Starting to Settle into Beijing

Packing up our lives in Kobe, Japan wasn’t a decision we took lightly. Many people who follow me online and didn’t know the full story seemed to think it was some sort of snap decision.

It definitely wasn’t.

Deciding to move to China was a well-thought out and calculated “big picture” sort of plan. We weren’t thinking about now or next year. We were thinking long-term and what this move would do for us. Now that we are here and have started our lives, we feel that we made the right decision.

 

We were all surprised by the numbers of shared rental bicycles in Beijing!

It can be tough to uproot yourself from the place you’ve called home for the past ten years. It can be hard to pull your kids out of school and move them far away from their friends and the lives they love. It can be hard to leave a place that you really like. It’s hard for kids and it’s hard for adults as well.

When we arrived in Beijing we were brought to our apartment. It’s pretty nice by Beijing standards, but my children, in their child-like honesty, were pretty fast to point out the flaws and how it wasn’t as nice as our home in Japan. Fair enough. When they went into our school for the first time they were more than impressed. I was too. It’s a pretty awesome place for me to teach and a wonderful place for them to be students.

My daughter was pleased to see Peppa Pig is really popular in China! Much more so than in Japan!

We arrived with suitcases and a few boxes we mailed here. We arrived with very little. Things were sparse. After a trip to IKEA and some other shopping expeditions, the place is feeling nicer.

In October when the things we are shipping from Japan arrive, our apartment will definitely feel a lot more like a home.

The kids’ toys will be arriving, books, more clothes, dishes and my wife’s sewing machines.

For those who don’t know, my wife is incredible at making pretty much anything! She’s an amazing cook, crafty person and makes amazing handmade children’s clothes. Once her sewing machines are here she can continue her passion of making amazing clothes.

A few weeks into our time in Beijing and we’re feeling settled and into a routine. In a few more weeks we’ll feel even more at home when our things arrive.

Supermarkets in China are definitely different than the ones my kids are used to in Japan and Canada. 

Beijing is definitely different than Kobe. I miss a lot about Kobe, but have started to explore and make the best of my new home for the next few years.

It definitely made me feel good to realize last weekend that with the nearby Chaoyang Park, there is a major urban nature hotspot next door! Loads of great nature photos to be snapped there!

Let the adventures and settling in process in Beijing continue…

The writer:

Kevin O'Shea is an IB/PYP educator at a major international school in Beijing, China. He has lived in South Korea as well as Japan. He is the host of the Just Japan Podcast, an avid nature photographer and nature educator. 

Follow him on  Twitter (Main account): @jlandkev
Twitter (educator account): @MadForMaple 

JustWildlife (facebook.com/justwildlife) – nature and more