Summer Update

Natalie had summer camp this past week and I am a little embarrassed to report that the break was sorely needed! I think you have to know your limits and while I love being at home with my daughter, it leaves me little time to focus on my own adjustment here in Shanghai. To make it even better, Tom was in India this week, so I cooked what I wanted or ate out if we didn't feel like it. The picture here of Natalie is from the porch at Slice, Natalie and I's favorite resteraunt. So, what did I do with all of that "me" time? Shopped of course! My forays into having custom clothes made at the fabric market left me desiring a simple trip to a store to buy what I wanted. So I headed to the Super Brand Mall (next to to the Pearl Tower) and went to H&M. It is a store, originally established in Sweden, which truly carries western sizes. Sort of like a European Gap. So, I spent $100 US dollars! But I did get two pairs of Capri's, two skirts, and a tank top. Not too bad. I should explain about the bottoms I bought. I know it will be hard for anyone who knows me to believe, but I now own 4 casual skirts and, more surprisingly, I wear them! Outside. Where people can see me. I have found that when I wear my usual shorts here, I attract more attention than I desire. Not because I look so good, but because I look so different. So, I have taken to wearing more "acceptable" clothing such as Capri's and skirts. One thing that has been a benefit of this new style is that I learned how much cooler skirts can be hear during the rainy season. Ya get a nice breeze! Besides the shopping, I did spend some time cooking this week. I blog some recipes separately, but you can check out the new You Tube videos of our Ayi making us Zongzi! How fun!!!

So, enough of me. You are probably wondering how Natalie's camp went. It went a lot better than I thought it would. She was a little "iffy" on the first day, but another girl who knew her from swimming, took her under her wing and she adapted quickly! Of course I am not there during the day, but the teachers assure me she has done well. There are not a lot of younger children at camp, maybe 4-5 her age in the morning, but only 2-3 in the afternoon. Surprisingly, the new friend she talks about the most is Linda, who is 12. She is Asian, but speaks perfect English. She adores Natalie! Linda has a younger sister, but the sister is older than Natalie by a few years. Regardless of what drew them together, the two seem to be pretty inseparable except with they split the older and younger kids for certain activities. They do arts & crafts and a lot of outside sports. One day, Natalie told me her favorite activity was soccer. SURPRISE! She did caveat the statement by telling me that "they only practiced, no game". Natalie last year refused to play in her soccer team's games, though she was perfectly willing to do the drills in practice. For some reason, she doesn't like activities where there is a clear winner and loser. Oh well, I would rather have her that way then the other I guess. She has camp again next week and she is already talking about what they are going to do. So, that has been a success.

For those of you who might be interested, we have booked our flights home for Christmas break. You can check out the calendar here. Natalie and I will be home a month, but Tom can't take as much time. We all fly home December 17 and then Tom heads back on January 4th. Natalie and I are going to be in the States until January 17. Natalie will miss the Christmas parties at school, but we thought that would be no bid deal this year. We already know we will head home for the summer in 2008.