A Quick Update

Hi Everyone,

Hope you're all well.  Sorry I haven't posted anything for a couple weeks.  The reason is this: I'm on my computer SO much at work that by the time I get home in the evening I have absolutely NO interest in sitting down at the computer again.  And on the weekends... well, last weekend we spent about 4 hours talking to friends and family on the phone.  As nice as it was, after sitting for that long I again had no interest in sitting any longer in order to type type type.  So I hope you will understand the infrequency of these posts from time to time!  

That being said, we are doing really really well here in Shanghai.  We've been here for 2 months now and are definitely feeling a little more settled in than we were last month.  We're really enjoying our church and home group, as well as our jobs.  Our students continue to be excellent (most of them anyways!).  They are so hardworking, respectful, friendly, co-operative, etc.  I always look forward to teaching them, which is more than I can say for teaching in Canada!  Honestly, for the first time in years I am really enjoying my teaching job... I just hope this lasts!  I feel like we've hit the jackpot of jobs here: great job that pays well, nice apartment (which we don't have to pay for), lively city, the chance for Andrew and I to be together more than we were in Vancouver, cheap manicures and massages right across the street, good food, etc.  

October has been a really nice month in terms of weather here.  When we first arrived here at the end of August it was SO hot and humid... just standing outside would cause us to sweat in buckets, nevermind walking anywhere!  (We just got used changing our clothes all the time and doing TONS of laundry).  September was much the same as August.  Anyways, October has been mostly sunny (only 2 or 3 days of rain) with temperatures in the low-mid 20's (celcius).  Still warm enough to wear shorts and a t-shirt with maybe a light sweater in the evenings, but not sticky-sweaty-hot.  Today is November 1st and you can definitely notice that it's cooling off, but it's still no colder than 15 degrees ever so far.  Very comfortable.

We're also making friends here, slowly but surely.  It's funny b/c apparently there are thousands of ex-pats here in Shanghai, but they're all mixed in with the other 18 million Chinese people, so you have to hunt for the white people... kinda like doing a "where's Waldo?" picture.  We've met quite a few cool people thru our church and home group, and then last Sat we went to a volleyball night.  It's a group of expats that play v-ball every Sat night at a local high school gym.  We weren't quite sure what to expect but decided to give it a go.  It turned out to be a way higher level than we're used to with a lot of intense players, but everyone was really friendly and we had a great time.  Don't think we'll make it a regular thing, but def once in a while.

As for missing home, it's not too bad.  I know Andrew is wishing he could be in Whistler in a few weeks from now (when the mountains open), and I'm def missing playing soccer with my team in Vancouver.  I feel so sad for my poor little cleats, sitting there all alone in my cleat-bag in our shoe closet here.  I brought them along in hopes of finding a team to play with here, but so far I haven't been able to find anything suitable, despite having searched tons since we arrived.  O well, maybe something will still come up.  

Our church is great and we are continually challenged by the messages, and thus we are growing, which is great!  At our home group we are doing a multi-week study on serving others, which has spawned a lot of good discussions among the group.  Andrew and I usually continue these discussions afterwards as it's about a 30-min walk back home.  So we're learning and growing a lot together.  

Next weekend (Nov 7-9) Andrew and I are going to a marriage conference.  We heard it being advertised at our church so decided to sign up.  It's being held at the Ramada hotel across town and I'm SO excited to sleep in a big soft comfy hotel bed!!  I've heard that the conference part is also super  and will bring your marriage to a whole new level.  So we'll see how it goes... def looking forward to it.  

Alrighty, that's about it in terms of an update.  I really hope you're all doing well!