The Olson's Asian Adventure

Moving stinks.  Period.  Most think that it is cool to do something new, and it is.  And, most see only the fun stuff that you get to do… and there is a lot.  But almost everyone, every time, underestimates the amount of work that has to happen to just get the bus moving.  Problems, decisions, new situations, emotions, unexpected challenges, and fear of the unknown or threatened (thanks Trump and Un!) get raised and resolved so quickly that you can’t remember a single thing that was accomplished throughout the day.  That was this week.  It is a mystery to look back just 7 days ago and marvel at what our family accomplished.  Quite frankly, I can’t believe it.  Here is a small list of minor life accomplishments that we took for granted a week ago in the US, but had to learn over again in China…  Pre-arrival:   On my last trip to Shanghai I made a major effort to purchase items from people that were moving back so that we ha...

Often the greatest opportunities require sacrifice and, at some point, a leap of faith.  Just like our decision to move to Holland 10 years ago, China offered similar concerns, feelings and reservations.  Although, when looking back on the Holland decision today, it seems like a no-brainer compared to China.  We structured the summer to be full of activities with our family and friends; nearly every moment was scheduled.  Amanda took the lead on organizing the madness as I split my time equally between Asia and the US.  In the end, we wore ourselves out, but also logged a very impressive summer docket:  LSU Graduation in Baton Rouge, 4 th of July party with my family at our house, Orange Beach (with Dixons), New Orleans (with Skenas & Grandma Judy), Washington DC (with my Dad), Gettysburg & Amish Country & a wedding (with the entire Buckwalter & Schultz clans), dinners, lunches, playdates, house hunting in Shanghai (Amanda and I), PPC...