Start of school and a quick stop in Berlin

School has started and we're all back at it.  Vivian started kindergarten and Nina began 2nd grade (Year 3).  Vivian is starting Chinese lessons, learning the violin, and she's improving her English reading skills.  She is proud that she has already gotten three "helping hands" certificates.  Nina is happy to get some time with kids other than her sister and is excited to join the book club.

Ben had to leave class during the first week of school to head to a conference in Berlin.  It was a good and useful training, and a great chance to explore a cool city.  He got to take a walking tour and see many interesting sites from the wars.  To see more of the city, it was convenient to use the mobike app that we use in China that also worked there.  Eating good food, seeing hand-crafted items, and eating chocolate was all done in excess.

Back in Shanghai

We're back in China and it is hot & muggy.  If it's not literally raining, we are often raining with sweat and Ben's glasses even fog up when he walks outside.  So we've stayed indoors, gone to a pool, and visited malls and other cool places.  Our flight and arrival was much easier this time as we already knew where to stay, where to eat, and how to use our phones for everything.  Here's to hoping the school year can start smoothly on Tuesday as well.

Admiring the mosaic Kara helped to make 

See ya later, America!

It's been an amazing and fast trip back to the states.  Despite being here for almost 6 weeks, it went by in the blink of an eye and we feel like we didn't waste a minute.  We had a lovely time and Conor and Megan's wedding and it was a perfect day with family.  Before the wedding we spent our time doing the traditional zip-lining/high ropes course activities.  Even though Vivian was considered too small to zip-line, she found a way to make it happen on the other obstacles.  

We were very lucky to see many friends and family from all over the country although we were bummed to miss seeing several.  We had so many wonderful lunches, ice cream runs, barbecues, dinners, and parties even up to the last day as we ran into college friends at the hotel restaurant before our flight.  We are forever grateful to our many loving hosts.

Our quick observations while back: 

• America is a car-centered place.  We need to drive everywhere, even when we are meeting people and plan to walk around.  It can definitely be convenient to be able to get to anywhere quickly without relying on train times or uber drivers, but the cost and the time can be great.  Because of all the driving, there is so much construction (especially in places with tough winters).  Ben will not miss driving and will really not miss sitting in traffic.  
• Food servings are crazy big.  We found ourselves unable to finish many meals at restaurants and were often stuffed to the brim.  We missed many of our old places, but couldn't handle all they had to offer. 
• Air and water quality is wonderful.  Even though Shanghai is typically pretty clear, we didn't ever need to bother checking air quality in the midwest and most of the lakes are pretty clear.