That Untravelled World: December in Shanghai

The past few weeks have been full of travel for Matthew, school holiday parties for the kids, and non-stop tai tai activities for Allison. But on Friday we're off to Vietnam (via an overnight in South Korea, of course), and we'll spend Christmas and New Year here:

We're kinda excited.

But first, we did some Hanukkah celebrating.

Latkes fried in the wok.

A makeshift menorah.

Surprise trip to the top of the tallest building in Shanghai.

Then we had a special moment in the metro. Usually Matthew takes Eli to school each day, as the school is in the building next door to Matthew's office. When Matthew travels, I take Eli. We take the metro and shuttle bus. Each day in the metro stop by his school, we see an elderly man in tattered clothes collecting passengers' newspapers for recycling, likely his main source of income. A few months ago, this man approached me and spoke in nearly flawless English. I asked him where he learned such beautiful English, and he said he taught himself. A few young professionals on the platform just stared in shock at this man as he spoke English. Ever since that day, Eli insists on seeking him out and saying good morning. Last week as we did this, our newspaper friend (as Eli calls him), dug through his pockets for a gift for Eli:

Eli thanked our friend with four original Eli drawings.

December was also North America month at Eli's preschool. This meant all the Canadian and American parents were asked to do special presentations, make snacks, read stories, etc. I made 100+ chocolate chip cookies and read a cookie book. Matthew read a story. I dressed up as a cowgirl with another mother, and we taught the kids how to square dance. Sadly, I don't have access to the photos and videos yet. They may have been destroyed. So sad.

Eli's school also had their holiday concert and visit from Santa.