It is 4:30am on Thursday morning and I can't sleep so I thought I would write. You may notice by this time and day that my blog is still on Pacific Standard time. This is a slight annoyance but I can't figure out how to change it so....As they say....don't sweat the small stuff!!

The past few days I have been "hunting and gathering". I needed to finish some furniture shopping for our apartment so we can close the paperwork with our landlord. I only had a few more items to purchase but it has taken me a long time to muster the energy to shop for these items. Shanghai is like a shopping wonderland in some ways and a shopping nightmare in others. Stores are not organized in the same way as in our culture and the price of just about everything that you purchase in China has to be negotiated. Some people think this is really fun.....I think it is exhausting. Part of the exhaustion is converting prices from RMB to US dollars while I am negotiating because that is my only frame of reference to truly understand the value. As for the store organization.....I needed several lamps so I found a lamp store. This store is really sort of a warehouse. It is freezing cold, it has three floors, and each floor has many small shops that are all owned by different people. A few buildings away is a furniture "warehouse" set up in a very similar manor. It is really hard to do "one stop shopping".

I met a very nice lady named Teresa at the Chinese tea class on Monday and she took me to hotel restaurant supply store yesterday morning. Oh My Gosh!!!! What a fun morning. I had the best time visiting with her while we explored the store. Again....it is a three storey "warehouse" (much improved in the last few months according to Teresa) with no heat and it has dishes, teapots, gadgets, pots, pans, cake decorating supplies, and white dishes in all shapes and sizes. The prices were unbelievable and I had a wonderful time. I found so many things that would be great for our church kitchen in the US. I am still pondering how I might transport some of it back.

I found out that Teresa is also a quilter and is part of a quilting group in Shanghai....Yippee!!! A new quilting friend and a dish warehouse all in one day. What more could anyone ask for?

In the late afternoon, I picked Abi up from school and another friend, Laurie, (one of my fun mahjong buddies) from our apartment building and we all went to the pearl/bead market. This was Abi's first time to the bead market and it was so much fun taking her to all the jewelry places. We went to dinner at a restaurant near the market that had simple "western" food (it was great!!) and then stopped by the largest City Shop in Shanghai. City Shop is a grocery store chain that carries import goods. I found an almond joy candy bar!!!!! One...that was all they had and I think I might have wrestled anyone that even thought about taking it out of our cart. Abi found Top Ramen and a People magazine......she was thrilled. See how far our standards have dropped!!!

The sun is coming up and I just heard Tim's alarm buzzing so it is the beginning of a new day....I wonder what adventure we will have today?

As part of our relocation package it is strongly suggested that we participate in a cultural training program. This program is offered to every member of our family. It is a fact that the number one reason that foreign service assignments fail (return to home country before the contract ends) is because the "family" is not happy in the new location. I really appreciate the corporate view of the "family unit" in these training programs. I have been reading about the emotional and physical reactions that people have to "culture shock". The stages of culture shock are defined in several books that we have received from Abi's school and from the Community Center. I find it all very interesting and can identify with the descriptions of the early stages of shock. It takes a little more than 6 months to process through the stages. After the six month time frame you begin to find your equilibrium and feel balance return to your life.

Part of the adjustment period can be easier if you "know yourself" and how you react to certain experiences. As part of the "know yourself" cultural training, Tim and I had to fill out a very long questionnaire. It is sort of like Meyers Briggs. Today we got the results from this questionnaire and it was amazing how accurate the descriptions of our personalities were. This is going to be very helpful as we move through the next few months of culture shock.

I am learning by experience and by reading how important "culture" is to us. We are defined by our culture. Things that we do out of routine without thinking about why are part of our "norms" and when our "norms" are suddenly turned upside down it is a shock to our mental and physical state of being. Some examples are....what we eat, when we eat, how we eat, what we think are good manors and what is discussing, when we start our work day and when we end our workday, how we smell, what we think about religion, what we think about money, how we treat our pets, how we treat our youth and elderly, holidays that are important, how we dress, what we think is rude, how we organize ourselves to buy a ticket or get on a bus, how we drive, what it means when you honk your horn, body language, what our markets look like and how things are priced, temperature of buildings, what we consider wasteful, what we consider moral and just, what the "normal" shoe size or clothing size would be, what we think is right and wrong....etc....the list could go on forever..... I think these are all interesting things to ponder...

I guess I am a little philosophical tonight.....

Good news...our driver came back today!!! And....I was successful in communicating "take lunch" so he did not stave to death. Celebrate the small successes!!!

The weather has been very fickle...Friday it was "spring" and today it was "winter" again. I went downtown to run some errands and I was freezing. Lucky for me there are a lot of street markets in Shanghai so I bought a heavier coat with the Adidas logo on it for about $16. Shopping in China is a strange experience.

After I bought my expensive coat I went to the Community Center in Puxi (downtown area) to attend a Chinese Tea class. It was very interesting and fun. Our instructors own a tea house and the women that taught us how to make and serve tea is the National Champion "tea server" for China. She was very graceful and I learned to appreciate the slow and calming process of making and drinking tea. There are a lot of rules in making and serving the perfect cup of tea. We concentrated on green tea today. The cup we used to make the tea is called a Gai Wan. It looks like a rice bowl with a saucer and a lid. I have seen these in many stores and wondered why you would need a lid and saucer for rice......Dah!!! Tea cup not a rice bowl.

Here is the shortened version of how to make a perfect cup of tea along with some of my own commentary.

1. Set up your tea making area... This would include a tea pot,(we use an electric tea pot) a Gai Wan, a set of tea tools (did you know there was a whole set of tea tools?) an extra bowl for collecting water, a tin of tea, and a cloth napkin in case you drip or spill. (you really should not spill because you can embarrass yourself and ruin your tea serving reputation. Spilling should especially be avoided if you are serving your Chinese Mother-in-law.)

2. Remove the lid from the Gai Wan and place it on the edge of the saucer.

3. Warm the cup. Put a small amount of boiling water (must be boiling) in the bottom of the cup. Pick up the cup and swirl the water two or three times around the sides of the cup. Note: the swirling motion should be counter clockwise and should be slow and graceful....not like you are shaking dice for Yahtzee.

4. Gracefully pour the water out of the cup and into the extra bowl.

5. Pick up the tea tin and open it with both thumbs and index fingers and place the lid upside down on the table. (hey...I'm just telling you what they said and this was from the National Champ so I trust she knows what she is talking about)

6. Use one of the tools to scoop the tea out and place it in the bottom of the cup. Note: we were serving Jasmine green tea so the tea leaves were actually rolled into "pearls". ( I think "pearls" is a nice way to say "pellets".

7. Pour a small amount of water over the tea pearls/pellets. Put the lid on the cup and swirl (slowly and gracefully) counter clockwise one or two times. Note: this is not fast food so if you are in a hurry I would not suggest making a perfect cup of tea....just go ahead and make a fast sloppy cup, dump it into a Costco "to go" paper cup and I'm pretty sure it will taste about the same...but don't forget....there are loose tea leaves at the bottom of the cup...this could be a choking hazard if you are not careful .)

8.Remove and smell the lid. (I am not kidding.....you are supposed to smell the lid.)

9. Pour more water into the tea cup but do not fill it more than 80% full. Side note: when pouring water into the cup you should pour it slowly and also in a circular counter clockwise motion. AND..... never point the spout of the tea pot at your guest. This is very rude.

10. Place the lid on the tea cup and let it steep for one minute. It is polite to talk to your guest while the tea is steeping. (Oh...I forgot...you should be doing all of the above steps with two or three cups depending on how many guest you have. If you have more than three guests you should forget all of these steps and steep the tea in a pot. )

11. Pick up the cup with the saucer. While balancing the cup and saucer on the tips of your left hand....gracefully scoop the lid across the top of the tea water with your right hand....this will remove any "floaters" and cool the tea. On the last scoop....leave the lid slightly askew....while holding the lid on top of the cup twist your wrist into an unnatural position and sip the tea. Your guest must never see your teeth. (I know you think I am making this up but it is true!!!! I think this is in case you accidentally missed one of the "floaters" and it gets stuck in your teeth. This could make your guest uncomfortable because she would be wondering the whole time you are having tea if she should tell you or not tell you that you have something stuck in your teeth.)

12. You should never drink tea on an empty stomach so you must serve "refreshments" with your tea. (I was thinking a nice cranberry scone, or a piece of chocolate cake would be nice....but .....no.....we got a rubbery rice gummy thing, a chalky white rectangular bar of something at tasted like you were eating......chalk, and a reddish layered candy thing that tasted like pie cherries and had the texture of fruit leather. The cherry thing was actually pretty good)

It is 10:30pm and I can't sleep......the fireworks are back... I guess Abi can't sleep either because she just joined me on the sofa. The fireworks are really not exciting anymore....they are just annoying. Tonight is the last night of the Chinese New Year. So.....I think this is the last of the fireworks for a while. Tim and Abi have to go to work and school tomorrow morning so they are going to have a short night.

Since I can't sleep I will tell you what we did this afternoon. We braved the weather and took a taxi downtown to have lunch. Tim found a Brazilian BBQ restaurant close to the temple where my walking tour started on Wednesday....wow...that seems like several weeks ago. Anyway....we purchased three umbrellas as soon as we got out of the taxi and walked about one block to the restaurant. It was wonderful....Tim said it was not up to the standard of other Brazilian BBQ places that he has been to....but....it was clean and the food tasted really good. A funny highlight of the place.....they had really good bananas on the dessert tray. I know this probably sounds weird but most of the bananas that we have found are very ripe. These were just right!!! The simple pleasures of life sneak up on you some times.

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the area around the Jing'an Temple. We found another City Supermarket (import grocery store) and purchased three bags of fish crackers and one small bag of corn chips. Each of these were about $4 per bag. I know what will be on my shopping list for Tim the next time he goes to the states. By the way....the corn chips that I purchased at the Metro store last week were really really awful!!!

Yesterday was productive .....

In the morning I attended the second day of the jewelry making class and completed two necklaces, two pairs of earrings and 1/2 of a bracelet. It was really fun to see the creations that the other students made.

Everyday in Shanghai is an adventure...and nothing is a simple as we think it will be...

When my jewelry class was over I offered to take our teacher to the metro station. When we came out of the Community Center our driver was gone. I thought I had communicated to him that he should "take lunch" (that is how they refer to "eat lunch" here) at 11:30 so he would have plenty of time to do this while I was in class and he would be back when the class was over at 1:00. I had no idea where he could be........and......I quickly discovered that I left my cell phone at home in the charger. Okay...Don't panic!!!! The Community Center office was closed because we had just locked the doors when we left. My teacher also left her cell phone at home in her charger. No....problem.....we will just use the phone at the guards gate. Then I was thinking.....who do I call? I don't have the drivers number because it is programed into my cell phone and I do not have it memorized. (Note: cell phone numbers in China are 11 digits long. Residential numbers are eight digits long and I have only memorized my cell number and Abi's cell number because they are very similar.) Okay....DON'T PANIC!!!!! There were three guards at the gate and through a bunch of hand motions and many Chinese words that I did not understand......we soon learned that the phone at the gate is not a real "phone". I am guessing it just calls the office or something?? There was one other car in the parking lock......another driver.....with a cell phone..... We again hand gestured phone and he let us borrow his phone. I called Abi's cell number.....no answer.....by sheer luck I remembered our home number and got Delia. Abi and Tim were out....Abi's phone is also in the charger on the counter. (What is this? National "leave your phone in the charger" day???) I have no idea what Tim's cell number is......
We went back into the Community Center and luckily there was another class in the commons area. The other teacher had the combination to the office and let us back into the area where the phone was located. Great.....who am I going to call???? I suddenly remembered that I had written Mr Zhangs number on a small piece of paper......could it be in my purse??? YES!!!!!! I called Mr. Zhang and he said something in Chinese and I felt that he understood that I was ready to go. So.....we returned to the parking lot to wait.... After about 10 minutes he arrived......he motioned to his stomach and I understood he was hungry. Poor guy....he had been waiting to "take lunch" and was starving. I guess my communication was not as clear as I thought. We dropped Sandy at the Metro station and went back to our apartment. At this point I still don't know if Mr. Zhang had lunch or if I interrupted his lunch when I called him. In the Chinese culture....lunch is a very important thing. In fact when they great each other they ask something that means....have you eaten? They have a different greeting for morning and afternoon but both have the same meaning.....have you eaten....are you comfortable? Yikes!! This guy has only been with us two days and I have already starved him.

Jane arrived at our apartment just as I arrived and through her wonderful translation I was able to clear up the lunch thing with Mr. Zhang.

Tim, Abi, Jane and I spent the afternoon at the fabric market. There are several different fabric markets in Shanghai and they all have a little bit different personality. All of them work about the same way however. The vendors have small "booths" piled with fabrics and some samples of their work. If you are lucky you can try on a sample coat or jacket that you like. (Side note: Most likely it will be too small because "Westerners" are larger than most of the locals. This is not really a surprise and this is why we need to have a relationship with a Tailor. We can not buy ready made clothes because we are not 5 foot tall or weigh 80 pounds.) When you find something that you like, you choose fabric, and negotiate the price. Some of the vendors speak a little bit of English but it was very helpful to have Jane with us to negotiate prices and communicate details. She could also tell them that we live in Shanghai and that qualifies us for better prices and the possibility of return business for them. So....Abi and I each ordered a coat, Tim ordered two suits and two dress shirts, and I ordered a new duvet with matching pillows for our bed. If they are done well.....we have just established a relationship with four tailors and our next visit to the market will be much easier!!!! By the way.....this was my third trip to the fabric market......all previous visits were long and non productive because it is very overwhelming. The market is in a three storey building that has hundreds of booths. Get the picture?

Who knows what today's adventure will be.....Our driver has the day off...(He will probably be eating non stop today to store up energy for his next day with me)......it is pouring rain so finding a taxi will be nearly impossible but I am sure we will venture out anyway. What the heck??!!!

We have a new driver named Mr. Zhang. Our first driver returned to his previous job at the television station yesterday. Mr. Zhang does not speak English so we are a team of hand gestures and smiles. To make our communication a little easier I purchased a set of taxi cards from one of the supermarkets. The taxi cards are held together by a large key ring and contain fifty or more business card size papers with names of different stores, restaurants, business buildings, malls, points of interest etc.... The cards have English and Chinese addresses for all the business. I think these are going to become our life line in communication with our driver for a while. I had Jane translate to him yesterday what our "normal" routine would be each day. The challenge comes when our schedule changes from "normal" which is just about everyday. The big success for today was getting where I needed to go, getting Abi to a friends house, and picking up Tim at a different time than "normal". I learned the Chinese words for left, right, and straight from Mr. Zhang. I am practically fluent now.....

Today was a very fun day for me. I am taking a two day jewelry making class at the Community Center. My classmates are mostly from the Netherlands and I just love their accents. We spent the first part of the morning getting instructions from our teacher and then she took us to a bead and pearl market. Oh my gosh!!!!! It was like being in a candy store. You can buy beads to make jewelry yourself....you can buy jewelry already made....or you can choose beads and have someone at the market put them together for you. I participated in all three activities. The jewelry was fabulous and so were the beads and the pearls. Tomorrow morning we will return to the Community Center to string our beads into jewelry. I just can't wait!!!

Abi is at a friends house this evening, Tim is on his way home from work, and Delia is cooking our dinner......life is pretty darned good!!!!

PS...the world is just getting smaller and smaller. My jewelry teacher (Sandy) is from Eugene Oregon....Go Figure!!! We had a nice visit on the way to the pearl market. She and her husband have lived in Shanghai for 5 years and her husband happened to be one of the speakers at the church we visited last Sunday.

The Spofford family has a Chinese name. Tim is now Mr She (of course that is not the Chinese spelling but that is how it sounds) and Abi is She ab ee and I am She Bow La. Abi and I needed to have name cards printed so we needed to have a Chinese name. The sir name is first followed by the given name. Usually the children (child) have the same sir name as their father but the wife can have a different sir name. Jane suggested that we all have the same sir name to show that we are a family.

I learned how to write the Chinese character for "she" today. Wow!!! they have a lot of rules about how you create a character. First you start with the outside "lines", then every line has to be made from left to right and then from top to bottom. I am still practicing.....

A friend asked me about the currency in China. The currency is called RMB and yuan. The locals call it qui. The bills come in 100, 50, 20, 10, 5 and 1. There are many fake 100 and 50 bills floating around so you have to be careful when you get change from street vendors and taxi drivers. I was the lucky winner of a fake 50 given to me by a taxi driver. That was our introduction to fake money and now we know what to look for and we avoid paying for small items with larger bills that require a lot of change. There are also coins. The 1 qui looks like a quarter and the rest of the coins I do not use much so I don't really know a lot about those. The exchange rate is between 8 and 7.5 to one dollar.

We received our first piece of mail from America yesterday afternoon!!! The postal service really works.

The weather today was wonderful. We woke up to fog but it quickly cleared and the sun came out!!! I went on a walking tour in downtown Shanghai with a group from the Community Center. The highlight of the tour was a street market, the "sighting" of two new lunch restaurants, and visiting a friend's apartment. She has lived here for three years and their home is filled with fun artifacts and art work from many counties that they have visited while living in Shanghai. I was totally inspired by this and I am looking forward to our next holiday.....I think we will go to Thailand.

Yesterday I had another interesting experience. Go Figure!! I went to an antique market in downtown Puxi to browse and explore. The market is a group of streets (maybe more like alleys) that cross over each other. There are many small shops on both sides of the street and the shops extend out into the street displaying their merchandise on tables and in some cases on the ground. When I went "browsing" I was not aware that yesterday was a very important day for shop owners. It was the first shopping day after the Chinese New Year. I arrived at the market just as most of the shops were opening. The first shop owner said I was his first customer of the day and he would make me a good deal because I would bring him good luck. What? I did not understand what I had to do with his luck but...whatever!!! I told him I was just looking and went to the next shop. This time I went into the shop to "browse". The owner spoke English and again said I was his first customer and he would "make me a good deal" because I would bring him good luck. What??? I thought....wow...they all have the same "line". This shop owner tried very hard to sell me a set of small vases......saying that they were very rare and would sell other places for a very high price but he did not care about his profit today because I would bring him good luck. He was very very insistent....standing at the door so I could not leave...saying "I give you a very good deal today", "I want you to be happy". He also told me that he spent much money on fireworks during the Holiday so he would have good luck and all his luck for the year was dependant upon me!!! Yikes!!! That is a lot of pressure on a person who just wants to browse. After a long discussion about "browsing" and "yes the vases are very nice" and "I do not want to buy them today" (I had no clue if they were from the Ming Dynasty or if they were "Made in China" yesterday) I was finally able to leave his shop and lets just say he was not happy with me. I really did not want him to have bad luck for the year but I was JUST BROWSING!!! After I left his store I called our relocations friend and asked him...."What is up with the shop owners today?" He said they believe the first customer of the new year can bring them luck for the rest of the year ....so.... they really want to make a sale to that customer.....even if it is not profitable to them. He said...."don't buy anything if you don't want it BUT it is a great day to get a good deal". So.....I probably passed up a set of vases that could have been our retirement fund but ...... Who knew?? I left the market immediately and walked to Starbucks for refuge. I just did not want to feel responsible for how lucky or unlucky the year midht be!!! Too much pressure.

Today was a big success. I am learning to celebrate each little step as we continue our transition to a new culture and living in a big city. I hired a local university student for the next couple of months to help me with "stuff". She will be coming three days a week and I have lists of things that I need her help with. Her English name is Jane and she started today. She is a very lovely girl and very smart. She speaks Chinese, English, and German.....boy....do I feel like a slacker!!! She grew up in Shanghai and is in her last term of university. Her schedule is flexible because she will spend this term writing her exit paper. So....today the first thing we did was translate all the buttons on our TV and DVD remote controls, telephones, washer and dryer, and rice cooker. Oh my gosh!!! I am so happy. You can not believe how frustrating it is to try and run the washing machine, or change the DVD settings when all the instructions are in a different language. I am technically challenged in the first place and then when you add another language into the mix it is just impossible. AND now.....even though I am still technically challenged...at least I know where all of the buttons that I don't know how to use are located.

Two other big accomplishments for the day......I know how to mail a letter and a package through the China postal system AND I have new "local knowledge" about the fabric market and how it works. .......Small successes......big feeling of accomplishment!

The last part of my day was spent with our driver and Ayi scoping out yet another Supermarket. This market is called Metro and is a German owned store. You have to have a membership (sort of like Costco I guess) but in order to get a membership you have to show your passport (I never have it when I need it) and a letter from your "company". I am still not sure what the letter should say but they said it was required. Lucky for us.... they let me have a "visitor" pass because our driver had his membership card. So.....here we were....The driver that speaks Chinese and broken English, The Ayi that speaks English with a Filipino accent, and the Lady with the "visitors pass" that has no clue where to find anything. It could have been a scene from the three stooges. Delia wanted canned pineapple...King thought she said apples and could not figure out why she was looking in the canned food isle...and I was looking for corn chips and tortillas which are not common items in a Chinese market and therefore do not translate from English to Chinese. Then.....I was trying to explain to King how you eat corn chips and what you do with tortillas. It was all very comical. The good news.....we bought a lot of food so we will not have to go back any time soon. Maybe by then I can find out what the "letter" has to say so I can be an official "member".

Today we visited a church in Puxi. The English services are at 2 and 4 in the afternoon. I must admit I really like sleeping in on Sunday morning and then going to church in the afternoon. The service lasted 1 hour and 45 minutes (but who was counting?) and it was a combination of praise music and testimonies. I loved the praise music and was able to connect to a couple of the testimonies. We will visit the Church in Pudong again next week as Abi has not been to that church before.

I read an article on the Fox News web site today that said Chinese officials had arrested three people just after Christmas this year in outer Mongolia for "gathering without a permit". According to the article they were gathered together for bible study. I am very thankful that we have the opportunity to worship in Shanghai. There are so many things that I took for granted in the US.

Here are some pictures of our trip to West Lake

Sunset at West Lake

Abi in the gardens

View of the lake and mountains

Abi in her Chinese Princess clothes

Pagoda tour boat

Tim and Deb at the Tea House

View of the lake and the city

Abi and Tim with the Six Harmonies Pagoda in the back ground.

We have returned from our first "outside Shanghai" traveling adventure. It was not exactly what we expected and we are glad that we went.

Our trip started out a little frustrating as we arrived at the lake and had a hard time finding our hotel. The description said it was "over looking the lake". When we finally found the hotel our driver said "not exactly on the lake"....... I wanted to say "NO KIDDING!!!!" It was "over looking the lake" after you looked over and through about five city blocks of high rise buildings. Now let me explain....we thought we were going off to a quiet lake with mountains and beautiful gardens and walking and hiking paths. None of the pictures or descriptions mentioned that the lake is on the edge (literally on the edge) of a city of 6 million people. I am not joking!!!! So.....we left the "big city" 17 million people to go to the quiet "little city" of only 6 million people. Let me set the stage for you......people everywhere, traffic, more traffic, disappointment about our hotel, and a few glimpses of a lake as we drove through all the traffic.

We were able to change our reservation to a different hotel and on the way to the new hotel Tim asked me if I brought my passport. Nope! He did not either and was pretty sure we could not check into our hotel without a passport. A PASSPORT....why would we need a passport?.....this is a domestic trip not an international trip. Well....guess what? We needed our passports. They really don't care that we have ID in the form of drivers licence from the United States. The hotel staff were very nice but...no passport...no room. They said they would get in trouble with the authorities if they checked us in without our passport. I am guessing that you really want to stay on the good side of the authorities in China. Note to self: always carry your passport when traveling even if it is only 2 hours away. So........here we are just a little on the frazzled side of the emotional spectrum. After much discussion we learned that they did have to have the actual passport if we could give them our passport and visa numbers. Lucky for us Delia was at our apartment and could look up the numbers for us. We got a room!!!!!

The rest of the trip was relaxing and the lake is very beautiful. We took a boat ride on the lake and walked through the gardens. The lake has a long history that has been passed from one Dynasty to another and I would tell you more about it but I could not understand a word that the boat guide said. We are all ready for language lessons.

It is hard to describe what it feels like to be out in the community here. We are a curiousity to most people. We are watched, pointed at, staired at, and today Abi and I were followed into a store by several teen girls. We were shopping in a "womens garment district" with Tim (poor guy!!) and we found a small clothing store that Abi wanted to look in. So.....we went in. Tim sat on the step outside the store while Abi tried on a jumper. Shortly after we went into the store three girls came in. They wanted to see what we were shopping for.....that was it....curiosity. While everyone is very nice it is a little unnerving at times to be watched by so many people.

We can still hear an ocasional firecracker in the distance but I think the fireworks have slowed considerably.

We thought we had seen the best of the fireworks on the Eve of the New Year. Well...... tonight was just as spectacular as the first night. I woke up at about 11:15pm to a bunch of firecrackers and flashing lights. I thought it would stop in a few minutes and I could go back to sleep......no chance of that. The rumble just got louder and louder until I gave up and got up. From our window I could see fireworks all other the city and as far in the distance (way past the third bridge) as we can see. It is a very clear night so the visibility is amazing. By this time no one was sleeping so Tim and Abi joined me in the living room. The fireworks continued to increase in numbers and volume right up to midnight. Unbelievable is the only word that I can come up with to describe the night sky.

The fireworks have died down now but continue to be very noisy. They really like firecrackers in Shanghai. I am going back to bed now and I hope to get a little bit of sleep. We are off on another adventure tomorrow (or should I say today) and we are leaving at 8:00am. We are going to Hangzhou (pronounced Hong Joe) which is a small city about 2.5 hours from Shanghai. It is best known for the lake that is just outside the city and is supposed to be very beautiful. It will be nice to get out of the city. More on that tomorrow........ Good night

We have never lived in a big city and therefore we have never lived in a high rise building. This morning I was wondering about our neighbors. Who are our neighbors? The people that live on the floor above and below us? Or...the people in the building next to ours that live on the same floor as we do? Hmmmm.

Our apartment building (and the identical one next to us) is full of very large windows. The windows are wonderful for the views and every room in our house has a floor to ceiling window including two of the bathrooms. The window in one of the bathrooms is in the shower. By "in the shower" I mean that the back of the shower is a window. When we moved in we (very cleverly) purchased a shower curtain to hang in that window. Great....we have waterproof privacy and it looks good too!

At night time it is really easy to forget that there are people living right next to us. It is dark outside and we like to leave the curtains open so we can see the view. Well....so do our neighbors. Okay....I have to admit that I have been curious about the neighbors furnishings, what kind of plants they have and Abi and I saw a very cute little boy playing with his toys one day. The truth is.....we live in a fish bowl. Not only can I see what our neighbors are watching on TV but they can also see what we are having for dinner. So.........we spend a lot of time in our living room with the lights off. The other night Tim said to me....."Is that guy taking a shower?" Oh my gosh.....he sure was....... and we could see more of him then we wanted to see. The terrifying discovery was that he also had a nice looking waterproof shower curtain hanging in his window. Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!! We went out that very next day and purchased a new very dark shower curtain to hang in our window. Note to self....just because you can't see them does not mean they can't see you. That's life in the big city.

PS.......the fireworks continue......

Today was very relaxing. Tim was up early this morning to play golf while Abi and I got a little "beauty" rest. Abi worked on her Chemistry homework and then we had a morning marathon of movies and worked on our jig saw puzzle. We have discovered that the "local" rate for DVDs is 5RMB as opposed to 10RMB that we have been paying. 5 RMB is equal to about 62 cents. We are feeling a little smug now that we are in on the "secret". We found a DVD store in our neighborhood and will probably become regular customers. Many of the television shows that we would like to watch are not available here. I really miss HGTV.

We have been looking for an electric scooter for Abi so we did a little looking today. All of us (including our driver) took a test ride and found them to be very fun. We are still in the "investigating" stage and will look again tomorrow. Our driver was very helpful today as he interpreted for us with the scooter store owner.

Delia fixed us a very nice dinner this evening and Abi and I are both learning many new recipes. We have also been introduced to some interesting fruits and vegetables. One of the fruits is a gigantic grapefruit. That is not the "official" name but that is what it looks and tastes like. They are about the size of a small watermelon and look like an orange. Abi is becoming more adventurous with the fruits but she is still avoiding the veggies.

After dinner we all went for a walk in the "hood" and stopped to have a massage. We each had a 60 minute Chinese Acupressure body massage. It was heaven!!!! They charge 60RMB for this massage and that is about $7.50. I think I may have a massage every day we live here!!!

Tomorrow we are off on another adventure. There is a market about 1 hour drive from our apartment that several people have told us about. It is a street market with a variety of items for sale including furniture, rugs, and pottery. Another day......another adventure!!!!

PS....the fireworks continue.....

This afternoon we went downtown to see the Lion Dance that is a traditional part of the Chinese New Year Celebration. We were all very excited about this adventure because we actually told the taxi driver where we wanted to go and he understood us!!!! We celebrate all of our small successes.

This morning we walked around our neighborhood so we could start becoming familiar with our new surroundings. I took Tim and Abi to the market that I found the other day and we spent some time looking around at all the different foods. I am fascinated by the "deli" section of this store. There are many different "meats" that I do not recognize and many "parts" of meat that I do. I will tell you that nothing goes to waste here. Everything gets eaten....and I mean everything!!!!

Last night was an amazing experience. We watched the Chinese New Year begin from the 50th floor of our apartment building. One of my new Mahjong buddies invited several families to their home to welcome in the New Year. The fireworks were unbelievable!!!!! I can not even find the words to describe the scene. The fireworks started around 6:00pm and continued through out the night with the biggest display at midnight.

Tonight we are again seeing many many fireworks all around the city. The night is clear and we can see three bridges and beyond. I took theses photos this evening when we returned from the YuYuan Garden.

Today we took the Ferry across the river to Puxi. We walked a short distance to the shopping area around Yu Yuan Gardens. In the center of the Gardens is a temple where people were going to pray to the many Gods of Buddha. We wondered around the streets (with about 17 million other people) and shopped at the gardens. Our big purchase of the day.......slippers. We found beautiful embroidered silky slippers for 10 yuan a pair. That is about $1.25. We shamelessly eat lunch at McDonald's (they had ice in their soda!!!) and looked very American. We also walked down some of the "back streets" and experienced Chinese culture very up close and personal. Abi described our day as "interesting, exciting, new, and a little scary. I asked her what was scary about it and she said.....the crowds...."there were lots of people bumping into us and we sort of stand out in the crowd". We are experiencing being the minority for the first time in our lives. It is a real growth opportunity for all of us. All in all it was a great day!!!!!

Yesterday afternoon I was invited to play more Mahjong with the ladies in our apartment building. It was so much fun. I actually played two games and had a great time. But of course the best part was the company!!!!

Tim and I spent today in Puxi (the other side of the river) with our escort from the Community Center. We found some wonderful shopping places and actually purchased our first piece of furniture. We went to many little home decor shop, a rug market, and a large flower market. All of these would have taken me years to find on my own. I can't wait to go back to them and spend hours just browsing.

All is well again at the Spoffords. Tim and Abi are off work and school for the next week. Tomorrow is Chinese New Year Eve. We are looking forward to the fireworks that will start at midnight and continue for three days.

I gathered all my strength this morning and decided to go to the Community Center to learn to play Mahjong. The truth was I really needed to be with people that are experiencing some of the same things we are AND there was a very good chance they would all speak English.

It was a good decision.....I met some more "expats" and saw some others that I met at the Coffee Connection. Some of them even live in our building. The game was really secondary to visiting with people. These ladies are a wealth of knowledge and a I felt my courage coming back.

I found out it really does not mater which "type" of water I order.....there seems to be a consensus that all of it actually comes out of a hose in the back of a little garage somewhere in Shanghai. Some thought it was filtered through a coffee filter others thought it was probably filtered through an old nylon sock or a condom. I am telling you these ladies are funny!!!!!

While I was at the Center I was greeted by Ana (director of the Newcomers Program) with a hug and a cute heart shaped box of candies. She is such a nice person and very energetic. I was renewed by her energy and enjoyed visiting with her.

About a week ago Tim and I decided to sign up for the Community Centers Newcomer Program instead of going with the company that HP suggested. Part of this program includes a "get to know your neighborhood" day. This day is customized to each client so it includes their specific interests. So.....Tim is off work tomorrow because of the Chinese New Year holiday and we are going to go shopping in some of the local "artsy" markets with an escort from the Center. She will teach us how to negotiate and help us find things that I have not been able to find. I can't wait!!!!!

Another part of the Newcomer Program is a computer questionnaire that both Tim and I have to fill out. It is sort of a personality profile. A counselor that specializes in "people in transition" will look at our answers and then help us understand how we can best cope with all the changes that we are experiencing. I find this very fascinating.

Other sessions of the program deal with "working effectively with your Ayi and Driver", "What does the trailing spouse do now", "How to help your children transition", Understanding the Chinese culture", "Doing business in China", and several other interesting topics. Abi will also have classes that deal with "teenager stuff".

Today I am just feeling mellow. I am curled up on our chaise watching the ships moving up and down the river. Today is a three bridge day and we really have an amazing view.

I may go to the Community Center today and learn how to play Mahjong. The lady that gave me the lead on an Ayi teaches people how to play every Thursday morning and then they go to lunch. It sounds like fun but I am not sure I have the energy to "be nice" today. The counselor at Abi's school said that "some days you will just need to take a break from Shanghai and that’s okay and healthy". Today might be a good day for that.