Good-Bye, Shanghai
We've got some packing to do...
Saying good-bye to Shanghai has come with very mixed feelings.
Like the Robert McCloskey book 'Time of Wonder',
“ ...a little sad for the place you are
leaving...a little glad for the place you are going.”
When we moved here 6 years ago, we intended to stay.
Shortly after having our babies, we knew we would eventually leave.
Inevitably, we will be back this way in three years time, for whom we
originally came for.
By Ship...
....and Air
Hubby and I have spent the past few months reminiscing about this city
and how we started here.
We came with four suitcases and recently packed up 64 boxes to be
shipped home.
How we knew not a word of Mandarin (“I want to buy water…I can’t say
any of those words!”) and how these days the taxi drivers laugh when we throw
in some local slang in our exchanges with them.
Originally we got around on one bike, China-style with me riding
side-saddle on the back…we graduated to pedicabs and subways. Then when our children were
born, vowed only to take taxi’s around town and fumbled about to the groaning
of the drivers, for seat belts and buckles stowed away.
We came with connections to no one, just one job contract and a small
concrete apartment up five flights of stairs. Our very first year, we lived in
an area where we were the sole foreigners and when we moved in, everyone for
miles was informed. My students used to
caress my arm hair, as they had never seen a foreigner in person, let alone
touched one.
In the weeks before heading ‘home’, Adam was out regularly for good-bye
lunches with employees while both babies
and I were gathering with my old colleagues, play date pals and LLL friends.
Over the years we have watched many friends come and go; such is the nature of life abroad.
It feels very surreal that it’s now our turn.
We’ve been far from our families at times of loss and returned home for
celebrations and farewells.
Living abroad has stretched our marriage and our minds, forcing both to
grow and learn. In our case, living in China has expanded our family from two
to three to four…Our babies put new meaning to “Made In China” They carry
birth certificates in characters and several stamps in their passports.
The walls and halls are empty and echoing.
Good-bye, Shanghai.