Sherpa

My freshman year of college I had friends that found my obsession with food delivery odd.  Where I grew up there is no delivery.  All I wanted to do was order Papa Johns or Chinese food and enjoy a night in.  Shanghai is a dream come true to me in food delivery.  While preparing to come here, reading the guide books I would see different restaurants that said they delivered and I was unsure how I was going to be able to order over the phone with my lack of Mandarin skills.

When we arrived the answer to my hunger pains came in the form of little Chinese men wearing bright orange uniforms.  You see, I call this company (Sherpa's) and place an order (in English) off a menu from all sorts of different restaurants. Next the people from Sherpa's call the restaurant, order for you and then send Sherpa driver to pick it up for me and brings it to my home. Ahhh.  I love you Sherpa. You can even order online, or tell them you want it delivered at a specific time. All that convenience for only 15 kuai.

Luckily I have Matt and my new friend Adriana to insist that Sherpa can only come so many days of the week before I need to venture out and go to an actual restaurant.  They must not understand my walking rage.

Bri

The Power of Technology

    I was amazed this past weekend at how small the world can be using technology. It is Monday night and we're getting to see our niece Isabelle on Facetime for the second time in a couple days. She's walking now and fun to watch play.

    Yesterday Bri and I woke up un time to call the Brachtenbachs. When they picked up the facetime call we saw Kinsleigh in nothing but her underwear saying, "Hi Matt, Hi Bwi". Haydon was asleep for most of the call so there wasn't a fight over the iPad. We were able to see Kinsleigh in her big girl underwear which she was excited to show off. Bri and I can't decide what to get that little diva for Christmas but it is definitely going to be from the fabric market, maybe something with sequins or a tiara. I can't wait to see those kids at Christmas.

    Technology also started my Monday off right. I checked the Chiefs score when I woke up at 6 am. After the last two weeks I wasn't going to wait all day just to find out my team was walloped. So when I saw the game was close in the 4th quarter I booted up the NFL Gamepass membership I and another teacher split. The video was clear and I really enjoyed watching the end of the game before heading to work. Bri woke up a little confused as to why I was clapping in the living room. The Chiefs lost but it was still great to see the game finish live before heading to work.

 Matt

Two can play at that game....

Most of the time not speaking Chinese is a challenge and I find myself wishing that I can remember the word for toilet or no.  Sometimes it occurs to us that they can't understand us either.  This is most amusing while riding in taxis.  Matt usually sits in front (I don’t like to see the pedestrians that we almost take out).  He has a front row seat to the honking maniac that has our lives in his hands.  Matt makes comments about his driving, about his ID picture, or his choice in radio stations. We are not directly giggling at the driver but instead at ability to say whatever we want. We are not rude or mean to the drivers but it is sort of nice being able to speak freely without fear of insulting someone.  This makes me think of the reversed situation in the states when you hear someone speaking another language and they are looking at you.  When they start laughing you wonder, are they laughing at me?  Well my friends, just so you know, they probably are...

Bri

And I will have the pizza

     It seems that I have eaten more pizza here than any other time in my life.  While I love trying the new cuisine here, I sometimes  crave something familiar.  My first choice would be a nice cheeseburger with bacon and some French fries, my next choice would be a hotdog with sauerkraut and mustard.  The problem is I come from a family that raises their own beef.  I could be considered by my new friends to be a ‘beef snob’  I just know what good beef is supposed to taste like.  I'll be honest, the beef situation here still scares me a bit.  As for hotdogs, I cannot read the label to know even what animal it comes from and they are remarkably pale here.  Not appetizing.

     It is weird how the most familiar things from home are the things that I am the most scared to try here.  I think it is because I have an expectation of what it should taste like and any deviation from that is not okay.  Now the local cuisine I am all for trying, for all I know that is what the seafood dumpling is supposed to taste like every time.  My solution when I need something familiar is to get the pizza.  The pizza here has been quite satisfactory.  Taste like something that I would find in the states.  They even have Papa Johns! Some days a good slice of pizza is all I need to feel a bit closer to home.

The Beauty of China

Meet Joe. Joe is a local entrepreneur/ DVD salesman. We were introduced to Joe by other teachers and there are others like him but the teachers tend to lean towards Joe. There are other places that you can spend more money and be assured you will get the best quality but then we're not supporting Joe, the young and up and coming entrepreneur. Bri scavenged Joe's collection for about 10 minutes and came up with some viewing material. We aren't splurging for satellite and its good to have something english to watch at the end of the day. Bri bought the new movie The Help, Season 1-4 of the Big Bang Theory, the movie Mildred Pierce, Season 1-7 of Growing Pains, and Season 1-6 of Golden Girls. It was quite the splurge....$15. It sure beats a monthly cable bill.

Smells

Smells, I know from past travel experiences that smells are one of the first things you notice about a new city.   Shanghai is no different.  The smells here are shockingly unfamiliar.  Taking a short walk down the street to a restaurant brings so many unfamiliar smells.  Each opening in the street wafts air into my nose.  Unfortunately the smells are not good mostly.  They are not bad smells either but I don’t know what to make of them because they are so foreign.  I wonder when the city cools a bit with the seasons if some of the smells will go with it.  Even our apartment has an interesting smell.  The water that we shower in smells as well.  I am not sure when my nose will come out of its shocked stage but for now it is not fully appreciating the move.  My taste buds on the other hand are thrilled….

Maybe my next post should be an update on how each of my body parts are reacting to the move.

Bri

Wet Market Burrito Rerun

Some people have emailed us in regards to the wet market burrito video. Apparently they couldn't see my ponyo because the video would not load. You might try watching her here on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCeIwHz84NQ

Thankful for 6th graders

Presently I'm in route to a 6th grade touch rugby match an hour from our school. I amm fulfilling my coaching duty for the semester. As I am trying to communicate some things to our Chinese bus driver I am very thankful some of these kids have been speaking mandarin since kindergarten and are cared for by mandarin speaking ayis. It sure would be nice to have a 6th grade translator all the time...well maybe not 6th grade.

Chow Time!

Awhile ago I wrote about the "breakfast burritos" in the wet market.  I don't know if they're really burritos but that is what they remind me of from home.  Anyway, I call the burrito lady my ponyo (friend) and I thought I'd show a video of the quick process.  When she is busy it is pretty impressive how many little things she has going on at once.  She never just stands around and talks while the burritos cook.  This particular morning was from a couple weeks ago and there was a little boy talking to her who was going on and on about something.  This family basically runs a small restaurant out of their front porch.  Burritos, fried breads, flat breads, warm soy milk and two kinds of dumplings are sold by about three or four people working.  I didn't get it in the video but you can usually see into their apartment right behind my ponyo.

Click the arrows in the bottom right corner to go full screen.

Clean up you slob!

I guess our ayi decided the pile of receipts on my dresser was too much to bear. Maybe she has OCD. I guess if that were the case they'd be filed by date or something.

Snack Time

The school we are teaching at is an International school but I had no idea how actually international it would be until school started.  Our students represent over 40 different nationalities.  Students here speak all sorts of different languages.  The moment I knew we were teaching a whole different demographic of students was, believe it or not,  snack time.  I have been wandering around and visiting various classrooms in the last few weeks.  I have had the opportunity to be there when the students get out what they brought for snack.  In a 2nd grade classroom I witnessed students eating seaweed while others were munching on dried sardines.  Along with the creatures of the ocean, there were sacks of vegetables that I have never seen.   These students are not from China, they are from North America, Sweden, Italy and many other countries where you would not consider their food weird.  These kids have an incredible amount of exposure to things.  Can you imagine the students in my rural community eating these things?  It would turn into a high drama event.  While entering a classroom here seems to be a normal American style learning environment, snack time reminds me that we are in a very unique place. 

Bri