Expat 101? - for the Noobs :D

Hello all, this is new for me but I'm excited.  Just found out we're going to Ireland for 6 mos followed by China for 2 years.

We've been hoping for this, and feel a great serenity in the choice, but now that we are faced with it, ACK! we have no clue what the hell we're doing lol

We moved around a lot when my husband was in the Navy years ago, but it's been a long time we've been settled here, longer than anywhere else I've ever lived in my life.

We've been wanting out of this area for a long time.  While Oregon, specifically the Portland area, has really grown on us - we are quite fond of it now - it never has felt like home and I don't imagine it ever will.  We have wanted to get back to family in CA for over a decade, but for numerous reasons it just hasn't been to #1 on the list of things to do.

I miss it though, and this is yet another adventure NOT back to california, but we are so ready for this.  The experience of living in the south and north east, gaining new perspectives on our country... we just always knew *someday* we would like to live overseas and broaden our life experience that much more.

And finally it is here!  In some ways it happened so soon, and in others it has taken forever to finally get here.

So now we have 8-12 weeks to completely "unsettle" and uproot.  Does anyone have any links or reads or recommended threads or blogs on this site?  I am betting I could do a search and come up with stuff, but hopefully someone friendly will put some stuff here for my brain-cluttered self.  It was amazing how an obsession with *one* thought (getting the job) suddenly became ten-thousand thoughts in an instant.