An American Expat in China

 A lot has transpired since my last post.  Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, Faye and I are planning to live together.  We have opted to switch to a 3-bedroom apartment provided by my company.  I have been slowly moving things over and will make the final move on September 23rd.  Faye will come a little bit later.  We have a trip planned in October so she will move most of her stuff after the trip.  Our trip plans include a night in Bankok (Thailand), four nights in Bali (Indonesia), three night in Kuching (Malaysia), and one night in Singapore.  Faye had to get a visa for Malaysia and Singapore, which stressed her out quite a bit, and that is why she is moving into our new apartment a bit later in October.  It is a really nice apartment.  I am looking forward to this next step in our relationship.  It is a practical move for both of us as well.  The new apartment is closer to work for both of us, we will have a much more ...

On the 17th I hit my 365 day streak on duolingo.  That meant I had been learning and practicing mandarin every day for a year.  I am still going.  I did a hash on the 19th with the Shekou Hashers. It was good to return and get back into the runs.  We ran Nanshan and had a great time.   Saw a cool caterpillar on the way up Nanshan.  This little thing was venomous so it was a look but don't touch situation. Had a bit of a hard time making it up nanshan.  My lungs were having a hard time filling and emptying so I puffed on the ole asthma aspirator and kept trudging on in the heat and humidity. Work started with training on August 20th.  Our first session was virtual but each subsequent session was in person.  The new, purpose build state-of-the-art, school building is very impressive.  It is a sprawling campus with two gyms, six science labs, an auditorium, black box theater, and even a pool.  Although it is an awesome new buildin...

Faye and I just came back from vacation in Thailand on Monday.  Our trip was from the 9th-14th.  While we certainly enjoyed some aspects of the trip there was an undue amount of drama and conflict that I do not wish to rehash in full detail.   We did a lot of shopping and spent time enjoying nature.  Our hotel for the majority of the trip, The Old Phuket, is located in Karon Beach.  This was much different from the last two times I stayed in Patong. It was much more relaxed and quiet compared to Patong and there was a slightly higher level of luxury at this hotel.  The hotel was nice but they gave us the wrong room for the first night and this caused some stress for both of us.  I was pretty pissed and I only slept 3 hours.  Faye slept more than I but neither of us got much sleep the first night.  We ended up changing rooms early the first morning after a terrible night of sleep and being awakened by loud neighbors.   The secon...