Toys

Man cannot live without toys!  At least that is the case for me.  I have now accumulated enough toys to make life in Shanghai a lot more enjoyable.  It is also nice that acquiring toys enable friendships.  A great example of this is my car picture here.  It is a slot car and I was invited by a colleague at work to join his club.  We race once a week at a Japanese colleague’s house where he has converted his living room into a race track.  Last weekend I became a threat.  Although I have only two race days under my belt, last week I took second place overall and had the fastest lap time.  It was nice to be competitive in a new sport.

Making new friends has been slow and difficult as friendships with people at work are difficult and without kids this time, we do not have intimate contact with the international community.  But recently we have been to two dinners, a lunch and a BBQ all with different friends.  We are also starting to meet people at church so as you can tell, life is becoming a lot more fun.

We have heard a lot about the really hot and humid weather coming and so of course I had to get another toy to help cope with the hot weather (which I really don’t like).  So as you can see pictured below, I now have a “cool” way to get around town, an electric bike.  Cath does fit on the back and we have recently used it to go to one of our favorite stores that is just a bit too long of a walk.  I think we will make good use of it this summer.

And my last toy was actually my first toy, my RC car.  It is also a lot of fun and I regularly race it around our complex.  Actually I think I have spent more time repairing it than using it but that is part of the learning experience.  I have broken two wheels and the front steering mechanism but now I can actually have two or three good outings before I break something else.  All the kids in our complex want to try it but it is very very fast and even I have had a hard time controlling it so for now I have to be the “bad neighbor”.

It now feels a lot more comfortable here and I am now enjoying the experience.  The transition was hard but from those I have talked to, this is not uncommon.  Many times we have to remind ourselves that this “is not Kansas” and we now say “TIC” (This is China), and certainly we are not going to change the culture or the way of life here.  Accepting and coping are two key attributes that come in handy here. 

We hope that many of you will use our time here to come and visit because this really is a great country and we can help you experience the local culture and sites.