Shanghai It Is

After a bit of trouble with my flight reservation, we finally made it to Shanghai via China Eastern Airlines.  With three of us traveling, John Boulet, Raylene's good friend is with us, it made sense for us to hire a van at the airport to take us to our hotel, Les Suites Orient.  The hotel overlooks the Hangpau (Yellow Bank) River.  The Haungpau is the last major tributary to the Yangtze River that empties into the East China Sea at Shanghai.  We arrived mid-evening on a very active Saturday night where the lights where bright and the Bund (famous part of Shanghai) crowded with people walking its shoreline enjoying themselves immensely.  The Chinese love to use lights everywhere especially all over their buildings.  It is a fabulous light show.  Even the tour boats traversing up and down the river are all aglow.  After a day's worth of traveling, we decided to dine at the hotel and call it a night.

My room has a view of the river that is quite impressive as you see from above, especially as the sun rises.  Compared to the vast numbers of people out Saturday night, there where very few walkers and joggers moving along the Bund in the still of the morning.

I took the time to prepare for today’s meeting with our Shanghai parents by sitting in front of the window watching the many, many boats coming down river loaded with all kinds of cargo.  It is a unique experience.

Sherry Mao and Paul Yao’s fathers came into town early to join me for lunch.  Both had to get back to their respective towns for important business meetings.  We enjoyed catching up and discussing Paul and Sherry’s plans for the remainder of the school year since both will be graduating this May.

Just a few hours later, Raylene Davis and I met with the parents of the students from Shanghai.  We were fortunate to have Jerry Zhu’s mother help us with the translating.  It was two well hours.  It is no surprise to see the concern in the faces of our Asian parents what with having their children going to school halfway around the world.  All parents, whether in Shanghai or Boston, want nothing but the best for their children.  Our individual meetings with each of the parents was followed by a wonderful authentic Chinese dinner at a very famous restaurant, Yuan Yuan.  Many laughs could be translated into their happiness with the Brewster experience.

Front L to R: Jeffrey Zhou’s mother, Qin Pin; Lily Wang’s mother, Chunfang Ma; Jim Bastis; Raylene Davis; and Jerry Zhu’s mother, Ran Chen.  Second  L to R: Zing Wang’s father and mother, Wei Dong Wang and Baomei Wang; Sherry Xie’s mother and father, Jianmei Shi and Kelie Xie; Doris Xiang’s father and mother, Peijun Xiang and Bing Geng; Cynthia Mei’s mother and father, Qing Cai and Guobiao Mei; and Tom Liu’s father and brother, Jian Hua Liu and John.

Next, Beijing