Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Three days left

I leave Friday morning. In the meantime I am packing up my life, divesting myself of most belongings to reduce the number of things I put into storage. My grandmother's hope chest, artwork collected over the years and childhood photo albums will be kept but my bed, sofa, television, and almost everything else are up on Craigslist.

The movers will be coming this afternoon, a day earlier than I'd originally planned. This morning will now be filled with grabbing books off of bookshelves and dismantling everything that can be dismantled. The bonus of having this happen early is that I'll have to pack my suitcases today so that I can put any remaining clothes that I want to keep into storage.

After today most of the work will be done. In the meantime, I'll keep reminding myself to breathe.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Saying goodbyes

Friday was my last day at work. On Thursday my unit took me out to lunch, then a group of colleagues joined me for drinks that evening. The last couple of days were quite busy with finishing up last minute items and trying to see everyone before I left but there are a lot of good people and I wanted to say goodbye to everyone.

Last night I had a goodbye dinner with a group of close friends, old and new. It was nice to get everyone together and make introductions - many had heard others' names but not met before.

Now I have five days left to finish packing the things I want to keep to give to friends or put in storage, posting items for sale on Craigslist, and generally getting ready for my departure.

That, and eating lots of my favorite New York foods. How many bagels can one woman eat in a week?

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

I'm Really Doing It!

One month ago I was just living my life in New York, a city that I love, and thinking that I missed having more adventures. After a few conversations with friends of friends I decided to make the jump and move to China. I visited Shanghai two years ago and loved it and knew then that I wanted to experience living there. Once I made that choice it only took a couple of days to find a job that will get me to Beijing short term, enabling me to do some exploring and find something that will be a good fit. New York will always be my home but it's now time for me to travel again and explore.

Last week I gave notice at my job and this Friday I'll tell them goodbye. Next week I'll finish packing, vacate my fabulously located East Village apartment and fly off to my new home. I've already found a yoga studio that looks appealing and has classes in both English and Mandarin (Yoga Yard, in a neighborhood called Sanlitun).

I've lived in many parts of the United States and in several different countries, and have traveled in many more, but it's been over a decade since I've moved cities or countries. Other than giving my kitties up for adoption (they are now with a wonderful couple in a beautiful Brooklyn brownstone - Adelaide has made friends with a stuffed alligator and K.C. has found a radiator to warm his paws as he sleeps - but it was hard to let them go) this move is happening much more easily than I expected.

Life really is an adventure - when you allow it to be!