Today Louis and Ali are 4 years old. They both needed to go to the dentist (bumps and bashes – Ali has a front tooth chipped a long time ago which has steadily turned greyer and Louis has a lower left gap where he knocked one clean out last month). Cindy didn’t want two days … More The Birthday Day
It is difficult to do anything about anything here but over and over again I find I am feeling political and wish I had the ability or confidence to find a way to act. Even within the family I feel ‘wrong’ but mother-in-laws and grandmothers learn fast that speaking out is never a way forward. … More Feeling political
Another Saturday and I have not written all week. This is down to being unwell for a while – Ali brought a bug home from school and of course as a healthy nearly-4 year old he recovered in half a day sitting on Granny and getting cuddles, while Granny got the bug and takes aaaages … More Contrasts
The time goes by without much happening – which is down to me as I am not doing very much. I was supposed to go to an “Internations” event on thursday (an expat organisation – look them up online) and then I cancelled as I just did not want to head all the way off … More Another Monday
Yesterday was a rainy day – so taking photos of the swarm of bikes outside was a non-starter. I just took these as we set out for school. Only a few bikes!
I have all the newspaper apps on my iphone – that is New York Time, Guardian, Independent, Shanghai Daily, and the BI Times and I really had to stop there though I sometimes look at the New Zealand stuff as well and others to see how different the reports are. It is unbelievable how different … More Edinburgh is far away
I thought I had the China stuff sorted as I have been able to get in to my own blog all week. However having noticed this great world with lots of anything in it, I was looking up other people’s contacts. Blogspot is impossible to get here – the “server resets” every time I try … More Blogspot
Last Sunday we had a typhoon warning for Shanghai – and then it was downgraded so we just had fairly strong wind and rain. The little tree on our outside patio – only about my height – tossed about telling us how strong the wind was, then it fell over. I forgot about it until … More Storms
Daily life in shanghai continues day by day. Since Cindy arrived on Tuesday, we are three adults and Zhou Ayi in the evening so not much looking after boys is required of me. I intended to do a bit of getting out and about but have managed to develop a stinking cold – crowded Metro … More Day by day
Today Cindy arrived back in Shanghai on a three week trip from New Zealand. Louis and Ali woke very early when Donal’s alarm went off. He was going to Pudong airport to meet her – about two hours journey from where we live. We followed the plan that they would go to school as usual, … More Cindy arrived in Shanghai
