Last Saturday I went with about 30 other teachers from SSIS to the pearl market. The name "market" kind of threw me off because I expected an outdoor place with various booths and people shouting and crowds (similar to the copy market, children's market, and walking street). Here is what I found
They should probably rename it the pearl mall because that's what it felt like. It was clean and not crowded at all. Each one of the tables in the middle is owned by a separate owner and then the bigger shops are along the perimeter. The jewelry was absolutely beautiful and the prices were unbelievable. I will definitely be going back!I had promised Abigail that we would have her birthday party in October since we didn't have one on the actual day. Her birthday falls on golden week here so most of her friends leave town. Anyway, October came and went and we finally got around to having her party last Saturday. We took a small group of her friends to a spa to get manicures, then out for ice cream and then back to our place for presents and a quick play. True to the living in China experience, I took the girls into the dvd shop to pick out their own dvd to take home instead of a party bag. $1 us, and the girls were thrilled, can't beat it. The girls had a great time at the spa, it was a very easy party but worked out really well. Here they are at the spa and showing off their nails on the way home.
This week went well. James had a cross-country meet at the Shanghai American School and improved his 3k time yet again, the season will be over on Monday. Abigail went on a field trip to the Shanghai science museum. She is really enjoying the many activities she has become involved in including dance, choir, computer club, photography and cooking class where she has learned to make cheese biscuits, dumplings, pizza, cookies, and more. James participated in the House Trivia contest this week, representing the blue monkeys. Mark is the head of the house. James managed to get his team some points but they ended up losing. Oh well.
The last time I blogged I posted pictures of Abigail's new haircut, this week we took James downstairs to get his cut. I didn't take him to the fancy expat salon, I thought he could handle the chinese place in our apartment complex. So no more shaggy, surfer hairdo.
He of course isn't looking at me here, I couldn't get him to look up from his video game. That's his school uniform jacket. Both he and Abigail have fleece school jackets that they wear when the weather gets colder.Last Sunday we went for a walk in central park and I took some scenic shots. The first one is of a statue in the park. One of many. There are sculptures all over Suzhou, they're really neat actually. It was a rainy day so the pictures look misty.
This morning we headed out early to walking street in attempt to finish our Christmas shopping. It is my goal to have it in the mail as of tomorrow and have a month to get to Canada and the US. We also picked up Abigail's new dress from the tailor's but we were so busy that she has yet to try it on. While we were out walking I had the bizarre experience of being asked to pose for a picture with a young chinese man! Really strange. There is a temple right in the middle of walking street and I wanted to take some pictures so here is the temple, as well as one of the shopping streets nearby.
After walking street we went to go see a pantomime play that the expat association put on. It was quite funny, the kids really enjoyed it.So that's about it, we will be celebrating American Thanksgiving at the school this Thursday. They will be having a turkey dinner for any staff families that would like to attend so I think we will all enjoy that. I will be sure to take pictures! I make it policy to always have my camera on me these days!
So...have a good week everyone!
