Two fun events in our last weeks in SH

Not everything during our last few weeks in Shanghai was stress and business. Two very cool things happened before we left and I’m glad we got to do both. Well, there was one where it was only me, but it was kind of a big deal.

My student teaching seniors graduated.

Not that I didn’t think they would not graduate, I knew they would, but when you see people that you have taught celebrate such an accomplishment it’s incredibly special. Hearing the college acceptances of some of the kids, seeing them get called for honors…it’s definitely a proud moment. This might sound corny, but seeing how happy they were to see me there meant everything. It made the long months of student teaching worth it and made me look forward to celebrating more academic and personal accomplishments with future students.

Here are some snaps with just a few of them:

Most importantly, I didn’t cry.

The second fun event I’ll highlight here on the blog was our day at Disneyland Shanghai.

Yes, it’s open, and yes, we got to go before we left. And it was amazing!

I went to Disney World when I was 5. Cameron’s last visit to a Disney park was to Hong Kong Disneyland 10 years ago (it had recently open). He is more excited about rides (and more daring) than me. So I wasn’t sure how well I would do, but I did pretty well.

I can’t compare to other parks because a) it’s been a long time, and b) I know a lot of changes have happened over time. I have to say, the delays in finishing the park were worth it. In my personal opinion it feels a bit more kid-oriented than other parks but it’s still lots of fun.

Waiting times are insane. Some rides had a 4 hour waiting time ON SOFT OPENING, which is when we went (one of the families in Cameron’s class has a parent who works for Disney as an engineer and helped design the park, so the tickets were Cam’s class present for the end of the year). Overall though, we got to go on our favorite rides more than once, so we were happy with that.

Here are some snaps from my phone. Doesn’t it look magical?

With love and magical fantasies for all,

Ana