Eleri is catching up with Roxi…
Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 263 user reviews.
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Eleri’s last ES Spring Carnival was a beautiful, sunny, but very windy afternoon. The Moms of Eleri’s class volunteered to work our assigned game, the Ring Toss. It is fun to see all the excited faces as they played the games. After my morning shift, I waited for Eleri’s time to come and play. She was all smiles with her cotton candy! Eleri was very skilled at the ball toss game. Donut on a string is always a favorite. Eleri had fun running around the field finding the next game. She gave golf a try. The ring toss game was a challenge in the wind. it was another fun Spring Carnival…the last one for Eleri since she will be a middle school student next year! Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 265 user reviews.
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Grade 4s field trip was to the Hongkou, also known as the Jewish Ghetto, was an area of approximately one square mile in the Hongkou District of Japanese-occupied Shanghai between 1937-1941. During this time, more than 18, 000 European Jews seek refuge from Nazi Germany. Visas were not required and the government did not limited the number of people entering the Country. Our class first visited the Ghetto Allies. The Japanese forces that occupied Shanghai at the time allowed the Jews arriving from Europe to live in this area. They were restricted and expected to stay in this one square mile area. Nearly 18, 000 Jewish refugees live in this small, over crowded area in Hongkou. Each housing complex housed up to 18 families with no running water, no electricity and one shared bathroom. Some of the doors had a star of David blended into the window work. I couldn’t resist taking photos of the mops…it is so China! Next, our class crossed the street to the small park, Houshan Park formerly called Wayside Park. The Park was built in 1917 and is 3, 700 sq meters (less than an acre). The Jews people were allowed to use this one small park. With 18, 000 people in this small area, I would guess the park was full of people on a daily basis. Next, we visited the museum. The museum consists of a synagogue and two exhibit halls. One hall had a short film with photos. The other hall had photos and description of various families. One of the most interesting facts I noticed was that most of the refugees were wealthy, educated people. They arrived in Shanghai on luxury liners being served by stewards to find themselves struggling in a foreign country to find work and provided food for their families. It was a very interested field trip and I would like to go back and take more time to explore the photos and displays. Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 223 user reviews.
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Model United Nations (MUN) is an academic simulation of the United Nations that aims to educate participants about current events, topics in international relations, diplomacy and the United Nations agenda. The participants role-play as representing a country in a simulated session of an (committee) of the United Nations, such as the Security Council or the General Assembly. Participants research a country, take on roles as diplomats, investigate international issues, debate, deliberate, consult and then develop solutions to world problems. In general, the participants that the executive panel considers to be most contributing are given awards, such as ‘Best Delegate Award’. Emersyn has been preparing for MUN for the past couple months. She was assigned a country – India. Her topic of debate is human trafficking. She left on Thursday morning excited to participate in the International MUN Conference in Kuala Lumpur (KL). As always for Emersyn, none of her friends had joined MUN. She is fine going without a “buddy†and has discovered it opens the door for new friendships. From the repots of her excited tales, she had a blast in KL. She missed Easter at home – we missed her, but she didn’t miss us! Her resolution passed and Emersyn did come home with an award again this year. She was given the award of “Most Diplomatic Delegateâ€, the same she received last year. Very few awards were handed out for the entire MUN delegates so she was all smiles showing us her achievement. Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 215 user reviews.
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Some Easters are spent in Shanghai while some Easters are spent on our travels when Spring Break is part of the Easter holiday. When we have been in Shanghai for Easter, we have organized brunch with our friends. This year, our friends were out of town or had guests visiting, therefore, we had no Easter brunch plans. It was also our first Easter without Emersyn. She was in Kuala Lumpur (KL) for Model United Nations (MUN). The Easter Bunny had a basket full of candy for the girls. The Easter Bunny went shopping in Australia for some different chocolate Cadbury bars and eggs. There were no peeps or jelly beans, but Eleri didn’t seem to notice since the basket was overflowing! I put in chocolates I found around the house (Chinese coins, m&m’s and kisses) to add to the overflowing fun. Eleri was all smiles when she saw the basket. The Easter Bunny hid plastic eggs around the house. Some had money (the red ones) and some had candy (the colored ones). Eleri found them all…and some extras (those were empty)! Eleri and Roxi wore the bunny ears Eleri dug out for the day. After lunch, Jim and Eleri went to Concordia for a Father/Daughter charity blanket making event. Eleri and I saw the poster on Wednesday while we were at the cafe. The event was to make blankets for charity…make one to take home and one for charity. Since it was Easter, Eleri put on an Easter dress! The Father/Daughter event was from 12-3. When they arrived home, Eleri was all smiles as she showed me the TWO blankets they brought home. Jim and Eleri made 4 blankets, 2 charity and 2 to take home. Jim said they made the most as they were a good team. He also said not many people attended…might have something to do with the fact it was Easter! It was non-traditional Easter with no family meal and a bit strange with no Emersyn, but we had fun with Eleri! Average Rating: 4.6 out of 5 based on 199 user reviews.
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Easter is fast approaching – tomorrow! Eleri wanted to dye eggs for Easter. The first challenge of dyeing eggs in Shanghai is the lack of white eggs. Eleri and I went to the store to see what we could find. We opened all the eggs looking for the whitest ones. Of course, the whitest ones were duck eggs…not sure how duck eggs taste as hard boiled egg. We settled for the light brown ones – the organic ones to be more expensive, of course! There are no egg dye kits in Shanghai, but we did have food coloring, white vinegar and tongs – all things needed to dye eggs. Eleri went to work on her eggs. She had so much fun, we went back to the store after lunch to get more eggs to dye. She was more creative with the second batch. The final egg creations and we are ready for Easter! Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 177 user reviews.
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I joined Rachael, Nicole and Jen on a trip to Hongzhou for a tea tour. The tour took the fast train to Hongzhou which I have not been on during out time in Shanghai. Jim takes the train for many of his travels in China. Rachael picked me up at 6:45am to be at the Hangqiao train station to start the fun. A quick one hour train ride to arrive in Hongzhou. We were taking the tour with Tracy Lesh, an expat that has establish a touring business. We loaded onto the bus to drive to the tea hillside village of Yangmeiling. It was a beautiful day for tea touring. It has rained the last four days so we were all pleased to see sunshine. Nicole offered to carry the baskets for our group up the hill. She has on her sun hat and her baskets – ready to work. It was a beautiful on the hillside with the tea brushes. These are the real tea pickers working the fields. Many different families own various plots of lands on this hillside. After the Culture Revolution, land was divided up by the “luck of the draw” as your family name was pulled from the bag. The tea leave is very small. It would take a lot of picking to fill these baskets! After finishing our walk and “tea picking”, we went back to the the village for a Chinese lunch and tea tasting. This lunch was filled with vegetables – all very good. Then, we tasted the difference in the tea based on when it was picked…the earlier in the season tea was richer tasting…and more expensive! The tour’s next stop was the lake. Hongzhou is known for the beauty of West Lake. We did a quick walk along the Lake to see the beautiful scenery. Our last stop was the tourist street. We first visit a museum with bronze work. The artist mixed color with bronze to create beautiful pieces. After the museum, we did a walk of the tourist street. However, having been in China this long, there was nothing new of interest. I found this photo cute of the two kids playing with the telephones. Back to the train station to arrive back to Shanghai at 7pm. Jim was out of town and our ayi was out sick. The girls came home on the bus to do their homework and order dinner from Sherpas. It is helpful Emersyn is old enough to be left in charge. Average Rating: 4.8 out of 5 based on 209 user reviews.
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The girls had conferences today. After getting the usual glowing report for both girls, Emersyn went off to Bella’s home (her second home in Jinqiao). Eleri and I had time to wait for her friend, Paige, that was spending the night. Time to play on the playground. Eleri’s favorite is the tire swing. There is always a line for the tire swing so it one of the first places she loves to play when we are at school. The side playground is new this year. The tunnel and bridge was replaced with a play structure. The side swings stayed since they are popular with the kids. Concordia really has a great play area for the kids. Eleri enjoy the beautiful day playing on the new structure on the side playground. When Paige finished with her conferences, the two girls were ready for a fun night. Average Rating: 5 out of 5 based on 249 user reviews.
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Spring break was another Staycation for the Lyons ladies. Jim was traveling for work…first in China then to Australia. It was typical spring weather with rain one day and sunshine the next. Most of our friends were off on adventures so it was a quiet holiday. Emersyn returned Thursday night from the Leadership trip in the desert. She was tired and ready for some “cave time”. Eleri was ready to make. I purchased a rainbow loom, the latest crazy for making bracelets for Eleri…2 weeks ago. However, she wasn’t allowed to open it UNTIL spring break. The very first morning, she had her loom out and set up her making area! YouTube has videos on the various ways to make items. However, YouTube and the internet in China do not work together. Eleri started making her own creations. Eleri keeping Roxi warm in her cozy blanket. When Jim arrived back on Sunday, we had a family lunch at the Blue Frog at the WFC. Eleri rode her scooter over, but Emersyn rode it back! We went to the Urban Planning Museum and TaiKan Lu, see posts below. It was a relaxing week in Shanghai. Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 based on 255 user reviews.
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Bella was back from Beijing to have a shopping day with Emersyn. The two teens started their day off at Whisk for a true girls lunch. Mr. Nie dropped the girls off at Whisk and took Eleri and I to TaiKan Lu. Eleri and I were spending the day back at TaiKan Lu. It was Eleri’s day and this was how she wanted to spend it. She had seen the restaurant, the Modern Toilet, when we were at TaiKan Lu the other night…of course, she wanted to give it a go! The downstairs has gold toilets and decorations. Lots of people are always peeking into this restaurant to see what it is all about. Therefore, we went upstairs to eat. The Modern Toilet is a popular restaurant in Taiwan. When we arrived to the upstair eating area, it was decorated for the bathroom. It was around 2pm on a Friday and the place was full. We waited 5 minutes to get a table with a toilet…the only reason we were here! The table is clear glass with a sink and a big plastic “poop” in the sink. The menu has a wide variation of food from Western dishes to Chinese dishes. Eleri and I split the pasta and ordered a tub of fries. The fries were fun in the tub. The pasta was “ok”, at best for 69rmb ($11). We shared a chocolate ice cream which was good and fun. It looks like a poop served with chocolate bits for 30rmb ($5). After our “poop” lunch, we walked around TaiKan Lu. Eleri had fun going in all the stores filled with JUNK! The junk store are very kid friendly. It was a fun day spent with Eleri and a beautiful sunshine day to walk around. Mr. Nie picked us up and we went to get the girls at H&M. Bella spent the night, but we don’t see much of our teen and her friends as they hang in the Girl Cave! Average Rating: 4.4 out of 5 based on 172 user reviews.
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