The Andrus Family's Wuxi Adventure: Back in the US

We are so thankful that the program Bethany is in allows us to go home for the holidays! While I am sure we would have had a wonderful Christmas in China, there is nothing like "being home for the holidays"!

Getting back to the US ended up being a little complicated due to the pollution. We were told that the highways had shut down a few times causing issues getting to Shanghai. With all of our luggage, we knew that a train was out of the question, and we really did NOT want to miss our flight! Therefore, we decided to head to Shanghai the night before our flight - just in case. A huge thanks to my HR Manager, Rose, for booking our hotel and rescheduling our transportation on a Saturday afternoon! We had already planned to attend the Wuxi International Club Christmas Party that night and did not want to miss it, so Rose scheduled a driver to pick us up at 10 pm to drive us to Shanghai!

We made it to Shanghai in record time (2 hrs), checked into our hotel and tried to get some sleep. Ava was a little hyped up and didn't sleep well which was concerning. We weren't sure if this would be to our advantage or disadvantage on the upcoming flight. We woke up to lots of smog and were grateful we decided to come the night before.

Besides the fact that we flew China Eastern (probably my least favorite airline), Ava did great on the flight! She slept a decent amount, played with her books and the iPad and walked up and down the aisles saying "hi" to everyone!

Our first stop was San Francisco for a 5 day visit! All of the GDP participants met up for a mid-year meeting to share their experiences! It was so interesting to hear everyone's stories - especially those living in the US - and seeing how much people had really grown and personalities blossomed! It is amazing how much one can change after just 6 months --- working and living in another country sure is enlightening in many ways!

GDP Participants
Countries Represented: India, Germany, US, Brazil, China, Korea & Italy

Wine Tasting with the GDP Participants!

Looking for the "Full House" house ...

Before the meeting started, we had a couple days to explore the city on our own! San Francisco is beautiful and we definitely want to return, without Ava, to do some wine tasting!