Suzanne S
I am an American woman with a husband and 2 kids, about to relocate with my family to Shanghai. soooze
The back story: We are moving because my husband is going to be working in Shanghai.
July 6, 2008: We are a bit less than a month away from the move and current postings chronicle the prep to get there, the logistics to be allowed to go there, and the coordination of all these things we have to do before we can go! Oh, and Mark is in China for about a month (the last month we are in the states and getting ready)...so I'm very busy.
July 28, 2008....2 days til the big move.
August 4, 2008 We are in Shanghai. We arrived on 7/31/08 after a long flight. We are still in get used to a new city mode, minus the ability to speak the language...so it's been both exciting and also challenging.
December 5 2008 4 months down, and we are heading home in just over a week to the USA to visit friends and family before returning to Shanghai in January. Talk about culture shock. I expect it to be another adventure to simply go back to our home town.
February 6, 2009 Back in the groove of life in China. Spent last 2 weeks as a solo parent and eager to have my husband back in Shanghai on Monday.
October, 2009. getting back into school routine after a fab holiday in Vietnam. Living in Asia affords us short distance trips to dream destinations.
July, 2010. Just back in the USA! What a fabulous 2 year adventure. Hoping for many more in our future.
Travel Blog Posts
July 10th 2011
Sunday was the big day. We had a multi-page itinerary that I am ashamed to admit I did not read completely. Since Mark was also in the wedding, and Ray’s sisters seemed more organized and with it about the happenings, I relied on others. Kind of like group projects in college. Sometimes I was the leader and sometimes the follower…in this case, FOLLOWER. I didn’t mess anything up. I helped when needed, showed up on time (besides that rehearsal dinner tardiness) and had a wonderful time making up games for the groomsmen. This was a fun Chinese tradition worked into the events. The bridesmaids had a meeting in the morning and we made a list of tasks and hurdles the men had to pass in order for the groom to get into the bridal suite and ... read more
July 8th 2011
I have been a terrible reporter this trip. I am fully aware. However, in my defense, this trip is so short and our pace has been so fast, that we’ve been on the go non-stop. I have taken lots of pictures and even a few notes so I remember to tell you the highlights. That being said, I am going to fast forward to the end of our time in China and cover the 3 days we spent in Beijing, before finishing my Shanghai tales. They are worth telling, but the Beijing days were by far the highlight of the trip to date. The wedding events were so much fun and so interesting, I have to get to that part and then back track later. As I write this we are on our trip from Beijing ... read more
July 5th 2011
We took a taxi to the hotel in Pudong (not allowed to talk about it but we got a good rate at a nice hotel and if were up to me, you know I'd share, overshare and share some more but what can you do when your traveling partner is a man who shares less than you? (It was a really nice hotel!) We checked in, did not even consider a lie down or we knew we'd be doomed to sleeping and not adjusting to the time. So out into the swamp weather we went. We took the subway to Nanjing Xi Lu. We were heading to get subway cards and phone numbers. The subway by our hotel didn't have any subway cards in sight. Lots of empty machines for them, but no vendors selling. So ... read more
July 5th 2011
With much excitement but also worry--we left a not so healthy boy Slaven back at the Grandparents' house in Ohio--we headed to Shanghai for my 7th time (I counted on the plane!). We flew Akron, OH to Chicago, IL on July 4th, where we connected to our very familiar flight UA835 nonstop to Shanghai. It was beyond odd to be on the flight without kids. The waiting area in Chicago was full of Chinese and Chinese Americans with a handful of less than thrilled looking expat dads heading back to Shanghai while I assume their families remained in the USA. We saw one family of 4 (a set of parents and a set of extremely young kids) boarding the plane--probably moving to China for the first time--they had that look about them. We moved to China ... read more
Soooooze is going back to China!
Published: July 1st 2011North America » United States » Kentucky » LouisvilleJune 30th 2011
It's been an actual whole year and 2 days since my last post from China--the move back post. I am writing from Louisville, Kentucky, our home for the past 10 months. It's been a great almost year in this fantastic city. We've really loved it here, though we miss Chicago. I am back to working full time, the kids made it through a somewhat rocky first year of school of public school, resulting in our decision to move to private school next year, but we are all well and happy. We've made some great friends, reconnected with some long-time friends, and have managed to stay in touch and connected to our friends and family all over the world through all of this change. How fun to be back here and ready to report again as Mark ... read more
update on the latest adventure
Published: September 2nd 2010North America » United States » Kentucky » LouisvilleSeptember 2nd 2010
Hi Everyone, Just a quick update on the traveling Slavens. We are off and at it again--though this time we are attempting to put down roots in a new hometown. I decided to set up a new blog: here (www.slavenadventures.com) I loveTravelblog but I thought I'd try a new tool out this time. When we travel the world again, I'll be back here I'm sure. Until then, feel free to join my new blog and follow the latest Slaven family antics as we take on Kentucky. Suzanne ... read more
June 28th 2010
I couldn't decide if I should list this under Shanghai or Chicago...but since it started with Shanghai I went with the China listing. The final day in Shanghai it rained and rained. Big huge drops. Our friend Ting came over in the morning to say goodbye. She said Shanghai was crying because the Slavens were leaving. I appreciated the rain more after that. Felt appropriate that the skies were crying as we were also quite sad and emotional as it was really time to say goodbye to Shanghai. Our ayi also came early. She arrived with her husband to collect a load of furniture, dishes and other things we had given her. Watching her say goodbye to Emily was just heart wrenching. She and Emily have become quite close over the past two years. When Emily ... read more
June 27th 2010
I say last blog from Shanghai for now because we will be back. I know it. Yesterday, went to brunch with our first friends in Shanghai and had margaritas and Mexican to help drown our sorrows at having to say goodbye (for now). We followed our brunch up with a trip to the coffee shop where our friendships all began 2 summers ago on a hot and steamy August day. Joanna and I ran a couple errands while the men watched the kids play back at our place. We said a quick goodbye and sent our pals off with the rest of our housewares, our booze, and a half bag of Nestle choc chips. Later that night, Mark and I had a final date night--massages and a yummy dinner. Good times. We had a wild and ... read more
June 26th 2010
I thought of my title within minutes of entering the first line of many at the Expo. Before I begin my play by play, I have to say my expectations were exceeded and the kids, Mark and I all thought the Expo was impressive, worthwhile and interesting. We powered through our 1 day at the Expo. We had always intended to go, we had also always intended to wait for a bit since the initial reports we heard were not so glowing. The lines were bad at the pavilions but as for crowds, it was not the sea of millions I had feared. We could walk freely, find benches upon which to rest, easily buy food and water at stands and restaurants around the grounds. We arrived at about 9:30am, having failed to leave earlier as ... read more
June 22nd 2010
These are the final days and I would be foolish and let's be honest, a tad bit selfish if I didn't share my every thought and feeling here with you. We started together 2 plus years ago--and so we must finish out the time in Shanghai together. It's the right thing to do. We arrived home from Phuket at 5:45am on Sunday, Father's Day. The kids were great travelers as usual but it was a tiring trip home. We spent the morning sleeping and the rest of the day packing, before heading out to lunch at the Gourmet Burger restaurant. They have the world's best sweet potato fries and I had a veggie burger while the rest of my carnivorous crew dined on juicy beef burgers. I tasted Emily's. Was delicious. We then went to pick ... read more
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