The search for street food

Miriam has a love...and it is for candied crab apples. We have literally spent two months hunting down sellers on the street for this common northern (Beijing) street food, but not so common here in Shanghai. The sellers have to dodge the "street cops" that like to capture these small stands (that are illegal) and also it is Chinese New Year holidays, so most sellers have returned to their home town for a month or so.

I would take Miriam on the back of the electric bike over the Chinese New
Year holiday to scout out possible areas that these sellers might be...but always came up empty handed. These candied crab apples only cost about 50 cents per stick, so so cheap and Miriam wanted one soooo badly- that I (Emily) was determined to make it happened!

Sunday night we went to our local mall to celebrate the end of the holiday (and to eat northern Chinese food- our favorite). And there at the mall!!! We found them! Miriam was - THRILLED!

From the above pictures, you can see Asa is not a big fan!!

Chinese New Year Break: Part 2 - Friends and Home

One of the other great gifts of the Chinese New Year break was visiting friends and spending time at home.

The Home Front

Before the official start of the holiday Emily did an amazing job of entertaining the kids at home.  She also had to prep extra food for the old two kids as they were off school and prepared special food for our visits to friends homes.

Here are the kids in the "tent" that Emily created in their bedroom

Emily got a new wok over the holiday; she had used her old one for over five years

New Year's with Our Chinese Friends

After living in Shanghai for over five years we were delighted when our Chinese friends, who we first met over four years ago at East China Normal University preschool, invited us into their home for traditional Chinese New Year food.  Like Christmas and Thanksgiving in the U.S. this holiday is a time for family gatherings and special foods; however, it  is our experience that Chinese people will take longer before they invite you into their home to share a special holiday meal.  What a gift to spend time with these dear friends and gain a deeper understanding of how they celebrate this holiday!

The "spread" of special dishes filled the entire dining room table. 

Some of our favorites included homemade sausage, braised pork (Hong Shao Rou)

and French Champagne (that our friend had hand carried back from France!

Our friends also spent the entire afternoon making

homemade  dumplings that filled nearly the whole desk!

Before dinner we enjoyed the tradition of lighting off fireworks - Here is Asa with a sparkler

Our friend lit a fountain firework that lit up the freshly fallen snow - a rare appearance in Shanghai.

New Year's Eve in Our Neighborhood

Walking around our neighborhood it was amazing to see all of the decorations and "signs of the season".

The kids stand in front of the mysterious children statues that seem to be everywhere. 

The fruit stand across the street was stocked full of fruit basics that nearly filled the street!

We are so thankful for several foreign families in our neighborhood who were also stayed in town for the holiday.  We spent the evening eating more food and setting off fireworks.

The "peanut gallery" of children stand watching the fireworks.

The highlight from our small fireworks display was a "Peacock Fountain"

Chinese New Year Break 2013: Part 1 - Shanghai Sites

Chinese New Year means that our two school aged kids are out of school for nearly a month.  We have been so blessed for this time to be filled with visits to local sites and time with friends.  The pictures below capture some of the sites our family saw in Shanghai during this year's holiday.

Stop #1: The Xu Jia Hui District: Shanghai's Early History

The Xu Jia Hui district is in the south west corner of Shanghai's colonial city center and literally means the "Xu family gathering place".  This district traces its history back to Mr. Xu Guang Qi who was came to faith through his work with Matteo Ricci and established the first Catholic community in the 1600's.

The kids stand in front of statue of Xu Guang Qi in a museum commemorating his life. 

Note Asa is helping us pronounce "Xu" which sounds a lot like "shoe" in English.

As a result of Xu Guang Qi's influence a significant Catholic community that  is preserved at the Tu Shan Wan Museum which commemorates an orphanage that was started in the 1800's by Jesuit Catholics.  These Catholics taught local children handicraft skills and one of their most famous carvings is a Chinese Memorial Gate (a replicate of which is behind the boys) that was featured at several World's Fairs.  Here is a great blog post that provides more pictures and a detailed history.

Asa and Elijah stand in front of a copy of the Chinese Memorial Gate

Stop #2 The Local Chinese Folk Center

Miriam's school gave us a list local museums, including the Chang Ning District Chinese Folk Center, which features a traditional neighborhood as it appeared in the 1940's.  In addition we were delighted to discover that the center featured a New Year's carnival.

Asa and Miriam stage on a small the bridge on the 1940's street. 

Miriam watches the New Year's "Wheel of Fortune" to see what prize she will win. 

She won a bar of soap:)! 

Stop #3 Holiday Displays

This year we welcome the year of the snake and it was very interesting to see all of the Chinese New Year displays across town.

 

Asa and Miriam with a Sombrero Wearing Snake

One of the most minimalist and creative snake displays was done by Calvin Klein at our mall

 

At the same mall Coke's "Santa's Workshop" was magically turned into a "Chinese New Year House"

 

 

McDonalds even got into the New Year's action by featuring a horn of the mythical "Nian" (a monster whose name sounds the same as year) poking out of the place mat.  Here is a great summary video of the Nian Story.

 



On the fifth day of the new year Shanghai welcomes the god of wealth through lighting a ridiculous amount of fireworks.  We were amused to find these god of wealth blow up dolls at a restaurant in our mall.

 

Christmas in January

We were glad to host 12 of Miriam's classmates and a neighbor girl in our home for a belated Christmas party on Sunday (January 20, 2013).  We had to re-schedule our original party as illness struck the Meyer household for three weeks following Christmas.  

Kids Hard at Work Putting Their Christmas Stars Together

The Group Displays Their Final Products

Sleeping Silas: We tried to get Silas to nap in the other room, but he wouldn't sleep

until we put his chair in the middle of the party room!

Christmas Cookies: It was interesting to see how the local kids "docorated" their cookies

- heavy on raisins and nuts, but no frosting. 

Gifts: One of the best parts about throwing a party in China is seeing all of the different gifts that your guests bring.  Here are the kids with the table full of toys and snacks that were given.

Highlights from Pa Pa and Nei Nei's Visit

What a gift it was to host Emily's parents (Pa Pa and Nei Nei to our kids) for two weeks at the end of December!  Below are a few of the highlights from their fun filled visit.

After a brief weekend in Shanghai, Emily took her parents to Beijing.

One of the highlights was a trip to the Great Wall at Mutianyu. 

Back in Shanghai, Nei Nei helped celebrate Salome's 3rd birthday

by making tutus for all of Salome's friends who came.

Salome's Birthday Cake and Tea

It was so special to spend Christmas Day with family - especially when Pa Pa Santa visited!

Miriam was delighted to have her Samantha doll

Asa was ecstatic to get a Star Wars book - one of several Star Wars themed toys

Salome enjoyed her Merida dress (from the movie Brave)

Silas is the best Christmas present Em and Joab received this year!

After Christmas we were able to take Emily's parents to sites around Shanghai,

including an afternoon at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum.

Asa Becomes a "Little Sprout"

For Emily and I, part of making our home outside our home country is learning to let go of the expectation that your children will share the same childhood experiences you went through.  Case in point - Elementary School Pageants.  In central Nebraska (where I grew up) we had seasonal music pageants that included traditional Christmas songs and Disney theme songs. 

For Miriam and Asa, the big first grade event is the "Little Sprout" induction ceremony.  "Little Sprouts" are the first in a line of government sponsored student organizations that Chinese students join throughout their educational experience.  While we don't support some "Little Sprout" ideals (IE: The Party is the Sun and the "Little Sprouts" are flowers), there are many common values around learning and family that we whole-heartily support.

To the kids, it is largely just part of their life in this adopted second home where your elementary school years include group song and dance instead of choir concerts with Disney themes.  Below are some pictures to capture the experience.   

Asa stands ready for his performance to begin

Asa and his classmates pretend to study as part of their performance

Asa and Miriam show off their "Christmas Themed" Scarfs:

Asa's Green "Little Sprout" and Miriam's Red "Young Pioneers

Update with four kids!

Here we all are! After taking this picture Asa said " Mom I really tried". That means he really tried to be normal and not goofy! I so appreciate this!

Update on how we all are

Miriam- Doing just amazing at school. Her grades are higher than ever while her school work is harder than ever. Honestly, I have no idea how she can learn so much Chinese. She also just elected to her student council for the third year running. She was elected "head cleaner of the classroom", a duty she does not take lightly. Both she and Asa have a field trip this week to the Science and Technology Museum in town and they are thrilled. On Sunday afternoons Miriam and a few other girls in our neighborhood have started to study the Narnia books. We are so thankful for friends who included Miriam in this class.

Asa- He has recently learned how to slide like a baseball player all over the house. So, he slides from his room into the bathroom. So far he has ruined two pairs of pants (blew out the knees). I am trying to get him to just walk from place to place...we will see how that goes. He is loving school. That also amazes me. He learns at a very different pace and style than Miriam, but none the less is learning! One night Joab was helping him with a Chinese story. Asa then turns to Joab and says "Daddy look", he had used the Chinese characters he was suppose to be learning in the story into his own poem. He really likes art, which has helped him get into writing all the Chinese words!

Salome- When I was pregnant she was also "pregnant" with her own baby. I just assumed that when Silas came out hers would too. But, when Salome learned her baby was only pretend and a REAL baby would not come out until she was much older really made her sad! She wants a real baby, and tells me that all the time. She loves and I mean loves Silas. She will not keep her hands off of him! She is also really loving spending time with her friends and wants to know everyday "who are we doing to see today".

Silas - Is six weeks old this week! At two weeks he was 7.5 lbs and at four weeks was 10 lbs! The doctor was pretty shocked at this! Most of the time he is pretty calm and loves to just look around. He prefers to be in the middle of all the action asleep in his bouncy seat. This week at church we was dedicated - below is the certificate. We are just so thankful for his life!

Emily- Most days I just fall into bed exhausted (okay all nights).  Told Joab during the day I am busy physically caring for the two smallest. But then when the big ones come home from school I am busy emotionally caring for them. At this point in my life I am thankful to be busy with four kids. I know the days are long LONG but the years short. And trying to enjoy them!

Joab- He is doing just a great job trying to balance work (which is going well) with helping me at home. He has been able to work more from home so he can take the big kids to school each day. What a huge gift this is! He kisses me the kitchen and makes me laugh and not freak out when I am about the totally loose it with the kids!