December 2017
Given that I haven’t
posted for a reeeeeealllly long time I will complete a very, very brief
summary of the intervening period! I am cheating and using my Christmas letter...
- Houses lived in: 4 – 1 in Pudong, Shanghai; 2 in Puxi, Shanghai and 1 in South Cambridgeshire
- Schools attended: 3 – British International School Shanghai (BISS): 1 year Pudong, 2 years Puxi; currently Gamlingay First School
- Places visited:
- Thailand – Bangkok and Phuket
- Vietnam
- Philippines
- Turkey – Bodrum and Dalyan
- Corfu
- Taiwan – Taipei and Tainan
- China – Hong Kong, Hangzhou, Xi’An, Beijing, Nanjing,
Changbaishan, Harbin and Shanghai Disney
- Unexpected incidents: 1 transverse fracture of left
femur – James, 6th September 2015
- New family members: one Chinese street dog of unknown
breed, known as Trixie; several fish who were rehomed before leaving Shanghai
Other main events over
the three years included me returning to full time employment after 10 years at
home and Adrian taking voluntary redundancy from Alcatel-Lucent (ALU). Events
unfolded thus:
- Nokia bought out ALU and all ex-pat assignments were
immediately stopped. This meant Adrian would either take another position or
opt for voluntary redundancy after 15 years’ employment.
- We agreed that we were not ready to leave Shanghai but
needed one of us to have a working visa to stay so I looked for a job. I took a
2 year contact in June 2015 as PA to the Principal at BISS Puxi which I applied
for as an afterthought. I was surprised to be offered the job at the interview
and ended up really enjoying it.
- In December 2015 Adrian returned to the UK, collected his
redundancy and got back on a plane to Shanghai!
- In the 6 months he wasn’t working Adrian was able to
do the sorts of things that have been open to me since the children started
school. He volunteered to read with both children’s classes, helped Laura’s
class’s Room Parent with tasks when needed, was able to help on school trips
and became a regular at a nearby café and dumpling shop! He also tirelessly dedicated himself to planning
lots of holidays with the redundancy money!
- In July 2016 he was offered a role at Cobham Wireless
in Stevenage as a Director. Happily, Cobham also have offices in Shanghai, so
we shifted to a new routine of Adrian being in Shanghai for 4 weeks and in the
UK for 8 weeks in alternation. He remained officially resident in Shanghai but
worked principally in the UK. Work travel destinations for him now include
Delhi and Israel fairly regularly and latterly, Copenhagen. He was in
Shanghai for the first time since our return as I wrote this, returning in time
for Christmas.
So, back to this year…we
left Shanghai in July after a rollercoaster few months where we frequently
believed we were going to arrive at a solution that permitted us to stay in
Shanghai for another 2 years. The final stage being an interview and the offer
of the Head of Admissions role at BISS for me. Unfortunately, the offer was not
sufficient to permit us to stay given the huge cost of rent and tuition, so we
finally made the decision on 27th June (while Adrian was in Israel!)
that it was time to leave. This left him with just 3 fraught days in the UK
before returning to Shanghai to select a house for us to move in to! The
container came 3rd July and the children and I flew out 10th
July. As you can see the timescales were very tight and we really thought I was
going to secure a role that permitted us to extend our stay, but we had to have
alternative plans prepared in case we had to leave. Adrian followed 10 days later,
and Trixie came by cargo due to the complications of UK regulations not
permitting her to fly in direct. Having fulfilled all the necessary criteria,
quarantine was not required so she was released to us within a few hours of
landing. We were staying in a holiday cottage in Saffron Walden on arrival and
pets were not allowed so she went into kennels until we moved into Gamlingay in
August. We visited her regularly and then went for a much-needed break to visit
Adrian’s parents in Dalyan, Turkey for two sunny weeks and enjoyed snorkelling
with the turtles and exploring a little of the local area. We came back and
braced for the move into Gamlingay. First all the items from storage in
Cirencester and then the next day the container from Shanghai. The house
already felt full after the first delivery of boxes had been unpacked!
No sooner had we moved
in and started school than it was time to celebrate Laura’s 9th
Birthday which was done in a very low-key manner due to it being too early for
her to have many friends and Adrian being overseas. Both children are taking
all these changes in their stride again although there are occasional sad
moments missing friends which cannot be avoided. From a school of 1500 with
100-120 in their respective year groups, they have now come full circle back to
a village primary school with less than 200 pupils in total and James only has
17 in his year! Extra-curricular activities have again taken a backseat while
we settle in. After Shanghai, the choices here are very limited so we have
found it hard to be enthused but expect this to improve for James at least when
he starts Secondary next year. Laura enjoys the choir and they have performed
at various events in recent weeks which has been enjoyable and meant Laura has
appeared on the television again! Laura has on a santa hat, approx. 2nd row back on LHS
For now, I am not
working although I am looking and applying for roles, but the right fit hasn’t
materialised yet. I am enjoying sharing the great British outdoors with Trixie
on a daily basis and join local bike rides a couple of times a month to help me
discover the area to share with the rest of the family. I am also playing horn with the St. Neots Concert Band.
As far as our families are
concerned, my parents are still in Oakham and still have interests that keep
them as active as they want to be given their advancing years. Bryan and Joyce
visited us here for 10 days in November and were introduced to Trixie. Unfortunately,
it was during a cold snap which meant we all spent less time out and about than
expected!
This
year we were in Gamlingay over Christmas and had a relatively quiet time. My
parents came over for lunch on Christmas Day, we went to see The Last Jedi and we enjoyed exploring new places with Trixie.
With
very best wishes for a Happy New Year!
Cath,
Adrian, James and Laura xxxx
p.s. For environmental reasons we have chosen to send the
majority of our Christmas mail electronically this year, donating what would
have been spent on postage and cards to the Royal British Legion. If you would like to receive
a Christmas letter via email in 2018, please send your email address to catherine.sharman@gmail.com
2017 in Pictures
Images
– left to right, top to bottom:
1.
Taipei Zoo, Taiwan 2. Father’s Day on The Bund, Shanghai 3. Chiang Kai-shek
Memorial Hall, Taipei, Taiwan 4. Dondurma in Dalyan, Turkey 5. Home in
Gamlingay 6. Lotus Pond, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 7. International
Parade BISS Puxi 8. Exploring Gamlingay Wood 9. Trixie 10. Trixie and Adrian’s
Mother 11. Corfu 12. Men in Tutus, Shanghai 13. First day at Gamlingay First
School 14. Conquistador Laura 15. Grafham Water
Suzhou, early 1900s
