Learning the ropes

Saturday:  Took the crew to the Shanghai Community Center in JinQiao (our eventual neighborhood) for a gathering of new ex-patriate families.  The meeting was sponsored by an organization called Community Connections whose purpose is to welcome new families and help them get acquainted with life in Shanghai.  there were about 25 couples who attended and it was a great way to network and learn about things like culture shock and how to handle it, medical care and where to receive it, and the best was a talk by a couple who had been here over 3 years.  They gave great advice on business, culture, drivers, ayis (domestic help) and a multitude of other topics.  After lunch we headed back to the market to shop - imagine that - Mason and the boys have very quickly become VERY GOOD negotiators.  For less than $30 Mason bought earbuds, language DVDs for French, DS games, and a nice pearl neckalce.  My mission was to find Vikings gear which I sucessfully negotiated and even got one jersey for $7 since the factory made an error and the jersey is blue instead of purple.  We got back to the hotel around 2:30 and decided to take a journey on the metro to the other side of town and visit the largest Carrefour in Shanghai.  (Large dept store ala Wal-Mart but nicer)  The subway required us to change trains once and took about 30 minutes.  Not nearly as crowded at this time of the day on a weekend so it was quite nice.  We shopped for a couple hours and bought some fresh vegetables and other essentials.  Cynthia had quite the experience buying a hair dryer.  She had 4 women helping her none of which spoke any English with the exception of telling us how good the Phillips brand was and that it had "ions" - apparently "ions" are good for your hair and 4 are better than 2.  Needless to say we bought the most high end "ion" rich hair dryer ($40) over my protest that the $10 one would be just as good.  The sales ladies about ran me out of the store when I mentioned that we didn't really need the "ions".  How could I be so fooolish - of course you need "ions".  I learned my lesson.  On the way home Cynthia wanted to be the "leader" so she could feel more confident with getting around on the metro.  She did a great job and we all arrived home together.  Enjoyed our last meal in the "fancy" restaurant and enjoyed a buffet that included Japanese, Indian , Chinese and Western fare.  Now that we are stocked with groceries the cooking is our responsibility as the restaurant in the hotel is expensive. 

If you are reading the blog on a regular basis I would ask that you sign up as a follower and mark yourself as "public" rather than "private" so that I can see who is following and reading the blog.  You don't need to have a picture if you don't want one.  We would just like to know who is reading out there.  Also, comments would be great as well if you so incline.  That will also let us know who is listening in.  Take care and miss you all.

It's like SHANGHAI hot!!

Okay, I didn't realize I was moving to the equator!  It was 109 degrees F today with no real sign of relief in the coming days.  Even the pool at the hotel must be 90 degrees - its like a nice warm bath.  Anyway, we ventured out once again with our Relocation guide in tow - she must have thought we were crazy - and headed to the phone store to replace one of the phones we bought the day before because it was not working.  Imagine that - you buy a knock off phone for 1/4 the price of the real thing and it doesn't work - unbelievable. ;-)  Regan and I set out before the rest of the crew with our driver, Mr. Dong, and went to Concordia (the boys new school)  Regan had to participate in placement testing for math and language.  He also got a nice preview of the school and was thoroughly impressed.  From Concordia, Mason and I then headed out to Fudan University once again to meet with the International Students Office to make sure we had all of our registration materials together.  We arrived at 11:20 and they had already left for lunch and did not return until 1:30.  We spent the two hours walking the campus, having lunch and sweating - mostly sweating.  The whole gang reunited around 2:30 at Concordia where we had to purchase uniform shirts and gym clothes for the boys. We got back to the hotel around 3:30 and hit the bathtub - I mean swimming pool. We finished the day with another traditional Chinese meal - Subway!

Settling In

Today we had a relocation service take us around Shanghai to learn about the city, and set up basic things like cell phones, banking, postal service etc.  We spent the day on the Puxi (PooShee) side of Shanghai which is West of the Huang Pu (Wong Poo) river.  Cynthia, Regan and Landon each got a new cell phone for use in China.  Mason will buy a new SIM card for his phone once it arrives in our air shipment.  We visited some really neat areas of Shanghai including the French Concession, TaiKang Lu and Yu Garden.  The French Concession is an area that was given to the French in 1849 as a settlement agreement with China.  It is dominated by French style architecture and noticeably absent are any high rise buildings.  The streets are tree-lined and there are many green spaces for relaxing or taking a stroll.  Shopping and dining venues are abundant in this area.  A definite must see for anyone visiting - hint, hint.  We dropped Mason and Regan back to the hotel to go swimming while Cynthia, Landon and I continued on for a visit to the Antique market and a short excursion to city Market to buy some groceries.  We ended the day with a tradition Chinese meal - Pizza Hut!

If you like these blogs you can receive them via e-mail so you don't have to access via the internet URL each time.  Simply click on the "Subscribe via E-mail" on the left hand side of the page and follow the directions to receive new postings automatically.  Also, I have changed some of the site settings that should allow you to comment without registering.  We would love to hear your comments. Zai Tian!!

Taking it easy today.

Well, inevitably the time had to come and I had to work all day.  Cynthia and the boys took it easy, swam in the pool and relaxed.  In the evening we set out for Shanghai Circus World to catch the 7:30 show.  On our way we stopped for dinner at McDonalds.  Landon was very happy and the rest of us - not so much!  However, I do think Regan enjoyed the chicken nuggets over the previous nights meal which included sauteed duck tongue and sea cucumber.  Regan was the only brave soul (besides me) to try both dishes and I was very proud of him although he almost lost it on the sea cucumber but in the end got it down.  The Shanghai Circus was absolutely amazing! It is similar to cirque du soleil with live musicians, singers, EXTREMELY limber acrobats and incredible feats of strength, balance and daring.  We all enjoyed that as well as the subway ride to and from the show.  Well, actually only "from" the show as going "to" the show it was rush hour for everyone else and we were packed onto the train like sardines.  There was no need to hold on as you were held up by the pressure being exerted on all the bodies surrounding you, surrounding them and so on and so on.  Did I mention it was HOT!  Even though the metro cars are air conditioned there is something that happens when you cram hundreds of people into a small space - it's called heat generation, in fact I think it is one stage prior to spontaneous combustion!  We all got home and had a great night sleep and I think I can safely say we are all adjusted to the time zone now.  Take care and thanks for all your prayers.

Birthday in China

Well, I celebrated my 46th birthday in Shanghai and must say that it was a great day.  We began with a great breakfast on the 38th floor of our apartment building looking out over crystal blue skies with large white cumulus clouds floating by.  We then travelled to my office to introduce the family to all my co-workers and pick up a box of food that I had carried on one of my previous trips.  From there we took Mason to Fudan University to get a feel for the campus.  It was bustling with students returning to campus and we stopped into the bookstore to look around and buy a few goodies for the day.  We then went to the administration building where we met 3 German girls who had just arrived to participate in a 5 week Chinese language course.  We got some good information from them and then said our goodbyes to Fudan for the day. From Fudan we went to our apartment in JinQiao so the boys could see where we will eventually be living.  After much discussion over the rooms and who got to be in which one we finally arrived at an agreement - I think.  The apartment will be ready on September 1st.  We next took a short trip to the "fake market" where the boys got their first tast of "bargaining" with the local vendors.  Landon and Regan both got wallets and sunglasses. Mason bought a DS game and set of Dr Dre earbuds for his iPod.  Cynthia got an umbrella to shade her from the unbearable sun and heat that is the norm here these days as well as a lightweight blouse. And I got an authentic #4 Brett Favre Vikings jersey - for $14!!  I also bought a couple of watches, 2 DS games for Landon, ear buds for Regan and strap-on roller wheels for both the younger boys.  I guess you can say that we helped the Shanghai economy - even if it was the underground economy.  i had a great time bargaining and the boys were quite impressed at the process.  Finally, we had dinner at a very nice Chinese restaurant with a couple of my co-workers.  They bought me a nice cake and for Cynthia a Tea Set along with a gift box of oolong tea.  We got back home about 9pm and I was asleep by 9:05!  All in all it was a very good day. 

There are alot of people in China.

Cynthia and the boys spent the early afternoon swimming and socializing at the pool while I sat on a couple of conference calls.  I finally rounded them up and we headed out for our first excursion - the subway!  We walked to the People's Square station for a short 15 minute ride on the metro. Everyone learned how to buy tickets, read the metro map and hopefully end up where you need to!  We got off at Shanghai Circus World and I bought tickets to the Wednesday show.  This is a very famous acrobatic troupe in the style of Cirque du Soleil.  Upon reaching People's Square station again we set off to see China's most famous (and most crowded) pedestrian shopping street - NanJing Lu.  The boys were overwhelmed at all the people and especially all the vendors trying to sell us everying from fake watches to strap-on roller blades.  We had dinner in a small Chinese restaurant of which our family seemed to be a source of great wonderment as we did our best to order, eat noodles with chop sticks and generally make a mess.  Landon and Regan get lots of stares and Landon is not too happy about that but I am sure he will get used to it.  From dinner, we walked to the Bund where we took the picture that is posted today.  It was a long walk but worth the view - and the breeze!  The temps have been in the 90s with about the same humidity - a bit sticky to say the least.  We decided to take a taxi home and all piled into the first one we hailed.  He looked at the address we gave him and then kicked us out - not too sure why but it was interesting nonetheless.  On the second attempt we got a cab but he said only three people.  Cynthia Mason and Landon were already in the taxi so i sent them on their way and told them Regan and I would catch the next one.  If only you could have seen the look on Cynthia's face as she looked back at me from the rear window as the taxi pulled away.  I knew it had to go well or I was going to be in BIG trouble.  Luckily for me, (and Cynthia) they arrived safely.  Whew! Dodged one there.

Haibao welcomes us!

As you can see in the photo we are all very excited to be in Shanghai (well, almost all of us).  The flight from Japan to Shanghai was uneventful with the exception of some good turbulence that everyone but me seemed to sleep through.  Our faithful driver, Mr. Dong, was right on time and our luggage was the first off the carousel so we arrived to our hotel/apartment by 10:30 pm.  We are on the 28th floor and have a spectacular view of the city - the boys say that it seems like a back drop of a movie set for spiderman.  I will try to take a photo and post it next time.  We are off to breakfast and setting out a plan for the week.

Made it to Japan

Due to a good tail wind we made it to Japan in eleven and a half hours rather than 12 or 13.  We are now waiting for our next connection to Shanghai.  Our driver in China is Mr. Dong.  He will meet us at the airport and take us to the JW Marriot at Tomorrow Square.  We should arrive by 11pm on Sunday china time or 10am Sunday Central Std Time.  So far so good and thanks for all the prayers!