Friday, January 27, 2012

What a week we've had!!  Ed has been off work for Chinese New Year, so we tried to take advantage of this time to explore a bit of Shanghai.  Sunday, we went to the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium.  They must have seen us coming, because within 5 minutes we were proud owners of a season pass.  It's a good thing the aquarium is great, so I will actually want to go back and not feel guilted into going!  The kids really enjoyed themselves and were amazed at some of the fish we saw.

Sunday night was New Years Eve, so we went to our neighbors (fellow Spartans) for a little gathering.    They have two daughters, Isabelle (8) and Brooklyn (4).  Another neighbor also joined us with three daughters.  (Drew was a bit out numbered)  We hung out waiting for the 'real' firework show to begin.  AND did it ever!  At about 11:45pm, the sky lit up like I've never seen before.  We ran to their rooftop  deck and were amazed that you could see fireworks in EVERY direction you looked.  There is no way to describe it.  AND, it's continued all week.  I've learned that you do NOT have to wait until dark to shoot off fireworks.  We hear them 24 hours a day.  Amazingly, the kids can sleep right through them.

Here is a link to a short video of the fireworks...

http://youtu.be/OaL2fsgXPFw

Monday we ventured out to a local water town called Qibao Ancient Town.  They say it has a history of over a thousand years.  Unfortunately we didn't see much of it.  There were tons of people there lighting incense and praying to the Buddha statues.  Drew's comment "Why are all these people bowing to the fat guy?"  This led to a great discussion on how God can use us to share our faith.
Our visit was cut short due to the very unique smell as we walked through the streets.  We aren't sure what the smell was, but my gag reflex was working overtime!  We were happy to get back to the car without any incidence!  Maybe we'll try another water town in the future.

Tuesday we tried to go to a museum, but it was closed for the holiday.  So we ended up at our favorite store...Ikea!  We spent more money in the food department than the actual store.  I can honesty say I have never been more excited to find hot dog buns!  I guess I need to add Ikea to my list of frequent grocery stops.

Wednesday we went to the Yu Yuan Garden and Bazaar.  We made it through to several of the shops, but not to the actual gardens.  The crowds were unbearable.  We were being shoved in every direction.  I now know what it's like to shop at Walmart on Black Friday!  I guess we'll wait until after the new year holiday to visit again.  It was neat to see the bazaar area all decorated for 'The Year of the Dragon'.  As we took pictures of the decorations, the Chinese people took pictures of us.  Talk about bazaar!!

After the garden attempt, we went to the Shanghai Exhibition Hall.  This was a really cool.  We learned a ton about the history of Shanghai and its people.  The highlight was a scale model of the city.  The kids had fun trying to find our house.  We weren't much help since all of the street names were written in Chinese...so we guessed.

Thursday was an 'Only in China' kind of day.  We went to the Shanghai Wild Animal Park.  And boy, was it WILD!  Who knew for a few RMB you could actually ride the animals.  It started out quite tame with the girls and Ed riding a camel.

Then we found a spot where they let you hold a tiger cub.  Seriously!?!  We didn't even have to sign a  waiver.  

THEN, we stumble on the elephants.  Yes, you can ride an elephant at the zoo.  I can now check that off my bucket list, even though I didn't know it was on the list.  The only thing running through my head was how at any moment we could fall to our death if this elephant decides to stand up on his hind legs. Obviously, he stayed on all fours!!

 
Hannah was the only one of us thinking rationally and chose to forgo the elephant ride for a much shorter llama.

After all of our rides, we headed to the buses for a tour in the 'wild' area where the animals run free.  It was pretty cool to see the animals come right up to the buses.  This looks more like a man in a costume than an actual bear.

Even after all of the excitement at the park, the only thing Drew could talk about on the ride home was how the Detroit Tigers signed Prince Fielder.  Some things never change!!

Friday, January 20, 2012

Here is a picture of the kids dressed for school.  Drew's class sang a song in the assembly, but he of course, doesn't know what it means.  It sounded good though!!!

I forgot to write about my Metro experience.  It was quite interesting.  It is very much like Costco, but oh so different at the same time.  They sell the normal stuff like clothes, luggage, cleaning products and food.  BUT, I can't remember the last time I saw pig feet and snouts in the meat department of Costco.  And it smelled like there were pig parts laying around.  Overall, it's a great place to shop.  I now know which areas to stay clear of.  I'm hoping someday to feel adventurous enough to try some of the 'local' delicacies, but not in the near future!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Today is the day my life got exponentially easier.  My Ayi started today!!!  For those of you who don't know, an Ayi is someone you hire to help take care of the home.  She cleans, does laundry, cooks and babysits when needed.  Basically, I have an Alice from the Brady Bunch (except she doesn't live here).  I was a bit apprehensive of having one at first.  The thought of someone in our house with me during the day kind of creeped me out.  As I learned, everyone here has one, so why not?  I could use the help!  So, Ayi Li started today.  I have to admit, I spent all yesterday cleaning in fear of her wanting to quit after seeing our disaster. (We are still living out of bins since our furniture won't be here for another month.)   She stayed all day and even said she'd be back tomorrow!!!   Praise God!!!  It will take some time to get over the guilty feelings I had.  I was sitting on the couch feeding Nick and reading my kindle while she was scrubbing toilets and carrying laundry up and down two flights of stairs.  I might not have felt so guilty if I weren't reading The Help!  I might have to reconsider my book choice until I'm more comfortable with her being here.  In the end, she was AWESOME!  She made a very yummy dinner, and even cleaned up the mess.  I now understand why everyone has an Ayi. 

Drew started playing basketball.  He's really enjoying himself, and starting to get the hang of walking and dribbling at the same time.  Baseball is still his sport of choice, and has started a countdown until the season begins in March.  Grace begins gymnastics after school in a couple weeks.  She's never done it before, but is very excited.  Our neighborhood club has a singing/dancing/creative activity class for Hannah.  She's going to try it out after the Chinese New Year.  All of the kids participated in a children's cooking class at our clubhouse.  This time they made donuts.  The kids had a blast.  They had chef's jackets and hats for them to wear.  Plus they each came home with four donuts that they decorated and filled.  Hannah was the only one who shared them with me. 

This weekend begins the Chinese New Year celebrations.  The kids have a half day tomorrow. Instead of their uniforms, they get to dress in traditional Chinese attire.  We'll post pictures tomorrow.  They also have all of next week off.  I heard it gets a bit crazy here with fireworks every night...for 2 weeks!!!  Most people take advantage of this time to go on vacation.  We are staying here with all the other expats who moved here too late to book any trips!  At least we'll have time to finish unpacking.

Some pictures from the first day of school for the kids in China:

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

So much has happened in the last week.  We moved into our house on Saturday, Dec. 31st.  The rental furniture arrived, and we started to feel at home.  Most of the stuff is great, except the beds.   Several people warned us that the mattresses were terrible and to bring our own.  They were NOT kidding!  It feels like a sheet of plywood covered with a bed sheet.  Adding several layers of blankets under the sheet hasn't seemed to help much.  Thus, we are counting down the weeks until our 'real' beds arrive!  Apparently our sea shipment hasn't left the US yet, so we have a lot of counting to do.

Our neighborhood is awesome.  Everyone is SO nice and willing to help in any way.  There are several fellow Spartans here, and a few wolverines too.  Not much rivalry here.  If you're a westerner, you're instantly great friends.  If you're an American, you're family!  We met an American at lunch the other day sitting at the booth next to us.  She took my email and has already contacted me.  I even ran into her at one of the local grocery stores.  It truly is like living in a bubble. 

There are a TON of kids in our neighborhood, and on our street.  The kids have already had play dates with several more planned.  One of our neighbors invited us to church with them.  It was great!  The pastor is from Ohio, and gave a great sermon on prayer.  The children's program is wonderful.  The kids all loved it!  Hannah's class had oreos, so there won't be an issue of getting her to go back.  Our neighbors even host a small group every other Friday, with the kids gathering in the basement to play.  It's just like our small group back home!  We feel very blessed to find a great church and small group so quickly.  Definitely an answer to prayer!!

The kids started school on the 4th.  They absolutely LOVE it!  They go to the British International School of Shanghai (BISS).  The uniforms are great!  It's cut the morning complaint session in half.  Even Drew likes wearing his 'fancy' new dress pants and shoes. Ford is the major sponsor of the school, so all of the buses are made by Ford.  This makes Ed very happy!   I was able to ride it with them on their first day.  These are not typical buses.  The seats recline and all have seat belts.  They are definitely riding in style! 

Drews favorite subject is recess, which they have 3 times each day.  He plays soccer each time with his new best friend, Andrew, and other classmates.  As part of the PE program, they have swimming.  Drew started yesterday and said it was the best day at school in his entire life!  Obviously he is easy to please!  Grace loves everything about school.  She has already made a ton of friends and said the hardest thing about school is deciding which friend to sit next to at lunch!  I received an email from her Mandarin teacher stating that even though she was starting out a semester behind her classmates, she has almost caught up after just 4 days!  We're very glad she is doing well, because she won't find much help from us!!  She has her first field trip tomorrow to explore the surrounding area, and another one to a museum next week.  She is very excited! 

Hannah is very happy to have a semester off and explore the city with me.  Each day we go to a different store and see what they have to offer.  No matter where we go, Hannah finds the candy!  She has yet to find one she doesn't like.  There is a mommy and me group in our neighborhood on Fridays and one at BISS on Thursdays.  We are going to check both of them out this week. 

Nick is doing well.  He's still a bit off on his time schedule.  He likes to wake up at 5am, but I don't mind.  My back is just about done with the mattress by then anyway.  He is a BIG hit with all of the Chinese.  I can't go anywhere without people stopping to say hi.  He loves flashing his baby blues and smiling at anyone who looks his way.  He's turned into quite the charmer.  He loves eating his baby food.  So much so that he screams when it's gone.  I've had to increase his food to 4 jars a day.  He would love more, but I have a limited supply.  I guess I'll be stocking up again when we come back this summer.

I'm very excited about today.  My friend is taking me to a store called The Metro, which is like a Costco.  I've been having Costco withdrawal, so I'm hoping this will fill the void.  Buying bulk has never been so exciting.  I'll let you all know what I find!