Adeus Portugal, Ni Hao China - Dan's Take

It is now official. As soon as the visa application is complete, expected sometime around beginning of March, we will be moving to China. We have now been in Portugal for 4.5 years and it was a big decision whether to move to another country or to return to USA. In the end we felt it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it’s a good time for us to make the move while the children are young, adaptable, and not too attached to a particular place.

The city will be Nanjing, which is a small Chinese town of about 8 million located 75 minutes up the Yangtze River by fast train from Shanghai. We just spent last week there looking for a home and getting ourselves situated. We found a nice place that is in a compound with lots of other expats and close to where the kids will go to an English speaking international school. Amelia is very excited to speak English at school, and Katrin is excited to have other moms and children to play with during the day. Here in Portugal that doesn’t really exist since every home needs two incomes to have a decent standard of living, and the children are either in daycare or with their grandparents.

As for me, it will be a big challenge, but how could I say no? For those who love to travel and seek adventure, this is the ultimate opportunity. It will mean a lot more travel as my responsibilities cover the region from Australia to India to Japan, but I feel a little more comfortable leaving home when Katrin and the kids are surrounded by a good support network.