Suzhou by train (and back again - small wonders...)

Day trip out of Shanghai (and feeling rather brave too!)

We managed to get train tickets to Suzhou - an ancient city east of Shanghai. It is famous for its canals and gardens and also for silk production. The gardens are from the Ming dynasty and are very famous and beautiful, and the area is an UNESCO herritage site. The train was fast, clean, efficient and easy to use. Getting tickets was the hard part, but now we have figured it out we are planning more trips!

Evan at the huge Shanghai train station

The Suzhou garderns are famous - old, big and very good! We went to The Humble Administrator's Garden (not sure about the 'humble' bit - was anything but...). Our timing was good as the trees are beginning to blosom.

The city is also famous for its canals - China used to have an extensive system of canals for trade. They still remain in Suzhou and make it very pretty and picturesque.

We had green tea and dumplings at an old teahouse on one of the canals

View from the teahouse

Pagoda in Suzhou

Also been sight seeing some more in Shanghai - a poster museum displaying political posters from the 60's and 70's - in a basement hidden away in a block of residential flats .... as well as the Jing'An Temple in the center of Shanghai - surrounded by modern skyrise buildings.

Life and work is good - weather is starting to warm up now. 26 C yesterday. Next week is a national holiday - Tomb Sweeping Day so I'm sure we'll have some more news then!

Strange Things Carried on a Bike (a intermittent series)

We see many strange things on bikes. Thought we should share.

1. 8' long (1' wide) galvanized metal tubing

That's all for now.

We're Back!!!! (on the blog .. still in China)

Back on the blog again ... don't ask ... (anyway well done Ev).
Having a grand time really. But let's put some pictures out there for all to see.

Moving into the apartment



Our neighborhood (HongKou district, Shanghai)




Our apartment block - ours is the one on the right - about half way up (19th floor)




View of downtown from our windows/balcony



View of Pudong from The Bund (Andy works in the gold colored round building in the middle right of the picture)



Some of our recent city trips

YuYuan Bazaar in Shanghai old town



YuYuan Gardens (very old ....) :>




Shopping alley in the French Concession



The Bund (Old colonial buildings on Shanghai waterfront)



Confucius Temple, Shanghai
Students hang red ribbons on the trees to ask for good luck in their exams and studies.



Life is good (on the whole) internet/blowing all the fuses in the apartment not withstanding

More details soon. Day off tomorrow - train trip to Suzhou.

We're off!

Tuesday morning; hotel in Bellingham ...

Today we catch the shuttle bus with our 4 rather large bags to Seattle. We're up early trying to check in for our flights. General feeling - shell-shocked. Nervous? Excited? No, exhausted!

Andy finished work on Friday while Evan did last minute errands(lots). Friday night we painted. Saturday, up early, we painted ALL DAY - until about 8:30 pm when we went and watched trashy TV with our friend Frances. Sunday, up even earlier, we packed the bags, finished packing the condo, rented a U-Haul truck, loaded everything in and took it all to storage, did a bit more painting, and collapsed on Frances' couch for more trashy TV - including a new favorite - 'My Strange Addiction' (a guy having a sexual relationship with his car, a woman addicted to snorting baby powder, a cat food addict....) (made us feel a bit better about the crazy situation we found ourselves in) (thank you Frannie). Yesterday we finished painting and cleaned the condo from top to bottom, then put final things in storage, including the car, and got a taxi from the storage facility to the hotel - arriving here a little before 10 pm.

Shell-shocked.

We fly tomorrow early morning - and then .....

Thanks to those that helped us along the way the last few weeks - especially Frances for all the dinners and sodas and wines and TV. For those we didn't get to speak to or see - our apologies. It has really been incredibly busy - packing, cleaning and leaving the condo, organizing to rent it out, and getting ready to re-locate to another country. We had the best intentions to see everyone and say goodbye - but we just had time to complete everything (with about 1 1/2 hours to spare) ....

Next blog (if this site is not blocked) will be from Shanghai, China!!! We did it!!!

.....
"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear" (Ambrose Redmoon)

Total Craziness

OK... so.... it has been (and continues to be) absolutely insane. One can't even imagine all that goes into moving countries. We have had to hire a property manager, sort out "landlord agreements" with utility companies, get visas, rent a storage unit, coordinate storing with moving with our flights and visa requirements... plus we have to pack everything to take to China in the midst of it all. We've opened a safe deposit box (how grown up), a private mailbox, and set up a google voice number so we don't miss any calls from people at the utility companies or any other company that didn't believe us when we phoned in and said this had to be sorted right away. Of course, that meant changing the phone number with all the companies... we can only hope the changes took! Anyhow... you'll all be spared any more boring details; just know that we have been working hard, and one week from today will arrive in Shanghai to begin our new adventure! Many more exciting posts to come. It really is amazing to know that this is actually happening and that it is because we simply decided to do it.

"The day you decide to do it is your lucky day." -Japanese Proverb

Back in the USA - and getting ready to go again

Just a quick update. We're back in the States for a few weeks and busy sorting everything out to be able to leave soon. We had both been able to pick up some shifts at work to supplement the funds as our departure nears. Our visa approval notices for China arrived last week and we sent our passports and various other forms down to the embassy in Los Angeles for processing - they are now on their way back to us. Once we get the visas back, we can book our flights to Shanghai. It looks pretty certain that we will be arriving in Shanghai around the 16th February. We are starting to get a lot more information now from our employer there and there seems to be several other teachers arriving around the same time. Our first couple of weeks there will involve finding an apartment, opening a bank account and completing more requirements for a residency permit and work authorization, as well as orienting to our new work place. The company we are working for seem very organized and helpful with the whole process. So far so good!

Settling back into Bellingham has been strange - after being in the UK for so long it is taking some time to get back into the swing of it here - including remembering to look the correct way when we cross the road. There has been a lot of snow and bad weather this week - indeed it started to snow within five minutes of us getting back into the condo last week. After a week of snow, it is finally clearing up today. We are both missing Colorado so much. Keep expecting her to show up around the condo or greet us when we come home. She has settled in well in the UK, but we still miss her and that is the hardest part of this whole process.

We'll keep the blog updated as plans get a bit more finalized. We are both excited and nervous, but on the whole looking forward to this next adventure!

New Year in Paris

We had a great time in Paris over the New Year. Walked miles and miles and definitely made the most of the few days we were there.

Evan at the Arc de Triomphe



We were really lucky to get into the Louvre easily - we were able to side step a long queue thanks to our Rough Guide guide book, which told us about the side entrance - which was queue free.



The crowd around the Mona Lisa



We stayed into the New Year, and got to wander around Paris at night - really really pretty.

A bridge over the Seine



The Notre Dame Cathedral at night



The Eiffel Tower - you can see the rotating light at the top. Every fifteen minutes leading up to the New Year, the Tower was lit up with sparking lights like a bottle of champagne



Our hotel was minutes from the famous former royal palace of Versailles - the former home of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette (before they were guillotined during the French Revolution)





Now getting ready to return to the USA next week. Lots to sort out when we get back, but we are still enjoying our time here. Spent a great day wandering around the East End of London yesterday. The weather has been great so we have been going on country hikes, lots of long beach and sea front walks, and spending time with friends and family.
Our Chinese visas have been approved and will be waiting for us when we get back to the USA. Our expected arrival in Shanghai has been set - February 16th!!!

We will update with more information soon.
Happy New Year to all.

England road trip pictures

Back from our recent road trip here are some of our favorite pictures. We drove across southern England and into Wales, then back into south western England, down towards the coast and all the way along into south eastern England. Good times!

Chips in Cardiff (capital city of Wales)



The southern Welsh coastline



Avebury Stone Circle (Stone Age - 2600 BCE)



Hiking in the New Forest (South West England)



The New Forest famous semi-wild (tiny) ponies



In Kent (South East England) - top of Wye Crown in the South Downs



The town of Sandwich, home of the Earl of Sandwich and inventor of the .... (can you guess?)



Season's greetings - peace to all.