Assignment: Guangzhou China

Okay, this is out of order, because it is current.  But I wanted to write about it now, while it is fresh.

We found out last week that we are moving to China the summer of 2016 - specifically, Guangzhou.  I wanted to write about how this all came about because, you know, some day some one some where, might care. :)

Before we even left Moscow, Levin told me that this fall there would be several posts that met our two most important criteria.  1)  It was safe for me to go out alone.  2)  We could have church with other members and understand church or at least part of the meetings.

We wanted to stay in the US a little longer than 1 or 2 years.  Or at least I wanted that and Levin was willing to comply.  However, the reality had to be faced that there aren't that many good posts left within the Foreign Ag Service.  Well, we were moving to my mom' house temporarily, having a baby, getting settled back in our house in Maryland, and I really didn't even want to talk about bidding.  Levin was really excited at the prospect of Tokyo. Although logically I could see that it would be a great assignment I just couldn't get into it.  It is super safe and there is a whole Stake with church in English.  When I would think about it I kind of felt nauseated.  The moving boxes were either still unpacked or too fresh a memory too.  Levin would send me things to read on all the places, but I just couldn't read them no matter how much they praised the specific location.

When I prayed about it, the answer I got wasn't yes you should bid or no you shouldn't bid, it was just, if you do bid, you will get posted.  I think this is important because it put the responsibility back on us, not some unnamed person I have no idea who they are, that works for FAS and makes these decisions.  It'd be easy to say, well we'll bid and if we're supposed to go, we'll go.  But that puts the idea of following God's will on somebody else, not us.

One day the lists of posts that were open was officially sent out, not just Levin figuring it all out in his head.  He read through a list of posts.  Some were easy to dismiss like Caracas.  Um .. no thanks.  Remember, criteria #1.  We had already talked about Seoul and a lot of people love it there, but same thing I just didn't feel happy about the prospect for some reason.  The Levin read Guangzhou China.  I said, "is that the one not too far from Hong Kong?"  He said,  yes and I said, that's where we're going.  He said, "REALLY?  You want to bid on it?"  I said, "I don't know if we're going to bid on it or not, I just know that in the end, that is where we'll be assigned."

Let's rewind back to Levin and my dating experience.  I knew we were going to end up in Nigeria before he even bid.  Mind you we are not engaged at this point, but I knew.  I was ridiculous and was a little surprised he didn't bid on Nigeria because I said, "I told you that's the one."  His come back, of uh . . . you're not even agreeing to marry me was very appropriate. :)  But in the end, during the 2nd or 3rd round of bidding they talked Levin into putting Nigeria down and he talked me into marrying him and going with him.

So I thought Guangzhou could end up like that.  Like I said, I didn't know how it would "go down" but I knew we'd end up there.

Levin said he'd need some pretty clear revelation that it was the right place to go.  Pollution, etc. make China not the perfect place to live.  But we did some research and discovered Guangzhou actually has a lot less pollution than Beijing and Shanghai and even Shenzhen (sp?)  We researched the school and it is the only American school in all of China, but was also rated the best international school in all of China.  It looked like a really good school.  I found out there is an English speaking branch there that sounds similar to our ward in Moscow.  The main housing is an apartment building that gives you free breakfast every  morning.  What's not to love about that? :)

So in the end we put Guangzhou first on Levin's bid list.  We put it above The Hague, Brussels, Tokyo, and Seoul.  All which theoretically could be better places.

Levin went from needing a big vision from heaven to want to go there to being so worried we wouldn't get it he was driving himself crazy.  I am the one that is calm and Levin worried.  Pretty  much it is the other way around.  But he was worried and dying with the whole, be patient while bidding closes and we wait on people to come to a decision and the publicize that decision.  I did pretty well until the last week and then I started to worry what if we did get Brussells?  I wasn't ready to leave America next summer.  Brussels and the Hague don't have the long language classes Levin will get for Chinese.

But in the end we got what we wanted.  It is the first time it felt like we got what we wanted on a united front.  Nigeria was kind of pushed on Levin and therefore me too.  Russia seemed inevitable because Levin was required to bid after his first assignment and he did speak Russian.  However, a while back I found an old email that Levin had sent me while we were living in Lagos and preparing to bid.  He was sending me a bunch of information to read about other assignments and I said, I can't even read them and focus on them because I know we're going to Russia.

So there you have it.  That is how we decide where we're going.  Not so much a, you should bid to go here feeling, as much as a, this is where we're going and I feel okay about it and actually a little bit excited, and then we start to worry we won't even get to go there we want it so much.

It is an interesting experience.  Today at Leah's school it was a spirit day and it was cowboy/cowgirl day.  As I watched other kids getting out of cars with their cowboy hats on and had the sudden realization of how American this is, and how much I love America I may have had a little tearing up in my eyes.  And during lunch prayer when Oliver hesitated with what to say next I threw in, "and thanks that we get to be Americans."  He said, "bless that we can be Americans" and then at the end said, "what does it mean to be American?"  He is only 4 so I don't think that is any indication of anything, but I am truly grateful to be American.  But I'm also grateful for these experiences Levin and I get to have living overseas.  It makes me appreciate what I have and at least at this point, I think it brings our family closer together.

Leah has friends now in school (almost too many friends, including boys that have fallen in love with her) so I was worried she wouldn't be so excited to go to China, but she was thrilled.  It may help that we told them Hong Kong which is 2 hours away has a Disneyland and we promised to take her there at least once.  It's all about Disney. :)

For now we will enjoy the time we have in America, try to learn about China, and learn to speak at least some Chinese.  And eat as much Mexican food as I can.  McDonalds and KFC are around the world, but Mexican food somehow doesn't spread.