I wanted to write one more blog before my departure tomorrow. I couldn’t decide on one particular topic, so this post will be a random babble. If you don’t plan on reading all the blogs, you can go ahead and skip this one. I totally won’t be offended.

25 hours(maybe more)…

I leave Thursday morning and arrive in Guangzhou (which I’ve since discovered is pronounced Gong-joe and not Gong-zoo) Friday night. My flight schedule is Detroit – New York City – Beijing – Guangzhou. That being said, a winter storm is currently hitting New York City, so if I’m delayed any longer than 2 hours, chances are I’ll miss my flight in Beijing. Once I arrive in Guangzhou, I will literally lose an entire day of my life. 19 hours of total flight time. O la vache, as Fabien would say. And the very most exciting part is that I get to fly over the North Pole. How cool is that? And don’t worry, I will wave to Santa.

Stress…

Last week I came down with a sore throat. I ignored for a couple days thinking that it would just go away because I didn’t feel sick. Then on Friday I figured it was time to be proactive and go back to the infamous Dr. Ramm. Fortunately and unfortunately, she was not in and I saw her equally judgmental counterpart, Dr. Weber. After doing a check for strep throat (neg) she advised me that I was probably just stress and running myself down. I advised her that I was not stressed and have actually been relaxing a bit more than usual. She told me that I was stressed again. My thoughts….”Thanks for your concern, but I’m not stressed. My effing throat hurts. Please give me some drugs before I do get stressed because I’m about to get on a plane for 25 hours while I’m sick.” Still no meds. So, I went to the CVS next door and have been chugging Airbourne ever since. Then on Monday, I still was not feeling normal, so I went back. She again referred to her theory that I was “stressed” and reluctantly wrote me a script for Amoxicillin. I already feel better. If she had her way I would’ve walked out with Xanax.

Fabien Update….

After a many days, a Chinese visa was in his possession on Friday.  Good thing since he had a flight to leave Monday.  I’m thinking since I received mine in only a week and his took almost a month and a half, that maybe his company should hire me to handle this. Just a good business idea for them.

So, Fabien left France Monday and arrived in China on Tuesday. No one was there to pick him up the airport. Being the resourceful little fella that he is, he got himself to the hotel just fine.  The plan is to stay in a hotel until we find an apartment. I wasn’t too keen on the whole hotel thing. I’d prefer to get settled in our home and resume life. Then I saw the hotel. Wowza…an amazing room, pool, gym, spa, limo service, etc.. Um….”Fabien, let’s take our time finding an apartment. We don’t want to rush into anything.”

Things (I Think) I’ll Miss…

A few people have been asking me what I’ll miss most. Family, friends, Bear and Cally are a given. So, let me give it a shot and then in a few months we’ll revisit this list.

• My coffeemaker that makes amazing cinnamon coffee. Don’t forget the half and half too.
• Salad.
• Driving.
• American Chinese Food.
• Facebook.
• Hearing responses in English.

And Lastly…Last Thoughts

The other question I’m getting a lot is “Are you excited?” Bah, oui. Very excited. I’m super duper excited to see Fabien. It’s been 17 days since I’ve seen his adorable mug in person. I’m excited to live with him even if he leaves the toilet seat up and takes days to wash his smelly soccer clothes. I’m excited to see China. I’m excited to see the other countries we plan to visit. I’m excited to be somewhere warm. Excited to learn the culture. I could go on and on.

So, the next blog will be live from China. I’m going to try to document my journey there, but, with mother nature on my side (positive thinking), it will be uneventful. Pics to follow. Baibai!

The China countdown is on. Only a week until I leave. Woohoo.

The reactions to my leaving have been generally supportive with the occasional Eeyore.  BUT below are my top 10 favoritest (yes, that’s a word – to me at least) reactions.

10) Mostly everyone: “That’s amazing.” or “What an opprotunity.” etc.

9) My best friend, Nicole: “I’m scared for you.”

8) My Grandfather: “You can’t live without him for 6 months?”

7) Denise Wachner, a long time client of mine: “So, we’re never gonna talk to you again?”

6) Pat Maher, my boss: “Are you sure you want to do this?”

5) Lloyd West, the President of my company: “China, Texas?”

4) My Brother, Curtis: “Asia scares the s#&t out of me.” and “Sorry I’m not more jacked up for you, but I just woke up from a nap.”

3) Ryan Woodke (my friend and co-worker): “What did Obama do to piss you off?”

2) Morton Metzger (my 82 year old client without a filter): “Are you getting married?”. Followed by “Your boyfriend must be an idiot.”. Then “Lloyd, you aren’t paying her enough if she’s moving to China.”, “I can’t believe you’re leaving me.”, “I can’t believe you’re parents are allowing you to go.”

1) Me (to Fabien):(Insert stern look) “We’re not moving to China.”

As I write this, it is 25 days until I leave for China. I figure that I should probably get a complete medical check up before venturing to Asia (and while I still have good health insurance). At the recommendation of Liz, I go see her doctor, Dr. Ramm.

I saw a judgmental look the very moment I told her I was going to China for 6 months and potentially traveling to India, Japan and Thailand within that time. Mind you, she herself from India. So, this alarmed me.

Her: “You have not given yourself enough time to get all of the necessary medical work that would be need for this type of travel.”

Me: “Well, what type of medical work is needed?”

Her: “You need to be concerned with malaria, yellow fever, hepatitis, AIDS and thoma-something (which I’ve since discovered is “typhoid”).”

I started to freak out.

After I stopped hyperventilating and came to terms with the fact that I would most definitely catch all of these things, we decided on a vaccination for hepatitis A and thombasomething (typhoid). Fortunately, yellow fever is not in China, but runs rampid in Cambodia, so Dr. Ramm warned “DO NOT GO THERE.” And malaria is very treatable, so “no need to worry about that”. Oh sure, malaria, no big deal.

So, I got over my Trypanophobia and rolled up my sleeve for a hepatitis vaccine. Then Dr. Ramm advised me that on July I was  to “ONLY GO TO THIS SPECIFIC HOSPITAL IN BEIJING” to get round 2 of the shot. As a woman from the Asia continent, doesn’t she realize how big China is. It would be like traveling from Detroit to Phoenix. Yeah, that’s economical & logical.

And never once the mention of Bird or Swine Flu.

Dr. Ramm also gave me important travel tips. I think there pretty helpful and wanted to pass them along.

1. Do not eat anything off the street. Only eat food from a really nice, quality restaurant and unopened packages from the supermarket. This will be difficult because I’m used to buying opened packages from the grocery store.
2. Eat hot food only. If it’s hot, most likely it’s been cooked at a temperature that would kill any bacteria. Even when it’s 100 degrees in July, “HOT FOOD”. This could prevent me from getting some crazy bacteria, but I’ll probably get heat stroke.
3. Drink only bottled water even if the locals drink the tap water. Their bodies are used to the germs. If you must drink tap water boil it. And only a recognizable brand name.
4. No fruit that can not be peeled. For example apples and strawberry’s are not good. Bananas and oranges are okay.
5. No salad.
6. No milk. Most milk products are unpasteurized. To get daily calcium, take supplements. Or you can boil your milk and place it in the fridge to cool.
7. Take a daily vitamin.
8. Better yet, take the safe route and don’t eat or drink anything.
9. And you probably shouldn’t leave your house.
10. Don’t talk to anyone. If you do, you will surely get AIDS and hepatitis, but probably not H1N1.

She concluded the visit with “Happy travels. It’s going to be a great experience. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

Very reassuring.