Carey Jane Clark

Oh Canada!

March 5, 2012 by Carey Jane Clark

One week from today we will be at the airport, checking in. There is still much to be done, but my list is slowly dwindling. Just a few moments ago, I finished sewing the binding on Sprout’s quilt–a project I started when we spent the fall in Saskatchewan almost a year and a half ago. We have fond memories of that place, our new friends there, and the beautiful scenery. It holds a very special place in our hearts.

Silo

Bridge

So today, I’m reminded to be thankful of all the little things we love about life in Canada–things we won’t be able to experience for perhaps another two years or so, if things go as we plan. I’m thankful for:

140. apple cider
141. fireplaces
142. the crunch of fall leaves or winter snow
143. fall colours
144. deep snow
145. grass between my toes
146. friendship
147. being able to understand (mostly) everything I hear and read
148. libraries
149. organic produce
150. Thai food
151. family just a drive away
152. fast, unblocked internet
153. lakes
154. the right of way for pedestrians
155. Christmastime
156. Smartfood
157. real nature, close by
158. berries
159. eBay (I know, how shallow of me)

When we left China in the summer of 2010, we never dreamt we would have such a long stay here, but through all the the months of wondering when we would go “home” again, these are blessings I’ve drawn around me and comforted myself with. They are nothing I can’t live without, but they were a reminder of how blessed I have been, even when it feels as though everything is not as it should be.

Multitudes on Monday

- Carey Clark

March 3 in 30: Goal Setting

March 5, 2012 by Carey Jane Clark

So this month was hard to set goals for, given that we move [fergcorp_cdt_single date=”March 12, 2012″]. I decided to try and keep it as simple as possible. I had my goals all figured out, then I forgot to post! So excuse me while I post yesterday’s post today, and get to Multitudes on Mondays later today. Here are March’s goals:

Sleep well before the move and beat jet lag as quickly as possible after – Daylight savings time is this Saturday, so we’ll lose an hour, then two days later, we’ll board the plane at 1:30 a.m., sleep on a North American time schedule, and wake to kill a lot of hours on the plane, then arrive in Hong Kong at 5:00 a.m. and wait for 12 hours until the next flight takes us HOME! I figure sleeping well coming into things can only help. If I could piggyback on this goal, I’d say I want to try to keep my water intake up. That’s one of the quickest ways to beat jet lag.
Maintain a healthy exercise schedule coming into the move so I can get back at it as quickly as possible afterward. Feeling strong and healthy coming into things will hopefully mean I won’t stay away from exercise too long afterward.
Finish packing before the move, unpack and organize the kitchen, bathrooms and homeschool room after the move to get things up and rolling ASAP. Could be a little tricky. We’re not going to have much furniture for a little while (more on that later).

Given what we’re dealing with, I figure if I can accomplish goals this month, I can do it any month! What are your goals for March?

- Carey Clark

My New Town

March 1, 2012 by Carey Jane Clark

ExpatBlogHop

Today for the first time, I’m joining the Expat Blog Hop at Tales from Windmill Fields. To be honest, I didn’t even know this blog hop existed until a few weeks ago, when I noticed someone had arrived at my site searching for it. Every Thursday, Rosalind posts her blog hop, and on Fridays, she shares a new topic for everyone who joins the blog hop to blog about. This week’s topic is My New Town and I thought it was quite appropriate to blog about at this juncture of our expat experience. Most of the bloggers who join the blog hop are British expats, but I’m officially crashing the party with my Canadian self.

We have lived both in the north and the south of China. Our first China home was the city we are returning to in the north. We loved it there. Because it’s near the ocean, almost every day starts off a little misty-looking, but by about 9 a.m., the sun has burnt through the mist, and it seems it hardly rains there.

There is a large community of expatriates, but in recent years, many have moved to the “Development Zone” area of the city, and a large number of shops and services have sprung up to service that community, including shops and bakeries carrying Western goods. We, however, prefer to live a bit more immersed in the culture, so our new neighborhood has many Chinese neighbors. When we lived before in this city, we grew very close to some of our neighbors and once when Brian had to be away back in Canada for a five-week stretch, one of the grandmothers offered to help me out. She couldn’t figure out how I was managing with three kids and no mother or mother-in-law at hand to help me. They babysat the kids a few times while I went to the market to shop, and we shared a meal in their home more than once.

We moved for a time to the south of China. Everything was green there year-round. When we tell people that, they wonder how we could move away. There was plenty to love about living there, but we never quite felt at home. And from a business standpoint, it made far less sense to stay there long-term since coffee sales are much stronger in the north. We learned what we could about business living there. My husband had the chance to see how a foreign-owned company operates on a daily basis. We longed for the day we would return to our home in the north.

And now it’s here.

We have so many good memories from our time there:

plane

Can’t wait to start making memories all over again!

- Carey Clark

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