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Two years, 180 published blogs, 191,149 words (present blog excluded) later, I am nearing the end of documenting our great China adventure. Officially one month to the big move, less than a month until we ship our stuff home.
I wrote a repatriation article for City Weekend, and now I’m living the best practices I outlined in my research. I will share the article once it’s published. As stressed out as the article made me—they always stress me out—I am pleased that I took it on. It’s another moment, milestone, marker in this journey that I wanted to record. A final published article feels like a fitting part to this last chapter of our time in Shanghai. We have lots of lasts going on—in direct contrast to the many firsts that happened exactly two years ago. Last weeks of school, last lessons and parties and playdates. Last Girl Scout camping trip for Emily, myself and 300 of our closest friends.
Even though the Girl Scout campout was at the same place and had similar activities, the experience this year was very different. We had 13 girls and 3 moms in our cabin in the woods. We scored a good
old friends were also at camp!
yep, that's joanna and sophie with us!cabin this year—perhaps a reward for my efforts in helping with some of the administration for the campout. Or, perhaps just luck. Either way, I had a bed and did not have to sleep in the steamy loft with all the girls this year. I was downstairs with another mom—we in our individual twin beds attempting to sleep during the 5 hour window when the girls were finally quiet (12am-5am!).
I had to keep track of the buses for both our trip to the camp and the return from the camp. Not the most fun. We made it to the campsite after school on Friday and headed straight to dinner with our groups. I knew several of the girls, but we had four schools represented in our cabin and so there were new faces for everyone. Two of my girls were from the Singaporean school. They spoke perfect English but chattered in Chinese and giggled with their heads together every time I tried to speak to them in Chinese. They ended up getting used to the group but the first night, they left the group and tried to stay with their friends in other cabins. They were returned to
lantern lighting
the lantern we all signed that ended up hitting a girl as it flew up into the air when it was lit with FIRE us twice and my fellow chaperons and I were mortified that we had lost them not once but twice. We gave the girls the nickname “the runaways” and I was nervous every time they went downstairs in the night to use the bathroom, they would try to take off again. They didn’t.
We had fun, despite the very heavy rain that persisted for much of the day on Saturday. Several girls did not have raincoats. I brought two disposable ponchos and the ranch gave us a bunch more. We were soaked immediately and fortunately it was not cold. The girls were troopers. Mostly, the moms were too.
I am certain I lost weight on this 1 night trip. We were fed, but there were very small portions and no seconds and no sweets. Well the girls had s’mores but there were not enough for the adults (boo!). That’s going on my comment card for sure. I led these girls all weekend but no s’more for me. I made up for the injustice upon arriving home—really good dark chocolate from M&S and two generous glasses of wine.
Highlights of the camping trip included our bamboo raft ride in the
rain, a nature walk where we saw a black swan sitting on eggs in her nest, and the knot tying activity where the girls mastered several knots including an edible, Twizzler knot.
Emily made my weekend when she had the other girls in our group sign a “best leader” award. I had previously passed out awards to each girl declaring they were the most “caring” or most “patient” Girl Scout. I gave a little speech for each award and the girls loved it. I loved that Emily asked me for paper and gathered her group-mates signatures to present me with an award. Validation comes in many forms. I especially love the crumpled up back side of a list I brought along form.
Getting everyone on the buses was not fun but finally we were loaded and heading home. We made it back to the school, all the kids were collected and the grateful parents who did not come on the trip welcomed us back. I ended up literally under the bus, unloading all the bags and gear. I emerged dusty and sore but was glad to see all the girls were gone (meaning nobody was forgotten by her
parents) by the time I made it to the sidewalk. A friend gave us a ride home—life saver as it was Saturday night, it was raining, and we had a lot of gear.
Sunday was a sleep in late day for me. Emily was less exhausted than she should have been and was up with Mark scheming about making me breakfast in bed. I suggested I join them for breakfast, but they prepared crepes and fruit salad and a special order of well done, extra crispy toast was made just for
me! I’m so lucky.
Emily has taken on the important task of fruit shopper in our household. She goes down 8 floors in the elevator (alone) and outside to carefully walk through the parking area and past the guards. She hangs a right at the alley and goes about halfway down to get to the fruit stand. We can see it from our bedroom windows and the balcony off the master bedroom. We know if it is open or not and with Emily’s young, strong eyes (or the aid of the telephoto lens on our good camera) we can also determine the daily offering. Mangos, papayas, good
looking bananas (as opposed to the ugly ones). We scope it out from our apartment and place the order before Emily goes on her mission.
Mark or I watch the whole thing from the balcony. Emily knows we are there and watching and is extra careful going to and from the stand. She takes a bag and walks with such confidence it makes me proud. Not only is it an exercise in independence, she is speaking Chinese, she’s doing math (in a foreign currency no less!) and she’s doing a family chore—fruit shopping! Now if she plays the “I can’t” card when we are out in public, I usually have a “yes you can” example up my sleeve. Win-win.
We are actively trying not to buy too many staple goods—things like laundry soap that we can’t take with us. Similarly, our stockpiles of food staples are dwindling and we are down to 2 granola bars, a final 2 lbs of coffee each (we have different coffee) and our last big bag of gold fish crackers. The cereal is nearly depleted (1.5 boxes left of Just the Clusters from Trader Joes). Times are a little tough, the pantry that once
bursted with imported goods has empty shelves. There’s one more full jar of organic peanut butter. I’ve had to buy imported Smucker’s jelly for the boy’s main source of fuel—PB&J. I’m not going to lie. We miss our imports. But, we are heading back to the land of all things bulk and American. We can make it a month.
After a lazy morning and part of an afternoon, we headed out to a late lunch. After eating camp food, Emily and I were craving Element Fresh—healthy Western fare that never disappoints. We grabbed an outdoor table at a new location of this popular chain. It was too sunny—a nice problem to have after the previous rainy and very grey days—so I had to ask for an umbrella to shield us from the harsh rays. We had a great, healthy lunch and then headed over to nearby park. It’s close to the kids’ school but we’ve never spent much time there as a family.
Sundays in the park are usually pretty formulaic. Especially on a sunny Sunday. We counted seven bridal couples without any real effort. They were everywhere. Photo shoots galore. There are so many scenic spots in
a typical Chinese park. There’s always a water area, and often several. Fountains, lakes, tons of colorful flowers that were probably planted recently. There are also many sculptures in most parks. Lots of interesting things to look at and explore.
We spent some time in the park and then jumped on the subway. Thanks to the major expansions throughout the city, we could get on the train using a station entrance in the park. We took t he train toward the French Concession and got off at the Shanghai Library stop. We figured we should check out the library since we were right there. It was an impressive building with “Knowledge is Power”written in many languages on various floors. We went to the fourth floor, where I’d seen signs for foreign publications and Expo materials advertised on the directory. The foreign publications were rows and rows of non-Chinese language (and sometimes English language) magazines and newspapers. The kids were immediately sucked into Wildlife Magazine and Astrology Magazine. Emily also found Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences. Mark found Advertising Age. I was bored. No People. No English language entertainment publications of any kind. Very disappointing.
We put back our borrowed
mags and headed off in search of a snack. It had been several hours (or at least one) since our last meal and the kids were starving. We found the always popular Paul’s French bakery and enjoyed cappuccinos and a freshly baked baguette for a late afternoon snack.
We had to be home to show our apartment, so the adventure was cut short. We taxied home and spent the evening watching The Simpsons Movie (again) and eating stove-popped popcorn. So yes, we are maintaining ties to our American culture as much as we can.
Coming up: 2 back to back birthdays to celebrate N & E’s summer births. They both wanted parties here before we go. Emily’s is a cooking party at a Chinese cooking school. Nathan’s: Laser tag. Guess which one excites me more?
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Linda
non-member comment
Pass that woman a s'more!
You are a real trooper, Suzanne...doing under-the-bus unloading duty, keeping track of the runaways, and going without s'mores. Great pictures from the Girl Scout trip! Love the fruit shopper story...yay Emily. I laughed out loud when I saw the picture of Emily reading Photochemistry and Photobiological...too funny!! Enjoy your last month in Shanghai. People magazine awaits.