Dear friends, family, blog-friends, and those who stumbled upon this post,
I know it's incredibly dorky to quote Forrest Gump, but heck, sometimes life is like a box of chocolate. If a year ago someone told me we're moving to China, I'd have said "pooh pooh", or simply think you've lost your marbles.
But guess what, folks, you have NOT lost your marbles.
We ARE moving to China.
What???!!
YES!!
When?!
This May!! (Yes, which is 6 weeks from now!)
For how long?!
3 months!
Are you insane? Isn't that the hottest time of the year there? Aren't you afraid Eva will get kidnapped/ contract some deadly disease/ fall into a squat toilet? And what are you gonna do with Bryson??
I'll have to admit, this is no small decision; and yes, sometimes I feel that we've gone nuts to pull our little family out of our comfort zone, and embark on this journey full of unknowns across the world.
And to make matters worse, we've thought long and hard (and shed some tears along the way), and made the decision not to take Bryson...
*sniff sniff* It breaks my heart to even think of being without him for that period of time, but with his Addison's, I just don't know if it's worth subjecting him to the stress of this international relo. Compounding with the amount of time he has to spend in quarantine, and the status of his fellow canines in China (I really don't want someone to look at him and visualize dinner), we decided that it's probably better for him to stay put.
But look, I am every bit as Chinese as my sister...
(Sorry, Bry Bry... *sniff sniff*) In regards to what we're doing with him, we've spoken with a lot of friends and family members, and thanks to everyone who's offered us help, we're now evaluating the various options. Let us know if you want a free corgi for 3 months (ha ha, remember there's no such thing as free lunch, people).
So, back to the other questions. Well, first of all, I think I should explain why we're going there to begin with.
Some of you may know that I was born and raised in Hong Kong. I came here at 18 to go to college, and one thing led to another, ended up staying here in the States. Even though I'm now thoroughly acculturated (my waistline or the lack of would indicate so), I've always felt a pull to my homeland. And it's not only because it's now the fastest-growing economy in the world, but also, corny as it may sound, I've always felt that some day I'd have something useful to give back.
So when an opportunity at work for a short stint in China came calling, I answered.
Long story short, after many months crossing my fingers, I learned that I got the position in the city of Guangzhou. So where on earth is Guangzhou, you ask? Take a look for yourself:
The red dot indicates that it's in the southern province of Guangdong (or Canton, yes, where Cantonese originates from), and a very short 1.5-hr train ride away from Hong Kong, where my parents and extended family currently live.
Even though I've spent the first 18 years of my life in that part of the world, I'm beginning to realize that there will still be plenty of culture shock and faux pas awaiting me.
For starters, I had my first taste of different social norms today as I was filling out our Chinese visa applications.
I can get used to calling last name "surnames", I can also understand why you may not want someone with a "serious mental illness" enter your country, but this one got me thinking:
If you can't read the micro-print, Section 1.13 asks for your occupation. It's easy for me (company employee) and Eva (other: child), but for hubby, I can't quite find the right bucket to put him in.
See, he's a stay-at-home dad, the closest ones would be "housewife" or "unemployed". I guess the concept of a househusband is just a bit too avant garde to be included in official documents. Maybe I'll make him a badge that says:
"Proud househusband.
Ask me about it!"
Anyway, I know a lot of you have international travel experiences, and probably have more questions for us (so do we).
So shoot us some questions, I'm sure there are plenty of things we haven't thought of that could result in dire consequences... and we'll thank you some day for saving our lives/ sanity/ wallet.
And I know I promised a post on the lovely quilt in the previous post, that's still coming. In fact, I have so many finished/ semi-finished projects I haven't written about, I've gotta get through that back log before we head to China.
So stay tuned, my friends. In the mean time, 祝君早/午/晚安.
p.s.: thinking of those who lost everything in Japan.
