Some things are lucky.

Monday I had taken off from work to go to Hangzhou with Phil and Matt. We had some fairly impressive miscommunication (or maybe it was just lack of communication?) that ended in me not so much on a train to Hangzhou. The thing about China is that things go wrong but then they kinda work out (I've heard this from several people), and I got a later ticket from the South station. It's the new, shiny station, so that was kind of cool, and I easily killed the time I had by eating lunch. The guys met me at the station in Hangzhou and we headed off to wander through the beautiful area around West Lake. Really nice to be in a really green place and on the water, especially since it was a really warm day. Also, really fun to have companions to comment on stuff and entertain you. There are ferries going between various spots on the shore and two islands in the lake, and we checked out the first before having a delicious and interesting (interesting is good) dinner at a restaurant on the second. Checked out intriguing paths and shiny signs, then all got on the same train home. Did some walking around Xintiandi (I don't know if I really like that place or if I just don't know much else of Shanghai) and then it was time to admit that the long weekend had ended and go home.

Parties of the friends of friends

Friday night, Amy's party was really fun; we started at Jade on 36 at the Shangri-la, which was super sweet and had an amazing view. Felt very classy. Went from there to Mural, where Alaster had reserved us a table where we could just sit and chat, which was low-key and fun. Moved on then to Attica for dancing. Amy and I stayed with Iris (I've mentioned her before, right?) since her apartment was most convenient and she was nice enough to offer. Slept in and talked to Amy for like 3 hours, then the 3 of us went to Element Fresh for lunch.

It was then time to head home for a shower and then to the hostel where Phil and Matt were staying. Hung out there for a bit, then met Amy, Iris, and Ben for a Shanghainese dinner. It continues to amaze me how easy it is to put good-natured, smart people together and have a good time, even if they are all connected in a pretty convoluted way. (For example, Iris and Ben are friends of the college friend of the high school friend of the college friend of the high school friend of Matt.) Some of us then headed to Malone's to watch an amusing cover band and to the Bund to realize that they turn off the lights there and in Pudong really early.

Sunday I met Phil at the hostel and we headed to Nanjing Lu while Matt found some Chinese teachers to hang out with. We did some wandering, ate some lunch, checked out such fabulous places as Comic World (not full of comics) and visited the Urban Planning and Development Exhibition Hall, which is still cool, although we would have some suggestions for its improvement. Relaxed a bit in the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf while skillfully avoiding the rainstorm, then back to the hostel to look at some travel photos before going to dinner with Matt. Went to a really good place serving Yunnan food, and decided to give in to the powerful attraction of karaoke.

Happy Birthday Amy!

Friday work was kinda like Thursday. Made a final list of addresses of locations for activities and contact information; made a last-minute replacement for an activity when one place fell through, and that kind of fun. After work I got myself some dinner and read Harry Potter...I realize I read slowly because I have a compulsion to read every word and will make myself go back if I get too wrapped up in things and start skipping. This is not how I read for school. Got ready just now to head out for Amy's birthday, which is in a place in Pudong that's supposed to have a fantastic view, so I'm excited. Sorry, not bringing the camera.

My friend Phil from Swarthmore and his friend Matt are coming tomorrow; it's their last stop on a 2-month world tour, and I'm really excited! They'll be here for 5ish days, and I expect to be fairly busy, but I don't expect to totally disappear. Just didn't want you to worry if I didn't post at my normal times.

A really nice day

Thursday enough little things went right that it made for a really nice day. Worked on some stuff for summer camps that really made it seem like they're really happening soon (which they are...about a week and a half). After work I went to the train station to buy tickets to go to Hangzhou with Phil and Matt on Monday, which was surprisingly easy despite some difficulty getting from the subway to the ticket counter. Found a shortcut on the way back, through the wholesale eyeglasses market, which is really something; small store after small store of eyeglasses.

Went from there to the place near my get-home-from-yoga bus stop that sells ipod shuffles and bought myself a beautiful, adorable, blue one. It's love, I'm positive. Setting it up now. Went from there to Starbucks for a lovely dinner and red bean scone. (It counts as a Chinese experience if I order in mandarin and buy something with red bean.) Watched some Grey's, read some Harry (although not enough...it's actually too tense for me to relax with), and came home.

We're like the U.N., if the U.N. discussed Youtube

Today was notably hot and humid, but things were comfy as always inside the office. After work I was meeting Amy for dinner, which turned into meeting Amy and Stacy and Michael and Alaster and Ben for dinner. It's cool, though, because I like these people. It was really fun to have a sorta big dinner and then go out for dessert; more because it reminded me what it was like to be with a group of friends than anything else, but if I was going to hang out with a group of strangers I had very little in common with, I guess I'd choose this bunch. Let one bus pass me because it would have been impossible to board, but took the next, and here I am.

A change would do me good

Tuesday I went to work, went to yoga, and came home. I have to admit, I'm getting a little tired of some aspects of my daily life, like the long, uncomfortable bus rides carrying lots of stuff and the bug-filled, hot room that I come back to at night. I know it won't be long at all until these things and I say our bittersweet goodbyes, though.

Was this someone else's day?

Every time I realize I'm blogging about a Monday again, it catches me by surprise how recent the last one was. Today was pretty quiet at work. Realized I hadn't brought my earbuds (because of the whole no-ipod thing) so I couldn't watch tv during dinner, but I found some English-language magazines to entertain me. Went to yoga, which ended up being taught not by the person on the printed schedule but by the girl from last week who says "right" when she means "left," but it was still a worthwhile class. Took the bus home and here I am, wishing I could read and relax but knowing I should just rest up so I'm a happy person tomorrow.

Harry Potter and the Cafes of Shanghai

Sunday I slept in a bit and headed out for my ambitious day of reading Harry Potter in enough different cafes to keep from being hungry or obnoxious.

Started at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf for brunch, then headed over to Huaihai Lu for a quick break in my mission...the post office. I wanted to be sure I could ship my big suitcase to Beijing, and that it would take a reasonable amount of time. Seems like that should be fine. I keep forgetting to mention it, but my plan is to stay here through the close of the first session of camp on August 11, have a day to pack and say goodbyes, then take a plane on Monday to Qingdao. There are no fast trains there so it would've taken 18 hours, which just doesn't appeal to me that much. I'll have a few days to see the sites of Qingdao, then take an overnight train for a measly 9 hours to Beijing. (There are faster trains, but they're not overnight.) I hope to be reunited there with both my suitcase and its kind recipient, Lizzie from Swarthmore. She's offered to not only receive my suitcase but also let me sleep on her floor, but especially since she'll be at the end of her program (which I assume means exams) I think I'll keep some of my stuff with her but stay at the hostel that Abby Mayer has highly recommended. Sounds like a pretty decent plan, no? And only about 40 billion ways it could go wrong.

Back to what's important, I finally found the Vienna Cafe, which is super cute but unfortunately not that convenient. Had some plum cake there and did more reading. Went to a good yoga class, which was the full-length Hot class. I like this instructor too...she says almost everything in both languages, which means it's good practice for me without being stressful. I'm going to get back to States and wonder why people aren't treating me differently and smiling extra big at me, though. As excited as I am to be able to just blend in sometimes.

Did some dinnering and more reading at Figaro, and took the bus home. This bus said the right number, but it had a couple characters I didn't know after it, and after doing the entire rest of the route the same, it got to a place I didn't recognize and was like "last stop." Um, okay. Luckily, after a brief look around, I discovered I was actually closer to home than my normal stop, although completely on the other side. Interesting.

And after that day almost entirely structured around reading, I'm still not very far. I guess I'm not really committed to blasting through it...I'd rather really follow what's going on and savor it a bit more. Does prolong the time no one can talk to me about it, though. (It's worth noting that at least 2 waitresses have taken interested in it and wanted to know where I bought it.)

Photos: Yuyuan, etc.

This clutter of photos should be pretty self-explanatory. I was surprised that, while they don't have Dairy Queen in NY, they do have it in Shanghai. And this may not be the most wonderful picture of Amy ever taken, but it's the only one ever taken by me, so it'll have to do.

Being delicate and fashionable

Just talked to Amy and she echoes my feeling of general exhaustion, which means I'm not going out tonight and can give you a timely Saturday entry.

Woke up late enough to have gotten enough sleep, and had a lovely surprise Skype with the parents. Joanna called them in the middle of it, and it was almost like we weren't in three different time zones.

Headed out a little before noon and got on my favorite bus. Looked at my map to see what stop I wanted to get off at, and noticed that it just happened to be the one by the foreign language bookstore. By 12:30, I had a copy of the UK Adult version of Harry Potter, and was surprised by how happy it made me just to have it. Bought some energy water to save me from certain heat stroke, then walked to Yu Yuan (Yuan means garden.) I really enjoyed it...it was full of cool doorways and bridges. I resisted the urge to find an Euler path, and just wandered around until the heat wore me down.

Stopped in Starbucks for some iced latte and some Harry Potter, then successfully found Amy and mother at the tailor. I keep forgetting to post this, but they have the best sign: "Being delicate and fashionable is our persistent style." Picked up my two dress shirts and my beautiful coat, and did some more shopping with Amy after stopping at McDonald's so she could have her first hamburger in 3 years. Before we knew it she was late for her dinner, so I headed off to get some of my own at a cafe-type place. Walked to the metro and took it to Nanjing Lu since I had seen some places selling contact solution there. Bought that and wandered, then headed home, taking cover under multiple awnings when a thunderstorm decided to take place.

Photos from today in separate entry.

Ali's guide to a fun Friday night

Friday during the day was uneventful, and the evening was all too eventful.

Went from work to dinner, from dinner to yoga. It was the same instructor as Wednesday, the one I had for my first hot yoga class and who likes me, so (this isn't going to make sense to some of you and it will make perfect sense to others) I was a little bit dreading her realizing I was in her class yet again. And then she was in the hallway when I came in. And THEN we ended up waiting outside the classroom at the same time, so we chatted. (She's really nice...from Thailand, used to live in New York, just moved into a new apartment and can't wait for her boyfriend to visit so they can go to IKEA.) And then I find out I'm the only person signed up for the class. Sweet. I mean, I know it actually was, and it was good to get some personal attention (good for my concentration too) but not normally the kind of thing I would seek out. Good overall, though.

Took myself out for dessert, then started walking towards the bus stop when my ipod was stolen. I almost hate to tell you guys about it, because just like I feel like everything good that happens here gets magnified when I share it with all of you, I think the bad things do too. I just feel so stupid; I don't try to be the naive tourist who is an obvious target for theft. Really, I don't. But I guess I let down my guard...was listening and crossing the street, with the ipod in the outer, velcro pouch of my computer case. By the time I got across I realized the music had stopped and found the ipod missing, but it took me crossing back over and hearing from the people who were sitting around that two girls had run off with it to actually convince me I'd been robbed. They were pointing enthusiastically so I ran in that direction for a bit, but it was obviously fruitless. Although I knew it would be just as pointless, I called the police at the suggestion of these bystanders, and a couple of officers came on their motorcycles. They did a quick sweep of the area, but there was pretty clearly nothing to be done.

One officer took me to the police station on his motorcycle, and I spent longer than I would have liked there waiting in line and answering questions in Chinglish. The whole thing would have been a lot harder if I hadn't convinced them I could understand mandarin, I think...they walked me through the report they'd written up, and I was able to understand it enough to state that I could read it and it was the truth. My intuition in times like these is to look distressed and assume people will be more helpful, but that wasn't kicking in. I just went through the motions. Took a taxi home.

It really is just the principle of the thing. Yes, it's a valuable item that I really love, and I would feel less stupid if they'd only stolen, like, my sunglasses, but it could have been something a lot harder to replace...like my wallet, or passport, or even my phone would have been worse I think. It won't kill me to hear a little bit more of the sounds of the city for my last few weeks here...I could easily buy a new ipod or mp3 player, but I'm really hesitant to jump into that.

I just wonder why it is that it is impossible for us to learn some things simply by being told...I mean, this isn't some deep lesson about the ways of the world, it's just BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR VALUABLES. I'm a smart girl. Why couldn't I have listened a little better? I hope for every time I do something stupid like this I do 10 generally intelligent things. At least.

Ay ay ay. Life lessons in China. That's what it's all about.

Pictures

I finally loaded photos from last weekend onto my computer, so here are a few. Sorry they so infrequently come with a day's entry...

So, the old faded one is a picture of a picture of how Nanjing Road (what is now a pedestrian street of shopping) used to look, and I posted one of what it looks like now for comparison. Cool, right?

Below we've got Jin Mao tower (with some ugly, but impressive construction in the back of it) and the Oriental Pearl. Right when I was leaving Oriental Pearl, the lights came on everywhere, and the sky was all dusky and the temperature had cooled down and there were a lot of people just hanging out at the base...it was neat.

I'll get the rest posted and labeled on the site soon.

We can't take the heat

My computer just went on the blink again (with yet another new error message) but I think it's just overheating, which means what I'm going to do now is turn it off and let it cool down. Wanted to let you know not to worry and that I'll blog for real tomorrow from my air conditioned office.

Where are all the heretics?

Blogger, genius that it is, saved the entry I was writing last night when my computer got heat stroke. Here it is:

The high point of Thursday was probably when "L.O.V.E." by Ashlee Simpson (not to be confused with Nat King Cole's "L-O-V-E") came on the radio on the bus. Apparently completely ridiculous songs are popular the world over.

Today at work I was pretty busy, which was nice. Went to check out a possible restaurant venue for our big dinner that all the local sponsors are invited to. It's in this cool old warehouse that's now an art gallery (of course) and the restaurant. They call it Suhe, which is short for Suzhou He (Suzhou river, which it's on) but also intentionally sounds like Soho. Or so I am told. It reminded me a lot of the MN Opera Center, actually, which made me nostaglic.

Ate near work and then came home so I would have time to do laundry. Watched some Grey's, but there seems to be a shift of styles and it's getting really intense now. Might have to switch to something more calming...like Lost. :P

Oh! I should explain better about yoga while I remember. They have classes starting every half-hour or so, which means there are about 4 classes I could make each weekday after work. They have Flow classes of various levels, Hot Yoga and the shortened version Hot Hour, and some other options that generally require a background of 5 Flow 1 classes. Some classes are in Chinese and some are in English, so it tends to be pretty clear what the best class is for me on a given day. Hot yoga is in a heated room, which supposedly makes the experience more effective and safer by heating your muscles, and releasing toxins.

Oh, and don't worry, the city is air conditioned pretty well, it's just that once you put too many people on a bus it sort of loses its effect.

Namaste

Wednesday I went to work, dinner, and yoga. All three were good, especially the last two. Same instructor as my first hot yoga class- she's tough, but she likes me, so that's perfect. Getting home was less good, since I was pretty tired by then, and the very crowded bus ride resembled hot yoga a little bit more than I would have liked. Somehow I can't take an 8:30 class and get home before 11:15, which is pretty rough, but doable. As long as I go straight to sleep when I get home, that is...

Probably didn't fool her.

Tuesday I had a pretty average day of work, followed by a pretty good yoga class. It was an English class, but as with yesterday, both the instructor and some of the students were Chinese, so a fair amount of Mandarin got thrown in there as well. I had a much better class overall, partially because this instructor always got "right" and "left" correct. Discovered that the little cafe adjacent to the center is not as expensive as I had expected, so that's really convenient. Also, responded to a Caucasian woman who spoke to me in English in Mandarin...which I'm sure was obnoxious, but it was also unintentional, which is kind of cool. And now I'm home! Told Damin that one of my closet doors had fallen off one of its hinges (pretty exciting stuff) and he says he'll fix it next weekend. And that's my life!

Routine

Pretty tired, so this is going to be short.

Computer has worked fine all day. Can see the light at the end of the PR-sorting tunnel, and probably found the right hotel for our kids. Lunch was tasty, but I don't know what it was. (This happens more often than I expected.)

Had dinner and went to yoga, which was a slightly inferior Flow 1 class to the one I had last week. Not a bad time, though! Got really close to falling asleep on the bus home, which luckily wasn't a problem since my stop is the terminal station. I always see the same (I think) small orange and white kitten on my way home from that bus stop. It's really cute, and I always feel really sorry for it. Now it's time for sleep.

"Cavorting with the natives."

Amy thinks "I thought that was a trash can but it is actually a bicycle" (a me quote) would be a better title. I think her quote is more appropriate, at least in length.

Sunday I headed off to Amy's apartment, which required two buses and a subway, but was a pleasant trip. Got there and found she was talking to Mary, so I took over and got to talk to her for a while while Amy got ready to go. We went to a place that did seem like it could fix computers, but mine wasn't kind enough to demonstrate its little freezing-and-claiming-hard-drive-failure act for us, and the guy said there wasn't much he could do with an English-language computer anyway. He did mention that, since it works sometimes, it's probably not a hardware problem. Amy thought up the idea to do the thing where you send it into the past (this has a name, I just can never remember it) and got that going while I talked to a fellow intern of hers who had called her wanting to know about IB.

Had a yummy lunch at a Korean place, then went back to the apartment. My computer seemed to be working fine, so we headed to the tailor. My original shirt still didn't fit, so they retook measurements, which apparently they had done a horrible job with before. The skirt they made based on the one I brought in was great, though. Decided for sure on the coat I want (it's pretty classic pea coat...looked a lot of cute ones that I would be able to wear for fewer occasions, but decided this was better) and spent some more time looking around, etc.

Went from there with Amy and her mother to Shanghai Old Street, which has a bunch of little cheap stores on it, and bought some headscarves and some rubber pigs that squish. (They are better seen than described.) From there we went to a really good hot pot dinner, joined by Amy's dad. When we got back to the apartment, my computer still hadn't crashed...I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but I doubt the adventure is totally over. Perused facebook together for a while, which was the kind of relaxing, time-wasting activity that made me miss my friends from home and Swat. (I guess your friends are the people you want to be with when you're just wasting time...)

Well...it's cause I am.

If this post is actually posted, it means my computer was functional for long enough for me to write it, so that's exciting. I had it turned off all day and plan to take it in tomorrow with Amy (bless her heart) to have it looked at. When I turned it on tonight it gave me the "Windows has recovered from a serious error" message, which I hadn't gotten before, so I guess it's possible is has recovered, although I'm certainly not ready to count my chickens.

Friday was a really great day until about 1am when my computer freaked out. At work I did a lot of searching for accommodations for the kids, calling 20-some hotels to ask if they had activity/conference rooms and what the rate was. After work I hung out at Figaro, a coffee shop/cafe near yoga that I really, really like. It has some character. :) Watched an episode of Grey's, then went to Hot Hour, which is the hour-long version of the Hot Yoga class. I had a really good experience from start to finish. They have a lot of seating outside of the studio area so you can rest and cool down, and there I met Heidi from Mexico and talked to her about living here as an expat. Showered (the showers are so much nicer than the one here in the apartment...) and headed home very relaxed and tired and content. It was Sarah's last night in town (which I hadn't known until today) and so I told her I would go out with her and her friends, but got a text from her saying she really just needed to pack. Sad we didn't get to see more of each-other, but I told her I'd visit her in HK sometime. So, I chilled at home until my computer went on the blink and I flipped out for a bit and then decided I couldn't deal with it until the morning.

Didn't sleep that well Friday night thanks to the computer worries, but once I let myself get up Saturday morning I started to get some perspective. Got the computer to work long enough to email myself work-related documents and make sure my backup program was working and run it again. Talked to Amy, and went to eat some late breakfast before yoga. It was another Hot Hour, and another great class, although I could tell my concentration wasn't quite what it had been previously. Ate a delicious sandwich at Figaro while reading one of their magazines. Also, they have a free book exchange! I'll have to bring the book that made me cry, and check out the selection more.

Went home from Figaro because I had brought my computer around with me (hadn't heard from Amy when I left the house, so I wasn't sure when I'd end up wanting it) and then headed out to the Oriental Pearl Tower. Ascended the tower, which is something I'm glad I did, but wasn't amazing. More impressive was the big exhibit/museum they have on the history of Shanghai...will post pictures on my site eventually. Went from there to a late dinner at a Greek place I'd read about, buying a dress on the way between the subway station and the restaurant. (These things happen. Especially with too many enthusiastic salesladies. However, they made sure I knew how good a price they were giving me...so it was clearly a good purchase!) And honestly, that's all I did today. Spent a lot of time in transit, and just relaxing and looking around, trying to absorb the city. Early Saturday night- Amy can't go out and I'd be too tired to anyway!

computer problems

Hi Everyone,

My computer kept crashing last night, and I don't know if it's going to keep working today or not. Will probably try to get it looked at but too tired to make any decisions yet. Hard drive failures. I'm hoping for the best, but if you don't hear from me for a while, it's because I am computerless...

The adventure continues.

Love,
Ali

Her eyes are too wide for a city girl

Goodness, I completely forgot to blog last night. Please forgive me for that; I promise not to make it a habit. (It was sad to awaken to not a single comment-notification email!)

Thursday I did a lot of sorting of papers at work, and made some phone calls. The papers I'm sorting, as I think I mentioned, are press clippings, and they're pretty interesting to look at. I become more and more aware that this organization is really doing more than it should be able to, given how small it is. I think there's a figure of speech that I want to use here, but I can't figure out what it is. It should be something like "its reach is further than its arm span," but actually...something people say. Anyone know?

After work I went to Xintiandi, ate a sandwich, and went to yoga. I had a really good class- just the right level, not too many people, so the instructor could come around and correct things. Took a refreshing shower and signed up for a month of membership; it wouldn't make any sense to pay by class, but I will have to make sure to go a lot to make it worth it. I really want to, though...it's not like I can do a lot of site-seeing at night after work anyway, and it's definitely the kind of thing I want to do regularly while I have the time. Took the bus home and slept very well.

How good it can be

Tuesday I had a pretty typical day at work, except we went out to lunch instead of ordering box lunches, which was a nice change. Afterwards I went to this vegetarian place that was supposed to be good; it wasn't amazing, but not bad. Decided to follow that up with some chocolate cake at Cafe Transat, since I haven't gotten a good dose of chocolate since I've gotten here. Enjoyed an episode of Grey's in the open air seating. Paid the bill and had the following conversation with the waitress (in Mandarin, of course):

Me: Do you take foreign visa?
Her: How embarrassing, no. Are you a foreigner?
Me: Um, yes.
Her: What country are you from?
Me: America.
Her: Oh...America. American girls are very pretty!
Me: Thanks!

And they don't even tip in China!

Afterwards, I went to check out the Y+ Yoga Center. Got a tour from a very nice woman who spoke very slowly so I could understand everything, and signed up for a Flow 1 class tomorrow. (It's in English, although they have classes in each language.) I'm pretty excited...we'll see how it goes. All the places I went are in Xintiandi, which is right near a subway stop that's 2 stops away from work on the same line.

Took the bus home and took note of the stop that's actually closer to the yoga place. Also was shocked to see another clear foreigner on the bus! I think she was equally surprised to see me.

Cities make good friends

I'm trying to figure out what interesting thoughts I had Tuesday, because I didn't do very many interesting things. I did a lot of filing and typing at work, and ordered copies of the articles about last weekend's events. Also found out that XinTianDi is better translated as "New Heaven and Earth," which I'm humbly correcting for your better edification, or something.

Went to the magical cash machine that likes foreigners, then went to a magical coffee shop that also does. If I were wearing more comfortable shoes, I could have occupied myself for quite a while weighing all my options for dinner. Maybe tomorrow. For tonight, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf worked quite well.

Back in March when I was talking to Martha about not knowing what to do with my summer, she made some sort of comment about New York being a great place to just do things by oneself. I told her I thought I'd enjoy that, and pointed out that China would be too. And I think it really hit me Sunday night how true that is. The city is fascinating, and it's safe at all hours, and no one is making me be anywhere at any time aside from work. I miss people from home and enjoy my few friends here, but I haven't actually felt lonely since my first few days. And I do think I have a particularly large appreciation of independence. The feeling I get from doing things here is the same one I have when I'm in an airport by myself, and is probably the same as the one I had walking to the library alone when I was younger. I really need people in my life, but I like having a better handle on where exactly that need extends to.

And now I know how to say "papaya"

Monday was pretty busy at work, with some questionable English to look at with regards to yesterday's event and a lot of old news clippings to catalog at Holly's suggestion.

Somehow missed the early bus home and had a wait a bit, but the weather was actually tolerable today, so that wasn't so bad. Until the other half of my earbuds went out. But then I got a seat, and all was well again. Turned around upon reaching home and went to Fudan Strolling Street for dinner and "shopping"...got new earbuds, Lost, and The OC. (So now Joanna should be happy with me, Judy should be approximately 1 more season's worth of happy with than disappointed in me, and Farah hopefully thinks my new Grey's addiction balances out my lack of Gilmore Girls-purchasing.) I bargain for as long as it's fun for me, but I'm not that stubborn because I generally want to get on with my life, purchase in hand, more than I want to pay 20 cents less. Now I'm just enjoying chilling around home, since I didn't get my normal dose of that on Sunday.

Another weekend whizzes by

Saturday I made myself take a slow morning, which was fairly successful. The extra sleep it awarded me seemed to kick my cold, at least. Headed out around noon to the Jade Buddha Temple. Looked like a pretty easy walk from the train station, so I took the bus there and easily found a road that turned into a bridge, clearly indicating that it was the one that would take me across the river. I walked across the entire thing before realizing the street names didn't match up and I had just crossed railroad tracks, not a river.

Backtracked and found the right road and a thunderstorm. Did a combination of cowering under awnings and getting wet, and made it to the temple. It was actually a lot cooler than the other ones I'd been to...more to see, a more harmonious feel. There were a mix of Chinese and foreigners, but some of each were there to be tourists and some of each were there to worship. I may or may not have latched onto a group of American high school students and listened to their tour guide discuss the two particularly awesome Buddhas. (No photos allowed, sorry!) By then, the rain was on and off, but there was still thunder, which added a really cool effect to the hush of the temple.

Left the temple and stopped in a cheap place for lunch while it began to pour again, then willed a taxi to appear out of the mist and took it to Pudong. Paid a visit to the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium, which was really cool. Haven't been to an aquarium since the last time I went to the Shedd, which was at least a few years ago. Lots of cool and creepy animals, including the world's longest, like, tube where you ride through and are surrounded by ocean life. I also saw some penguins, which I had failed to do at the Minnesota Zoo, despite being advised to do so by multiple friends. (I don't think we have any...)

Went from there to the Jing'an Si metro stop where I was meeting Amy for dinner. Had some time to kill, so passed up the chance to check out "Email Fashion Plaza" and instead saw the Children's Palace, which is a kinda cool mansion from 1918 now used for all sorts of children's singing classes and things like that. Amy and I then went out of Japanese food, which was really good, and got a cream puff on the way out. Stopped at her apartment, then met up with some of her (our?) friends at O'Malleys. Went from their to Air, and from there to Attica, and from there back to Amy's.

Sunday we had a lazy morning and then I headed home. Made myself presentable and then went to meet up with the Chi Heng people at Pizza Express, by invitation from Chung To, our founder and chair. (He's also kind of a big deal in the AIDS-fighting world.) Got there early, so stopped in at the site of the First National Congress of the Communist Party. Not terribly exciting, but air conditioned and free. Did some eating and chatting at Pizza Express with Chung, Simon, Rose, Holly, and some volunteer-y people. They had come from the Big Event, which was a instance of Basketball without Boarders...Yao Ming, Scottie Pippen, and a few other NBA (or former NBA) players hung out with and played basketball with kids from Chi Heng and a couple of other organizations. Cool, right?? The staff were all pretty exhausted by the time I joined up with them, but it was great to get to talk to them all more. Holly is '02 from BU, and interned with Chi Heng a couple of years ago before becoming staff in Beijing. It was really nice to talk to her about the organization and being an expat.

Spent the evening on Huaihai Lu, doing some shopping and general looking around.

Cute children and zebras

Today I met both Rose and Holly from the Beijing office, as they have come down for this weekend's event. It was great to meet them both since we've had a fair amount of email and phone contact. I also got the chance to meet and hang out a bit with three of the children who are here for the event. They are as cute as can be, and we had a fun time exploring Google Earth together. It's amazing how different everything becomes once the children you have been talking about are actually there in front of you.

If it hadn't been for all the visitors, today might have been kind of rough at work, since I'm definitely a bit under the weather. A common cold in feels-like-109-degree weather doesn't seem fair.

After work, I was going to take a taxi to the theater I wanted to go to (Shanghai Majestic Theatre), but realized after walking towards it for 20 minutes trying to find a cab that I was already halfway there. Walked the rest of the way and was helped by a very nice woman who first told me they were sold out and then found the person who was selling tickets. Bought a bubble tea and enjoyed the show a lot... Original Dance Drama "Wild Zebra" by Shanghai Oriental City Dancing Troupe. I think it might have been the only performance, and there was a lot of excitement in the theater, which was filled almost exclusively by Chinese people. It was a dance piece where all the dancers looked and moved like animals, and there was a live orchestra; kind of The Lion King meets Fantasia. I had to take the promotional pictures from the site to post here and show you. Definitely a special experience.

Walked from the theater to Citizen Cafe, where I enjoyed some pesto penne and their wireless. Not the best pasta ever, but not the worst, and it was a really nice change. Took a cab home, and am now ready to sleeeeeep.

Now I want pizza.

Thursday at work I worked on a translation for a super-secret event I can't tell you about. I also can't attend it, which makes me sad, but I understand having to limit the number of people. I'll be able to tell you about it after it happen on Saturday. Had mushrooms in my box lunch. Yum!

I also went to Pizza Express, which is actually a nice pizza restaurant in XinTianDi. We met with the manager and discussed the possibility of having the kids come make pizzas there, which I guess it something they did last year. They didn't actually like the pizzas because they were so different from what they were accustomed to, but I guess they enjoyed making them.

Went to dinner with Damin, which was mediocre food but good conversation, defined by the fact that he said my listening ability has improved a lot. Not convinced personally, but great to get the encouragement.

Only other news is that I think I have the beginnings of a cold, and that one of my earbuds isn't working. Good thing there are 200 pairs of earbuds for sale near Fudan Strolling Street...

We believe that you are in China.

So says the message on Pandora explaining to me that the site cannot be used from outside of the U.S.

This morning I skyped with the whole family, since my sister was home and I could actually catch them all at once. What a fabulous program.

Perhaps the most exciting part of my workday was talking to Holly, the person who hired me. She called at one of the many points during the day when I was for some reason the only one in the office. While I have some training as a receptionist, none of it is in Chinese, so these times are always exciting. Holly seemed happy with me, though.

After work, as I was in semi-desperate need of cash, I headed to Nanjing Lu, one of the few places I have found ATMs willing to accept my Visa from another country. Still took me a long time to find one, and a longer time to find my way to the nearest bus (how do such intelligent people get so lost so often?), but I made it.

I will miss this

Tuesday I got a text from Simon saying he had a fever and would be late. Too bad, but kind of exciting to get a text in Chinese. I spent part of my day doing online Excel tutorials, since last summer and this summer have convinced me of the marketability of Excel skills. I've also started downloading podcasts, some on China, some Chinese language, and the one from A Series of Tubes (my sister's boyfriend's podcast) about some online to do list.

Damin wasn't around when I got home, so I headed back to Fudan Strolling Street for a 40-cent dinner and another 50-cent fresh fruit smoothy. It's a 25-minute walk, so I think I'll probably be back quite a lot. Refused to buy the 7 seasons of Gilmore Girls and 3 seasons of Lost that I was looking at, since together they would've cost me $8...clearly a rip-off. (If any of you want DVDs and are willing to risk them having weird menus, Chinese subtitles, and possibly some slight quality issues...let me know your requests and I'll see what I can do.)

Still thinking

The book was Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult. I enjoyed it, but wouldn't necessarily recommend it...it's not really anything too special. I cry at the end of novels fairly frequently, especially if I'm tired to begin with. It's weird, because I often don't cry at normally tear-jerking events...last day of high school didn't get me, but you should've seen me at A Beautiful Mind. :)

Monday was a Monday. Hit the hay so early Sunday that I even got up a little early this morning. I thought that might reward me with a less-crowded bus, but no such luck. At least it was a bit cooler today...the rain was actually refreshing! Did some budget work and web-searched for some details, had a box lunch, etc. Came home and Damin appeared to be sleeping...when he still hadn't emerged I decided to feed myself. There appears to be no pattern these days as to when he will expect me to be completely independent and when he will be extremely surprised if I've eaten without him. I'm learning to roll with it, though.

I did some more thinking about my traveling at the end of my summer. I'd like to spend most of my time being places instead of just in transit, especially since I won't have much time at all. Right now I'm thinking about just stopping in either Qingdao (they have beaches and charm, not just beer) or Xi'an (terracotta soldiers) on my way to Beijing. We'll see how this plan develops over the next month, but I'm excited.

Bring me clothing, bring me joy

To finish up Suzhou: As you know, a lot about Saturday was great, but a lot of it was pretty miserable too. I came home that night really tired and sweaty, a little bit sunburned, and pretty seriously mosquito-bitten. And not my cleanest. Then I realized something: I wasn't at camp, and I wasn't on a mission trip, and if I wanted to, I could just go home early. All I'd be missing would be some gardens I hadn't seen yet and one climbable pagoda. Slept pretty well on a really hard bed in a room I was sharing with two Chinese girl, then got up early and went straight to the train station. It was a good choice; there was very little chance of me enjoying those gardens and that pagoda as much as I ended up enjoying my Sunday the way it worked out.

Stood in a really long line to get a standing-room-only ticket for a not-that-soon train, but at least now I know to buy tickets in advance. Finished my book, which made me cry, which is just my favorite thing to do in the midst of a bunch of strangers. Got home all right, then changed clothes and turned right around to go to the tailor to meet Amy and Iris and spend, like, 2 and a half hours there. The shirt I ordered last week looks really great but needs some minor adjustments. Bought fabric and ordered another copy of the brown skirt that I bought at Saver's to be made from it. Then spend a while trying on coats to see which style I want my $65 cashmere coat to be. Lots of tempting choices; we shall see.

Got home from the tailor and unpacked, then walked to E-mart (the supermarket) mostly because it's a good destination for a walk. Also bought some banana chips. Came home and just relaxed.

Suzhou, etc. photos

All my photos are up at http://picasaweb.google.com/Alison.Flamm/China2007, but here are a few new ones. The building is where my apartment is (Damin is having trouble getting the guy who is currently in the new apartment to move out). The lake with buildings in the background is near Xintiandi, where I went Friday. The rest are Suzhou, including some gardens, my hostel, and the nighttime performance.