First off, apologies to those who noticed the absence of an update last month. We were in the middle of extensive travel and during the first week of October we were actually on vacation, so I thought it best to take the rest where I could and write about the busiest two months of the year in one massive update.
You’ve been warned. Let the word vomit commence…
Where We’ve Been
USA: Indiana, Chicago, Florida (Julie: 10 days, Drew; 17 days)
UK: London (6 days)
Ireland: Dublin, Galway, Kinsale, Killarney, Wicklow (8 days)
China: Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing (Julie: 37 days, Drew: 30 days)
Highlights
We’ve Moved!: After a few months of behind-the-scenes plotting and planning, we have officially moved the 1,000 miles from Shenzhen to Shanghai. For those of you completely in the dark, we wrote about this job opportunity and decision in late August, and it’s been pretty much chaos ever since. From scouting out a new role at work over the summer, to the slow transition from one specialty to another, numerous trips to Shanghai to meet the team, and all the paperwork and HR-related headaches that come along with it, this feels like a long time coming. On the other hand, Drew and I spent a few days in Shanghai back in June and at the time we had no clue about any of this, so by sheer calendar dates, it was a pretty fast transition. We’re settling in and we just spent our first whole weekend together at our new place. It was lovely to walk around in the warm autumn air, and add to the already long list of cool places to eat in Shanghai (Did you know that SH has over 100,000 restaurants? We better get crackin’!).
Brother from Another Mother: On September 1st, we had a new addition to the family as one of my sisters tied the knot with her beau. Matt and Michelle are the fun couple who have a million friends and are the life of the party. For their multi-faceted wedding extravaganza, there were multiple events, but the highlight for me was an intimate family ceremony on the grounds of our elementary school. It was sweet and tender and the two of them were surrounded by some of their nearest and dearest. The following weekend’s bottomless brunch drink-a-thon in Chicago gives you an idea of another side of the couple, and they had friends from near and far in to celebrate. Only one of the 40+ guests actually lived in Chicago; instead, they picked the middle of the country to be diplomatic to all the travelers. A funny side note: Michelle is a vintage-shopper extraordinaire, so for the ceremony in our hometown, we (the five sisters of our family) were told to not bring any clothes. The morning of the ceremony, we all (including the bride) went vintage shopping to find the clothes we would wear that afternoon. Michelle bought her wedding dress the morning of her wedding. No joke.
Holiday Bliss: Squashed between these two massive life events was a long-planned visit and holiday to the UK and Ireland. They coincided with National Week (one of China’s two weeklong holidays), and we took full advantage. First up was an amazing reunion with our home-away-from-home London, where we saw friends, colleagues and worked. Just like old times. The weather was perfection (as it always seems to be when we visit), and we soaked it up. After that, we were off on a road-trip around Ireland, seeing most of the southern half of the country (via the coast, of course). Highlights included a great hiking day and fun hotel in Killarney, and our single favorite tiny town is Kinsale on the south coast (near Cork). It’s rare these days that Drew and I take a vacation alone together, so it was nice to hang out just the two of us. All these years later, it’s still just as fun and we have just as much to chat about for hours on end.
Lowlights
Saying Goodbye: It’s never easy, is it? When we made the decision to move to Shanghai, we lamented the loss of the small but mighty group of friends that we’ve been lucky to know over the past year and a half in Shenzhen. Some of those friendships will certainly withstand the test of time. But after a long adjustment to life in China, when we were finally feeling like we were on solid ground socially, it is such a shame to have to start over, once again. In addition to growing our friend group in Shanghai, we’re not above arm-twisting others we know to move here. My one-woman marketing campaign has officially begun.
AirBnB Woes: You all know how much we adore AirBnb, right? We’re basically their number one customers, and we use the service nearly exclusively when we travel. In Ireland, we stayed in several amazing locations including a yurt! Anyway, back in Chicago last month, we had reserved an apartment for the second wedding weekend, and with only 48 hours’ notice, the host cancelled the booking. It appears that the apartment might have been sold (it’s since been removed from the site) but spending the better part of a day scrambling for new accommodation for 6 people was not my idea of a good time. I must hand it to AirBnb, because as a company they know just how to handle such a situation (immediate emails from a dedicated service rep, other available options nearby, a credit to make up for the headache). In the end, we stayed at our friends’ house as they traveled out of town suddenly for a funeral the same weekend. Two bad news items coincided to solve this problem, but it did remind me of why so many people are still hesitant to do house rentals when they travel.
No Room for Error: With all the travel and tight timelines of the past two months, we had very little room for error during our move. With exactly one day to find a new apartment and a narrow window when the moving company could pick up our boxes in Shenzhen, most of October was a carefully choreographed dance that relied not only on us to be on top of things, but also on the oft-unreliable China to cooperate. I was most worried about the day when Drew had to pick-up our passports in Shenzhen (during a 1-hour window) and fly to Shanghai that evening, in order for us to go to Beijing the next day (with our just-processed passports). A single wrong stamp or delayed flight could have ruined the trip. With just a small flight delay, Drew made it to our new apartment for a few hours of fitful sleep but with passports in hand. It was a massive relief.
What We’re Loving Lately
Four Seasons: As in, autumn. I’m so excited to be back in the land of four seasons. I hear horror stories about Shanghai’s cold and damp winters, but I don’t care. Right now, the sunny days of autumn are here. A balmy low-70s during the day, a crisp high-50s at night. We can sleep with the windows open, I can wear long-sleeves and I haven’t sweat through any clothes at all. Before I was born, my parents moved to California but didn’t last long because my dad missed the change of seasons. I always dismissed this excuse out of hand, but I understand it now. A tropical paradise is fun to visit but hard to live in. Plus, autumn is my favorite. It makes me want to wear layers, drink pumpkin-flavored beverages and buy school supplies.
TV Update: We spent a big chunk of the past two months outside China, so we had access to all the good TV again, without firewalls or slow internet. The following is a quick list of our highlights. Funny enough, most of these shows require us to hack the internet at least a little bit, but we’re pretty much experts now. New seasons are available of: The Good Place, Billions and The Great British Bake-Off. We also just binge watched The Sinner, on Netflix. We’re starting to watch the second season of Making a Murderer, but that one is a slow burn.
Coming Up in November
Dare I say, nothing?
We’re on the edge of our seats for another birth in the family (baby was due almost 10 days ago). In addition to what I hope will be seeing daily photos of a new baby, we will begin to eat our way around Shanghai, we will write blog posts about our Ireland trip, get our visas all situated for Shanghai, and Drew and I promise to make progress joining a tennis group and book club, respectively.
We have Thanksgiving plans with our old Shanghai friends, just like last year. And my birthday is this month so I’m trying to pick an outrageous place to have a birthday dinner.
It should be a great month, but we plan on being in Shanghai the whole time.
