Christmas in Shanghai

Christmas in Shanghai

Enjoy the pictures! We will add more as we take more.

Zach and Mikaela

We are in Shanghai!  We flew in this Friday night, and are going to spend the weekend here.  We booked into a simple, clean, small-roomed hotel, and are tired!  We will let you guys know more about our trip tomorrow.

So, Mikaela and I went for a walk today.

OK, I say went, but what I really mean is tried to went (if you catch my meaning).

It was a cold, but very sunny and clear day.  We were having a casual conversation as we got bundled up, walked out the door, closed it, and promptly realized we had both forgot the keys.  Our door is always locked from the outside.

Soo, we call our school translator, to see if she could call our property manager's office.  She said that she did not have the number on her, but reminded me I emailed her it.  No problem!  We have WiFi, and we are standing outside our door.  I jump onto my iPhone, and ... no signal.  Our door is steel, and about 4 inches thick.  The walls are concrete, and about 9 inches thick.  Our wireless router is through two walls.

Dang.  We next call our co-teacher, neighbor, and friend, Chris, and ask if he knew where the property manager's office was.  He says he will take a walk with us to figure out where it was located.  We went to the first guard shack, was redirected to another.

Now, our property manager, Mrs Wang, was really nice the first time we met her.  But, we since have found out she likes to scream at workmen, who scream back!  Well, when Chris starts asking if we could get a spare key, she comes in and starts yelling at the guard, who yells back, and she yells, he yells ... gah.

Well, to make a long story short (too late), the guard took us back to the guard shack by our apartment, and let us wait inside the warm building.  The two guards talked with us and Chris (through Chris translating), and both were from up north from a city called Harbin.  Harbin has awesome ice sculptures every year, but it is butt freezing!  Well, since they were both from near the Russian boarder, they said we looked Russian, and started saying how Russians are so beautiful (covertly, they were saying that Mikaela looked beautiful).

So, we got a locksmith, who was in our apartment in 30 seconds.  He was very nice, and we have his number in case that happens again!  Thus ended our short excursion.

Cold and STORMY is the forecast for today.  From now on the temp will no higher than freezing, an considerably below.  Also, the high humidity and slight wind means it is not just cold, but cold, wet, and windy.  Oh well, at least its pretty ...  I have posted a new album called Snow in Yantai on the right -->

Here is the link again:

Snow in Yantai


Cheers everyone!

Zach

Hello everyone!


So, I added links to pictures on the right hand side --->


Now, as we upload photos to those folders, they should update the links. This means that we will let you guys know when we have added pictures to each album, and you can just come here and click on the links. Let us know how well it works! Zach

Our Little Fruit and Vegetable Shop

3 green bell peppers...2.10 RMB ($0.33)

1/2 kilo of tangerines...3.30 RMB ($0.52)

1/2 kilo of cauliflower...2.10 RMB ($0.33)

1/2 kilo of snap peas...3.50 RMB ($0.55)

...no long lines and a friendly face behind the counter... gotta love this place!

Walking to Work

Bundle up to brave the wind. Take the elevator down to the first floor (the Chinese don't like having a "floor zero.") Walk out the door of our building into the crisp, cold air and swirling winds, and think again about how I need to invest in a puffy, down-padded jacket like everyone else. Walk through our security gate and down through our local village market place. Many others my age and older are hustling on foot, bicycle, and scooter to get to work. Many of the grandparents are already out and about with their adorable grandchildren for a walk.
I weave through the street sweepers with their aged, wrinkled faces and their swishy-scrapity traditional straw brooms. Once clear of the street sweepers, I smell a mix of delicious and fishy scents coming from the outdoor "fast food" breakfast sellers...their tables full of tasty-smelling breads and other interesting-looking items. A few people stop by the tables to pay for their breakfast and leave with a full plastic bag of food to be eaten later.
It is at the corner of our little village street, just past the local junk food kiosk and the salesmen with their table brimming with nuts of all kinds for sale, I again reflect that I am so thankful to have a job, and to be teaching. I then turn the corner and walk down alongside the bustling Tianshan Lu. People driving fancy, black cars honk irritatedly at slower-moving 3-wheeled, motorized carts. Cars weave around each other, looking for a quicker route to their destination...although on the days when the traffic cops are out, most people behave themselves. To get to work, Changjiang Lu--another major road--must be traversed with care. Even when pedestrians have the green light, you have to watch out for those turning left onto Changjiang, and those turning right onto Tianshan, who also have a green light. Might makes right on these roads...so unless you are walking in the cross walk with a thick enough mass of people, you must let the turning cars zoom on by first, or risk having a really bad start to the day. As one of my friends said, it's kind of like playing Frogger! Once safely across Changjiang Lu, it's only half a block to the large, white gates of Yew Wah.
Just another walk to work.