Testing blogging by email

Something random happened yesterday when I was writing about the Easter holiday - Blogger seems to have removed the ability to post photos... this is not so bad in this blog, but in my Tiger photo blog will be a BIG problem.

Then I found another function about blogging by email - so today I'm just testing it out... and adding a photo to boot so a double test... the old systems analyst in me...

If it works this will be cool as well, because we won't have to use our VPN to bypass the GFW of China!!

This photo is from the wet market we visited yesterday - these are the naked chickens (and ducks), and that opened one in the middle is to show you how fresh they are...

Easter Holiday

I love holidays! I love having all my family home all the time, and not having to rush. That's what this week has been all about. At the moment, our children are not the most reliable sleepers, and more nights than not we have 4 in the bed, so we (the big people) are often somewhat sleep deprived, and rushing to be ready for school is a struggle. So this week we have enjoyed catching up on sleep and rest and just hanging out together.

School finished on Good Friday, and Easter Monday corresponded this year with a Chinese holiday called Tomb Sweeping Day, which is when people tend to the family graves. I felt it was kind of an appropriate holiday to line up with Easter.

We celebrated Easter with a pot luck brunch at a friend's house, and of course included an Easter Egg Hunt. It was great, the variety of food everyone brought was awesome, and I was so full when we eventually went home. The kids were so excited in the search for eggs, and my friend was so organised with green and pink baskets for everyone. Funny enough Ellie had worn a green and pink dress, and looked so gorgeous!!

I had an assignment due on Friday, so a lot of our week was spent refining my essay, and Mike keeping the children away from me. And then when I needed a break getting out of the house and doing something entertaining for the kids. I think Mike is getting a bit of a refresher in the social theory of teaching, he has mentioned that he has found a number of my readings fascinating, and he gave me some good ideas for my essay.

We've done a bit of bikeriding - Jamie is a speed demon, and Ellie has taken to nodding off every time she's on the back of my bike for more than 5 mins. Makes riding so much trickier as her weight just flops to one side of the bike!

After nearly 2 years in Shanghai, we found our first wet market today. I was so excited. We didn't buy much, just some mulberries and grapes. But it was fascinating with beautiful fruit and veg, oodles of noodles, naked chickens, fish, meat, tofu, Chinese delicatessen stuff, rice, and loads more. I will start shopping there from now on - so much more appealing than Carrefour and the cling wrapped produce!

School goes back again this coming Monday, so just 5 days off, but because we didn't go away and just stayed at home it feels like it has been quite a good break. Especially because our ayi was here the whole time, and so everyday we had a clean house and dinner ready!!

St Patrick's Week

At school this term, Ellie's class are studying shapes and colours. Each week has been designated a particular shape and a corresponding colour, and parents have been asked to provide the Friday snack in that shape and colour... what was I thinking - I signed up for Green Shamrocks, and we're not even Irish!!! It was an interesting week as when Ellie first learned about Shamrocks on the Monday she came home and said: Shamrocks are green. They ring people brack. What...?

By Tuesday, she knew that tomorrow was Shamrock Day! In fact, she was talking to Grandma and said "Do you know what tomorrow is?" And Grandma, expecting her to say Daddy's birthday was most surprised when she informed her it was Shamrock Day and everyone needed to wear green or they would get pinched. What...?

On St Patrick's Day proper, she dressed in a cute green dress. And was very excited to help Daddy celebrate his birthday, but was more excited that she wasn't going to get pinched. Although she was quite keen to help him open his presents. I have to tell you, Mike got three things for his birthday from us - a new camera, a camera case and a laptop backpack and Ellie determined who would give him what - the camera itself was from her, the backpack from Jamie, and I got to give him the camera case! She’s not stupid - she knew that the camera was the best present to be giving! After school that day, Ellie could now tell us that Shamrocks were made of 3 blobs and a stick. And that they make people cluck. What...?

We went out for dinner to celebrate Mike’s birthday, and we were lucky enough to have a private fireworks display directly outside the restaurant. Because here in China anyone can set off fireworks - they are often quite small intimate displays. There is a function on our new camera... So here is a photo of the fireworks.


As Mike’s birthday is St Patrick’s Day - he traditionally likes to have a Guinness for his birthday. We were out and about the Sunday before and happened to be in a pub which had Guinness on tap... so fortunately for Mike we got his birthday Guinness in nice and early!

Having not had too much time to work out the settings etc, the next photo is of the rich chocolate birthday cake I made... but the candles are a bit flarey. I needed to go to 3 supermarkets to get an ingredient for this - each one increasing in stock of imported items! Anyway, I can now make this cake about 10 more times!!

For Friday at school I had to make our contribution to the snack... I had been working out what to make. I bought dried sliced kiwi fruit - trying to be creative. But then Mike made me a biscuit cutter out of an old formula tin... I didn’t have to be creative after all... He did!! Happy with the way they turned out, and loads for everyone. The green icing even worked a treat!!


By the way - Ellie finally worked out what Shamrocks are for... They bring people GOOD LUCK!!! And the pinching thing?? Well that’s an American tradition (according to Wikipedia) that if you didn’t wear green the leprechauns would get you...

Happy St Patrick’s Day!!!

Come on spring!!

When will this winter ever end??? It's March, and it is still cold!!! It has been forecast to be -1 degrees tomorrow and the next day... admittedly -1 is the low for each day, but I'm sure it wasn't this cold for this long last year! I thought that going back to Australia for a month was going to make winter seem really short - I was mistaken.

There are signs that it's getting warmer, like buds on the trees and some flowers blooming. And the fountains aren't freezing up anymore, but I still need to wear gloves, and mostly a hat. I've dispensed with my scarf, but somedays wish I still had it with me! We are also having a lot of rain at the moment, so it makes it hard to go out with Jamie who is learning to walk, and wants to, but all too frequently ends up suddenly sitting down.

Anyway, that's just a short rant, because my fingers are too cold to type!! Come on summer, come on spring!!

Family Bike Ride

Last Sunday, we went for a family bike ride. It sounds like an easy kind of thing, but with a 1 year old and a 3 year old actually getting out of the house is an accomplishment at times! So with helmets, jackets and layers of clothing on and tears averted after Ellie really wanted to ride her own bike, and despite having never been outside on her bike was convinced she could keep up and ride as far as she wanted, we loaded the littles into the baby seats and got outside... phew.


This was Jamie's first real trip on a bike, as although he has sat on the seat and been wheeled along (and once on a big trip in the Ergo - shh, we are responsible parents really), he proved himself to be quite the cyclist, loving the wind in his face, and especially the sound of the bell!

There's a canal not far from where we live, and we rode along it. We saw the fishermen fishing, we saw children playing, we saw other people out for rides on their bikes, we rode through some vegie patches. We rode down through the Dong Jiao Guest House gardens - this is a hotel environment for dignitaries and guests of the Government, and it is stunning. The gardens are maintained beautifully, there is a beautiful lake and with spring coming, the emerging new growth is delightful. It was interesting, or maybe what we are sadly getting used to, to see that the top 15cm is perfectly groomed, but then go any deeper and there's refuse and sodden water.


We didn't ride for very long, but we were correct in preventing Ellie from riding her own bike, because she said once "I'm feeling tired" and then boom, I felt my bike lurch to the side and Ellie had fallen asleep in the bike seat. Her dead weight on the back of the bike actually made it really tricky to keep the bike steady, so instead of continuing our cycle in the lovely crisp fresh air we headed to Face - a cocktail lounge bar in the residential section of the Dong Jiao Guest House grounds.


This turned out to be a very good choice, because it has some fantastic day beds to lounge on... So we managed to get the heavy 3 year old off the bike and into this bar and onto an elaborately decorated bed, where she slept soundly for about 45 mins while Mike and I enjoyed a cocktail each, and Jamie climbed around, and found it particularly amusing to sit on a little table in the middle of the bed. It was very funny really and quite fortuitous.

Afterwards we rode home, through a tip, which depressed Ellie to see an abandoned Winnie the Pooh, and over a bridge with the most stunning sunset. It surprises us no end that where we live in the heart of 'Expatville' is so close to abject poverty, and on our regular days we don't see it, and it only takes us on a short ride to cross over into that void.

For the record we rode less than 10km on this trip!

The Year of the Tiger!

Xinnian kuaile!!

So with the Year of the Tiger, I'm back after a 7 month absence, the GFW has prevented access to a number of websites, but we are now the proud owner of a proxy server in the UK, so we're back with access to the world again!! Hello YouTube, Facebook and Blogspot!!

Yesterday, I posted 'diary entries' for the missing time (maybe I'll go back and post some photos to match the stories later, but maybe I won't) and from today I hope to start my regular blogging again...


So let's talk about the kids' birthdays... Ellie turned 3 and and Jamie turned 1 on consecutive Tuesdays, and in the between weekend, we transformed our house into a pirate ship for a pirate party! Ellie had her heart set on a pirate ship cake (yes, from the AWW cake book) and so to match, I made a treasure island cake for Jamie. Mike constructed all the trimmings for a ship from cardboard, including a wheel and cannons! The deck looked awesome!!

Ellie was delighted to have all her friends over, while Jamie was a bit overwhelmed. Overall it was a pretty low key party, but everyone had a good time with a pirate story, musical statues and lots of delicious treats. The birthday cakes were a big hit!!



We've also been busy with the lead up to the Lunar New Year - Ellie was a donkey in the school production, and the toddler part of the show was so cute. The costumes were amazing, and I think all the kids enjoyed getting dressed up.

Last night was the first of two weeks of fireworks. Fireworks are said to scare away the evil spirits, and so are a big part of Chinese New Year festivities. We live on the 21st floor of an apartment building, so we had an excellent view. We went to bed listening to the constant snap, crackle and pop of fireworks and crackers, and seeing the room illuminate as the sparks flew. I am a tiger, and so according to Chinese tradition I am required to wear red every day of the year for good luck - I think this calls for a piece of red jewellery, but today I have tied a piece of red string around my wrist.


Waking up this morning was a pretty treat, as during the night we had a very light dusting of snow... not enough to build a snowman but enough to cover the sports pitch opposite. Looked beautiful.

Happy new year everyone - may you all be prosperous and happy in this new year of the tiger!

January 2010

Happy New Year!!

Technically we can say we've been in Australia this year as we headed back to cold Shanghai on January 1st!! What a shock to the system - 30 degree temperature drop to -4 degrees! We have had snow a number of times this year, but never enough to stick or actually build a snowman. I'm not complaining. Dry cold is not so bad, and after last year I've actually learned to dress myself properly.

It was good to get straight back into routine, as we arrived home and had the weekend to recover, and then school started again on Monday. Ellie was glad to get back to her kids, Mike not so much.

We had a pretty busy month, playgroups and play dates for Ellie and Jamie and lunches and coffee for me fills the week up quite quickly. Finally I've enrolled in Chinese lessons, for although I have managed, my vocab has been somewhat limited... I am having classes twice a week - Tuesdays and Fridays, and I've improved dramatically already. I wish I'd been able to do these classes when we arrived 18 months ago... oh well, better late than never.

The other thing that has been keeping me busy has been getting ready for the kids birthdays! Ellie has been adamant about having a Pirate Ship cake for ages... so we are having a pirate party... I am starting on the collection of goodies. Our most successful trip was to the Yu Gardens Bazaar - wow what a place to visit... I thought the fake market had everything... But we managed to get a pirate hat for Mike, and some black balloons (cannon balls) and a whole pile of other rubbish that we absolutely needed! I'm sure the pirate party will be a hit!!

December 2009

Solo flight again... me and 2 kids to Australia!! This one was an absolute breeze - a single leg, Shanghai to Sydney! And met by my very excited parents at Sydney Airport. We sat next to a Chinese Australian family who were doing the same trip, except 1 baby and 3 adults... the mum said to me that she felt a bit embarrassed that I was travelling on my own with 2, and she and her husband had thought they weren't capable of juggling their baby on their own, which was why her mother-in-law was travelling too! Why were we alone? Because flights were significantly cheaper if I left before school finished... so Mike joined us in Sydney 6 days later.

We had a terrific month staying by Coogee Beach with Mum and Dad. The break from the cold Shanghai winter was most appreciated too! Our week before Mike arrived was jam packed with activities - we went to Billy Kwong's for dinner (I must try and replicate a salt and pepper tofu dish), went out for my cousin's birthday overlooking Bondi Beach, had high tea at Bungalow 8, started Ellie on swimming lessons, and started catching up with friends.

Mike arrived and the whirlwind began - arranging Jamie's christening, visiting our apartment and attending to a number of business things. Mike also did a Final Cut Pro course for 3 days. I visited my old work, who have now moved into a flash new building - I thought it could be fun to work there (for about 2 days!).

Jamie's christening was perfect. We had it on the balcony at Coogee with about 30 friends. Super special was that my grandparents came up from Batemans Bay, to share in the ceremony. Also lovely, was friends came from the UK, Shanghai and Sydney, and also some brought new babies that we hadn't yet met!! Graham Long, the minister who married us and christened Ellie, again lead proceedings - and did a lovely and simple job. We feel so blessed to have him as part of our spiritual family.

Jamie's first Christmas was lovely with Mum and Dad. Ellie was well into understanding about being good for Santa and loved the presents under the tree and of course ripping them open!! Ellie was quite funny too, she was most adamant that Santa would be bringing her "a pushbike, a dog and a cat", and for Jamie - "something to throw on the floor".

After Christmas we headed down to Batemans Bay to go to Clarissa and Chris's wedding at Nelligen. Runnymede was stunning, and the wedding day was perfect. I particularly loved the boat cruise from Batemans Bay to Nelligen, looking out at the Australian Bush - so different to the built up river banks in China. I took hundreds of photos, so I can remember the beauty of Australia, after taking it for granted for so many years.

It was sad to leave Sydney to come home to Shanghai again. And in a month there, it was also surprising that we still didn't quite manage to catch up with everyone, or spend quite enough time just relaxing on my beach. But it was also nice to come back to where we currently hang our hat and get back into some form of routine!

November 2009

OK - I do seem cut out to be a teacher!! I’ve enjoyed my 6 weeks with Year 3 and can’t believe how fast it has gone!! I have learned so much in my time on prac, and I even think I have even taught a fair bit too!! :-)

My passage hasn’t been all smooth sailing though. After 2 weeks, my mentor from Canberra unfortunately had to return suddenly to Australia for medical treatment. My third week left me in the classroom keeping things running and helping get the supply teacher up to speed with the workings of the class. And I practically taught the whole week as I knew what was planned for each lesson. Some of my classes were observed by senior teachers, and I got some interesting feedback on my teaching!
The following week I started with a new mentor, the Year 3 coordinator, and went back to observing, and then slowly started teaching more and more.

There are so many things that go on in a 6 week period - Roman Day, a fundraising thing where everyone brought in their jiaos (Chinese equivalent of 1c), International week culminating in dress up day in national clothes and food fair, class preparation of school assembly, dance competitions and final show, and just regular lessons!

My favourite things to teach are literacy and numeracy - I like reading the kids ideas in their creative writing and seeing the penny drop when they finally get the concept in maths.

October 2009 - part 2

How random is this... It’s been part of my life since July, yet I’ve barely mentioned it... In case you missed it I’ve gone back to uni!! I am studying to be a primary school teacher - who would have thought? I am studying online, and in this first semester for me I have enrolled in 2 subjects - Learners & Learning and Teaching & Planning.

For T&P, I have to do a 6 week practical placement starting on 12th Oct. I won’t go into the heartache and angst I experienced in sorting my prac out, but needless to say, I am not going to the school 10 mins walk from home (thanks to Uni rules, also not going to Mike and Ellie’s school), but I have been offered a placement at another International School in Kangqiao (about 40 mins by bus / taxi from home).

The school is fantastic, they have given me a great Australian mentor (which is good from the perspective that she remembers what she had to do on her pracs). I am in Year 3, which although I didn’t specifically request it, is exactly where I wanted to be.
Over the 6 weeks, my responsibility will increase until I am teaching whole lessons. Initially I am mainly observing, and helping out in the classroom. I am taking a reading group already every day.

I’m enjoying it thus far, but it’s a LOT of work!!