July update

Went to moganshan, roughly 2 hrs outside shanghai.

About 20 of us (friends and friends of friends of friends) all took the train from shanghai to hangzhou, then took a bus up to Moganshan, where we stayed at Naked Retreats . The purple ridge lodge was our home for 3 days and two nights- we cooked our own meals, ate together, talked and devised plans for hiking, which were then detoured by a saturday of night. The weekend was chock full of relaxation, rejuvenation, and refreshment. Clean air! tons of tall green trees! crazy caterpillars, and a water reservoir we couldn't swim in b/c it was their drinking water. The photo you see above is over a little lake next to the reservoir. It was beautiful at nighttime. We also BBQ'd (yesss) played with the 4 dogs that roamed the house, play'd board games, read, etc. The house was beautiful in a modern rustic way, decorated with wall hangings, curvy tree trunks, and loaded with ikea glassware and dishes. There was an antique barber chair, as well as a "pit" area outfitted with cushions, and pillows in front of a, you guessed it, flat screen TV and DVD player. (we watched Beijing bicycle)

Last weekend we hit the fabric/textile market, where I submitted a sketch in hopes of having a dress made. Its a casual dress for work and whatev, and we'll see if its turns out, when I go back to pick it up this saturday! The fabric market is typically where you get clothes custom made- but in style and fit. For a sweet price. We're talking $11 for custom men's dress shirt. My dress fully lined, will be roughly $25, i think.

Oh yeah, and we're also having a typhoon right now. I got caught in the rain yesterday and it was immensely - raining. Raining elephants and whales. Stupendously windy, and surprisingly not hot!

Can't remember anything else. Playing in cardboard boxes a lot. Peace!

photo update!

We JUST got the internet to work here, with the help of a pal. and internet is slow, so I reformatted my pics in groups because doing them individually would take more time than I wanna spend. (iphoto crashed twice already)




Montage 1: The new apt. This my new roomie Claudia, plus a metro station and seaweed. I don't know how the seaweed flakes all stick together, but it makes for a really interesting texture of organic shaped layers. Note the blue kitchen in our apt(an upgrade from the blue bathroom in the last one?), and colored lights in the ceiling.(there's even color changing LEDs in my bathroom.) There is also a ceramic vase in the glass tv case with a scorpian on it that is about the size of a lobster, and even tho its totally ceramic I can't stand to look at it!



Montage 2: Picnic!!!! We've been trying to get a picnic together for sometime now, before its gets too hot. This is about 6pm at zhongshan park, so the sun is nearly done. There's kite flying and some musicians. Prior, we stopped at a public pool where swim caps are required. (HA!) [I used to split mine a lot. I had sooo much hair it'd take forever trying to flip it on] Bottom left is Family United hospital's women's waiting room. It was filled with maternity and breastfeeding literature: I was a little scared that they had sent me to the wrong place... I had a swollen foot! but everythign turned out fine. The waiting room had a few albums out of thank you cards sent by expats who had their babies delivered there!! so cute and amazing! The reason I took this picture was that either side of the waiting room were these frosted glass walls that let in a lot of ambient light, and you could see the blur of people walking past, kinda like when your groggy in the morning. And there's Claudia eating cold noodles at zhongshan park.



Montage 3: Choir at SCF. Their second song was beautiful, but I didn't start video recording til the one after it, and regretted it. I love choirs. To the right: My new closet, with pants rack and really high hangers and little cubbies. I had my suitcase in front of the left side, and struggled hanging up all my clothes on the right side, could barely reach! Finally got myself organized. it smells very very woody, and I fear my clothes and me will start smelling woody- but in a varnishy way. In the red and white stripes is warren, from the UK, and we're all eating fried wonton at a dumpling place! yum! cheap eats. And the last bit is the view from tucker's apt in pudong, 31st floor.


We had a great week and weekend! details latez. peace.

new friends!

The skies have been REALLY blue. (and yes, it is quite hot here)

We recently got 3 newbies in at the office, one from UK, one from Germany, and one from Pennsylvania. Basically we've got a tidy crew now so its all more interesting- and I have more than 1 person to speak english with at the office.

Its been really cool hearing about everyone's different points of views, the rumors they've heard of China, expectations and experiences leading up to coming here. And alas- China itself.

Last weekend was great! Found out where there's a public pool to use, had a picnic until dark , then hung out and talked the rest of the night. On sunday I heard a beautiful choir, (I took vid, but i imagine it'll take an eternity to upload) but I hiave some cool pics of sightseeing with Claudia, my new roomie.

To get the ligihts to turn on in the apt building it is activated by stomping on the floor. So the minute we get into the hallway or out of the elevator we're jumping up and down trying to turn the lights on. (it totally works, but I wonder what everyone else does)

I've also managed to get about 20 bugbites this past weekend, my whole foot is swollen up b/c i'm allergic so i got some true Shanghainese bug repellent. it comes in a tall thin green glass bottle(looks like a sauce or booze bottle)