It's been two months since I posted a blog entry and am still only posting information about November! It takes a while to get photos ready to post, especially given the state of internet connection so I thought I would provide a brief update and let you know we're still here in China and doing quite well.
We were back in Los Angeles for about one month (kids and me; Eric for less) over Christmas. We loved visiting with our family and friends over the holidays. We returned to Shanghai after school had already resumed and were back in town for only 3 days before leaving again for Thailand over Chinese New Year holiday. We had an amazing 10 day vacation in Thailand. Hopefully I will be able to share some of those photos before too long. As you can imagine, all this travel kept us very busy and I have to admit I still haven't finished unpacking!
In February we jumped right into our routine here. The kids are busy with school. Henry is swimming 3 times a week and competing in some meets. He's also taking violin lessons. Rebecca is playing soccer 3 times a week (and is totally obsessed), softball once a week (unfortunately there are not enough girls for two teams so they plan against whoever will play against them), and basketball. This weekend she will be playing in the basketball all-star tournament. Allison is busy with piano, ballet, tennis, and swimming. All the kids take additional Mandarin lessons and attend Sunday School and Allison and Rebecca have recently started a creative writing class on Sundays. Henry is working on his invention for the invention convention next month. He has designed a collapsible night table that attaches to beds that don't have room to put a standard night table next to them and it is being built at a furniture factory. Each of the kids has a group of nice friends.
Eric's work continues to be exciting and frustrating. The second Disney school is now open. Construction is about to begin on the 3rd site and he is negotiating leases on sites 4 and 5. Before the end of the year they expect to expand to Beijing as well. He is very busy but continues his Sunday bike rides.
My work has been extremely rewarding. I now routinely have at least 15 patient hours per week and demand has increased so I will soon be increasing my working hours. In addition I have expanded my practice and am now seeing couples so have invested a lot of time in getting some additional supervision and training including a 3 -day training this weekend by a local expert which I have organized and am hosting. Thirteen local professionals will be attending it.
I also spearheaded the organization of a professional association, Shanghai International Mental Health Association (of which I am President) for international therapists practicing in Shanghai. We already have 23 members. This has been a huge project and I have spent a lot of time on this since October. It has been very rewarding to meet a lot of different colleagues and to help better meet the needs of the expat community. Our website is going up as we speak; I will share it once it's up.
Also on the professional front I have continued to write articles and give talks to various groups including parent groups, paraprofessionals, and newly arrived expats on a range of topics including eating disorders and cultural adjustment. I am currently developing a suicide prevention program for one of the high schools and on some weight loss talks for a recently launched weight watchers program.
I am enjoying the work immensely. Of course, it does cut into my time for blogging, yoga, emailing, and shopping! I am still trying to do as much cultural stuff as I can. Eric and I did a walking tour last weekend. We are going on a weekend family trip to Xian at the end of the month during spring break.
Although it has not been as brutally cold as it was last winter, the rain for the past several weeks has been oppressive. Yesterday, however, was a gorgeous day and we enjoyed warm weather and sunshine.
We appreciate hearing from our friends and family. We miss you and apologize for not being in touch more frequently.
More soon... I promise.
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