to get to school!
Sounds like Chinese companies are the targets by the tax office there! Maybe after this round it will be better.
Looking forward to the apartment post. You are right. The thing about living far is spending more time traveling, and you also get more tired from it.