Hey all, Well, our three day weekend has come and gone, and we decided last minute to spend it in Nanjing. The following is our diary and testimonial as to why this was a bad idea...to do anything last minute in China, that is...not to spend a weekend in Nanjing...which is a wonderful city...but then, you'll see what we mean...(we hope :-) 5:30 a.m. Alarm goes off at soul-destroying hour. Because our foray the previous evening to the local train ticket office was unsuccessful, we’re off to buy train tickets right at the station. Rumours from work yesterday that tickets to [View Full Entry]

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Hey all, Yes, it's true. We’re really not in China, anymore. To explain, well, let's just say we had a crazy weekend recently…only that means a normal one, actually. Normal for over here, that is... It all started with happy news from an old friend, and actually my boss’ boss’...(boss? exactly how many echelons up, I’m not actually sure:-) namely Hugh Mckeown, the Executive Director of Learning Connections at York Region, and the man responsible for the beginnings of our China adventure back in 2002. Hugh was the director of Huamei-Bond College (our p [View Full Entry]

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Hi all, Now before y'all get upset (we have heard about the cold weather) things aren't as bright and sunny as they appear. There's a saying that springtime in Shanghai involves nine dips in temperature, complete with rain...and wouldn't you know, the cold rains always seem to arrive on the weekend! Needless to say that cuts into our plans, particularly in regard to getting the bikes back out...so lets see...if we've had three dips, that leaves six dips to go...hopefully we can get our bikes out soon, maybe in a mid-dip phase! So what does one do on a cold rainy [View Full Entry]

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Well, Carrie left this week for Pudong Airport, and it was really sad to see her go. After our back-to-back visits from Chris and Carrie, we're finding both the apartment, and Shanghai, suddenly very big and quiet. And that last comment is really saying something! Carrie arrived at the end of January, so her departure today on March 5 has meant she had become part of the fixtures around here -- just like Chris did. I really miss the fact that we had someone to share our adventure with...and our favorite haunts...and now we're back on our own to fend for [View Full Entry]

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As you can see from the pictures, Carries arrival in Shanghai coincided with the first real blast of winter, and the day she arrived our school closed down due to the weather, turning our two week Chinese New Years break turned into three!! So for the next six days after her across-the-world flight to Shanghai we introduced Carrie to Shanghai, and she then joined us on our holiday trip to North Vietnam. Even though we were worried that the ice storms which had crippled the train station in Guanghzhou would also affect our flight to Hanoi via Guangzhou, we were delighted [View Full Entry]

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Hey everyone, Well, we've been back to work now for over two weeks, so our Xmas break ending on January 3rd has been a bit of a shock to the system -- not to mention having Chris' visit rapidly winding down. But we've been managing to stave off the January blues...sightseeing, barhopping and restaurant sampling along with just chilling at night with a movie or odd game of scrabble -- which has all kept the holiday spirit alive!! And what a holiday! As you can see from the last entry, we celebrated a wonderful Xmas and New Years followed with a [View Full Entry]

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Hello everyone from all of us...that makes three of us, including Chris, who is here for one month over Christmas and the new year. It's great having Chris here, and apart from the fact that he has brought Christmas with him (see previous blog) it is simply amazing to share our Shanghai adventure with him. From the start we've been storing up places for him to see, and so far since he arrived his itinerary has been to buy a bike (on his second day) and since then we've been covering the waterfront (or Haungpu riverfront!) Chris himself has requested that [View Full Entry]

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Hello everyone from the three of us! Chris, as you know, is here for one month over Christmas and the new year...and his first week has gone by in the flick of an eye. It's simply awesome having Chris here, and not just for the fact that we got to spend Christmas together, but it's wonderful being able to share our Shanghai adventure with him. From the start we've been storing up places for Chris to see, and so far his itinerary has been pretty busy, from buying a bike on his second day, to using it to cover the waterfront [View Full Entry]

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Ho-ho-ho! And as you can see, much 'ho-ho-hoing' was in order for Roel (aka Santa) at his Xuhui campus last week! Poor guy...he's getting a way too thin for that role...and besides, as it turned out his audience of preschoolers nearly mobbed him in their eagerness to get the goodies of candies!! If the older kids were somewhat more bemused than amused at his playing the jolly ol' Saint, apparently still a good time was had by all. As far as Xmas goes in Shanghai, there is a real heart-felt attempt at replicating the season everywhere, but until Christopher's arrival we [View Full Entry]

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Hello all.... On popular request (okay, no one asked, but humour me) on this eve of our fourth month in Shanghai, I'm going to write about our neighbourhood...it seems a topic that is long overdue, and besides, I'm running out of ideas...so keep those cards and letters coming in. Seriously though, thanks for all the supportive comments -- and if I haven't got back to anyone replying, it's because it's becoming very difficult to get in to Travelblog.org. Let's hope that it's not shut down -- as China has been known to do to blog sites -- so for what it's [View Full Entry]

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