Moving

I'm at the last Friday of the month team lunch. Something I schedule since I don't do lunch. Someone suggests each person share the craziest thing they've ever done. This would be interesting except it's not because people won't be that open around coworkers. And the fact is, it isn't that crazy of a bunch. I have a few stories, but I settle on a safe one. Yang and I moved to Beijing with two small children, jobless, homeless, and our belongings limited to checked in luggage.

That first move started the end of January 2005 when I flew with Yang and the kids to Beijing. We checked into the Jianguo Hotel in central Beijing, a couple of miles down the main street from Tiananmen. We arrived late at night, there were baby cribs lining the hallways (it turns out adoptive parents were staying there, which was a thing then but isn't now). The next morning we awoke to a light dusting of snow and went to the Starbucks a block away. This was Yang's way of soft landing me in China (it was my second trip there) before moving to her mom's apartment in the northwest part of town.

I returned to the states a few days later and spent the next couple of months closing down our life there. And publishing a book. Then on April 5th, I returned. Yang and Aidan (then two) met me at the airport. Yang said to Aidan "there's daddy" and he ran. Ran straight to Jim Courier the tennis pro.

We spent a few months at Yang's mother's apartment waiting for the apartment we purchased in 2004 to be ready. We purchased furniture including bunk beds for the kids. We were one of the first tenants allowed to move in, probably because I was pushing Yang for it. The apartment is a loft, less than 1000 square feet, with one bedroom and a den that we used as the kids room. This place is called Chaowaimen, just outside the second ring road near the heart of the city.

Chaowaimen served us well..I liked being "in town", walking distance to everything including walking home from some late nights. When Yang was expecting Elisa, we decided we needed a larger place. Yang did all the work looking. I would get, and still do, excited about some fancy high-rise property which she rightly ignored. We ended up looking at places in Lido, in the city's northeast. Lido was one of the city's first expat enclaves, with foreign friendly restaurants and an art district nearby. Lying between the fourth and fifth ring rounds, it is still urban but felt way out of town compared to Chaowaimen. It was decidedly larger. Three bedrooms, proper den, large kitchen, and large living room; about 2300 square feet.

I lived in Lido until a cold night in January 2013 when I moved back to Chaowaimen. That first night I won't forget. For the dinner that preceded it, for the night alone on the previous tenant's futon.  For the next day cleaning.

My second stint at Chaowaimen lasted until November 2016. It was something unexpected in my life. As painful as many aspects of it were, I really liked being able to set up an apartment and a life as I liked. Black leather coach. Big flat screen TV. Not so many things, but things I liked. I also found myself middle-aged and single. Kids with me every other week. Friday night movie nights were started. Friends came and went. Three kids plus me and Sabrina because a little too crowded by 2016 (w/Aidan sleeping on the coach) so we found a three-bedroom apartment a couple of miles away.

Season's Park was more a proper apartment complex Chaowaimen. 10 or so buildings. Grounds for walking. Large windows with good views from our perch on the 17th floor. It was also literally right next to Aidan's and Lydia's middle/high school. We lived in Season's park until February 2020, when Sabrina and I move to Lido to be closer to the kids every week instead of every other week. And I mean close. Our apartment was one flight of stairs up from Yang's apartment. I loved being close to the kids and supporting them; but to be honest I did not love the proximity to my old apartment. We moved during the height of covid fear in China which to this day, I'm still amazed were able to pull it off (a post for another day). We signed a three-year lease and I expected we'd leave after the first year. We ended up staying for all three.

This month, with Sabrina expecting, we moved back to Chaowaimen. Motivations include that proximity thing, Aidan off to college, Lydia soon to college, and the 30K in rent we save. So far, I like being in town again. Today, I went for a 2.5 hour walk familiarizing myself with the heart of the city again. Which is to say ancient alleys and modern skyscrapers all at once.