On our way...

Well...we're finally on our way. So far, we've made it from Cincinnati to Detroit and are waiting to board our flight to Shanghai. Everything is good so far except for the plane from Cincinnati that had no air conditioning. At least it was a short flight. I'll try to post more details about our trip later as time allows. Take care.

Getting Closer

We are now literally counting down the hours until we leave for Shanghai. This past week has been incredibly busy for all of us. We've spent most of this week tying up loose ends and making sure everything is in order. Address changes, mail forwarding, garage sales, selling cars, and saying goodbye to friends and family have kept us hopping.

The movers showed up Thursday morning and moved the remainder of our furniture into permanent storage. They also packed up our air shipment that will be shipped over once we are settled in our apartment. We are allowed 500 lbs. each (2000 lbs. total) and somehow we came up with over 1800 lbs. I have no idea how we ended up with so much stuff. For some crazy reason, our stuff can't even leave the US until we have our residency papers in China. This process takes 3-4 weeks so we will be carrying over a lot of stuff with us on the plane.

Since we don't have any furniture or dishes - or a home - we are spending our last few days here in a bed & breakfast on Main St. in Madison. We are staying at the Hendricks-Beall Home until we leave Monday. This place is really nice. Sam is a great host and a fantastic cook. I would recommend this place to anyone who might have visitors coming to town and needing somewhere to stay.

That's it for now. Check back in over the next few days. I'll try to keep things updated as we make our way to the East (we actually travel west to get there).

Mailing Address

We have a mailing address where you can send us first class mail in China.

Brian Amick (or Kristi, etc)
c/o Dow Corning Corp
International Mail
PO Box 994
Midland, MI 48686-0994

Letters and cards sent to this address will require only first class postage. Dow Corning will collect mail sent to this address and send it by courier to my office in Shanghai so it may take a week or so for us to get it.

821-650-0157

We have a phone number where you can reach us in China. We were unable to get a Madison number and had to settle on one in the Bloomington area. There is a possibility that we will be able to get a Madison number in the next few weeks and I'll update it here if we can. In the meantime, the number is 812-650-0157. If you call this number from outside the Bloomington area, you will pay normal long distance rates, just like you were calling someone in Bloomington. It may be best to use a cell phone, especially if you have free nights and weekends.

This number probably won't be active for a couple of weeks after we arrive in Shanghai. But even if the phone is not connected, you can still leave voice mail. Once it's up and running, feel free to give us a call. Don't forget about the time difference though. Shangahi is 12 hours ahead of Madison (13 hours in the winter). We want to hear from you but not at 3AM.

Michael Vick is indicted for running dog fights. The evidence is pretty convincing that Barry Bonds has used steroids (plus by all accounts, he's a real jerk). And it seems that everyday another one of the Bengals is arrested for something. Of course, this handful of people are not representative of all the players in the NFL, NBA, and MLB but they are the ones we hear about. In light of this, it's refreshing to see an athlete who gets it right, understands how fortunate he is to be paid to play a game, and recognizes his responsibility to the community.

Last week Tarik Glenn announce his retirement after 10 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts. His remarks explaining his decision included this:

I will always be indebted to this franchise for allowing me to be a part of a special journey. I have accomplished more than I ever could have dreamed. As I have played and established myself in the Indianapolis community, I realized where my destiny rested. I began to see that God had bigger plans for my life through football and outside of football. I also had a strong conviction from God to maximize the platform football had given me. As much passion as I had for winning games, I have the same if not more passion to make a difference in the inner city of Indianapolis.

It's worth reading the entire letter here.

At the press conference Colts owner Jim Irsay spoke about Glenn as a player and as a person.

“He is,” Irsay said, “what the Indianapolis Colts are about.”
Left tackle Tarik Glenn, Irsay said, was about class.
He was about consistency.
He was about excellence.
And he will be missed, Irsay said. A lot.

The rest of his speech is also worth reading.

Go Colts!

Some pictures

Here is a link to some pictures of the apartment comples we will live in. These are not pictures of our apartment but will give you an idea of what our's will be like. I've never tried linking like this before so please let me know if the link doesn't work.

http://picasaweb.google.com/baamick/GreenCourtPhase1