50 reasons why Shanghai is no. 1

Guess who is number 1!

http://travel.cnn.com/shanghai/play/worlds-greatest-city-50-reasons-why-shanghai-no-1-590704?fb_action_ids=10100486221530171&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582

SNL

When telling the cab driver where to go sometimes we have to say the name of our street a few different times using different innotation to try and speak the work correctly.  We will say Hongqiao, Hongqiao, Hongqiao and the taxi driver will still have a puzzled look on his face I say it one more time and then he says "oh, Hongqiao!"  I nod in agreement thinking that I was saying it the exact same way the whole time.  I don't get the difference.

The same thing happens on our side however, I will tell them my name and they will repeat it to me completely off; Brio, Brill, etc.  I found this video from SNL that sort of sums up what it is like to try and speak someone elses' language and merge in another culture in general.  Enjoy. 

http://vimeo.com/27823742  

Mystery Meats

Stop and think about your daily life.  What things do you experience daily that people from another society or culture would be shocked to see?  After living in Shanghai for over a year we have become numb to some of these things at times: man peeing on street, people pointing at my hairy legs, roasted duck hanging in the window, etc.  These are things that won't even turn our head.

Saturday I was doing some shopping and I walked by the processed meat section optimistically hoping the store had begun stocking good bacon.  As I looked at some of the labels I was disappointed to not find good quality bacon and turned to move on.  Then I realized that people back home may appreciate some of these labels.  I selected a few special ones and then I saw something later in the day on a walk that fit the title of this blog appropriately as well.  You might skip the pictures if you like bologna and puppies.

Travelling isn't all fun

On our way back to China we had our worst travel experience. Here are the highlights in semi-chronological order:

-Spent 3 hours on tarmac in Denver due to mechanical problems.

-Missed flight from SF to Shanghai

-Rerouted through LAX (hate hate hate that airport) to Tokyo then to Shanghai

-Get to watch Broncos game in the Denver airport!

-Broncos lose in double overtime

-Have to take bus from one terminal to another in LAX

-All three of us have middle seats from LAX to Tokyo.

-The seat in front of mine has a large metal box under it, which does not allow me to put either my feet or my carry on under it.

-When trying to take off in Tokyo, it begins to snow, a lot.

-Upon arrival in Shanghai we learn that our luggage is in Hong Kong…… they think.

-Brooke doesn’t have any clothes.

-Matt and I go into work as soon as we get to our apartment so we don’t get docked a whole day.

-We were traveling for 44 hours from door to door.

They're not all that bad, but this one was as bad as it sounds.

Bali

Last week was Chinese New Year and we were lucky enough to travel to Bali, Indonesia for most of the week.  Bri's cousins Brooke and Tyler joined us for the week.  We enjoyed beautiful beautiful weather, beautiful landscapes, beautiful food and the people of Bali.  Besides leaving everything was fantastic.  Highlights of the trip included visiting Ketut (the medicine man from Eat Pray Love), Balinese cooking class, scootering around Ubud, cultural dances, hiking in rice patties and lounging by the pool.  Here's a few pictures with more follow up blogs to come.

Tyler and Matt working on a sweet and sour mushroom soup

Brooke and Bri driving through town

Rice terraces outside of Ubud

Rice paddies after the rain

A baby monkey trying to eat Bri's dress

 

Monday Night Football

Bri and I enjoyed the past football season.  We like to call it Monday Night Football but truly we're watching the games from Sunday.  We watch them in condensed mode so there are no commercials and they even cut the commentary out of the games. An entire condensed game only takes about 25-30 minutes to watch so you have to pay attention or you'll miss something.

Its fun to have people over to watch.  There's a Canadian third grade teacher that loves his Tampa Bay Buccaneers and our Irish friend joined us for a few games.  We've enjoyed having Bri's cousin Brooke with us after Christmas to watch the playoffs but this article is not really about football, its about marital excellence.

Returning later than expected from a doctor appointment after school I was going to head down to  get some cold beer to have available for people coming to watch the games.  My lovely wife, all cozy in her pajamas and reading the news on her laptop offered to walk to the store a couple blocks away for me so that I'd be here when the gentleman arrived.  What a lucky guy I am....

Enjoy the photo below of a fully acclimated expat, heading to the market in her pajamas and a coat.

Restarting the blog

Despite popular belief we have not quit blogging entirely.  Despite not blogging for a couple of months things have continued in our life.  After our christmas holiday we struggled to get blogs up for a few reasons.  From January to the middle of March is my most busy time of the year.  March 8th is my big deadline.  We've had a guest, Bri's cousin Brooke, and enjoyed spending time with her since returning from break.  In addition, China's new Internet Ministry which was appointed around October has increased the firewall and we've had more trouble connecting to and uploading pictures to the blog.  Enough excuses, we know you all understand, we'll try to catch you on the most recent happenings in the coming weeks.