The Move (5 Years in the Making)

Nearly a month ago I left a voice message for a friend where I basically said “nothing is happening, but I feel like something could happen.” Little did I know, that very day my husband found out that our family was going to be transferred to our next destination. It’s the move that’s been 5 years in the making…

We’re moving back to the US!

We hope to call this house home in a few months!

It’s been a good run for our family. We will leave China with a deep love for the country and its people, but we are very confident that the timing is right. In a matter of a few weeks we’ve bought a vehicle, put an offer on a home, found a preschool for ChinaBean and a few other details have literally fallen into place. 

Our girls will start school in China and have a proper goodbye with their friends and classmates. We plan on eating lots and lots of fantastic Chinese food and maybe taking in another few sights. I’ll be trying to read up on how to end an oversees assignment well (in between researching washers /dryers and mattresses-such an exciting life we lead).

We don’t yet have our return tickets for the US, but we think that our girls will be trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood in the US this year. We have about 8 weeks left in China and just a few tasks on our to-do list!

Five years ago we had a cultural training class to prepare us for moving to China.  The trainer told us that often times it is harder to repatriate (move back to your passport country) than it is to leave. I remember thinking that I would worry about that later. And, we’ve been told that that ,for every year you live outside of your passport country, it takes 6 months to readjust when you return. If you do the math, that means we’re going to potentially feel out-of-place for the next 2 1/2 years.

For those that will be waiting to receive us when we return, be patient with us and please extend us a huge amount of grace as we try to find a new “normal”. 

 Now excuse me while I go start packing!

The first house we looked at is the
house we put an offer on.

P.S. For the Hamilton musical fans, after Jamie told me that we were moving I had the song “What’d I Miss” running through my head for a few days. Just take out Thomas Jefferson and replace it with “McClintock” and “China” for Paris and I think we’ve got ourselves a hit song!

Thomas Jefferson’s coming home!

Thomas Jefferson’s coming home!

Thomas Jefferson’s coming home!

Thomas Jefferson’s coming home!

Thomas Jefferson’s coming home Lord he’s

Been off in Paris for so long!

                                                       Aaa-ooo!

                                                     

What’s That? Wednesday: China’s One Time Zone

Here’s your fun fact for today…all of China is on one time zone.  In 1949 China dropped it’s 5 time zones and adopted 1 time zone for the entire country.  For perspective, the United States and China are roughly the same size, and the continental US has 4 time zones.

7:31 am, during one of our trips back to the US.
We were on our first day of battling jet-lag and had
been up for about 4 hours at this point.

When we lived in Suzhou, which is on the eastern side of the country, it meant that the sun came up really early!  This wasn’t a problem except that we had told our girls that they couldn't get up until the sun did.  That’s not great when sun rises at 4:30 a.m.  The city of Xi’an is about 2 hours inland and now the sun comes up at a more reasonable time!  

Now, go wow someone with your new factoid.

Well, hello there!

I feel like I must re-introduce myself.  My name is Kara.  And I live in China.  Still.

We did not fall off the face of the earth, just moved our family.  It’s been a whirl-wind 6 months and we’re getting settled into our apartment, the girls are enjoying their new schools and we got a puppy.  Bring on the chaos!

As I mentioned in my last post, we fully intended/believed that we would be moving back to the United States this summer.  Needless to say the move to Xi’an was a bit of a surprise.

Let me take a moment to introduce to our hew city…

Name: Xi’an (pronounced something like “She ahn”)

Population: At least 8.5 million people (which is roughly the size of New York City)

Fun Facts:

• One of the oldest cities in China
• It’s the oldest of the Four Ancient Capitals of China
• It is the start of the famous Silk Road
• It is the home of the Terracotta Warriors
• Xi’an people love noodles.  Generally speaking the people in the southern part of the county eat rice with their meals.  For those in the north, it is noodles.  

Beijing is in the NE corner of China.  Suzhou (our home from 2011-2015) is by the big red arrow.
Our new city is 2.5 hours inland by plane (by the blue star).

(All my facts are from Wikipedia because we know that everything we read on the internet is true.)

I am looking forward to getting back to blogging and introducing you to our new city.

We're Moving!

After a few (okay, many) weeks of uncertainty, we are able to officially announce that...

As my dad quickly pointed out, "That's not in the US."  No, we are not moving back to the United States as we thought that we would.  It seems fitting that the first move to China was a complete surprise to us and so when Jamie was approached about a position in Xi'An we were equally surprised.

Xi'An is most famous for the Terracotta Warriors.  So, if you've been waiting for one more excuse to come visit us, I think you've just found it.  From what we have learned, it seems that Xi'An is a larger city than Suzhou, but the expatriate population is 1/2-2/3 smaller.  I think I will be saying goodbye to some of my favorite creature comforts in Suzhou!

Over the next month we hope to visit Xi'An and find our next apartment/home, decide on a school, pack up our Suzhou apartment, finish the school year at Dulwich, say goodbye to  our Suzhou friends and then unpack a few boxes in Xi'An.  The tentative plan is for me to be in the US with our girls for the month of July.  We'll see how that pans out!

Emotionally, everyone seems to be doing pretty well.  It was a shock to us all because we honestly believed that there was a strong chance we would end up back in the US.  However, at one point Jamie was looking at positions in 3 continents, so we knew that nothing was a given.

The morning we revealed our next city to our girls, we toasted daddy and his next job with sparkling juice.

We put out our miniature Terracotta soldiers as a clue to where we were headed next.

I guess that means the overseas adventure continues and maybe this blog too.

2015 World Figure Skating Finals (Women's Long Program)

I happened to pick up a copy of the China Daily newspaper on a recent flight and was excited to find that the World Figure Skating Finals were going to be in Shanghai.  First thing on Monday morning I had some help tracking down tickets (because at the point you had to go to the venue to pick them up in person - will call would have been a bit handier).  

We spent Saturday enjoying some very talented figure skaters.  We had no idea what to expect and we didn't know that we'd be there for 4 hours and over lunch time.  In the US at a sporting event there would have been several options for food, most of them covered in processed cheese.  This being an event in China, I should have known to bring our own food.  I was not thinking!  The girl snacked on popcorn and suckers.  Towards the end of the event I almost got bold enough to ask the couple next to us for their extra chips.  The guy virtually had a grocery store in his bag...sandwiches, chips, and some other snacks.

Despite our hunger, we had a great time.  The staff at the event were so kind and polite and the spectators were amazing.  When the last 2 groups of skaters performed the audience pulled out flags for each of the performers respective countries, even those with complicated histories.  Very impressive!

It was very special to cheer on the US skaters while on our "home" soil in China.  We proudly waved our flags and screamed just a bit!

First competitor

Unless cousin Molly competes some day, I doubt
we'll be at another World Championship!

Flags ready and watching closely.

Impressive

US skater Gracie Gold 

US skater Ashley Wagner

Great job Ashley!

Waiting for the scores

Sporting some US pride 

US skater Polina Edmunds

The little skaters picking up the stuffed animals
thrown to the skaters.

This bear was bigger than the little skater
trying to carry it!

The winners...Russia, Japan and Russia.

Medals ceremony

I enjoy going to Shanghai to take advantage of the opportunities "city" has to offer! 

And, no, we don't have 4 girls now...we grabbed a friend of LBean's so she could enjoy the day too.  Jamie weathered the estrogen, Taylor Swift tunes and figure skating very, very well.  We appreciate his dedication to his daddy duties!

Three years already?! Our Chinavesary

Last month marked our 3 year Chinaversay, marking the day we landed in China.  The time has gone quickly, or at least that is how it has felt recently.  Maybe I’ve forgotten a bit of the tough parts from the first 6 months of living overseas!

The day we moved to China...LBean was 5, EBean was
2 1/2, Jamie was, well he was younger too!

We’ve been in the US for nearly 7 weeks this summer while ChinaBean had her latest heart surgery.  One of the most common questions we’ve gotten is, “So when are you moving back?” or “How much longer do you have over there?”  Hmmm, that is a really great question.  Being flexible seems to be paramount in the life of an expat.  If you weren’t flexible before, living overseas will force you to become flexible.  So, our answer must remain flexible.  

We *think* we’ll be moving back to the US next summer.  But, until our feet hit the ground on US soil, I can’t be for certain.  Some companies with overseas employees have specific lengths of contracts, but Jamie’s company does not.  In fact, we were told to expect 18-24 months in China and here we are at almost 37 months!

As we prepare to fly back to China next week for possibly our last (?) year, I’m feeling the full range of emotions.  Sadness and excitement all wrapped together, but also tempered with a realistic dose of until “they” tell us to pack our bags, it’s best to just enjoy it.  Don’t borrow tomorrow’s troubles, right?!

I interviewed Jamie and the girls about their feelings about living in China as we reflected on our three years abroad.  ChinaBean didn't participate in my interview.  Maybe next year.

Favorite thing about China…LBean and Ebean weren’t sure, but Jamie said the food and he quickly followed up with the warm, friendly smiles from the people.  For me, it is the sense of adventure around every corner.  If I want to go find an adventure, I don’t have to go far.

Least favorite thing about China…LBean said she does not like being away from family and for EBean, it was climbing the Great Wall all the way (“seriously”, she said).  Jamie said it was the pollution.  That has certainly become my least favorite part, especially this past year.

Hiking the Great Wall for the second time.

Favorite Food…LBean loves the sweet & sour pork, EBean likes the rice and Jamie loves the spicy tofu and the Chinese Muslim food (me too!).

In Old Town, Fall 2011

Favorite/least favorite things about the apartment….LBean & EBean didn’t have an answer, Jamie likes the view, but misses having a garden.  I love being so close to the vegetable market, Starbucks, restaurants, the subway, my favorite nail/massage place, etc.  I love being able to walk or ride my bike to my favorite spots.

Favorite thing about Suzhou…LBean loves the Chinese opera (and I do mean loves it)!  EBean had no comment and Jamie said he likes the gardens and greenery.  I love the juxtaposition of old, specifically Old Town, with the new (like the area around our apartment).

Things we miss about America…LBean misses family (me too), EBean misses water slides (hmmm, ok?) and Jamie misses not being able to drive himself around.  Besides Target, I miss being around the familiar…familiar language, places and people.  It is (very) mentally taxing trying to navigate a world where you don’t speak the language very well.

Will there be a 4 year Chinaversary?!  Your guess is as good as mine.

China's Golden Week: Return to Singapore

Our Singapore 7
Here are the seven highlights from our time in Singapore (the second part of our trip).

The pool!  The McClintock ladies love their time in the pool.  My girls enjoy the beach for a short time, but they would really rather play in the pool.  Our hotel had a fantastic kids area that included completely shaded water slides and a separate splash pad area.

Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo.  The zoo in Singapore has a separate park devoted to a night time safari.  We rode the tram around the park and watched the animals behavior at night.  We even walked through the bat cage.  LBean and I accidentally shrieked a bit, which stirred up some of the birds in the cage with the bats.  We decided we needed to exit ASAP.

Singapore Aquarium on Sentosa Island.  We took advantage of the aquarium that was near our hotel on Sentosa Island.  The aquarium was really nice and we had lunch Cat Cora’s restaurant so we could dine and watch the large tank at the same time.  But, what we all seemed to enjoy the most was the history museum that visitors walk through when entering and exiting the aquarium.  LBean really enjoyed learning about the famous Chinese woman pirate, Ching Shih.  We all enjoyed getting henna tattoos.   

Getting henna tattoos.

The touch pool.

Inside the restaurant where we watched the
fish in the large tank as we ate.

Cable Car Ride.  We have brave girls! They allowed Jamie and me to convince them to take a cable car over the bay and right over the top of a cruise ship.

Little India.  Many ethnicities are represented in Singapore.  Despite our girls’ instance on visiting Chinatown, they eventually agreed with us that since we live in China, we probably don’t need to go to Chinatown.  Instead we went to Little India.  We enjoyed looking at the spices, the flowers, all of the beautiful saris and fabric and the gold jewelry.  We picked up some henna to take home and enjoyed a yummy lunch.  Jamie and I love Indian food!

Picking out a few gifts for
teachers and friends.

Raffles Hotel & Singapore Sling
The iconic hotel in Singapore is the Raffles Hotel.  It oozes old-world charm and we took a refreshment break in their courtyard cafe.  Jamie and I each enjoyed a Singapore Sling, which reportedly was invented at the hotel, and the girls had a more age-appropriate treat…icecream.

Jamie's empty glass is on the left.
I savored my Singapore Sling.

In front of the hotel.  I could only
convince one girl to stand with me.

Singapore Zoo (in the day time)

We ended our time in Singapore at the zoo, but this time in the day.  The zoo was easy to manage and the girls enjoyed all the animals.  If you ever visit, be sure to pack swimsuits because there is a great water play area of the zoo.  It is perfect for a mid-afternoon break during a hot day.

Pretending to be cold near the polar bear.

Water area at the zoo...brilliant.

Did you miss my post about our first stint in Singapore?  You can read it here.  The Indonesia part of our trip is here and here.