It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas… but I’m not writing masses of greeting cards at the moment. I think it is just me that is feeling Christmassy here in Shanghai, but it is helped along by random stores and street music playing Christmas carols – yes, in June.
Jinyang Road, behind our apartment, is a developing commercial area for expats, and to contribute to the ambience there is mostly always some music being played, and frequently this includes instrumental versions of movie and TV theme songs or Christmas carols – when we first arrived here it surprised us, but we just thought that getting organised for Christmas happened early (August) – as it turned out we were wrong, but that’s a whole different story.
But my current Christmas feeling really comes from the Christmas and school year down under. For as long as I can remember, the heralding of warmer weather and lengthening days was one of the indicators that the holiday season was about to kick off. When I was at school, the end of spring meant that we started winding down the academics and spending more time gearing up for the end of year performances, usually with a Christmas theme. When I was at university, the longer days coincided with the end of exams, and the start of the summer drinking sessions outside, and the planning of beachy getaways, usually to someone’s holiday house. When I was at work, the warmer weather meant it was time for catching up with friends, old and new, for “a drink before Christmas”. It always seemed so important to catch up one last time before the start of the new year.
Here in Shanghai, the warmer (read hot, stinky and humid) weather has brought on chats about the upcoming ‘laowai taitai’ (foreign wife) exodus. As a result, the social calendar has filled up as everyone gets ready to say good bye for summer. I have had a traditional Chinese foot massage with a friend who had a baby a week after Jamie, a ladies’ spa day (pedicures, massage and lunch) for the mums from playgroup, we have had dinners with friends, ‘last’ play dates for the kids and constant discussion about who is leaving when, and who’ll be on the same flight, or the next flight, and will we run into you at Pudong airport as we prepare to distribute ourselves across the globe. Prices have even gone up at the Fake Market, as the taitais stock up on gifts for people back home!!
I am glad that my time away is just over 2 weeks away from Mike. A lot of my taitai friends are leaving their husbands here to work through the summer and will be away from them for 6 or more weeks. Oh, the life and holidays of a school teacher! It is a lot for the mums to be sole parent away from home for that length of time, even though most will have their own parents to assist. I think it must be hard to be away from the routine, especially on your own.
I am leaving for Australia on Wednesday, with the kids, we come back for 5 days and then fly to the UK for a month. I am feeling quite nervous about the prospect of flying all the way to Brisbane, with a plane change in Sydney on my own with two, one infant and one tearaway toddler. I think it will be a very long 12 hours. But the light at the end of the tunnel is that I can’t wait for a trip to Coles and Priceline. I can’t wait to go into a shop and be able to ‘browse’. I can’t wait to feel confident crossing the road. I can’t wait to have no language difficulties. I can’t wait to get my feet in the sand, real sand, not builders sand in a sand pit. I can’t wait to see my Grandma and introduce baby James. I can’t wait for Ellie and Jamie to see their grandparents again. I can’t wait to be back in Australia!
Have a great summer everyone!!
Because we are leaving Shanghai to have Christmas in Melbourne in about 3 weeks, I decided that we needed to get our Christmas decorations up early, so we could enjoy a bit of festivity in our own home! So last weekend, yes mid-November, the decorations went up in our house! It's lovely to have our wreath on the front door and the stockings hung. I have added Santa and snowman cushions to our lounge, much to the kids delight. 
