Baby makes three

A good friend of mine believes that the universe gives us the gift of new friends when things are difficult. And I know she is right. Our first year in China we lived in Pudong, east of the river away from the more established and popular French Concession in Puxi. I used to have to take the metro to my first job every day starting out at Middle Yanggao Road at the end of line 9 for about 13 stops. Sometimes I would see this other expat with long red hair and cute clothes, and one day I was walking home from the metro and saw her riding her bike balancing a giant art easel between her and the handle bars, and I thought to myself, "I need to be friends with her." And then one day, the universe must have heard my thoughts, she sat down right next to me on the metro and we started talking and became instant friends. It turned out we lived just up the road from each other in Pudong. And when Trent and I made the move to Puxi, Lucie and Dorian followed shortly after and moved in just up the road from us again. I will NOT miss some of the bizarre things that happen on the metro in Shanghai, but I will miss my dear friend Lucie. And I am really sad that I won't get to meet her little baby when she brings her back to Shanghai from England in August. So I was really thrilled when she asked me to take some maternity photos for her. Phew. I had to take a break from writing this because I got a little choked up! Anyway, at this point I don't think there is much that I will miss about Shanghai itself. I will miss the friends I've made here, and some of the food. But I know the world is a small place, and so to Lucie and Dorian and all of my wonderful friends I will just say see you later, and come visit us in Chicago!