Murphy's laws for parents 101

1. It's when they're both sleeping, and you're trying to be as quiet as a ghost, that you drop something that makes a lot of noise.

2. You only have the peace and quiet to pump breast milk in the evening. When there's hardly any milk left in you after the baby sucked you out.

3. You forget to do the laundry 1st thing in the morning on the warmest day in weeks. This way you basically missed a whole load that could have dried by the time you came back home in the afternoon and finally started the machine. When you have to wash about 4 times a week (and when the family is bigger than ours, it's even more), this is a crucial point.

4. You're either not invited to anything fun for months or you have to chose between two things that happen at the same time.

5. Your baby will wake up for a night snack, when you were getting ready for bed and only needed to do one more thing (and thus went to bed without brushing your teeth / washing your face / going to the bathroom / writing that last email / preparing your water bottle for those thirsty breastfeeding night sessions).

6. You have so many nice thoughts and ideas for your blog. When you're already in bed, dead tired, and there's no way you're gonna give up precious moments of sleep for that.

7. Your son will wake up while you're writing this post.

Looooooooooooong weekend

Rob's parents just left... His mom came on wednesday, and I was touring Shanghai with her for 2 days. Then his dad came and we spent the next two days with him too. It was his dad's birthday on Saturday, and we celebrated on Friday night in a good Chinese restaurant (same one we went to for Rob's bday). It was exhausting these last few days. Today we went to Hangzhou again (well for them it was the first time) and for Rob and I it was a really nice day - even though it was raining - coz last time we were there it was raining too with 8 degrees less and fog everywhere. This time we could actually enjoy the nice views. I'll put pictures here soon.
We gave 2 suitcases full of stuff to his paretns - all of our winter wear and some shoes and books- so we have less to take when we leave. We have just a bit of time left here till we go back home in the end of April... Wow time flies...

My computer died AGAIN. I'm losing it- I tell ya. It's so annoying. I'll go to the computer lab tomorrow again. I'm starting to think that I'll need to buy a new one- but I don't really have money for that so... I'll see...


We haven't decided yet what we wanna do in the last 2 weeks- we were thinking about Tibet- but the weather might be still too cold, and we want to enjoy it - and we both know what it is like to travel when the weather is bad. We were thinknig to see some things that we haven't seen in China yet (and there is obviously a lot of it). Rob's new semester starts in the beggining of April- so he doesn't wanna miss too much. I'm gonna try to see if I can change my flight this way that I go through Germany on the way to Israel- for a visit- and to choose our apartment in Dresden together, even though I'm not gonna be there the first few months... We haven't decided on details yet- but I'd like to spend some time in Germany in the summer, and then when Rob's done with his exams - go to Israel for a while and have some fun there in those best weather months.

I'm really tired, will keep you guys posted on the condition of my old computer ;-)

It's rainning.... grrr...

Oof it's been raining for the last few days and it doesn't look like it's ever gonna stop... grrr... and BRRRRR... every time I go outside with pants that accidentally touch the ground I get home wet to my knees- coz there's puddles everywhere. It's like there's no sewage here- and the water keeps piling up in huge quantities- just for me to get wet... I understand now why Chinese ppl always wear pants that are narrow in the end- not touching the ground. It's really hard to find a Chinese person wearing bell bottoms or anything that is even remotely close to that. Now I know why!

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My dad was here last weekend- it was so much fun! I really enjoyed his stay here... We went to the Tennis Masters Cup Final together- with Rob. It was between Roger Federer and James Blake. Federer won- and it looked like he didn't even try hard- he was just standing there most of the time letting nature do what it's supposed to do- WIN... Blake is a new comer to this contest (it's a tournament between the 8 best players in the world and 8 best couples in the world) and I think he gave a good performance regarding his short past in these kind of contests. Well anyway- it was really nice to spend time like this with my dad- especially coz I know how much he likes watching Tennis.

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School... hmmm... I really like the classes... I think that a student like me should get more classes everyday- rather than have to work at home. When I get home- all I can think of is doing nothing special. At least once a week I do something after school with my Spanish friend Lia- and then when I get home I really don't feel like studying. Big problemo! Next week I have another exam- and this time the teacher said it's gonna be all in Chinese characters... OOF! Not ready for that at all... I hope I'll sit on my ass and study some more this week. The rain outside should do the job but it just does the opposite- makes me wanna stay under the blanket!

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Bought the second season of "Veronica Mars"... I know I know- I'm not a teenage girl- but I just love this TV show... it's so unreal but so clever and never ever boring... so of course I saw the whole season in 3 days (22 chapters) - couldn't resist!!!

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Rob's going home for x-mas. I've decided to not join him. He's going for about 10 days- and I know he's going on a family marathon. I love his family- They were all so nice to me, but most don't speak enough English to communicate with me for more than 5 minutes and I figured that it wouldn't be so much fun... Plus- I don't feel comfortable getting in to the family x-mas eve- being Jewish I've never been to one- and I don't think that coming from China for 10 days - having nowhere to go to after that evening - is the good time to start. I guess that when we'll live there and coming for the holidays will be just coming from a few hours away by train- it will feel different. I'll have more freedom then- not like in this case- where I know that I'll be dependant on Rob and what he's doing- like I was in every visit in Germany in the last 18 months. To make things short- I'm gonna stay in Shanghai ALONE!!! for about 10 days... But I made him come back here on the 31st- so I wont be alone on new years eve (not that I care about the evening it self- just here- I don't feel like being alone when everyone is coupling up and going out to parties... I guess that in Israel I really wouldn't have minded...)

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Can read here again in China- cross your fingers it'll last... Have been reading Dorian's blog so fast- afraid that any moment the connection will fall LOL I'm getting Paranoid...

Back to normal life at last

Rob's family left on Saturday morning. His dad left here on Tuesday already. I spent almost everyday with them- wondering the streets of Shanghai- was really nice walking in places I've seen so many times- but this time listening to his mom tell us all about the buildings and history(reading from her book- I made her leave it here so Rob and I can actually be tourists too). When you live in a place- you usually don't really look at it like a tourist does- you usually don't see things that for someone new are really interesting. Of course I've seen Shanghai in these eyes the first time I've arrived here almost 2 years ago- but I haven't spent so much time touring it then- and after a while I got so used to the scenery that it never looked so interesting and strange to me anymore. This time I could really see it and learn. Rob and I have seen more of and walked more in the streets and spots of Shanghai than we ever did and it actually felt really really nice. On Friday we both spent the day with them- he took a day off- and I just skipped school (bad girl!)- and we went to ZhuJiaJiao- a little Chinese town almost an hour to the west (an hour with traffic). It's very touristic but it was really nice to see how a real old Chinese town looked like. The fact that they actually charge you for the entrance to the town might seem weird at first- but then you see how rather clean it is (compared to Chinese standards) so you forget about it and just enjoy. Rob's mom and sis spent most of their time shopping - buying all kinds of Chinese souvenirs - nice stuff- but the stopping at every store was exhausting. In the end I think they left with a nice collection of Chinese stuff. I have these kind of things since I'm a little girl, and obviously I have a lot of these things from my last stay here- so it's not so easy to excite me with them...
I promise I'll put some pictures soon- as soon as I collect them all from everybody's cameras...
Starting a normal week now... Wish me luck

Crazy weekend

Friday was a busy day as it is- and in the evening we went to the airport to pick Rob's dad. Then we went to his hotel with him- and then home. Saturday we woke up early and spent the whole day with him- walking distances I've never walked before in Shanghai. I think it was a total of 8km that we walked in town that day. I was beat in the end of the day- wishing for a day of rest after it- that will never come- coz on Sunday morning we woke up early again- and went to the airport to pick Rob's mom and younger sis and bro. Then again- crazy day- walking everywhere- doing everything... In the evening- when we said goodbye- till tomorrow- I realized that tomorrow starts a new school week... Getting no rest on the weekend was really exhausting...
I had an exam today- and coz this time we still had the Pinyin (the way to write Chinese in English letters) as well as the Chinese characters- I think I did really well- but then in the middle of the exam- the teacher said that the next one will have no Pinyin- and we'll have to do it all in characters... At that point I knew that the next exam wont be so great...
Tonight we're meeting Rob's family for dinner- they're traveling in Suzhou today- a small town an hour away- that ppl say is beautiful. Funny thing is- I've never been there. Well- maybe it's more sad than funny...
So I'm about to have a busy week- now I'm resting a bit- reading online after 2 days I haven't, trying to relax...