Shanghai'd

"Auntie" (a.k.a. domestic helper).
Laurel and I have prided ourselves in 'fitting in' in China as much as can be reasonable expected for two tall, blonde, white foreigners. We eat at the little noodle place down the street with the locals, shop at the wet market, don't have a personal driver, and (kinda) speak the language. But, we took a big step down the road of ex-pat indulgence when we finally broke down and hired an Ayi. We can justify this little luxury in a number of ways:
- Laurel has gone back to work
- With all the dust and pollution in the city, the apartment needs to be cleaned about 3x as often as back home
- We are sans several of the first-world luxuries like a dishwasher and a washer/dryer big enough for more than a single pair of jeans
- We're helping the local economy? (this is BS and anyone who's ever used this excuse knows it)
- Labor is so cheap you seriously can't afford NOT to
- The last thing either of us wants to do after working a full day and fighting the rush-hour commute home is scrub the toilet. There, I said it.

I can tell this is going to be a slippery slope; first an Ayi, then the next thing you know we'll be moving to some villa in Pudong.