Welcome back!
I’ve been mostly absent as I get adjusted to my temporary new life and I am just know to the point where I can sit down and write about what has happened. Earlier this year, I was selected to help work on a project for my employer that involved me being relocated for up to a year in China of all places. As you have noticed, this has completely turned my life upside down..
The last two months have really been a whirlwind. Starting with going to see my family in Arizona the first weekend of May, it was non-stop packing and stress as I put all my worldly possessions save three bags into storage. This process lasted right until the very minute – 3am the night before I was to get on a plane. I really wanted to be done before then, and I should know better by now that I needed to take the last week of work off to fully get stuff done on time.
There are regrets I have about the whole process (such as not procrastinating, but I really should know myself by now and accept it), but I am glad that I was able to see all of my friends either at a party, going to the movies, or having a family dinner. Even so, it did not make it any easier to get on the plane for the long trip to China. Even now, I look back and it seems weird that I have no car and no apartment to return home. It seems like my home is in a storage facility. Thankfully, this opportunity will allow me to see a whole new portion of the world that I would otherwise not have. Also a plus is that I know many people working on the same project so it is nice to have a bit of familiarity.
The first three weeks have been spent acclimating and getting adjusted to my new surroundings. My apartment is great and I have been actively looking for things to personalize and bring some of home to it. I am glad work is full of challenges and keeps me busy and the weeks have gone by fast. I’m currently waiting for my passport to be returned from the government as they process my resident permit. Once I get it back, let the weekend getaways commence!! In another post, I will try and do a quick summary of the fun activities I have done over the first three weeks. I’m also thinking maybe a monthly summary at the minimum, but hopefully more frequent. Ideally, I’d be able to do daily posts again. Just something I need to get back into the habit of doing.
So here is to my China adventure, and the year ahead. I hope to get through my backlog of posts – I have a notepad with a list of topics to work through when it get slow (like during laundry time).