ten rather superficial but fun things I love about shanghai..

1. It’s full of beans!! From ice-cream, tea, to green tea bread (yep, proof below!), i bet you there's a red bean hanging out somewhere inside…a vegetarian's delight... until you see the duck hanging in the window.

You can wear your pj’s at any time of the day, take your child to school in them, or walk along the main shopping street next to Gucci stores in your fluffies, (if you are a guy you can roll your t-shirt up in summer to air out your tummy too!)

3. You can get an amazing foot massage for less than 10 New Zealand dollars pretty much on any street corner

4. The way people look at you (as in a foreigner) with this sincere curiosity
5. Getting a cashmere coat tailor-made for next to nothing

6. The old man who does salsa by himself at the park each night wearing tight tight pants and matching tight top.

7. People walking backwards on main street (good for the chi)
8. 

8. Old ladies doing tai chi in the park to music, with their pet birds in cages hanging in the trees

9. The man who ties about 50 live chickens and ducks upside down to his motor-bike. (Disclaimer - I don’t particularly ‘like’ this… but it makes for an interesting sight each morning on my way to school!)
10. People wearing fluffy animal hats with massive ears casually walking down the street
11. had to add one more...the contrasts of the way people live...from one room to fit a family of five to massive massive villas
    

as luck would have it...

It all started on a Friday night back in July, sitting at Mighty Mighty in Wellington, watching The Sami Sisters peform.
Next to me was a guy with a broken leg tapping away (with what he could!) to the 60's beats of this fab NZ band.

"How'd you break your leg?" I asked.

"I was ice-skating in Shanghai last week."

What a crazy co-incidence I thought to myself...

"That's uncanny, I'm moving there in two days!"

"Really? Here's my card, I'm the editor for Shanghai Talk Magazine, and I'd be happy to show you around once you arrive!"

And well, after living here for four months, and not really taking up the offer, I get an email from him out of the blue asking if he can interview me and my drama class for the education section in Shanghai Talk, coming out 1st Jan 2009...

I couldn't believe it, here I am, the newbie drama teacher struggling to find her feet having the editor of one of Shanghai's top english magazines watch, record and interview me and my classes!!! haaaaa
God loves laughter thats for sure.

But of course, it was too much of a great opportunity to turn down, and with permission from the school it happened, Friday just been in fact.

The class went pretty well. I work closely with the character development programme at the school, one of those things that just fell into my lap since I started here, so there is always a value or virtue that holds the classes together. In the course of the month we create plays, improvisations together, and last month a short film based on that value.

This week it's honesty.

We brain-stormed what it means, what does it look like, why we should we honest, what situations we have been in at school or at home when honesty or dishonesty has occurred.

One girl piped up,
"Well just yesterday I went to my friend's house and saw my favourite comic book hidden under her chair. I had given it her a month ago to borrow and she had never given it back, she told me that I never gave it to her. She denied everything. And then I saw it..."

So in a series of conflict-resolution type skits we re-enacted different solutions that the class suggested.
Everything from:
"Grab it and run out of the house, slam the door and never talk to her again."
"Go and tell her mum."
"Ring your lawyers. Take her to court."



The solutions were hilarious, and we ended up having a big court scene with the whole class involved, some as the jury, some as lawyers, some as the typist, each putting in their two cents worth.

So, a little slice of my life as a drama teacher in Shanghai...

The beautiful faces I teach each day......



Never camera shy!!



Wonder what the article will say....will keep you posted :)

baby beggar

As I was walking home from the subway tonight I saw a sad sight. A child, not more than three, sitting by himself on the overhead pedestrian bridge, highway underneath us, no parent or adult in sight, with a small tin can in front of him, begging for money, bowing his head as you walked past.

I didn’t know how to feel.

At first I was angry.

Angry towards his parents or whoever placed him there, I knew he couldn’t have been purely on his own it seemed to ‘placed’ for some reason, and angry for the adult using this innocent child to make people feel guilty, angry for teaching this child that begging is an ok thing to do, that this is how you can make money…and sadness for this child, that he may grow up to think this is an ok thing to do, sadness that his family had to resort to doing this, to put a child out on the road in the freezing cold of a shanghai winter, no hat on his little head, and frustration that I could be living in such luxury, one nice flat, nice job, enough money and there are children like this on the streets…

I didn’t know what to do.

I wanted to bundle him up in my arms and take him home.

But I just walked past…like every other person,

and then past the expensive shoes store

and flashing neon lights of a cosmetic advertisement

and wanted to cry

for the craziness of this all.

This world and its extremes,

it’s over indulgence

and its utter deprivation.

These are our children.

The human race’s children

And this is what we do with them?

who is responsible? really? if we are one family? who is responsible?

and what can be done?

what tools do we have?

I thought about all the children of the world, in every country nearly, who live in utter poverty, who don’t get an education because their parents cannot afford it, or perhaps they are orphans, who live just to survive…

I said a little prayer in my head that he, and all those millions of children in similar situations will be protected and safe, and develop to the fullest of their potential despite their physical circumstances.

It makes me realise how extremely lucky I am.

And that for whom much is given, much is expected.

I want to start a children’s class in my little lane.
I keep thinking about it. They play outside my front door each day I come home.
Now I know its time to just do it, tonight after seeing that sight i know i have to just try, i'm worried about language barriers blah blah, but i have some bi-lingual material...

They are our future.

there is no time to loose

the old days...come back to haunt you!

I was randomly asked to do an interview for a 'bit' character I played years and years and years ago on the TV series "The Tribe", like lord of the flies in 2050 sorta thing. I was around 14 at the time. The whole episode was shot at the Upper Hutt River bank...its a crack up the whole thing but hey!
Thanks to facebook I was tracked down...haha...and there is even a link to my blog on it!! haha
It's a laugh though.
Gotta love the 'futuristic' hair and dress though....

tried to copy and paste it here but didnt work so go to.....

http://tribeheaven.co.uk/10years/interviews/chantelle.htm

Magnetic Acts

A section from the book 'From Copper to Gold' the Life of Dorothy Baker I'm reading now. I can't recommend this book enough. Read it. and then read it again.

She is recounting what she heard from Shoghi Effendi on pilgrimage...

'There is a very close connection between the souls beyond and souls here. This connection depends upon certain difficult conditions - concentration, purity of heart, purity of motive. It will be possible to communicate, but do not attempt to experiment now.

One can even smell the presence of these souls. The Master said, "I can smell the spirit and the fragrance of the writer from this letter, when I opened it."

The Supreme Concourse are beings of whom we have no conception, but it includes souls of people who have been very devoted and other beings as well of whom we are not aware. The higher the position the greater the influence.
They rush to the assistance of the sincere servants who arise now.

We need to develop greater concentration and purity in prayer. Prayer and action attract the assistance.
God assures each one that every act is a magnet for the Supreme Concourse.

The Master said..."As to the question that the holy and spiritual souls influence, help and guide the creatures after they have cast off their elemental mold, this is an established truh of the Baha'i's."

closer than our life vein

I am trying an experiment this week.

Reading ‘From copper to gold’ the life of Dorothy Baker, courtesy of darling Tanya who gave it to me as I was leaving Haifa two weeks ago, and it is one of those books that is placed in your lap at the right place at the right time, it speaks to me…and one of the tips that Martha Root told Dorothy was that if there was a problem that you just could not solve, use the Tablet of Ahmad 9 times a day for a week and it will be resolved by the end of it.
Of course, I am a bit hesitant to use it for my so called ‘problems’ which I am sure are nothing compared to what the Hands of the Cause had to face in those early years…but I am trying it out anyway, mainly for spiritual strength and clarity of direction and purpose, I am faced with many decisions about my future path of service… and need some clear guidance….don’t we all…so I am on day four…and I have to say its incredible…my mood, my attitude to work, to life in Shanghai, is shifting and changing. I am beginning to truly enjoy myself and 'arrive' here so to speak, and beautiful moments are coming my way.

Take today for example, I had a few of my fellow colleagues from school come over for a devotional, and one friend, as she saw the picture of Abdu’l-Baha as a young man on my table top said,

“That is the same man who came to me in a dream years and years ago. He was gesturing gently for me to come closer to him. He had grey blue eyes, an authority and power about him with this absolute gentleness. He had a beard and was wearing a white robe and turban... I always wanted to see him again. And that... that is him.”

We read the Tablet of Ahmad together after all shedding a few tears of awe, excitement, and gratitude, and she said “When you said that prayer I was transported back in time. I could see the surroundings…" and she continued to describe what sounded like Persia in the time of Baha’u’llah…

Wow. Just thinking about today sends shivers down my spine. Good shivers…shivers of rememberance, that the spiritual world really is closer than we think, closer than our life vein, and it’s intermingling with us in this physical world all the time…did we but know…

The Greatest Length

It’s 10.30pm, three hours before my flight leaves from Ben Gurion Airport and I’m

waiting in the longest EL AL cue ever…I am stopped by the rather aggressive Israeli red head security guard who doesn’t look a day over 20 but whose tone is of a 50 year old body builder

‘Yes. Hello’ she forces a smile at me

‘Hi’ I am nervous already. Why is that? I’m not about to smuggle drugs out the country or hide a bomb in my suitcase, but I start to feel like I am guilty just by her attitude to me…

‘So can I see your ticket?’

Problem number one.

‘Well, you see, it’s an e-ticket and I can’t find the bit of paper anywhere.’

She gives me another glare behind her glasses. Not impressed. But hey, who invented e-tickets anyway…it’s a flimsy bit of paper, whatever happened to the good old chunky ticket folder thing …

I try to smile.

‘I’m sure I had it in here. I’m really sorry, but I am going to Beijing. I have my passport.’ She snatches it off me and flips through a few pages. She sees that I have an Israeli visa that was outdated from when my service ended back in June.

‘Do you have a visa?’

‘No. I don’t need one. I was just here for 6 days, and you can do that on a New Zealand passport. It’s fine.’

She doesn’t like me one bit. I can tell. I start to get all jittery.

‘What was the purpose of your visit?’

‘I was at a conference.’

What kind of conference?

Not too sure how much I should say…

‘A Baha’i conference’

‘Bahai? Are you bahai?’

‘Yes’

‘Can I see your id?’

Problem no 2

‘You see, my wallet got stolen last week when I was back in Shanghai, it had my id in I so I don’t have anything.’

It’s true I did loose it riding on my bike last week…but right now it sounds like the most pathetic lie.

She sees the paper bag I am holding in my other hand

‘What is that?’

This?’

Oh God, I think to myself. Why did I not pack this in my suitcase, I didn’t want it to bend…and I thought the paper bag was enough of a disguise…

‘It’s in Arabic?’ She says rather shocked

‘Ah yes. It’s a protection symbol. It’s the Greatest Name. It was given to me by a friend.’

Mistake no 3.

Her ears prick up.

‘A friend gave it to you? Who was your friend?’

By now I am so nervous, common sense is out the window.

‘Vafa. My good friend Vafa.’

Vafa? She repeats it like its on America’s most wanted.

Oh great one Chantelle. Just tell the Israeli officials you were given an Arabic gift by a girl with an Iranian name…just what they wanted to hear…

I try to recover from my big mouth

‘It’s a gift. I know where she got it. It’s safe, it’s a book center with all Baha’i books. Really it’s nothing bad. It’s a protection symbol. Ironic isn’t it.’

She is not impressed by my attempt to make a joke out of this situation

‘Ok. So, Chantelle (she says as she reads my passport) when were you born?

‘Ah’ I am so nervous I nearly forget

‘Ah ah oh 16^th of febuary 1984.’ Phew

‘And when was your passport issued.’ What? I think to myself. How should I know that? What is this? Jeopardy the quiz show?

‘Umm I don’t know. Ten years ago?’ stabbing in the dark…

‘Ok. Miss Brader. Please wait here.’

My tail hangs between my legs.

She brings out another guy who questions me even more

‘So what was your conference about?

I wanted to say ‘that’s confidential’ but I was stuck in the mud

‘Media and development.’

‘Can I see any documents you have from this conference?’

Ahhh…ok….a bit awkward I thought…I fumble around my bag and finally find the invitation letter.

He reads it.

‘Ok Miss Brader. Please come with me.’

What? More? I thought that would be enough.

Bag searching time.

As they open up my suitcase and take out all my clothes and belongings it feels as though they are tearing open my insides…I feel violated in some weird way. But I try not to show it...

They find an unopened battery charger, bought in Israel.

Suspicious object they think.

Where did you get this from?

The Hadar in Haifa.

Hadar? They look at each other suspiciously, was that another arab word? Ah im digging myself into a hole.

Why would I buy a battery charger and not use it made for Israeli plugs?

‘I have the adapter somewhere.’ My mind went back to the hilarious story of buying this thing. On the way to Bahji and I realise my digital camera batteries are dead, so as Sarah and Tanya grab a coffee I run into this dinky electronics store in the Hadar to buy 2 normal AA batteries. the shopkeeper wont let me

‘No no no,’ in his think Jewish accent, ‘no I wont give it to you, a waste. One picture and then kaput. Here here, look I give you this, he hands me the charger. Much better. Special price.’

‘But I need to take pictures now, Im going back to China tomorrow.’

‘China? My daughter is in China.Ok ok. Since I know you are there and she is there…I throw in these for free. ‘

He puts four aa batteries and an adapter on the counter, time is running out and I just want to get on the sherut and go to Bahji and get out of this smelly shop…so I buy the charger….reluctantly parting with my last shekels…

Back into this moment

They take the battery charger away, place it into a bomb threat bag and scan it in a different area. I want to laugh…what a saga…in so many ways…more economical in the long run….hmmmm more of a pain in the butt in the long run…

But I force a smile, and then they take me into a private cubicle.

Wow. My first actual full on body search…and I thought the bag was evasive

Its with clothes all on thankfully. But her plastic glove hands go on the outside of just about every part of my body, inner and outer thighs, waist, tops of my pants, even a little bit under the seam, under my arm pits…I start to giggle….its just so awkward.

‘Just think of it as a really bad massage,’ says the female security guard searching me with her thick Russian accent.

After my shoes are scanned and my jacket. They tell me its ok to go now.

What an experience.

And now, back in Shanghai, at my school, the day after I got back.

A teacher saw it on my desk,

‘What is this?’

‘It’s a Baha’i symbol. It means ‘O Thou Glory of the All-Glorious’

‘It’s beautiful.’

Yes it is I think to myself, and it certainly took an adventure to get it here.

‘Can I have it?’

I am rather stunned.

‘Of course.’

‘I want to put it on the front of my door. I want everyone who walks past to see it.’

Wow. Gob-smacked.

So now, on the front of my non-baha’i co-workers door in Pudong is the Greatest Name.

There is a silver lining in everything…