Shanghai Hotel

... ever the wind takes you. Best of luck to you, and 再见.

Well I still look forward to this upcoming semester. 25 new people are coming, and I hope to make some new friends again. I also am looking forward to Monday, because that is when I start my two week trek into Southeast Asia. Warmer weather, beaches, and cheaper booze, hell yeah!

... a warm clean bathroom is heaven. Anyway, the race... sunday morning, no rain, off we go to the start line. We followed the crowd in the direction of Nanjing street. This is a walking street in the heart of downtown Shanghai lined with shops and restaurants. Greg tried to get a warm coffee in the numerous coffee shops along the way, but Chinese don't do early, they were all closed up. We knew we were getting close as the crowds grew, we found the gated off start ...

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... d turn up nearby so that I could go pester him. Low and behold, he turned up in China, not so very far from Shanghai. Those of you who know me well enough can probably already guess what happened next. Before Chris had even actually arrived in Wuxi, where he now works, we had already decided to go to Shanghai for a weekend, since we both have those off now that we don't work for nasty cram schools. He booked his tickets, I booked mine, we were all set and then a meeting ...

... tennis ball so they quickly gathered a group of kids around them as they kicked it around - sport really breaks all language barriers! When we got off the boat to walk up the Bund the crowds were incredible! I know it was a Saturday night, but it was extraordinary how many people we were surrounded by, mostly all pushing in the same direction. We turned up a side street as soon as we could to find a restaurant and ...

... not recommend trying this at the weekend. We saw the enormous queue of tour groups and gave up immediately! It had become quite sunny, so we grabbed an ice cream nearby and walked towards a supermarket that the Lonely Planet had recommended for buying western style things (we fancied a sandwich and it's hard to find sandwich fillings in normal Chinese corner shops). This was quite a trek away on West Nanjing Road, but we just enjoyed the walk and saw some ...

... for hand and mouth disease? Something that happens to all children in China? Chiara proudly carries her backpack and other special things needed for school.  She is so happy here - singing and laughing all day long, when she is not yelling and hitting her brothers. Here she is after her first day at school before dinner... The boys and their bus... Chiara and her yellow bus...

... so numbers six through ten are very unusual for me). I know how to say "That's too expensive" and "How much?" and "I am a student" and "I am studying Chinese". I know how to say "I don't have any money", which is an important phrase with the numbers of beggars and harassing vendors in this city. I know how to say "foreigner" and "foreign devil" and "Chinese" and "American" and "I have" and "I want" and "I don't want" and "I don't have". I'm learning more and more, but those are the ...