The end of the school year arrived quickly and it is amazing to think that William and Oliver have now done five months of schooling in Chennai. Whilst it has taken us a while to acclimatise to the more informal nature of the American school system, we were pleased that the year ended with a performance. Each Grade 2 student wrote and performed a poem on the stage of the theatre in front of parents. The theatre is huge and one would think a daunting place to perform ones own work, but none of them were phased at all. The subjects of the poems varied greatly and particular favourites were a poem about a boys laptop and one which began "my mother is like a volcano"! Some poems, the girls ones in particular, were more emotional about fights with friends and falling out with siblings but they were all great. William explored a great love of his life with his poem entitled 'White Chocolate' and Oliver gained huge amounts of kudos with the mothers with his acrostic poem 'Emliy'!
Whilst the last few weeks of school were in progress the temperature began to soar and with it the humidity. Gradually other than in a pool we have been spending less and less time outside although the boys (including Sam) have still managed to take part in neighbourhood football and cricket games. Albeit with frequent water and air con breaks! We have also explored other pools in the area.
Chennai is a much smaller expat community than Shanghai and if you have children the school is pretty much the centre of it. We have met and made some wonderful friends in the short months we have been here. Such is the nature of expat life that you cover several years in a few months! There have been a couple of good parties, nights out and sadly leaving dos. In tems of nightlife Chennai is completely different to Shanghai. Because of strict alcohol laws most of the places to go out and have a drink are in hotels. However, Sam managed to sniff out a pretty good bar near our house and we have both been for drinks there, although what they have in stock is a bit of a lottery and forget it if you want wine in a wine glass!
As an end of term treat before everyone heads off we got together with three other familes to have brunch. This was only the second brunch we had done and we were half expecting Shanghai prices. However the cost was half and the children were all free. The food was excellent and we even got wine in wine glasses!
For the first couple of weeks of the holiday the boys attended the school Summer Camp. It is not something that we would normally think to do, however there is less to do here than in Shanghai and it is even hotter. Also it is looking increasingly likely that we are going to be here all summer as Emily has not yet been given a passport, but that's a whole other blog! At first the boys were not too impressed by the idea of school in the holidays, even though it was half days. However, after a morning of swimming, theatre, dance, craft and making new friends, they couldn't wait to go back. It certainly helped fill our days what with Sam being in the States for two weeks and lots of people gone home. Emily and I enjoyed dropping them off each morning and then doing a bit of shopping and going for coffee! One morning we were invited to join Sarah and Treena at the Park Hyatt for breakfast. I had coffee, eggs benedict and could then eat from the buffet if I wanted all for £7.60! We were also lucky that Monica and Giovanni, our neighbours, were still around and the children all enjoyed playing together although gradually it has got quieter and quieter.
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