I don't have any pictures at this moment. We have moved into our apartment. After 3 months of living in a hotel it is nice to be able to watch TV on a couch and cook a meal myself. Washing dishes is not fun...the dishwasher is me. I hope to take some time and take pictures of the apartment. It is much nicer than I ever expected. A couple of funny things have happened in the last couple days that I would like to share. On Monday, I went to Beijing with a friend to go grocery shopping. (Melissa, this is [View Full Entry]

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After a one day delay, we have been on the road for a couple of weeks. I added so many pictures that it has taken me this long to put them on. We move into our apartment on Sunday, after 3 months in a hotel. YEA!!! Our time actually started with a banquet celebrating China's National Day. It is like our 4th of July. Dave being the acting manager was invited by the mayor's office to a banquet celebrating the 57th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. We were two of about 6-8 westerners in a crowd [View Full Entry]

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Wow! I can't believe it has been over two weeks since I last updated the blog. We have good news. As we settle into Tianjin TEDA, we have found out our relocation package has been approved. We decided on our apartment today and look forward to moving in by mid to late October. I also now have a cell phone so Dave can find me when I am out shopping and playing. The last two weeks have been pretty sedate. Dave has been working long hours. He is currently doing the job of two people. The local manager left to do [View Full Entry]

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Our weekly update (with many too cute moments)... As of yesterday, we received word that we are officially expats for Freescale in China. Now we just need to get through the paperwork and decide where to live. Dave is a complex person and is now asking me if we should live in Tianjin or Suzhou. Both have equal advantages. We'll keep you all up to date. In the mean time, I am keeping myself busy. Last Friday I went with a couple of women (Liz and Linda A.) to a Chinese version of Sam's Warehouse. It had a decent selection of [View Full Entry]

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Each week seems to be just a prelude to the weekend. Dave is working hard and I guess you might say that I am hardly working. While Dave is working, I am managing to keep myself occupied. I have found a group of expat women in TEDA that have different things going on every day. I seem to be going to the Tuesday morning craft day (which also includes a lot of visiting and coffee). There is a Wednesday Mahjong but I have only been once. And then Friday morning coffee. Last Thursday, some of us went into Tianjin downtown to [View Full Entry]

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Each week seems to be just a prelude to the weekend. Dave is working hard and I guess you might say that I am hardly working. While Dave is working, I am managing to keep myself occupied. I have found a group of expat women in TEDA that have different things going on every day. I seem to be going to the Tuesday morning craft day (which also includes a lot of visiting and coffee). There is a Wednesday Mahjong but I have only been once. And then Friday morning coffee. Last Thursday, some of us went into Tianjin downtown to [View Full Entry]

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After being in Tianjin for two weeks we finally made it in to Beijing for two days. After settling into our hotel, we took a taxi to Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City. I cannot believe that a protest ever occured in Tian'anmen. It was huge! It was also filled with "college" students who want to give a tour that really just takes you to an art gallery and not with much substance. It is like running a gauntlet just to get into the Forbidden city. Many people spoke some English. Since Dave is so tall, he stands out and is [View Full Entry]

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Dave and I had a wonderful weekend in Tianjin. We took the light rail train from TEDA to Tianjin. It is about a 30 minute ride. A co-worker of Dave's and friend, Mario Garcia, loaned us his apartment for Saturday and Sunday. He went to Xian with his two sons. It was nice to be able to sit in on a couch for a change. We really did not do much for our anniversary. We stayed in apartment for a few hours and watched movies. We did go to the Upper Deck which is advertised as an ex-pat hangout. Sunday's are [View Full Entry]

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I have spent the week getting acquainted with Tianjin and TEDA (Tianjin Economic Development Area). Can you believe we have been here 4 weeks already! On Monday the guide took me to several apartments, some were incredible and some were not so good. I am guessing she took me to the two extremes so that I would want to choose the more expensive apartments. There were some "bachelor pads" and it looked as if the guys were not planning to really go anywhere. Would you all believe the price range is $3800USD to $1250USD. And these were just the ones I [View Full Entry]

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We are doing well. We have dried off a bit. If we could have sent Papiroon to Texas we would have. I know Hong Kong did not need it. We ended up spending the night at the airport hotel in an overpriced room. We were lucky. During dinner we heard someone say the hotel was booked. The club lounge was nice. It is a special lounge area for certain rooms. That made it okay. The wind and the rain were fierce all night. By morning it had stopped raining but was still windy . Our 8:15am flight to Shanghai was cancelled [View Full Entry]

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