I meant to publish this post a couple weeks ago already, but I got swept away by the Chinese wave. So, sorry for the delay and here it is. ☺

Farewell at the Office
Friday, July 18, 2014, was my last day in the office. It was the official date of my 1-year anniversary in the blogosphere, and also the Nelson Mandela Day. I’m a true believer of these little signs of life. I packed my bagsss, went for farewell drinks with colleagues and took the bus to the next party. There, three young Chinese girls were besides me, speaking in Chinese to each other. I smiled. I also smiled at the thought of me being able to understand them (hopefully soon). A couple days before, I had read an article about the Top 10 of the most difficult languages, and guest what? Yes, not a big surprise: Chinese was the great winner, at the top of this ”very scientific” ranking.

For those of you who know me and/or follow my Facebook page Adaobi Savannah, a few hints were shared over the last couple months. My next professional adventure includes Chinese characters. Lots of Chinese characters. Yep! I am back on the student life wagon. Kinda. As my full-time new job, I am now studying Chinese. Intensively. I’m very excited for this new challenge.

Before this new chapter, I was hoping to escapade to Haiti again for my summer vacation, but I must confess I was a little bit worried of the mosquito. The villain mosquito. The one I even can’t/don’t want to pronounce the name. Tropical mosquitoes have a thing for me. And my previous travels to Africa prove it right. I am a Malaria survivor. (Yes, I still have lots of African adventures to share with you.)

So, here I am, on the dock at the family cottage. Listening to the water hitting the rocks. Relaxing. Taking some days off. Thinking. Lots of thinking. I guest this is what we call vacation. #cottagelife

I was gonna try to disconnect for a few days. But the birds surrounding the cottage make it sound like technology was all over the place. One was singing as if I was receiving a text message, the other one as if the phone was ringing. I guess I met the real Twitter bird, right?

Happy Birthday Adaobi Savannah! 1 year already!
Just a quick note on the 1-year of Adaobi Savannah. This is actually my first post in English on the travel blog. Even if I often tweet, instagram and publish posts on Facebook in la langue de Shakespeare. I guess the reason behind this is the fact that I was living my Haitian travels mostly in French, where as in Africa, it was mostly in English. And so it will be in China. But followers were warned from day 1 in my first post – Even my daily life is not happening in just one language.

So. July 2013. I was finally launching my blog to share my passion for writing and traveling with you. Specially my African and Haitian adventures. I had this dream of writing for sooo many years but was scared to do it. Don’t even ask why. Since I first went to Africa 8 years ago, I had this little voice inside my head and heart telling me, urging me, to write.

By creating Adaobi Savannah to share my Coups de coeur of travel, music, food, books, and much more, I didn’t know what to expect. Being addicted to social media, I wanted to further connect with the virtual community sharing same interests with me.

I am really pleased with the virtual warm welcome that Adaobi Savannah has received since its beginning last summer. Blogging is definitely a rich experience and I can’t wait to continue to Year 2, who would be without any doubt as exciting.

Zoom on Adaobi Savannah
Just a couple days after my return from my first trip to Haiti (August 2013), and having published only a few posts about my Haitian adventures, Adaobi Savannah was already attractive to Zoom sur Haiti, a website promoting tourism in Haiti and offering a wide range of packages and services to people wishing to discover la Perle des Antilles.

It was obvious that we were sharing the same vision for Haiti. Being a Fanatik Ayiti, I was very pleased to embark on this collaborative journey, which has been fruitful for almost a year now. It was so fun to blog with Zoom sur Haiti and share my passion for Haiti daily with the large community of ZOOMEUSES and ZOOMEURS over the last year, including some #2fillesauKanaval adventures.

Next Stop
Writing, sharing my traveler’s chronicles and Coups de cœur, and connecting with the virtual community highly contribute to my daily routine and reboosting my creativity.

In the coming years leading to my move to China for work, I will also add some #expatlife content (articles, posts, links, etc.) to the blog. I hope you guys will have fun reading this. Actually, I already started with some #chinoiseries! 😉

Thank you so much to each and every one of you following my adventures through Adaobi Savannah, whether via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest or directly on the blog!

Looking forward to continuing our exchanges and staying in touch! ☺

To come: more of Haiti of course, Africa, and China! 😉 Stay tuned!