Dino Beach On Wednesday morning Jameson and I attend my friend Jodie’s mum’s group. Jodie is my gorgeous New Zealand friend who has a huge heart for expats (especially the newbies) and has been said to “collect” us in heaps! My Sri Lankan friend Nilushi, who also attends our mum’s group, was quite keen on doing a final summer outing before her daughters returned to school. Nilushi suggested that we all go to a water park called Dino Beach, in Puxi. So all 16 of us (including our friend Jennifer, her two children with her mother-in-law who all just moved back to the states, Nilushi with her two daughters, Jodie with her three daughters, Melissa with Abby and Alex, Jameson and I) piled into Nilushi and Jennifer’s two vans and headed out to Puxi. The weather seemed promising and held out for most of the day. We were not shocked to see that Dino beach was more crowded than Waikiki beach, but hardly prepared for the struggle we had just getting through line to purchase our tickets. But, once we were in, we were pleasantly surprised to find a fabulously outfitted water park, not too unlike Water World in Concord, California near our home in Pleasant Hill. Nilushi and Jodie enjoying a day at the "beach"  Jennifer relishing her last major outing
before moving back home to Oklahoma We miss you already, Jennifer!  Melissa, Abby and Alex playing in the sand
If it has sand, then it must be a beach!  Having sand was such a novelty that our kids spent a large majority of our time just playing in it  Both Jameson and I were happily covered in sand  You are probably thinking “enough about the sand”, but most likely you who are thinking that have been able to visit the ocean this summer. Am I right? I can truly say that I have never appreciated the beauty of the Pacific Ocean until we moved to Shanghai. Although we are relatively close to the Huangpu River, it is a heavily polluted river that resembles a brightly decorated slough more than a national treasure.
Although visiting Dino Beach was an awesome experience, I look forward to seeing the sapphire sparkle of the Pacific Ocean on our trip home in just a few weeks. Friend, the next time you see a beautiful, clear, blue body of water please consider what a blessing natural beauty truly is. Remember to be in awe of the awesome! The Bund
Thanks to our friends Melissa and Lenny, Jim and I had our first real date since we moved to Shanghai. Jameson helped hail a taxi on our way to the Martinez family apartment in Yanlord. You know you are raising a city kid when you say, “let’s go” and he says “Taxi, Chūzū chē” then affectivity assists you in hailing a taxi.
 Since our anniversary was in July, we decided to celebrate by visiting the Bund in Puxi and trying a fabulous French restaurant called Jean George. To learn more about The Bund, click here.   Jim and I ordered practically the same thing without knowing it. The New Zealand lamb was mouth watering, and the crispy crab cake had fabulous contrast in taste and texture! Jim could not help but order the ice cream for desert with a beet garnish, as beet ice cream has been a family joke since he learned to detest beets as a child. I had an amazing mango soufflé of which there are no pictures because it disappeared before my camera appeared.  After dinner we joined thousands of tourists who take a romantic stroll along the Huangpu River on The Bund with a gorgeous view of Pudong.  After failing to hail a taxi (perhaps Jameson should have come with us!) we decided to take a ferry back to the Pudong side of the river.
Six months ago today, we arrived in Shanghai with absolutely no idea what our lives would look like here. In some ways, I still have no idea what my life looks like. We are enjoying the ride and learning not to care so much about how things look while not looking inward as much as we are looking upward. There are days when I tell Jim that “I want out of the fish bowl” and wish that we could live a more private life without the constant attention foreigners seem to draw. But then we have such wonderful experiences, like visiting the Bund, that makes our time here valuable and life changing. Shēngrì nánháiShēngrì nánhái (Birthday boy)
Our birthday boy (Shēngrì nánhái) is growing faster than the population of Shanghai. I never pictured myself raising our son in a foreign country, but we are grateful for the opportunity. As of August 24th, we will have lived in Shanghai for 6 months. That means that Jameson has spent almost one quarter of his life here in China. Although he may or may not remember a lot about his time here, I know these experiences are shaping Jameson’s character. When having a birthday party during the heart of summer in Shanghai when the temperature barely drops below 80 degrees Fahrenheit (even at night) it is necessary to have an indoor party. We decided to have a party in our apartment with a ‘rock star’ theme and I was crazy enough to attempt making my first birthday cake in the shape of a guitar. Although we do not have an oven (or a microwave, dishwasher, mixer, blender, cake pans, and whole host of kitchen gadgets I once thought I needed) I do have a friend who has an oven. My dear New Zealander friend, Jodie, has an oven and invited me to bake at her place on the Thursday before the party. Jodie even gave me edible red glitter to frost the cake! Yay for Shanghai friends! Of course tickets are required to a 'rock star' party
 Thanks to Fish and Jodie’s New Zealand influence, Tim Tams were the cookies of choice for the frets on the guitar.  I used some of my favorite photos of Jameson from the past two years for this wall-treatment  Our friend Joe (A.K.A. “Joetar” as Jameson named him) played songs for the kids and was encored quite heartily.  Little Lulu clapped and sang along with my friend Jodie and her daughter Maddie  Fish and Jameson's friend Lulu, the love of Jameson's life  Our friends: Amalie, Maddie, Jodie, Lulu, Amy, Eric and I enjoying a little pre-concert photo-op  Tia Lina is notorious for being in almost all of my blogs and Tia Kelly was visiting from the States and offered to help decorate and take photosbefore and during the party  Jameson cannot resist a cuddle from Tia Lina!  Jameson's friend Akemi and her dad Jonathan I don't know how I missed getting a photo of Akemi's mom, Karen... but it probably has something to do with having a 2 year old and an 8-month old  Here is Melissa with Karen and Jonathan's little girl, Ayumi Babies don't get much cuter than this!  My Chinese Sister (as we have been mistaken for sisters, a very high compliment) And Jameson’s Chinese Cousins  The Man of the Hour was a wee bit sleepy at his party after a morning trip to the park with daddy  But he soon warmed up to the idea of singing "Happy Birthday"...  Jameson quickly learned to blow out birthday candles  I am learning that even though we are in China, we can do plenty of “normal” traditions like birthday parties. Jameson is growing up as what is called a “third culture” child. He no longer leads a life of his first culture, which includes mostly western traditions; nore does assimilate completely with the second culture in China. So, we have created a “third culture” along side our community of friends with whom we associate with, celebrate with and enjoy life! I must admit that my life here is nothing as I imagined it to be, it is far superior to my own expectations. This reminds me of this scripture in Ephesians.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Music ManThe past few weeks have been a little crazy so I have been quite negligent in writing my blog. Jameson had the flu accompanied by a fever; therefore I was busy trying to keep his fever down so that he did not have any seizures. Luckily, there were no seizures and he was only sick for a few days.
Last week I spent most of my free time preparing for Jameson’s second birthday party. 31 people were invited and 30 people came to the event. I never imagined that we would make so many dear friends here in China who would become like family to us, but of course, we still missed our families. We are blessed to have friends to celebrate Jameson's life with us. I am no longer the mother of a tiny and helpless infant.
 Instead, I am the mother of a handsome, passionate, precocious,
intelligent and articulate 2-year old!   You cannot buy lashes like this!!!  I don’t yet have any photos edited from the party yet, but I love the above photos. Jameson adores guitars, drums and pianos; therefore his party was a rock-star theme. Whether he loves music because of us or if he loves music because it is in his soul, I do not yet know. But, he is definitely a music man. Sleep baby J
Four weekends ago Jim went on a mountain-biking trip in the bamboo forests of Mogan Shan. He tells me that it was wet, hot, a little dangerous, but he had a lot of fun and not a lot of sleep. Three weekends ago, we all went to Korea. Sleeping was not a priority there as our time in Korea was so short. Last weekend, Jim had to work on Saturday, so once again sleep was once again put on the back burner.
On Father’s Day weekend Jim traveled to the Mogan Shan Mountains
with a group of colleagues  I found Jim passed out on Monday night after playing his guitar….
The plaque on the wall says “live with passion”  On Tuesday night Jim was fast asleep snuggling with baby J
(who is nearly 2 years old, so he is hardly a baby anymore!)  This weekend, sleep will be a priority in our house. We may visit a neighborhood pool and shop for some recording gear on Saturday. On Sunday we are both playing at AGIF and I get to lead worship again, yay! But in spite of our plans, I promise to make sure that my sleep-deprived husband takes a nap!
Key to KoreaJim and I celebrated our 12-year-Wedding Anniversary on Sunday. Since Jameson and I are still required to leave the country every 30 days, we timed our anniversary with a trip to visit Jim’s best friend, Ouk ,in Korea. Ouk and Jim met on their first day of kindergarten (over 30 years ago?) and Ouk was also Jim’s best man. It was such a joy to see a friend who is like a brother to Jim especially a friend who attended our wedding 12 years ago.
Ouk and his fiancée, Yun, showed us around Seoul on Friday night and Saturday. Unfortunately, we had to fly back to Shanghai early Sunday morning, but we enjoyed the two days we had with our friends. We loved Korea, as the city is clean and the country is politically free while the Korean people are kind and educated. As tiring and expensive as it may be to travel every 30-days with a toddler, I hope to go back to Korea on another one of my monthly excursions. Hand-made Korean Court cakes made from solid honey and cornstarch.  Jameson was not so sure about putting something in his mouth that resembled a black-widow spider web. But thanks to Jameson’s large appetite and us living abroad, he will try just about anything.   Outdoor tea houses function as community living rooms in Korea.  5-spice iced-tea with watermelon and Asian pear is so refreshing!  On Namsam Mountain it is traditional for couples to lock signed pad-locks to the railing of the Seoul Tower.  In honor of our 12-year anniversary, we signed two padlocks and took the heart-shaped keys home with us, in the hopes of one-day visiting our locks again on day.   Seoul Tower lit up with flames during a laser show.  We took the cable-car from the top of the mountain where the tower is to street level.  I love this photo!  Argh! I wish we had our Nikon for this photo as it is our only family photo and it is blurrrrrrryyy!!  I loved seeing these two squished into Korean-sized bus seats!  Our group in front of the Hyundai building where they planned to show the Uruguay-Korean world cup game.  Whose brilliant idea was it to give our noise-maker a noise-maker?  After 12 years of marriage, my husband still possesses the key to my heart and now the key to a symbol of our love in Korea. Now we must go back to Korea! Sister Cities
It is San Francisco week at the Shanghai Expo as the two cities commemorate having been sister-cities for 30 years. National and state dignitaries (if you will) such as Senator Diane Feinstein, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, former US Secretary of State George Shultz and former Mayors Frank Jordan and Willie Brown all attended various gatherings at the Expo here in Shanghai.
As written in the "Shanghai Daily," “California's largest-ever infrastructure project, 67,000 tons of Shanghai steel will be used. When finished in 2013, the iconic San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge will symbolically "bridge" Shanghai and San Francisco...”  Yesterday we accompanied Jim to a San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Showcase at the Expo on the Puxi side.  After the presentation and reception we spent the remainder of the day exploring the Pudong side of Expo. I have so many more photos to show you, but only one hour until Jameson will probably wake up. Since we are off to Korea for the weekend, I need to use this time to pack, call credit card companies etc… I suppose I could add a few photos while I complete those tasks. I can multi-task… just don’t be surproised if their arre alaught of spelling errorrs. The Ireland Pavilion Queue...  Jameson’s name-sake… Actually he is just "James' son", but he is the life of the party just like Irish Whiskey!
 Someone dared me to do my version of “River Dance” on this blocked off stage Never dare and Irish woman unless you are prepared for embarrassment.  Yesterday we visited the Pavilions for Ireland, Brazil, Columbia (where we were VIPs thanks to Carolina) and finally the USA. I will write more about my impressions and share photos of both the Expo and Korea next week. Thanks for reading, replying and keeping in contact with us! It warms my heart to know that we may stay connected with you all while we are on the other side of the planet! Choose joy
Last December, after finding out that we were most likely moving to China in 2010, I visited my favorite store in Albany called Emma Downtown. I purchased a few Christmas gifts at Emma’s, but I also purchased a necklace for myself that says, “don’t look back” on one side and “choose joy”. That saying has been my anthem since we moved to China. I do not always follow the idea, but I wear the necklace as a reminder to live in the present, not in the past or even in the future.
Last week I spent a little too much time thinking about home, worrying about the future and not enough time appreciating Shanghai. This week, I am reminiscing about the great summer we had last year, but beginning to find joy in the adventures we will have here in Shanghai during the summertime. Last summer was filled with daily walks to the park, concerts in the park, two trips to Oregon, a trip to Tahoe and tons of outdoor living. This year I am trying to accept that we cannot do many of the things we did last year, but instead I want to embrace the exciting things we get to do here. Next weekend we are traveling to Korea to reset our visas and to see Jim’s best friend Ouk, whom Jim has known since his first day of Kindergarten. That was then... Jameson's 1st birthday invitation photo  Parktime with Daddy and Jameson with his "cruising legs"  Our trip to Vertical Horizons in Oregon where we "camped" in treehouses last June  Grandma time in our treehouse  Jameson with his sweet little cankles!  Our poor little guy had a fever while I drove the 8-hour trip to Oregon  Everyone except Myra (who kindly looked after Jameson) went on the zip-lines!  We are definitely going back to the treehouses someday!  We had a great trip to Tahoe thanks to our neighbors Carl and Keala!  This is now...  Joy is a daily choice wherever you live. It is so easy to focus on what we do not have rather than what we do have. Now that we have lived in China for a mere three months, I know that we have soooo much more than we need. I choose joy because the creator of the universe loves us all unconditionally and we are free to share that love and joy with others.
Gōng yuán
I apologize for not posting a blog last week as I had a series of relentless migraines and an achy-icky flu. Unfortunately, my blog was postponed as staring at a computer was not my first priority during my nauseous and blurry-eyed-week. This week Jim is sick with the flu. He was sick enough that he needed to leave work early to see a doctor who prescribed anti-nausea medication to keep him from getting dehydrated and out of the hospital.
Now that he has been home with us for a day, I must ask what he thinks of our Chinese-speaking home. When Jim is around, I mostly speak in English, but when Ayi is here, I try to speak as much Mandarin as possible. Since Jim works such long hours, studying Mandarin is simply not possible, so he is a little lost as far as what is going on around here. Luckily sign language can be universal, and he already learned a few new words this morning before he went back to bed. There are days when I long to communicate to our nanny in English as she is co-raising my son, but today I am grateful at the progress that we have both made in learning her language. Whenever she talks about us understanding Mandarin, she says “Nǐmen míngbái, wǒ hěn gāoxìng” which means “You (two) understand, I am joyful!” I am joyful too, as I began writing the following list. This list includes some of Jameson’s Mandarin vocabulary in chronological order of when first spoken: Tsing Tao - Chinese Bear Māmā - Mom Bàba - Dad Āyí - Aunt in Chinese Yī, Èr - 1, 2 Chē - car Nǐ hǎo (heehow) - hello Péngyǒu - friend Bǐnggān - cookie Jítā - guitar Kùzi - pants Wàzi - socks Yì fù - shirt Gōng yuán - park Ěrduo - ear Sān, Sì, Wǔ – 3, 4, 5 Méiyǒu!!!! - no, don’t have I am learning that there are some words that Jameson has learned that I don’t even know yet. For example, just today our Ayi asked me to purchase more hangers and I asked how to say hanger (Yījià) in Chinese and Jameson answered for her. When we have no other plans for the morning, Jameson goes to the park or the “Gōng yuán” with Ayi. If he does not get to go the “Gōng yuán”, chances are he gets to see his friends Alex and Abby. Either way, he has the opportunity to play with either Chinese or Expats “péngyǒu” every day. Jameson now has short conversations with Ayi in the morning where he asks if they are going to the park. If going to the park is not a part of the agenda, he says “Méiyǒu”. The conversations they have are very sweet, but I just realized that my almost-two-year-old-son now knows how to say “no” in two languages. All of you parents feel my pain, I’m sure, but I am excited that he is picking up Mandarin so rapidly. A few weeks ago we went to a “Gōng yuán” in Puxi with Lenny, Melissa, Alex and Abby. The park was similar to Century park in that it had amusement park, a lake with boats, but the reason the boys (I mean “Men”) wanted to go to this particular “Gōng yuán” was because it had an indoor disc-cart racing track. "Bippity-Boppity-Boo"  I'm on a boat!!!!  We had to kill some time with Lenny, Melissa and the kids before the disk carts opened up, so we rented Chinese motor boats.  Aside from not having life jackets and the water being nuclear-reactor-by-product-algae-green.... it was great fun!  This photo was taken from the bar.... intoxicated indoor racing…. Only in China!  Lenny and Jim saddling up.  Of course there were no helmets, so our kids had to be spectators instead of participators.   Everybody wins when dad is around  Riding a "Mótuō chē" with daddy  I think we all agree that this was the best gōng yuán we have yet to visit. Now that Lenny and Melissa are moving off the island and closer to Thumb Plaza, we hope to have lots more fun adventures with them. We will soon be “neighbors” with one very large city block in between us. Yay for Yanlord!
Shenzhen Triathlon
As you already know, Jameson and I only have 30-day tourist visas, while Jim has a 60-day work visa. That means that Jameson and I must leave the country every 30 days. We decided to take the advice of our friend Carol (A.K.A. Tia Lina) who researched the cheapest options and helped us book our tickets to Shenzhen. Luckily I did not have to do the trip alone as my friend Melissa and her two children also needed to do the same thing. So, we decided to make our air-trip as fun for the kids as possible.
The triathlon included a 45-minute taxi ride to Pudong Airport and a 2-hour flight to Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong. We then took a 45-minute bus-ride to Kowloon, Hong Kong where we went through four lines. One line was to exit China, another to enter Hong Kong, then we turned around and got back in line to exit Hong Kong and one last line to enter China again. Our bus trips took longer than anticipated and so did our time in customs, so we missed our flight coming home. Luckily we were able to make a later flight to Hong Qiao and were home in our own beds by 11:00 PM that night. It was a long and tiring day, but the whole trip cost about $400 for both Jameson and I. It was awesome to travel with Melissa while Jameson, Alex and Abby enjoyed playing together and tolerated the trip remarkably well. Although I was so fortunate that Carol gave us such great advice in recommending this trip and very specific instructions as well, The taxi, plane and bus triathlon is not something I wish to do again in 30 days. Next month we plan to visit Ouk in Korea when all three of us need to leave the country. This week has been very busy because of our trip to Shenzhen, but it has not been all work and no play. Skyler (A.K.A. "Ginger"), an engineer who works with Jim, is leaving the project to go home this week so we attended his going away party on Chong Ching Island. Jameson has a little crush on Tia Carolina.... Tia Tango   My friends Debbie, Carol, Amy and Melissa  No pyrotechnic permit required, This is China   Skyler’s cake had a frosting Tinky Winky on it… Does Tinky Winky have a soul?  Tomorrow I am excited to join the Abundant Grace International Fellowship Touching Heaven band that is playing for an event called “One Prayer for the City” (Jeremiah 29:7) in Puxi. The evening is a night of worship along with prayer for the city and the people of Shanghai. The evening begins at 7:00 and ends at 9:00 PM at the Shanghai Community Fellowship 53 Hengshan Road, Xuhui District (cross intersection Wulumuqi Rd). Click here to view map of the area. If you live in Shanghai, please come! I have written enough for one blog. Now it is your turn to write! I have no idea how many people read my blog and I would love to get a general count of those who do. Please scroll down to the bottom of this posting and click on “Comment.” If you wish to remain anonymous, just say “hi” and do not enter your name. Also, I’d love to have your feedback. Since you are the reader, what do you want to read and see? What do you like and dislike about my blog so far? Do you want more photos and less writing or vice versa? What interests you in China? Do you have any questions about the Chinese culture, where we are or why we are here? I look forward to hearing from all of you! 
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