The Start of the Adventure

One week ago the adventures of OSIO in Shanghai began.  OSIO is our family: Owen, Sara, Isabelle and Oliver, not forgetting Tetley our dog.

We had packed up our household contents, had 8 suitcases full of clothes and toys, spent a wonderful week with my parents and then got on a plane from London Heathrow bound for a 2 year assignment in Shanghai, China.  I work for a large, global software company and am so fortunate to have this opportunity of not only a fabulous career move, but also a fabulous experience.

The Journey – 12 hours on a plane with 2 small children (they are 6 and 4) was not something I was looking forward to.  But, to my surprise, there was not a single complaint from either of them.  They watched a few movies, slept for a bit, played for a bit, and were perfect angels.  I can say this, because the row in front had the child from h”*% – constantly leaning over, running up and down the aisles, being loud when all the lights were off for sleep time and being a general pain to all those around him.  It made me appreciate my 2 wonderfully behaved, well mannered, perfect little angels!!  There were also 3-4 devils of the older variety – getting very drunk and progressively louder with the alcohol consumption.  In fact, the British Airways staff were so irritated with them that they asked Owen to complete a complaint form!  Other than that, an uneventful flight.  Tetley was also travelling with us – in the hold beneath us!  However, we could not pick her up at baggage claim as she had to go off for 7 days of quarantine.

Arrival – was so smooth, I was starting to wonder if I was still asleep and dreaming.  Smooth sailing through customs and immigration.  We were met immediately outside by the Pet people to collect the paperwork on Tetley and right behind them were 2 drivers to whisk the 4 of us, 8 suitcases and 7 pieces of hand luggage off to our temporary accommodation!