Emergency Leave

Being Flexible and Available to Family

I am writing from our home in the beautiful Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains. I arrived home a few days ago. I’ve not blogged due to arranging and preparing for the trip. One of our daughters was broadsided by another driver who failed to stop at a red light. Luckily she was unharmed, but our Volvo wagon wasn’t so lucky. The wreck, along with some other family issues, pushed my scheduled home leave up a month. I will be in the states for six weeks to take care of as many matters as possible. From what I have been told, I’ll be returning just in time to experience the sweltering Shanghai summer in all its muggy, mosquito-y splendor.

Coming home is bittersweet. My husband and I hate being apart, especially now that we’re on opposite sides of the world. But it does my soul good to hug and laugh with my growns. I’m home just in time to celebrate our firstborn’s 28th birthday. I’m also scheduled to see other family and many friends.

My husband and I meet online every morning and evening to connect and discuss our days. I make a point to handle stateside matters in as positive manner as possible, there’s no sense in worrying my husband with issues that he can do little about in China. He’s already dealing with a hefty amount of guilt for being so far removed from his loved ones. He, in turn, shows me the same courtesy by handling all Shanghai issues. We prefer to work as a team, side by side, but we do what we have to do when times like these emerge. ~ Just so you know, it took us several botched attempts and loads of blaming and whining our last expat assignment before we learned to handle issues effectively.

Ever the opportunist, my husband is taking advantage of my time away by traveling for business over the next few weeks. I have asked him to pen the next few blogs. Stay tuned to read his take on establishing business relationships or "guanxi" - select this link to learn more about this important part of Chinese business culture.