Our Final Night: Part 7

Our Final Night: Part 7

Our final farewell dinner was a Chinese restaurant called the Lost Heaven.  We had a great time laughing and reminiscing about our factory tour.

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Brian Dill from Texas and Suzanne Holt from Minneapolis and Me.

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Sonya Eckel from South Dakota, Julie Vermette from Winnipeg Canada, Kris Carlson from North Carolina and Pam Altendorf from Minnesota.

The evening highlight for me was an evening stroll on The Bund.  What a clear gorgeous night!!

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David was an exceptional host. An amazing man who runs the China factory with the highest standard to integrity!

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The gorgeous Shanghai skyline!

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Our hotel was amazing!

Before we headed for the airport we stopped at a primitive market.

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Joyce and Summer, two of our amazing long-term Norwex employees, spent the entire visit with us.  They are truly beautiful women.  I invited both of them to come to my home in Canada for a visit anytime.  These amazing women ensured every detail of our experience was perfect.  I am blessed to have met them!

China #7 3My sweet friend, Summer.

With seven posts on my trip to China, the number is symbolic to me.  Seven is the perfect number of completion.  As this blog wraps up my amazing trip to China, it is perfectly treasured in my heart.   I will carry with me the memories and the impact it has made on me for a life time!  I proudly represent Norwex and everything it stands for.  Thank you Norwex for this enormous gift!

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I can’t finish the post without sharing my exciting flight home.  It was a 9-hour flight and I was at the very back of a huge plane.  Directly behind me was a 19-month-old crying baby who was kicking my chair and the mom did not speak english. I had made friends with the flight attendance early in the flight.  Everytime she’d walk by she’d say to the lady, “keep your baby in your seat and off her chair.”  I didn’t complain, I’d just smile.  Then she’d lean over to me and say, “sorry, I’m working on this”.  She was juggling a full flight and there were no extra seats.   There was a 13-year-old boy the flight attendants warned if he came out of his seat one more time, they’d cuff him.  He was trying to open the exit doors.  The restroom at the back of the plane was also quarantined because a mom changed a diaper and had a mess smeared all over the floor.  My fellow flying passengers had difficulty sitting still for long flights.  I could have been at the mall, everyone was up, walking around, pulling out their overhead compartment luggage, stretching with their feet up on the back of chairs.  Julie and I actually had to hide our faces and giggled in absolute disbelief of what we were witnessing.   The flight attendants were yelling at the passengers (who didn’t speak english) to sit down, while they constantly walked around to close overhead bins.  At any given time on this flight, there would be upwards of 7 – 10 bins open, just in the back 1/4 of the plane.  So now the flight attendants had graciously moved a traveling pilot to the extra jumper seat in the cockpit to free up a seat in first class for me.  How thoughtful!  But then the lady in the seat one over from me started vomiting.  Not only did she throw up in the back gally where the flight attendants were preparing the meals, but in the restroom, all over the walls and in her seat.  This shut down the second washroom at the back of the plane.  The exasperated flight attendants ordered the sick woman’s traveling companions to clean up her mess.  The Norwex consultant I was traveling with, who was sitting beside the sick lady thankfully got moved to first class.  That said, I was now alone at the back with all the craziness.  Overhead bins started opening and breathing masks came out; that was the first time in my life I ever wanted one.  It was a flight like I have never seen before in my life!

I love to travel and see the world.  I am ever grateful to experience new cultures and see new traditions, but after this flight I can say… I am proud to be from North America and I was delighted to be back home!

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Delores VandenBoogaard is an Independent Norwex Sales Consultant from Edmonton, Alberta Canada with customers and consultants throughout Canada and the United States including; New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, North West Territories and Ontario. She also has customers and team members in; Michigan, Texas, California, Massachusetts, Florida, Arizona, Missouri, Colorado, North Carolina, South Carolina, Idaho, Washington, New Hampshire, Iowa and Maine.

 

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My Trip to China: Part 1

My Trip to China: Part 1

China was amazing! It far exceeded my expectations and was definitely a trip of a lifetime. Over the years I’ve heard so much about the Norwex factory in China. Now, I am delighted now to have a first-hand experience, meeting the people who run the factory, seeing the factory with my own eyes, and touching the materials with my own hands. After this experience, I can confidently report that Norwex is making a difference globally. Our products are proudly made in China! Norwex products are the best quality, produced with the highest standards, in the most pristine condition!
My plane landed in Shanghai.  My exit off the plane was a good indication for my week to come. Busy! With two rows exiting the plane,  I patiently waited for my turn.  But without a break in the line up the flight attendant said to me,  “Sweetheart you better just push your way into the crowd or you’ll never get anywhere around Shanghai.”
Extreme Hi-density Living

Extreme Hi-density Living

Shanghai is a very beautiful city.  The population of Shanghai is over 24 million as compared to 35  million people who live in all of Canada. There were people everywhere!  I had always heard that the citizens were only allowed one child.  This is partially true.  If you are an only child and marry an only child, you may have two.  This gives every other generation two children.  That said, you always have the option to pay to have more children.  To overcome the one-child policy they can pay $130,000 yuan per additional child.
One of the highlights of my trip was meeting Summer and Joyce, two long-term Norwex employees.  They met us at the airport and stayed with us for the entire duration of our trip.  Their english was very good and it was amazing to connect and learn about their lives and families.  Norwex has radically impacted my family and it is amazing to hear how it impacted their families.
We stayed at the Westin Bund Center in Shanghai.  This hotel is an iconic for it’s remarkable view of downtown.  It is also near the famous Bund waterfront that we walked a number of times!

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 When we pulled up to the hotel we were greeted by David Peeters- Norwex China Factory Manger and Global Product Development, Debbie Bolton-Norwex North American CSO, Judy Letain-Norwex Canadian CEO and Eivind Schackt-Norwex Global CEO.  Eivind shared that when we drove up to the hotels, he was feeling anxious and excited to see the reactions upon our arrival in China.  It was amazing!!  What a great company that they care so much!!  This was a dream come true for our corporate staff too.  They were excited to show their top leaders the Norwex factory.
On this trip, I had the privilege of traveling with a number of the top executive leaders from Norwex globally.
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Our first experience was walking along The Bund admiring the view of the Huangpu River which they call the Mother River.
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Across the river was the beautiful Oriental Pearl TV Tower, the sign of Shanghai as well as the tallest building in China, the Shanghai Jinmao Tower with 118 floors.  The skyline on our arrival was overcast and we were unable to see the tops, but to our delight later in our visit, the sky was clear and sunny!
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The Bund has 52 different classical reveal buildings including: Gothic, Romanesque, Baroque, Chinese and Western style.  This area is know as the “International Architecture Exhibition Group”.
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We had the opportunity to walk The Bund numerous times. One morning we went for a walk in the rain, it was nice to see many people exercising along the river. One memory that will stick with me was watching senior citizens walking backwards while clapping their hands. This is what I learned about the purpose of this exercise: “Walking backwards, or retrowalking, is a form of light exercise that the Chinese have been doing since ancient times. Walking backwards is more tiring than walking forwards, and this will give you a better cardio workout in general. But that’s not the only effect it has: according to an article published in the North American Journal of Medical Sciences, retrowalking has a positive effect on patients with knee osteoarthritis. And you know who has osteoarthritis? Seniors. That isn’t where the benefits of walking backwards ends. According to a Dutch study, walking backwards may also sharpen your thinking. And as for the hand-clapping? While the methodical hand-clapping may look silly and resembles a poor man’s chest fly, it does give your arms some exercise to do.”
There were lots of signs which also made us chuckle.  No honking, which they do alot.  But this had to be the funniest, “Don’t believe the ‘tour guide’ on the road”.  If you are visiting China, the locals will always give you directions even if they don’t always know what you are talking about.
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I also enjoyed the beautiful flower wall.  Shanghai was exceptional clean!!
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IMG_4410We also walked up Nan Jing Road. It was very modern area with a couple North American stores.  It used to be the only road with North American shopping. At the end of the street was the people’s square, a beautiful green space with gorgeous flowers.
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We visited the Shanghai Urban Development Planning Museum. They have a model of the city that is 1/60th the actual size. It was exceptional.  The intricacy of every detail in this massive city was displayed and explained. It was amazing to learn about their advancements. There are 10 bridges that cross the Huangpu River and 13 tunnels that run under it.  My city doesn’t have that kind of access across the river that runs through it. The growth that Shanghai has experienced in the last 15 year is nothing short of explosive!!
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In our exploring of Shanghai we saw many North American stores and products.  We were all delighted to stop at Starbucks for our favourite familiar drink!
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Delores VandenBoogaard is an Independent Norwex Sales Consultant from Edmonton, Alberta Canada with customers and consultants throughout Canada and the United States including; New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, North West Territories and Ontario. She also has customers and team members in; Michigan, Texas, California, Massachusetts, Florida, Arizona, Missouri, Colorado, North Carolina, South Carolina, Idaho, Washington, New Hampshire, Iowa and Maine.

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