Well, things got a bit tense around here when I heard that there was a typhoon heading for Shanghai last night.  Nick's class is dangerously close to Shanghai.  I talked to the director of the school today, and he spoke to the lead teacher of the trip today.  The whole group is in Hangzhou right now, and they're all doing well.  Whew!

 

We're off to Phuket, Thailand next Saturday, September 29th.  We're going to go to Beijing the night before, and spend the night at a hotel near the airport.  As an added bonus, our dearest friend from western Canada will be in the same hotel.  We're all looking forward to seeing Joanne Crook after 6 long years!  I know.....Phuket?  After that plane crash on Sunday?  We figure it will be the safest airport in the world.  There's no way that they'll let an accident like that happen twice in two weeks!

Here's an update on Nick.  He's on his school trip this week.  He left yesterday at around 1 in the afternoon.  They took an overnight train to Shanghai, and then they were going to take a bus today to Suzhou.  They'll spend a couple of days in Suzhou, then they are off to Hangzhou.  The kids then take an overnight train back to Tianjin on Thursday.  We'll pick him up on Friday.  He's never been away from his family that long (not that he can remember....Doug and I did a few trips when the kids were very small....thanks, Doris).  Nick has a cell phone that covers all of China (a necessity here, because of safety).  He sent us a text message yesterday afternoon that he was okay.  Then a couple of hours later, he sent me a picture (his cell phone has a camera) of himself with his thumb up.  A few hours later, he sent the thumbs up picture again.  Then just before bed, he sent a text message saying "Yes!"  I think our son is having the time of his life. 

Nick is getting ready for his "Week Without Walls" trip.  We're trying to help him get ready.  He leaves in two days.  Notes keep coming home from the school, with tips on how to prepare the children for the big trip.  He will be away for 6 days.  We've been advised to pack light, but a list came home with about 30 items that they should pack light with.  We are going to be spending a lot of time tomorrow, trying to pack light.  It suggested that the kids pack two pairs of sneakers, in case their one pair gets wet or something else happens to them.  Nick currently has a favorite pair of sneakers that he wears everyday, but we had bought Nick some "back up shoes" before we left the U.S., so I pulled them out.  None of them fit his feet anymore!  We bought them about 9 months ago.  When we left the U.S., his feet were the same size as mine.....size 10 women's, about 8 1/2 men's.  He couldn't get his feet into these brand new shoes.....and we had even estimated up a size because we know our boys grow like bad weeds.  So Doug finally offered up a pair of his sneakers as Nick's 2nd set for the trip.....size 10 1/2 men's.  They fit perfectly!  How does a kid go from a size 8 1/2 to a 10 1/2 and 9 short months?  Answer:  he's got male Johns feet!  My dad and my brothers are about a size 13.  Every generation gets bigger and taller.  If this kid has size 10 1/2 feet at the age of twelve, and boys are usually done maturing at age 18, I'm frightened as to the possible size of his feet as an adult.  We've been teasing him and calling him "Bigfoot" and "Sasquatch" the last couple of days.  Although as of today, he is no longer a sasquatch.  He finally agreed to have his hair cut very short.  He was growing it out into some horrible style that made me fret.  I explained to Nick that he had to get a good cut before this trip, because he doesn't like to comb or brush his hair after a shower, and his hair looks absolutely horrible without some grooming.  Plus this is a whirwind trip....he takes a train from Tianjin to Shanghai overnight on Sunday, spends a night in Shanghai, then he goes off to Suzhou for a couple of nights, then he's off to Hangzhou.  That is southern China.....very hot there still...he needs a fuss-free haircut for such a big trip.  He went to the hairdresser tonight and asked the hairdresser to cut it all off in a normal man haircut.  He looks so handsome!  He looked so dark before, hiding behind his bush of hair.  I'm very proud of him.  I think he's going to have an excellent trip.  His two roommates are Asian kids.....Tomson and Ree-O-Way (I've spelt it wrong, I'm sure....but that's how you say his name).  Nice, easy-going kids from Singapore and Taiwan with very good English.  This is hard for me....my oldest leaving me for this long.  I turned down an adult invitation for a 40th birthday party on Saturday night, so that I can spend some time with my son before he goes.  Nick seems very excited.....he's the kid at the age of 5 who chose Discovery channel over cartoons.  Now he's going to live a real-life Discovery Channel experience.  I said to Doug last night that this reminds me of my childhood...we used to have week-long school trips away at a young age.  It just isn't done in North America anymore, because of liability and lawsuits.  I'm glad that my sons will be able to experience these things while we're in China.  But don't think that I'll be gleefully enjoying myself while he's away.  That's just not me.  I'm the fretting type of mom.  So, of course, I'll be sending Nick off with a cell phone that covers all of China, in case he needs to phone us. 

 

We're trying to organize a trip to Phuket, Thailand for the first week of October.  I thought that we could hold off on a trip until December.  But I pouted to Doug last weekend that staying in China all summer was hard....in that we couldn't swim outdoors anywhere, because there are no outdoor pools (pollution issues) and you just can't swim in the lakes and rivers here (again....pollution issues).  It was stinking hot all summer, and we had to stay indoors.  Just doesn't feel right for kids.  So the kids have the first week off in October.  I contacted a travel agent on Monday, and we've been hashing stuff out all week via e-mail.  She sent our reservations off to the airlines and the hotel, but doesn't have any confirmation yet.  We should find out on Monday whether or not we've got everything confirmed.  By coincidence, our American friends in Beijing are staying at the same resort that we're trying to get into at the same time.  I phone Jenn last night to make sure that it was the same resort.  She was so excited.  Her husband, Scott, phoned Doug today at work, all excited that we might be going to the same resort at the same time.  I've got fingers crossed that everything lines up as it should!  Our kids all get along great, and us adults always have a great laugh together.  The resort we're trying to get into has a baby elephant that walks around on the grounds (you can watch her bathe in the lagooon and pet her even!) and a waterpark with waterslides for the kids.  Not to mention, there are organized water volleyball games, a kid's club with activities, and a swim-up bar.  Plus many restaurants on the property.  I sure hope it all works out.  We really need this right now. 

Thomas has finally returned to school this week.  I'm still convalescing at home, taking it easy, and trying to nurse this nasty virus.  Poor Ayi sounded all stuffed up by the end of the day.  She has tomorrow off, so I told her that if she ends up getting this horrible virus and doesn't feel well Friday, I'd completely understand if she phoned me and told me that she couldn't make it to work that day.  She shook her head "no" at me, but I know that if anyone caught this virus, there's just no way that they can put in a full work day.  I had to cancel going to the weekly editorial meeting at the magazine on Monday, and couldn't attend the PFO Meeting today.  I'm the Secretary of the PFO, and I should be sitting there for 3 hours so that I can type up the minutes of meeting afterwards, but I had to phone a couple of other members on the executive and ask them to take some good notes for me instead.  Didn't think I'd be much use, sitting there blowing my nose, sneezing, and coughing.  No one would have heard a thing.   Sadly, I had to miss the elementary school student council election speeches at the end of the day.  Thomas is running for President and Philip is running for Treasurer.  Here are their speeches:

 

"Good afternoon.  My name is Thomas Johnston and I am in Mr. Sherratt's 4th grade class.  I hope that you will vote for me as President of your student council.  I'm a hard worker, with a good imagination for new activities.  I will be a good communicator about your issues.  I am well organized and responsible.  Vote me for President!"

 

"Hello.  I'm Philip Johnston and I'm from Canada.  I am in Mr. Walsh's 4th grade class.  I hope that you will consider voting for me as Treasurer.  I am responsible and accountable.  I am well organized... I always know where everything is in my desk.  I am also good at math.  I will not squander the profits from ice cream sales, but I really like that orange flavor!  Remember to vote for Philip for Treasurer!  Thank you and good bye."

 

The assembly was at the end of the day.  When I went to the school to pick up the children, many parents came up to me, with glowing reviews of the twin's speeches.   This seemed to be the consensus:  Thomas came across as sweet and shy, and Philip came across as confident and funny (I think he gave the adult audience a good chuckle).  Hmmmm.....the apples don't fall too far from the trees, huh?  I'll let you guess which child reminds us of little Susie and which one reminds us of little Doug.  It sounds like I missed a gem of an event.  I even had to send a text message to Doug afterwards, with the parental reviews and the comment, "Little versions of us, huh?" 

 

Even if neither twin wins (there are a lot of contenders... the speeches must have taken awhile), I'm proud that both even wanted to run for anything.  I didn't push either one into it, they decided to try for these positions all on their own.  In fact, Thomas had tears in his eyes one sick day at home, worrying that he had been gone from school so long, that he wouldn't be able to stay in the election and conduct a proper campaign.  He made posters from home, and Philip willingly posted them all over the school for his twin.  How's that for brotherly love? 

 

The students vote tomorrow, and they'll find out the results.  Then out of the pool of students that didn't get voted in, the teachers choose some "ombudsmen."  I'll have to keep you posted on how that all works out.  Hope there aren't any hurt feelings with any of the children that don't get positions.