My Birthday!

My birthday this year started a little early. The boys wanted to help celebrate by taking me out to dinner the night before. A friend had purchased a cake for me, so we brought it to the restaurant with us...the boys were happy. Ryan was thrilled he was partaking of "Mommy's party." When we arrived home, there was one of the most beautiful bouquets of flowers sitting in one of my vases, on our kitchen table. Who put it there? Allen swears it wasn't him...so who could have done it?


It turns out our ayi had left them for me after we left the house for my b-day dinner. They are SO beautiful and I'm so touched by her gift. It was really sweet and I made sure to [try and] tell her so. Another surprise came the morning of my birthday. Our driver presented me with a bottle of wine. I also thought that was very sweet and thoughtful for him to do. I don't even know how he knew it was my b-day.


The boys all woke me up with sweet cards. Both of the kids had drawn cards for me and Brandon had written a sweet note. Ahhhhh... A perfect morning for my b-day! Dad ended up taking the kids to school for me as I waited patiently for his return. He took the day off to surprise me all day long! Wow! How sweet is that!? :-) Upon his return, he presented me with 29 roses...a symbol of everlasting love for the chinese. Aaaawwww....



First, he took me to a place I had, quite literally, forgotten about...the Shanghai Geological Museum. It was FANTASTIC!! After arriving in Shanghai, I had wanted to check it out for several months. But, for a couple of different reasons, I kind of forgot about it's existence. Allen was SO thoughtful in remembering about it and taking me there for my b-day! The true gift, however, was the fact that my husband actually seemed interested the whole time. Wow...what a guy! ;-) The museum really was great. Being a little farther out of the city, I had initially thought it might be a shack with some rocks in it. However, as with many museums here in Shanghai, it turned out to be a stunning display...this one of rock specimens, geology and paleontology. It was FABULOUS and SO wonderful for me to see!




Allen then took me out for a healthy lunch, which is always nice to have here in Shanghai. And then we proceeded to our 5-star hotel. After checking in, Allen sent me off to the hotel's LUXURIANT spa for a 90-minute Balinese massage. It felt SOOOO great! When I was done, he treated me to a wonderful all-you-can-eat seafood buffet at a nearby hotel. YUMMM-MY!

Upon returning to our own hotel, a b-day cake was delivered to our room! YUM-MY! Both of us relaxed over a drink in the lounge and called it a night after that! It really was a fantastic day and I'm SO appreciative to Allen for providing me with such a wonderful b-day!

What about the kids, you ask?? Both kids were in school all day. Allen made all the arrangements for the day. The ayi and driver picked up the boys from school, took them home and got them fed. A good girlfriend of mine volunteered to take the boys for the night. How wonderful is that!? The boys ask me about 10 times a day to go over to this person's house, so you can imagine how excited they were when they discovered they were having a "sleep over." They were THRILLED! And we found out the next day that they had a great time!

SO, I had a wonderful and relaxing birthday...thanks to my loving hubby! A girl can't ask for more...now can she?! :-)

Strange week

This is a week filled with activities! A close friend of mine, who is Chinese, is celebrating her birthday two days before I celebrate mine. In addition...I was invited to go to a jewelry party with another friend, I'm organizing a good-bye lunch for someone else and on behalf of my friend and myself, I'm trying to organize a ladies night out to celebrate our birthdays with mutual friends.

Back home, this kind of activity filled week would be a piece of cake. However, when dealing with international women, you never know what will happen...which can be frustrating.

To top it all off, I have been feeling very introspective lately...and scared for reasons I'm not willing to disclose at the moment. So, all in all, this is turning out to be a very weird and strange week...emotionally.

I was thrilled to be invited to the jewelry party, since I haven't seen a "product" party since arriving here and wasn't sure if they even existed or were possible. So, with a light heart, I attended this party on the arm of a girlfriend. It turns out the entire group of women at this house, including the hostess, are British...with the exception of two New Zealanders and one Australian (my friend). Normally, this wouldn't have been an issue. However, this particular group were SO unfriendly and very clickish! I'm pretty good at socializing and I actually had to work HARD throughout the evening to even be included in their "group" discussions...and that was only after they were drinking glasses of wine all night. Even my girlfrind found companionship with the New Zealanders in the room, in which I officially felt left out after that. They talked about joining musical instrument clubs together (instruments apparently specific to that region of the world). So, I was left to look at the same jewelry over and over again just for something to do. Hell, I even booked a party of my own just for something else to do! It was pathetic and I wanted to leave about 20 minutes after arriving. Like I said, I actually made an gargantuan effort to socialize, ie, asking people questions, giving my input whenever possible...to little or no effect. It was a very frustrating evening and it reminded me of all the "crap" I hate about clickish women back home. PAL-EASE! What's worse, is that these women's children go to BISS, the school Brandon will be attending next year. I sure hope I find friendlier women than this group next year...but one never knows in an International community.

I have been putting in an effort to organize at least three different events this week...a spa day for my friend's b-day, a good-bye lunch and the big b-day ladies night out. All three events are turning out to be almost more trouble than it was worth to organize. When dealing with different cultures, there are some "allowances" you have to expect. But even knowing that, it doesn't mean it's any less frustrating when things don't go as smoothly as you know they would back home. I'm a planner...everyone who knows me, knows that. So, organizing events are ususally no trouble at all...it's what I do. Well, it's just not the same over here and I'm trying to decide how often I want to keep trying to do it. I don't have an answer to that...yet.

My friend who is celebrating her b-day, is Chinese. She, normally, doesn't get to do anything fun on her b-day...so I decided to take her out...expat style. I had planned to do things that are meant to "pamper". Having planned a spa day of sorts, there were a few activities that required appointments. My chinese friend didn't seem to understand this as she was "running late" from the get go. If I had known she had certain obligations before meeting me that day, I would have considered it when making the appointments. I wish there wasn't such a failure to communicate with just about, anyone chinese. All day, I had no idea if she liked the activities - or not. And the frustrating thing about it, is she would never tell me she would have rather done something else or eaten somewhere else...even though THIS friend I always think I can count on to "not be so Chinese." Hmmm...guess not.

I have been working with the school in organizing a good-bye lunch for a fellow parent from school. She has been extremely helpful in her volunteer efforts as a Class Parent. I'm the Class Parent Coordinator. So, I had approached the principal and asked if the school was willing to give all the Class Parents some sort of token gift for their efforts. The school responded enthusiastically and asked me to coordinate what to give them and where to find it. So, I did. I had found an appropriate gift and the school said they would take over the ordering and purchasing of it. Great! However, I found out today that their purchaser was just now in the process of having some words embroidered onto the shirts of the panda bears. Ok, normally that would be fine...but I was very specific that I, personally, wanted to give this Class Parent her gift, especially since I had organized everything weeks ago and made sure I communicated that I wanted at least ONE finished for this person for her good-bye lunch. The school had said "no problem." I find out that the principal wants to hand it to her and had purposefully delayed the process to do it on a day convenient for her. A day she knew I wouldn't be able to be at school, which happens to the very last day this Class Parent will be at school before she moves. Grrr. Talk about taking credit! I could hardly believe it! What really galls me about this is that I have worked very hard to coordinate these parents all year long, having wanted to give up the position many times since it was very demanding on my time. But, I didn't and I was totally railroaded by the principal! SO frustrating! Grrr.

I had organized a "mutual" b-day party and invited some friends for dinner and drinks on the weekend. Between the both of us, there were at least twenty people on the invite list. If nobody was able to come, that would have been fine. But, what I find extremely frustrating is the chinese efforts to "save face." What this means, is that they either can't come or don't want to, but instead of saying so, they insinuate they'll be able to make it and the closer the day of the event, one-by-one, they drop out for one reason or another. And the reason(s) are always "sudden." Like...my husband left this morning out of town and I have no idea when he'll be back. Really?? No idea?? Or...we have been [suddenly] invited to a wedding this weekend and my husband thinks we should go. Wow...really? A two day advance notice on a wedding?? It's SO frustrating! I actually don't even need or want a reason they don't want to or can't make it...just as long as they could tell me this upfront. This whole "process" is really ridiculous. And this "process" was confirmed by a chinese friend, which she happens to find frustrating as well. So, it's not my imagination! Initally, I told the restaurant to reserve a table for a certain number...and I think that number will be cut by more than half by the time of the event. Cultural differences...can be SO frustrating!

So...it's been a really weird week for me. Even after people have settled into this expat thing here in China, they still admit to having "bad China days." I can relate. Although, this is turning out to be a frustrating China week.

Tidbits

If you ever wanted to find where all the Americans are in Shanghai, visit a baseball field. I’ve never seen such a concentration of Americans as I have on Brandon’s T-ball field. The league that organizes it separates the sports by day, so Saturdays are reserved for baseball of all ages. Sundays, they play soccer. All the American dads are either coaching or standing nearby cheering their children on, usually by giving them advice. One morning, I was standing near two [rare] international dads, watching their sons. They were talking loudly about how Americans are crazy about this sport and other sports as well…and how they seemed to think we, as Americans, put our children in sports from the age of two…”or something crazy like that.” Haha I wanted to correct them, “It’s actually three years old.” But, I didn’t, especially considering we had Brandon in soccer at three and his dad was the lead coach! Haha Yeah, so I guess it’s an American thing…we love our sports. What we found interesting, however, is how difficult it was to find anything Baseball related here in Shanghai. They have one guy on the side of the fields selling big catching gloves, and packaged sets of baseball items…which he charges a phenomenally high price. We didn’t want to pay such a high price for something that we know we can get back home so cheaply. However, when we started to shop around in Shanghai, we finally understood why that guy can get away with selling his stuff for that price (which he imports from Taiwan or something). There are NO gloves or other baseball accessories, anywhere. Soccer? Sure, no problem. Roller skates? Yeah, of course. Ping pong sets…yep! But, nooooo baseball stuff. Just about when we were ready to give up, there was a small section of one floor of one mall, where we found a couple of gloves in the back corner. One medium size and one bigger size…and not much cheaper than the guy on the field. Ugh! So, we got the medium glove, thinking maybe Brandon can grow into it. We got the last one in that size. You can bet we’ll be stocking up on these kinds of things when we go back home. Just one more thing…

I had lunch the other day with one of my girlfriends who is Chinese but had lived in the States for quite a few years. We had a lovely lunch, talking about many things. She had visited Shanghai in 2000. She talked about many differences between then and now in this great big city. Having seen the “before”, she is one who can truly appreciate the “now” of Shanghai. According to her, the traffic was almost unbearable back then…scared her to death! She mentioned that while there are many more cars on the road today, the city officials have worked really hard to govern the traffic more appropriately. Also, she said that the city is generally MUCH cleaner than it had been back in 2000. She has also noticed many more expat friendly venues throughout the city, such as, restaurants, grocery stores, retail shops, etc. She also mentioned that customer service used to be beyond horrible, since everyone is "assigned" a job from the government. So, there used to not be many incentives for people to work harder. However, the government has given many of the companies more control of their employees, such as giving them incentives, pay raises and even dissolution of contracts. She says it's MUCH better now. Hmmm. Also, she said that any person from a minority group (like a smaller tribe or village) in China, can have more than one child. It's just the "majority" groups who cannot. I have also learned that if someone from the majority group wants to have more than one child, they have to pay the government something like 200,000 RMB...which is close to $30,000 USD, for each additional child. Wow, that's a lot of money! It's no wonder why many of the chinese people seek other countries to settle down or go to them to have more babies. Hmmm. Seeing Shanghai through her eyes over the course of our lunch, I was also able to appreciate what we DO have here in Shanghai compared to many other parts of this big country and it was nice to get her perspective and understand a little better, the efforts made to make Shanghai more inhabitable, especially for expats.

The Chinese can’t dance. I’m sorry, but they can’t. I’m talking a good percentage of them, of course, not all of them. I’m not the top authority on such things, mind you, but it borders on hilarious to watch Chinese try and dance. Just as hilarious as they think we are when we try and use chopsticks or speak chinese. Hooters is a restaurant we frequent semi-often, as it has American food and good music. Hooters girls are taught choreographed moves to certain songs, but to watch them in their stilted attempts to dance these steps, is almost painful to watch! It was confirmed, however, when I went out one night with a girlfriend. We started with dinner and ended up at another nearby restaurant that had some rockin’ American tunes. We stayed for awhile and danced our hearts out. While on the dance floor, it was incredible how stiff Chinese people are when they dance. Rhythm just isn’t their groove, I guess. It all worked out though, since my friend and I were happy to show many of them just how it’s supposed to be done…or, well, close enough, at least. We had several people come up and thank us as they left the venue. Good times…


We ended up going to the Shanghai Flowerport again because the kids have been begging us to take them again. And since the tulips are only around through April, we figured we should go once more. I have been trying to figure out just what the appeal is for my kids at the Flowerport. Granted, the first time we went, we had a sensational time…but even after going a second time, the boys want to go back. They have never even asked to go to Disneyland this many times. Obviously there is a lot to see and do for adults, since the flowers create such a beautiful background, but why do our kids love it so much? It occurred to me this place is like a natural amusement park, providing all of their favorite things…running, jumping, games, playing, bouncing, sand building, challenges, boats, bridges and labyrinths. A place like Disneyland provides a TON of visual stimulus for kids, which draws them back over and over again. Where THIS place provides physical stimulus for them, as well as several lessons on biology , chemistry and physics. I imagine this would be a teacher’s paradise as well. Everything about the park, is natural, including all the rocks, etc. Everything they touch, see, and smell are from natural sources. For example, the kids wanted to play with their cars on some rock outcroppings. They kept falling over themselves over and over again, since their shoes seemed to “stick” to the rock. We were sitting on an outcropping of weathered granite. Because of it’s weathered condition, the texture of the rock was very rough, thus creating the bottoms of their shoes to “stick”. It was a good, quick and impromptu lesson about rock mechanics…on the spot. The WHOLE park is full of those impromptu lessons! My kids, on both occasions, keep asking questions about the natural world around them. Personally, I LOVE it! Allen and I were talking about how great this “amusement” park is and I wished they had parks like this in the States. Allen, however, pointed out a very sensible reason why they don’t. Liability. In the States, kids wouldn’t be able to jump off the rocks or scramble over an obstacle course made for adults, or walk behind a waterfall…not without major guard rails and signs and ropes and “da kine” to make it all safe. And a park like that, wouldn’t be the same. It would lose it’s natural appeal. This park has these things only on the most appropriate attractions, but most everything else is left to the parents to “supervise” their children, which creates those impromptu lessons about…gravity, especially. Other examples of lessons include, a biology lesson on algae and other plant life along the water’s edge… from a boat, or why we got stuck when our boat hit a patch of thick reeds and both the motor and the rudder didn’t seem to work because they got clogged, or how two opposing forces of gravity work when bumper cars going in opposite directions hit each other (one backing up while the other is going forward), or how to navigate a labyrinth using the sight of the sun in the sky or the sound of people’s voices in the direction you want to go…ETC! The series of obstacle courses alone provide TONS of lessons on physics as well. It really should be no wonder why the boys love this place so much. I feel so lucky we found something like this here in China…because as Allen pointed out, we will never see it in the States.




I have discovered that not all expats’ trips back home are as wonderful as mine had been back in January. Don’t get me wrong, SEVERAL of them are just as wonderful from the many stories I have heard. So, it came as somewhat of a shock that not everyone likes their home trips very much. I recently ran into a friend of mine from Europe and she mentioned that the weather was really crappy, their lodging was painful and the entire trip was hardly worth it. This person has been here less time than we have, so I was really surprised. She feels like this is home for her now and she is now considering that she might want to extend their time either in Shanghai or somewhere else just as challenging in the future. Hmmm. I find that interesting…can’t relate myself…but it’s interesting to me. For many of the expats I have spoken to personally, their first home trip provided them with not only perspective, but was also often a balm to their soul. Now, THAT is something I can understand, since my own home trip experience was so phenomenal for me. According to a friend of mine over here, I have seemed a lot calmer since returning from the States. I would agree…things are much better.

So, I’ve provided a few of the “tidbits” of our lives these days. With better weather, we seem to be getting busier with activities. I’ll keep you all updated…!

HAPPY EASTER!!!!

To all of our friends and family back home...HAPPY EASTER!! We just spent a wonderful and lively Easter day with a few of our friends, chinese and expat alike! I especially miss our big, beautiful home back in the States around the Holidays. I love to have friends and family over for big gatherings where we can all eat and chat! I have hesitated to entertain over here in China due to several reasons...

One: It can very difficult to find Holiday themed accouterments around town. And if you are told where to look, it's a good possibility that the vendor or store runs out of the item you're looking for or never carried it in the first place. Food is an even harder battle to fight around the Holidays. All the western items we associate with certain Holidays can be very difficult to find over here. You really need to know where to look. And like I said, it's not always a guarantee you'll find it. If you DO find something you want, you can BET you'll be paying top dollar for it.

TWO: Our house is a little smaller than our home in the States...and it echoes due to the hollow flooring. While we have plenty of toys for the kids to play with, the volume increases exponentially with each child. So, if the weather is poor and we are all confined to indoor activities...well, it could be potentially deafening. It's often times unclear just how many people to invite over to to this constriction.

THREE: Mixing of cultures can be...tricky. You want everyone to have a good time, so of course, you have to think about the "right" mix of people. There will be those who can speak Chinese and those who can't...and it's important to make sure that everyone will have someone to talk to during the event, preferably a few people they can mingle with during the party would be nice.

Since it took awhile for us to adjust, it was clearly a bad idea to try and host an event. However, since I had several people who wanted somewhere to go for an Easter egg hunt, and we have a nice, big backyard, it seemed like a good idea to test the party waters, or so to speak.

There were a few things I had to "roll with". Easter is almost non-existent here in China. It doesn't generally promote a large cash flow for the vendors, like Christmas, and the fact that there aren't too many Christians here...Easter is not celebrated with great fervor like other Holidays. I didn't find any plastic eggs. The french grocery store had a few chocolate eggs that were hollow, in their imported section. They had a few larger chocolate items that they wanted a small fortune for, like white chocolate bunnies in little wooden cages, chocolate roosters and chocolate bells (not sure what's up with that). Egg coloring kits were nowhere to be found and the import grocery store had a few chocolate items and lollipops. Those cheap pastel colored Easter baskets that can normally be found in the $.99 store back home were non existent in all of Shanghai...well, at least in the 20 or so stores I looked.

I was SO lucky that some family members back home sent the kids Easter baskets. They even included an egg coloring kit, which gave the kids more decorating variety! THANK YOU SO MUCH for sending those Easter care packages! Easter has always been a big deal in our family and I was happy to be able to produce a comparable Easter to one they would get back home, especially since they are at the perfect ages to enjoy it!

Even if I find food that I'm familiar with for the Holiday, I often question the quality and it's origin. However, with that being said, I did happen to [accidentally] stumble upon an imported half boneless, cooked ham in the Costco equivalent warehouse store. Yah! What luck! And there was only one of them! All I had to do was heat it up in the oven for 1-2 hours and it was ready to go! It turned out to be super easy! And considering that ham could be served as the main meat for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter...or ANY large gathering, I feel much more confidant to host future parties. After the ham was heated, I sliced it up and served it with some rolls. I had brought over Costco's Rasberry Chipolte sauce and it went VERY well with the ham as a side condiment. Whew! However, WHITE eggs are really hard to find over here. They are all brown or even black-ish. But, no white. Frustrating!



So, what were some of my solutions to the Easter theme quest? I purchased the chocolate eggs I had found and added it to the bunches of LIGHT brown eggs we can find just about anywhere over here. Even the light brown eggs turned out pretty good. I added a little more vinegar to the color dye, so that the color would stick a little better. It worked! We had tons of eggs to hide by the time we were done decorating! I made the event a potluck, so I wasn't the only one responsible for providing both western and chinese food for our guests. That way, our chinese guests felt like they could stuff their bellies as well. I put out lots of nuts and a couple of appetizers to supplement the ham and other food. We had bowls of chips and crackers and a plate of fruit as well. We had lots of drinks for both the kids and adults. I had asked the parents who wanted to join us to bring eggs, boiled and ready to color as well as a basket for each of their children. I decorated the house with plenty of fresh flowers!



I found a couple of industrial looking baskets at a store, in addition to them having the baskets that relatives sent. We had two major crafts for the kids. First, the kids colored the eggs they had brought. The boys and I had colored several of them a day in advance, so the kids could either color the eggs in the dye or use markers and stickers to place on the already dried colored eggs. They produced a lot of artwork! ;-) Second, we decorated our baskets with ribbons and fresh cut flowers. They were soooo pretty!



All the children who were at the party, were at an age to believe in the Easter Bunny. So, we got them all riled up about the Easter Bunny's arrival and pulled the shades while the eggs were being hid along his bunny trail. The kids LOVED it! Then, they were set free to find the eggs as well as a couple of super big chocolate chickens! What fun! All their little eyes were lit up as they raced all over our backyard to find eggs! And they all did sooo good! Afterwards, the kids settled down to dip into their Easter baskets right away. The rest of the day was spent playing outside. It was a beautiful spring day and they all had lots and lots of spring time fun! :-)

My Chinese friends wanted me to explain our Easter Holiday tradition(s). Like Christmas, I explained that Easter could be celebrated a couple of different ways (or both), both religiously and to celebrate the coming of spring (ie, Easter Bunny and his farm friends). They compared it to their own spring festival in January/February. I agreed. I also made sure to mention that Easter is my own family's tradition to celebrate spring. I explained that my own family usually got together and ate, had Easter egg hunts, etc. We generally spent lots of time outdoors in the spring time air. We decorated with spring colors and collected spring flowers. They liked this explanation a lot because I think they could understand it. The celebration of spring seems to be universal. ;-)

Also, I have had to introduce my chinese friends to the idea of potluck. It has taken them a couple of times, coming over to our house, to understand this concept. Now, they really like it! Culturally, the chinese women will spend tons and tons of time in the kitchen, preparing dish after dish of food for the family. Generally, a chinese party will have everyone sitting down to a meal together. While the potluck idea offers more versatility. My chinese friend pointed out that westerners tend to move around a lot more over the meal, especially potluck style. She observes that it's more casual, where the chinese way is a bit more formal. She says she likes the idea of not having to stay in the kitchen so much. She likes 'potluck' style. Everyone can have a variety of food, with much less work! I agree!

As a parting gift, I had separated out several flowers from the bunches of flowers I decorated the house with, tied them up with several pieces of ribbon I had bought for the basket craft and gave them to the women in our group. I also had found cheap clay eggs that contained a live plant inside and had funny faces drawn on the outside. The kids will fun cracking open the tops of those and watching the plant grow. And then I packaged up the leftover ham and sent a large portion home for the families to eat for days. The parents' arms were stuffed full of goodies as they said their goodbyes! ;-) And the kids were more than ready for an early bedtime. haha

All in all, it was a fantastic Easter, spent with good friends and lots of fun! I love Easter. I love spring. HAPPY SPRING Everyone!!

Tulip Flower Festival

After a busy Holiday weekend, it was a perfect day to wander over to the Shanghai Flowerport, where they are having their annual Tulip Flower Festival. The place was quiet, serene, beautiful and peaceful largely due to the fact that everyone was back to work today (Monday was the observed Holiday). The sun was shining and it was actually warm weather, so he hit the road to the Festival.

O.M.G! What a gorgeous display of beautiful flowers! The park was a HUGE place, extending at least a few miles wide. I had no idea a place like this existed anywhere near Shanghai. Well, in fact, it was about an hour's drive outside of Shanghai. I initially thought we would be there just a few hours...but we ended up staying a full 8 hours before we had seen most of the park...yeah, MOST of it.







The boys kept going and going and going. Every time I even thought to suggest we head back to the main gate, they requested to "explore some more!" The park had SO much to see! I couldn't believe it! Every nook and cranny we explored ended up having something fabulous to either do or see! It truly was incredible...like we had been handed a gift...of fun. A Shanghai Mama had recommended this place and I decided impromptu this morning that I would take the boys since the weather was so nice. Such a good decision!

Well, the entire park had a "Holland" theme due to the immense about of tulips carpeting the ground, in all colors, types and designs. But, the park also had large bodies of water with paddle boats, fountains, waterfalls, rocks, statues, a mini kid fair, exhibition buildings, windmills, greenhouses, bridges and a mini adult eco challenge obstacle course! Wow, right!?


After we arrived and started walking through the park, it only took about 20 minutes before we were targeted...for pictures. Yes, we even had a small following through a good portion of the park. The kids got to a point where they wanted to choose the most isolated or narrow path, just to get away from the adults taking pictures of them. People wanted pictures of the kids, of me, of me with the kids, and of course, of THEM and the kids. It's CRAZY! And they all speak to us like we were some animal in a cage, cooing and sweet talking us...like they are trying to get us to do tricks. Every time I would stop for a photo op, OFF the beaten path...I would turn around and there would be a line of chinese people, smiling and pointing at us. The kids could have done anything and they would have enjoyed watching them do it. We tried to find a nice, pretty and QUIET place to sit down and have a picnic. As soon as we sat down on the grass, one of the park employees came and stood over us, the ENTIRE time...just watching us eat. She even pulled my backpack open to see the food inside. She wanted to know what we chose to eat. Isn't that crazy?! That's not to mention all the other people who walked OFF the path to watch us as they were strolling past. It's disconcerting at the VERY least. Most of the time, it's downright annoying and obnoxious. We had one photographer team with professional looking cameras, stalk our every move for about an hour, taking pictures of all of us continuously! I can only imagine where those pictures will turn up...?

Well, anyway, despite the annoying passersby, we had an excellent day. The kids just got used to the people after a while (what else were they going to do?) and we ended up having so much fun! Brandon was a real sport about mommy wanting him to pose for HER pictures. The boys even had a few tries taking pictures of both mommy and the flowers. They are naturals behind the camera! ;-) And they had a lot of fun trying! We did end up having a nice picnic among the tulips! The boys got to play games, drive bumper cars, bounce in a bounce house, go on a merry-go-round and watch mommy win them prizes with darts! The boys got to play in the sand on a real sand beach! I'm telling you...this park was amazing! Not to mention all the rocks they were able to climb and jump off and the bridges they got to run across! They also had races in the lanes of the tulips and climbed up a rock hill! Whew!



We also went to see the Barbie and Lego exhibition in a large looking ship! We saw the very first Barbie, sold in 1959, and saw everything in between then and now! We saw Lego art and Lego statues and even got to play with Legos at the end of our tour! You can imagine how much fun the boys had doing that! We all got to eat ice cream for our afternoon snack and proceeded to whole new section of the park.






The corner of the park had a very long bridge to walk across and there were also rock paths to jump along on the ground. Then we followed Brandon (our leader) through a Chinese symbol labyrinth. He did so good! I was very proud of him! He located the edge of the maze and kept a steady eye on the outside, through the tall bushes, pacing us through twists and turns and eventually leading us out the other side! He has a good sense of direction! On the other side of the maze, was an adult obstacle course. How fun! Brandon amazed me further when he completed several of the obstacles across the water canal! He did so good! They were exercises of balance, agility and strength. I know I probably wouldn't have been able to do many of them. ;-)






The park had trains that people rode on to get through the park. They also had private trams available for a cost. At one point in our day, I hailed down one of them at the front gate to ask for directions. There were three girls who indicated that we could hitch a ride with them to get to where we needed to go (the boys worked their charm on them). These private trams are pretty expensive, so I was surprised they let us on without charging me. I have no doubt that these three very young ladies were chinese models of some kind. They were all decked out to the hilt with brand name labels, from shoes to purses, all their shoes had six-inch heels, they all wore short shorts with flesh nylon over their legs, their shirts were silks and satins, and their hair and make up was immaculate. But, what really sold me on them being models of some sort were that they posed for pictures among the flowers, trees and statues with an almost pornographic flair. You should have seen the way they posed...together! You can imagine the attention they got...especially from my open mouthed boys! hahaha It was funny. Something even funnier was that the girls wanted pictures with the boys and after a whole day of shying away from people, the boys were only too happy to pose with these girls! I can't tell you how many times all of the young ladies looked at themselves in one mirror or another on our short trip through the park. haha Again...too funny...




It was a long and exhausting, but super fun day! The boys amazed me with how much energy they had! They were like little energizer bunnies...and, in fact, lasted 10 times longer than my camera batteries today...all six sets of batteries! I hadn't brought a stroller with me, so I was extremely lucky that Ryan didn't fizzle out the entire day. He kept up with his big brother, no problem...and that was without a nap! However, not more than 10 minutes on the ride home, both boys were out like lights! Mommy too almost! haha



For mommy, the day had been filled with "zen" moments, even with the kids running around. The air was so fragrant! I can't remember the last time my eyes had been so visually stimulated! The water had been serene...and most of the trails we took had been quiet. I got to teach the boys many things about nature (which I love) and give them lessons in physics (jumping, gravity, balance, etc). It truly was a perfect day with the kids. And so unexpected!



Before we left, I purchased some cut flowers for the house. And when we got home, we noticed 7 caterpillars on our old, dying flowers. So, we put them carefully into a container, where we can watch them grow and eventually turn into butterflies. How cool is that!? The boys were so excited about it! Spring is definitely in the air! :-)

And, again, for my friends and family who want to see more pictures, please visit my Facebook page!

Qing Ming (ching-ming) "Clear Brightness"

Today (Saturday) is a National Holiday here in China. It's Tomb Sweeping Day or Qing Ming. This is when the chinese visit the graves of their ancestors to care for the grave site and offer their ancestors food. Often times, entire families will visit the grave site and spend time together, honoring the dead.

In recent years, 'tomb sweeping' has been celebrated up to three weeks before the actual day, to avoid traffic congestion. I was told by one of my chinese friends that many times, when a person dies in a city where they were not born, they will request to be transported back to their original home town after they die. So, the families will often travel to many different places to honor their deceased loved ones...creating a large amount of traffic in a short amount of time.

For more information about this Holiday in China, visit: http://www.c-c-c.org/chineseculture/festival/qingming/qingming.html


When I had gone to Wu Yuan recently, almost all the women in the little towns were making a special Tomb Sweeping treat, called Qing Ming Guo. It's like a dumpling, but at this time of year, the outside is made with a green vegetable. The inside can be filled either a savory meat and onion, or a sesame filling or even a sweet red bean. I did try it and while I liked the insides, the vegetable shell tasted just a little bitter to me.

I, personally, love the idea of this Holiday. I think we, in our busy lives, tend to forget (or at least don't make time) to honor our deceased loved ones. Part of who we are, is who came before us. Also...those who sacrificed for us, fought for us, lived to better our own lives sometimes and those who may have loved us.

Why don't we take more time to honor those people...visit their grave sites once in awhile...show respect for their contribution(s) to our own lives? Well...usually because our lives are "too busy," with higher priorities, right? Hey, I'm included in that group!

But, after living here and observing another culture's set of priorities...I may change mine. I like the idea of honoring the dead and paying respect to those who lived, laughed, loved and lost before me.

I hope that my life adds enough contribution and value to another human being's life, that they might want to remember me, and the life I lived, by doing the same.

Around-the-world-in-80 clicks

A shanghai mama who also blogs, alerted our online group to another mom blogger (in the US) who is doing an experiment. The founder for this idea is a mom who wants to know if other moms around the world could have a "virtual" playdate...in 80 clicks. The premise, in her own words, is:

David and I - in partnership with Global Voices Online - are launching an experiment to see if we get a global conversation going between moms who blog. We want to see if it's possible to travel the world and make friends, virtually, solely on the Vernian voyage power of the momosphere. We want to see if we can pull together a global playdate in 80 clicks.

Here's how it's going to work: this post that you're reading? Is the departure lounge. I'm going to link to a couple of other mom bloggers here in Canada, and to a couple of mom bloggers from other countries around the world, and they'll write their posts, sharing 5 things that they love (or maybe what they don't so much love - this playground doesn't force conformity) about being a mom, and then they'll tag a few more bloggers from their own country and from other countries, and so on. And you're more than welcome to join: just write a post of your own (5 things that you love about being a mom) and find someone to link to and tag - someone from your own country, if you like, but definitely someone from another country (Google is a good resource if you don't know any; google any country name and 'mom' in their blog search function) (be sure to let them know that you've tagged them!) - and link back here and leave a comment and we'll add you to the 'itinerary,' which David will compile and post and update as the tour proceeds.

Are you in? I hope you're in. This is going to be fun. No passport necessary.

Since I'm a blogger now...and since I'm a mom...I decided I was up for the challenge! Also, since this is about our feelings about motherhood, in the effort to "connect" with moms around the world, I've decided to post 3 reasons why I love being a mom and 2 reasons why it can be a challenge.

I just want to preface my input with the fact that, right now, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now about motherhood. This feeling, as all moms know, ebbs and flows...so if you feel, by my answers below, that I appear "jaded"...well, I am at the moment! haha

Why I love being a mom...

1) Being a scientist, myself, I absolutely LOVE watching my kids discover the wonders of the world. Whether it's watching a caterpillar become a butterfly, watching the busy activities of ants, observing the building of a skyscraper, learning about the forces of nature, building a sand castle, or flying a kite...I LOVE seeing the world open up to them and seeing, behind their eyes, the world's infinite possibilities. It's magical.

2) I love the excuse to make cookies, cupcakes, Easter baskets, etc. I love sharing the Holiday spirit with 2 souls who love it as much as I do. I also love those little tokens of love, like spontaneous hugs or cuddles, a whisper of "I love you Mom", or the fact that my child says he loves me 64-10-300-8-1000-1 times around the world (that's a LOT of love). hee hee

3) I love the "celebration" of all those growing moments, like when they smile for the first time or take their first steps or build their first city out of Lego's or color within the lines, or play their first sports game, or read their first book, etc.

What I don't always love about being a mom...

1) My sister once validated these feelings for me in the parking lot at South Coast Plaza, by mentioning she had a friend who felt similarly as I do about this next comment. So I don't feel TOO bad about sharing them now since I know that there is at LEAST one other mom in the world who shares these feelings with me.

I'm not really fond of the repetition...it's monotonous and often times tedious. And I don't really like the obligation I feel to be the sole entertainer for my kids. It took so long to exit my own childhood so that I could pursue my life's dreams. I now sometimes feel like I'm stuck in some kind of twisted re-run. SOMETIMES, I said! Sheesh!

2) I don't like "worrying" about my kids all the time. I feel that today's world is so scary ...and in addition to our own personal life choices recently, I sometimes feel so overwhelmed about the whole cerebral process of raising kids.

Well, there you go...like it or not. I know motherhood can offer anyone a myriad of emotions, most of the time. I definitely have some wonderful moments, days, weeks, and months, where it all seems great. And then, I have other moments, days, weeks and months where I feel more challenged in the arena of motherhood. My kids may be 2 and 5, but sometimes they can knock me out! haha

Now I'm supposed to "tag" other bloggers around the world. The only other mom blogger I know has restricted access to her blog, so I guess I will name these: The founder of this idea at Her Bad Mother at badladies.blogspot.com...Mortimer's Mom at mortimersmom.blogs.com...and also check out Mamas Worldwide, a blog page all about worldwide mamas at mamasworldwide.com

For anyone who participates in this, I hope you have fun!

Finally picked Ryan's school

So, we decided that since Ryan has done so well at his current, bi-lingual school, we will be keeping him at Fortune Kindergarten next year. If things don't work out, we can always switch him to the local Chinese school that is closer to us. However, Fortune has a long waiting list, and we felt we should try keeping him there first.

He has had a full year of school now and will be more than ready to attend school, full time, next year. He enjoys his current school, has responded well to the environment and bi-lingual program and he has his friends in his current class that will be moving up with him to the next level. The school likes to keep all the kids together, if they can. Ryan has many friends...Heidi, Bennie, Melanie, Emily, etc. All of which, he requests to see outside of school as well. So, we felt it was best to try and keep him in an environment he already feels safe and has proven to be doing well...for as long as possible.

The school may be adding a bus route to our area. And if not, then we always have our car and driver to act as a bus as well. The kids (as well as us) trust our driver very much and by the time Ryan starts school again after the summer, he will be big enough to go to school via "our" bus, if necessary.

Again, if the situation changes to where he isn't being stimulated enough or isn't happy, we can always change schools at a later date. So, we finally feel we have placed both boys in schools that will continue to facilitate their growth here in China, for the upcoming school year.

And...just so you know...this is what happens when all your little school friends are girls...





Seriously, he actually CHOSE these styles very specifically...halter top and all. hahaha He is definitely hanging around his little girl friends too often! For those of you who don't know Ryan...he's definitely a boy boy...so this was hilarious to us! He was even insistent that I take the pictures before he scampered off to play...and POSED for them! Too funny!!