A Panda, A Pig, and A Party

The past month has been a roller coaster of laughter and tears, happening at the same time.  While I am excited about my new journey, my heart is breaking because I am leaving my family of coworkers and friends.

The goodbyes started on May 18^th, the day that I formally resigned.  After dropping my letter of resignation at the district office, I attended my last ITS meeting.  I noticed that on the agenda was “A Special Note”.  The special note was my surprise farewell party, complete with a Kung Fu Panda goodbye cake. 

I was so surprised to find this cake at my meeting!  

Apparently the team wanted to write good luck or goodbye on the cake in Chinese, but the bakery was unable to fulfill the request.  So I got Bon Voyage instead. J The ITS crew is an intelligent, hard working, and fun group.  To steal quote one of my fellow ITSses,

“I will never again work with such a special group.” 

This is 5/7ths of the Elementary ITS Team.  What a great group of gals!

I am SO SO blessed to have worked with an incredible group of people these past 5 school years.

The second major round of goodbyes happened the last day of school at Beech Hill and Summerville Elementary schools.  Unfortunately they happened at the same time, so I was not able to celebrate with my Summerville peeps.  They gave me a darling monogrammed charm, so I will never forget who I am, or that I shared a great year with them.  

SES 2012 was engraved on the back of the charm!  I LOVE it!

The teachers at Summerville are some of the most caring and fun people I have met.  They have a tough job, yet they teach in style!

I was able to celebrate my Palmetto’s Finest year at Beech Hill that afternoon.  My boss, Rene Harris, is one of the most incredible people I have ever met. 

Auntie Rene and I share a moment during the farewell luncheon.

Auntie Rene (my aunt by adoption) has read me, grown me, and mentored me for the past five years.  She has this spidey sense about her that makes her an incredible leader who inspires excellence.  I am going to miss her and the Beech Hill crew immensely!  They are truly Palmetto’s Finest in EVERY way!!  It breaks my heart to leave.

 

The third round of goodbyes fell over Memorial Day weekend.  Chris’ Bosch lab mates threw us a goodbye party.  

Chris' boss Tom roasts Chris with us a story of how Chris created a termite home by leaving a box of papers in the corner of the lab.

Chris displays his parting gift, an autographed lab portrait.

Chris' co-worker, Tater, rubs Chris' head for good luck.

I had a great time chatting about our adventure, enjoying his coworkers home brew, and sharing the blog with Chris’ work family.  I know that Chris is going to miss them.

My final round of goodbyes happened last Thursday.  One of my dearest friends, Melinda, came over to say goodbye.  I admit, I was really REALLY dreading this goodbye.  So in a grand Ava/Bianca/NASCAR tradition, I prepared Mel's goodbye gifts; a bag full of unused Bath and Body Works products, and a LOVELY portrait of Jimmie Johnson that has been passed between us for the last 8 years. 

Mel (aka Bianca) shows off her newest art acquisition.

Since great minds think alike, she gave me a touching gift wrapped in a Holiday Chinese takeout container. After pouring us glasses of wine, I cracked open the fortune cookie that was attached to the gift and found the following fortune:

Initially, I had NO clue what this meant.

I was impressed; Mel had taken a traditional fortune cookie, tweezered out the old fortune and replaced it with a cryptic clue.  I opened the gift box to find Desperation.

My gift from Melinda...you have to love it!

Her eyes...they look so desperate!!

Desperation is a pig statue that I gave Melinda multiple years ago as a gag gift.  We call the pig Desperation because of the pained look on the pig’s face as she is nursing her piglets.  Needless to say, Desperation will have a place of honor in our Shanghai home.

After giggling for a few hours and drinking 5 year old Bartles and James Strawberry Wine coolers (in true redneck fashion), we said a tearful goodbye.

Our 11 years in South Carolina have been wonderful!  Thank you to everyone who has made our lives so blessed. 

To quote Auntie Rene,

            “Don’t look back, always look forward!” 

Forward we shall go!

Chaos!

If there is one word to describe my last week in South Carolina, it is chaos.  Aside from the ordinary stresses of preparing for an international move, we decided to makeover parts of our home so it will be rented…quickly. So let the makeover begin!

Currently, I have nice gentlemen painting our kitchen, half bathroom, hallway, guest bedroom, and master bathroom.  Downstairs, there are gentlemen preparing to tile our kitchen, and upstairs bathrooms. 

Our Kitchen Before

More Before Pics

Marion, the painter, prepares to make the master bathroom a paradise!

Chris reconstructs our stone patio.

Our tile man prepares the glue for downstairs.

Leia supervises her new friends.

Needless to say, I am extremely jealous of the family that rents this home.  It is looking better than I ever imagined!

Since we are 99% certain our apartment will be furnished, we are trying to determine which belongings we are are storing, which items we are selling, and which items will be shipped via airfreight.  So I am currently wandering in the construction free zones tagging our belongings with yellow post it notes labeled sell, air freight, or storage. 

Yep, I need to label everything for the movers. 

As soon as the rooms are finished, I will post pics online. 

All I have to say is,

“Calgon take me away!!”

Guest Blog #1: Chris Goes House Hunting…and Makes Movies

After our Yan Lord debacle, we have come to the realization that we need an apartment...in China...stat. Fortunately Chris returned to Shanghai, and recorded all of the apartments he visited with his tablet so I would not be left out of the house hunting process.  Here is a peek at some of our new contenders!

Apartment #1: Central Park

Apartment #2:  Qing An Four Seasons

Apartment #3: Le Marquis

Seeking My Chinese Alter Ego

So another Monday Morning email from Bosch China’s HR department took me off guard…again.

Chris and I were wondering what paperwork we needed for us to get work visas.  Sally (Xu Chen), our Bosch HR contact, responded with the following list.

Why do these emails always arrive on Monday Morning?

I was taken back by item #6, your favorite Chinese name.  I had to research this phenomenon to see if it was legit.  After reading this article on echinacities.com, I decided needed to take control of the situation and select my Chinese alias.  If I let my Chinese co-workers select my name, it would more than likely end up being  “Crazy Woman with Dogs” or “American Wi-Fi Seeker”.

So in an attempt to keep the naming process real, I asked my Media Specialist for her input.  She responded,

         “What about morning?  You always sign your emails A-M.”

I thought about this…it made sense.  I dashed to my computer, opened Google Translate and typed morning. 

I got “早” as result.  (Pronounced Zǎo)  Chris liked it.  His exact words were “That’s very pretty.” I could actually pronounce and write it.  It seemed like a winner. To make sure all would be great with 早, I decided to ask my authority on all things Chinese, Jie  (my Chinese tutor), about a name during our Tuesday lesson.

Jie teaches me how to negotiate by showing me the hand signal for seven.

“If you would like a Chinese name, I can give you Chinese name. That would be very good! Let me think about it tonight and I will give you some names tomorrow!” she exclaimed.

At the end of my Wednesday lesson, Jie pulled out her list of names she thought were pretty. 

Jie’s Names for Anne-Marie

Ānmì (安谧)- Ānmì means peaceful or tranquil.  Anyone who knows me that I am not either one of these. Hence, 安谧 is a no go.

Yè zǐ (叶紫)- Yè zǐ means Leaf.  Yeah…I don’t think so.

Bìyù (碧玉)-  Bìyù is Chinese for Jasper.  Insert your own joke here. NO NO NO!

Diāochán (貂蝉) – Apparently Diāochán has a history.  I need to make my own story in China.  I also don’t want to be named after someone who is ancient.

Bái xuě (白雪) - Bái xuě means snow.  Snow White was by far the most irritating Disney Princess, so her name is out.

When I asked her about the name Morning, she looked at me like I had 10 heads and asked,

“You want to be called  Zǎo?  That’s not a pretty name.” 

She proceeded to burst into laughter for about 5 minutes.   She then told me that people would remember the name Zǎo.  I immediately knew I had to trust Jie and go for one of the names on her list.

She had one more name for me.

Mòlì (茉莉) – Mòlì  the Chinese name  for Jasmine. The characters are a little difficult to write, but I liked it.  I think we have a winner!!

Ní háo! Wò jiāo Mòlì!

Cinco de Mayo Garage Sale Extravaganza

So the first Wilcox family garage sale is officially in the books.  We had two goals for this sale, get rid of stuff and make a little cash. 

This was our original Craig's List Posting.

The sale was supposed to start at 8 am.  Despite the fact that Chris threatened to feed early arrivers to attack Dachshunds, people started to arrive around 6:45.  It is a very good thing we decided to roll out of bed at 5:30 or else we could have had issues.

While we were thrilled to sell our stuff, the race to get everything out was a tad stressful.

After almost 11 years of marriage, I am ashamed to admit that I had no clue that my husband knows how to push merchandise!  His $1 tool bin idea was amazing! 

People were loving the $1 tool bin!

We got to visit with many interesting people.  Our next-door neighbors, Nathan and Nolin hung out in their new beach chairs for a while.

Nolin did a GREAT job of brining people in.  

Around noon, there was a lull in business so Chris decided to take a snooze.  Retail was so exhausting.

Sleeping on the job!

His nap did not last very long.  Two of the more amusing customers of the day, Chatty Cathy and Chatty Charlie, decided to visit our sale.

Chatty Cathy talks about how she is half blind.

I learned too much about Chatty Cathy during the 30 minutes we visited.  She would not stop talking, and the conversation was bizzare.  Some of her direct quotes were:

“My Chihuahua farts so loud it shakes the walls of our double wide.”

“I have put many things on Craig’s list, but every time I do they get stolen.”

“What is bad about my dog is he eats my hair.  Every time he walks around, he has dingle berries dangling.”

We could not cut her off, she was a paying customer. She bought a $.05 plastic cup she claimed she could enhance with fingernail polish.

She then engaged Chris in a conversation about firearms. 

Just when I thought things could not get any stranger, they did.  The “Only True Conservative” house candidate, Jordan Bryngleson, decided to make a campaign stop at the sale. 

Jordan Bryngleson on the Campaign Trail

While it was swell of him to stop by and share his views, it would have been nice if he would have purchased something.  It was a good thing that Bryngleson is an ultra conservative.  If he was liberal, Chatty Cathy may have pulled out one of her concealed weapons.  (Did I mention Chatty Cathy claimed to pack heat?)

At the end of the day, we dropped off 4 bags of leftover clothes to Goodwill and posted some unsold goodies on Crag’s list. Fortunately we made some cash that will be used to furnish our Shanghai home.

If you are interested in any of the following Craig’s list items, or some GREAT beach reading let me know. J

http://charleston.craigslist.org/fuo/2997908394.html

http://charleston.craigslist.org/art/2997926251.html

http://charleston.craigslist.org/vgm/2997973638.html

http://charleston.craigslist.org/hsd/2997935056.html

The Great House Hunt and Garage Sale Fiesta

 Many of you have asked if we have found a place to live yet.  The answer is not yet. 

I am so thankful that so many of you responded to my blog survey at the end of my House Hunters Shanghai post.  I was amazed that 3 of you did not know your gender. J

Your feedback did help us with the selection process. The results of the survey are below:

For our first round pick, Chris and I selected the Corporate Compound.  We were VERY excited to have found a large apartment that we could call home.  The puppies had a place they could have called home! Everything was roses and ponies until we received the following email from our international real estate agent.

I hate to say it, but my gut hunch about the landlord from Yan Lord was correct.  According to a job interviewer in China, it is very common in Shanghai for landlords to back out during the rental negotiation process.  After getting this news, Chris and I reviewed our 700+ pictures to figure out how we wanted to proceed. 

We asked if Razzle Dazzle could replace the white plastic furniture with something a little less flashy.  The response was no. I was not about to subject Chris to living in a “doll house” for 3 years, so the Dazzle is out.

We made a second visit to Shanghai Haven and realized it was a little dirty, and pretty far away from the grocery store and subway.  It also had plants in the backyard that could be fatal for Leia and Ditka.  Um, no thank you.

We also realized that Gateway to the City was too small, and the view from the other side of the apartment was even sketchier during the second visit.

Long story short, we are back to square 1.5.

The good news is Chris is going to be heading back to Shanghai in Mid May, and he has set up another meeting with Ring Lee (our real estate agent).  He is going to visit more apartments so we can find our new pad.  Hopefully, I will get to see the new places via Skpe on his phone. 

In the meantime, we are preparing for our Cinco de Mayo Garage Sale Fiesta next Saturday. 

We were supposed to hold our moving to China sale in late March, however an unfortunate plumbing nightmare forced us to postpone the sale.

In preparation for the sale, I have decided to try all of the boxed up kitchen appliances to determine if I really want to sell them.  Fools advice, don’t do this if you want to get rid of things!!

After holding a 70's Cheesy Fondue Dinner, we realized the fondue set had to stay.

We are going to drink lots of tea in China, right?

We can always use our snowman plate...and our loaf pan.

If you are interested in getting a great deal for a cheap price, drop by our place Saturday.  We have everything from Margarita glasses to old magazines!  Come one, come all…buy our stuff!

The Great Charleston Bucket List

I am happy to report that I am typing this post from my princess lounge in my backyard.  I have survived my first day back at work since my 2 week vacation!!  (It was tough, laptop deployment +  vacation depression= a LONG day.) 

One thing I have recently realized is I am DEFINITELY going to miss Charleston.  The folks here are super friendly, the weather is gorgeous, and the food is divine!  So to properly prepare myself for a 3-year stint in the Far East, I am going to complete the following Charleston Bucket List.

My Charleston Bucket List

1)   Wine Walk at Middleton Place with my Colleagues.

What can be better than wine, cheese, and Mother Nature?  I can’t tell you the number of times I have chatted about this with my teacher people.  I think a communal trip to Middleton is DEFINITELY needed.

2)   Attend First Flush Festival at the Charleston Tea Plantation

While I am so excited to try new teas in China, I can’t wait to head to Wadamalaw Island to enjoy the official drink of South Carolina.  Attendees also get to hear live, local music.  If the day is nice, count me in!

3)   Charleston Riverdogs Baseball

I need a professional baseball fix before I take off.  How can one NOT love a team that features “Tonya Harding Bat Night”, and “Lock the Fans Out of the Park” night?  Hopefully, we can bring the pooches for Dog Day!

4)   Eat dinner at Cypress.

Cypress is my favorite restaurant in downtown Charleston.  I once told a waiter that if I was ever on death row and I had to select my last meal, their Almond Fried Goat Brie would be on the menu. The waiter looked at me like I had ten heads.  The salad is really that good.

5) Take a carriage ride in downtown Charleston.

As cheesy as it sounds, carriage rides are one way my fam says, “Aloha” to our surroundings.  Chris arranged to have a carriage take us around downtown St. Louis the night we were married so I could say goodbye to my hometown.  The experience was magical.  I am thinking I need a ride around Charleston to bid it a proper farewell.

Parting is such sweet sorrow!