Celebrating student leadership in Suzhou...

A team of Canadians came to Suzhou (about 90 minutes from Shanghai) to facilitate a We Stand youth leadership event this past Saturday. We took 9 Global Issues Network students to hear four keynote speakers and it was an inspiring day. The first speaker of the day was Albertan Chris Koch who was born without arms and legs. He is able to do anything that any other person can do, including work on his family farm and travel the world. His story was incredibly inspiring. We also wandered around old Suzhou and it was charming and beautiful. Spending a Saturday with students in this way is a wonderful blessing and privilege.

Chinese New Year: the holiday keeps getting better

On Wednesday, the weather in Shanghai could not have been better. It was sunny with clear skies, healthy air and temperatures of 15 degrees celcius. Amazing. We took advantage of the weather to hang out with some awesome Concordia folks, taking a tour of the Zotter's Chocolate Factory (all organic and fair trade) and enjoying drinks on the sunny patio. It felt like a beautiful May day in Ontario and it was perfect to be outside, enjoying good weather and good company.

Chinese New Year: Day 1 of our holiday

After a wonderful weekend spending time with friends, eating at a new restaurant, shopping for Lululemon apparel, and having a wonderful dinner with our friend Kate and her husband (the British Consul General) and several fun Europeans, our week of holidays began today, Monday. What a fabulous day it was! We enjoyed a good workout at school (spin class with Tina for me - fantastic), 2 amazing homemade meals (thanks to Brian), an afternoon bike ride along the Jinqiao canals, the discovery of a hidden neighbourhood Ming dynasty temple (500-700 years old), and a walk to the neighbourhood lake to visit the resident black swans (while sipping an Americano and a green tea latte, of course). The weather was beautiful, with temperatures around 14-15 degrees and lots of sun. It was a lovely, lovely day and we enjoyed our neighbourhood immensely. We love our Shanghai life!

It's time for Chinese New Year!

We're excited to spend our Chinese New Year break here in Shanghai so we can catch some of the festivities around the city and explore a few places we haven't seen yet. Our plan is also to visit a few new restaurants, hang out with some friends and also enjoy some down time. Sounds like a good week! To kick things off, our school had a big assembly today to celebrate Chinese New Year, complete with a dragon dance and several other dance and music performances. We can now usher in the Year of the Monkey!