Morning in the Park

Our first full day in Shanghai, the boys slept a full 12 hours and woke up about 7am local time.  I am impressed how fast they are adjusting to this time zone!

This Sunday morning we had breakfast in the dining hall downstairs and we were the only customers!  The waitress asked us if we wanted a Chinese or Western breakfast - so of course we said Chinese!  It consisted of dumplings, some kind of pickled vegetable, rice congee, fermented tofu, and a hard boiled egg that had been boiled in soy sauce.  The boys did awesomely, eating or at least trying everything!

On our way to the park the boys found a little exercise yard that a few old people were using.  They jumped right in and tried out the equipment which gathered some onlookers!

 

Sophie couldn't be outdone by her brothers; she had to try too.

 

At the entrance to the park, this man was writing calligraphy with water on the concrete.  They would dry up in the sun and he would move on.

 

Here's Jack in Zhabei park.  He really sticks out!

 

We started gathering a crowd and I was trying to communicate with the locals who were all very friendly - they loved seeing the kids, asked where we were from, their ages, etc. They also wanted to know why Sophie looked Chinese! :)

 

This woman was doing a special kind of Thai Chi with a ball and a small racquet.  She was teaching other ladies how to do it.  We watched for awhile, and then it was the kids' turn to try.

 

She gave Jack detailed instructions (in Chinese) and then he went for it, which was hilarious!  Everyone had a good laugh, and then Sophie had a turn.

Next, we happened upon a man and a boy playing badminton without a net, so Peter had a go. 

Then the man stopped the play and gave Peter some instruction on how to hold the racquet.

Here's Jack having a try too

  It is so humid here that we sweat all the time and were drenched by the time we returned to our air conditioned rooms at 10:30 this AM.  That air conditioning feels SO GOOD!