I am fully convinced that as long as I have good friends, I could enjoy living on the moon! The Chinese word for friend is “Péngyǒu” (pronounced [pung yo] with a rising inflection followed by a falling-rising inflection) and we are blessed to have many new friends here in Shanghai.
We spend several days a week with my friends Melissa and Carol and Jameson’s friends Abigail and Alex. Last Friday we all went to Chang Xing Island where Jim’s office is and watched our husbands play basketball during their lunch break. The laborers live in these apartments; it almost looks and feels like prison. Our guys work 12 hours a day, 6-7 days a week. Their laborers work 15-hour shifts 13 days in a row, with one day off every two weeks.
Last weekend we went to a BBQ with some friends from Jim’s work in Century Park. A BBQ back home is no big deal when you just throw everything in the back of your car and go. It is not so easy when you do not yet own an ice chest or BBQ, have no idea where to buy ice and have to carry everything you need to take for one mile on a sultry-hot Shanghai day. Luckily we found an ice for our new ice chest and were able to load it and everything we needed onto our SUV (A.K.A. our jogging stroller).
Expo 2010 is here along with thousands of tourists...
We also celebrated Cinco de Mayo at a Mexican restaurant in Puxi with both Tia Lina and Tia Melissa (as Jameson calls them.)
Yesterday I went to my first rehearsal with the worship band at AGIF in Jin Qiao. It had been 2 months since I last played the piano or sang in public. Although this was just a rehearsal, I so enjoyed being a part of a team again and meeting believers who are also gifted musicians. I think this rehearsal came just in time as I was beginning to get depressed. I long to worship and I live to worship the One and only true God. If Chinese access to my blog is taken away for saying that, so be it…. AMEN!
This week I thank God for new friends who are musicians and believers and also for my dear friends Melissa and Carol who have been here for me these past two months!
We spend several days a week with my friends Melissa and Carol and Jameson’s friends Abigail and Alex. Last Friday we all went to Chang Xing Island where Jim’s office is and watched our husbands play basketball during their lunch break. The laborers live in these apartments; it almost looks and feels like prison. Our guys work 12 hours a day, 6-7 days a week. Their laborers work 15-hour shifts 13 days in a row, with one day off every two weeks.
Look for the giant cranes in the middle of the photo below...
this is the island where the Oakland Bay Bridge is being built.
this is the island where the Oakland Bay Bridge is being built.
Last weekend we went to a BBQ with some friends from Jim’s work in Century Park. A BBQ back home is no big deal when you just throw everything in the back of your car and go. It is not so easy when you do not yet own an ice chest or BBQ, have no idea where to buy ice and have to carry everything you need to take for one mile on a sultry-hot Shanghai day. Luckily we found an ice for our new ice chest and were able to load it and everything we needed onto our SUV (A.K.A. our jogging stroller).
On Monday we went gift shopping at Yuan Gardens.
The kids were very patient and because this is a tourist location,
they were not overwhelmed with people trying to look at them.
The kids were very patient and because this is a tourist location,
they were not overwhelmed with people trying to look at them.
Expo 2010 is here along with thousands of tourists...
We also celebrated Cinco de Mayo at a Mexican restaurant in Puxi with both Tia Lina and Tia Melissa (as Jameson calls them.)
Yesterday I went to my first rehearsal with the worship band at AGIF in Jin Qiao. It had been 2 months since I last played the piano or sang in public. Although this was just a rehearsal, I so enjoyed being a part of a team again and meeting believers who are also gifted musicians. I think this rehearsal came just in time as I was beginning to get depressed. I long to worship and I live to worship the One and only true God. If Chinese access to my blog is taken away for saying that, so be it…. AMEN!
This week I thank God for new friends who are musicians and believers and also for my dear friends Melissa and Carol who have been here for me these past two months!