Halloween in China!

Halloween is not a holiday in China, although some of the western restaurants in Shanghai had a few decorations to impress their foreign customers a few weeks coming up to the actual date. Many western holidays are starting to infiltrate Chinese culture and Halloween is coming around, albeit still dragging its heels.

I had the joy of teaching Halloween to my students this October. I was a little daunted at first; not knowing how to approach or introduce the topic but soon got into and had loads of fun with the kids.

And I'm pretty sure they just loved learning about/ acting out the scary monsters.

They learnt Mummy, Vampire, Ghost, Pumpkin, Black Cat, Bat, Witch, Mask, Candy, and of course, Trick or Treat, for which I actually had the kids Trick or Treat for real sweets! Dangle some candy and Canadian pennies in front of class and watch 50 disciplined kids go crazy...!!

Here are a few shots:

The kids and their masks. I printed some blank masks and they coloured them in, cut them out, and tied some string around them. Cute!

The masks I made and used as examples for the kids.

Mmm cheap chinese candy!

These were obviously their favourite! Canadian pennies!

Themed stickers

Scaaary flashcards!

More masks!

Love! xx

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

It's official. Summer is long gone and the cold winter rains have washed the last of the warmth out of the air.

I must admit, Shanghai's summer heat and humidity can be a little suffocating sometimes but I still loved it and now wish it would come back as the chill sets deep into my bones. I find myself reminiscing of the hot summer days that seem to have been stolen away by a cruel winter witch and think back on a few things that will remind me of China Summers for a long time: Summer Fruit.

I have already gabbed on about the Waxberry, which I'm sure I'll probably go crazy looking for back in Toronto, but there have been a few other "star fruits" that have been a great treat these past warm months.

Pomegranates were a big surprise here in Shanghai as I always thought they looked a little under ripe with their yellow-pink skins, but I took a couple home with me one day and discovered that their light skins revealed light pink fruit on the inside that I can only describe as "blush". Not as tart as the ones you find in your typical North-American superstore but much lighter in taste and faintly sweet. From that day on I was eating one or two a day until they went out of season.

Blush coloured fruit on the inside. Delicious!

Pomelos were (and still are!) one of my favourites as well. The pomelo tastes like a sweet, mild grapefruit - it has very little or none of the common grapefruit's bitterness.  I think it's also the only citrus fruit that has its segment's membranes removed before eating. I can go through a whole pomelo in a couple of days, although a few segments would be the equivalent of a large orange.

As big as your head!

The flesh without any skin. mmm

As fall comes to an end and winter completely takes over, I'll try to find a few more seasonal fruits as they appear. Lets see what comes up shall we?

Love! xx

World's Greatest City: 50 reasons why Shanghai is no.1

CNN recently rated Shanghai as the world's greatest city. Of course I have no objections and couldn't think of a more wonderful place to live in right now.

Check it out:

http://www.cnngo.com/shanghai/none/worlds-greatest-city-50-reasons-why-shanghai-no-1-590704/?pks=ggl+Shanghai+No+1

# 4 sums it up I think:

"Shanghai’s energy is what makes it one of the greatest cities around -- it's the American Dream “a la Chinoise” where everything and anything is still possible."

love!

xx