Meeting the Neighbors

Another great day here in Shanghai. The weather was beautiful....50's and sunny. Morgan was, once again, up bright and early this morning. It seems to be later and later each morning. Maybe by next weekend she'll be back on track.

I took Morgan to the pool this morning. She had a great time swimming. The water in the indoor pool is warm, so there is no hesitation getting in. I checked out the activites board to see about swim lessons for Morgan. They start up next week so I'm hoping its not too late to sign her up. The girls and I had lunch at the poolside cafe. They have a good selection of sandwhiches, salads and soups, and a few hot dishes. The activities club is cash free. So whenever we make a purchase at any of the onsite restaurants or spa, we just have to sign a slip and then we receive a bill at the end of each month.

Mark and the girls and I braved Carrefour (grocery store) again. I wanted to pick up a few things for the Ayi to have on Monday. And since I'm not will to go again on a weekend, we had to go tonight. We managed to get in and out quickly without any trouble. However, just as we were heading out, Mark saw someone he knows from work. Mike, Sondra, and their 2 teenage children live in our neighborhood. They've been in Shanghai for 4 years now. Sondra was very nice and offered to take me out around town sometime. She even has a friend whose two young daughters will be in Morgan's preschool. She offered to arrange a get together for us.

After dinner, we were invited to a neighbors house for drinks and dessert. Mark works with Serg. He and his family, Sally, Onica (9) and Westin (12) live just 5 houses down from us. They've been in Shangahi since mid-September. They also had Sherry, Mike and Jessie (14) over. They've been here just over 1 year, and live 4 house down from us. Everyone was very nice and offered to help at any time, if needed. Jessie even expressed an interest in babysitting. It just goes to show how much the expat community really look out for each other. It truly is like a closeknit family.

It was great to see inside of another villa here in the neighborhood. Serg's family have the same layout we have and we were able to get some ideas on how to arrange the furniture in our own place. A good weekend project.