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!

                                                     

Avoiding Bitterness: Why Not Knowing is Okay

“So, you’re moving this summer, right? You’re moving back to the US?”

The question that keeps getting asked.  A lot. Well, actually we don’t know.  

“You mean Jamie doesn’t have a job?!”

Well, Jamie’s role during his time in China was to train up a Chinese national to take his position.  The time has come for the national to take over and we are excited about this!

“Can’t he just go back to the job he left in the US?”

Jamie’s company encourages their employees to move roles/positions/jobs every 3-5 years.  It is necessary for career development and learning new skills.  Jamie’s skills have grown, changed and evolved while we’ve been in China and a different position will be a better fit (just like if he would have been in a role for 4 years in the US).

“Is there a job for him?”

Well, in a large company it is really about timing.  What other people are also looking for their next position within the company and what positions will be available when we think we'll be moving?   This is the point that we’re at, looking at what might become available in the next 6 months.

“Don’t you want to move back to the US?”

Sure, that would be great.  Family, friends, cheese, driving and Target are all great things about the US.

“Don’t you want to have another expat assignment?”

Sure, that would also be great.  We love to travel and there are so many more places to see.  The experiences that our girls are having are shaping their world-view in such a positive manner.

“Aren’t you freaking out?”

Not yet.  I had tea with a friend last week and she mentioned that there were about 102 days between last Friday and their projected move day (at the end of the school year), which is potentially our move date.  She was meeting with the relocation people in the afternoon to start assessing their belongings and what it would take to move everything back to the US.  One hundred and two days is not long at all!

The conversation with my friend put me in a very reflective mood.  I started remembering all the feelings that I had before we moved to China and one of the emotions I had was bitterness.  I was excited to move, I was ready for an adventure, I was sad to leave family & friends, but our little family of four wanted to go.  We were choosing this.  However, as the process got started, emails started rolling in, the continuous stream of calls with lawyers, accountants, packers, etc. I developed a lot of bitterness.  I didn’t want to spend my last 8 weeks feeling harassed by my to-do list.  I had the distinct feeling that the only thing keeping me from breezily sailing through this move was me.  Me not willingly to stay up all hours of the night filling out forms, responding to emails, organizing our things, and marching through the to-do’s.  But, I couldn’t escape it and those things had to be done.

I wanted to spend the time leading up to the move savoring time with family, enjoying one more round of hugs and laughs with my closest girl friends and giving my girls an extra big dose of Americana to sustain us through the first 6 months of our move.

So for now, from my perspective, if we don’t know where we’re going, then I can’t have a moving to-do list.  Frankly, if an international move gets crammed into 30 days, then fine by me because it will be crazy and exhausting no matter how many days I am given.

I’m avoiding bitterness at all costs.  Instead, you can find me soaking up all things Suzhou and China and enjoying what time we have left here.