我跑半程马拉松

    Wo pao ban cheng malasong.  I ran in the half marathon.  That's what I found myself saying to my masseuse yesterday.  He was puzzled as I groaned when he hit a knot on my leg muscles.  I used the translator on my phone and the fourth or fifth time I repeated myself he'd figured out what I was trying to say and confirmed it through charades.  Then he carried on and today I'm feeling back to normal, and ever thankful for ar shir san, #23 (my masseuse at a local 'spa').

     Some of you may know that I was training this fall for my first distance run and Sunday I completed my first half-marathon, which is really the first race of any kind I can remember competing in.  This fall Bri suggested I try training for something and I'm still not really sure why unless she just thought it would get me out of the apartment.  A few teachers who are runners encouraged me to run the half-marathon and a relatively weak moment I agreed to it.  I really enjoyed the training process.  Most of my long training runs were along a busy road in Shanghai, except I'd start around 5:30am on Sundays and there is something really surreal about running through a busy metropolis when it is just coming to life.  By the time I'd return from my run and walk through the local market it would be full of business and life.

     Although Sunday started out rainy and windy around 5:30 am, the wind and rain stopped around the start of the race.  Once I got a little space of my own running through some of the largest streets in Shanghai and past some of the great landmarks with over 18,000 people was quite fun.  One of the highlights was about two-thirds through the race when I saw some white faces cheering on the sidewalk.  The man was wearing a KC Royals hat.  When he saw me running in my Chiefs sweatshirt he and the people with him starting cheering loudly for KC.  It's always fun to be so far from home and then experience something like that.

     I finished faster than I had trained for although I'm quite sure the organizers were mistaken when measured the distance of the race.  My GPS said the 13.1 mile half-marathon course was actually closer to 14.4 miles and another friends GPS also thought it was around 14 miles.  What might be a better measure of the distance were my legs which were all to happy to cross the finish line.  Despite the distance discrepancy the race was great fun and I'm already looking forward to training for something else in the spring... maybe the Great Wall half-marathon in Beijing.

Thanks to Bri, Joce, Anita and Cody for encouraging me to take the leap and train for something I had never really considered doing.  It was a fun accomplishment.

Brit

This year a wonderful thing happened.... My friend Brittney moved to Shanghai with her husband.  They teach at a local school and they are having quite a different China experience than we have had.  Matt and I love seeing them, we have a great time together.  Brit and I were roommates at Jewell our Sophomore year.  I can't say that I was a good roommate to have during that time of my life and I am lucky that she is still talking to me :)  She keeps a blog as well and she is very clever so if you are not getting enough China stories subscribe to her blog too.  In any event take a look, she wrote a post about our shared Thanksgiving holiday.

http://electricwalkabout.blogspot.com/2012/11/grateful-heart.html

Magic 8-Ball

This post has been awhile in the making.  If we didn't mention it we'd be deceiving readers that life overseas has been a perfect dream for us.  This decision has consumed us completely the last few weeks.

What are we doing next year?

Just 18 months after making our decision to take the jobs in Shanghai we have another big decision to make. We were offered new contracts last Monday and our decision is due this Friday.  Sure we could sign now and break it in a few months but we'd be punished financially.  Further more, do you really want to play the game of life like that?

We would like to stay overseas at this point.  We both agree that getting closer to home is a priority when we take another position but closer to home when you're in Shanghai could be Tokyo.  Jobs are opening up but its still very early so when we look at job possibilities they're sparse.  In January when most international teachers have declared intentions to stay or leave the picture will be more clear…but nobody gets to see that picture until it already begins to develop.  We've had preliminary discussions with some schools in the Caribbean but nothing serious enough to hedge our bets on.  

Our contract offers for Shanghai increased this year.  We know that if we leave Asia we won't have an offer that compares to this.  Central and South America pay less and Europe costs a fortune.  In Africa packages are diverse but the best are in dangerous areas so bring your bulletproof jacket.  Of course there is the Middle East where we'd make a small fortune but really?  We'd live in a compound and have restricted movement outside of our neighborhood.  No thanks.

Financially the savings we've had the past two years has been a blessing but the experiences we've had are priceless.  If we stayed for a third year Bri would have 3 months paid maternity leave if we chose to use it next school year.  Another perk in our third year would be paid leave days to go to the teacher fair and get new jobs where as this year, if we went to the fair, we'd have to use our own vacation days.  

Do you understand our dilemma?  So many factors to consider.

Pros of Staying

-Familiar with culture and city

-Shanghai is an international city which makes our lives relatively easy

-Great travel opportunities

-Great students

-Maternity leave

-Tax Free

Cons of Staying

- Difficult to get to know locals in this culture

- Air quality is horrible

- So far from home

- Ready for a new experience

Obviously the above isn't a complete list but it gives you a little peek into our lives and our decision.  Please send prayers for guidance or good vibes whatever your thing is… We appreciate your support as always. 

Vocabulary Problems

At times, not learning Chinese is really not a problem.  We have both learned a minimal amount and we seem to get along just fine.  Once in a while however we are reminded of the importance of being specific. 

We went to eat with some friends at a restaurant geared towards expats.  At the end of our meal I ordered two margaritas for my friend and I.  The waiter repeated what I said and I nodded in agreement.  It was taking our drinks a really long time to come out and when I asked about them he said that they were almost ready.  The next thing I knew, he was carrying two regular sized pizzas to our table.  Then it occurred to me, he thought I meant Margherita PIZZA! 

We ended up boxing up the pizza and paying for it anyway because I am sure that when the waiter asked for clarification, I told him that we wanted pizza.  Looks like we will be having leftovers tomorrow night!

Sunny

Lately I have been a bit negative about China.  I am aware of this and I apologize to the country of China itself and to you, our readers.  You must be wondering what we are still doing here if we hate it so much.  Well the truth is, we don’t hate it here.  We quite enjoy ourselves on a daily basis.  It is just those times when being in China is a bit too much that you get to read about it.  

This post is dedicated to one of my personal favorite parts of China; Sunny.

You see, Sunny is a little man that speaks English well enough to receive and send text messages.  When I send him a message he shows up a short time later and gives me a massage at my apartment. I have a weekly (sometimes bi-weekly) appointment on Thursday after my meeting.  

I pay him 120 RMB for 90 minutes.  That is approximately $18.  When I have those days when I want to punch China in the face, I don’t even have to leave my apartment, Sunny just shows up with his magic hands and an hour and a half later I am okay with China again.  

Here is a picture of me and Sunny.  I am not sure what he thought about Matt taking a picture...

Victory

Often when I see imported goods I get very excited.  Last year I saw Pop-tarts, spent $10 on a box and I don’t even really like Pop-tarts.  I long for things that I really do like, for instance cows milk that doesn’t TLC (Taste Like China) 

Matt and I went to a grocery store called Metro that we'd heard about but never visited.  My hopes were not high.  Matt even warned me before we went inside to put my Patience Pants on because my track record in Chinese grocery stores is not so great.  Normally, I reach a point where it takes everything I have not to yell, cry and take a taxi to the airport because I am so done with China.  It is everything that I hate about China rolled up into one terrible, terrible place.  Normally the stores have the highest concentration of humans that I have experienced in my life.  Now imagine that you are looking for, say, vinegar.  Now picture that you are in a multi-level, hot, smelly ass, Wal-Mart, with hundreds of other people and you can’t read any of the labels.  There are three to four Chinese workers per isle that don’t seem to have any idea that their isle is connected to any other isles because they have no clue where to find anything other than their own special items.  The lines are long, people see rats, need I say more?

Because of my melt-downs, Matt does nearly all of the shopping.  What a good husband I have! 

So back to my Metro story… I am mentally preparing myself for the fetal position when we enter my new favorite place.   It was glorious.  It smelled like Costco in the US.  You could see to the end of every aisle because there were not 50 people in your way.  Everything was spread out in a logical fashion and we could identify nearly every item.  I was just feeling great when we rounded the corner to the wine department.  I couldn’t believe my eyes.  Immediately I turned around to find Matt for him to confirm that it was not an illusion.  I then literally frolicked over to my favorite wine that I buy in AMERICA!  Then, as if it were a gift from God the price tag was only 90 RMB a bottle!  I bought 2 cases of the previously mentioned magic juice. Appreciate the little things.    

Ms. Yu

An added benefit to living in China is our Ayi, Ms. Yu.  Here are 10 facts about her;

1.    She comes to our apartment 3 times a week to clean, do laundry, pay some bills, cook and run errands. 

2.    She does not speak English.

3.    She will only iron Matt’s clothes.

4.    She makes good dumplings.

5.    She only smiles at Matt.

6.    She has a son and a husband.

7.    She has a secret hidingplace only she knows about for my socks.

8.    She was thoroughly confused on Halloween when 15 or so children showed up at our apartment dressed like monsters. 

9.    She carries a Prada purse.
10.  We don’t think she knows our names. 

Matt and Ayi making dumplings last spring.

indifference

Good article on China's reaction to its new leader.


http://behindthewall.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/12/15103829-communist-partys-congress-grinds-on-amid-widespread-indifference-in-china?lite

To squat or to sit? This is the question.

Across Asia we often encounter these signs;

     Westerners think they are funny and don't understand why they are nessesary.  Well my friends, I have a story for you.

     When we were in Thailand we went on a day trip to some nearby islands.  It was beautiful, breathtaking and relaxing.  Then we went to lunch.  There were many tour groups stopped at this particular resort for lunch.  Because it was Chinese National Holiday there were many Chinese people visiting Thailand.   At this particular spot multiple tour groups were stopping for lunch so we encountered large herds of Chinese tourists.

     Now, living in China I realize that I have made a choice to live here and for the most part try to accept their culture and know that I am the outsider.  I get frustrated and realize that I am making generalizations when culture shock is at it worst but when I leave my apartment in China I expect to be smacked in the face with Chinese culture.  I wasn't expecting this in Thailand.  I mean, I left China for a break from China.

     So anyway, back to my story.  I went to wait in line for the bathroom and right outside of the bathroom, in the dining room, a woman had propped her 6-8 year old daughter over the trashcan to use as a toilet.  I am not sure if you know this but 6-8 year old girls don't have the best of aim in ideal situations so you can imagine the mess that was made IN THE DINING ROOM.

    Okay, okay, that is one Chinese person of Billions I get it....deep breathe...patience....count to ten....
So I continue waiting in line for the bathroom and it is taking a really long time.  All of the women before me are Chinese.  I can't figure out what they must be doing in the bathroom that is taking so long.  Some of the women are wearing one-piece swimming suits but still, that cannot explain why everyone is in there for 5+ minutes.     I am hungry and I have to pee, my patience is wearing thin.

     My turn finally comes I turn into the stall and there are two sand footprints on top of the toilet seat.  A perfectly good toilet seat has now been polluted by an unknown number of feet.  I feel rage enter my body and I say out loud "What?" Two things are going through my head at this point.

1.  If you find the need to crawl onto a toilet because you think it is just too dirty to sit on, then please for the love, clean the sand off for the next person.

2.  Realize that this toilet is not built into the ground for a reason. It has a seat, sit on it...or even squat over the seat, but don't stand on the seat!

     By the time I make it back to Sara, Kristina and Matt I am fully enraged.  At first I cannot explain my reaction but after talking it through with me impromptu counselors, I realized that I had left my patience for China in China and that I was not prepared to have to deal with some of the 'annoyances' in Thailand because I was in fact, IN THAILAND. 

This time culture shock took me by surprise. 

Help me?

     Last year a story of a Chinese baby getting run over by 2 separate vehicles made world headlines.  It was so shocking because no one stopped to help the 2 year old lying unconscious in the street.  If it weren’t caught on video, we probably would have never heard about the incident. 

     Recently Matt and I read a story where a woman was stabbed in the airport and no Chinese person stopped to help her.  A visiting American was the person that finally asked if the Chinese woman was okay. 

     Once when we were in the subway going up a crowded escalator, a woman walking down the rainy steps fell.  Everyone just walked around her. Nobody stopped to check on her.  Matt and I were trapped  on the crowded escalator and we couldn’t help the lady.

    This all seems unreal to me and it can't help but generate negative stereotypes when these things are publicized.  I found this story that can provide a little explanation to why some Chinese people behave this way. 

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/10/nanjing-judge-blamed-for-apathy-in-toddlers-hit-and-run/ 

We live in the counterfeit capital of the world.  Matt and I roll our eyes at these sorts of things on a weekly basis and rarely remember to take pictures.  I found this blog that compiled a list of boot-legged items that you may find amusing.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/discovery/15-things-you-never-knew-could-be-bootlegged-70b3

Adventures in a Bangkok ER

     Before we left for Thailand I took a trip to the Pearl Market where they sell jewelry of all sorts.  I bought a cheap ring to wear while on holiday so I could keep my real stuff safe at home.  The ring I bought was actually three rings interconnected. 

      On our second day in Bangkok we met up with Kristina and Sara and went to a couple temples.  Sara complemented me on my ring and I took it off to show her.  When I put it back on it felt tight but I thought that it was just the heat and I would work on getting it off later when I could cool my hand off. 

     Later we went back to our hotel and I tried several things to get the ring off and it wouldn’t budge.  My finger was slowly starting to swell.  We got ready for our evening and headed out.  While at a beautiful rooftop bar I started to feel more anxious about getting the ring off.  I was feeling trapped. 

Here is the ring at the rooftop hotel before we decided it needed to come off.

     The bar was in a nice hotel so I went to the lobby and asked the front desk ladies to ask a maintenance person to come with wire cutters.  A little man showed up a few minutes later and tried his best to get it off.  He was clearly scared to hurt me.  I decided to wait for Matt to come down and I knew that he would try harder. 

At this point we're still able to laugh at the situation.  Here is my loving husband about to try and cut the ring off with wire cutters.

     At this point my finger has swollen significantly, is red and throbbing.  Matt comes down and tries two separate tools but cannot cut it off.  The ladies at the front desk were very helpful and got me ice to try and make the swelling go down.  After working on getting it off for several minutes, they suggested what I didn’t want them to suggest; go to the ER and have them cut it off. 

     We show up at the hospital in a cab where things look nice and clean and there were no other patients.  Several people dressed as medical professionals were eager to help.  They put me into a small exam room while Sara and Kristina sat in the waiting room. 

It was soothing to see a little piece of home on the wall of the ER in Bangkok.

Oh yes, its going to have to come off, the ring that is will have to be removed, not your finger.

     A man walked in, took a look at my finger and said “I don’t think that we will have to cut it off but we are going to have to get the rings off.”  Hmm.  What’s that?  You don’t THINK you will have to cut WHAT off?  All I could do was laugh. Hysterically.  Manically. 

     They brought in a small round saw that seemed to have been left in the rain  a tad too long.  They tried and failed to cut through just a single ring.  “Not strong enough” they said. 

Things get a little more intense. 

     Every time someone tried to cut one ring it would tighten painfully on all of the rings. I asked for pain medication.  They said that they were coming.  Liars.

The next method was a highly skilled, advanced medical procedure called “tie floss around the finger to make the swelling go down and move the ring up a little at a time”  This my friends, hurt.  Matt held me as I squealed like a Howler Monkey with snot and tears covering my face.  A nurse tapped sympathetically on my back.  45* minutes later, the ring was off. Then they gave me a pain pill.  The doctor* walked back in held to the room, picked up my ring and said “this is too small for you fingers.” Lesson learned.

Bri

*Possible Exaggeration

Reclining Buddha

After the Grand Palace we grabbed a bite to eat and decided to check out one of the other temples that was nearby.  We negotiated a tuk-tuk ride to Wat Pho, the temple of the Reclining Buddha and crammed into the back of the little tuk tuk.

We're too tall to see out from under the roof.

Of course Bri got to ride shotgun.

Bri's creativity in action

This was a really cool Buddha in my opinion because of the sheer size of it.  The reclining Buddha is about 50 feet high and 140 m long.  The feet are about 9 feet tall and 13 feet long and are inlaid with mother-of-pearl. There are two other things I'll remember about this temple. The first were these signs that said, "Beware of non-Thai pick pocket gangs."  We just thought it was funny that we shouldn't be aware of the Thai pick pocketing, or their biased assumption that Thai pick pocketing didn't exist.  The other thing was Bri had to wear a robe that was neon green and said, "Wat Pho Please return the coat" on the back.  

Here are some pictures of the Reclining Buddha or what I think should be called, the Big Buddha watching football on the couch.

This is a small scale model.  The structure is quite small compared to the Buddha so its hard...maybe impossible...to get a good full length photo.

The feet are about 9 feet tall and 13 feet long and are inlaid with mother-of-pearl.

I'm pondering the meaning of life and trying to decide where to stop for more street food.

After a trip to the Grand Palace and the Reclining Buddha it was time for some down time so we headed back to the hotel.  Saturday isn't over yet though.  The next blog will cover Bri's trip to an unplanned place and then our street food dining that followed.

Matt

Grand Palace in Bangkok

Things here have been quite busy since returning from our October holiday.  We're going to blog the photos from our trip to Thailand the next couple weeks.

After meeting up with Sara and Kristina (two of Bri's high school classmate who travelled with us in Thailand) on Saturday morning we were off to the Grand Palace.  Only a portion of the palace is open to the public but it was quite interesting. Rather than a single structure, the Grand Palace is made up of numerous buildings, halls, gardens and courtyards. Its asymmetry and eclectic styles are due to its sporadic development with additions being made by successive reigning kings over 200 years of history.  The museum tour guide told us some interesting stories regarding the different buildings and shrines.  The palace isn't used for the royal family any longer but it is used for royal guests like U.S. Presidents when they visit.    

The king who build this pagoda to honor his father wanted it to be made of gold.  After deciding that the price of gold was too high he chose instead to cover the pagoda with fold covered tiles which were bought from Italy.  The tiles have gold leaf fixed to the outside and were put on by hand.

The golden tiles from Italy

I can't remember for sure but I think this building houses the Emerald Buddha.  

 Ironically the Emerald Buddha is made of jade.  The buddha is only 45 cm tall, which you'll find if you visit many temples is quite small for a Buddha.  This Buddha was taken from Cambodia during a war at sometime hundreds of years ago and for quite sometime remained hidden because the Thais were afraid someone would steel him back.  Another interesting fact is that the Emerald Buddha has clothing for each of the three seasons in Bangkok.  They're made of gold and rubies and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

More detail work.  It can be a bit numbing to see all of the detail work and then you stop and remember someone did all of this by hand and you can appreciate it.

This is the actual former residence where heads of state reside when they visit.  We were only allowed to see it through the gate.  Only a small portion of the palace is open to the public.

One of the kings wanted a banquet hall that looked like Buckingham Palace but the Thai people didn't want a western structure built on the Grand Palace grounds for symbolic reasons.  So the king built it anyways and then put a pagoda style roof on the top to give a little Thai flavor.  That is called compromise, maybe the US government should take a hint.

There are a few of these on the palace site.  They are meant to protect the Emerald Buddha. I guess once they installed these things it was safe to bring the Emerald Buddha out of hiding.

Bri and I are sporting our green and olive temple attire.  The Grand Palace has a dress code we weren't aware of so we had to cover our legs with rented garments.

 Well, that was the Grand Palace.  It was more grand than our pictures can capture.  Later we'll post the Reclining Buddha (my favorite Buddha so far), our trip to a Bangkok emergency room and of course street food in Bangkok!

Traffic

There are things in every country we have visited that are uniquely theirs.  Traffic is different in every country and it is something that we continue to get used to.  With our revolving culture shock we can sometimes be appalled by China's traffic etiquette even after all of these months.  Here is a picture of a car parked in the middle of the road with its flashers on, waiting to pick someone up.  This is not the first time that I have witnessed this very car outside of our school doing the exact same thing, but this time I managed to get a picture. 
I don't get it.... I just don't get it.

Saturday Night Date

     The end of the first quarter is here.  We returned Sunday from a wonderful week in Thailand (stories and pictures to come) to guests from Colorado in Shanghai (pictures to come) and a crazy week at school.  With comments and grades due Monday morning I spent most of Saturday at school working.  Bri and I decided to go out to dinner at a local french restaurant that we're becoming very keen towards.  Its about a four block walk and the only real draw back is everyone in the place speaks french.  All of the food we've had has been fantastic and tonight we spoke with the chef which turned out to be very advantageous.  The ice cream that Bri was ooooing and aaahhhing over is only made for restaurants right now, but the chef said he'd put an order in for an extra 3 liter container as soon as we have space in the freezer.  We also spoke about how the quality of their beef is better than anything I can find out shopping on my own in Shanghai.  Felipe offered to check with his supplier who brings beef from Mongolia for the chuck roast I need to make my chili con carne.  After a great meal and the nice favors I think I might start working on my French.
     After dinner it was a walk to the local massage parlor.  There is always a little debate between Bri and I in regards to how nice of a parlor we're going to visit.  Will it be the $10 massage where you might get your second hand nicotine fix or will it be an $18 massage in a private room where you get a little fruit with your tea?  Tonight we had two very social men spoiling our feet and Bri and I were amazed by (as we often are) the amount of communication that can be had without having a common language.  Although we both know more Chinese than we did this time last year both of our vocabularies are quite sparse but here are a few of the things we're pretty sure they were telling us.

1. Matt has very hairy legs and feet.  He looks like a monkey.
2. Them: Where are you from?      
    Matt: Wo may guaren (I'm american)        
    Them: Thats what we thought because you are tall and wide (hand gestures like the bible school song about deep and wide)
3. Bri can't sleep well because her big toe has something wrong.
4. They implied I should rub Bri's heel more often....we think...

Matt

Hair

The ladies who work in our school warehouse are my favorite.  They are native Shanghainese and I enjoy them immensely. This morning when I went in to visit them one of them said to me. "Your hair today.....um... no"

I am glad that they are here to be honest with me :) I better go fix this mess!

Bri's Favorite Matt Quote of Last Week

After returning from a run he said "I ran into three people today when I was running.  I don't mean I saw someone I know, I mean I literally ran into three Chinese people walking on the street."

Bri

You there! Don't even think about it!

On a river cruise sponsored by the school it was too hard not to mock the "No Striding" sign.

Cricket Sale!

     Sorry for the blog delays.  We've had trouble getting pictures uploaded recently and blogs aren't as much fun without pictures.  Everything seems to be working now so hopefully this lasts.

     This couple weeks ago I went for a run early on a Sunday and where I finished happened to be a block of cricket salesman. At first I was perplexed at what these cans were doing on the sidewalk.  I heard the distinct chirp of crickets and saw a few men huddled around another collection of the cans.  I could tell by their lively interest that there was something in the cans, that or they were all loco.  I inquired and they let me have a peek.  These were crickets which I understand are good luck to have around as a pet.  This is different than the grasshopper I showed last year.  Those are for fighting like cock fighting.
Matt

This is what I stumbled on after ending my run.  The sound of crickets filled the air but with their lids on I could only assume what was inside.  

A man showed me his merchandise.  He told me it would cost an amount equal to $5

Believe it or not this lady is chasing a cricket that jumped out its cage. Unfortunately I didn't get my camera switched to video mode from photo mode quickly enough.

This lady has a cricket in her hand under the small net.  Then she keeps them in hallowed out bamboo tubes. There were a dozen or more people sitting on this street checking containers.  I imagine they were doing a head check to make sure their stock were all still chirping.

Tension

Here is an article about the tension between China and Japan.  We are currently unaffected and that will hopefully continue to be the case.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/17/world/asia/china-japan-islands-dispute-explained/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

That must be great gelato!

Often we're amused by signs around Shanghai that contain translation mishaps.  Here's one we saw this afternoon at a nice restaurant that specializes in chocolate desserts.

Interesting Picture of School

     Here's a good picture of the school a colleague took on the first day of classes.  We've grown numb to the tall building all around us and when I saw this picture I thought, "Wow, I forgot those tall buildings were there."

      The elementary school is to the left of the soccer field.  Across the soccer field are some residential apartments where mostly local people live.  Students that work in the lower school have good stories about what they see out their classrooms.  Last year, Bri watched a lady hang her underwear to dry every week.  This year a friend told me that the guy outside her window goes to his balcony to smoke AND water his flowers 4-5 times every day.  She thinks he has marital issues.

     Take note of the blue sky!
                     Matt

Back to School

     We've only been in class a little over a week but I'm really enjoying getting to know the new kids I have in class.  Its always fun to hear where the students are from, what languages they speak, where they traveled over the summer and other interesting facts.  One of the most interesting student backgrounds we've had is a new student of Bri's that is Canadian but has a Mexican parent and a Polish parent.  My students this year hail from.......North Carolina, Texas, Florida, California, New York, Canada, Sweden, France, Germany, Indonesia, Korea, Israel, Japan, Philippines, Ohio, Holland, Japan, Finland, China, Taiwan, Denmark, Brazil, Portugal, Iceland and Hong Kong.

Matt

This is new

I love teaching, but I also love a day off.  Sometimes in Colorado we'd pull for a snowstorm along with kids.  Bri and I never thought we'd be hoping for a typhoon though.  Its funny how much our snow dance looks like our typhoon dance.

Matt

Creature Comforts Or American Laziness?

Call it what you want... I'm missing seedless watermelon.

Lesson Learned

Holy moly we are back in Shanghai!  I have lots of blog topics swirling around in the ole’ brain after having many conversations with our blog readers this summer.  Just you wait….

For now, I will share with you what has been on my mind since we left Stratton on Monday morning….. all of the things that I forgot!  It seems this time around I was a bit more confident with my packing and I shouldn’t have been.  Perhaps it was denial that created the packing nightmare that I created for myself.  I did not start packing until Sunday night, a mere 12 hours before leaving Monday morning.  I didn't even make a list.  Here is the list of items that I have discovered missing so far.

1.    My black flip-flops (although Chinese women find them far too casual for their taste, they were a fashion staple for me)

2.    My tailor-made natural colored blazer (need I say more!)

3.    My aviator sunglasses

4.    Cough drops (I have tried the herb tasting, tongue numbing ones here and they are no bueno)

5.    My teeth retainer!

6.    Guacamole mix

7.    My book from the SCIS library (shhhhhh)

8.    My orange travel handbag.

9.    A healthy supply of candy

10.   The last of Elizabeth Gilbert’s books that I have yet to read.

I am so mad at myself because I had room to pack all of those items.  Why did I wait so long to pack?  I wish I knew. Lesson learned.  

Back for year two

We're back to Shanghai after a whirlwind of a summer.  We landed here Tuesday night and both kept repeating how different it is to arrive a year later.  From getting a cab at the airport, to walking into "our" apartment and sleeping in "our" bed instead of some sheets on a board like last year.  It was fun to see and feel the different feelings.

Before we went to bed Bri did some scheduling with her masseuse so we both got a much needed massage Wednesday morning.  I made it to the wet market for dumplings and a breakfast burrito before it was my turn to get a massage.  All of my acquaintances were still there and seemed happy to see me.  The dumpling guy seemed to forget that I had a very limited mandarin vocabulary.   He was talking to me in a stream of incomprehensible sentences and laughing when I said I didn't know what he was saying.

With the morning mostly consumed by the massages we'd saved the afternoon to run some errands aimed at replenishing our kitchen cupboards.  That was interrupted by typhoon Haikui (Click here for article on Typhoon Haikui)  that came ashore south of Shanghai yesterday morning.  It was our first typhoon experience after a typhoon last August missed coming onto shore entirely.  Most of the morning there had just been brief showers and gusts of wind, but as the day went on the showers became harder and the wind more consistently volatile.  We decided to forget the grocery store run and just let the storm blow by. 

So what do you do on windy rainy days?  You read books, watch a movie, take a nap.  That's exactly what we did during our first afternoon back.  The only problem was our one hour nap turned into a five hour nap and that's not very helpful when you are trying to flip your biological clock.  Oh well, it sure is a good way to pass a rainy afternoon.

Matt

Xijiang Village Trip

     I had a pretty remarkable experience about a month back that I'm just now getting blogged.  It felt a little life changing but its really too early to say whether that wlll be true.  I travelled with 80 students, 8 teachers and 4 guides to a rural village (5,000 people) in south central China for a service trip.  Together we took a three hour flight, three hour bus ride and three hour hike to the village and that was just the beginning of the journey.  

Students hiking through a neighboring village on the way to Xijiang Village.  The village is the largest of the minority race of the Miao (pronounced meow) people.  

A local boy returning the water buffalo from the grazing.  Sidewalks were quite busy from sunrise to sunset.  The buffalo are used to plow the rice patties.  Many of you probably guessed it... and you're right.  I did my share of plowing!  Those pictures can be seen on the link below.

The traditional houses on a mountain side.  Each house is three stories with a large window opening to a large community room in the middle.  The bottom level is a barn, literally.  I could hear the pig snorting while when laid my head to rest.  It's too bad the rooster wasn't in my room or I would have hit the snooze the first morning when he beat the sun about an hour.  It was pretty entertaining when a swedish boy staying in my house crawled down the ladder from the 3rd floor and asked, "What was making that noise this morning?"

The second floor is for family space…cooking area, bedrooms, etc….no bathroom though.  The third floor is traditionally for grain storage but our house had a part of it converted to extra bedrooms.  The most remarkable thing about the houses is they are built without nails.  Each piece of wood was interconnected and even the boards used for walls were held in place with wedges made of wood.

The magnificent landscape was a much needed break from the concrete jungle of Shanghai.

We had great weather for most of the trip, especially in a region known for having a lot of rain.  The second day was quite rainy and here I've ducked into the only nearby shed with a few of the locals while all of the foreigners (students) got wet.  

As is typical for those who have ever tried their hand at a skilled labor job, its not as easy as it looks.  The students learned this over and over again.  What would take 6 kids 20 minutes to finish an experienced local could do in 15 without breaking a sweat or even putting down his tobacco pipe.  

For the most part I was surprised by the effort the students gave during the trip.  Especially during the end of the service project when they were excited to see the final product.  It was definitely inspiring as a teacher to see so many students really taking in how much fun it is to experience new things and help others.  The picture below was taken with less than an hour left.  Students are working to finish the concrete wall that will reinforce a large rice patty wall.  

I have so many fun and educational memories from this trip.

-Watching girls mix concrete in designer rain boots

-Seeing kids work as a team, using their own ideas

-Eating great food and working on my wok skills

-Dealing with a boy out past curfew

-Pushing three boys into a rice patty

-Working together as a team of 8 teachers to manage 80 students

-Students getting lost in the maze of paths amongst the patties on the hillsides

-Catching a fish barehanded in a rice patty...I caught the biggest fish!

 and many more.  I can't wait to go on another trip next year.

You can click the link below to see more pictures.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64284357@N06/sets/72157629966606676/

Pajama Day Part Two

I went to the wet market last night for some fruit and vegetables.  Bri decided to tag along and stick with the cultural tradition of showing off your pajamas!  There were two foreign guys down there that didn't know the culture.  They were totally judging her, but I loved it.  Be sure to notice Bri and the lady I buy garlic, mushrooms and peppers from are both in animal print!

Matt

Commodities Report #2 For Uncle Mel

    Friends and family often ask a lot of questions regarding prices of things.  Bri and I find the price of most things to be comparable or less than at home.  One benefit of living in an enormous city is the choice to spend $10-$15 on a meal or to eat for a buck.  There is a pretty wide range on most products.  You can buy an affordably priced product made in China version or an imported version that is much more expensive.

     Some of the best deals you can score would be massages, house keeping, hair treatments, street food, pearls, and anything that could possibly be ripped off (DVDs, designer bags, designer watches, shirts, technology accessories, toys) with the overlying factor that it could be and probably is fake.

     Things that we find quite expensive here include coffee, wine (A $4 bottle of Carlos Rossi will run you about $15), english books and magazines, good beer (that seems to be an oxymoron in China), imported food and imported hygiene products.

    One of the questions people asked the most when we returned home for Christmas was predictable, "What's the price of gas?".  Neither of us had any idea because we hadn't used any gas and there aren't as many stations as we're accustom to seeing in the U.S.  I suspect there are less stations for a couple reasons.  I know the price is at least partially regulated by the government which could restrict the profit margins.  In addition, you have to receive special permits to have building sites less than 7 floors (I'm not sure of this number...it might be 11) in the city, so a gas station is giving up a lot floor space.  Space with which more profit could be made if it were used correctly.  Also, the convenience store model of gas stations we see in the U.S. don't exist here.  Gas stations sell gas only.  Snacks, drinks, etc. that we would expect in a Quik Shop or 7/11 are all sold in little shops.  There's probably one of those shops on nearly every block.  I took this picture of a gas station sign just a few blocks away.  At the time gas was about $4.60 per gallon in the city, quite expensive even though the government controls the price.

Here is the rest of this quarters commodities report.

- Complaints rise as gas prices in China exceed the price in the U.S.  Click here to view.

- Caterpillar fungus prices rise to over $13,000/pound!  I should have bought some when I could have ! Click here to view.

- A good break down of some easily comparable goods in comparison to other cities.  One example from this site says the average cost of a McDonald's value meal is $4.21.  Click here to view some more comparisons.

Here's a picture of the shrimp burger from McDonalds.  Bri thought it looked especially appetizing when we saw it on the menu, especially given the value at only $2.60.  Hope you enjoyed the commodities report.