Home... and a New Home

We made it home yesterday afternoon, and woke up today at 10:15! Wow... I can't think of the last time I slept that late. Now we are repacking our suitcases to go get our girls from their grandparents and stay there to visit for a couple of days.

The big news is that we did find a new home in Shanghai. It's quite a departure from any other place we've ever lived. For starters, it's on the 47th floor! It is a new apartment building in a complex of what will be seven buildings when they are all finished. It has large windows in every room, some of which look out on the river, and skyline of Shanghai. There is even a river view from the bathtub! Even though it is essentially downtown, the complex has really nice grounds, with gardens, a lake, fountains, pools, a playground, etc. It is about halfway between the boys' school and Scott's office. The school provides a bus that will pick up all the kids who live in the complex and take them directly to school, no other stops. There are 40-some kids living in the complex this year that attend the school.

So the apartment is reserved for us, but typical of how differently things are done in China, we won't know the final package for what we'll pay for it for perhaps a month. We obviously have a ballpark figure, but our relocation agent will be negotiating for us for "the best deal". We'll see what comes of that!

The apartment also comes fully furnished! This is normal for expatriate housing in Shanghai. We will probably bring some of our own things and use some of what is provided. We were shown a model apartment with the standard furniture, but it was not the same size or layout as ours, so there are some pieces we have to guess about.

Here Scott and the boys check out the view from the dining room... I'll post more pictures later!