Home sweet home

Cynthia and the boys arrived safely in Minnesota on Sunday after the long grueling (but uneventful) trip home from China.  There was a bit of a communication glitch that resulted in her missing my parents who were waiting at the airport to pick them up and they ended up taking a taxi home - not sure how they fit all that luggage into a taxi as there were 6 checked bags and three carry ons!  I am in India this week and Mason is on his way back to Shanghai after a trip to Xian to see the Terra Cotta Warriors.  He will be on his own in Shanghai until I return on July 2nd. On the 4th of July I will be meeting with the movers to survey our household good sand decide what will go in the air shipment and what will go in the sea shipment.  We will also schedule the packing date at that time which I am hoping can be arranged for the week of the 18th sometime.  Cynthia will be returning to China on the 13th to help with all the arrangements and finalize the apartment check out and tying up other loose ends.  Mason will depart for Minnesota on July 11th after his graduation ceremony from Fudan University.  Cynthia and I will depart China together on July 23rd at which time our family will be united once again.  Whew!  Lots of details to cover in not alot of time.  Looking forward to seeing everyone back home and getting resettled. 

All good things...

As they say - all good things must come to an end. We found out in early June that our assignment in China was officially ending. After the initial shock wore off we picked ourselves up and brushed ourselves off and said "Okay God. What's next?" the year we spent in China was truly a blessing and a time of expanding our horizons like no other experience could. So - what happened? How did a 3 year assignment turn into a one year gig? It was a perfect storm of sorts (very over used cliche these days but it really does describe the situation well) our China operation was not meeting financial targets combined with a new APAC GM who is a Chinese national and a need in the key accounts organization for someone with experience in the Asia markets. The new GM decided he wanted a Chinese marketing leader which allowed him to cut his expenses by my expat package and quickly help improve the region bottom line. The Global Key Accounts organization needed someone on the team with global experience and I fit the bill. I will be reporting to a great guy who was my stateside sponsor for my expat assignment - so that is a definite plus. All in all it has been a great experience and one that we will cherish for years to come and who knows we might even end up back in the region one of these days.