The Start Of It All - R

For the past year my wife, M, and I have been preparing for something we'd discussed since courtship: a year abroad. Both Anglo- and Francophiles, I think we always thought that would mean Europe, but with the Euro being what it is, and our daughter, S, being born in China, we took a wild turn and decided to head to Shanghai, China, giving us a chance, over the year there, to visit various parts of the country and show S her homeland.

What will follow is a family record of our travels. Whoever is filing a particular report will put his (R), or her (M, P, S) initial in the title line, so you know who's "speaking."

What began as a whim of exploration--could we really pull this off?--turned into a massive amount of research, preparation and unexpected pitfalls. Slowly, M and I began to establish what was going to be necessary, and the deeper we drilled the more daunting. Unlike the EU, you don't just show up in China and set up your tent. It is a country of endless red tape and requirements. The prize was the chance to live in one of the most intriguing, exciting cities in the world. But the contest was never supposed to be easy. We embarked upon the process naively but with our eyes wide open and expecting speedbumps. We weren't to be disappointed, as it turned out. This has been one of the most challenging endeavors we could have possibly attempted. And now, less than sixty days from leaving the USA, we still don't know if, or for how long we'll be allowed to stay.

It's a work in progress. In postings to come I (R) will set up the background work it took to get us this far. I will bring you up to "real time" and then the family will board a plane on July 29th.

From there, it's anybody's guess.