A day at the beach

On Friday the China Daily ran an article in their Travel section that described Jinshan City beach and we decided to venture out on Saturday and see if it lived up to its billing.  (You can find the article via the China Daily link).  We arrived after a one and a half hour drive south of Shanghai.  The beach is on the Yellow Sea and is protected by a barrier wall so there are not a lot of waves which was sort of a bummer.  We paid our entry fee and headed towards the beach. There was a sailing center which rented everything from wind surfers to 36 foot sloops as well as jet skis and wakeboarding rides.  There was a small "amusement" park which wasn't really operational, however we did see one ride going around.  I think even the Chinese are aware of their own safety record when it comes to mechanized carnival rides (not good!) 

The beach itself was about 30 meters (do the math) wide and made up of gravel-pit type sand which had been described as "golden sand imported from China's tropical paradise of Hainan Island" uh...yeah, right.  There were easily 5,000+ people on the beach this day.  We made our way through the umbrella jungle and found an open table and chairs that we rented for 150 kwai (about $20).  It would not be an exaggeration to say that we were the ONLY western family at the beach.  We did see one or two young western couples but certainly no families.  Needless to say we became part of the tourist attraction as everyone would stare, whisper, giggle and point.  It really is a strange feeling to be a minority and it gives me a sense of what immigrants in the US must feel like when they first arrive.  Being that so few westerners attend this site, English was not a job requirement for the various vendors.  However, we were able to make it by on my very crude knowlege of Chinese.  We were even able to order assorted barbecued meat kebabs for lunch - chicken, lamb and pork.  They were delicious.  The water was lukewarm and not as refreshing as one would like it.  The outside temp was 38 degrees C (again, do the math.) and the water was probably 35 C.  We spent about 4 hours in total at Jinshan and had a very good time overall but I must say it was not the most relaxing time just with so many people in such a confined space.  We settled in at home very tired and watched some TV - Discovery channel and Nat Geo before falling asleep.  All in all, it was a good day.

New beginnings

Thursday marked the first day of school for the boys at Concordia.  When at the end of the day, I asked them what they liked most about their new school, they both said "Lunch!"  I should have known better. Anyway, I have been quite impressed so far with the level of communication and all of the organized activities that occur for the entire family outside of regular school hours.  I am looking forward to getting to know some of the other families and begin to make some connections. 

While the boys were in school, Cynthia and Mason spent time in JinQiao (our new neighborhood) doing some exploring.  They were hosted by the original relocation counselor, Birgit Imkamp, who took Cynthia and I around back in April.  She and Cynthia have hit it off and I think they will be good friends.

Mason is looking to buy an electric scooter to get around the area.  They go for about $350 new at Carrefour (think Super Target).  Every chance he gets he stops in to look them over and is counting the days until we move into our eventual home.  Our air shipment has not yet arrived and when it does (we think this Saturday) we have been told there is a back log of 7 days in customs.  The timing may just work out so that we only have to move those goods once - into our new apartment. 

I am sitting in the Qingdao airport right now waiting on my delayed flight to Shanghai.  Hope you are all doing well.  Drop us a line at whitebearsmiths@gmail.com if you have a minute.

School Orientation

Regan and Landon had school orientation for new students on Tuesday.  They will be attending Concordia International School of Shanghai (CISS) The school is Christian based but accepts all faiths and nationalities with the exception of Chinese nationals since it is illegal for them to attend a foreign based school regardless of the religious or secular bent.  The school mascot (team name) is the Phoenix - not sure of the symbolic significance but it sounds good anyway.  CISS has grades K - 12 and about 1000 students.  The classes are capped at 18 students.  Beginning in 7th grade (Regan's grade) they have a laptop program where each student is issued a Mac Book Pro (actually Dad buys it and Regan uses it.) Regan is on top of the world and thinks this is the greatest school ever - just wait till homework starts ;-)  The expatriate community is very diverse. The families we have met are from all over the world - so far we've met people from Canada, France, Korea, Australia, India, Africa and several families from the US including Akron, Ohio; and Minneapolis.  Overall, I think this will be a greaat experience for the whole family. 

Last night we tried a local Chinese restaurant - no English speaking and only part of the menu was translated (and not very well it turned out)  We ordered "fried spare ribs" and got what I think we got was chicken fried steak.  Fortunately, it was quite tasty and a hit with everyone.  We blindly ordered drinks from the non-translated drink menu and waited in anticipation to see what we ordered.  The boys each got a glass of watermelon juice and I got a beer (okay so I can order a beer in Chinese - a guy has to survive you know!) and Cynthia was the winner with a Coca Cola.  We also ahd two bowls of Chicken Noodle Soup -which is eaten with chopsticks by the way.  About half way through the meal the waiter brought us forks after watching us struggle.  Although I am not sure how much easier eating soup with a fork would be.  We politely declined the gesture and continued on with our chopsticks and Chinese spoon.  It was fun and we brought the leftovers home to Mason who was too tired to join us. 

Thanks to those of you who have signed up to follow our blog and we hope you enjoy reading about life of an ex-pat in China.  If you'd like more info on the school you can log onto http://www.ciss.com.cn/

The honeymoon is over

With Monday came time for Scott to head into the office and get some real work done.  Cynthia and the boys took their final exploration trip to the Shanghai Aquarium which is the largest in Asia.  Mason took about 200 pictures but only a couple with people - I guess he was a bit enamored with the fish.  I will post a couple of the good ones but promise to not inundate the site with fish, frogs, jellyfish, turtles, sharks, rays, aligators, eels, etc...The boys have orientation at school tomorrow and then their first day of school will be on Thursday.

I learned that banking in China is a bit different than in the US.  Pentair deposits a portion of my pay into a Bank of China account, however, China only allows them to deposit US dollars.  I went to make a withdrawl of cash only to find out I had insufficient funds.  I went to the bank to make a foreign currency exhange (10 minute taxi ride one way) only to be turned away because foreigners need to have their passports for any banking transaction.  Another 10 minutes back to retreive my passport and 10 more minutes back to the bank only to have to wait in line for 30 minutes before my turn.  The banking transaction in China involves many copies of paper receipts, stamps (they call them "chops") on each piece of paper, about 6 signatures and all this in only 10 minutes.  All tolled I spent my entire luch hour "learning" about the banking process.  My goal now is to beat the time it took to do this transaction!  I really wasn't too annoyed as everything that you do here in China for the first time is something of an interesting new experience and worth simply taking in and letting things flow.  (Ask me in about 6 months and I am sure my answer may be different)  For now we are just beginning to get into some routines - some new, some familiar.  Last night we all went to the gym and worked out together as a family - that is something we never did in the US.  We would all work out but not at the same time.  It was quite enjoyable and I hope it is something we will continue.

Ahhhh...Sunday.

Nice to sleep-in today! The boys swam and played video games. I read a book and Cynthia did laundry.  Okay so not so much rest for Cynthia - but hey someone has to figure out the washer/dryer combo!  By late afternoon we were all hungry and so Cynthia and I headed out in a taxi to City Market for some dinner groceries.  Now the fact that City Market grocery is co-located at the Ritz-Carlton should have been my first clue that this might not be your run-of-the-mill discount grocer.  Au contrere mon frere!  This was like a Byerly's/Kowalski's on steroids.  In fact, it was more like a Western Foods boutique!  They had all the famous brands we know and love at home like Cheerios ($10/box), Cheezits ($8/box), Pepperidge Farms ($6/bag but it was by 2 get one free!)  Log Cabin Syrup ($9/small bottle) do you get the picture?  We bought some vegetables, 2 roasted chickens, some strawberry preserves - and yes we did buy the maple syrup.  I think this store preys on ex-patriates' homesickness as the store was quite busy and most of the shopper's were drooling.  We got home and made a great meal that we shared on our expansive dining room table as we watched a thunderstorm roll across the skyscraper filled horizon.  It was a good ending to a good day.