DUCKs or Dulwich Collage Shanghai (DCS), where Oliver and William go to school, is a fairly new school in Shanghai, it will celebrate it's 10th anniversary next year. However, it's parent school, Dulwich College London has a much longer history and annually celebrates it's Founder's Day in the summer term. For the first time DCS decided to hold a Founder's Day last weekend. It was called 'A Very British Occassion' and was open to all Dulwich familes and was free!
When we arrived at the school we headed to the rugby pitches and were suprised by the scale of the event. There was a huge outdoor stage which looked very proffessional.
There was an arena and lots of other tents. In keeping with the British Theme there was, among other events, a maypole dancing display, model castles, 'medieval' storytelling, fencing, a carosel, a pork pie stand and, to Sam's delight, a hog roast!
William and Oliver had fun posing with the British cutouts!
Oliver and William had a lovely afternoon running around looking at things and playing with their friends. We all then settled down to a picnic supper and were entertained by various bands.
The highlight of the evening's entertainment was a concert by the senior school choir and the school orchestra. We listened to some classical numbers, including The Dambuster's March and some popular numbers, including a Beatle's medley. To round off the evening, and complete the British theme, the orchestra played Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March. As Land of Hope and Glory began we were treated to a fantstic fireworks display. It was so impressive that it seemed instantly clear why the fees have gone up this year!!
Sam ended the evening on a high after watching Quins win the Premiership and returned home late with tales of how he had decided against buying a £98 bottle of champagne at the end of the evening (thank god!)! Apparently it was decided it wouldn't sit well on top of all the beer they had drunk!
The following day to complete the 'British' weekend we went with our friends Meeta and Giz and their daughter Ria to the seaside, well a coastal forest park. All the children were excited to see the sea (William and Oliver requested to take buckets and spades) but we had to make it clear to them that this would be no British seaside but a major shiping lane where the Huang Pu and Yantzee rivers meet the East China sea. Exotic it sounds but exotic it was not!!
Indeed we were dubious as to what we would find as we approached through an industrial area and narrowly avoided collissions with lorries.
However, the park was fantastic and actuallly had an English country garden feel to parts, with its well stocked boarders and wild flower meadows.
There was no pier with a helter skelter but we did find some dodgems and a bouncy castle. We had a picnic by a stream, followed by a walk through the forest and an ice cream. A very British end to a very British weekend!
When we arrived at the school we headed to the rugby pitches and were suprised by the scale of the event. There was a huge outdoor stage which looked very proffessional.
There was an arena and lots of other tents. In keeping with the British Theme there was, among other events, a maypole dancing display, model castles, 'medieval' storytelling, fencing, a carosel, a pork pie stand and, to Sam's delight, a hog roast!
William and Oliver had fun posing with the British cutouts!
Oliver and William had a lovely afternoon running around looking at things and playing with their friends. We all then settled down to a picnic supper and were entertained by various bands.
The highlight of the evening's entertainment was a concert by the senior school choir and the school orchestra. We listened to some classical numbers, including The Dambuster's March and some popular numbers, including a Beatle's medley. To round off the evening, and complete the British theme, the orchestra played Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March. As Land of Hope and Glory began we were treated to a fantstic fireworks display. It was so impressive that it seemed instantly clear why the fees have gone up this year!!
Sam ended the evening on a high after watching Quins win the Premiership and returned home late with tales of how he had decided against buying a £98 bottle of champagne at the end of the evening (thank god!)! Apparently it was decided it wouldn't sit well on top of all the beer they had drunk!
The following day to complete the 'British' weekend we went with our friends Meeta and Giz and their daughter Ria to the seaside, well a coastal forest park. All the children were excited to see the sea (William and Oliver requested to take buckets and spades) but we had to make it clear to them that this would be no British seaside but a major shiping lane where the Huang Pu and Yantzee rivers meet the East China sea. Exotic it sounds but exotic it was not!!
Indeed we were dubious as to what we would find as we approached through an industrial area and narrowly avoided collissions with lorries.
However, the park was fantastic and actuallly had an English country garden feel to parts, with its well stocked boarders and wild flower meadows.
There were lots of places to explore and we saw some wildlife, including a rabbit. Ria organised the boys in their games.
Oh and of course a trip to a Chinese park would not be complete with out a wedding photo!
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