Why we want to move to China

I thought that I should give out some background info. A few years ago GJ went on a uni field trip to China and loved it. The closest I have been to China is the border with Hong Kong, back when it was still under British control. We have both wanted to go and explore, but thought it would be too hard with young children. A passing comment a BBQ in Feb 2006 changed our thinking. China is a rapidly growing concern in the business world ( a bit of a generalization I know!!!) and is short of executives in GJ area of expertise. A 2-3 year sponsored assignment would be very exciting. GJ works for an international company, with Head Office in Germany. We have chosen Shanghai as our first choice for relocation (probably Beijing, Singapore, Germany and Dubai as 2nd- 5th choice). The safety of our family has been a major concern in choosing the locations. Terrorism is not a major problem in China, the level personal safety is extremely high.
I spent days on the net researching what it would be like and how we would live and came to the conclusion that we should just go for it! The children are young and would learn so much, they are not close to high school years so education issues aren't that great. The opportunity to learn another language in situation would be exciting.
I was also getting to the stage of thinking that I could be cooking, cleaning and taking kids to school day in, day out for the next 15 years and could go mad. I think that it would be easy to get stuck in a rut, become bored with your life and blame you spouse for it and get a divorce, a little dramatic maybe but possibly a little true for many people. Moving to a foreign country, where not many people speak your language is a sure fire way to keep life interesting...LOL
The culture shock will be huge, hopefully we will love it, if not, oh well 2 years will go quickly.
We as a family will be together and we can support each other and treat it like an adventure.
We are already canvassing our family and friends to come and visit.
Hopefully the company will need us to move more than we want to move and put a great package together for us. The cost of living for an expat in Shanghai is very high. To put the 2 girls in an international school (local schools are not an option as the girls can't speak mandarin) and Ben in kindy for 2 days a week would be AU$68000. Rent on an average furnished 4 bedroom apartment would be between AU$5415 to AU$9476 per month. Food and utilities would be much cheaper than in Australia, but just the school and rent would take all of our current income. The other option would be homeschooling, but I don't know if I would survive.....LOL
Well there you have it, why we want to go to China. Now I just need to make it happen ASAP. Once I decide I want to do something I just want to do it NOW.
I will add some more of the great things about moving to China later, I can hear a kiddy fight in the hall outside the study...