I'm bacccckkkk....Tuesday, September 4th.

Hello Family and Friends...

          I am back in China. I had a "nice" (insert sarcasm here) surprise at the airport. Apparently, the baggage policy has changed. I had three pieces of luggage but was only allowed two. Really? I am going to the other side of the world and I just get two pieces of luggage? Being a Gold frequent flyer member does NOT appear to be doing me any good either! There is a $200.00 charge for the third bag! SERIOUSLY??? The very nice ticket agent (he really was VERY nice) tells me to take the smaller bag as a carry on. I tell him I already have my carry on so he says..."that can be your personal item" Okay...I am carrying a purse as my personal item. He then informs me to look around, "do you see how many people don't follow the rules?" Okay...so Michele (a.k.a the "rule breaker") decides to carry the smaller bag on to the plane. I do a quick check to see if there are any liquids in the bag. I find one hair spray and that appears to be all. I put that into one of the bags getting checked...Off I go to security.
        I am amazed there are virtually NO lies or waiting anywhere. The airport is not busy AT ALL. So through security I go..and then I hear the dreaded yell "BAG CHECK" Great, not what I want or need to hear at this point. So...the bad that was SUPPOSED to be check is pulled and gone through. I missed one of the hair spray bottles (no biggie) and the toner /developer for my hair when I go to the salon! OH NO! Not that! Yep...24oz bottle....GONE! I am then offered that I could check it....hmmmm...lets see pay $200.00 to get my $3.89 toner/developer to China? I think not! I will contact the lovely lady who does my hair and I am sure she will drop it off at my house. Mark can bring it back with him at the end of the month when he heads back to the States for a meeting. Problem averted...for now.
      The flight was uneventful, comfortable even! No one sitting in the middle seat. We landed early and my wonderful husband was waiting for me. Mr. Shen (the driver) was there too. It was good to see him as well. Now, for the 2 hour car ride to Suzhou to the apartment. I sleep on and off during the car ride because trying to sleep on the plane was not successful because the man behind me couldn't stop kicking my seat! ANNOYING! We stopped off at Heidi's (a local restaurant) for some soup and to split an entree. It hits the spot and then off to the apartment. I unpack two of the three suitcases. It is now after 10PM and it is bedtime! Off to sleep, I have a big day tomorrow!
       I awoke this am at 4:00am! Hello jet lag! I attempted to stay in bed and try to sleep, but to no avail. I am out of bed, I finished unpacking (what I could) I can't wake Mark to put things away in the bedroom and master bath. I will wait till he gets up to finish putting those things away.  Now it's time to hit the shower and start this <sigh> rainy day! Till next time...Ciao!
       

Wednesday, May 30th

Wow....I need to make sure this blog will publish and see if there is a way to make it easier to publish from China! I had a heck of a time trying to publish postings last time from China.
  Right now, I am back in Michigan till September 8th. I had to come back in February to finish up Grad school. There is now three weeks of school left...and I will be FREE! WOW... A summer free of school.That sounds awesome to me considering I haven't had that in over 3 years!
  I will work at least 2-3 shifts a week once school is completed and save money to take back with me for my busy life in China which consists of shopping , lunching , and of course poker playing! A girl has to support her habits you know!
   So...that's it from here. I may post another time or two before returning to China. We will see. I just hope to be able to publish once I am back there to keep all my friends and family in the loop!

Looking Back…and Looking Forward

As I look back on the incredible journey I have had
in 2011, I can say I am grateful. I am grateful for things I should be grateful
for and things I did not realize at the time; but in hindsight I am glad these
experiences happened to mold and shape the person I continue to evolve to
become:
·
Moving to China and experiencing this
vast land and its rich culture.
·
Being able to meet people from all over
the world and count them as friends
·
The frustration and tears of living in a
foreign country and learning to deal with the stares, picture taking, and
language barrier in a country where I look vastly different then the natives.
·
Attempting to grocery shop and find
things that are familiar and experience new products not found at home.
·
Learning that patience IS a virtue and
practicing it regularly here.
·
Coming to the realization that my son is
an adult and I have to let go….21 years old and living on his own makes me
proud and sad. I’ve done my job raising him, but not wanting him to ever stop
needing me in his life. I am still attempting to find the balance.

As 2012 begins, I am left wondering what is in store for me? Mark and I will be taking some intense Mandarin lessons over the Chinese New Year holiday (later this month). I leave to head back to the USA on February 23rd. , so I can began my practicum for school. I will be finished with school at the end of May. What then? I don't know is the truthful answer. Should I look for a teaching job? Will Mark's contract get extended through 2013? Some of these questions I just have to leave and not concern myself with them until the time comes. I just like knowing what is in the works. But, we all know what happens when we make plans right...God laughs!
May you all have a very joyous and properous New Year and hopefully 2012 will be good to all of us.

Christmas in England

Hello Friends and and Merry Christmas!

Well, it's the 27th of December and Christmas is over. It was a wonderful time spending it here in England with Mark's family. It has been even better knowing Ben was able to come and spend time with his Brit cousins! They have been having a great time and enjoying taking him out to the local pubs to partake in consuming the local draughts! He has been enjoying that.

The weather has been typical English weather, dreary, overcast, and rainy....but no complaints from me...I'm with my husband and son and having a fabulous holiday! Ben leaves the 29th for Detroit before he heads home to Atlanta. Mark and I leave on the 30th for our return to China. I only have 8 weeks left in China (I leave the 23 rd of February) so I can do my Capstone practicum for the last 15 weeks of school at home. I will probably also work a bit at my job so I don't forget how to be a nurse!! ;) I miss my work family and it will be good to see them. I really can't believe how fast time has flown by! I will be done with school at the end of May/ beginning of June and then I am done! The light at the end of the tunnel is a lot less dim, and getting brighter with each passing week.

Till next time.....

Yowzer...time is flying by! It's December 2nd already?

Hi Again..so it appears we are posting WOO-HOO! So much has been going on over the last few weeks. I will do my best to do a bit of a synopsis. Have gone and done a bit of shopping a couple of times in Shanghai. One trip was with just 5 other ladies. MJ was heading back to the USA and wanted to get a shopping trip in before leaving. We did that on a Thursday, and the following Monday, we had a bus full of expat ladies heading to another shopping area to shop for the holidays before heading back to homelands for the holidays. I have become quite the bargainer!

In fact, my reputation preceded me into the shops! (We call it the "Chopstick Express") Once it's known there are Westerners in the area who are buying...word spreads from shop to shop! One lady said to us, "I will deal with her (pointing to one of my shopping companions) and then YOU (poining at me)...I know you look like tough negotiator!" Seriously? Okay...and bargain I did! I scored 3 bluetooth keyboards for 3 of us who have Ipad 2 for $20 each. I also got quite a few gifts for Christmas and a few other personal bargains! I'll tell you it's a sport to shop here...and I am getting to professional ranking!! :)

Speaking of rankings, my poker club has been busy and fun. It's getting quite professional in as much we have been getting ranked and even have a banquet scheduled on December 8th. I am looking forward to it, and it should be a lot of fun for us degenerate gamblers! I adore these folks who have welcomed me with open arms and make it fun as well as competitive to play poker with folks from all over the world! I always look forward to my weekly poker game at Ollie's. On Thanksgiving, we had Thanksgiving dinner at Ollie's with 2 other couples. It was a lovely traditional Thanksgiving dinner. It made missing it with my family back home a bit easier to deal with. We enjoyed it and our table companions were fun.

Crafting has been busy on Fridays to get things completed for the Craft Bazaar being held tomorrow at a local hotel. It's a charity event that raises money for some local charities here in Suzhou. Mark and I will be volunteering from 12-2. Should be fun, and a productive day. There will be quite a few vendors there as well, so I am sure I can get a few Christmas decorations for the apartment while there. I have NOTHING that even resembles a Christmas feel anywhere! Even though we are going to England to spend the holiday with Mark's family, I need it to feel a bit "Christmasy" while here before we leave on the 22nd. I will miss spending Christmas away from my family in Michigan, but at least Ben will be joining us there! Mark found him a flight from Atlanta to Manchester on the 24th. He will be with us for 5 days and get to spend time with his cousins that he hasn't seen in 8 years! It should be a great time for all of us. The down side is, it will be rough for the family since it's the first Christmas without Mark's mom since her passing in August. It will be nice to see Mark's dad and spend some time with him and see how he is doing.

So that's a bit of what has been going on here. I hope to be more of a regular blogger...let's hope the Internet, Blogspot, and my proxy server cooperate! Ciao my friends!!

Been busy..and frustrated with Blogger!

Hello Friends!

I know...longtime, no postings! Believe me, I am beyond frustrated! I know it has something to do with Blogger and having to use a proxy server to access the internet to publish my musings from this foreign land. If it was something easy to fix...I would but it's hit or miss. The internet over here has been pretty dodgy the last few weeks as it is. So, this is a bit of test(again) to see if this will publish. (Crossing fingers and saying a prayer.....)

Surviving in China...husbandless!

Mark is in the USA, and I am in China. He had to go back for immigration travel document issues. He was supposed to leave on the 10th of November, but we pushed his flight up so he could see a doctor while there. His ankles and feet were still pretty swollen and now he has a horrible rash all over his body! We stopped his meds (antibiotics and diuretic) because obviously he is allergic to something! So, he left on the 4th to head home and I have been solo in China for over a week. It's been a bit lonely at times, but not too bad. I have a lot to keep me occupied between school work and activities with the other expat ladies.

It also made me realize, I have become quite acclimated to living here in China. I can fend for myself (with a little help from Mr. Shen), and I have plenty of things to keep me busy without feeling alone. There is always something I can find to do, even if it's just going for a walk to get a coffee, shopping, whatever. It's a good feeling that I can be in a foreign country and not feel isolated.

I even went and played poker on Tuesday and Thursday. I usually just play on Thursday, but decided to play on Tuesday too. I didn't win, but I had a great time. It's nice to spend time with my poker friends because they are always fun!