Busy time

This time of year is quite busy in Shanghai.  The kids are restless with the prospect of the school year ending and getting to go back home for the summer, new friends that we seem to just have met are moving back to the states or on to their next international assignment.  There are moving sales taking place (and Cynthia is taking full advantage of the plant sales) scouting is coming to a close and flag football is underway.  Last weekend was a very full one - we had the Scouts final pack meeting and family picnic, a Cinco de Mayo family party, flag football and speaking at church about our trip to Boracay! The pace of life here in Shanghai is really accelerated - the weeks seem to fly by and the weekends are but a blink of the eye.  Our new ayi, Mei, is wonderful.  I came home the other day and she was in my room and had all my dresser drawers pulled out and was organizing my clothes.  She did this for each of the boys as well.  Now if we can just get her to know whose clothes are whose.  Looking for a shirt or pair of pants is kind of like going on a treasure hunt - they might be in anyone's room.  Oh well, it is a small price to pay for having to not wash and fold clothes.  As I mentioned above, Cynthia is stocking up on plants from fellow expats who are either repatriating or moving to the next assignment.  Our house is beginning to look like a jungle but is does add a very homey and relaxed feel.  Cynthia has done a great job decorating our house and people always comment that it is very comfortable and reminds them of home. 

I am travelling this week to Thailand for a conference being sponsored by one of our major customers.  I'm staying at the Shangri-La hotel in Bangkok. (rough duty, I know) I return on Saturday and will be whisked off to a dinner with some friends to say goodbye to one of the families in our small group who will be relocating to Paris. Sunday will have us back on the flag football field and Monday night is Landon's Spring concert then I am back on the road to Qingdao for the first week of our new APAC leader - Robert Chen.  Robert is my new boss and seems like a very good guy.  He is a Chinese national and I am the only American on the APAC leadership team.  His English is quite good so hopefully there won't be too many communication challenges. 

Landon's birthday is coming up on the 31st and we are planning a Mexican themed party and calling it "Stinko de Mayo" or all the refried beans you can eat!  We have moustaches for all the boys and Cynthia will be buying material at the fabric market to make ponchos for each of them.  There will be a big pinata, water balloons (a Smith family birthday tradition) and nerf guns.  should be quite the bash.  I will be sure to post lots of photos. 

Happy Mother's Day

To all the Mom's out there here is wishing you a very Happy Mother's Day!

Last night we hosted small group at our house.  This was the first big gathering at our house and lots of prep and planning went into what turned out to be a very nice evening.  We had 15 people over and started out with beverages and appetizers.  Cynthia made hummus and her famous roasted red pepper dip.  We had fresh cut fruit and vegetables and also made cheese filled phillo triangles but they did not turn out as we had hoped - might have been due to the fact that I was assigned that task.  Oh well. Our group has been studying the book of James via a video/DVD from Rick Warren of Saddleback church.

On Friday we had the difficult task of firing our ayi - Mrs. Jin.  She was obviously not happy and demanded more severance pay than we were willing to give.  Cynthia stood firm, got the key back and said her goodbyes.  On Saturday, our new ayi - Mei - came over to work for four hours helping us get ready for the small group.  What a difference!  I think we will be very happy with this new arrangement.

The weather here has turned hot seemingly over night - I think spring was about two days.  It is in the upper 80's today with high humidity and a forecast of more of the same the remainder of the week.  I am heading off to Qingdao (North of Shanghai) and the weather there will be about 10 degrees cooler but a forecast of rain.  Our president is coming into town along with our new VP of Marketing (a former 3M colleague of mine) and our new APAC leader.  Lots of presentations and lots of pressure.  Can't say I am actually looking forward to the week.

Tonight we will be going out to dinner with Cynthia for Mother's Day and then off to get foot massages with the whole family.  Should be a great way to end the day.

Back to the grind

As they say, "All good things must come to an end", and so has our Spring Break vacation. This will definitely be one that we will always look back on with great memories. I will be posting a web album on Google's Picasa page so that you can view all the photos from the trip.
Yesterday we interviewed a potential new ayi. Her name is Mei (pronounced May) and she has been working for another family for the last few years and is looking for full time work now that they are repatriating to Texas. We learned via e-mail shortly after her visit to our house that she would like to work for us. She will work from 10 to 6 each day and probably cook for us a couple nights per week. Cynthia is looking forward to some Chinese cooking lessons and the boys and I are looking forward to some dumplings! Mei is married with a 16 year old son and speaks some English but not enough to keep Cynthia from having to learn some Chinese (Yea!) Mei will start on a part time basis as she transitions from one home to the next. Now all we have to do is figure out a way to graciously let our existing ayi, Mrs. Jin, go. I'm leaving that one to Cynthia!