good quote

i stole this quote from a friends page on facebook.  no idea where he got it...but it pretty much sums up my life right now:


"For me, there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart. There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length. And there I travel, looking, looking, breathlessly."

a day off of life....

today was one of my days off...i slept in, did some laundry, looked up flights to vietnam for oct holiday, etc etc.  i was going to explore some part of the city, but a crazy storm rolled in.  it was fun to watch the storm roll in from my bedroom window.  there was so crazy thunder and lightning!  the storms here are insane!  so, instead of sweating my ass off in the city, i sat on my bed with my computer and chilled most of the day.

i finally took a shower around 6 pm and decided i should go out and get dinner.  the nice about having travelled alot, i really dont mind eating by myself.  yes, sometimes the company is awesome....but it is nice to chill out, eat, and watch the people around.  being on your own really opens up your eyes to the ppl and things around u.  shanghai is a crazy city, always 5 million things going on at once 24/7.  the other night i walked home from a bar around 230 am and there were families sitting on the sidewalks eating dinner, playing cards, sleeping on the sidewalk, driving cars, riding bikes...this city never sleeps!  okay, nice tangent....anyways...i went to dinner at wagas, which is about 3 min from my apartment.  it is a coffee shop/western cafe.  they have a really good pumpkin spaghetti that i was craving.  i sat down in a comfy chair that i easily could have molded myself into for many hrs.  i accidentally unplugged a guys laptop plug in the wall next to me when i moved my chair, so i apologized.  the guy is a lawyer from israel and he has been in shanghai for 3 years now.  we had a cool convo.  i ate my dinner, observed all the westerners coming in and out of the cafe.  i especially noticed there were alot of hot western boys coming in and out of this cafe...note to self.....grow some balls and talk to boys...oh and maybe hang out at wagas more often!  i read a shanghai magazine about the local arts, food, drinks, events, etc that are going on in the city for the month....always great ideas!  a girl sat down at a table kitty corner to me.  she got out her pink net book and then proceeded to set up what looked like a home office on a tiny table:  mini chair that held her phone, a crazy looking doll that stuck to the table, a kid looking calculator, some pens and a pad of paper.  she got up to get something to drink and i glanced over at the man from israel and we both started laughing.  i couldnt contain myself...seriously, who is this chick. i so wished i had brought my camera..i normally always have it on me...then u could see how ridiculous this was.  keep in mind, this woman is prob about my age and chinese.  i told the israeli guy that she must have wanted to have some sort of fung shui in the cafe while she did her work...that made us laugh even more. oh the fun of dinner by yourself!

my shanghai apartment

this is a little delayed..sorry!  i have now been in my apartment for about 10 days.  i love it.  it only took me one day to find it.  my realtor is the cutest thing..she is 23, totally shanghainese.....loved her!  my apartment is on the 5th floor of a 6 story building and it is completely brand new inside.  when i saw it...it wasnt even done.  there are about 14 other buildings in my area.  i spent a day off at ikea to get what i needed to make my apartment more me.  it came furnished...so that was a plus.  please come visit me.  i am here until at least sept 30, 2011....if not longer :)

finally got to do laundry in a real washer.....but no dryer.  since its so hot, everything dries in about 15 min!

my new bed!

washer

my mini couch in my room

my baby kitchen table

living room.  and yes, that is my fridge..no one puts their fridge in their kitchen b/c they are too small

living room and bedroom

kitchen

bathroom. my landlord put a flower and purple shower curtain up...um no thanks

other part of bathroom

view from my window

oh china

seriously i think i say the phrase 'oh china' at least 10 times a day. i have now been in shanghai for about 7 weeks now...wow!  i moved into my own apartment 1.5 weeks ago and now i have been getting the chance to explore my neighborhood more.  i can't say that i am used to alot of things that i see while i am out and about, but i am less surprised things.  let's go thru some of the fun filled things that i have seen in china:

snot rockets:  this is something i mostly see in men and old grandma's.  they think it is okay to be walking and then just stop and shoot snot out of their noses onto the street.  don't walk barefoot around here!

electric scooters/bikes:  shanghai has plenty of bike lanes on all their roads, so u would think that ppl would use them....um, not so much.  for example, each morning i walk to the metro to get to work.....10 min walk.  within that time i have almost gotten hit about 3 times a morning by electric bikes/scooters that are on the sidewalk.  USE the  EFFIN bike lane.  oh ya and since they are electric, they are silently creeping up on u.

red lights:  mean nothing in shanghai.  well, i take it back..sometimes they mean something on main roads, but on side roads...hahaha..no way!  ppl run lights all the time..not only cars, buses, cabs, but scooters and bikes as well.  this makes crossing streets amazing.

crosswalks:  there are many crosswalks and there are even crossing guards.  i am not quite sure what rules are enforced here though.  i have been shooed to stand on the curb, yelled at for trying to cross with out the lil green man saying to walk.  however, even if the green man is up there,  cars, scooters, bikes, etc are still coming your way.  i just walk as fast as i can and then i have gotten quite good at giving evil stares to cars and scooters.

split pants:  children ages 6 months-2 ish yrs old where split pants (pants that have a split down the back) and they do not wear diapers once they are about 6 months old.  i was at  the pool the other day and this grandma took her grand daughter over to the trash can and she peed in there....awesome.  another day a lil kid just squatted down and peed on the sidewalk.  i wish it was that simple for us!

walking:  i think chinese ppl have two speeds of walking, depending on where they are going and what they are doing.  speed one: walking with friends at a ridiculously slow speed on a small sidewalk..makes it real fun to pass them!  speed two:  crazy fast and pushing..this usually happens when getting on and off the metro.  i have thrown a few elbows and dirty looks with this!

spoiled children:  the one children policy is still in effect here in shanghai...however if u have money u can have more than one child...u just pay a giant tax!  the kids that we teach are from more upper class families. the other day i was asking my students where they ate lunch b/c the words they were learning were table, sofa, etc.  one kid told me he ate lunch on the sofa and his grandma was feeding him.  he is 7!!!!!!  and i think orange county kiddos are spoiled!  there are many more things i could add about spoiled children, but that will have to be a whole other post.

heat/humidity:  last week when i moved into my apartment, it was one of the hottest weeks of the summer. it was about 110 degrees, with humidity.  i almost threw up coming up my 5 flights of stairs with all the crap i bought at ikea.  walking around the city i am just drenched in sweat....even at night.  it is just hot all the freakin time.  i sweat at 8 am going to work, i sweat at 2 am when i have come home from hanging out with friends.  i guess this is good since it keeps the toxins from settling in the my body...but having drenched clothes is not that fun.  i am grateful for good ac at work and in my apt.

these are just a few things that i say 'oh china' too!

fuxing park

it is pronounced fushing park in case u were wondering :) my friend tara and i wanted a mellow day of just cruising around the city and doing something free.  so, i met her at the metro right near my work and we walked around the french concession and fuxing park.  it is so refreshing to be around green trees in this giant city!  it was super hot out...so it was nice to have shade.  there were tons of old people playing cards and drinking tea all through out the park.  we for sure got lots of stares from them!

much needed night out

this was after we all finished our first week of teaching the kiddos. one of my awesome waterpolo parents has a cousin living in shanghai.  he is a lil older than me and works in the catering industry.  he got my friends and i vip passes to the opening of d10 a new bar/club.  it is in the shape of an airplane.  we headed over to the metro and it was insane.  our metro is a big area that connects to some of the line that go out to the world expo.  we started walking down the stars and there were tons of ppl just standing and not moving.  so, we turned around and knew we needed a cab.  the streets were packed as well, but somehow my friend jack talked this guy and his wife in their mini van to take us to the bar.  so, we all piled in.  i felt like were in a clown car as we were getting out b/c there were 8 of us crammed in.  so fun though!!!  we got free drinks all night and danced the night away!

lauren and i nervous in the back of a random guys mini van

free champagne on the way in

it's a plane

sweet lights.  if u look all the way forward, it is the front of the plane with clouds ;)

all the girls working at the bar were dressed up as stewardess's.  they gave us hats

i am disgusting and sweaty from dancing.  but, this is inigo who hooked us up!

simple things make me happy

there has been blue sky and sunshine the past 4 days here in shanghai!  i don't even know what to do with myself.  it's a little depressing to either have rain or hazyness all the time.  the blue sky...and yes very hot temperatures are actually quite nice.  i took some pics walking home from work on sat night.  i saw the moon, a few stars, blue sky..wow!

today, tuesday is the start of my weekend and it is sunny again today.  hoping to get to an outdoor with some co-workers.  yes, the key word is outdoor pool!

chinese acrobat show

here is a video i put together from the chinese acrobat show on saturday night.  enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWavE0yuXF4

settling in

as of today i have been in shanghai for 3 weeks....which has gone by fast, but slow.  i have done so much in 3 weeks!  i am now working for disney english full time.  i get my own classes starting on sat.  i am teaching kids ages 2-7....ahhh!  yes, i know...me, teaching little kids...super scary.  but, the curriculum is made for us and i have an assistant.  i subbed a  few classes last sunday..it wasnt too bad.  the kids are so cute and are very easily entertained.

i found an apartment near ji'angn temple.  it is about 5 min from the metro...tons of shops, restaurants, bars and a grocery store all near the metro.  i didnt want to have to walk all over the place once i get home after work.  they are finishing renovations on my place, so i will get my keys next friday.

tuesday night a bunch of us from work to all u can eat/drink indian food and then we went go karting.  it was a nice way to meet alot of ppl in my company.  the indian food was super yummy. i had about 4 pieces of nan :)  go karting was soooo fun.  it was indoors, so i think we were high off the fumes....oh well.

sat night a bunch of us went to dinner for our friend abby's bday.  we then went to an acrobatic show.  it was a little cheezy...but it was awesome!

i have turned in my passport to get my visa..i will pick it up next week.  coming over here i had a temp 30 day visa, so once i passed my health check, i turned in my paperwork to get my real visa for a year ish.  cant wait to see it!  life is good.  please come visit.  i am here til sept 2011!

graduation from training

ladies night

amazing dinner down the street from our hotel.  super cheap too!

lunch at the hostel around the corner from us.  great view of the bund

dinner for abby's bday

my school..its in the french concession.  super cute neighborhood with tons of trees

this is pumpkin..my friends found her on their walk home.  

lauren and i with our hair nets on at go karting

this temple is down the street from my new apartment

life is good.  please come visit.  i am here til sept 2011!