Go go Cheryl!

Because it was our last training day of the week we wanted to evaluate the improvement of the kids on the basis of a race. In spite of the fact that there was throughout the week a fierce wind forcing us to go on the inside lake, we could take the best sailors with us on the big lake, were they learned a lot.
Today the wind was less strong so we could do the race on the big lake. The track was an Olympic triangle. The kids sailed very well and it was an exciting race. The outcome of the race was 1: Cheryl, 2: Jackson and 3: Mark.

After cleaning up the sailing area we are now free for the rest of the weekend. Downtown Shanghai here we come!

Stay tuned, you'll here from us shortly!

The Shanghai team

Jackson the daredevil

This morning there was a moderated wind and a clear sky. For the first time we were able to see the bank from the other side of the lake, which is normally impossible due to the smog. The children are easy to get on with, so we could start on the large lake with an easy beam reach exercise. The wind started to get up but fortunately the kids are fast learners so they could handle some more wind. In the afternoon the kids were tired as a result of the intense training in the early afternoon and the moderated wind turned into a fierce wind as well. So these difficult conditions forced us to go back on the small lake where we practiced the close reach.

Soon the kids wanted to go back on shore because the wind had an exhausting effect on them. I saw the opportunity to pick out the most motivated trainee and defy together the ‘rough weather’. There was only one daredevil. I think he had the time of his life, he enjoyed every second of it until he capsized. Still this couldn’t end his moment of glory towards his buddy’s, who couldn’t dare to believe one’s eyes.

This was an ideal event to end a lovely day of sailing.

Greets,

The Shanghai team

Xingqiyi 06/08

Dear friends and family,

First we want to say sorry that we didn’t post anything last night but we were too tired from our trip. So Saturday we, the old and new trainers, left the house at 6 pm together with the kids, a bus came to pick them up and there were a few seats left. After a trip of 2 hours through the rush hour of Shanghai we arrived at People’s square. From there we went to our hotel and went into the city for a nice dinner. We were guided by Amena and her boyfriend, Amena takes care of everything for us here in Shanghai. They took us to a nice hot-pot restaurant, a typical Chinese restaurant. It was very good but we weren’t always sure of what we were eating, beef stomach for example. There Pauline and Evelien joined us after their flight from Xiamen. Afterwards we went for a walk on the Bund.

The next day the old trainers left early in the morning for their flight. The new trainers went into the city to discover it, we started with a nice breakfast of croissants at good old Starbucks. After we went back to the Bund to see the amazing skyline of Pudong (suburb of Shanghai) and took the psychedelic subway to Pudong. There we visited the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, with a height of 468m the biggest TV Tower of Asia. We went as high as possible (350m). Afterwards we went to an amazingly big mall where we went to a Mc Donalds for a very good lunch and did our shopping for the rest of the week.


Today was very exciting, it was our first training day and there were some new children as well. It was another hot day but in contrast with other days there was a stiff breeze in the afternoon. For us it was new to teach in English, but we took up the challenge. After a couple of minutes the worst part was behind us and the kids were listening attentive to our informative statements. In the afternoon we taught the kids how to swim, wich was a whole undertaking for the very reason that they didn’t wanted to admit that they couldn’t swim at all. After that we could finally go on the water for a first practical introduction to a fascinating new sport, which they liked a lot. But unfortunately the breeze became stiff with the result that we had to put an end to our sailing fun.


After a hard day of working we are very tired but we wanted to share our stories with you!

Greets,

The Shanghai team