http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/JoTB/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from JoTB en-us Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:05:32 +0000 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:05:32 +0000 We have had a very enjoyable Christmas indeed and it has even been relaxing We started our celebrations on 23rd when Sophie and I went around to do some baking with Linda and Sarah. We made some mince pies and shortbread biscuits before Linda and I went off to do our Christmas shop at Carrefour. Amazingly it was absolutely packed....full of westerners looking for their chickens due to an absenc http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-464514.html Sorry for not yet posting the Christmas blog but we jetted off for our New Year's break early on Monday morning and had not had time to add our pics. This blog comes to you from our very cosy guest house in Yangshuo on our other laptop but we promise to add our Christmas pics next week when we are home. For now I want to update you on the fantastic time we are having here....we have done so much http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Hunan/Guilin/blog-463719.html Phew. We are all officially exhausted It has to be said we are quite relieved to be staying put this Christmas and not trekking half way around the world today We are really very sad not be spending it with our nearest and dearest in England but at the same time we have had such a busy period over the past few weeks we all need to rest.We finished school on Friday lunchtime after an eventful http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-461613.html Well I have to say I have had a truly wonderful weekend. Yesterday we experienced our first ever Thanksgiving and my friend Suzanne explained to us how before we started to eat our dinner we had to go around the table saying what we are thankful for. I know all the adults present were surprised to hear my say how thankful I am for the adventure I am having our here and that this time last year http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-456910.html It is amazing how many people from different countries we have met lately. We really seem to be meeting more and more new people and it is so interesting. Life here at the moment is pretty sound. I know I sound like something out of the 80s with that comment sound as a pound but I think it is a good description. School is going well for all of us and this was reflected by both of the childr http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-453306.html Time is just flying along for us we cannot believe it is November already. We have had so much going on I am sorry for not writing since our holiday so I will try and keep what we have been up to reasonably brief. Sophie is still doing her tennis class but is has kind of turned into a family affair. On a Sunday morning we all turn up to our friends' compound and all 8 of us take it in turns t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-449906.html Today was a very cool day The Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 Tennis tournament comes to Shanghai every October and this year we decided we would like to go. We found out that the first day was free so we went with our friends but sadly Ian had to work. A strange thing about Chinese holidays Thursday was a national holiday but this meant that all Chinese businesses and schools had to work today inst http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-443758.html Well we are back in sunny Shanghai from our first proper holiday since arriving in Asia We had a fabulous time in Phuket and would very much like to return there.We had a rainy last couple of days and Ian got serious Phuketbelly so was bed ridden while I kept the children amused with ten tons of homework We did manage a quick trip to the Seashell Museum and a swim in the dark which was quite f http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/blog-443188.html Phew what a week We have been very much looking forward to this holiday for such a long time and it has not disappointed. When we were invited by our friends Ian Bing and Chloe to join them on their annual trip to Phuket we had no idea how lovely it would be. Ian's parents have a place here which is just beautiful and we have been lucky to have such fantastic hosts during our stay. Ian was k http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/blog-442218.html Hello blog fans so so sorry for the huge delay We cannot tell you just how manic things have been here....just tiredness upon tiredness. Added to which we are competing for the internet as we don't have wireless at home Ian and I are really busy planning for lessons I am marking luckily Ian doesn't set homework so therefore no marking Ian is picking up the pace on his Chinese and learnin http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-438766.html Another week has gone by and already time is flying along....already my apologies for not blogging. Along with my new fellow Grade 3 ICE Teacher I am trying to do as much forward planning as possible. I keep remembering back to this time last year and just how manic this time between now and Christmas was. With this in mind I am planningtastic Yesterday we were able to go into our new classro http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-431296.html Shanghai continues to throw its' firsts at us and this week was no exception. We have finally ceased living as nomads and moved into our new place. We are so excited and happy to be in here we cannot explain it in words. Sadly pictures will not explain it fully but we will try. Our apartment is on 11th floor in the compound behind school with the great 'Pirate Ship' play area in where our frie http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-428615.html Hey everyone we are back and here and have some great pics of our hols for all to see http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/blog-428109.html Hello again everyone here we are again back in Shanghai for our second year. We arrived back on Friday afternoon after a very successful flight with Emirates this time. The flight was split into 2 legs with a 2 hour stopover in Dubai. This has to have been our best flight so far for 2 main reasons....the first being the fact that the entertainment system was available to start from the moment http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-426944.html We have had a very busy few weeks and we thought we would put up some pics of our exciting activities over here in rainy England. We have had some very mixed weather sunshine and showers all round and we have had a few chilly days too. Mind you we went for a walk last week along the river bank by mum's house and I got burntWe have caught up with so many people it has been brilliant. So many pl http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Lincolnshire/blog-420237.html We have had a complaint that we have not written since we have been away so due to popular demand we are back Only a brief one mind as I don't have many pics at the moment...more to followOur trip back was ok but not great. Our flight was delayed but on the plus side this meant that Soph went and chatted up the pilots and they were both invited to go and see the cockpit before we took of http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Lincolnshire/blog-418247.html This week is the final week of term and today was the last teaching day as we have parentteacher meetings tomorrow then we are in on Saturday morning clearing our classrooms. As I teach Grade 5 this week has been more hectic than the other grades and us Grade 5 teachers have been thoroughly jealous of the rest of staff winding down while we have been preparing final assembly graduation part http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-412197.html Well this blog finds us writing from a different location this week....we found ourselves homeless this week as we decided we would leave our apartment a little early in order to ensure our financial security. Landlords are well known for not returning deposits and we were so concerned about this we left our place 2 months early to ensure we didn't lose out. However during this week we have bee http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-410138.html Dear blogaholicsApologies for not writing the past weekend life is just moving too fast for us. I taught my class the phrase Stop the world I want to get off today and it is so appropriate at the moment. I am intending on making this blog short as I really need to go and continue marking but I wanted to share some stuff with you all.Firstly I went on a very relaxing girls evening on Friday nig http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-407213.html Wow what a week we have had I think we are truly starting to understand the joys of parenthood as it appears our daughter's social diary is becoming more and more hectic I seem to spend half my time arranging her next social appointment and then the rest of it ferrying her to and fro or entertaining her and her buddiesI must start with the exciting news that I accompanied my best buddy Suzann http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-404212.html