Sunny Saturday

After a week of rain, the sun made an appearance Saturday. What a glorious day. Sunshine always lifts the spirits, and mine had gotten kind of low as I'm losing a battle against a cold. Katie played in a football (soccer) tournament, which began at 8:30am. Larry, thankfully, took her and let the twins and I sleep for a few more minutes.

There were five schools competing in the tournament. Katie's team played three games; losing two and tying one. Since they only practice once a week, I really wasn't too surprised at the outcome. The other girls' teams were made up of older girls, so Katie used that as an excuse as well. I was reminded of watching my niece, Julia, playing soccer one time. She looked so cute in her little uniform, standing in the middle of the field, twirling her hair, not at all concerned with the game going on around her. Several of the girls on an opposing team were practicing their cartwheels at mid-field. However, Dulwich's boys' teams did well, winning the "cup".

After the games, the girls and I went out to lunch and then took a walk along the lakeshore. We took lots of pictures, pretending it was for a magazine...basically hamming it up and enjoying the gorgeous weather. My girls love the camera and the camera certainly loves them.

Staycation

It's holiday time again around here starting with National Day on October 1. The girls and Larry are on vacation and we decided to stick around and explore the surrounding area.

Things didn't start off too well as Larry, Katie and Sarah developed a mean stomach bug Friday. Katie wanted to go to TGIF for her birthday dinner. We usually stay awhile, but Larry looked almost green. Sarah recovered quicker and was raring to go the next day. Larry didn't eat for a couple of days. I made a birthday cake and it hardly got touched as nobody felt like eating.

Thankfully, we all felt better by Sunday. We'd made plans to go to the Shanghai Westin for the brunch. Larry and I went in June and told each other we had to bring the girls. There is food galore, drinks galore and entertainment galore. We arrived when the doors opened and didn't leave until the food was taken away. Four hours of food bliss. The free flowing champagne didn't hurt either. Afterwards, we went to the Bund, which is along the river and sports some of the prettiest views in Shanghai. There were plenty of people, all of whom wanted a picture with the girls. They posed with folks for a good ten minutes before we pulled them away.

Monday, we went to the city of Hangzhou. It's about the same distance away as Shanghai, but once we got to the city it took another hour and a half to navigate to West Lake, where we met up with Linda and her friends. We had no idea the city was so huge. There's plenty to see and do, but definitely not during the holiday week as there's just too many people. The walkways along the river were packed. We took a twenty minute ferry ride out to one of the islands. Like everything in China, the lake has a long history. The Mid-Lake Pavilion, on the earliest of three islands, was built in 1552. The folklore surrounding the various bridges, ponds, archways and statues is staggering. Most involved emperors, princesses, secret romances and lost loves. Linda tried to keep us educated, but even she wasn't sure of some it. We left her with her friends and headed back, only to get stuck in a traffic jam at the toll booth entering into Jiangsu province. Eight lanes down to two, the toll booths were staggering the entrance for all the cars. We sat for close to an hour and a half.

Larry's quality team invited us for an adventure out at Lake Tai on Wednesday. We again, weren't sure where they were taking us until we pulled into the aquarium parking lot. Twice is ok, but not three times. We told them we'd just been a couple weeks prior. We asked about the chairlift ride and scenic vista at the top of the mountain. Ask and you shall receive. I'm not sure how old the chairlift was, but it looked suspiciously like the one I used to ride at Mt. Tom in Massachusetts in the early 80's. The view from the top was beautiful. Even though it was hazy, we could see the surrounding hills and the lake, which encompassed three quarters of the area. The girls were more excited about how we were going to get down the mountain. A 1.2 kilometer alpine slide weaved its way to the bottom and the girls were chomping at the bit to try it. Sarah went with Larry, Syd came with me, while Katie braved the ride on her own. It didn't take us long to get the hang of it. Squealing the whole way down, we hardly noticed the lack of safety nets as we banked high on the steep cliff. We were going too fast to worry about it all. Larry's co-workers weren't as daring as us and it took them a good seven or eight minutes where it took us only two to get to the bottom.

Lunch was at one of the many restaurants found on the first island. Owners stand out on the road and flag down cars as they pass hoping they'll stop. We walked through the little restaurant's kitchen and prep area to the garden seating in back. There were a half dozen small gazebos set up amidst the sweet smelling tea olives and trees. We didn't look too closely, though, as lunch could have easily escaped from the backyard and ended up in our gazebo. Most of the lunch items came straight from the lake or various streams running through the island. Small fried fish, a large steamed one, river shrimp, and plenty of fresh vegetables. There were a couple of mystery meats, from which I stayed away. Sydney once again tried just about everything and amazed us all when she ate about a cupful of snails. She said she really liked them, but I think she enjoyed the notoriety more.

Our adventure continued over to the third island, Xishan (West Hill). We'd driven by the area last year, but I was too chicken to stop. Linwu Caves was supposedly a haven for Taoists during the Tang and Song Dynasty. I tried to overlook the lack of safety railings as we explored the caves and then climb the hill to the Jiafu Tower. Katie and Larry didn't go to the Tower and by the time I'd made it back down I'd wished I'd abstained. My knees were screaming at me. The view from the top was almost worth the climb.

Larry had to go back to work on Thursday, so the girls and I caught up on some much needed housework. The weather has been delightful, hindered only by the bloodthirsty mosquitos. A much needed staycation for all...well, not really for me as I feel like I've been on one for a year now.

Off to the Races

One of the reasons I'm so in love with Dulwich College is its emphasis on not only academics, but the arts and athletics. Of course, I'm all for promotion of the arts. Last year, Katie had to learn how to play a string instrument; violin. This year, it's a wind instrument and she is loving the saxaphone. All three sing in the choir.

Athletics is also a huge part of the curriculum. Healthy competition is not only accepted, but nurtured. The college is divided into four 'Houses'; Wing, Anand, Howard, and Shackleton, in which the girls are members. These houses have a long history involving big names from Dulwich. The competition is fierce and bragging rights are huge. DC-Suzhou has been around for only a few years, but has been dominated by Wing. Shackleton starts the year out strong, but falters. It's finished in the bottum two each year. Last year, I was introduced to the fierceness of the rivalry at the Interhouse Cross Country races. We all know my abhorance for running of any kind. Every sport I played, I was goalie so I could avoid running. Katie, too, is not a fan of running. She finished in last place...but she finished and the entire school was there cheering her as she crossed the finish line four minutes after the runner before her.

This year, all three Whitfield girls were competing. They've been training for the past month. The course the Year 3's and 4's (twins are in Year 3) ran was 1.4 kilometers. Years 5-7's courses was 2.2 kilometers. The set-up for the races is as exciting as an Olympic event. Houses march out with inspirational music blaring. The kids are cheering loudly as Mr. Dunn, the P.E. instructor calls the groups to the line. The little ones race first. Many of them take off like a shot, but pitter out. I ran to the half way mark and watched the twins race by. Sarah was going so fast she ran right out of her shoe, slowing down only long enough to slip it back on. She finished seventh. Sydney, in her quest to be named "most helpful student in the history of students" actually turned around to help a friend, who said she couldn't go on, so she ended up twenty-second.

My heart was beating so fast as Katie's group was called. Last year, Mr. Hallam, who, coincidently, is her teacher this year, ran the course with Katie. She asked him if he would run with her again. He did. I walked over to the half way point and was speechless as I saw Katie running. Mr Hallam said she hadn't stopped yet. Many of the girls sprinted out early, but were walking. As Katie neared them in her slow and steady pace, they'd sprint ahead again, but, by God, Katie kept going. She finished last again, but a full four minutes ahead of her time last year and only a few seconds behind the runner ahead of her. The cheers for her cracked my heart.

Watching the rest of the races, I was sure Shackleton was headed for another defeat. The senior school, though, actually had some strong runners and the finishes were exciting...as exciting as a foot race can be.

Afterwards, the kids sat under their respective tents waiting for the results. Starting with last place, the houses were called. It was positively deafening when Wing was called out in second place. Shackleton had somehow pulled out a victory. Looking back on the day, each of my girls made me so proud. Yes, winning is awesome, but they all proved they are winners in very different ways.