We arrived in China the evening of November 5th. Taylor was at the airport to meet us and even though we hadn't had any problems going through various checkpoints, it was a pleasant sight to see him standing there. We had a luggage loaded and were on our way to their home about 30 minutes away.
It was so fun to be greeted by Jen, Will and June after we unloaded our suitcases and lugged them up 53 stairs to their wonderful townhouse apartment. We appreciated their drivers' help.
The kids were so excited to show us all around their house. As we took the tour, Jen was busy showing us where specific things were and giving us instructions for the next four days. Jen and Taylor were leaving first thing the next morning for a 3-day bike race in Indonesia. We had to gear up quickly to handle our responsibilities as caretakers of the kids in China. Jen and Taylor assured us that Will was capable of translating most anything we would need. They were correct.
Jen had prepared a sheet for us with many instructions including the phone numbers for friends. It was comforting to have those but we didn't need them. They left Jen's China phone with us so we could stay in touch with them by texting and if we needed to call anyone. Our phones were turned off throughout our visit.
Jen gave the driver an instruction sheet too. It mostly had a list of times when we would need to leave to get to school, church etc. As we left the car after each trip, we would just point to the time on the list that we needed him to return and pick us up.
Thursday and Friday we would take the kids to school at 8:30 each morning. The driver would drop us off and wait while we walked them into the school and got them settled in. Many of the instructors spoke some English so we got along fine there. The school is conducted in Chinese so both of the kid's Chinese language skills are really improving. At 11:30 we would go back to the school and pick up June. She would like to play on the playground for a few minutes. All this time, the driver patiently waits and then drives us back home. About 2:30, we would go back to the school and pick up Will. Then both of the kids would play on the playground for awhile. They have an indoor playground and an outdoor playground. It was rainy a couple of times, but it was never particularly cold. The temperatures were in the 50's and 60's which was very pleasant for us.
We had to get going early on Sunday morning. Their church starts at 8:30 a.m. It was the primary program so we felt really blessed to be able to see it and to hear Will say his part. June is still in nursery but she knows most of the songs. She loves to sing and we heard many times that "the family is of God".
Will and June's bikes are stored on the landing.
I am standing in front of their townhouse. There are two apartments below them and they take up the top two floors. Each apartment has two levels. Steve is relaxing in their living room. The home has lots of windows and we loved all the light. It also has several balconies which we didn't use due to the time of the year. However, their Ayi, maid, used them all the time to dry bedding, etc.
Here I am picking June up from her classroom at school. One of her teachers told me that she loves to sing, which we had noticed. The teacher says that as soon as she sings the sing once, June can join her in singing it. She picks up the songs must faster than the other children.
June love to play with their Ayi. Both the Ayi and the driver were wonderful with the children. Jen and Taylor really have good employees.
Will is standing outside the door of his classroom.
On Saturday, we arranged for the driver to take us a few miles away to the health club that Jen and Taylor belong to. The club is associated with a high end hotel there. The facilities were wonderful. Will and June were able to assist us in navigating our way around so that we could take them swimming.
Jen told us there was a place to get hamburgers and hot dogs nearby so we planned to enjoy that American treat after swimming. We found an entire amazing mall attached to the place with several restaurants but that wasn't exactly what we were looking for. We ended up buying donuts at Mr. Donut and calling it good.
The kids were very happy with their donuts. We went back home and made macaroni and cheese.
During the week Steve and I ventured out for walks around the area. Jen instructed us where to find the bread store, a little bakery. We went there to purchase bread as we ate a lot of peanut butter and jam toast. The bread comes in loaves that are half the size we are used to. We didn't really care for their donuts or pretzels.
We also ventured to the video store which was just around the corner. Steve bought the rest of his favorite High School Musical series. Will and June loved those musical movies. They loved the popcorn too. Yay! They are my grandkids.
There are lots of real estate facilities on corners. In the afternoon and evenings, several men stand out there on the street in their black suits working the passersby.
Here Will and June pause in front of the sign to their school yard. Steve is standing near the street where the driver lets us out and waits for us. There is a separate lane for bikes, scooters, and other small vehicles. I thought that was a great idea.
On Saturday when we went to the swimming pool, we saw long lines of trucks with these sections for cranes. They were preparing to set them up for a construction site. There was so much construction going on in Shanghai. It was mind boggling. There would be 10 or 12 cranes at one site.
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