New Apartment

Well it's official. We will be in Shanghai for 2 more years. This summer would have been the summer that we would be moving back, but we have the opportunity to stay a bit longer and it's probably a good move since there are not a lot of jobs to be had in our companies back in the US.

Since we are going to be here a couple more years, it made sense for us to make the move into Jin Qiao. Jin Qiao is the area of Pudong where all the expatriates live. The schools, shopping, restaurants, churches.....Westernized ones.....are all here. We love living in our high rise that looks over the park and the city. We love our local Chinese/Japanese/Korean/European neighborhood. However, the kids have a 20 minute commute to school each way and all of our good friends have moved out of our apartment complex so their friends are in Jin Qiao now too.

We were able to find a nice townhouse that has a little more space than our current apartment and also has a small garden. The complex has a garage that runs underneath the property so there are no vehicles that drive in the neighborhood which makes this really nice for the kids to be able to ride their bikes, scooters and play without worrying about the crazy drivers.

We will be a 10 minute walk from school. The kids won't need to ride the bus anymore although I think that will seriously bum Alex out. We will be in walking distance to many of our favorite restaurants, church, and shopping. As well, we will be in walking distance to many of the kids playmates homes.

Tough decision to move into the bubble but much better for the kids.