Our Busy Weekend

Chris took part of Friday off to go with Peter, Samantha and me to the Shanghai Expat Expo.  Picture a long and winding path through many rooms full of booths - doctors, dentists, language schools, private schools for kids, food vendors, travel destination, and other services of interest to expats.  We came home with several bags full of free pens, a few post-it notes, and lots a promotional materials.  I was happy that we had the chance to speak to representatives of the doctors and hospital that we are most interested in checking out and I joined the Shanghai Expatriate Association, another social club, similar to the American Women's Club of Shanghai, that has a lot of great day trips. Chris was very interested to learn about an English-language website that facilitates for expats the use of Taobao, a very large online shopping site offering much reduced prices on all types of goods.

After the expo, we went to Yuyuan Gardens, shopping for pearls and scarves, wondering around seeing the sights, and giving Samantha a little taste of Shanghai.  We returned to Pudong for lunch and then picked up Kennedy and Cameron after school for dinner at Aunt Barbi & Uncle Chris's apartment.  Cooking dinner for 5, even something as simple as spaghetti, was very challenging on a 2-burner stove.  I cooked the asparagus in the microwave and, although it tasted good, it was no where nearly cooked enough.  :)

On Saturday, I basically collapsed and spent the whole day on the couch, napping and catching up on my jet lag.  Hopefully, the worst is over.  Chris & Samantha went to see downtown Shanghai, visiting a Buddist temple and the Bund area.  Samantha apparently caught the eye, and the camera lens, of many of the Chinese along the Bund, where many strangers were taking her picture.  Of course, since she was the only blond to be found among the thousands of people they saw, that may have been why.  :)  Chris and Samantha had a good, authentic Chinese lunch downtown before returning to the apartment to watch some of "The Big Bang Theory" with me on DVD.

On Saturday night, we went to dinner with Peter, Nickle and the kids at a fun pub-type of restaurant before heading to a great acrobatic show.  While we all enjoyed the group contortionists, the two men of strength, the hat jugglers, and the motorcycles racing inside a big metal ball, but my favorite was the plate spinners, especially when one woman climbed onto another woman, each spinning plates, and did a head stand, one head on top of another head, each still spinning four plates in each hand.  It was crazy and believable because at least once, during a different part of the act, some of the plates feel to the floor.  We really enjoyed the show and Samantha and I agreed it was like watching a whole season of "America's Got Talent" in one night.  :)


On Sunday morning, I was very excited to be able to log into my Comcast account and watch last week's episode of America's Got Talent without delay.  The later it got in the day, the worst the reception was, so I think we'll have to download or watch shows early in the morning, if at all.  After Samantha got here, we headed over to IKEA to do some household shopping.  We ordered a mattress and bed topper for our master bedroom.  The mattress we have is so hard, I've been sleeping on the couch every night.  The new mattress is being delivered on Tuesday and I can't wait to sleep in my own bed again.  We bought a lot of kitchen supplies as well, including more silverware, plates, and cups.  Next time we have the kids over for dinner, we'll each be able to have a fork. :)  It's surprising how excited you can get over things like bathmats and a napkin holder.  We bought a new duvet cover and some pillow cases to go with our new mattress, as everything we had in the apartment was just white, so we added some color.  When we got home, Chris took his turn catching a quick nap while Samantha and I went to Ole, another big expat grocery store.  We can certainly get enough items from the U.S. and Europe to get the feel of home. 

Our visit from Samantha is ending tomorrow, as she heads off to Vienna, Austria for her semester abroad.  I hope she had a fun in Shanghai, although we did less sight-seeing and more hanging with the family and settling into the apartment.  That's what she said she wanted to do while she was here, so I hope she enjoyed it.  I'm very excited for her and her upcoming European adventure.  I'm so much less stressed about her being in Austria on her own knowing her command of German, as well as her knowledge of Italian, Spanish and even quite a bit of French.  She's going to have a great semester and will hopefully do some wonderful traveling.  I will miss her, but am looking forward to visiting her in Vienna in November.