About to move!

kate.abdelnour wrote:

Hello all,

I am just about to start my adventure of moving to Guangzhou! Definitely excited but the nerves are starting to set in since I now have less than 2 weeks before I leave South Carolina, where I have lived all my life. I will be working as an Athletic Trainer at the American International School Guangzhou and at the Institute for Western Surgery. My main question right now is: is there a free blog hosting site that works in China. I have notice there are a lot of blogs that are actual websites and not from a blog host. I currently have a blog from blogspot but have seen things saying this is blocked in China. I hope yall have insite and can give me some advice so I can let people know before I move!

Kate

Wow you from South Carolina? Im from Miami but i did live in North Carolina for 3 years. I have been living in Hong Kong and Singapore for the last 3 years. Miami has about 3.5 million people but the land area is huge so its not that crowded as Hong Kong which is less than half the size of Miami but with over 8 million people. In HK most of the population does not speak English and the food is much different than the Chinese food is back home. So why did you chose China? What do you fear in the move? JW

Deciding on China wasn't really up to me. One of the doctors I worked for worked the Bejing Olympics and got associated with the Institute for Western Surgery. They then decided to start this athletic training program and China was the given destination What brought you to HK?

kate.abdelnour wrote:

Deciding on China wasn't really up to me. One of the doctors I worked for worked the Bejing Olympics and got associated with the Institute for Western Surgery. They then decided to start this athletic training program and China was the given destination What brought you to HK?

Well i think it will be good for you in many ways to work and visit China. I came here for  many reasons one was for making life more difficult for me. Life in Miami was very good and easy for me. I had all the material things and family to enjoy and love. But i found myself not happy and taking things for granted so i decided to give Asia a try. i made some friends some 3 years before making the decision who lived in Hong Kong. So i flew to Hong Kong to see it for myself. HK is very nice to visit, the first 2 weeks was eye opening but once i took it in i realized everything is harder, more difficult chaotic and hot. Its loud, busy, fast and many different noises coming out from the mouths around me. So i decided to move here and start appreciating the little things in life.

Kate,
We too are getting ready to move to Shanghai. We have been there several times and have tryed to blog on free sites and it's almost always down. We have been told the best way to connect with family and friends is to have your own website. After creating our own site we could blog on it and friends could post. We went with Go Daddy and have had a great results.
I hope this helps.
Shelle

kate.abdelnour wrote:

Hello all,

I am just about to start my adventure of moving to Guangzhou! Definitely excited but the nerves are starting to set in since I now have less than 2 weeks before I leave South Carolina, where I have lived all my life. I will be working as an Athletic Trainer at the American International School Guangzhou and at the Institute for Western Surgery. My main question right now is: is there a free blog hosting site that works in China. I have notice there are a lot of blogs that are actual websites and not from a blog host. I currently have a blog from blogspot but have seen things saying this is blocked in China. I hope yall have insite and can give me some advice so I can let people know before I move!

Kate

Shelle,

Thanks for your advice I have started to think this is the best option for me. Do you know anything about cost for this? Is it user friendly if you only know a little about html? Good luck with your expedition!

Kate

Oh and JW...sounds like you have had a very interesting experience! I hope it has been what you expected/wanted lol. This will definitely be eye-opening and Im very excited and ready start my new adventure!

Kate

kate.abdelnour wrote:

Oh and JW...sounds like you have had a very interesting experience! I hope it has been what you expected/wanted lol. This will definitely be eye-opening and Im very excited and ready start my new adventure!

Kate

Thanks Kate, its getting there. You keep asking questions and find some good friends  no one does it alone and even super heros had a good friend near them. JW

Hello Kate,

I'm now living and working in Guangzhou. Yes. Blogspot was blocked in China. If you want to write blogs, I suggest you use spaces live which is currently not blocked. Let me show you what had been blocked in China:

1.facebook
2. twitter
3. youtube
4. yousendit
5. blogspot

Those are what I know blocked in China currently.

Are you an athletic trainer? I'm working on sports nutrition sector. Maybe we have a lot to talk about.

Andrew Liu

JW: even though Ill only be here for a year, i definitely hope to make some really good friends! thats the biggest fear of leaving...leaving my friends and not knowing if they will visit lol

Andrew Liu: I am an athletic trainer! I have no idea about layout of Guangzhou but we should definitely talk What all are you doing work wise?

Kate

kate.abdelnour wrote:

JW: even though Ill only be here for a year, i definitely hope to make some really good friends! thats the biggest fear of leaving...leaving my friends and not knowing if they will visit lol

Andrew Liu: I am an athletic trainer! I have no idea about layout of Guangzhou but we should definitely talk What all are you doing work wise?

Kate

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 Beers.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.


When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.


He then asked the students if the jar was full.

  They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar He shook the jar lightly.


The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.


He then asked the students again if the jar was full.


They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.


Of course, the sand filled up everything else.


He asked once more if the jar was full.



The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand..

 

The students laughed..

'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.


The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else---the small stuff.



'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.


The same goes for life.

 

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you. 

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.

 

Spend time with your children.


Spend time with your parents.


Visit with grandparents.


Take time to get medical checkups.


Take your spouse out to dinner.


Play another 18.



There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.


Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter.


Set your priorities.


The rest is just sand.


One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented.


The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.'

The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of Beers with a friend.

Hi Kate!!!

I just moved to Guangzhou 3 weeks ago and I will be working and living here for the next 6 months. If you are in Guangzhou drop me a message and we can catch up and I can show you around.
I haven't seen that much so far but maybe we can explore it together? I know how you feel when you come to a country and you know nobody and if you ask yourself will you find good friends? I really know that feeling :-/

Hope to hear from you soon :-)

Well you will definitely have a head start on figuring your way around the city then me! I actually dont get to Guangzhou until Aug 1 but would love to have someone to explore with! Why did you decide to more to Guangzhou?

That's a good question and I'm asking this myself too how I landed in Guangzhou. I'm doing a 6 months on-the-job training in a big Asian hotel chain. I was sent to Guangzhou by my academy, so I thought I have it a try and now I'm here :-)
This will be next weekend, very soon! You're excited already? When you are here write me a private message and I can give you my phone nr and then we can meet. Look forward to meet you!

haha well that still sounds like a good way to land in guangzhou. yes, im getting excited but this last week has been hard trying to say bye to people. i cant wait to meet you! ill message you in a few more days.