Birthday parties and badminton

Saturday was Justin's birthday party, held a week later to avoid the Chinese Tomb Sweeping Day holiday(yes, it's a biggie) so his friends could attend.  Well that did not work.  Justin was very selective in who he chose to attend his birthday party and only sent 3 invitations.  2 said they would come, one never RSVP'd.  On Saturday morning we found out 1 of the kids coming was sick.  So....it was Justin and Justin S.  They had fun, Justin wanted to have a "game" party and with just the two of them they decided the type of games would be of the video game variety.  Pretty easy party to manage...here are a few shots...

 

Following the party we decided to get a badminton net so we could have another way to enjoy the nice weather outside.  Seeing what we had purchased, Mr. He made sure to "help setup" the net and "make sure all the equipment was okay".   It was evident he was much better at badminton than anyone in this family.

How many times can a girl get in trouble...in one week

 

OK, don't start laughing already but yes, I have been told "no" many times this week!!  And, not by my husband.....

The week began with Mrs. Wang noticing that I washed the new clothes we purchased over the weekend.  I guess I should have known better but the 'not wanting everyone to do everything for me' mode kicked in.  While washing the new clothes, I threw a pair of Amanda's pants in because she fell down & had mud all over the knees.  Needless to say, I did not wash Amanda's pants 'well' enough, so back to the washing machine they went - I really did use Spray 'n' Wash!!  My first no of the week, not off to a good start.....

Last week I informed Mrs. Wang that the inside of the dishwasher was brown in color - probably water build up.  Mrs. Wang called the office on Monday & a repair man was here on Wednesday.  I was gone during the work phase but when I came home, Mrs. Wang was happy to show me the sparkling white dishwasher.  I was told that Cascade was bad (tried telling her that in the US, it is really good - she didn't seem to buy that & I'm sure she thinks that I have no idea how to run a dishwasher).  She went to the store to buy the 'proper' dishwashing tabs after the repair man left.  I asked her what she purchased & how to use them.  I was told, more than once, "I do" (a phrase that I hear a lot & unfortunately find myself saying to the kids..).  I was trying to tell her that I wanted to know so I could do dishes on the weekend but was never able to get her to spill the beans.  I guess I will do the dishes the way I know how & get in trouble when she finds out that I DID!!!

Wednesday was a bad day as I got in trouble twice.  Mr. He had to take the car into get fixed so after Chinese lessons, I called a taxi. Denise needed to head out to SAS (her kids school) for a meeting & there was no time to get me home.  I get a call from Denise telling me how she had to listen to Mr Z (her driver) ask & complain about me taking a taxi.  Here's Denise trying to explain to Mr. Z, who barely speaks/understands English, what was going on.  I tried not to laugh but I was just imagining her doing charades (Denise's way of communicating with the driver/Ayi who don't speak English) trying to explain the situation. 

Thursday I was told "no good" when I told Mrs. Wang that with Ron having dinner with some guys from the US, I was just going to 'wing' dinner, nothing formal.  Apparently, feeding your kids Mac 'n' Cheese for dinner is a no-no!!!

Well, today is Friday & I am happy to report that I have been a good girl!!!!!  Next week can only bring a better week, right??

First China vacation...to Hangzhou

The kids had some time off last week so we decided to take a trip outside of Shanghai.  We went to the city of Hangzhou which is about 180 km from Shanghai.  Mr.  He drove us there and it took about 3 hours, much of that time was in the cities as the highway between the cities had a speed limit of 120 kph and was wide open.  Hangzhou is famous for silk and West Lake (Xi Hu).  We stayed at the Shangri-la right next to West Lake in a very large room that could fit us and the kids comfortably as we were staying for three nights.  We quickly found that outside of Shanghai the availability of good western food is suspect at best.  We ended having only two good meals (outside of the good breakfast buffet at the hotel) the whole time we where there and that was at the same restaurant.  One of the lunches at the silk market comprised of Lay's potato chips, snickers, and soda.  We have have still not adjusted to Chinese food and here near the sea much of the menus are filled with seafood. 

(lot of pictures here...http://picasaweb.google.com/krfraser5/HangzhouChinaMarch2008)

The main attraction here is West Lake and we spent Thursday and Friday touring around the lake.  Thursday was on foot, Friday was by boat and foot.  Many beautiful and interesting sights.  The lake is one of the top tourist attractions in China.  We saw at least 7 or 8 brides in the two days we were there taking pictures by the lake.  Justin continued to be our big tourist attraction (he loves the attention!), taking pictures by request with the locals on several occasions.  Kim was popular as well with a couple of pictures with locals.  I even got one shot of the family taking a picture with some Chinese folks.  Saturday was a little rainy so we went to the silk market and spent some time swimming at the hotel.  Overall, it was a great place to visit and we plan on going back in the future to visit some of the sites that we did not have time to see.  Some pictures are shown below, but visit the link to see the cool sights and the many beautiful flowers that were all over the place.  We returned home to Shanghai on Sunday which only took 2.5 hours.  Our first trip out of town was a success! 

 

 

Century Park

The weekend before last we went to a park close to our home called Century Park (Shiji Gong Yuan).  It is a huge park with lots of things to do.  We went with another family, The Rocketts. 

 

We all had a blast!  After the boys played some football  and were a major attraction for the locals, we decided to rent a bike to tour the park, what an experience that was!!  After finally figuring out how much the rental cost was & waiting in line to get a bike, the journey began.  We rented a bike that had 2 rows of seats with a basket in front for 2 kids.  I can't even tell you how many people laughed at us as we SLOWLY move along the park trails.  Denise & I did most of the work which consisted of 2 kids in the basket, 5 kids either in seats or hanging onto the back of the bike. 

Needless to say, we were dubbed the "Clown Mobile" by our husbands as they saw us passing by - notice how I said Denise & I did all the work - the men walked around talking!!!  Ron took a turn before we left and the chain fell off on one side giving them only 50% power...he needed the workout!  We finished the afternoon with some ice cream and then left the park. See more pictures from the park at http://picasaweb.google.com/krfraser5

Life's Happenings

Hello!  Hope this update finds everyone doing well!  We are settling in nicely!  All of our boxes are finally unpacked - which took longer than I had hoped but we were waiting for the landlord to deliver our pantry so we could get our mass quantity of food out of the kitchen & unpack all the cookware.  With all our stuff unpacked, it is beginning to feel like home, which is still a weird concept to thing about - home! 

Life in the 'fast' lane will begin for us soon as Justin starts soccer, Amanda ballet & Tanner football.  Pudong started a football league last year so Tanner is looking forward to getting back into the football scene.  Having only one car will pose a problem with the kids schedules overlapping & Ron needing to get home from work but I'm sure Mr. He will figure it all out - or get into a couple accidents trying!!

Mandarin is going o.k.  I seem to be able to pronounce the words correctly but have a hard time remembering the sounds that the letters make without my cheat sheets.  The days of homework are back......why is it so much harder to remember things as you age????  Nights at the Fraser household consist of many attempted Chinese conversations, most of which are pronounced incorrectly or Amanda & Tanner quizzing Ron & I on the English meanings of words they say.  Ron seems to be doing well at this task but as I mentioned, my brain has not grown in capacity yet - it always seems like everyone around me is speaking in a foreign language..!!!  I get a huge smile every time I hear one of the kids speaking Chinese - it makes this move all the more meaningful.

We had neighbors move in next door who come from CO.  Suzanne & I have had many good times shopping together & talking while the kids play.  They have 2 boys, Tanner 2 & Hunter 4, they are also in the process of adopting from China.  Both her & her husband are fluent in Chinese.  Suzanne has been a great help to me with making hotel reservations along with getting me the best deals while shopping - Prada purse, $18; Tiffany sterling silver ball necklace, bracelet & earrings, $14; Fendi sunglasses, $6 & a Dolce & Gabbana t-shirt, $8.  Anyone want to come shopping??....

In China the expats have a saying:  "Only in China".  I will leave you with a few "Only in China" moments I have had:

1)  ...can you have a service person come to your house to put together a pantry on a scooter, supplies and all

2)  ...would you have your driver go to school to pick up your son because you are in a meeting

3)  ...does a maintenance person talk to you in Chinese & not realize that the dumbfounded look on your face means that you have no clue as to what they are saying

4)  ...can you answer the phone to someone on the other end saying "Whey (phonetically spelled)" & upon answering in English, they precede to keep saying it, like I didn't hear them the first time & now all of a sudden I'm going to start speaking Chinese!  My conversations usually go like this: 

"Whey"

"Sorry, I don't understand"

"Whey" 

silence on my end

"Whey"

"No Whey"

"Whey"

"I said NO whey!!  You don't understand me & I don't understand you so I'm going to hang up"

"Whey"

CLICK

5)  ...can your Ayi & driver think they can pump up a soccer ball better than you & proceed to loose the needle in the ball, which of course was the last needle you had

6)  ...would you see your Ayi holding onto your child's arm as they ride their bike or rollerblade while running with them in heels

7)  ...can you complain to your friends how badly your feet hurt from shopping & how badly you need a pedicure & foot massage & actually get SYMPATHY

All for now!  Stayed tuned for more from the 'Fraser's Life in Shanghai'........

 

 

Hope you enjoyed reading!  Stayed tuned for more from the 'Fraser's Life in Shanghai'.......

Mr. He Plays Street Hockey

Last weekend Mr. He dropped off the car and spent some time learning how to play street hockey.  We offered to let him use some rollerblades but he declined sticking to tennis shoes and a hockey stick.  The kids went easy on him and he seemed to pick up the goalie and defensive skills quickly...shooting will need some more work.  We got a basketball net up this week so we will have to see how he fares in a game of H-O-R-S-E.

 

 

Licensed to Drive

I am now an officially licensed driver in the country of China.  Call me crazy, but yes, I have driven here and am alive to tell the tale.  You may not recognize the name (neither do I), but it is me...picture gives it away.  The name on the license, so they tell me, is Fei Luo Na.  Close to the name I have on my business card which is Fei Luo De.  It is supposed to be a close representation of my last name.  I have only driven one day so far, as I have spent much of the last week in Beijing.  This Sunday will be my second time behind the wheel here in Shanghai.  It does feel strange to be driving where we have had many near misses and several harrowing taxi rides, but where we live has relatively "normal" traffic.   I doubt that I will spend any time driving in the more heavily congested areas where the streets are narrow, too many bikes/pedestrians/crazy taxis to avoid. 

Getting the license was easy.  Two trips are required, one to get eyes and ears checked, the other to take a 100 question multiple choice test.  They give you the answers ahead of time so it is basically a test of memorization as the translation is poor and some of the rules are not real obvious. 

Wish me luck...I'll need it...