Dancing in the Street!

Over the last few weeks we have heard that to see real Shanghai you need a trip to a park.  We had visited People's Park during CNY so didn't feel we got the complete picture that everyone has been talking about.  Therefore yesterday we arranged to meet some friends in Fuxing Park (pronounced Fooshing!)  in the French Concession. 

William, Oliver and Cai

It is a fantastic park with lots of paths for going along on scooters and as we first arrived we heard some lovely music playing.  That turned out to be kareoke in the park! The participants were really getting in to it and tempted though we were to have a go we are not sure that Shanghai is ready for Kylie!

The park was full of people enjoying a sunday afternoon out with family and friends.  There were people of all ages doing Tai Chi and other martial arts, the benches were full of women sitting knitting, makeshift tables had been erected and huge groups of men were playing cards and mahjong and gambling lots of money.  However the main attraction was a mixed group which took over the main path through the park.  They were having a dance lesson!

This carried on for a while until it was disrupted by local workmen who just drove straight through it!

After that the main attraction seemed to change!

And Sam got in to a discussion in English, French and German with a local man keen to try out his languages!

Oliver and William and their friends were delighted to find a selection of rides in the park.  They went on a bouncey castle and a children's roller coaster and we all had a tame go on the dodgems!

Welcome home Sam!

We all went to the airport today to collect Sam, back from South Africa. 

He was made to sit in the back with William and Oliver on the way home and read them a story!  After missing a nights sleep he has gone to bed in order to be able to go out for the rugby! 

Oliver and William were delighted with their wooden leopards and animal fridge magnets and I got a lovely necklace, so we are very supportive of work trips!

Sunny Shanghai

 The last few days here in Shanghai have been lovely and sunny and warm, rather like a May day in the UK.  Oliver, William and I have made the most of it by spending as much time as possible outside.  We have been round at the sandpit in our compound making castle and digging holes(!)

We have also made use of our garden for the first time and Oliver and William have rediscovered all of the garden toys.  I wasn't too sure about Oliver's ideas of how our plane flew to Shanghai though!

  We have also managed to fit in the obligatory morning coffee and biscuits!

While Sam is away i've had to put some Manderin in to use.  The other day I used our intercom to order more water and a taxi turned up!  I had more luck yesterday when i managed to order a taxi, direct it to the doctor's, get it to go back to pick up the forgotten passports and back to the docs again!  All in Manderin, English and sign language!  I definately deserved my coffee yesterday!

Be careful what you wish for!

Last night Sam flew to South Africa for 8 days so to take our minds off missing him we filled our day with a trip to Carrefour and a coffee and play afternoon at Slice, our local cafe.  The coffee and play was fun and, as these occassions are in these early days of living here, extremely informative!

Our morning trip to Carrefour was uneventful, or so we thought.  We spent quite a long time at the fish counter, this may sound strange but the fish counter here is a 'live' counter!  There are tanks full of a variety of fish and sealife.  William and Oliver enjoy this section of the shop very much and on the way home were telling Gao Yi (our driver) how much they love fish.  He asked me if they liked fish to which I unwittingly replied yes.  He told me he would get some fish for them to try.  At this point I was a bit concerned as I was fairly sure that Oliver and William wouldn't particularly enjoy eating the dried fish he likes.

We arrived home, bid Gao Yi farewell and tucked in to a delicious pork noodles made by Xiao Lan (our Ayi).  After lunch we were playing upstairs when the doorbell went.  It was Gao Yi with the fish.  I began to explain that William and Oliver might not be very hungry until i caught sight of a bowl of goldfish at his feet!  I was rather surprised but needless to say Oliver and William were delighted!  I'm not sure how long they will last and am dreading coming downstairs tomorrow to find them all dead!

Rules and regulations

One aspect of life in Shanghai which has amused us is the rules governeng children's play areas.  At our local soft play Oliver and William frequently get in to trouble for moving around blocks and cushions.  What we praise as creativeness lands them in trouble with the soft play Ayi!  And earns us frowns!  The tumbletown lot would be in big trouble here! 

Earlier today on a trip to a local park we were faced with the rules below - they need no explanation!  Although Sam in particular is on the look out for a 'dangerous stunner'!

Out and about in Shanghai in a civilised manner!

Since arriving a month ago we have managed to be tourists a few times.  On our third day here we decided that to get our bearings we should go up the tallest building in China - the Shanghai World Financial Centre.  After being shown the way to get tickets, how to buy them and then the way to the lift by about 15 members of staff (every comrade has a job) we assended 480 metres to the 100 floor.  The views were amazing, if a little scary!  There were glass panels in the floor which William and Oliver actually thought were holes.  It was very amusing to watch them jump back in shock!

Over CNY we went over the river to the People's Park which, according to the sign is civilised but we were allowed in so not so sure!  It was a lovely park with gardens and lakes and best of all a dragon roller coaster!  We were going to have a ride but the queue was huge but not as huge as the queue to get the tickets!  Despite the image of China and especially Shanghai, being very overcorowded we have not found it too bad.  Although there is no sense of personal space here! 

Today we went to the Shanghai Aquarium which was fantastic. There was lots to see but the highlight was a 150m viewing tunnel with a travelator to take you through it!  William and Oliver enjoyed touching a baby shark too.

Ni hao from Shanghai!

Finally!  We have managed to get around firewalls and create a blog.  Hopefully we will manage to update this regularly to keep all of our friends and family informed about what we are up to - that's the intention anyway. 

We arrived here on the 5 January 2011 and spent a few days in a hotel before moving in to our house.  Our container has now arrived and everything is unpacked - well nearly!  Over the last month we have sorted out a driver, an Ayi, a school and a doctor and have started to explore Shanghai.  We have learnt how to order takeaways (weekly!), water and taxis.  All four of us are slowly picking up some Mandarin but everyone here has been very helpful despite language barriers.

Keep checking in and i will endeavour to keep this updated!