Shanghai Tai Tai in Thailand

Well my kittens, it has been a month since my last post. Maybe it is because I have 3 small children and just spent my first holiday season in China. Unfortunately, I had a lot of blog ideas in the past few weeks, but the ideas seemed to be erased by the sun an fresh sea air of Thailand. So instead of a quirky Chinese experience I will give you an update of how we spent Christmas numero uno in Shanghai. First I had to be ultra organized in getting my shopping and cards done early. Steve made a trip to the US in November and took care of the wrapping and mailing of cards and gifts. I highly recommend early shopping, it takes some of the stress out. I also recommend getting your husband to do some of the leg work in the gift giving department. Check that off my list.

The end of 2010 at Concordia elementary was packed full. Anderson had his "school birthday", which entails cupcakes and goody bags as well as being king for the day. The boys had Christmas music programs on two consecutive evenings. The best part is that they go to a christian school so they actually get to sing songs about the birth of Jesus...you know he is the reason for the season. It was a little nostalgic to when I was a kid, when we were a little less hyper about separating religion from public school. This was followed by planning and executing a successful Christmas party for Jackson's class as one of the room mom's. Soccer ended with an exciting tournament. Jackson's team, which did not show too much world cup readiness, was on fire for the the first time which landed them in the finals. The games are short, and the score was 0-0. Then one of Jackson's teammates accidentally touched the ball with his hand, giving the other team a free kick near the goal......Jackson was goalie.... the kid kicked it....it went high.... jump!!!!! SCORE.....JP's team lost, but a good time was had by all, and we were so proud of how much the boys had improved.

Christmas break finally came with much anticipation. For the kids the dream of presents and gifts from Santa. For mom, the idea of getting away from China, was just what the doctor ordered. First I had to figure out what to do with the first half of the break. I have a hard time with the idea of spending Christmas in a hotel some where, so we did not plan our escape until Xmas day. I have to say there are a lot of cool conveniences in the expat world. I learned that there was a camp in my compound for Xmas break. The kids loved it, they played, swam, did crafts and sports. It was perfect and they had more fun than I could have come up with on my own especially since most expats vacate China for any extended holiday. We did have to make some adjustments to our family traditions: Instead of doing gifts on Xmas morning we opened presents on Christmas Eve, (let me tell you the kids weren't upset about this one.) I didn't get to prepare a lavish meal for a large group, (I wasn't too upset about this one either). We instead went to a very nice traditional Chinese restaurant for lunch with a wonderful family from New Zealand. The kids got to see a cool holiday model train and we had the fun of being together.

After an early wake up call on Christmas morning we enjoyed Santa's generous gifts then it was off to the airport for an 8:30 am flight to Phuket, Thailand. The trip was fantastic. We snorkeled, speed boated, explored the island's Buddhist temples, road elephants and enjoyed the ocean and swimming pools. The Thai people are so wonderful and love children. It is a place we would definitely return to. We also celebrated AC's 5th birthday in style at a New Year's Eve party to remember. Our resort hosted a huge party with entertainment, fabulous food and fireworks. The only downside was that we had an even earlier wake up call the next morning in order to catch our 7:30 am flight back to Shanghai. It was weird coming back to China. We were only gone one week, but it felt like longer. I am thankful for Skype, which allowed us to catch up with family on New Year's Day. The holiday season was such a bustle, it wasn't until Jan. 1 that I realized how much I missed spending the holidays with family. Being able to see faces on the computer helps.

With the coming of the new year I feel blessed for so many things. Every member of the Laughlin family has had tremendous personal growth in 2010. I am looking forward to what 2011 has to offer.

Oh....what does the title of this post mean. Tai tai is wife in Chinese.... I am a Shanghai Tai Tai....Love it!!!!

Ping Guo and Karaoke

So it is Friday, I have a whole list of things I would like to get done, before the school bus returns home... Off I go to Carrefour the big (french) grocery store. On my list are a few basic items such as fruit to stock up for the weekend. My kids have been on an apple kick lately... You know, I am not a big fan of shopping in China as there are different procedures here, like waiting in line to weigh you produce. So it was no surprise that my blood pressure shot up as I approached the produce section.... There was a sea of black heads, all pushing toward the fruit. In fact it was apples that they were clambering for. As far as I know there is no special event or holiday requiring a large amount of apples. The site was amazing. The workers were pouring new apples, wrapped in squishy paper, into to the bin, and the people were just grabbing them. I even saw a worker bark at an older woman who was grabbing too aggressively.... I looked at my list...Apples and bananas...there was little thought in my head... "abort mission now, get out...." There is no sale on produce that I can imagine that would make me climb over other people, push and shove to get the deal. I guess it was a little like shopping at 4 AM on black Friday in the US. Just substitute apples (or Ping Guo in Chinese) for home electronics.

On a more adventurous note. I did get a night on the town that night. The hubby happens to be in the US, luckily a fellow American expat included me with a group of women for a night of margarita's and karaoke. I have heard that it is a must to check out a local karaoke establishment. It is where the Chinese go to relax and let go. So this is how it works. First we went to a western bar for dinner, drinks, and a little live music. Then off to the karaoke place. You arrive and it smells like a movie theater with popcorn brewing at a counter. You buy your drinks and snacks before entering. They had everything..... canned Chardonnay and Rose.... bacardi breezers, beer. I was able to find a feeble bottle of wine and some perrier to share because I was fearful of the other stuff. So off we go, ushered into room 515. No, we don't have to sing in front of people we don't know, we get to make fools of our selves in private. It is a wonderful thing.

Despite the fact that I had laryngitis, we had a blast. Actually the laryngitis was probably a good thing. I didn't have to pretend that I could sing or not. I just barked like seal all evening.

Girlfriends, you know who you are!!!!!! This is a must do, especially in China. Some of the videos were western, i.e. Lady Gaga (I am not sure I appreciate her quest for shock value, one of her videos was on the verge of soft porn) others were western songs with a cheesy asian influence. We had some Chinese women with us who sang the Chinese pop songs beautifully. It is interesting to compare the different cultures. I would say Chinese pop reminds me of MTV in the 80's. We seriously sang for 3 hours (you rent the room by the hour). I was out later than I had been in years. Being honest, I am getting too old for late nights and drinking.... But it felt great to be out with a group of women from all over the globe for a ladies night out.