. Just Imagine the Good Neighbor: Babysitting in China...

When we arrived in China on the evening of August 30, we were excited to see the kids, tired and eager to get our instructions and get acclimated so we could handle things there on our own. Jen and Taylor left about 24 hours later for Jen's Half Iron-man World competition in Australia. We were in charge with a 6 year old translator. Will does an excellent job and he did turn 7 two weeks later. His ability to help us communicate is amazing!

The next morning after Will demonstrated his new piano skills, we headed off to school. Will has a beautiful new school and he is a happy student.

June attends the same school as last year but now she goes upstairs with the bigger kids.

As we tagged along on last minute errands with Jen and Taylor, we managed to squeeze in croissants at a local eatery called Jamaica Blue. It is a popular place with ex-pats and we saw some of their friends there. Steve and I really liked their nutty banana bread.

Here is Taylor packing up one of the bikes for their trip to Australia.

Jen and Taylor left that afternoon and the evening routine was easy. The kids love reading together and saying prayers so that went well. We all went to bed early--like 7:30. Early to bed and early to rise was our routine in China.
After dropping the kids off to school the next day, Steve and I did a bit of exploring. We had the driver take us to an artsy shopping area we've been to before. I believe it is called Tian zi fang. We walked around and enjoyed this interesting Chinese market. Then, since we were on the Puxi side of town, we had him take us to the famousYu Garden next to the famous ancient Tea House shown in many photos of Shanghai. We had been to the Tea House and the market surrounding it several times, but we had never taken the time nor paid the money to see inside of the beautiful oriental garden which seems to wind around and go on forever. We remembered to take our drivers' licenses so we could get the senior discount. Of course, they can't read them but if you have them, they give you the discount. It worked every time.

It was intriguing to me to watch this artist paint with the side of his hand. After I first noticed it, I saw other artistic pieces that were painted this way.

I am also interested in seeing where the local people live down these tiny alley-like streets with doorways to small living spaces on each side of the alleyway. We are always amazed at all the electric wires and wonder that there aren't more fires.

Here is the famous Tea House in the background. It is very close to the Yu Garden. The next few pictures were taken in the garden.

Even though the temperatures had cooled substantially in the past two weeks. It was still warm and muggy to us as you can see by my flushed and sweaty face. We are happy that we missed the really hot weather.

There are lots of beautiful towers in the garden, ponds with fish and rock creations that were very unique and interesting.

We splurged for a treat at the local DQ. We had just enough time when our driver finally arrived to get back and pick up the kids from school. We were happy that we were able to successfully see something new in Shanghai on our own.

On Saturday we planned a special outing to the Shanghai Wild Animal Park. We left early so that we could enter the park before it got too crowded and too hot. That was a wise decision.

Our first activity was to walk to the back corner of the park and buy tickets to get on a bus-type vehicle that was like cage. We were so happy to be on board with only 10 other people because it enabled us to move around as they drove us through the section of the park where some of the animals came up to the vehicle to be fed. That included bears, lions, tigers, etc. It was an adventure for sure as another little boy stuck his fingers through the cage very near where they were feeding a lion. A quick swipe reminded us all to be careful and keep our fingers inside.

After riding the bus, we paid to ride a smaller vehicle around the park. It was a hop on, hop off kinds of thing. The rest of the park wasn't so big that we needed that vehicle so we felt kind of ripped off. Lesson learned. The rest of the park was pretty much like a normal zoo except for the pandas. We loved watching the pandas eat. Specialized had a bike display in the panda exhibit. We took a photo to share with Taylor. He was aware of the display but hadn't seen it.

The kids really enjoyed playing on the playground equipment so we stayed there for quite a long time. We were glad we did, when they came out to fee the tigers at a display nearby. Watching the tigers jump, swat, etc. to get their meat was pretty amazing. The zoo keepers used pulleys etc. to dangle the meat and create quite an entertaining show. It demonstrated to us just how powerful and aggressive the tigers really are.

The animal park was about 60 minutes away so we saw a lot of interesting vehicles on our drive. When we got back near home, we stopped at a favorite slushy place for some refreshment. Our slushy/slurpees were cold and delicious.

We put together puzzles, read books, colored and enjoyed spending time together. The neighbors across the hall were also very kind to us and the kids played together a couple of times. The kids spoke no English but their mother did. She was amazed that we managed to get around so well, get to the store, etc.

Sunday was also an early day as their church starts at 8:30 a.m. We took this picture before church.

Their housekeeper didn't come on Sunday but during the week she cooked for us a couple of times. This meal was especially tasty. There was a traditional tomato-egg dish, beans and garlic, stir fried potato and carrot slivers, and broccoli and garlic. And of course, there was rice. June loved the rice and beans. Will like the rice and broccoli. Steve and I both loved the potatoes and carrots and I liked the tomato dish.

Monday when we started out for school, we planned to leave a little early as we knew it may be extra congested since it was the first day of school for the majority of the Chinese children. There were an extra three million children in over one million cars on the streets of Shanghai. IT WAS CRAZY! We were not prepared and didn't realize that the driver was heading to the wrong school first. So in spite of our early departure, Will was a few minutes late for school as we had to turn around and go the opposite direction in the crazy traffic. The driver was embarrassed so he worked hard to compensate the rest of the week.

One day after dropping the kids off at school, we had the driver take us across Shanghai near the Puxi airport to a small watertown.

This little ancient watertown area was converted to a shopping area with a lot of food stalls. It appeared that it was very popular with Chinese tourists and possibly local shoppers too. Some of the shops were so crowded with shoppers looking for bargains and trying on clothes on the spot, that it wasn't wise to get into the shops.

It was a quaint little area. The food was not appealing to us. We were able to get most of the items we were seeking in this market area.

In the same area we saw the small living spaces where the local Chinese people live.

Steve always gets a kick when we see the split pants on the Chinese baby. When they go to the bathroom, their caregivers just hold them out and they go on the ground. Watch where you step.

I bought some scarves, chopsticks and a necklace that was made while I watched.

Here is a worker by the side of the road. Since there is no way we could sit like that, especially for a long time, it is fascinating to us.

When we picked up June from school, we were able to meet the German lady who was the founder of the school. She has lived in Shanghai for 18 years and loves it. She also loves the children.

Here Steve is learning how to tap into the coconut and retrieve the juice. These coconuts were given to us by the neighbors across the hall.

We decided we did want to go to the underground market and get a pair of slacks made for Steve.

The driver first took us to the nearby Science and Technology Museum but he understood the word "shopping" and was able to ask one of the parking attendants. We soon found it and even though, we entered through a different door than we were used to, it turned out to be a good thing. Since we had to go back several times, it was nice to have this new entrance with a nearby parking place.

While Jen and Taylor were enjoying the beautiful beaches of Australia and basking in Jen's amazing performance in the Half Iron Man, Steve and I made several walking trips to the local Carr Fore market, the local bread store, the video store, the massage shop for massages and foot massages, and the fruit vendor.

Here the kids play with the neighbor kids.

While we got along fine while the parents were away, we were happy to have Jen and Taylor back so we could spend some time with them too.

Here is the beautiful indoor playground in Will's school.

Since we weren't going to be there for Will's birthday on the 15th, we made a yummy peach desert to
celebrate it early.

We love the tree-lined streets of the area where Jen and Taylor live.

It is amazing how much stuff people can tie to their bicycles and carts.

Steve gets a kick out of all the realtors hanging out on the streets, hoping to get people to take a look at some apartments or houses.

Here is the babysitter who came over on the last Saturday night of our visit. Jen and Taylor along with their friends, Bryant and Elizabeth and Chuck and Jenna took us to the World Financial Center Bldg for dinner at a restaurant on the 92nd floor. It was not the tallest building we have ever been in but it was the highest floor we have ever been on and it is one of the top 5 tallest buildings in the world.

It was incredible to look down on other famous tall buildings including the pearl tower. Across the river you can see the lights of the Bund area.

Both of the pictures show the Bund area better.

This picture was taken from the ground and shows the top of three of the tallest buildings. Steve did a great job getting this photo.

Jen practiced foot zoning on the areas she has covered in her training. She did a great job. We think she will be an wonderful foot zone practitioner.

Will has a Chinese teacher from June's school who comes to the house once a week to teach him piano lessons. Keep practicing, Will. He enjoys the music.

Here is a group picture we had the driver take outside of their apartment after church on Sunday. It is hard to believe that it's been almost two weeks since we arrived. It was a busy, fun time.