The Beauty of Mandarin

I realized today that I've been studying Mandarin for a little over a year now. Hmm, I am much less further along than I thought I'd be at this point. But in my defense, it's not an easy language as it's based on tones. For example, the same word can have 4 different meanings based on the tone of your voice. But what I really wanted to share today is the interesting translations I've learned over the past year. As my language skills become better, I find that the literal translation of the words in Mandarin are very interesting, funny, and make total sense. So here is a list of my favorites (English word on the left, Mandarin word on the right):

Cash= present gold
Turkey= fire chicken
Ham= fire leg
Gym= healthy body room
Great Wall= Long City
America= Beautiful country
To boil (water)= open the water
Santa= Christmas Old Person
Computer= electric brain
Joke= laugh words
To become a priest= Leave your house forever
So-so= horse horse tiger tiger

I'll add some more as my language gets better. And for those who haven't heard, we have now extended for yet another year in China (back in summer of 2010) so I'll have plenty to time to improve my Mandarin over the next 1.5 years!

Japan

Sorry gang, it's been nearly a month since my last post and I don't really have an excuse- I'm just lazy. Anyway, thought I would fill everyone in on our trip to Japan. We went over the Chinese holiday in the last week of September. I guess I was expecting more similarities to China but other than the fact that they also eat with chopsticks, it was an entirely different world. Civilized, clean, polite, modern, and yet ancient and traditional at the same time. Since the primary purpose of the trip was Disneyland (of course) we really only spent one day exploring Tokyo. We took the train/subway from our hotel near DL right into downtown Tokyo. Totally convenient and no need for a car rental- which was good because they drive on the opposite of the road from us westerners! We first explored a traditional park in the middle of the city. Lots of green spaces for the kids to run and for our nature starved children, it was perfect. We then took a tourist boat along the river that runs through the city to our next stop at a Shinto temple. It was definitely not as interesting as the Buddhist temples that we see in China- not as ornate but still worth seeing. Then we walked around a popular shopping area with traditional Japanese souvenirs. The coolest thing was seeing many of the local women dressed in their kimonos out for a stroll. Both young and old were dressed in traditional costumes (saw some men dressed in theirs as well) and they honestly were not doing it for the tourists, but for themselves. Finally, we were blessed with both the kids falling asleep on the walk so Sev and I found a very local restaurant down a back alley and enjoyed lunch. We made friends with some of the locals, shared some beers and some sign language since their english was not so good, and had a blast pointing to everyone else's dishes in an attempt to order- no english menu of course!

And the next 3 days after Tokyo were spent at Disneyland and Disney Sea. It rained a lot and it was really crowded but we still managed to enjoy it. The craziest thing was that 80% of the people at both parks were adults- who were there without children! And 99% were Japanese. We hardly saw any other westerners which really surprised us. By the way, the kids wore the same costumes for Halloween so we got a lot of use out of them. And thanks to mom for making Grace's Snow White dress! So here is a brief compare/contrast of Japan and China based on my limited experience in the land of the rising sun:

1) People line up for things in Japan/ Not in China

2) Cars stop when pedestrians cross the street/ Not in China

3) It was extremely clean for a big city/ Not in China

4) People stopped and took pics of the kids/ Same in China

5) Hardly anyone spoke English/ Same in China

6) Starbucks opens at 8am/ 6am in China (thank heaven)

7) Lots of scary stuff on the menu/ Same in China

8) Tokyo was ridiculously expensive/ Shanghai is relatively cheap

9) Japan continues to practice whaling (unfortunately)/ The Chinese continue to eat dogs (also unfortunate)

Overall, we really did enjoy Japan and would love to go back and explore the country outside of Tokyo. Enjoy the pictures!

A busy shopping area in old Tokyo

Ladies out for a stroll in their Kimonos

Making friends at a local restaraunt

Waiting for the monorail to go to DL

Snow White- meet Snow White

Tinkerbelle and Peter Pan (note the girls in the background snapping pics of Audrey)

Audrey's 2nd Birthday

Our little baby turned 2 last month! And by the way, the terrible 2's have come on with a vengeance. You know it's bad when at the end of the day, I reflect on the fact that Audrey was more challenging than Grace! We celebrated with a joint birthday party with two other kids, Greta (also from Minnesota) and Oran (from Ireland). Since all three kids were turning 2 within 3 weeks of each other and we all have the same friends, we thought it would be best to just get it all over with in one shot. Bring on the Winnie the Pooh cake! Our friends have a great apartment with a rooftop balcony that overlooks the city so we were able to do an old fashion BBQ out on the deck. I'm also including some pics of a recent fieldtrip that I went on with Audrey and her class to pick "oranges" which turned out to be green. But they tasted pretty good anyway.

The Birthday Girl

The rooftop BBQ view (it's pretty funny because we don't even live in "downtown" Shanghai and yet our little suburb is more urban than Minneapolis/St Paul combined).

Audrey- looks like she's pretty excited for the cake (and that's my wine, not hers).

We didn't request the fruit garnish on the cake- just an added Chinese bonus!

Picking "oranges"

Audrey and her teacher enjoying her favorite lunch- noodles and eggs

Polish in Shanghai

Ok, now I'm just a blogging fool! 3 posts in one day. Sev has very recently broken into the local Polish community in Shanghai. Yes, believe it or not, there are about 200 Poles living here- compare that to the estimated 20,000 Americans. But being just 1 of 200 is actually turning out to be a big advantage. For example, the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, was recently in Shanghai and Sev managed to talk his way into a small meeting (about 30 people) with the guy. He actually got to meet him- this is the man who is responsible for negotiating with America on the new US missile defense system in Poland. Basically, it would be like me getting to met Obama. The following week, Sev & I were invited to an invitation only event at the Polish consulate to celebrate their independence day. It was a lovely cocktail party at the consulate which is in a beautiful old villa in an exclusive area of old Shanghai. For reference, the US consulate is located in a mall. Yes, a shopping mall. And believe me when I tell you there is no charm whatsoever. Anyway, upon entering the villa, you definitely feel like you have landed in Poland. The house is decorated with traditional Polish furniture and rugs- I seriously felt like I was at my mother-in-law's house. The party was fun- free flow booze and Polish vodka of course! They even had traditional Polish food but because it was made in Shanghai, it didn't taste quite right...oh well. Now once a month, all the Poles in Shanghai get together at an Irish bar (yes, Irish- there's no Polish bars here so it's the next best thing). And these are the nights that Sev gets home about 3am but hey, can you blame him? After all, it isn't often he gets to speak Polish & act like he's in Poland so when the opportunity arises...

Sev and the PM of Poland (the one with the brown hair and NO pin on the lapel is him- the guy with the pin in the background is secret service- cool).

What's a Polish party without the booze?

I just liked this picture of us...

I'm officially a soccer mom

Now that Grace is over 3 1/2 yrs old, I thought she would be ready for soccer. So I found a local league for foreign kids and signed her up. Once a week we schlep ourselves out to the field for practice. The day usually goes something like this:

3:30- pick Grace up from school. G: "Are we going to soccer?" Me: "Yep" G: "I don't want to go"

Me: "Really? It will be fun." G: Silence

3:45- Change her clothes in the car on the way there, swearing under my breath as I try to

pull up her socks over her shin guards.

4:00- Me: "Do you have to go pee? Remember there is nowhere to go at the fields". G: "No".

4:15- Arrive at fields.

4:16- G: "I have to pee". Me: "Ok, fine." Tell the driver in my crappy chinese to go around the block to Starbucks b/c G has to pee. He laughs (he knows the routine too).

4:25- Back at the fields. G:"I really don't want to go to soccer. Don't make me go". Temper tantrum. Me:" You don't have to play, just sit there and watch. You're part of the team, they need you. Maybe you'll want to play in a few minutes". G:"Can I go home and watch Toy Story instead?" Me: "NO."

4:30- Practice starts. Grace is the only girl on the team but she's better than most of the boys (a little bragging- sorry).

4:40- Her attention is gone and she is playing tag with another boy instead of listening to coach.

4:50- Now she is dribbling the ball to the complete other side of the field instead of practicing shooting like she's supposed to be doing.

4:55- Grace makes a run through the entrance of the fields and is half way up the street before I catch her. I am making an ass of myself running after her. I yell at her, she cries. I am in a pissy mood, she is in a pissy mood.

5:00- Grace decides it's more fun to play with the cones. I don't even bother trying to stop her this time.

5:10- Scrimmage game with the other toddler team. Grace plays for the 1st minute then just sits down in the middle of the field and picks at the grass. Of course there is a 4 year old on Grace's team who played last year as well and he is a foot taller and so much better than everyone else that it's not fun for any of the kids. I'm disgusted. I think about complaining but decide I don't really want to be "that parent".

5:15-5:29- Sit on the sidelines with Grace on my lap and watch the game. Think to myself "Can't believe we spent over $100 to go through this every week."

5:30- Finally, an end to my misery. Game over.

Ah yes, these cones look interesting...wonder if anyone's watching me...

Now, if I line them up just so...

Almost done!

Finished! What a work of art. Huh? What soccer game?

I just voted- I'm sad to say

Yet another interesting experience has been to live outside of the US during an election year. I am thrilled that I don't have to suffer through those awful bullsh*t TV commercials so that's been a plus. I have also been very surprised by how passionate so many Americans are about their candidate of choice. I broke down and joined facebook and happily got in touch with several people with whom I have not had contact with in over 10 years yet the first thing these people told me about themselves (or indicated on their facebook page) was their political preferences. Example: "I've been married for 10 years, 2 kids, live in Virgina, work as an accountant and if Obama doesn't win, I am moving to Canada". I couldn't believe that this person (one of many) actually considers their political preference so important that they needed to tell me about it after a 10 year lag in communication between us. Weird.
Ok, so I figured out how to register for my absentee ballot and just got it in the mail this week. It has to be back in Minnesota by election day which meant I needed to vote this week and mail it asap. I can truly say that I was undecided (gasp) so I made sure to watch the most recent presidential debate and check out both candidates websites before making my decision. I am actually totally irritated by the this entire election and these two SUCKY candidates. Yes folks, that's right- I think they are both lousy choices. I think they are so bad in fact that if the candidate I voted for doesn't win, I don't even care. Wake up and smell the coffee people- neither one of these guys is anything to be excited about. Maybe you're wondering who I voted for? Not gonna tell ya that.
Most of you are probably thinking "I don't care what Tonya thinks"- well then, stop reading my blog :)
Some upcoming posts to look for: Our trip to Japan (fun) and Audrey's 2nd birthday party (can't believe my baby is 2)!

ARGH! An "I hate China" Day

Warning- ensuing rant to follow: I haven't had one of these days in awhile but today was definitely an "I hate China" day. I am sure most of you have heard about the milk scandal here- in a nutshell, some unscrupulous milk manufacturers decided that in order meet the required protein standards they would just add a poisonous chemical to their dairy products. It started with just baby formula (could you get any scummier? Messing with baby formula?) but now, as is usually the case with things like this in China, it has spread to regular fresh milk, yogurt, ice cream, etc. And the kicker is that the milk Audrey drinks (she is the only one of us who drinks the fresh whole milk since she is under 2) is OF COURSE on the list of tainted products. She's been drinking it for 6 months. My ayi, trying to ease my mind, was like "don't worry, it only had a little bit of melamine in it". Yeah, but the point is that is shouldn't have ANY chemicals in it. I am so frustrated! Today it's milk, tomorrow what? Meat, noodles, rice, etc. We already buy almost all of our veggies from an organic farm and today I ordered beef to be delivered from Australia. And let me tell you it costs an arm and leg to live on imported products here. But I think we are really going to cut back on our chicken and pork consumption as I've heard recent rumors that there are tons of added steroids and hormones. Anyway, the only reason the milk got tested was because a bunch of kids got kidney stones from drinking it; otherwise, we all would've just kept on buying it without even knowing. It just makes me question what other kind of crap it in our food here. Now, I know that not everything in the US is healthy or chemical free (remember the tomato recall this summer?)- but I'd like to think that on the whole, we don't have to worry about people adding crazy shit into our food to hit some sort of required nutrition standards- but ya never know.
Now on the whole, I would venture to say that in one way, China is a lot safer than the US- virtually no violent crime, no kidnappings, no shootings, no child molesting, etc. But on the other side of it you're chances of getting killed while crossing the street are much higher, you might die from poisonous chemicals in your food, and look out for that construction overhead that might fall on you as you pass by. In short, no safety standards whatsoever. So which is worse- worrying about your kids getting kidnapped if they are out of your sight or worrying about them getting some random parasite from drinking their bath water- you decide.
Anyway, we are off to Japan on Saturday and I am really excited to get out of here for a week and go somewhere that has milk we can drink :)

More pics from the weird and wonderful world of Shanghai

I'm feeling a bit lazy this week and I don't really have much new to write about - except for the fact that I bit the bullet and took a public bus the other day. It was raining, I was tired, there were no taxis...so I figured what the hell? It wasn't as bad as I thought. The funniest thing was that the stops were announced in both english and chinese (a recording- believe me that the drivers don't speak english). I thought this was hilarious considering that I have never seen a foreigner ride the bus in China- I honestly think maybe I was the first one! But it only cost about 17 cents so I may do it more often.

Anyway, enjoy the pics (I threw in a couple recent ones of the kids at the end for good measure):

Migrant workers shaving and bathing out on the street at night. Since they live in the buildings they are constructing, they don't have anywhere else to clean up (they weren't happy we took this picture either).

For those of you who didn't believe me about the locals picking through raw chicken at Carrefour

with their bare hands...

A typical apartment building with laundry hung to dry- almost no one has a dryer here.

Audrey playing with Great Grandmom's handkerchief.

Grace flying a kite on the Jersey shore. If you could capture sheer joy on camera, I think it would look like this.

Our Olympic Experience

The Olympics are over (sniff, sniff). Since this was the first time we have had the opportunity to watch the events from outside the US, it was really interesting to get a different perspective on everything. And of course, this being China, the Olympics were the topic of conversation all the time, everywhere we went. There were screens set up on the streets where people could watch the games and I even noticed that there were TV's on some local buses which were broadcasting it as well. The other day I got into a taxi and the driver was listening to a broadcast of swimming- play by play- or should I say stroke by stroke- of the events. I just couldn't imagine people in the US listening to swimming on the radio. My parents actually attended the opening ceremonies and a few of the events in Beijing. They couldn't get over the fact that every resident of Beijing was so excited and happy about the Olympics. From the street cleaners, taxi drivers, and sales clerks to the 100,000 volunteers- everyone had a smile on their face. And the most amazing story of all- my parents met a Chinese woman in Beijing who was 102 years old. She and her grandson had traveled 36 days (by bike) to get to Beijing for the Olympics. He rode the bike and she rode along in this makeshift wagon. You really can't make this stuff up folks!

I will tell you that in the past I had complained that American TV only focused on US athletes and only showed events that we did well in; however, I have to tell you that China was the same way. They didn't even show the final day of track and field (I have to assume that it was because there were no Chinese involved) yet 3 channels were broadcasting the bronze medal women's basketball game featuring China.
Sev and I were lucky enough to get tickets to both the women's semifinal soccer match (Brazil vs. Germany) and the men's bronze medal match (Brazil vs. Belgium). Even though the games we saw took place in Shanghai, it was still very cool to be at the Olympics. The security was crazy (armed guards everywhere, metal detectors, x-ray machines, etc). I had to laugh when I heard that before the Olympics, people were concerned about terrorism here in China. Give me a break- this is one country that no one is stupid enough to mess with and terrorism is the last thing we worry about here (you are a thousand times more likely to get accidentally spit on than attacked by someone).

A shot of me with BeiBei (one of the mascots)- cheesy but I couldn't resist!


The Shanghai Stadium Bronze medal game:


Ok, you have to look closely but note the armed security blocking the street (they are in the green uniforms):


A new meaning for "One World, One Dream":

Saving Face

I thought I would give everyone a cultural lesson today about a subject which will cause any foreigner in China a lot aggravation. This is the concept of "saving face". Saving face can be defined as basically not telling the entire truth (or flat out lying) in order to save yourself the embarrassment of admitting that either 1) you don't know the answer or 2) you think someone won't like the answer. If you don't know the answer, it is very common place here among the natives to just make something up that is totally incorrect. And if you think someone won't like the answer, you can also make up something you think they will like. In general, this causes a lot of grief for the average foreigner. I really can't say whether the Chinese play this little game amongst themselves but I am pretty sure they do.
Here is an example of a recent experience in saving face. My friend and I recently went to lunch in a new restaurant. We ordered our food and drinks. We promptly got our drinks and fell into a deep conversation without realizing the time. By the time we checked our watches, it had been over 35 minutes since we had ordered (VERY long by Chinese standards). I asked where our lunch was. The waitress replied "It's coming- please wait a moment". Ok, 5 more minutes went by and no food. Finally my friend got up and asked again where our food was. The waitress came over and rambled something in Chinese about waiting a short while (again). We decided to wait another 5 minutes since getting up and moving to a new restaurant seemed like it would take more time than just waiting (or so we thought). At this point (yes, another 5 minutes later) we asked to speak to the manager who spoke a little english. "Oh, our gas is broken so the cook has not been able to start preparing your lunch". Huh? Did they think that in the "short while" we were waiting they were going to repair the gas and manage to cook up an entire lunch? No, they thought that if they came and told us right away that their gas was broken, we would have a bad impression about the restaurant so they decided to save face by not telling us the real story until we finally pitched a fit. This is a very typical experience in China. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten in a taxi and had the driver tell me he knew where the address was only to go around in circles because he didn't know and he didn't want to loose face by admitting it. So if any of you get the opportunity to visit China, beware the answer that just doesn't seem right - chances are it probably isn't.

The start to year #2

Upon arrival to Shanghai, I looked out the window and thought "We are home". Weird. But strangely enough it does feel like to home to us now. Maybe because it's familiar now and we know what to expect for the most part. And since I often blog about negative things (mostly because it's more funny than the good stuff) I thought I'd note some recent positive developments here. First off, since we've been back, the skies have actually been blue and the air pollution has been a lot better than last year. And although still hot, it's much better than last year where we couldn't even go outside because the heat was unbearable. Next, it's pretty awesome to be in China right now during the Olympics. Everyone here is so proud of their country and the Olympics. I must admit that the opening ceremony (which we watched on live TV) was amazing! The streets were totally empty during the ceremony becasue everyone was inside watching - quite a feat in a city of 22 million! And Sev and I managed to score tickets to some of the Olympic soccer games here in Shanghai next week (the US teams are playing in a different city so we won't get to see them).
When I was back in the US this year, people kept asking me "So, do you like living in China?". At the end of day, I don't love it here but it is certainly livable and it's been an experience we will never forget. Having said that, and because it just wouldn't be like me to not have a typical China story, here's the latest reminder that we aren't in the US anymore. Our apartment complex has a fantastic pool and we have been taking the kids almost everyday for a swim. Yesterday, Sev and I noted quite a few Chinese babies (under 18 months old) without swim diapers on under their suits. Now, these parents may argue that their kids are potty trained but even I get the urge to go when I hit the water and you can't tell me that these babies are not putting the "p" in pool. I thought about saying something to the parents but in reality, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink and nothing I can say in my lousy chinese is going to make them put a diaper on their kid. And so it goes in China...

Jersey Baby, Jersey!

After nearly a year in China, I have returned to the motherland for a 6 week respite from the Shanghai heat and pollution. I was worried about reverse culture shock and although I am seriously jetlagged (working off of about 3 hours of sleep in the past 24 hours) so far, so good.

But maybe that's because Jersey ain't so different from Shanghai in some aspects. Let's explore:



Fashion: Shanghai has pajama fashion; Jersey has really bad hair.

Culture: Shanghainese spit and pee everywhere; Jerseyites are rude, rude, rude- what are you looking at?

Driving: Shanghainese don't bother to look while merging; Jerseyites don't bother to look while merging

All in all, it's nice to be back home. Anyway, tune in to the blog in August for the start of Sadura's in Shanghai- year 2.
And thanks to everyone for all the positive comments on the blog- I really appreciate it!

Earthquake

As most of you know, we were not in the country at the time of the devastating earthquake that hit Sichuan, China. Thank you for all of the concerned emails we recieved from our friends. Although some people in tall buildings here in Shanghai felt a slight tremor, the epicenter was quite far from Shanghai. As of today, the death count is up around 80,000 people with millions (yes, about 5 million) people homeless. That is like the equivalent of the entire population of Minnesota being left homeless. The government response here has been tremendous and in a country where donating to charity is a new concept, the entire population has responded by giving what they can. (By the way, Sev's company is matching all employee donations plus some). If anyone out there would like to donate, the best way is to give to the international Red Cross at http://www.ifrc.org/
As of today (June 2nd) the Red Cross is still asking for donations to help the people of Sichuan and you can read about the 3 year recovery plan on their website. Anyway, I know gas prices suck and food prices are going up and all that junk but even $10 goes a long way here in China!

KTV

Back in Shanghai! Our vacation was great- almost too good. It really makes it hard to come back to China after spending time with our families. But we are only back for three weeks and then I am going back to the States for 6 weeks with the kids. Look out Jersey, here we come!


This past weekend, we decided to do the stereotypical asian thing and hit a karaoke club. There are two types of "KTV" (short for karaoke TV) in China. The kind with the "happy ending" (think gentleman's club with karaoke) and the family friendly kind. Obviously we hit the family friendly version. It was such a surreal and hilarious experience that I knew right away this was a blog in the making. To begin with, we waited 30 minutes to catch a cab there and after being approached by several men on motorcycles offering us rides- for a fee of course- we finally decided to take a "black cab". Basically, this is an illegal taxi. It's a random guy driving around in his personal car and trying to pick up people who are annoyed by waiting by the legal taxi. The difference is that you get to negotiate your price and as we had already had a few beers, this was looking like a good option! Long story short, we made it to the KTV in one piece even though we paid double a legal cab fee but at $5, still a deal!




On to the KTV...As we entered the lobby, our group of ten white people stood out like a sore thumb. The place was a mob scene- so this is where everyone goes on a Friday night! The lobby was all marble with fountains and a huge spiral staircase leading up three floors. It was nicer and larger than many hotels I've been in. Anyway, we were lead to the third floor and our private room. Each floor had at least 30 rooms and is laid out like a hotel with a buffet restaraunt on each floor. The hallways were also marble with a server assigned to every two rooms. The staff is running up and down the hallway with earpieces in their ears and everything. This is hard core stuff people. They take their karaoke seriously.


Our comfortable room included leather couches, a granite top bar, 3 TV screens, a computer to control our song selections, and a separate elevated stage area- and microphones of course! The staff also provides tambourines and maracas free of charge-cool. Full bar menu and munchies can be delivered to your room with a push of a button. Needless to say, as karaoke is not inbreed into our western culture, we consumed quite a bit of alcohol prior to arriving and we pretty much kept our server on speed dial throughout the night.



I have to tell you, this was one of the most fun nights we've had here in China. The song choices in english were almost entirely from the 1980's & 90's and each song had an accompanying "video" that played with it. The videos were actually the funniest part. Most consisted of a Chinese guy in sunglasses lip syncing along but occasionally a really random video would appear. For example, during "We are the World" there were shots of kids at a petting zoo and a girl milking a cow. "We are the Champions" featured a group of girls white water rafting. During many of the love songs, there were videos of a couple frolicking at the beach with really bad 80's hair. Our playlist included such classics as:

We built this city on Rock and Roll


Wake me up before you go go


Oops, I did it again


I'm Too Sexy


I want your sex


Like a Virgin


YMCA


These Boots are Made for Walking (Nancy Sinatra version)


And many more wonderful hits that I thankfully couldn't remember the next day. After such a fantastic night, we all couldn't help but ponder aloud why this doesn't fly in America? Who knows but this just may be the next big business idea...hmmm.


Anyway, if you plan on coming to visit us in the next year, you'd better get your singing voice tuned up 'cuz the KTV is on the agenda from here on out!


Enjoying a solo- not sure if you can see the embossed lizard wall paper in the background.





Yeah, I was feeling it- or maybe it was just the beer singing...






Some of the gang on the leather couches- note the tambourine & maracas on the table




"Like a Virgin"- can't believe I am posting this incriminating photo.

A much needed break!

Just a quick update to let everyone know that we are heading off to Poland for a week to visit with Sev's family- they have never met Audrey and only saw Grace once when she was 3 months old! After Poland, we will take a short flight to Florence, Italy where we will rendezvous with my family for a week. We plan to eat and drink our way through Tuscany.
Needless to say, if you haven't heard about the "children's virus" sweeping through China, we are anxious to get out of here for awhile. Although not normally life threatening, a version of this virus has already killed 30 kids and the first case in Shanghai was just reported this week. At Grace's school, every child has to show their hands, get a fever check, and a mouth inspection before entering the classroom. The symptoms are similar to hand, foot, and mouth with blisters on hands and inside mouth but this version can develop into meningitis. Anyway, we picked a good time for vacation...

More random stuff from around town

I usually try to have a theme to each entry but I have some interesitng pictures from around town (and of the kids) that I wanted to share. And for those of you who haven't heard, we have signed on for another year in Shanghai which means we will be heading back to the US for good in summer of 2009. What that means to all you faithful readers out there is that you will get another year of my blog (lucky you) and you still have time to come visit us here in China! So far only my parents have made the trek so come on, what are you waiting for? Don't you want to see split pants up close and personal?

Anyway, enjoy the pictures:

Hey, not sure what to do with your Easter basket after the holiday? Just turn it into a hard hat!

A lovely shot of a lugar on our car windshield. Courtesy of a bus driver who didn't look (or care) before he spit. Our driver wanted to go after him but the street was too narrow to turn around- thankfully!

Some interesting menu translations- still not sure what this one is but I am positive it isn't camel.

How about baby's dish of iron plate?

Audrey likes to sit (but not go) on her potty.

Hmm, let me check-yep, still nothing.

Grace on a field trip to the fire station- she got to try on a uniform.

Grace and some classmates trying out the fire hose.

Pregnant in Shanghai

Ha-ha! Bet you all opened this one up thinking I would have some big announcement. Nope, we are not pregnant, trying, or even thinking about another one so put your mind at ease. But, a lot of my friends here are pregnant (both Chinese and Western) and it has really brought to light some interesting cultural differences I'd like to share.

Let's start with what you can eat in drink while pregnant. In the US, we know to stay away from certain cheeses and seafood. Well, in China they say to stay away from watermelon (but nobody could tell me why) and do not drink anything cold.

I know the ladies out there may be wondering about maternity fashion in China. It's ugly, I gotta tell you. Picture 1970's tent tops and really unflattering overalls. The Chinese think it's bad for the baby if you wear tight clothes around your belly. But the best part is that most of the maternity tops here contain a special shield that supposedly protects the mom to be from radiation. Radiation caused by cell phones, computers, and fax machines. In fact, my Chinese friends were in shock that I sat in front of a computer for the entire 9 months of both of my pregnancies without protecting myself from the radiation! "And nothing is wrong with your kids?" they ask? "It's debatable but in general, no- they are fine" I respond. I find it funny that they are so concerned with protecting themselves against radiation yet they are breathing in poisonous air and showering in chlorine saturated water everyday.


Want to find out what you are having? Unless you hold a foreign passport, too bad for you. They will not tell the mother the sex of her unborn child here. Since they can only have one kid, too many ladies opt out if it's a girl- know what I mean? Nice.


Ok, so you make it through your 9 months, give birth, and now what? In the US, you are in and out of the hospital in 2 days and back on your feet asap. Here, you are in the hospital for a week with a routine birth and even longer with a c-section. Next, the new mom is not supposed to get out of bed for 30 days after giving birth! But wait- there's more. The Chinese also believe that a woman should not shower for 30 days after birth- eww! They think the water is dirty so you can get infected (probably true, now that I think about it).


That's what I've learned so far but as my friends get closer to their due dates, I am sure I will have more to share.

Carrefour sucks.

A lot of people wonder what I do all day since I am not officially working at the moment. As you may imagine, managing daily life here takes up a lot of time and one of the biggest challenges of my week is grocery shopping. Unfortunately, the choices are limited to: 1) local Chinese grocery store- um, no. Can't read any of the labels and have no idea what 90% of the stuff in the store is. 2) High end western style grocery store- ok, if you want to pay over $10 for a box of cheerios, $8 for a box of frozen waffles, etc (and I am not even exaggerating a little bit on these prices). 3) Carrefour- a place that sells reasonably priced western items as well as chinese items with translations on the shelf labels. Sounds like a winner- right? WRONG. This place makes Wal-mart look good.

So, let me give you a play by play of a typical trip to Carrefour (or crapfour as Sev refers to it).


First off, I wander in and grab myself a cart all the while trying not to think about how many kids in split pants sat in the cart before I got it. Now I am ready to thread my way through the aisles. I stop for a second to grab something off the shelf when "wham" someone slams into my cart and shoves it half way down the aisle. They don't bother to apologize or even look up because this is totally normal behaviour. It's kind of like playing bumper cars except with a shopping cart (after several months in China, I now do the same). Ok, now I need to figure out where the bread crumbs are at. I ask an employee in chinese where I can find them. She grunts back an answer I don't understand and gestures toward another aisle. I peruse the area to which she directed me for at least 5 minutes but no bread crumbs- or maybe there were bread crumbs but I couldn't read the label- this happens to me a lot. I give up on the bread crumbs.





I am now ready to proceed to the dreaded meat section. There are always crowds around the meat counter and the normal pushing and shoving is happening. I take a deep breath and plunge in. I come out with a couple packages of pork chops. I also note that there are open bins of frozen animal parts everywhere and people are digging through them with their bare hands. Then putting their hands back on their carts- mental note to sanitize myself as soon as I leave. Quick pass through the seafood area- not even sure what most of the stuff is but they have turtle on special today.
Open bin of pig's feet- yummy.

Turtle- it's still alive in the bag.




Almost ready to check out- walk past several merchandisers with microphones who accost every customer by tying to get them to sample their product. They never bother with me since I am a foreigner- thank goodness for that. Cringe as I approach the check lanes- every single lane is at least 5 people deep. See one with four people and literally run to get in line. Just barely beat out a local who had the same idea- ha. Stand in line for no less than 20 minutes as the cashiers here are in no hurry whatsoever. Get bumped in the butt by the person's cart behind me- twice. Give them the stink eye. Finally unload my stuff onto the conveyor. Now, I have to decide if I want to pay with cash or card. Both are problematic. If I pay with cash, the cashier will spend five minutes checking my money for fake bills. If I pay with card, she will have to leave her station and take my card to some other lane to run it. I don't know why but this happens all the time so I've given trying to figure out which lane actually has the credit card machine.





Finally finished! Realize I've already been in the store for well over an hour. Head to the parking lot and call my driver. Load up the car and then sit and wait another 10 minutes to get out of the parking lot since some yahoo has decided it's a good idea to drive the wrong way through the parking garage. Listen to all the other drivers honking incessantly as though any of us could go anywhere. Curse Carrefour and call Sev to bitch about how much I hate this store. And I have to do this twice a week. Argh!

Satellites, St. Patty's Day, and other random stuff

I feel like I've slacked off a little on the blog so this entry will be some random updates from the last couple weeks here.

First off, we have some Irish friends who informed us about Irish week here in Shanghai. Apparently the mayor of Shanghai used to be the Chinese ambassador to Ireland (or something along those lines) so there is a lot of goodwill toward the Irish in this city. We were very excited to go see the St. Patty's day parade last week which turned out to be the shortest parade I've ever seen but it was still fun. The weirdest part was seeing a bunch of Chinese people dressed in green with Irish flags painted on their faces- but hey, everyone is Irish on St. Patricks day right?

Some Irish College Alums from China enjoying the parade.


Audrey and Sev checking out the St. Patty's day dragon- just after I took this photo we were mobbed by photographers shooting pics of Audrey- ARGH!

Probably the most interesting part of my week was dealing with the "satellite issue". It is a well known fact that satellite dishes are illegal in China but this law is commonly ignored. So, as usual, when the notices started to appear in our building that we had to take down our satellite, we ignored it (as did everyone else in our complex). The next notice said if we didn't remove them by mid-March, they (the government) would take them down for us. At this point we decided we could live without TV for a couple days so we took ours down the day before the deadline. Good thing too. The next morning I watched two men literally rappel down the side of each 30 story building and rip out everyone's dish. One of our friends had chosen not to heed the warning and was among the causalities. She promptly dragged her 4 kids to the management office and tried to explain that she only wanted the dish for the cartoons. And here is where it really gets good- the apartment management told her that they video tapped the removal of the satellites so that they could show the government that they had been taken down; however, she was welcome to come back in two days and get her dish back and reinstall it at her leisure. Fine. A week goes by and she keeps asking for it back- they continue to tell her to just another day. Finally, they give her an address and tell her she can go pick it up. Turns out the address is the police station and when you try to pick up your dish, you pay a hefty fine. And this my friends is what it's like to live in China.


Workers taking everyone's satellite. They use the same technique (and lack of safety equipment) to clean the windows here too!

Finally, just wanted to leave you with a little snapshot of Harry Connick Jr in Shanghai. Sev and I recently celebrated our 12 year wedding anniversary (I know, I can't believe it either) by going to his concert. It was fantastic- and the funniest thing was that 90% of the audience was caucasian.

Comforting thoughts

I wouldn't exactly say that living in China is fraught with danger but I would say that in general it's a lot more scary than living in the USA. I've mentioned in previous posts the challenges of crossing the streets, the awful air & water pollution, and in general the complete lack of safety awareness here. So imagine my chagrin when I checked my emails and saw the following warning from the US Consulate to all expats living in China (I have inserted my own thoughts and comments in bold):

Health professionals are concerned that the continued spread of a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus among animals (mainly poultry) in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe (I am not sure why they think North & South America are immune to this...) has the potential to significantly threaten human health. If highly pathogenic avian influenza, such as the H5N1 subtype, mutates and spreads easily from one person to another, influenza could break out globally, and lead to a pandemic. Of course, Shanghai would be the epicenter since there are so many frigging people here, they sell and kill live poultry on the street corners and have no hygiene standards whatsoever.

Private American citizens should be aware that it may not be possible to travel during an outbreak. Governments may close borders suddenly and without advance warning; commercial air, land and sea carriers could curtail or cancel service; and restricting travel may be the best way to reduce the risk of exposure to the virus. Like hell- we'd make live the Von Trapp family and get outta dodge anyway possible. These developments could impede a return to the United States or travel to another country or region. Therefore, Americans who are overseas during a pandemic may need to remain where they are until conditions improve, a situation which could last several months. Lord help me if I was ever stuck here indefinitely.
Private American Citizens Living and/or Working Overseas: Consider local conditions (hmm, not good considering everyone spits and spreads their germs everywhere), and evaluate your ability to maintain adequate supplies of food, water, and medication (damn, this means I need a stock up trip to Carrefour- a place so nasty that it makes Wal-mart look good) should a pandemic result in borders closing or disruptions in international travel. Decide on your optimal location in a pandemic and plan accordingly (I'd have to say my optimal location would be anywhere but here). Ask your doctor in advance about obtaining appropriate medication for treatment if you become ill, keeping in mind it could take many months to develop and produce sufficient quantities of a vaccine during a pandemic (So basically, we are screwed). Remember that U.S. embassies, consulates and military facilities lack the legal authority, capability, and resources to dispense medications, vaccines or medical care to private American citizens overseas (Of course- somebody might try to sue them so they figure they will just let their citizens fend for themselves- nice). If you are a private American citizen (e.g. living, working, touring, studying overseas) you will need to rely on local health care providers (uh-oh)and locally-available medications since U.S. government facilities will not be able to provide medications or treat you (in other words, we will just evacuate our embassy personnel and let you rot where you are).
Plan to Remain in Country: If the WHO declares a pandemic, Americans who are overseas should be prepared to remain in country for an extended period (no, no no- say it isn't true!). You should avoid non-essential travel beyond your home and workplace (are you kidding me? As if we would even bother going to work) and you should limit activities that could expose you to others who may be ill (in other words, become a total shut-in). Based on varying conditions abroad, Americans should prepare contingency plans and emergency supplies (non-perishable food, potable water or water-purification supplies, medication, etc.) for the possibility of remaining in country for at least two and up to twelve weeks (I highly doubt if there were a pandemic that they would have it under control in a matter or weeks- they just didn't want to freak anyone out more than necessary). Visit www.pandemicflu.gov to see examples of comprehensive planning checklists (I've already book marked this as a "favorite" website).
What About During a Pandemic? During a pandemic, people should practice social distancing measures such as teleworking, limiting face-to-face meetings, avoiding crowds, and maintaining a distance of six (6) feet or more from other people (absolutely impossible in this city- the average space distance among people here is 1 foot- this is scientific fact, not just my opinion).

So after getting the above email, I had a 5 minute panic attack, considered phoning Sev's company and asking to come home, googled avian flu for 30 minutes, and promptly started making my survival supply list. But here is my survival secret- if I worried about everything here, I'd already have had a nervous breakdown and be checked into the loony bin. So in the end, like I do with everything I worry about here, I just blew it off and decided it would be a funny blog post to share with my faithful readers. Enjoy.

Lost in translation

I'm working on ideas for future blog posts but in the meantime, thought everyone would enjoy some funny photos we took around town.


I took this one while sitting in traffic- talk about a translation problem!







If you need a bamboo chair, this street vendor has you covered. I see him all over town hauling his wares on the back of this rickshaw.











We often visit Buddhist temples to see the beautiful statues and architecture (plus we think Grace was a Buddhist in a past life as she is obsessed with going to temples). Anyway, Sev caught this worshipper dialing straight to Buddah on her cell phone. Nice, eh?


A worker taking up the last inch of space in the back of this truck- hopefully he isn't going far or I imagine he'll have quite the leg cramp when he gets out.


The latest in Shanghainese hair fashion. Sev is thinking of updating to this look for his summer cut.