Everyone keeps asking for our official move date, and I avoid the question, since I'm feeling unprepared for the actual move. Well, it's August 1. I kept thinking "August" and Mark was thinking August 1st. School starts the 25th, it takes a week just to adjust to the time change...so we gotta get out there and get ourselves settled. I finished the school applications, and Mark scanned and converted them to PDFs so we can email everything more easily (and cheaply). Hopefully, we will have no issues with getting into the school we chose. Between now and then we need to [View Full Entry]

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June 5th. After returning home, we heard back from the realtor about the 2 apartments she was negotiating. She did get us a reasonable price on the one near Mark's office, but we decided to pass. We really wanted the other one, near the park. There are many units in that building, so we are still hopeful. The 1 apartment we wanted is now off the market. So, we have to keep working on the apartment project from home. Mark is likely returning to Shanghai late next week for 2-3 weeks (!). He has work to do there, and also needs [View Full Entry]

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June 2. I did venture out to do some final shopping before we left. I had my card from a shop I wanted to return to and my card from the hotel so I could get back. It was a pretty easy experience. I felt very confident in where I was going and where the hotel was. I recognized a lot more of the city now that we'd explored so much. When the cab dropped me off, I found my way easily to the area with shops--it's a series of alleys off a long, busy road. The shop person recognized me--I [View Full Entry]

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June 2nd. We are leaving for the airport at about 1pm. It's funny, we fly out of Shanghai at 4 pm on Monday, and land in Chicago at about 4:00pm Monday. A time machine of sorts--of course, we do have to sit in a seat for over 13 hours for the time machine magic to occur. I will keep posting when I get home. I want to capture my entire journey, which includes the prep and goodbyes we all have to go through to come back here in August. This test run was great, but the real deal is for much [View Full Entry]

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June 1. We are coming back in 2 months, so I don't feel that I wish we didn't have to leave feeling. I will be back very soon. Tons to see and do in Shanghai, and of course all the places we want to visit while in China/Asia. We shopped today and went to many areas of the city to do that shopping. We did do some haggling for beads/stones per my sister, Laura's request. I will see how well we did when she gets a look at the goods. It was hard. They tell you a price by showing it [View Full Entry]

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Saturday, May 31. We got an early start with Lina and Zoe (the American versions of their names, we later learned). We were hesitant to go out again since we had seen better places the afternoon before. However, we felt like we couldn't really pass up an opportunity to see more places in case one was "it". We have seen many places we like up to this point, but they all have 1 or 2 issues. One bedroom is much smaller, the kitchen is a little funky, there is no bathtub in the apartment. Stuff like that. At the end of [View Full Entry]

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Friday, May 30th. Today was intended to be pick an apartment day, but we have not quite gotten to a final decision. We have decided on SCIS as the school, and will work through the application when I am back home. The apartment decision has not come as easily, however. We have seen so many places with such a range of features, that we have a hard time remembering which is which. We have also realized that location is probably more important than a jacuzzi tub (though it pains me to say this). Mark cannot have a 2 hour commute. He [View Full Entry]

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Thursday, May 29th. Today we talked to the family via Skype. It was great to talk to everyone, but we are getting more and more homesick and can't wait to see the kids in a few days! This adventure will be so much better when the full cast of characters is in Shanghai. More and more, I am certain the kids will have an amazing time here. It's such a vibrant city. There are a lot of comforts from home, but we will also learn so much about a new culture. We were out looking at apartments (together this time) with [View Full Entry]

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Today (Wednesday, May 28) I'm awake after another huge nap. I have started a bad habit with sleep that may continue. The funny thing is I never nap at home. I think I am just not fully adjusting to the time change--which is fine since I am going to be adjusting back in a few days. I slept through dinner for the second day in a row, so I can't share any fabulous dinner stories...much to my dismay. I did have a good breakfast and lunch today. We ate lunch at a fun food court that reminded me of the one [View Full Entry]

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Tuesday, May 27th The first school we saw today was Yew Chung International School (YCIS). We had heard good things about this school, and it has more Chinese as part of the curriculum. They say it's about 30% Chinese, 70% English as far as how the classes are taught. The classes are a bit larger (22-25) but they have a native English speaking teacher and a Chinese speaker in each class. They are a team, and are both qualified teachers, but the math and English lessons are taught by the native English speaking teacher. The Chinese teacher teaches Chinese language, reading [View Full Entry]

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