Father's Day Celebration - 2013

Today was a very special Father's Day celebration as Emily and the kids planned a day of activities.

The fun began with Father's Day Cards from the older two kids at breakfast.

Miriam thanked me for being her father over these "looooong ten years" and teaching her what faith is.

Asa's was a bit more abstract as he drew a self portrait, declared "I love QQ" (a Chinese messaging tool that I don't think he has ever used) and signed his card "Love, Dad".  He confessed he had done a lot of the card "with his eyes closed" - LOL!  Wow, I love this creative guy!  He can really make me laugh.

After lunch we trekked out to the site of the Shanghai Expo where The Power Station of Art was showing an exhibit called "Andy Warhol: Fifteen Minutes Eternal".  We took the subway to the exhibit, which turned into more walking than we anticipated, but one benefit was running across a photo boot within the subway.  We took a family picture - less Silas - which the kids loved.

Once we arrived at the exhibit, not only did we learn a ton about Andy Warhol's life and work, but the kids had a blast painting their own masterpieces and we enjoyed exploring this huge power station full of art.

Emily and Silas enjoyed some of the Andy Warhol Cow Prints

Asa Enjoyed the mirrors in this exhibit about the impact of China's rapid development.

At the museum, I also got in a picture with my sweetie and the new T-shirt she gave me for Father's Day.  God bless her, she went to all the trouble of taking a silly picture from a small tea shop I like called "Super Daddy" and putting the mascot on a T-shirt for me.  It was weeks in the planning!

For dinner we went across the river to the Pu Dong side of the old Expo site for some American BBQ at Bubba's Texas BBQ.

Her is our whole crew with our great food - notice that Emily has written "Love Dad" with ketchup on one of the plates!

Even Silas got into the BBQ action - here is gnawing on a rib bone!

Dragon Boat Fun - 2013

Over the last couple days our family has enjoyed time off as part of the Dragon Boat or Duan Wu Holiday.

A highlight of lunch on Monday included two baskets of Shanghai's famous "Xiao Long Bao" or steamed dumplings.

Silas also enjoyed lunch, especially the the black rice coconut pudding.

After lunch we explored the the nearby Jing An Park where we not only discovered an old garden, but also...

a rampart that was build during the Easter Jin Dynasty, which was between 317 to 420 A.D.

On Tuesday we had the chance to join friends for lunch and enjoyed singing Karaoke together - even Silas got into the action.

We ended the day by breaking into some fresh crayfish that Emily picked up at the gate.

Children's Day 2013 Celebration

International Children's Day is a Chinese holiday our family - especially the kids - have fully embraced since arriving in Shanghai back in 2007.   Here are the kids before the older two headed out to their school celebrations.  Indeed - "Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!" Psalms 127:4-5. What a gift to parent with my best friend - Emily Meyer! 

This year's celebration began at school on Friday (May 31).  Here are Miriam and Asa outside there school where they only had a half day of school and it was entirely focused on carnival type activities. Asa's favorite was the dart game and Miriam liked the lily pad jump.

On Saturday, the celebration started when Emily and I serving the kids breakfast in bed.  They were thrilled!

We served the kids their second course on paper plates with honorary titles related to their names and our prayers for each of them.

Later, I took each of the three older kids on a "Daddy Date".  What a treat to spend time with them and get to know their unique personalities better.  

My first date was with Asa who ate his chocolate cake treat as a fast as he could and then promptly ran outside to smash bugs that were landing on the store window.  I learned that Asa isn't a big talker, but loves a good adventure.

Here are a couple of highlights from our adventure in a new part of our neighborhood - a massive blow up crayfish.

And a lamb stick from a street vendor

On Sunday (June 2), I took our girls out - starting by taking Miriam to a book store where she picked up a copy of "Tony Robinson's Weird World of Wonders: World War II".  This girl loves to learn!

We then went for an ice cream treat that featured a huge chocolate ball filled with a variety pack of flavors.

Here is the description of the "Belgium Blossom - AKA the huge chocolate ball!

My last date was with Salome (AKA: Lo Lo) who I took to get a donut and play a game of memory.

She enjoyed a strawberry smoothie with our game of memory - which features cards that follow a "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" theme.

Our date concluded with a small ride outside a grocery store in our neighborhood - one of Lolo's favorites!

I love the mix of Chinglish on the side of the car!

Daddy's School Visit

This past Wednesday (May 22) I joined other parents in visiting Miriam's class and it was a treat to get a glimpse of what her day typically looks like.  After the visit, I was even more proud of both Miriam and Asa for how well they are doing in this challenging environment.

The morning started with a flag raising ceremony.  Can you find Asa in this picture?

This is a picture of Miriam's homeroom; you can see the parents lined up on stools in the back of the classroom.  The first class was Chinese and they read a story about famous Russian poet; I honestly understood about half of what they were talking about.

The next class was music class music class  that started with the kids sing as the teacher accompanied them on the piano.

The piano-led song soon was soon turned into a "rap" that the kids danced to and ended with a "peace sign" salute!

When we returned to Miriam's homeroom there was a break between classes and it was a delight to see how much Miriam enjoyed talking with her classmates.

Before the next class (English) there was a song that blared over the loud speakers to lead the kids in their eye relaxation exercises.  You will note that Miriam is not participating as we actually found the exercises gave her pink eye and other nasty eye related illnesses!

The next class was the foreigner taught English class where Miriam was definitely the most active in class room participation.  Her teacher is a New Zealander named Ben and he did a great job of building a lesson that was interactive.

The main focus of the English class was an egg drop experiment where they were required to break into small groups.  Here is Miriam intensely discussing what their group should be called.  They decided to call their group "sweet"!

Next was an English class led by a local teacher and then lunch, which I was able to enjoy as well.  It is actually not that different than the cafeteria food in my office complex and the kids all ate at their desks.

Finally, before leaving I stopped to see Asa's classroom.  Here is Asa getting ready to leave class to go to play practice.  Miriam and Asa are both staring in a play that is part of a district-wide public service announcement contest; I hope to be able to have a video to share on this soon!

Special Mother's Day Treats

It has been a treat to see the gifts Emily has gathered over this past Mother's Day

The celebration started with the kids giving her gifts after church on Mother's Day (May 12).  Lolo is waving the paper flowers she made in Sunday School class.

On Mother's Day Miriam also gave Emily a paper rose she made with her tutor as well as an accompanying poem that was addressed to "my bonny lass" - don't think she realize what it was referring to!

The following Saturday (May 18) we had a proper Mother's Day celebration as we were busy hosting the Marriage Course on the official Mother's Day.  Asa surprised Emily by producing a card that he had colored at school for Mother's Day.  The note that he put inside made Emily tear up.

Miriam also made a card at school that included a sweet note about what she appreciates about Emily and event spelled out "MOTHER" in the process.

Our Mother's Day celebration was capped off with a trip to a restaurant serving Emily's favorite Chinese food - Beijing food.  We not only had Beijing Roast Duck, but Emily's favorite Sauteed Shredded Pork in Sweet Bean Sauce. 

There were many great dishes on the menu, but this isn't one that we ordered!

Miriam's 15 Minutes of Fame

As we posted here in October 2011, a picture of Miriam at an art contest in the Spring of 2009 was turned into a propaganda poster near our home. The poster reads "Children are the Future of the Motherland."

As we drove past the poster this afternoon, it was clear that the poster was coming down in the near future, so we had to capture the picture close up.

Seems in China, you never know where pictures of your kids might end up!   

Joab's Commute

I (Joab) often say the morning commute in Shanghai is a full contact sport that combines a rock concert mosh pit and a line of scrimmage from American football.  Today I decided it was time to try and capture a portion of the madness that is my morning commute.

First, some interesting facts about the Shanghai metro system from Wikipedia

• It only opened in 1995 (the third line in China after Beijing and Tianjin)
• There are 12 lines and 292 stations, which makes it the third longest metro in the world
• These lines delivered 2.26 billion rides in 2012 - making it the fifth busiest  in the world

This graphic provides a great perspective on how rapidly the Shanghai metro has grown since it first opened in 1995.

My commute pictures start at my only transfer on my 45 minute commute.  At Yi Shan Road Station I am transferring from line 3 or line 4, which roughly run along the first ring of Shanghai sub-burbs to line 9, which heads to the Southwest corner of the Shanghai metro.

After coming out of line 3 or 4 there are a series of stairs that I didn't bother to capture.  My first picture is the above-ground passageway that connects these two lines to line 9.  Three years ago, when I first started this commute, I had to exit the station altogether and re-enter the line 9 station, so this passageway is an improvement.

To the right of the streams of people outside the passageway is an empty lot that hasn't changed much in the past three years.

At the end of the long passageway there are stairs that duck under several mini-billboards, currently advertising the Microsoft Surface tablet, and head to a small flight of stairs and then some escalators. 

Next is the first escalator, which is relatively short, roughly 50 meters, and dumps you out in a transit room that has the larger escalators.

These large escalators are probably 100 meters long and they take you down to the platform where the real fun begins.

At the platform you can either go right to take the north bound train or join me and go left to take the south bound train.  On the south bound side there are 28 doors and near my door I counted roughly 30 people.  That means there is likely over 800 people - just on the south bound side!  In other words, there is probably more than 1,600 people waiting on the platform.  Basically, wall to wall people!   

The biggest challenge in the morning is getting on the train as when it arrives at the station it is usually packed with people.  This morning was no exception as it took me three tries to get on the train.

I didn't even try to budge my way on the first time.  The second time I try and reached the train only to be pushed back by the crowd.  The guy with his elbow in the middle eventually did get on after the door open and closed on him a couple times.

Finally, on my third attempt, I successfully got on.  We were crammed in like sardines!

After two stops it is time for me to get off at the Cao He Jing High Tech Park stop.  The crowd of people spring out of the train like a jack in the box and we all rush towards the escalators.

The platform at Cao He Jing looks just as crowded as it did at Yi Shan Road.

Finally, after walking through the turnstile I get on a final set of escalators and can once again see the light of day!