Random thoughts and events

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Well it's been almost a week now that we've been boarding the school bus each day for hour/hour-plus ride to school. It occurred to me yesterday as we were bouncing along the freeway and city streets that the roads in Shanghai are enough to make one nostalgic for the smooth, easy rides on the backroads of Renfrew County!
The traffic really is something that I love to watch while being terrified to do so at the same time. Bicycles, scooters, pedestrians, taxis, etc all careening down the road tooting their horns and flashing their lights. Red lights appear to be something of a suggestion...

As for work, it's going pretty well. Jake's students never speak and mine never stop!!

We were out on the weekend for a fabulous Sunday brunch followed by a couple of exhilirating hours at the fabric market where we each had suits made for under $135CDN total! We pick them up this Sunday and will let you know if they're worth the trip.

Now that we're becoming more comfortable in the city it's time to begin learning some more Chinese. It hasn't been a problem but we would both like to be able to communicate using the language of the country.

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Photos

Lane 3297, No. 44
As far as we can tell each city block is designed in a different style of exactly the same buildings. This is what our block of buildings look like. They are about 5-7 years old.

Cards
Cards are so popular. People just set up a game and start playing on the street. Across the street you can see the gate to our complex. I'm not sure why there's security; perhaps to regulate traffic or parking.

Canal
A little canal by our place.

Trust Mart
One of our local grocery and staple stores.

Sunday Brunch
Out with some new friends for a delicious Sunday Brunch.

IKEA!
Oh, what an exciting moment this was! I've been on the lookout for 3 weeks. We were lucky enough to have a driver this day as our friend was house sitting for people with perks; thus the flags on the dash.