A-Hunting We Did Go

House - check
School - check
Ayi - check
Movers - check

Ready or not Shanghai, here we come!

What an awesome experience the past week has been!  We shopped for houses, previewed schools, worked out a plan for our ayi (housekeeper), and even managed to see a few sights in old Shanghai.  It was exhausting and exciting.  I managed my first meal entirely with chopsticks, took taxis from one side of Shanghai to the other, and participated in a traditional Chinese tea service.  I've discovered that I actually like tea, realized there is a method to the madness that is Shanghai traffic, and learned that phrase "western-style housing" is open to interpretation.



Shanghai is full of people, about 24 million to be more precise, and they all have to live somewhere.  There are apartments, townhouses, and villas (free-standing homes) and they are all tall.   Housing goes up, not out. They are also protected by gates and guards.  A reminder that you are not house hunting in the United States.  Our relocation specialist, Nicolas, was a great help in coordinating appointments and translating when necessary.

I have never seen so much four-story housing in my life.  And I trudged up and down every one of those steps.  I lost five pounds last week and I know those steps had something to do with it.   Sheesh!  You have to scale Mt. Everest every night just to go to bed.  In Shanghai center there are no gardens (yards).  You have to live in the outlying districts to have any garden.  The housing spreads out a bit there as well.  So after mucho searching, we decided to live in the Qingpu district.  Qingpu, pronounced "ching-poo", is in southwestern Shanghai. 

 We are about 20 minutes from everything we need and secluded enough to forget we live in a such a large place.   We have two gardens, and have access to a clubhouse, two pools, a beach, a basketball court, and a tennis court.  Our house only has two stories, heated floors, great outdoor   spaces, hidey holes in the attic for the children to play, and all the living space we could want.  So make plans to visit! 

While it is exciting to live in a foreign country, having the comforts of home are essential.  As a dear friend pointed out to me, we will be surrounded by Chinese culture so home needs to feel like home.  The children will have a place to play soccer in the back garden and they can explore the stream and waterfall in the front garden.  They will live in a compound with children from France, Germany, Sweden, and several other countries.  And ride their bikes on the streets without fear. 

Although the contract details are still being worked out, hopefully we'll have the house in early May.  Mr. Wells will be working in China for a few weeks until we can get there.  The movers are making their plans and I'm going to be extremely busy the next few weeks.  It seems as though the waiting is about over.  In a few short weeks, the Wells family will be Shanghai bound.