My Bright Shining Stars

The end of term is this week. Hard to believe we've already been here long enough for the girls to be finishing their first term of school. It's been a trying time, but the holidays are upon us and my parents will be arriving in less than two weeks.

We were treated to several performances this weekend. Each one of the girls was involved in an extracurricular activity, which culminated in a display of their hard work. Friday, Sarah's dance class performed during the general school assembly. So cute, she really is a ballerina. Not sure where she inherited her gracefulness as her dad and I aren't known for that particular attribute. Larry and I sat there smirking through the other class's routines. Once again, I was reminded of what my parents must have gone through. Those endless recitals where I thought our class was flawless, but were probably as filled with mistakes and wrong turns as these groups were. Still, our pride was plentiful and Sarah looked and danced like an angel.

Saturday proved to be trickier than anticipated. Both Sydney and Katie had their respective performances. Unfortunately, Sydney's Tae Kwon Do exam/presentation was almost at the same time as Katie's choir performance, which took place on the other side of town. Not a big deal if we were in Seneca as 'across town' is like a 5 minute drive. Here, 'across town' can be an hour away. We all were able to watch Sydney kick the crud out of a punching bag and show off some cool moves, but Katie and I had to leave in order to make it to her locale in time to sing. I did not get to see Sydney break a board in two pieces and move up to the next belt level. I told you she was the enforcer of the family.

Katie made it to the Sheraton in the nick of time. The Expat Association of Suzhou held a kids' Christmas party and it was the largest gathering of 'westerners' I'd seen since arriving to China. Cindy and I had gone to the Newcomers coffee earlier in the week and bought tickets for this extravaganza then. Not sure if this Expat group is for me. I'm still trying to adjust to not working and I don't think I'll last as one of the unemployed. This group seems to relish in their socializing. Another blog for another day.

I managed to locate a vacant table and tried to secure nine seats for our family and Cindy's. Katie and the choir soon appeared and I jumped up to get close enough to snap a few pictures. The choir did a great job and looked really cute in their scarves and santa hats. Larry and the twins were able to see/hear the last song while waiting in line to get in. The place was packed, but fairly well organized. The girls got to put their order in with Santa and made some artsy craftsy things before we called it a day. This week, there are more performances and parties. I'm pretty sure they will get to go to more parties than Larry and me. Oh well.

Seven? Are They Really Seven?

My little babies turned seven years old. I'm kind of at a loss. When they were six I could still kind of pretend they were my babies, but there's something about the age of seven that just sounds older. Oh, and the chinese culture dictates that you are already a year old when you are born, so they are trying to say they are actually eight. Nope, not going along with that one.

We've decided to hold off on a party until next month (Katie liked that plan since she had to wait) as there are so many events going on with school and lots of kids are actually leaving for the winter break this week.

Last night, we let the twins choose where they wanted to eat. Times Square has dozens of restaurants that we haven't tried yet, but where do they pick? Pizza Hut. Afterwards, we walked through the huge four story upscale mall in search of the arcade. We remembered seeing one, but couldn't quite remember on which level it was. Eventually, we found it and the girls played some games and won some trinkets. We also watched the outdoor "movie" and enjoyed the pretty sights.

Mr. Liu bought the girls a birthday cake, but was tired so didn't stay around for the festivities. I don't know if all drivers treat their drivees so well, but we are really spoiled. Wishes were made and candles were blown (twice so each had a turn), presents opened and played with, and finally around nine my angels went to bed.

Oh, Danny Boy, the Pipes the Pipes are Calling...

Every Friday at Dulwich, the students attend a school-wide assembly. The content of these assemblies changes weekly. Each Year may be in charge of presenting or there may be a holiday themed program. Parents are welcome to attend, but I've stayed clear until I was formally invited by one of my girls. The "Pavarotti Choir" as well as Year 10 was slated to present on Remembrance Day (Veterans Day), and then again on the First Annual International Schools' Music Day. I'd heard Katie singing a couple of songs, assuming she'd learned them in choir.

The auditorium is quite large, but even so the students fill up the lower section. Parents have to sit in the balcony. For Remembrance Day I managed a front row balcony seat, but forgot the video camera and had to use my phone to capture the moment. The kids did a good job with an emotional tribute to the British veterans. The Headmaster Mr. Magnus touted the hard work of all the students for both events. He's so proud of his school as well he should be.

The Music Day was for the Junior and Senior Schools' music students. Dulwich, along with five other International Schools from the area came together and made music. There's no better words to describe it. The band, orchestra and choirs from these schools practiced all day together, learning three to four new pieces of music and then performed at the end of the day for the entire school. You all know how choked up I get when there's music and my children involved. Add the fact that Larry was able to enjoy it as we'd just come from the airport after his long trip.

I'm still trying to figure out how to download a readable file from my phone to the computer. I did snap a couple of pictures of the days' highlights, but hopefully, tonight Larry can help me put the videos on here. Yep, he's actually home this week.

A Walk in the "Neighborhood"

As I've mentioned, walking is an integral part of our lives now. Yes, we have a driver and Mr. Liu has been invaluable to us, but to really experience the city and see what isn't necesarily meant for internationals to see we walk. Ok, so Mr. Liu comes with us to the trickier areas. He wards off the peskier folks and loves the attention the girls still receive. I was walking in the mornings, but it rained for almost two weeks straight. The trek would vary, sometimes around the park or maybe to the giant ferris wheel, but usually it was to the neighborhood center. It's hard to describe what these centers encompass. When I think of neighborhood centers, swimming pools, tennis courts, recreation-type areas come to mind. Well, those kind of places are "clubhouses" and are located in the compounds. Royal Peninsula has a nice clubhouse, but when it was being built somebody didn't fill out the proper paperwork with our friendly Chinese government and now it sits empty waiting for redemption.

Neighborhood centers are as big as shopping malls at home. These centers are all over the city, usually located in areas with many high rise apartment complexes or compounds. I did write about all the things that are in ours, but I keep learning new things about it. Each time I go, some new sight reveals itself. Just the other morning, I noticed how many grandparents were there with little babies playing in the park. Not a handful, we're talking dozens upon dozens. It's one thing to read about the culture and try to study it in classes back home, but to truly understand, or rather try to begin to understand, one has to witness it. The importance of family is not a lost concept on me by any means, but it is a different concept compared to the chinese people. But I digress yet again.

I finally worked up the nerve and enough chinese vocabulary to go to the fresh market. What a treat! I walked out of there with grapes, bag of oranges, onions, noodles, cantalope and fresh-from-the-chicken eggs. Oh yeh, remember my quip about how they probably butcher the chickens in the back room? I was wrong. They don't butcher them in the back room. First, you pick out the one you want for dinner, next they boil it, then defeather & debowel it (if you want)and finally wrap it up...all right in front of you. Nope, haven't done that yet, but lucky me, there was a woman right next to me who did.

The pictures are taken from our back door to the neighborhood center. I just love that walk.