We arrived in Shanghai yesterday and so far we have gone to the grocery store, unpacked, slept, bought coffee from McDonald’s, walked to Nik’s new office, taken the subway back from Nik’s office, found a good pastry shop, hung out at the apartment waiting for the rain to stop, eaten lunch at a decent chain restaurant, walked through a rose garden, gone the grocery store again, purchased an umbrella, come home again, and written our first China blog posts.

The apartment *

We probably won’t leave the apartment again for the rest of the night as we struggle to stay awake past 7pm so that we can sleep later than 1am. Then tomorrow morning, Nik will leave for his first day of work and I will spend my day researching the city and deciding what to do next.

I want to write about my first impressions of the city as a resident, but I am too tired to develop my ideas completely. So as a consolation, I will leave you with a few photos of our apartment. It is a huge complex (400+ serviced apartments) in the Luwan neighborhood of downtown Shanghai just south of the French Concession and North of the Lupu bridge over the Huangpu River. The buildings are newish, and the interiors seem like they were furnished within the past 5 years. The apartment is a good size…not too big, not too small. It is a one bedroom with a good sized kitchenette, small living room, balcony and nice sized bathroom. The furniture is too big for the space, but it’s comfortable and simple. Basically, we are living in a nice hotel room. I could have just said that, and you would have understood!

The apartment entrance *

View from balcony *

Courtyard between buildings

Kitchen

Bedroom

And the best part...we have a washing machine *

Nik has also done a blog post about the apartment: Back in Shanghai

* Photos by Nik

Denver is quickly becoming one of my favorite towns to visit. Not only do I have family there (brother, sister-in-law, niece, nephew to come, uncle, aunt), but now I have a couple good friends there too. Oh, there are also some pretty nice mountains, the weather is always sunny, and the city itself has good food, great parks, good shopping and nice people. So yeah, it’s a good package.

My niece entertaining me

This time I spent most of my time with my brother’s family in Westminster which is NNW of downtown. My niece turned one in January and has been walking for about three weeks, so she provided most of the entertainment. My sister-in-law spoiled us with an amazing homemade spread of all my favorite meals that will be dearly missed when we go to China: lasagna, calzones, cinnamon rolls, burritos, waffles, ham & potato soup and chocolate brownies. My brother is my brother. I loved watching him take care of his daughter and then go out into his shop to make a steel latch for his back gate. I was also there when they found out that they will be having a son in June!!!! He will be my first nephew, and they couldn’t be more excited to have a little boy.

My sis-in-law with the most amazing cinnamon roles EVER!!!

See what I mean?

My brother and niece search for the playground at the mall.

I also went to the Sweetheart Balloon Rally in Loveland, CO with my aunt and uncle on Saturday morning. We left their house at 6:15am to arrive in Loveland by 7:30. We arrived….and there were no balloons. The rally had been canceled due to weather conditions, which was disappointing, but we made the most of it and went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast.

The location the balloons did not launch from.

Then on Sunday, I went into downtown Denver to meet up with a good friend who just moved to town. He lives in the LoDo area, so he took me on a little best of tour. Mona’s for breakfast. The Tattered Cover for book browsing. Commons Park for relaxing. Little Man Ice Cream for delicious treats. Savory Spice Shop for olfactory pleasure. Then we returned to his apartment to look at some of my travel photos and to catch up.

It was one of those long weekends that seemed like two weeks…in a good way.

My flight from Denver to Salt Lake City was the emptiest flight I have been on in a very long time. I guess Delta isn't doing so well.

I think we flew over the Grand Canyon between Salt Lake City and Dallas, which is pretty high up on my "I want to go there next" list.

Nik and I leave early tomorrow morning for China, so this is my last post from America for a while. We were both on the phone all morning notifying banks and credit card companies that we’re traveling, and I have just finished packing my bags. I’ll try to post photos of our new apartment and our neighborhood soon!!

Oh, and in case you don’t already know this, the Design Sponge website has some great city guides from all over America, including Denver. This is where I found out about the Tattered Cover and Savory Spice Shop.

Just one more of this adorable little girl! She has the Sinz blue eyes.

Yesterday morning I left my parents’ house in Tennessee at 6am to hop on a plane to Dallas to be with Nik. I spent nearly two months at home, and it was filled with a roller coaster of emotions. Extreme joy from spending time with family. Frustration because of my state of limbo. Excitement to be moving on to something new. Disappointment because something new didn’t happen when I thought it should. Surprise at the prospect of seeing my brother. Sadness because Nik was far away. Comfort from my parents hugs and attention. Unease because I don’t know when I will have another pay check.

Things have finally settled down, and Nik and I finally have a direction. I will be in Dallas for four days with him, then I will visit Denver to spend the weekend with my brother, and finally Nik and I will fly to Shanghai together. To be honest, I am a little scared about China. I don’t know what to expect, and looking for work while the economy in every country is poor brings shivers up my spine. I truly believe that only good can come from the unknown. It means that I have more room to be creative with my time and I have more opportunities to make the unexpected happen.

My goodbye yesterday was bittersweet because I know my parents are worried about me. I also know that I am taking advantage of an opportunity that only comes once. We have the chance to live and work in a foreign city, and I know that it will be amazing. There’s no doubt that it will be hard. We won’t spend as much time together, and in our fields, work generally means stress. The transition will be hard, but for now it is short term. Six months in a foreign land is nothing. The time will go by too fast. I hope that we have the wisdom to appreciate it.

Meanwhile, here are some photos that I took one Saturday when Nik was in Nashville.

Our day began with brunch at Marche in the east Nashville neighborhood, Inglewood.

1985 Pontiac GrandAm. This was the car I drove during high school, and I still love it!!

An old railroad bridge over the Cumberland River near the Nyhoff Facility.

The old cattle ramp at Nyhoff, which used to be a meat packing plant.

Nik throwing mulch in the air

The Parthenon...because Nashville is the "Athens of the South"...whatever that means!

Nik & Jamie | Nashville, TN | February 1, 2009