It's nearly Christmas...

It's nearly Christmas, which means that since we got back from our holidays in Vietnam and Hong Kong in August, we have all been back to school... Jie Jie in Year 1, coming along in leaps and bounds with her maths, writing and reading, and becoming quite knowledgeable on a range of subjects from dinosaurs to space.  Didi is in Nursery - first year of full time school, struggled initially with the discipline and sitting still, but he is a 3 year old boy.  Mike in a role across the whole school, including the Kindergarten part of the school, which means he has seen the kids at school a bit more.  And me doing supply from Reception to Year 6, averaging about 2 days a week.

It's been a busy term, with gymnastics, tennis lessons, play dates, various performances, UN Week, birthday parties, dinners out, carol concerts, some Shanghai sightseeing and decorating for Christmas.  Our house is looking good, and we have a beautiful tree.

But we have now finished Term 1, and are once again on holidays... we are not travelling for the rest of this year, as the family are coming to stay with us for Christmas.  My sister and her new husband arrive from London next Sunday morning, and my parents arrive that evening.  We have been particularly lucky this time, as another teacher at the school who lives in the same compound as us has returned to the UK for Christmas and has given us the run of her apartment, which means that we are having visitors, but they are sleeping next door, which means that Didi is not put out of his bed for Santa to find him easily!!

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!!

And the return to normality

It's amazing to think that around 8 weeks ago school was being let out for the summer, and our friends were heading off on their summer adventures. We hung around for 2 weeks before heading off and watched Jinqiao empty. We said have fun, stay safe and good bye to our friends, and that we would see them again soon, or sometime somewhere if moving on was in their summer plans.

We came home again last Friday, glad to be back in our own beds and finally unpack those suitcases.  Our trip was amazing, Hanoi, HoiAn, Ho Chi Minh City and Hong Kong in 30 days.

Jinqiao is filling up again, and we are seeing our friends and acquaintances arrive back, the first trip to the supermarket, the first visit back to the playground, the first lunch at the local hang out, each of these resulting in running into a friend of somebody - Didi, 3 years old, sees his friends and runs around in circles with them, Jie Jie, 5 years old, sees her friends and just gets on with business as if she saw them yesterday, Mike sees his colleagues and grunts that the holidays went too fast and I see other mums and remark on how the kids have grown, or how tanned everyone is.

Now we have one week before school starts, what to do in that time?  Text messages are fast and furious usually starting with 'Are you back yet? How was your summer?' before launching into requests for playdates or coffee.  Speaking of playdates... we're off!

Summer Exodus

It's funny here in Shanghai - everyone leaves as soon as school is out!  The American schools finish in very early June, so the annual exodus starts then, and many people with young children leave before school finishes, to beat airfare rises and to maximise the time at home.

It's sad too, because we say goodbye to so many friends at this time of year who are moving on, so the last few weeks have been filled with farewell parties for grown ups and for the kids.  The grown up parties usually consist of cocktails and dinner while the kids parties are usually at indoor play centres or swimming pools with chocolate cupcakes!  It's hard nonetheless to say goodbye.

This year, we decided to stick around for nearly 2 weeks after school finished before we embark on our summer adventures, and it has been so quiet.  The streets are deserted, a result of many expats being away already and also the heat.  We have been swimming and hanging out with some remaining friends, and generally relaxing; we have really begun to wind down after the frenetic finish to the school year.  Now to get on with the packing!!

Photo a Day - June

Way back in April I came across Chantelle's Photo Challenge at Fat Mum Slim and decided to join in... back in April I did it in my own order, basically because I didn't follow the instructions, and started mid-way through the month... In May I did it properly, and now I've just finished June...


I'm quite proud of my efforts really, and here are the photos I took each day in June, just using my iPhone, and mostly just editing and publishing on Instagram, which then auto publishes to Facebook.  I edited one using Stitched Lite, which makes photo collages.  The "favourite photo ever" challenge was taken on our regular camera, and then dropped into my Photo Stream in order to upload it via my iPhone.

Now I'm ready for the July Challenge!  Join in too!!

A day in my world

Recently I heard about this movement or project called “A Day in the World”, the premise being you upload photos taken on May 15 to the website, and they will create a story of what happened around the world that day.  

Granted, I didn’t hear about this until May 16, so it was fortunate for me that I happened to have a day of interesting and varied sightseeing in Shanghai with Didi and my parents, and subsequently a tonne of photos to sift through… now, don’t worry they only let you upload ten photos… this link is to my profile, so if you'd like to see what I posted... click this one...

Follow the instructions on the home page if you'd ilke to join in too!!

Photo Challenge

So while I was reading other people's blogs and generally roaming the internet, I came across this sweet little challenge run by Chantelle at Fat Mum Slim - basically to take a photo a day based on a list of inspirations for the month... I am a bit late coming to the party, and I'm not sure if each suggestion is supposed to tie in with the actual day of the month... but hey, I'm taking the inspiration list and posting a photo for each one as I find it...

1.  Flower (#16): This is the ceiling inside the Moon Pagoda in Shan Hu, Guilin.

2. Someone who makes me happy (#4): These are my kids.

 3. Stairs (#12): These stairs are climbing up Solitary Beauty Peak in the centre of the Princes City in Guilin.

4. My Reflection (#1): You can see my camera anyway in the glass, and Didi is moving too fast for my camera to focus on him!

5. Sunset (#15): Over the Karst Peaks in Yangshuo, from a great pizza restaurant called Luna.

6. Colour (#2): This is in the Dragon Cave, Yangshuo.

7. Vegetable (#23): Making chilli and garlic paste in Guilin

8. Younger me (#9): Well... passing of time anyway, and what I was, and what I will be... my daughter, me and my mum! On holidays in Guilin.

9. Last thing bought (#22): We bought a painting from this gallery of the Guilin landscape.

10. Orange (#19): We went rafting in Yangshuo and all the life vests that nobody was wearing were orange.

Next month, I'll try and work harder to do it all through Instagram, which I do love... I've also already posted one through Instagram for #18 - hair.  So that's 11 photos for April so far... and today is the 11th!

Bubble fun

Yesterday was our first warm weekend day after what seems to have been the eternal winter and grey sky. The days are gradually lengthening. The sun shined all day. The wind was not cold. The sky was almost blue. We enjoyed being outside without crazy amounts of clothing.

And in the late afternoon, before dinner and baths the kids and I went downstairs and blew bubbles just outside our front door.  

Didi poured nearly as much bubble mix out as that which he turned into bubbles, see the angle of his bottle... it's a bit hard to coordinate for a 3 year old!

 Double bubble trouble                            Through the bubble

 

 This is fun!!

 Can we catch them again?

As our neighbours walked by they commented on how lovely the evening was and what a joyous way to spend our first night of the start of summer.  I hope for many more long evenings in the next few months, where we can enjoy the kids being kids.

Supermarkets and reward coupons

A trip to the supermarket is an exhausting and draining experience.  Not only is the supermarket enormous, but in addition to the regular grocery items you need to walk through a superstore selling widescreen TVs, whitegoods, mobile phones, cameras, books and magazines, kitchen ware, crockery, bedding, clothes, shoes, furniture, luggage and so on.  Once in the grocery section, it is difficult sometimes to work out what is where, as frequently the supermarket staff reorganise the entire layout, so just as you have got used to going to a specific spot for say, sugar, they up and move them to somewhere completely different.  So visiting the supermarket can also be a bit of a treasure hunt.

This is in the meat room, which has a definite aroma...
Yes, this is a pile of skinned chickens.
Yes, their heads and feet are still attached.
No, there are no tongs to pick them up, inspect and look for a juicy one before putting them into a bag.
Yes, it is a good idea to always have hand sanitiser in your bag.
Yes, it is a very good idea to wash your fruit and veg very well - why? well because people who have handled these chickens could very well have then handled your apples!

This is part of the live fish market in the supermarket.
You can buy frogs, eels, fish, mussels, turtles, prawns and other stuff alive, by the jin, or half kilo.  I have seen fish still flapping around when they are scanned at the register.
You can also buy fillets and frozen items like prawns or squid.
It is often a bit like a trip to the aquarium and the kids like to look at the huge tanks of fish, and the crabs, frogs and turtles.

This is the check out area... it looks much like any supermarket anywhere else, but the queues are more aggressive and impatient than in other countries, and there is not yet a self serve line.  

Often when you buy your groceries you are given a little coupon which you can redeem by showing your receipt and handing over the coupon, and sometimes paying a nominal amount, for a number of little giveaways, but frequently the queues to get these items are just as insane as those inside the store, and on days that I've already dragged one or both kids around the supermarket I would rather just get home.  At the bottom of the escalator, near this stand, there are often people asking for your coupons and receipts.  If the line is too long I don't claim my free / reduced item, but I also can't hand over my receipt as we need them to claim as a living expense, much to the chagrin of the people asking.

This week, there was no queue and I'd already shook my head to say I wasn't giving away my coupon and receipt, and for the price of 1RMB (15c) I got this gorgeous new non-stick pan with thermospot!!  And the best news is that I was in the market for this as my old non-stick pan is decidedly non-non-stick.  And at first they gave me a yellow one, but I  exchanged it for this lovely red one!!

Sunshine finally...

Despite spending 6 weeks in summery Australia over Christmas, we have come back and I have had a serious case of the SADS (Seasonal Affected Disorder) due to lack of blue sky and sunshine, and excessive amounts of rain and freezing temperatures since Chinese New Year.

Finally this week the sun shone warm through my coat.  I was able to dispense with my cozy winter hat and gloves (actually I lost them, which is fine for now, but will be a pain next winter!) and just wear a scarf.

I have taken the bunny rugs out of the buggy because although the kids are still bundled up in winter jackets, they no longer need the extra insulation.  Finally the playgrounds are starting to dry up, and we can start getting some exercise after school.

Despite complaining now of the cold, I am looking forward to what is hopefully a nice long crisp spring before I start whinging about the summer humidity and heat.