Our latest adventures

Hello all, sorry it has been a while since our last entry (and such a good one too, I am not sure quite how I am going to match it!), but things in the TB household have gone from manic to even manicker (a jo-word there!). I have quite a few bits to tell you all, more bits and pieces tho as we haven't really been anywhere!

Ian started work at Austen Morris last Monday. Sadly, it took him 2 hours to get to work and 2 hours to get home and we were not happy bunnies! He has since found a bus which takes him just over an hour for the whopping price of 2RMB, or in the mornings he takes a taxi which takes about 45 mins but costs 45RMB. Although we think that's expensive, we have to remind ourselves that it is only about £3!! We are taking some time to get used to the fact that Daddy doesn't come home until 7.30pm on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but even worse not until 9.15pm on a Tuesday and Thursday when he goes to Chinese classes! He seems to be enjoying it though and they have clearly spotted his potential as he is being somewhat fast-tracked through the training. The best way to describe what he does is to watch 'The Pursuit of happiness' with Will Smith in apparently!

Sophie has been doing really well at school and actually received 2 certificates on Friday, one for being a Cool Cooperator and one for being Star Student. We are really proud of her and her teacher tells me she is doing very well. William went on another school trip on Friday, this time to the Urban Planning Museum. Theyare now studying a new topic, and learning all about Shanghai and healthy living. There is going to be a 'marathon' held at my school for the Kindergarten on Saturday and the kids have been in training for it, it sounds like it will be great! He is also continuing to enjoy his piano and karate lessons. We took Sophie to a party at a boy called Finn's house on Saturday and we all stayed which was nice. He is Australian and a lovely little boy, and his parents were lovely too, we had a great time. They live in a beautiful place in Shanxi Nan Lu which is set over 3 floors on the 30th floor. It took me a while to get on the balcony but the views were stunning!

I have been busy at work again, I seem to be doing extra stuff to my normal teacher role (par for the course with me according to Ian!), but am enjoying it. At last I feel like I have settled into the job but of course with this comes more work! We are nearing the end of our first topic and about to start a new one next week. We do 6 topics throughout the year, each lasting about 6 weeks each. The first 2 consist of "frontloading" where we give the students resources and information about the topic, the next 2 weeks are all about students finding out more about the topic, depending on which part interests them most, then weeks 5 and 6 are for assessment and reflection. Our new topic is all about Migration, which is clearly very relevant here. I am busy planning this one and I think it is going to be very interesting indeed! I have also started an Extra Curricular Activity on a Wednesday afternoon where i teach about 12 kids in French! It seems this is a popular choice as I now have 3 members of the administration staff and the Vice Principal wanting to join also! I really enjoyed it though and it's good to keep my french going.

This weekend passed by in the blink of an eye sadly. Friday night I went out with the girls for a civilised evening of drinking and chatting which was very relaxing. Saturday we were off to a family fun day set up by a Shanghai magazine but it was a bit disappointing, especially considering how far across Shanghai we had to travel to it. It was good to see a totally different part of the city though and the kids had fun. After the birthday party, we went to see our friend Amanda (from halifax nonetheless!) at her traditional Chinese house in NanjingXi Lu, in the heart of the city. Her place is very old fashioned with heavy wooden furniture in it but so full of character. Unfortunately the stairs are a bit slippery and I managed to fall down them as we were heading out. Luckily I have a bit of padding on my bum but my back and left arm didn't much enjoy the ride so I am trying to rest up as much as poss but without much luck at school! Anyway, we then went to the exciting bit and found the new Marks & Spencer which has just opened here last week. It has caused somewhat of a furore and it is very popular indeed. My lovely husband let me buy a new pair of shoes (one thing which is very difficult to get hold of as I, apparently, have humungous feet at size 6.5!!) and we enjoyed wandering around. Apparently, during the opening an Indian man fell off the escalator on the 4th floor and tumbled to his death!!! It has been so popular that the already quite meagre food section is all but empty with a big sign on it saying how they have been overwhelmed by demand and are flying new stock in which will arrive on 18th October....good time not to be there by my reckoning!

Yesterday we did some shopping and other stuff and then Ian went out to the Irish bar with Kevin, another teacher at school buta very similar character to Ian and they seem to have had a great time, seeing as they didn't roll in until the wee hours!

And so another week begins.....just something I keep meaning to tell you is about Chinese names. We are constantly surprised by the English names the Chinese have adopted, and I am still not quite sure how they decide. Leaf and Spring are both females, along with Nectar, Cindy and Candy is popular too. One particularly unusual one have found is Mr Johnson (that is his first name) who manages the buses at school. Everyone at school is called Mr or Ms, like Ms Joanna and Mr Kevin...quiet quaint really.

Well, Ian is about to come home and take Sophie for special time while I get a bit of work done, so had best sign off for now. I hope I can upload some pics from the past week now. Cheerio!

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