AT's House...

I had to post this... I passed this massive orange building everyday on my way to work...

I desperately need some photoshop lessons! I feel like a toddler holding a crayon for the first time when I'm navigating this graphics business!

Break Dancers and Magician...

This weekend, Trenia and I were entertaining ourselves by walking around, as usual. Literally. Just checking things out. A mall by our house always has something going - whether it be someone peddeling nail polish, DVDs, the Expo Mascot, Umbrellas, Cuff Links, Wallets, Socks, Purses, Fruit, McDonalds Coupons, Hair Clips, Clothes, Scarves, Luggage, WHATEVER YOU CAN THINK OF... it will probably be there. Long story short... Trenia and I enjoyed far more than an open market. We were treated to a show from some break dancers and some magic! The magician actually called me and a Chinese woman up on stage to participate in the act. Many of the tricks were visibly lame, but some, I was wowed by! The best part - the Hello Kitty Pen for participating. What more can you ask for when all you really wanted was to walk around outside?!

BLUE SKY!

Yesterday for the SECOND time since arriving in Shanghai, we saw a blue sky.

Smells of China...

One thing I will not miss about China is some of the foreign and not-so-foreign smells.



1. The smell of damp heat rising off dirty streets and seeping out of grimy buildings…

2. The smell in convenience stores of boiling processed meats, seaweed, and tofu in some kind of broth…

3. The smell of eggs that have been hard boiled in tea…

4. The smell of cigarettes. EVERYWHERE.

5. The smell in public restrooms...



















There are more but these are the top 5…. Wow.

A Weekend with the Lindsey and Company...

I mentioned earlier that we (Lindsey (classmate), Graham (her husband), and Craig (her brother)) conquered Shanghai. This is how and why.

They arrived Friday evening. I took them down the strip of street vendors that line one side of our apartment. Trenia and I have our set places that we like at this point:

Fried Noodles = First place with a blue awning
Cold Noodles = Lady in the middle
Fried Rice = A cart that changes locations, but they have a guy who appears to be about our age whose name is Dream, and his dad cooks the rice.
Dishes with Meat and Vegetables = The little guys who wear the white hats (Cut me some slack. If I could speak Chinese I would find out more about what they hats mean and why they wear them!)

Anyway, we went to get some food. There was a new cart in town with a HUGE selection and a GREAT WOKER! Not only did I get my dinner there, but Lindsey, Graham, and Craig did as well. I felt like I was cheating on the fried rice crew who was sitting next to the new cart. It’s crazy how loyalties can be formed in a few short weeks!





We turned it in “early” and got up on Saturday to hit the ground running. Saturday morning we toured the East side of town along the river, hunted down a famous dumpling restaurant, and trekked our way to the Expo! It was a brilliantly exciting and adventurous day! (note: check a Johnson in Jilin for a great recap) Touring around with them made it feel like I was in a new city! I loved being a super tourist!







Sunday we were slower moving in the morning dew Saturday being so exhausting! Sunday was a rainy day. We were stoked we had made the most of Saturday when the weather was nice! We went to the aquarium with one million Chinese kids, shuffled around town for far too long looking for drunken shrimp, got a CUPPING MASSAGE, took a power nap, and then headed out again around 230am for the Holland v. Spain final.

Craig and I grabbed awesome videos on the walk home from the soccer match… FRESHLY SLAUGHTERED HOGS STRAPPED TO THE BACK OF A BIKE! T.I.C. (I’m stealing this from Team Africa… This. Is. China.)

After sleeping in until about noon, we started moving again and tried our hand at finding the allusive drunken shrimp! This is shrimp that are still alive, but have been bathed in sweet alcohol. Thus, making them intoxicated enough to be able to eat them alive!China strives to have the freshest food in their cuisine! Craig and I were DEAD SET on finding these things. We wrestled over a half hour through a game of of charades with the crew above to find out if they had the drunken shrimp google told us they had or not. Long story short, I’m glad we were with very patient people, or else we would probably have been ditched in the search. Our hunt for drunken shrimp lives on… I will find them before I leave China. Now that I think about not completing the drunken shrimp conquest, maybe conquering Shanghai is a bit exaggerated, but it doesn’t lessen our great time!


In defeat, Craig and I ate cooked shrimp... Sadly, Lindsey and company had to leave town and fly north. Their visit rejuvenated me and my relationship with Shanghai!

UFO IN CHINA!

I know I still need to blog about last weekend, and I also need to blog about a couple of other things going on... BUT THIS IS CRAZY!


There was a UFO sighting in Hangzhou, the city that Mirch, Trenia, and I visited with Roger (the guy who sat next to me on my flight to Shanghai).


I'm not saying that I don't believe it. I'm not saying that I do. All I am saying is that the air traffic controllers completely shut down the airport near Hangzhou for over 4 hours due to an UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECT!!!!

Maybe I can catch a ride on that thing back to the States!!!

Shout out...

I was talking about this "shout out" with my mom and sister on skype... until the call dropped. I would NEVER complain about skype... the fact that I can VIDEO CALL friends and family is endlessly fascinating, mind blowing, comforting, and entertaining all at the same time. I'm not complaining. However, it is frustrating when the robotic voices start or you can't hear the other person at all... that's all I have to say about that.

SHOUT OUT... as several people have blogged about packing topics here is mine:

Before I left, my concerned family was helping me prepare for my trip. They were helping me think of every last thing that I might need. The items below are things that I would not have packed had a) someone not bought it for me, b) physically took me to the store to purchase it, or c) inform me that I would need it.

1. EARPLUGS! Aunt Nancy - bless her for sleeping in the same bed as my Uncle Jim who can SAW SOME LOGS recommended this. This was really really clutch. I'm not sure I'll sleep without them even when I get back.

2. Rain jacket! Being monsoon season... I would have been a fool not to have had one. Thank god my mom took me to go get one when I was about to blow it off.

3. TRAVEL BOOKS! My sister took me to pick them out and even bought them for me! Many restaurants, fun things, and even art history lessons for my project have come from those books!!!!!

4. EmergenC and other meds... Rach saved the day here too. Encouraging me to get more than I would have! Fortunately, (knock on wood) I have not needed to take any meds since I have been here, but I've had them to share with those who have needed them!

5. My flip cam and flip charger!!!! Even though I haven't been able to load my videos this summer.... I will have them for when I get back!

I know there are more... but these are the MVP items that I am constantly thinking... MAN - I sure am glad I have these!!!