Year 1 Abroad in the Books!

I'm typing this right at 4:00 on Friday, which somewhat officially ends our school year. Technically, we have to meet with our Director in the morning for a final meeting, but we are finished. It has been quite a memorable year, and Jamie and I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to see and do so much in just this one year. Time will tell how much more we will see next year and the many experiences we will share together and with our family and friends; but if it even compares to this year, it will be a sensational.

To recap, Jamie and I moved to Shekou, China on July 31, 2008 to begin teaching at an international school here. We both taught 12 year old Reading, Language Arts, Math, and Cultural Studies. While this isn't right down our alley as far as what we wanted to teach, the opportunity to teach in China has been simply amazing and something we couldn't pass up. In addition to teaching, we have been quite busy traveling to various countries. We traveled to Cambodia in September for 9 days, Thailand in December for 19 days, Beijing for 5 days, Hong Kong numerous times, Macau 2 times, and Bali for 8 days in May. Up next, we'll travel back to Beijing, as well as Xi'an, Guilin, Yangshuo in China as well as the Philippines for 2 weeks in August. Our travel plans for this upcoming year are not entirely decided, but we have thought about New Zealand and Vietnam and possibly Laos or Japan. The possibilities are endless, and it has become a large part of our lives.

As for our trips this year, we can 100% say that Cambodia was our favorite. We aren't sure if it was because it was our first trip in Asia or just because it was that amazing, but the entire trip set us up for a spectacular year traveling. Jamie and I miss Cambodia quite a bit and plan on returning in the future.

As for now, we are surrounded by boxes in our apartment and packing them up so they can be moved over the summer to our new apartment. It is only 2 buildings down, but the most important move will be for Griffey. Our AYI is coming be a couple of times a day to take care of him. I am a bit concerned, but it was our only option. I think he will be fine, but it'll be a long summer for him. Jamie is sick right now with some sort of stomach issue, so these last few days in China haven't been the greatest for her.

We'll pack up the rest of everything tonight and then head out for Hong Kong airport tomorrow about Noon. Our flight leaves at 3:00 pm or so and we'll land in Atlanta around 10:30 after a stopover in Toronto.

I just wanted to get down some of my thoughts and hopefully people haven't stopped reading this. We'll be updating some this summer, but most of the updating will be when we return on July 21 to travel around China and then to the Philippines.

We are excited to going home for a while. China has been good, but there is nothing like the USA.