Apologies...

for the lack of activity here on the blog. Things have been pretty busy since the last update. Kate and Emily are getting settled in at school. We've had two back-to-school nights to attend where we go in and meet their teachers and get a feel for what their normal school day is like. Kristi is still busy getting our apartment set up. She has also joined a women's Bible study and has started taking Mandarin lessons. And I've been putting in some hours at work and even spent a couple of days in Seoul, Korea, last week.

Don't get me wrong - it's not all work here. We've also found time to have some fun. On Sunday before last (Aug 26?) we went to the airport and picked up a friend coming in from the US. Alan Batman (yes, that's his real name) came to Shanghai for a short business trip. We brought him over to our place, gave him a tour of the neighborhood, then headed out for a little sightseeing. We wrapped up the evening with dinner and a stroll down Nanjing Road, which is a huge pedestrian mall.

Last Saturday we visited Yu Yuan, or Yu Garden, in the Old Town section of Shanghai. The garden was built in the 1500's during the Ming dynasty. It covers about five acres and was originally intended to be a place for rest and meditation. It also has several buildings, or pavilions, that were used for public meetings. We took plenty of pictures that I will try to post here in the next few days. In the meantime, if you're interested, you can read more about the garden's history here.

Yu Yuan is a big tourist attraction so of course it has to have a tourist trap associated with it. Here it is the bazaar. We also have pictures of this and will try to get them up soon.