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I promised to share the good and the bad....so here it is. Yesterday was a day from Hell. This is an insert from an email that I sent to my good friend Julie. I think it describes my day pretty well.

Today was a day from hell and I have nothing nice to say. Tomorrow I am going to stay in our house and hide from the world. I am so damned tired of trying to communicate with people.

I lost our ayi at the supermarket today and the store was packed wall to wall with people...that is not a joke. I did not even have a cart and I could not get through the crowds. Our driver is so hell bent on helping me that he is making me crazy, I went to a hair salon today that told me yesterday my stylist would speak English. I knew more Mandarin then she knew English and that is about 2 words. My hair sucks (I hate that word but today I am going to type it anyway) and I will never be able to buy clothes here because I am not 5 foot tall and weight 90 pounds. I could not even buy a water cooler today with out getting 4 people involved in the "translation" and when I got home I called to order water to put in the cooler and I could not communicate which "type" of water I wanted. JUST GIVE ME THE _____ WATER ALL READY!!!!!!

Okay...so I am going to look for the positive in the day.....

I will not have to have another hair cut while we live here because it will take two years to grow back

I found the Ayi

I don't have to take the bus because we have a "never stop talking" driver.

I went for a walk

We get to open our Valentine cards tonight from our wonderful Sunday School class.

Well it sounds like Tim and Abi are home so I need to run...

Love ya,
Deb

Well there it is..... The communication frustrations were more than I could cope with yesterday. I came home, hid in our bathroom and cried for about an hour. I hid because I did not want our Ayi to think she was working for a "crazy women".

After I stopped "bubbling" (Abi's term) I pulled myself together and went for a walk around our neighborhood. I found a new market, and a little flower shop, and enjoyed the fresh smoggy air.

When Tim and Abi got home they brought me roses for Valentines day and we had a nice dinner in our apartment. They sympathetic about my day and the tears that accompanied the recall of activities and frustrations. Then Abi said "Mom you just have to "Suck it up". We all laughed about that comment and it lighten the mood.

I looked at my last entry and I could not believe it has been so many days since I have written.

Let me fill you in on the happenings in China. We interviewed several ladies and hired an Ayi (means Auntie in Chinese) and a University student to help us while we are in Shanghai. The Ayi is new to Shanghai also....she came to Shanghai about the same day we arrived. Her name is Delia and she is from the Phillapines by way of Singapore and is very experienced and compitant. She has our house whipped into shape and is cooking dinner for us each night. She unpacked Abi's suitcases and organized all her "stuff". Abi no longer has to do her own laundry so obviosly Delia is a big hit with Abi.

The University student will start after Chiniese New Year. She is a local girl and was a tour guide during her summer break. She is in her last term of school and has a flexible schedule while she writes her exit paper. I think she will be a great resource for shopping, barganing, translating, and showing us some of the "local" places of interest.

I went to a class on Persian rugs that was very informative and interesting. The class was held at the Community Center and a local rug vendor brought many rugs to show us examples. I am excited to do a little shopping with all my new found knowledge. :)

The Community Center of Shanghai hosted a coffee this morning and invited a very interesting women to share the traditions of Chinese New Year. The actual date of the New Year changes from year to year because it follows a lunar cycle instead of the traditional calendar. This year it will begin on the evening of the 17th (New Years Eve) and continue for three days. Three days is the official holiday but most companies give their employees the entire week off work. Employees are expected to make up the extra two days by working two Saturdays.

It is tradition for everyone to return to their parents home no mater how far that may be. On New Years Eve it is customary to have a large family dinner. Chicken must be part of the dinner and will be served whole...this includes the head. (Side Note: In a business setting, old tradition was to have chicken at an employee dinner and if the head of the chicken was facing you it meant that you were being fired. YIKES!!) The New Year begins at midnight so it is important to stay up all night to welcome a fresh beginning. Fireworks begin at midnight and continue through the following two days.

Red banners are hung on the outside entry of your home. One on the left side of the door, one on the right side of the door and one over the top of the door. The banners have Chinese characters written on them that mean Good Health, Much Happiness, Peace, Good Fortune and Safety. Some homes will also hang a gold and red fish which signifies "abundance" or "more than enough".

Red is considered a very lucky color so many of the decorations of the Holiday are red. On New Years Day (18th) new clothing is worn to symbolize a fresh start and much of the clothing will be red. It is good to avoid wearing black or white during this season.

Small red envelops are given to children and to unmarried adults by their parents and close family members. It is good for the money to be new bills and the cash must be in even numbers and must not have the number 4 associated with it. For example you would give someone bad luck if you gave them 40 RMB or 33 RMB. Having good luck in this culture is very very important.

Another tradition when hosting friends and family at your home during the holiday is to pass the "tray of Togetherness". This tray has 8 compartments each compartment will hold a food item (usually candied) that is symbolic. Dried coconut means unity of family, Lotus Root = continuous luck or happiness, Lotus seed = will bring many sons, Candied Melon = keeps you healthy and strong, Tangerine = luck, Peanuts = long life, Watermelon seed = wealth, Candies that look like gold nuggets = continuous prosperity. If you go to someones house it is good to take a gift. One such gift is pineapple cake which says...may you have lots of happiness.

2007 is the year of the Pig and the year of opportunity. This is "Tim's year" because he was born under the sign of the boar/pig. The pig is wealthy, lucky and fun. He/she is blessed with patience and understanding, is fair, loyal and loving.

We have been reading about the characteristics of each of the the animals under the lunar calendar. It is truly amazing how much they fit each of our family members.

We received our shipment from the US yesterday and it only took the movers 1 1/2 hours to deliver, unpack, and take away the empty boxes. It is so nice to have a few familiar things from home. Tim took today off from work and spent the day with me at the apartment. All day we had workers in and out of the apartment to fix, clean, repair, and deliver things. Our dryer was installed above the washing machine. It is very "cute" and will hold about 3 pairs of socks at one time. Hopefully this one will work better than the one in our temporary apartment.

We discovered yesterday that we do not have a dishwasher. Somehow we missed this detail when we were looking for a residence. Most of the other homes we looked at had dishwashers so I guess it never occurred to us to look for this appliance. Oh....well....I told Abi that is why we had her. She was not amused. :)

Before we left the US we purchased three memory foam mattress pads. The beds that we have experienced in Shanghai are very hard so we thought this would be a great idea. The movers offered to open these and put them on the beds for us. This was the hardest job they had all day. The mattress pads are compressed to fit in a small box. When you open the box you are supposed to unfold them and let them expand over a 24 hour period. Unfolding them was the real challenge. It took two workers and myself to unfold them; each of us pulling as hard as we could to peel the folds apart. None of us could understand a word the other was say but we just kept talking and pulling and talking and eventually got the job done.

Today was a zero bridge day. We could hardly see the ground through the fog. Tim put his telescope together this afternoon and it was very exciting to see the fog close-up. He was not amused. Do you think it was something I said???

My email has not been working correctly since we arrived in Shanghai. Apparently many messages that I sent were not received and messages that were sent to me were not received. So.....if you sent me a message and I did not respond....it was because I did not get the message. I was on the phone this afternoon (this is the second time I had to call them) with my "server" and I believe they have fixed the problem. It was something about my messages being forwarded through another address and some messages could get through and others could not. After they fixed this problem I received several messages that had not downloaded before. I set up a temporary address at debbiespofford@gmail.com but I believe that my old address deb@deborahspofford.com is working now. I will check both so you can send messages to either one.

The past two days I spent shopping for basic household items. I was hoping to find a store like Target or Fred Meyer for the basic things but these do not exist in Shanghai. The supermarkets have a small variety of basic items but I describe them as sub-Super Wal-Mart style. Several expats suggested IKEA. At least I am familiar with this store and the general layout. I had to get help finding the dishes but fortunately a nice young man in the kitchen cabinet area spoke perfect English. I am finding that the young people want to practice their English and are excited to be able to help. (Side note: A nice gentleman asked me how to pronounce three words today. He wanted to know how to pronounce the name of the hotel in the Jinmao Tower and the definition of the word deluxe. I was so happy to speak English and have someone need my help instead of the other way around!!!!) Back to shopping.....after one trip to IKEA and several trips to Carrafour and Lotus I think we can live in our new apartment for a few days.

Observation: Sheet sets are sold with two pillow cases that look like shams, one flat sheet, and one duvet cover. I think this is a European thing.

Good news for today!!!! Our household goods arrived in China and will be delivered to our apartment tomorrow morning. This is several days earlier than we expected. We hope to be completely be moved in by Friday or Saturday. It will be nice to be in one place and get settled.

Our drivers English has improved 10 fold since we arrived. (I wish I could say the same thing about my Mandarin) He helped translate today for me at China Mobil. For some reason my new cell phone had a very interesting and funny sound. Instead of ringing or playing music for the caller, it had someone talking in Chinese and then a pig oinking sound. I think it might have been saying "Happy New Year" because this is the Year of the Pig. But for all I know it could have been saying "you have just called a pig, please wait until she answers" . It was really very funny but I decided that I did not want this greeting long term. So....I tried to explain to the nice cell phone people that I wanted to change the pig noise. Can you imagine why they did not understand this? Thankfully, I went and got our driver and he explained what I wanted. After much laughter....the man took my cell phone number, punched it into a computer and changed the pig noise to a very boring buzzing sound. Hmmmm maybe I should have kept the pig.

One of the interesting things about Shanghai is the laundry. Everywhere you go in the city you will see laundry hanging out the windows of apartments. We have seen some very creative clothes lines. You will even see laundry hanging over iron fences and in the trees in the middle of downtown. We think we have discovered why this is such a common thing. Tim put a load of laundry in the dryer this morning before he left for work. This evening when I came back to the apartment the clothes were still very wet. Apparently the dryers here are really just “tumblers”. A lady told me today that she finally gave up trying to use their dryer and joined the rest of Shanghai in their environmentally friendly drying methods. So.....tonight the Spofford laundry is also hanging on the balcony of our apartment.

We spent the majority of the day at our new apartment. The view today was the best ever!!! We devised a rating system to describe the view. Today was a 3 bridge + day. On really foggy days we can not see any bridges and on very clear days we can see 3 bridges. Today we could see all three bridges and beyond. The river was traffic free most of the morning and then at about 1:00 in the afternoon "rush hour" started. We could not believe how many ships suddenly appeared. All of them full of gravel and other cargo. Most of them going up stream and it looked like a ship parade. We are easily entertained these days and spent many hours watching the river.

Decorations are appearing all over the city in honor of Chinese New Year. On Tuesday I will learn more about the significance of these decorations. The Community Center is offering a class to explain the traditions of the New Year.

Tonight we found a restaurant that offered American style food.....AND....it actually tasted like American food. I have never enjoyed a cup of vegetable soup more in my life. Food is a weird thing.....it seems like such an insignificant thing......and yet it defines our culture. When this changes and you are introduced to new textures and spices you recognize just how unique our tastes really are. I used to think of American food as a hodge podge mixture of many cultures but we definitely have our own "flavor".

The hotel that we are staying at offers an international breakfast every morning. It is so interesting to watch what people have for breakfast. Many people here eat Congee. This is a hot cereal that looks like soupy goopy rice. They do not put brown sugar or raisins in this like we would in oatmeal. Instead they add small pieces of bread, peanuts, relish, and many other condiments that I do not recognize. I have to say that there is no way I could eat that for breakfast. Give me pancakes with syrup and I am happy!!! :)

I updated my blog account today and now all the text on the home page is Chinese.....I'm sure I will figure out how to change this later, but it is frustrating at the moment.

We were told that our household goods shipped yesterday so our boxes will be delivered next Friday or Saturday. Yippee!!! Then we can move into our permanent residence and get settled.

I took a city tour on Friday and I was the only person on the tour. So the good news is .....I got a private tour......the bad news is.....I did not meet anyone on the tour and I had to eat lunch by myself while the guide and bus driver eat lunch in a different room (this was a cultural thing that I don't understand yet).

The silk factory was very interesting and I climbed to the top of the LuPu bridge. This is one of the bridges that we can see from our window. It has 363 steps to the top...not that I was counting :) The guide shared this little fact with me about mid way up the arch.

Here are some more random thoughts about our first week in China... My brain has gone into hibernation and I can not write a comprehensive sentence

• I would really enjoy an icy diet Pepsi and a good pizza
• Having a driver while in the middle of a traffic jam is a good thing....
• You can play spider solitare on your computer while in the middle of a traffic jam
• I miss my Independence
• I am very happy we found the Community Center
• Our friend, Steve Sheild was right....this transition is going to be harder than I thought
• People we meet are friendly and curious about us
• We are a minority for the first time in our lives
• Cultural differences are very interesting and at times hard to understand
• I wish I could magically learn Chinese so I could communicate.....I have so many questions I would like to ask people I meet
• Living in a big city is exciting
• I miss Target
• Basic things take great effort and energy
• This is a very good opportunity for growth personal development

This is a test...

Yesterday was Abi's 16th birthday and we woke her up with singing (not a very pleasant sound as Tim and I would be one of those "you have got to be kidding" talents on American Idol) and a dozen pink roses.

Two girls at her school decorated her locker with balloons and wrapping paper and Abi ordered pizza that she shared with the other students.

We ended the day with a dinner of noodles and dessert at the top of the Grand Hyatt. Eating long noodles on your birthday is a Chinese tradition to symbolize a long and lucky life. The Hyatt is one of the main attractions in Shanghai. It has the largest atrium in the world. The atrium is 30 stories tall and starts on the 56th floor. It is the 4th tallest building in the world but will soon be passed in height by the building next to it that is under construction. That is a little useless factoid for the day.

Today was a much better day for Abi. Her school is having sprit week and today was skittle day. Everyone was to dress in bright colors (like skittles) and Abi was dressed in bright pink (imagine that) from head to toe. She got out of school at 11:30 today and was very happy. She wanted to go to the “underground” shopping area and look for a new handbag and watch. The “underground” is a little weird and funny at the same time. As soon as you approach the subway area several people come to you and want to show you the “market”. So….you follow them to the “market” which is a bunch of small shops in a shopping mall. These shops are unique because they all have secret doors that lead to another room that is twice the size of the store front. Today we discovered that there is yet another layer to these stores. In one of the shops they actually dismantled a display, removed part of the shelving, slide the wall back and revealed the “back back” room. We had to duck under part of the shelving to get into this room. If you can get over the creepy factor it is really very funny.

Many people on the Concordia staff are from the Pacific Northwest and we visited with one of them today that has a home in Depot Bay, Oregon. She was very helpful and told us many things about transitioning to a new culture. She said most people experience a “sensory overload” and their brains just shut down for a little while. By “shut down” I mean it moves slower and you just can’t process things as fast. The good news is that this is temporary. I thought this was very interesting and it gives me a great excuse to have a “slow brain” for a while.

Tonight we had dinner at a Japanese restaurant. The food was very good and the service was really fun. We had 5 girls waiting on our table and they were so cute and funny. They hovered around our table the entire time we were in the restaurant. During dinner we were trying to get Abi’s new cell phone to turn on. So…our waitresses all wanted to help us figure out how to turn on Abi’s phone. They were so cute all huddled around the phone, all talking to us at the same time both in Chinese and a little bit of English. They were laughing and talking and laughing and talking. Finally Abi figured out how to turn on the phone and they all cheered. We were all laughing so hard other people were starting to stare. We took a picture of two of the girls with Abi and her phone and they made the Asian sign with their fingers as we took the pictures. That made us start laughing all over again.

Tim has to go to work tomorrow…so I am going to be on my own for coffee. My big job for tomorrow is to sit at our new apartment while the “IT” guys connect our wireless internet and wait for some plants to be delivered. I purchase two five foot topiaries from a man that sells plants out of a basket on the back of his bicycle. The topiaries are potted in very nice black clay pots and cost 300RMB for both plants. That is about $36. You just have to love shopping in China!!!!

Tim and I went to Starbucks again today after we dropped Abi at school. When we ordered our drinks they gave us a red silk stuffed pig. Chinese New Year (also called Spring Festival) is in about two weeks and we learned that the year 2007 is the year of the pig. Everywhere we go we see pigs. Most of the pigs are gold or red. The strange thing about these pigs is that they are headless. ???

Outside of Starbucks this morning a group of about 15 people were doing Tai Chi. The women wore beautiful velvet coats in deep purple, green and red. They were very graceful and it was really fun to watch. At one point they picked up swords and used them in their routine.

Our big accomplishment for the day was purchasing two sim cards and one new cell phone. I could write a whole book on this experience. Our friend Mr Wu helped translate for us and we finally worked through the long process.

Tim hung out at the apartment most of the afternoon while several deliveries were made and our satellite was installed. The sun was shining today and the sky was very clear. The view was spectacular.

I spent the afternoon with Abi. She had a tough day at school today. We expected to have a few of these days and we are happy to have this one over. Tomorrow she only has a half day of school and it I'm sure it will be a better day.

First Day of School

Today was Abi's first day of school. She was excited and nervous as we drove to her school this morning. When we arrived we were greeted by the wonderful admissions director. She took Abi's picture and had her fill out some forms. Abi got her schedule and then we went upstairs to meet with the Geometry teacher. He was running late so we went back downstairs to meet the IT guy. He gave Abi her new computer and a very quick tutorial about the Concordia computer system. Then we went to buy uniform tops and put money on the computer system for lunches. Poor Abi had six people helping her with uniform shirts all giving their opinions on colors and sizes. By this time she was feeling a little overwhelmed and a little teary. Of course that was all I needed to start my tears rolling. After getting a slight grip on our emotions we went back upstairs to get a revised schedule and a locker assignment. The scheduling at this school is a little challenging because they have 7 different days in a cycle and each day has a different set of classes. We left Abi with a very nice lady from the high school office. She was going to introduce Abi to a student that would walk her to all of her classes. Abi was very brave and I cried all the way back to the car. You would have thought it was her first day of kindergarten.

Tim and I found a Starbucks, ordered coffee and I had a good (long over due) cry. I am sure I looked like an idiot but who cares I don't know anyone here yet!!!!!! While we were having coffee a couple asked where we were from and started a conversation with us. I think I may have made my first friend today. :)

Before we left the States I read about a Community Center in Pudong that offers support to expats in Shanghai. They also offer a variety of classes and they have a coffee group!!!! The couple in Starbucks told us where it was located and we went to find it. We have passed it several times on our way to Abi's school and did not even know.....Go figure!!! We found many very nice people all willing to help us with many things. I have already emailed with two of them and we are planning to take a class at the center for newcomers to China.

Our big "business" accomplishment for the day was to finish our paperwork at the Entry-Exit Authority and to meet with our China tax consultant. Our tax consultant was very nice and went to school in PA in the US. Wow!!! Income tax is very high in China.

Tonight we had an adventurous dinner. Chinese food (surprise!) at a resturant in the neighborhood. Abi is experimenting with new foods and I am very impressed with her new found willingness to try things. I have eaten many things in the last few days that I can not identify. Some times ignorance is bliss.

Abi and Tim are practicing mandarin as I am writing this and it is really hilarious!!! Our driver was tutoring us in Chinese on the way home from school today. He also thought we were hilarious.

I loaded my new quilt design program on my computer yesterday and I am really enjoying working through the tutorial.

We tried two times yesterday to buy cell phones without success. Shall we say communication break down!!! Mr. Wu is going with us tomorrow so we can get phones for Abi and I. It is really weird how much I miss my phone.

People People everywhere there are people!!!

Do you notice anything different about this sign?







Sights from the food market in Shanghai

Many interesting things in the Deli

Today was a day of great entertainment and mild frustration. We started our day at a the Super Brand Mall. In the basement of many of the malls in Shanghai are grocery markets. We had a short list of items that we wanted to purchase and we planned to go to two different markets so we could price shop and compare the "environment" of each store. On our list was diet Pepsi, a curling iron, hair straitener, blow dryer, (our small electric appliances do not work here because of the power differences) and a few snack items and school supplies.

The other items on our agenda were to take Abi to see her school and to have lunch at a little restaurant in the neighborhood where her school is located. Our driver picked us up at 10:00 and we were off. The first market was very fun to explore and Abi and I were entertained by the food items that we saw. So entertained in fact that we found it necessary to take pictures. We already stand out a little bit in the crowd and taking pictures in the grocery store just added to our "oddness" which of course made us laugh. The store was so crowded that we could hardly get a cart through the isles. Tim was very patiecent while we looked for all the girl stuff we needed. The market must have had 25 different styles of hair dryers but only one curling iron and one straightener. And...no diet Pepsi. Can you imagine? The store was very large and it took us much longer to explore than we thought so by the time we left we were starving.

Our lunch was very good, Tim ordered shrimp wonton soup, I had pan fried dumplings, and Abi had noodles with beef. The restaurant is in a large expat area and we saw many Caucasians for the first time in days. It was sort of weird....

Then to Abi's school..... by this time we were directing our driver because we got the feeling that he did not really know where he was going. Our driver speaks a little bit of English and that has been helpful. We directed him to the other market and again spent longer than we thought we would. The store was very very crowded and it was a zoo. And...they did not have a single straightener or curling iron. AAAHHHH.....I thought this would be so easy. Tim was happy though because we found diet Pepsi.

We decided to stop at one more market on the way back to our hotel. We had passed it on the way to the restaurant and we assumed that our driver would go back the way we came and we would have no problem finding it. The distance from Abi's school to our hotel is 15 - 20 minutes. About 90 minutes later we were no where near the market and we had to direct the driver again so he could find our hotel. By this time we are wondering if having a driver that speaks English is better than having a driver that knows how to get places..... The jury is still out on this one.

In the end we went back to the store we first visited and purchased the straightner and curling iron. We were all very ready to be out of the car and away from the crowds.

Abi and Tim trying out a chaise at the Furniture Market

Our first day in China in was filled with shopping and decisions. We spent some time early this morning at our apartment. The work that was going to be done over the past month just began today. Oh well....we are not in any hurry I guess. To our surprise all the workmen were smoking in our apartment as they worked. Yuk!! This was a little shocking having just come from Washington where there are strict "no smoking" laws. This is going to be a hard adjustment for us.

There were several pieces for furniture that we needed to choose today in order to have them delivered before Chinese New Year. The next two weeks are very busy in China as everyone prepares for the holiday. We went to a furniture market that was five stories and at least 100 stores per floor. It was a little overwhelming but fun to see the style of home decor that is popular in Asia. Most of the designs are very contemporary. We took a break for lunch and then went back to the market to make our final decisions. We choose living room furniture...sofa and two large chairs, a bed for Abi, and two chaise lounges to sit in the window for reading and viewing the river. We then went back to the apartment to choose fabrics for drapes and several upholstered pieces. It is actually cheaper to reupholster furniture here than to purchase new. I like this very much. As you know I love bringing all the pieces together to make a cohesive environment. All in all it was a fun and productive day.



Jet lag caught up with Abi and I at about 4:oo this afternoon. We were also freezing so we came back to the hotel for a few minutes before walking to dinner. After dinner we all had a massage. It was heaven and painful all at the same time. The massages here are very ...... how do I say this..... I can't think of a word to describe it......so I will just say that the people giving the massage are very strong.

Random thoughts about my first visit to China:

• Excitement about visiting Asia for the first time
• Hard to sleep on the airplane
• Long lines at the airport when we arrived in Shanghai
• Man greeting us with a sign that said "Tim Spofford"
• Man with sign is our driver and does not speak English
• I do not speak mandarin
• Feel a strong desire to learn this language so I can communicate
• Traffic is crazy
• Laundry hanging everywhere
• Hotel is beautiful and very tall ... We are on the 73rd floor
• It is nice to have time with Tim even though we are busy
• Abi's school is very nice
• Tim's office is also nice and just 5 minutes from Abi's school God is good
• We could live in an expat compound
• Furniture style is very contemporary
• While living in China we should experience the culture
• Frustration with language and communication
• Great food- lunch with Wu
• Good luck/bad luck
• Church might be closed on Sunday???
• Bad luck numbers ending in 4
• Medical exam at the DMV
• Old medical equipment
• Lots of people
• Starbucks
• Fabric market- can't wait to have a coat made
• Ribbon, buttons, beads for miles
• Tea at the Garden
• Flower expanding in hot water to make tea
• Fog fog fog
• Meeting new people that Tim will be working with
• Fun dinner with other HP expats- all from Boise - go figure
• cereal and syrup are hard to find/expensive in China
• High rise apartment with room for Tucker and guests
• Need for American food
• Trip to Carrafor - meat department no good
• Found an import store close to our apartment- make note to self about location
• helicopters - Christmas presents - only found in Asia
• River walk
• Steamed dumplings
• Bikes and scooters everywhere
• How much stuff can you carry on one bike?
• Ready to go home
• Tim migraine on the plane from Shanghai to San Fran
• Glad to be home
• Happy to see kids
• Get ready for Christmas
• Put move aside for a while

Tomorrow is our last day in our house for a while. We have a great house and Buddy (our basset hound) sitter that will be living in and taking care of our home and dog. This is a great blessing because we did not have to pack up everything and put it in storage. This will also allow Tucker to come home from University during long weekends.

This week has been a lot of "lasts". Our last worship service at FUMC, our last visit with my parents, Abi's last day at school, last FYI (a Wednesday evening program at church), last bible study with our small group, last staff meetings, and tomorrow will be my last coffee with the "Java Jewels". The Java Jewels have been meeting for over 5 years now. We started our coffee group shortly after I moved to Vancouver from Richmond, Virginia. I had just met our neighbor Julie and we decided that our social needs and girl time would not be met in our immediate neighborhood. Julie had also just moved to Vancouver so we were desperate to make new friends. Through a mutual friend of mine we found another "new to Vancouver" family and we decided to meet for coffee. That coffee date turned into a weekly coffee meeting and has grown in numbers. We have had to say good bye to several friends that have move away and some that have been sucked into the black hole called full time employment. I am going to miss this group of wonderful friends. We have laughed, cried, and prayed together, solved many world problems, trained and power walked the Portland Marathon, and supported one of our own through the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Most of us are also in the trenches of parenting teenagers and it is so good to laugh and escape the "mom" title for a few minutes each week. I am so blessed to have these smart, funny, talented, wise women in my life.

Abi's school
While Tim and I were in Shanghai we visited the school that Abi will be attending. It is an international school with students from 40 different countries. The facilities are amazing and they are in the process of building a new performing arts center and a new elementary school. Abi will have to wear a uniform for the first time in her life. She and I spent many hours last Saturday looking for khaki pants. They seem to be out of season right now and a bit difficult to find. We did manage to find several pairs of shoes while we were looking for pants. :)

Tim and I have been to China and are now back in the states getting ready for the big move. After many weeks of planning, cleaning out closets, and deciding what we should take with us, we are about to embark on a new adventure. The movers came today and packed our "stuff". We are taking very few items from our house. Our apartment is furnished and we will purchase a few household items when we get there.

We had many housing options in Shanghai and spent several days looking at houses, villas, townhouses, and apartments. In the end we decided to choose something very different from anything we have ever experienced. We will be living on the 36th floor of a 56 story high rise building. When we go out of our apartment we are right in the Shanghai culture and I am looking forward to exploring our neighborhood. Our living room looks over the Haungpu (I need to check the spelling on this) river. The view is breath taking even through the fog and smog. There are many ships moving up and down the river and it is fascinating to watch the activity. Tucker, Abi and I gave Tim a telescope for Christmas and it will have a place of honor in our front window. We are all looking forward to watching the ships.