....1/2 the price

As I moved to ND I took some well intended razing from my friends and family.  They couldn't believe that I was having to move to such a small town.  They wondered how I'd adjust.  Well I am adjusting just fine in part because of the great economies I am recognizing.

For example.  

...I have an apartment twice the size of my condo at half the price

...My car insurance is half the price

...My gym membership is half the price

...Personal training sessions are more than half the price

So yes, I am living in a smaller town.  And yes I've heard the notorious ND/MN accent.  You Betcha!    But I think I will be able to adjust and find my place here in Fargo.

Favorite Things

Some of my favorite things include a clean desk top, an organized file drawer and new office supplies. Needless to say the last few weeks at work have been fun as I gather all of these things in my cubicle. This strange fetish extends to my personal life as well. I like being organized and trying to give every place a home.

On Tuesday I was excited as I would get the opportunity to organize more of my stuff in my apartment. Or so I thought.

An hour into a three hour delivery window HOM Furniture arrived to deliver a new bedroom set and dining room table. I opened the door for the first load of furniture and the first words I heard were “The dresser was damaged and has to be reordered.”

UGH! In the whole lot of furniture I was having delivered that is the piece I was most excited to get. I was excited as it’d allow me to organize all of my clothes. The fortress that has been built around my bedroom would have been dismantled. My demolition will have to wait until 1/24 when they will attempt again to deliver me a dresser.

p.s. For those of you wondering the kitchen table goes extremely well with my air mattress and Rubbermaid TV stand

B-L-I-Z-Z-A-R-D

This morning I woke up to the radio telling me Fargo was under a blizzard warning until 3:00pm.  The announcement was followed by a list of school closings.  I however had to make it to work.  Thankfully my new car handled the winds and the drifting snow exceptionally well.  

I have lived in "Snow States" for all of my life and I have to say I can not recall ever living through a blizzard warning before.... perhaps when I was a very little girl.  Hmmm, one for my memory book.

Home Sweet Air Mattress!

I made the move to Fargo this past weekend. I have a limited amount of stuff at my house and have tried to make do with what I have on hand. At times it has required me to get inventive. For example:

Used a noodle to light a candle –had to get rid of the new carpet smell
Taken a shower with no shower curtain ---required me to use all of the towels I brought with
Turned a rubber storage tote into a media center
Made a camp chair into an arm chair
Use Kleenex as my dinner napkins
Made a fortress like structure of my clothes – they are pilled strategically around my bedroom due to lacking dressers

At times I simply have broken down and bought a few items. For example:

Bedside lamp – trust me stumbling around in a new apartment in the dark is not fun
Ice cube trays
Tupperware

Best of all though I have been spending my nights curled up on a Coleman air mattress. It is my home sweet home. I have to say though it is a well dressed air mattress as I broke out my silk quilt from China.

Ahhhh, the holidays

Since returning from China I feel like my life has revolved around unpacking, packing, driving, eating and just when I thought I was done the cycle repeated itself.

It took me close to a week to get settled into my condo after returning from China. Unfortunately, as soon as I was settled it was off to MN for Christmas. Before getting to my sister’s house though Rick and I headed to North Dakota as I had to rent an apartment, get a new drivers license and buy a car. We fought some snow and wind during our drive but made it safely to ND. We only spent a day in ND which was fine by me as the temperature didn’t get above zero the whole time we were there.
Christmas was highlighted with a ton of traditional activities including: Christmas Eve service at Bethesda, swedish meatballs and sausage, Santa bringing gifts, white elephant gift exchange, spoiling my niece and nephew, etc...

During this time I was able to prove to my nephew that while I am a great lego builder (Thanks Tim for all the training!) I am a horrible video game player. Cooper received a Nintendo DS and repeatedly came to me saying “I’m stuck, how do I get through this door/wall/level/etc...” I’d try for a few minutes and then just give up.

I tried to explain to him that I was only good with video games prior to them becoming 3D. I mean who doesn’t like Pacman?! He didn’t quiet buy it though and usually opted to walk away from me and figure it out himself.

Another moment of Cooper being himself was when we were watching “Its A Wonderful Life.” Both Cooper and Cori weren’t paying much attention to it, but at times would stop and watch for a few minutes. Towards the end I could tell Cooper just wasn’t impressed with the show. This was confirmed when he leaned across my sisters lap and said “Mom, when can you get this grey and silver stuff off the TV -- I don’t like it!”

After 5 days in MN, I drove my new Ford Edge down to Chicago. I did stop in Madison for a belated Christmas lunch with Rick and his family.
Things didn’t settle down when I got to Chicago. I spent time meeting with realtors, moving stuff to storage, packing bags for my move to Fargo. See what I mean by the cycle repeating!

Back in the USA

Just over 40 hours ago I walked off of flight UA #836 and into the customs area at Chicago-O’Hara airport. I WAS HOME!

Actually, I wasn’t quiet home. I still had to collect a mountain’s worth of luggage, clear customs, located my car service/driver and travel into the city. As I walked from one end of the terminal to the other I felt the stress of travel slipping off my shoulders...or was that the weight of my backpack slipping off my shoulders?! Johnson luck struck again as (like usual) my flight landed at the last possible gate in the international terminal - the furthest point from customs.

I was prepared to sail through customs. I had done this before. This time though the customs official did question my declaration form. “In 6 months you only spent $480?” I almost laughed out loud. I definitely spent more than that. I quickly explained that I had already been home once during my 6 months and brought most of my gifts/souvenirs home at that point. With that explanation the official quickly stamped my passport.

As I waited for the luggage to appear on the carousel I saw a beagle sniffing her way around all of the passengers. The image immediately brought to mind Emma Lou -- my brother’s beagle.
Ninety minutes after landing Rick and I loaded all of our bags into an Escalade care of Chicago Chauffeurs and headed into the city.

40 hours after arriving I am sitting in Caribou -- updating this blog and uploading pictures (gotta love free wi-fi). My next destination is Target. I’ve missed this MN institution. Rick doesn’t know it yet but I think I am going to spend at least an hour just wondering around.

My last time...

This morning was no different than any other work day. I grabbed a cab outside my hotel, handed over my business card and settled into the seat for my short ride to the office. Then I realized today was different. My cab ride this morning marked my last trip to the office in Shanghai. Today is my last day at work. This realization stunned me; two hours later I am still struggling with what to make of it.

How do I even begin to sum up my work experience in China? Will I ever be able to succinctly summarize my experiences in China? How do I answer the questions I know I will be asked when I get home? Ones like…

“So how was it?” or “What did you like best?” or “What did you learn?” or “What did you not like” or “What was your favorite food and what did you not eat” etc…

Hmmm….Perhaps I should make a list of answers. I am a list maker. I love lists!

Q: How was it?
A: Amazing!

Q: What did you like best?
A: The ability to get lost in a crowd all while standing out. My daily routine. Dropping 20lbs.

Q: What did you learn?
A: I learned to check my expectations at the door. I learned to simply take it all in. It was a great lesson in humility, cultural difference, etc…

Q: What did you like least?
A: The horrible air quality was really hard to deal with. Just when I thought I was used to it I think they started either burning more coal or another material. Cab drivers that (I swear) pretended not to understand me.

Q: What was your favorite food and what did you not eat?
A: I LOVE dumplings, Sichuan style food and BBQ pork steamed buns. I could not bring myself to try stinky tofu – the smell can turn my stomach. I disliked many of the cold appetizer dishes. I still do not eat fish.

I’m sure my list will grow as I experience a few more things for the last time prior to my flight out of Shanghai on Sunday.