Tucker, Abi and Jane at the market in front of our favorite shirt makers shop. We picked up Tucker's shirts and suits.....they look great!!

Abi and Tucker "blending in" with the rock star sculptures in Downtown Shanghai.

Lunch at the Brazilian BBQ restaurant.

Tucker and Abi standing behind a mini model of our apartment building at the Urban Planning Center. This is part of a giant model of the city that shows future development for the World Expo that will be held in Shanghai in 2010.

Resting at the JinMao tower. This is inside the 30 storey atrium that starts on the 56th floor. Very impressive!!!

Life is hard!!!

Tucker after a day of being stared at and Abi after a day at International School.....it is good to relax!!

Tucker with our driver Mr. Zhang.

Everywhere we go people stare at Tucker and make comments about his height. Someone in the restaurant actually took a picture of him with their cell phone today.....they did not ask to do this so it was a little weird. I think he could offer his autograph to people and make some money!
Tucker in front of the Oriental Pearl Tower. This is one of the icons of Pudong and Shanghai.
The two buildings in the background are the JinMao (far right) and the new trade tower (next to the JinMao) that is under construction. The JinMao is the 4th tallest building in the world and will soon be taken over by its neighbor. In the top floors of the JinMao is the Hyatt Hotel...and claims to be the tallest Hotel in the world. The Hyatt purchased the top 34 floors of the new trade tower so they can still claim to be the tallest hotel.

Yippee!! The Internet decided that I could upload more pictures..... These are from today.

Tucker and I created our own "art". We found these shoes drying in the window behind one of the art studios so we just had to take a picture of them. You just never know where you will find inspiration!

This is the back alley to the art warehouse. There were several men having lunch at the end of the alley and they all greeted us as we strolled by.

Here is Tucker in front of the waterfall at the entrance to the art street.

I am standing in front of the sign that is the motto for this area.....Artnow Shanghai

More inspiration....these are signs that direct you to the various art studios.

Tucker and I explored a trendy new art studio area in an old part of Shanghai. They have converted an old warehouse area into different studios exhibiting many forms of art mediums. We took some fun pictures but I can not get them to post today. Hmmmmm......I wonder why I can not upload pictures to my blog all of the sudden. I hope this is a passing thing and not what I think it might be......

This just proves that you are never too old to play with Legos!!!

I bought some new sets of Legos for the kids to put together.

Here they are mixing up the sets and running them across the floor.

More photos from Tucker's visit...

Having dinner at a German restaurant on the riverfront not far from our apartment.












Tucker standing in front of East West. This is one of our favorite spots for breakfast. Abi also like to go here after school for fried rice.

Tucker and I had breakfast here this morning before we went on a tour of JinQiao.













This is the Community Center of Shanghai. We included this in our tour today because I wanted to introduce Tucker to my friend Ana and show him some of the artwork at the Center.













This is a little store that sells really funky white dishes and other fun stuff. Tucker found a few treasures (designer snack bowls) to take back with him for his dorm room. We also found a little art supply store.

These are some pictures from the past few days.

The family having dinner in JinQiao near Abi's school. This is Tucker's first stop after his long flight from Bellingham.


Abi and Tucker enjoying the "raw fish in a boat". Well...actually...Abi is making gaging sounds while Tucker and Tim are eating the raw fish.



Tucker picking out fabric for a suit. The vendors fold the fabric so it looks like the collar of a suit coat so you can see what it is going to look like. We had a hard time holding the mirror up high enough for Tucker to see himself .



Tucker getting measured for his new suit. The tailor kept complaining (with a smile) about how much fabric it was going to take...

In less than 3 minutes after I posted my first blog on 3-21 my site was blocked.So far I can still add new posts but they can not be viewed from here. We think that some of the words triggered the internet censors. I have edited the post and removed some of the words that may have caused this to happen but we don't know if it will ever be unblocked. I guess as far as censorship goes I am in good company....Google News, Wikipidia, and Deb Spofford's blog.

BTW: Tucker arrived this evening and we are so happy to have everyone together again. We went to dinner and then came home to our apartment. We are all enjoying the view tonight and Tim and Tucker are helping Abi write an outline for her history paper. All is well at the Spoffords tonight.

I had my third Mandarin lesson this morning and your prayers are helping because my teacher came back today and is still encouraging. Tim and Abi are also learning Mandarin so at any time during the morning or evening you may hear strange noises as we practice our "tones". Tones are very important because the same word can have different meanings depending on the tone that you use. I wonder if Chinese mothers say "Don't use that tone with me". There are four tones plus one that officially does not qualify to be a tone but really is. I'm not sure what the qualifications are but...there are really five!!! They are flat, rising, falling-rising, falling, and the outcast...Mr. Neutral Tone. To practice these tones you have to say the same word (in this case "word" is a loose term for twist your lips and tongue around until a strange sound comes out of your mouth)four times in a row so that each one sounds different. We never practice Mr. Neutral Tone but he shows up unexpectedly and you should intuitively know how to use him. Let me just say that there is nothing intuitive about learning Mandarin. I may have written about this before but shortly after we moved here, I remember standing in the cleaning supply isle at Lotis looking for bleach. How hard can it be to find bleach? After I had been standing there for about 15 minutes (no exaggeration...do you know how many cleaning supplies there are in one isle of a grocery store with Chinese characters on them?)I over heard a conversation at the other end of the isle. There were two people discussing the pros and cons of a product...or at least that's what I think they were discussion by their body language. They were speaking in Mandarin. When I really looked to see who was talking I saw that one of them was a white person. Side note: White person is the term that foreigners from all nationalities use to describe each other in Shanghai. This person was male and it was really strange to hear this language coming out of his mouth. I was so jealous. This experience caused me to set my new goal. I aspire to have a conversation about bleach in Mandarin some day. Or...at least be able to ask "Which one of these bottles keeps your clothing white? I have simple dreams!!!

Guess what? My ear is 100% better!!!! No drugs...no doctor visit. I am now a total believer in the candle burning paper cone ear treatment.

Our cross cultural training class last Friday was very interesting. We learned about the differences and similarities between Western values and Chinese values and how our histories impact what we think and how we respond to different situations. We received a lot of information so I will try to explain some of it as it relates to our experiences and adventures in China.

Western culture is based on independence, choices, equality, the American dream, entrepreneurial spirit, freedom to speak your mind, etc… Westerners keep their personal lives separate from their work life and in some cases because of our laws are prohibited from asking personal questions in the work place.

I have not spent much time thinking about why we westerners think the way we do….but the bottom line is that America was built on "freedoms" and an “any one can succeed” attitude.

The Chinese culture is based on 6000 years (America is still such a baby)...let me repeat that....6000 years of history where high values are placed on loyalty to one leader that has all the power, close personal relationships with upper ranks and peers, Guanxi (term for favor giving with expected favor in return),following the rules, saving face, dealing with conflict through passive aggressive behavior, and not wanting to be singled out for any reason (good or bad). These behaviors stem from a variety of reasons with one very important one…speaking your mind can get you in trouble. You can see why these feelings run very very deep.

I think that relationships and passive aggressive behavior is really interesting because we have seen this happen first hand. It is not reeeeally funny but Tim and Abi and I are a little amused because we realized that our Ayi is a victim of this behavior. The dry cleaner in our neighborhood has not been doing a great job with our laundry which has caused Delia to become very upset with the attendant. She even mentioned that there was some “yelling” going on at the cleaners.She did not really say who was doing the “yelling” but I have my suspicions. I went to the cleaner yesterday with Delia and Jane so we could resolve a “missing item” issue. Wow!!! Like they say….”You could have cut the tension with a knife”. When Tim or I take the laundry we get “same day service”….in by 10:00am…..out by 6:00pm. When Delia goes to the cleaners she gets 4-5 day service and the day before yesterday only half of Abi’s sheet set came back. The duvet is missing. Delia has returned to the cleaners twice a day for three days straight….each time the attendant says come back tonight…then…. oh sorry….come back in the morning…oh..sorry…come back tonight… We were having dinner when she returned last night from the cleaner without the duvet…. and I think she might have been swearing in her native language… We tried really hard not to giggle out loud. I see a new dry cleaner in our future.

21 hours until we see Tucker.....Yes...I am counting!!!

Some times I am not sure how I get myself into things….but life is short and like they say.. “while in China”…. My ear has been bothering me for the past few days and last night it was really a pain. So….on Tim’s suggestion I decided to try an Eastern form of treatment. The massage place that is close to our apartment offers what they call a heat treatment for your ears. It involves a burning candle, a paper cone, your ears, and some instruments that I can’t describe. It took a lot of guts for me to try this but hey…nothing ventured …nothing gained. This is the procedure….the candle goes into a paper cone…the cone goes into your ear…and then they light the candle. I think the candle wax drips down into the cone causing heat and making your ear feel better. While the candle wax is dripping into the bottom of the cone they massage your ear and surrounding area with oil. This part actually felt pretty good. But…..first of all…..I look completely ridiculous with a paper cone and a burning candle sticking out of my ear and secondly….I was not very relaxed because I was thinking about what could happen if she dropped the candle on the massage oil….I would go up in smoke. I kept telling myself to relax…they have probably been doing this since the Song Dynasty and they know what they are doing. Anyway…..the paper cone has been in each of my ears now for about 25 minutes each. The last part of the treatment is a little unnerving because they stick strange instruments into your ear and extract things that we don’t want to talk about. So…did it help my ear? I think it does feel a little better….but not 100% better. The jury is still out on the effectiveness of the candle treatment. I think I am going to have to follow up with a Western style of treatment. Darn!!

Good news!!!
Someone found Abi's wallet and called our building receptionist to let us know. I am amazed!!! Who would guess in a city of 22 million people (up from the 17 million that is printed in the books) that a lost wallet would be returned in less than 24 hours.

Tim and Abi just left for a scooter ride. I was planning to go but I think I have an ear infection that is making me dizzy. I guess I will be checking out the doctors in Shanghai tomorrow.

4 days until we see Tucker......but who's counting?

Tim has been in search of a scooter that is larger than "the scooter girls" and finally found one yesterday afternoon. He purchased it and rode it all the way back (a very long way) to our apartment. He was so happy!!! I think the "not driving" thing is really getting to him. He said he loved riding his bike because he was in control. He could go wherever he wanted without relying on someone else to get him there.

Yesterday we picked up the rest of our stuff from the fabric market and Tim ordered some more shirts. Our duvet was remade and now fits really great.

Jane took Tim and I on the subway and we learned how the system works. It is really very easy and I think I will use it in the future. I hope to never be in the subway during "rush hour". Jane said it is really really crazy. We did a quick walking tour around the Peoples Square, the urban planning building and then the Shanghai Museum. The weather was really beautiful (a three + bridge day) and it was nice to be outside.

Yesterday afternoon Abi took our driver and some friends downtown to shop. The plan was that Abi would call the driver when they were ready to be picked. However she left her cell phone in the van with the driver and realized when it was time to leave that she had no way to call him or us because (like her mother) depends on her phone to have all the numbers that she needs. Without the phone....no numbers. AND 411 does not work if you speak English and live in China. So...long story short.....they took a cab back to a mall that is close our apartment (the other girls were supposed to be there at 6:00) and then Abi took a cab from the mall to our apartment. She got home about 7:30 and needless to say Tim and I were worried sick because she was so late and we could not reach her by phone. She was very shook up when she got home and then also discovered that she left her wallet in one of the taxis. Lets just say it was a very bad evening for all of us.

This morning we are all just hanging out. Abi is doing homework and Tim is anxious to get out on the road with the scooters. I can not get a grip on how I am feeling.......

Our cultural training was very interesting on Friday. I learned a lot and it was very insightful. More on that later.

Abi had a day out of school today for what we call "mental health day". We are both a little burned out on the whole Shanghai move thing so we decided to take a break. We started out early this morning for a hair appointment. I got my hair highlighted and then we went out for breakfast. We found a place called "the city diner" that serves Western style breakfast 24/7. We were so excited to find this place and order comfort food. Abi ordered pancakes and a basket of homemade breads, I ordered biscuits and gravy (I really meant comfort food) and we each had a side of bacon. You should have heard us eating our meal. We were so happy to have good food that tasted familiar we could not stop moaning. I think people were starting to stare. Bread is not a popular food item in Chinese culture so we have been craving good homemade bread. The basket came with four different samples of breads.....cornbread, sourdough, wheat, and a scone. And....the biscuit with my gravy was Divine!!! My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Bacon is also hard to find. We have had it in restaurants but I have not be able to find it in the stores.
After breakfast I took Abi to the hotel restaurant supply store. She was in heaven looking at all the fun cooking and baking items. These are pictures in the store.....Need a strainer? They have all sizes.....Check out the wedding cake pedestal....ten layers!!! I bought some funky white tea pots and Abi got a turn table for decorating cakes.

Need white dishes?? This is the place to shop!

On the way back home we stopped by the "fake" market and picked up a few DVDs. Then we had what we call a "Gilmore girls" afternoon. We put on our pajamas, popped some corn, got some chocolate bars and sodas, closed the curtains and watched movies. AAhhhhhh!!! Some days you just need a break.....and we really enjoyed ours.

"Only in Shanghai" continues.....

1) Our furniture was delivered early.....4:50

2) I received a package this evening.....guess what was in it? VANILLA!!!!!! My friend Teresa (remember her....she is the one in the picture with James Bond) sent a Currier (her driver) to our apartment this evening with a magazine and a bottle of vanilla. She happened to read my blog this afternoon and remembered that she had an extra bottle in her pantry. You can not imagine how excited I was to get vanilla........only in Shanghai !!!!!

Okay....for all the whining I did yesterday...I must say that today has been much better....in fact....it is one of those days that I can say...."only in Shanghai" could this happen.

I rode into work and school with Tim and Abi this morning. Tim and Abi do this every morning so I had envisioned them chatting all the way to Abi's school and I was missing out on the fun. This was the second time since we have settled in that I have ridden with them....once last Friday and then again today. Last Friday I was chatting away and asking questions and enjoying their company and every once in a while I would get a "yeah" or "uh?" or "hmmm". About half way to school Tim said "Abi have you noticed how different our trip is when Mom is with us?" Then I realized that they both had their computers open and Tim was checking email and Abi was finishing up homework. We all laughed and I figured out that I have not been missing any "fun". They seem to have their own rhythm to the mornings and that is great with me. So.....this morning was no different....laptops open.....and I really tried to be quite.....tried is the key word here. Most of the noise was from my nervous stomach.....I was on my way to meet my Chinese teacher and have my first two hour language lesson. I had my #2 sharpened pencil, my book, and my nerves. Tim was also taking his first Chinese lesson at his office this morning. We felt like little kids on the first day of school .

We dropped Abi at school and Tim at work and I had time for a quick breakfast. I directed our driver to a little restaurant ( he understands: Starbucks, ATM, Carrafour (market), Shimao (our apartment) and East West (our little restaurant) and I ordered coffee (they have really good coffee) and french toast. In less than 5 minutes I had my coffee and french toast. My bill was Y20 or $2.40.....only in Shanghai.

From there I went to "Debbie's School"...our driver made this up to go with "Abi's school". I am telling you....we are getting to be like a well oiled machine!! My teacher is very nice and patient (thank God) and actually gave me some hope that I might be able to learn a little Chinese. Please pray for my teacher.....she will need all the help she can get.

We picked up Tim for lunch and we went to Pines (import store) to look for vanilla. No vanilla!!! That store was my last hope.....who would guess vanilla would be so hard to find......only in Shanghai . I think I have discovered a business opportunity.....importing vanilla.

We took Tim back to work and headed back to our apartment. I have had enough "fun" shopping for furniture lately so I decided to take a break from that....my sewing space will just have to wait for a while. We stopped at a little flower shop (my favorite one was closed) and I bought a big bunch of Gerber daises (it is raining here and will probably continue for the next week) to brighten up the day. Again......Y10 (I did not even have to bargain today) which is
$1.20....only in Shanghai.

I got back to our apartment....Mr Zhang brought all of my junk (a few baskets, a few groceries, and some school supplies for Abi) up to our apartment and unloaded it from the "trolley"......I feel like a princess!!! Delia helped my put all the stuff away, had dinner already planned and defrosting on the counter, and was ironing Abi's shirts.....only in Shanghai. Okay....Okay....I am sorry I whined so much yesterday.

And here is my final "only in Shanghai" experience today. I called one of the furniture places that I visited yesterday to order a cabinet for our entry. She said "would you like it delivered today or tomorrow?" It was 2:30 in the afternoon.... I said...well....today if that is possible but we live in Pudong (which is about 45 minutes from the store on a good traffic day). She said, "I will call my driver and call you right back". When she called back she said, "We can deliver today but it will be much later....like five o'clock". I almost fell out of my chair. I said "Okay...five o'clock will be fine" I tell you....there are somethings that can only happen in Shanghai.

On Sunday evening, while I was balancing a tray of beads on my lap, I decided that I really missed my "work/craft" space. Right now all my supplies are sitting in piles on the floor and my sewing machines are starting to get dusty. So.....for the past two days I have been looking for some fun and functional furniture so I can set up my work space. The three f's....Fun Functional Furniture....and I will add one more F word....FRUSTRATING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have reached the point where frustration is winning over perseverance. I am frustrated with price negotiations, the time it takes to do one thing on my list, language issues, and being treated differently because I am a white female. In the past two days I have been to many furniture stores. Only one store had prices on the items. All others....no prices....so if you want to buy something....you have to ask the price. This price varies depending on who you are. I can't exactly hide the fact that I am a foreigner. Foreigner is a frequently used term in China. I think it means....double the price and see if they go for it. My driver told me today that I pay too much for things......and I probably do.....but I am worn down. In some cases I really don't mind. For example...there is a small flower shop close to our house....it is run by a young couple that have a small baby. The first time I went into their store .... I picked out some flowers...and asked how much? The husband said something to the wife.....she got a sheepish look on her face and told me the price. It was inflated about 3 times what I had paid at another place. I started to object and then realized they needed the money far more than I did....so I paid it. The second time I went to their store....the price was much less. Then there is this kind of experience that makes me crazy.....Yesterday I went to a furniture store....I found two items that I liked...but.....I wanted to think about it.....measure my space....etc. As soon as I asked the price......she told me an amount and then said she would give me a 20% discount. This was a special discount only for me (because I am so special) and this was a great deal...blah blah blah. So today I went back to purchase a small table and suddenly the discount had already been taken off from a much higher price. What????? I wanted to scream. I did not buy the table (just on principle) and as I was leaving the store the price changed again!!! A little lower but still not the 20% discount that was promised.... Next time I want to buy something I am going to send my driver and I am going to wait in the car!!!!

Abi and I got some new "big city" transportation. Our new scooters are electric powered and will go about 40 kilometers per charge. I really have no clue how far 40 kilometers really is because I have not done the conversion to miles. Thank goodness my phone has a conversion feature because I use it all the time.

This afternoon we scooted over to City Shop (Import Grocery store) to get vanilla so we could make cookies... The trip was really fun but guess what....no vanilla. We were really hoping they would have it because we can not find it anywhere else. So.....we made chocolate chip cookies without vanilla. They turned out pretty good and they tasted like home.

I took another class at the Community Center today.....It was very helpful and the instructor gave us lots of tips about working with an Ayi and driver. Our new driver is working out very well and he and I are learning how to communicate and we are getting really good at Charades. I am also improving my Pictionary skills!!! Who knew this would be one of the "bennies" of living in a foreign country. When all else fails....there is the China Help Line. This is a 24/7 English/Chinese translation service. I used it for the first time today and now I have it on speed dial. All you have to do is call the number....tell the person what you want to communicate....hand the phone to the other person (in this case to our driver, Mr. Zhang) and they tell them what you said in Chinese. It is a really great tool. I think you have to buy time on the Internet sort of like a phone card and then you use up your minutes as they translate for you. Today was a freebie!!!

This coming Friday we will have been in Shanghai for eight weeks. Wow! I have not said this out loud but the past few days I have been feeling home sick. I am missing my Mom and Dad, Tucker, my friends, our dog, and all my comfort places like church, our patio, and even Fred Meyer. It is not that I don't like it here (well...if I am honest there are some parts that I don't like) I am just missing "home". We are all really looking forward to Tuckers visit next week. He will be bringing a little bit of "home" with him.

Sunrise this morning in Shanghai. This is the view from Abi's bedroom window.

We had a busy weekend. We picked up some of our fabric market orders. It was a bit disappointing but we are working through it. For example....our duvet and pillows look great....and...they mixed up the width and the length. So....the sides are too short and the length is too long. They are fixing the problem so we won't get that back for another week. Tim's suits look good......and.....they forgot to hem one pair of pants.....so we left them to be hemmed. When we got home and took them out of the bag they had grease spots on them from someones lunch. I think they forgot to look at the measurements for my coat because it was about three sizes too small. It pretty much felt like I was wearing a straight jacket. I am starting to feel like "Amazon Women". Tim's dress shirts are very nice.....and.....we paid for a monogram on the white shirt and they forgot to put it on......AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! All of these are minor things but BIG frustrations when you put them altogether. The good news.....Abi's coat fits great and looks very cute!!!

We attended church on Sunday in JinQiao (boy....do they need some padding on those benches!!!) and again the service was 1.5 hours long. Major TB going on here!!! Abi and I got the giggles during the service and could not stop laughing. I hope God has a sense of humor!!!

James Bond sighting in Shanghai.

My Friend Teresa Kessler with Pierce Brosnon. He was working out in the gym at the Ritz Carlton yesterday.

The previous day there was a Martha Stewart sighting in the same gym.....I think I might change our membership!!!

I spent yesterday in JinQiao (area where Abi's school and Tim's office are located) at the Community Center. I met several people that either live in our building or have kids at Abi's school during the Coffee Connection. I also had two culture classes. One class was all about hosting guests in Shanghai.....so......come on over I am prepared to show you the sights!!!!! No guarantees that you will see Pierce however......

Keep the emails coming we love to hear from you....

Today was sort of a bust and a wild goose chase. I went in search of an art supply store because Tucker will be here in about 10 days and I thought we could load up his suit case with cool art supplies from China. Design students can never have too many art supplies!!! But.....so far no luck and lots of dead ends.


Some sights from Shanghai....

This picture was taken just outside of Abi's school parking lot yesterday. Under the pile of white containers is a bicycle and a rider. No matter how many times we see this sort of transportation method I am still in awe.

Dinner is served!!! Here is one of Delia's great meals.

Salmon

Fresh fruit

Rice

Carrot salad

And check out the presentation

Another funny sign. It says Only if please don't sit down. This was in an upscale furniture store....I wondered...Only if what?

Deb in the Hotel Restaurant Supply District. These are impressive pots!!

Abi having earrings made at the Pearl and Bead Market last night.

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.