Breaking News....

Dear Readers,

It's been a fun adventure living in China, and even when it's not, writing about it helps put it in perspective! It now looks like the tai tai will be writing about China a while longer as Mr. Johnson has just agreed to a new contract with a new division within his company. We will remain in Qingdao, where the new mid-tier excavator program he will oversee will find its headquarters. (Hmm... are you picking up on the theme of "newness" here?) It has been fun to see how Mr. Johnson has grown in his existing hydraulics position, and exciting to think about what the future has in store. For our part, The Three and I are also content to stay in China a while longer.

We were, for all intents and purposes, prepared for a summer repatriation. The inquiry and formal offer stage for this new position moved at lightning speed (in way only things in China can.) Mr. Johnson’s promotion will be formally announced this week at his company. Effective April 1, he will assume his new role as Technical Manager for the Mid-Tier excavator team.

Not what we originally planned

Our time in China was drawing to a close, we believed. We had begun shopping real estate in Kendall County, Illinois (from Asia), weighed the options, and then decided to go ahead and move back into our cute little house with the ample yard and leafy trees. Mr. Johnson bought a car … a sporty black VW GTI, a fast little number with six speeds… something to make up for the four years he spent in China not driving. We took our home leave over Christmas. MGJ popped back into the elementary school she attended as a Kindergartener and first grader; and assured her class she would be re-joining them this fall in the hallways of the junior high. We brought our interior decorator friend into our cozy little home, to get some ideas on colors and new furniture. We brought in a contractor and made plans to gut walls, and redefine spaces. We researched Saturday Chinese schools in Naperville and Elmhurst to enroll the girls in this fall, believing the sacrifice of four hours every Saturday afternoon, would help the girls retain their Mandarin. Back in Qingdao we began lists (mental and physical) on repatriation. I read Homeward Bound: A Spouse’s Guide to Repatriation. We began recounting our “lasts”. Our last trip to the Great Wall, our last trip to Hong Kong, our last foggy February…

Along the way came a call from Beijing. The one I at first dismissed. (Note to self: don’t dismiss such e-mail or phone inquiries… a mistake I made in 2005.)

“Oh, Babe,” I said, “that ship has sailed.” (Direct quote!). Playing up perhaps on my doldrums theme… the intermediate part of our waiting game to find out where we would go next … the “windless waiting.”

I was preparing mentally to repatriate. I was on-line shopping. My mother-in-law’s basement was filling up with slip covers and girly quilts. I knew which Chinese furniture I was going to have built, and where to position in our small American home my existing pieces.

But… then I paused. I stopped making drawings to pass to the Chinese furniture maker. I stopped perusing Pottery Barn and Land of Nod on-line. I stopped the mad clicking (“add to cart, or basket, or bag”), and thought hard… Because I had heard his response, “It would be my dream job.” (Another direct quote).

The timing was a little off. It seemed just a little too late... we were already making plans. And it wasn’t really a formal offer. (At the same time job descriptions on the repatriation end were vague at best. ) On the other hand, the GTI notwithstanding, we hadn’t done anything wholly irreparable. We broached the subject with close friends here, who challenged us to think about why we wouldn’t want to stay. We couldn’t think of a solid reason. We surveyed The Three. They were keen to remain.

Mr. Johnson told the voice on the other end of the informal inquiry not to rule him out.

And then things really got moving. Things move fast in China. They asked formally. We took a week-end (A WEEKEND!) to give them an answer. Which you now know was a yes.

We will be in Qingdao another two years.

Ever watch the movie Seven Years in Tibet? We’re creating our own script, Seven Years in China (subtitle: with three kids, and a commitment that my husband originally promised would only last 24 months.) Don’t get me wrong-- we are all completely content and wholly satisfied with our decision. I’m just fearful our family and friends will no longer ever believe anything we say, and may wonder if we will every really say zai jian to China!