FAQ re: “Now, Four Years”
Between 2005 and 2007, this site was named “Two Years in China” and would be my frugal effort to document some of the ins-and-outs of living here over a two-year span. The job was a joint-project between a school and my corporation and my quality of life was mostly managed by the school.
Then, an opportunity arose to “harvest” the work I did with the school by spreading the model to various schools in the Asia region. With that, I would receive the full corporate expat “package” including a bigger home, transportation and travel allowance. I aptly renamed the site to “Two…No, Three years in China”.
Today I just informed my manager that I would be willing to stay one more year, thus the new name - “Now, FOUR Years in China”. This reflects an aspect overseas assignments that quite a few people warned me about - they never end when you think they will.
I truly wanted to finish in July of 2008, move home, turn on the TV and watch an American broadcast of the Olympics. Ironically, the metaphor I used to push my case to come was the picture of us watching the Olympics and saying “yah…we could of lived there for a couple years, but we were too (fill in the blank) to actually do it”. Now it’s likely that I’ll be watching it in China, saying “gee, if I had only had the (fill in the blank) to quit, I could be in the comfort of my home, watching the Olympics and thinking how glad I am NOT not to be in China right now”.
One of the good things is that our daughter will have had 4 years of an awesome education including a strong base in Chinese language. My wife’s Chinese will be awesome and I’ll see some professional benefits which hopefully will transfer back to the U.S.
It’s very hard to communicate the issues we have with living here to people who have never lived overseas or in places that are culturally…let’s say…”different”. What starts out as “culture-shock”, soon turns into a baseline acceptance, followed by “cultural weariness”. It’s like the first time you get a $8/hr massage and it feels great, but after a year, you get as much pleasure from it as a trip to the doctor. But you keep going back because you feel like crap without it.
From a psychological standpoint, it is absolutely critical that we move out of here next year; even if it means quitting my job. The people who have lived here beyond 5 years, in most cases, show some signs of fatigue and aging. We also have to be careful to not be swayed with the progressive increase in the quality-of-life here. It’s rapidly becoming easier to live here as more restaurants and grocery stores arrive.
I guess on the bright side, one more year means one more trip to the beaches of Thailand.
Melissa says:
Hi David and family,
August 30, 2008, 11:13 pmI’ve been following your blog spot since 2007 because I moved to Shanghai with my family of 4 in Jan. 2008. It’s been great to hear of your “challenges” before we got here and to imagine what life would be like here. Now, it’s interesting to hear of your experience being here 2 more years ahead of us. I can see the “phases” now that an expat goes thru during the post here. I think we are in the “cultural awareness” phase but my kids are still in the “shock” phase. How’s your daughter adjusting?
I have an 11 and 13 year old who are missing the “superficial” things from the USA. (Krispy Kreme, Cinemark movies with butter popcorn, etc…) I can’t seem to make them appreciate that we are experiencing something not everyone gets to do here. Anyway, we are hoping for a good year and school starts on Monday. We need a routine for sure.
Hope your family is well and keep up the posting!
Melissa Owen
Shanghai
Amber says:
Hello! My husband and I are planning to move to Wuhan. We have been to Dalian twice for 6 weeks each time but we are at a loss for what to take when actually moving. Can you give us some packing advice? What does your wife miss the most? Thank you for your time!
September 26, 2008, 12:19 amDave says:
Amber,
The things we would miss the most (if we didn’t bring them) are heath and beauty products. Many items we bring can be bought here but with a lot of the quality control issues and high cost, we prefer to bring our own. These include toothpaste, soap, deodorant, moisturizers, vitamins, ibuprofen, cosmetics and a number of other things. You should also bring “contingency” items that you would never consider needing in the U.S. like a head lice kit, wart removers, anti-fungals, etc. We’ve been lucky to not need these but we’ve seen enough friends kids have issues.
Tip: If you buy brands like Neutrogena or Ponds at Costco in big multi-pacs, you need to remember that these are promoted as premium luxury items here and can run a risk of being taken by customs from your shipment. 6 bottles of our Neutrogena face wash mysteriously disappeared from our shipment and I’m sure the customs agent’s wife was happy that night. We were able to buy a small bottle here but it cost 3 times as much here. So bring these items in your suitcase.
The number one craving amongst Americans is for Mexican food. Bring various Mexican seasonings and sauces if it’s something you eat regularly in the U.S.
October 9, 2008, 12:23 am