coworkers

Saying good-bye to some of my coworkers!  What a great team they have in Wuxi!  I definitely miss working with them.


my shuttle bus group!




staff team good-bye dinner



Packing up

Even though this was 7 months ago, sometimes it seems like we were packing up our belongings just yesterday (and sometimes it seems like we never even lived in China).  The year went by so quickly.  We had a blast and are so incredibly grateful that we were able to have this experience.  I think we took full advantage of the opportunity by traveling a ton around Asia and learning the culture.  In addition, I accomplished most of my goals at work - one of which was quite difficult!  Now the team in Wuxi has to sustain it.

Here are some pictures from our packing up our belongings!

Ava found her winter boots in our packing pile and had to wear them the entire time they were packing! Finally I got her to take them off so they could go in a box!



Ava is supervising the process

Finally finished!


Wow - and to think we only shipped 3 boxes to China!

This is what we shipped home ... 30 boxes plus 3 FULL suitcases that were previously returned to the US by our coworkers.  In addition, on the plane, we had 4 suitcases, a guitar, 6 small carry-ons, a stroller and a car seat!  This is even after Ryan convinced me to "downsize" and have some suitcases shipped in the boxes above.  Which by the way didn't work out the best because we were short 1 suitcase and decided to borrow one from a coworker instead of buying a new one! :)  I still don't know how we all fit into one van going from Wuxi to Shanghai.

Thank you for following us during our adventure and I apologize for taking so long to finish out posts.  As I am sure you can imagine, life got a little crazy once we returned home! :)

Nanjing

We decided to take a day trip to Nanjing one weekend in May.  It was only about an hour train ride from Wuxi, so it was pretty easy to get there.  I had asked a coworker from there for ideas on what to do and he gave us an intinerary with addresses in Chinese, so we thought we could manage just fine "on our own".

Of course it didn't quite work out the way we wanted.  First, we couldn't get the taxi driver to understand where we wanted to go - even with the Chinese from my coworker.  Therefore, after being dropped off at a hotel (not our plan), trying to get some translation help at the hotel (no luck) and then struggling to get a new taxi since we were in the middle of nowhere, we went to plan B.  We finally made it to an alternate attraction only to, once again, not be able to get a taxi when we were finished.  Thank goodness I printed off a little map and we had a smart phone because we ended up walking A TON since we could NOT get a taxi.  We thought it was maybe because we were foreigners (my coworker in Northern China has had this issue several times), but when I got back to work and discussed it with a coworker, they said it was because everyone uses an app on their phone to get a taxi now.  So even though the taxi is empty, they are most likely on their way to get someone.  Uggg, so annoying!  Oh - and it was raining off and on :(

Needless to say, it wasn't our best trip, but it is always good to get out on our own and experience new cities. 



ahhh, stairs!  awesome (says the 14 wk pregnant woman carrying a 2 yr old)

   

trying to hail a taxi for the 100th time

thought this sign was funny --- do people try to wash their cars in a pond???



who knows ...



still having fun even though we are frustrated!

Tokyo

Japan was our last trip (over Mother’s Day weekend 2014) and we are so glad we made it there (it was a last minute decision)!  Bethany ended up having to go for work to meet with the sales and marketing team and her coworker was able to fit it in right before Ava’s 2^nd birthday so she could still fly for nearly free!  We only had 1.5 days to explore Tokyo before Bethany had to work, but it was better than nothing.  Unfortunately we were not able to meet up with Ryan’s cousin who has lived in Japan for several years.  The train ride was just too expensive/far for the amount of time we had available L

We noticed a couple of things immediately upon arriving in Japan:

1.       It is sooo clean!

a.       The air is sooo clean (no smog)

b.      The train is sooo clean and quiet (it is considered rude to talk on the trains)

2.       It is so orderly (people actually wait in single file lines, don’t cut in front of each other AND wait for people to get out of the elevator before others get on)

Of course there were a few other interesting things as well.  For instance, our hotel room was very small and minimal.  In addition, I noticed more people smoking.

It was clear to us that Japan and China are more different than even the US and China – and to be honest, we loved it!  Didn’t hurt that we were right by some American restaurants that we were excited to see – TGI Fridays and the Outback!  Perhaps it is because I couldn’t each sushi (being pregnant and all), but we didn’t eat any Japanese food while we were there (I know, we really should have), but we eagerly enjoyed the Outback TWICE!  J

Our hotel was in a great location – attached to a shopping center, bowling alley, arcade and aquarium!  Needless to say, Ryan and Ava had lots to do while I was working! 

dolphin show at the aquarium

Tokyo

shopping

Tokyo from WAY up high!

Mother's Day dinner at Outback!

Hong Kong!

Even though we were in Hong Kong almost 9 months ago (where in the world does time go???), I figured it was about time to finally wrap up the final posts from our year adventure living in China!  It is hard to believe that this was so long ago.  It is fun looking back and seeing how much Ava has grown and how happy and excited she was to meet Mickey, Minnie and Donald Duck!  She still LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and we are looking forward to taking her to the Disney in Florida one day!

Overall, Hong Kong was a really nice trip.  I went for work to visit our AP Headquarters located in Hong Kong and then visited a couple customers.  We were then able to extend our stay as there was a long weekend holiday in early May (I forget which one at this point)!  We stayed in a great spot where we could walk a lot, however, our hotel was attached to a huge mall so there were always a lot of people shopping – it’s amazing how many Chinese come to Hong Kong purely to go to shopping!  For some reason we expected that the air would be clean with blue skies, but we were wrong as there was still a lot of smog.  Perhaps a movie gave us that impression.  On the upside, since there is such a strong British influence there, English was very prominent and it was quite easy to get around the city by ourselves.

One day, my coworker (who happened to also be my mentor while on the program), Felix, took us around to Stanley Pier.  We were amazed to see all of the expats there!  It was a great spot to walk around, let Ava play on the playground with other kids and grab some delicious pizza!  Felix and his family also took us to an interesting, authentic restaurant that night for dinner.  We would have NEVER gone there without him, but the food was really good and Ryan enjoyed having some beers (in a small glass bowl) with Felix.  Ava had to try it to (with milk of course).

The highlight of our trip was taking Ava to Disney as an early birthday present!  We had heard that it was small, so we didn’t need a lot of time there.  This sounded perfect since we weren’t exactly sure how Ava would do.  Would she be afraid of the characters?  Would be want to ride any of the “rides”?  She didn’t nap, so would she be super fussy?  As it turned out, we had nothing to worry about as Ava had an absolute blast!  She was a little timid with the first character we saw – Goofy – but she was absolutely ecstatic to see Minnie (it was quite difficult to keep her in line), Mickey and Donald!  She kept singing “E-i-E-i-Donald”!  She was also asking for “toodles”!

Promoting the movie "Spiderman"

our sweet girl

the city

drinking beer in a bowl

enjoying the view!

our first ride - she was a little scared at first!

watching the parade (she was scared and had to sit in daddy's lap)

this single moment made the whole trip worth it

exhausted after a long day at Dis

another view of the city (and smog)

Xi'an

Back in April, when Anna & Jim were visiting, we spent a long weekend in Xi’an to see the Terra Cotta Warriors.  I am so glad we were able to fit this trip in as we not only learned a lot, but we truly astounded by all of the clay warriors and horses!  For those that do not know much about this, as we did not before going, these sculptures date back to around 209 B.C. when China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang Di, had the soldiers built to accompany him during his eternal rest.  They were discovered 40 years ago and remains are still being recovered.  Along with the soldiers, there are horses, chariots and weapons.  The amazing thing is that each soldier is clearly unique.  Their facial expressions are all different and they are positioned in according to rank.  This was definitely a site to see and I am glad we didn’t miss it!

This street was crazy!  Lots of food stands, interesting (aka disgusting) smells, stores and people!  This was definitely not the best place for someone with a heightened sense of smell/sensitive belly finishing up their first trimester!  Oh well, I survived! 

This is what we get for following the guys ... we were stuck.  Of course we could have turned around, but what fun is that?!  Instead, we climbed through trees/plants to make our way out!