China #1 - Shanghai - I'm here!!!!

September 4, 2011 - I made it to Shanghai!!!!!

Hi there folks....sorry it has taken me so long to get this update out....but i have not had internet in the comfort of my own home for FIVE WEEKS!!!!  today is my five week anniversary of being in this amazing city and some of you are probably wondering things....like why did it take 5 weeks to get internet....and on many occasions i will be able to say "that's just china!"....but i live in shanghai and this was not because of shanghai, it was because someone dropped the ball at school.... however....things are now up and running so i can get this out to you!!!!!  yahoo!!!!  

Wow is this city incredible....it is huge - 25 million people huge - 1 million of those folks are expats (from other countries)....so foreigners are few and far between....and because of this chinese stare....they stare hard....but if you smile and say Ni Ho (nee how) - generally they will smile and say it back....so they stare, but that's part of their culture.....i had one woman so far not be friendly back....but most of them are surprised you are speaking to them and doing so in chinese....then they smile and ask hi back.....

the language is really hard at this point and i am hoping to start mandarin lessons....i have been told that you really need to take lessons to learn it....especially the four tones....so that is a goal of mine to set up in the next few weeks.....i am also hoping to start tai chi in the next few weeks....but i am here for a job and have been a bit focused on that....i have started swimming three mornings a week at the school pool and have joined a choir - we are singing pieces in spanish, czech and chinese....no english....i wanted international...i got it....i also may be joining a darts league....i have been invited...we'll see as i am not so good at that sport.....as you can see, tons to do and tons to get involved with....which was one of my criteria for leaving zagreb....and let me tell you....this place has met that....

shanghai is definitely cosmopolitan....there is money here...but it is a town of contradictions....for example, they have tons of roadways that ware used and most rules are "followed"....but traffic and drivers are crazy for the most part....and the silent scooters (as my friend greg calls them - silent death) are even more insane and will not hesitate to run you over....i think this is the scariest thing about here....trying to cross a road.....but most folks follow the light rules and most folks stay in the lines....you just have to pay attention....there is also a lot of money here...and folks describe it as socialist capitalism.... most everyone plays by the rules....that doesn't mean you can't try to get your way with money....but really there is no need....but yes, everyone is out for themselves....and their families.....but i am amazed what you can get here....and in shanghai, if you can find it, you can buy it....fake or real.....its a shopping paradise....not necessarily my paradise....but all of the markets (indoor for the most part) are amazing

weather wise here it has been really, really hot & humid....but this weekend it has actually cooled down....i have been told not to be fooled by this, as we need to have two typhoons before it really cools down....some days have been really sunny....yes, i have seen blue skies and puffy clouds....but there is a lot of pollution here...and i have been told i ain't seen nothin' yet in that department....but today is sunny and blue skies...too bad i have to go to work...but yesterday was my play day.....

school....i have come to an interesting place....let's say a rather scattered place that is hoping to improve and get better and better....i think they have a good start....and that some of the folks are the right folks for the job....but they have a long road to haul....i really like the kids though....sweet and from all over...largest populations of our school are korean, swedish, french and american.....so it makes for an interesting group....the teachers are from all over....and this is what i was looking for in an international school....so all of the right pieces are in place...i just need to put them together to make my program and my experience a great one....but everyone (kids, teachers, admin, parents) has been great thus far and that is a terrific thing....

enough about me though....let's get to the pictures....this time around i will be putting food things in the updates, as this is some of the most unique aspects of my life....i have been finding everything under the sun that is edible....both incredible and disgusting....and every day i see something new....so what do i see and where do i live....on with the photos.....

this first shot is of my school....i actually live in the building this shot is taken from...on the fourth floor (which is considered unlucky)....on the right is the admin, theater, arts building....you can see our field to the right...and the building next to it is the lower school - grades 1-5, with the middle school on the top floor, except for science....the air conditioning units are on the top of the building i work in....high school for the most part and all sciences....its a nice facility for the most part....it has its own quirks, but what doesn't.....

the next shot is the view outside of my back windows....yep...that's how close i am to the school (shanghai community international school - SCIS) the bottom two windows in this shot are of the physics room....i am glad they are not of my room....that would be a bit weird to see my house from my classroom....the stairway on the left leads all the way up to the gym....and i am on the third floor...

above is a shot of the twin building to mine....so that is what my apartment building looks like...24 floors in ours....and there are a total of 6 buildings....6 entrances more like, into the 2 main buildings....i would say approximately 35-40% of our teachers live in these two buildings....so i see folks coming and going...and i run into them all of the time....a good and not so good thing i think....we'll see...but i doubt i will move as i LOVE my apartment....

this is my place....decorated by the landlord, who luckily has good taste....my decor is chinese and very usable....i have been to many other apartments at this point, and i think i got one of the best!!!! this shot is taken from my back balcony that looks out over the school....you are looking through the kitchen, into the dining room, into the living room and then out the front balcony....where it looks onto one of the major streets of this city - hongqiao lu (hong-chow street).....

this next shot above is if you have just walked through the rooms listed above and turned around and took a picture from the front balcony....as you can see i have chinese furniture and wall pieces and they are made from wood....it really is a nice place....with a spare room for guests....

this is the furniture in the spare room, plus a desk and a couch....comfortable for one....but really i am very lucky that my landlord has such good taste....woot!

this building you now see is what i see across my street....its the TV tower for one of the main stations....when i first got here we were having thunder and lightning storms every day....i think i saw this tower get hit at least five times....crazy!!!!  but its a great landmark for getting home in a taxi or when walking....gotta love the spaceship feel...perfect for me.....directly across the street, to the left of this building, i have a military highrise...its where all of the guys train to be in the military....its HUGE...and there are lots of them going to this school....plus they are outside every day weekday morning at 6am doing their exercise and running....its interesting and it has taught me to count to four....hahahahaha.....

one of the things i have noticed about the chinese is that they can sleep anywhere....literally anywhere....this is a guy who is a security guard for the cops motorcycles...they park just in front of my building and the police station is right next door...this shot was taken at about 6 am when i woke up....and as you can see he is right next to the street....sitting in an uncomfortable plastic chair and he is out.....amazing....i am on a very busy street....although its not too bad at 6 am....if i was downtown or in the bund area, it would busy at all hours....

as i mentioned above it has been unbearably hot....causing me to go through multiple t-shirts when out and about....and it has been so hot at night that people who live in hutangs (little neighborhoods with little electricity and no running water) actually come out and sleep on the street because it is cooler at night....its amazing....and they sleep on bamboo mats or chairs or cots that they pull out of their houses....so they are not homeless, just really, really hot....it definitely turns the street into a block party most nights....i have one of these neighborhoods just around the corner from my place....and have walked past many a family trying to cool down on the street....luckily it has cooled down some and there are more breezes...so this will probably not go on for much longer....

this shot above is one of my favorites so far....this man was pulling all of this wicker...yes pulling and walking....but he got tired...as it was super hot day here, one of the worst we have had actually, set up his chair and took a nap....anyone need some wicker furniture....but no one will steal stuff from him...its not the chinese way....i have felt very safe and not threatened in this country thus far and people have been really helpful...everytime i have looked lost, someone has tried to help me in their limited english way....and very few people here speak english....most of the taxi drivers, who are crazy, speak no english so you have to show them everything on a business card or phone that has been translated in to chinese.....its incredible.....

around the corner from my house i have an amazing market....there is a terrific bakery there where i can get a latte....the ladies who work there know me well and i just bring my coffee mug and they fill it....its great....they even have amazing croissants and bread without sugar (a normal sliced bread thing here - blech)....but as you can see the veggies are really fresh...and really cheap....although i don't really do my shopping there anymore as my ayi (pronounced I-Eeee, my housekeeper) gets much better prices than me, the white, big nosed person.....hahahahaha.....

they also have tofu sellers.....look at the variety....i still buy this as the folks who own this stall have become my friends...teaching me numbers and the signs for the numbers with my hands....i have now tried about 10 different kinds of tofu, including stinky tofu....smells really bad - tastes okay....but my favorites are the smoked, cubed and fried.....just incredible...i buy food stuff so i can cook lunch and freeze it....but eating out here is extremely cheap and everywhere delivers....and i mean everywhere....restaurants, bars (yep, even alcohol), mcdonalds, kfc, pizza hut, papa johns, dunkin donuts, the only one i have noticed that does not deliver is starbucks.....imagine.....and yes....we have it all here.....

not only can you get fruits, veggies and tofu....you can get live animals for food - like eels in this picture....you get to pick your own.....or chickens...you pick, they kill them and pluck them....there is even a restuarant just down the street that has live chickens in the front of the building and you walk outside and choose which you want to eat....while they are still alive!!!! i haven't tried the eels yet....not too sure i will.....

plus you can get fresh seafood....shrimp and fish and crab that are still breathing and jumping around....there is one guy who brings his fresh shrimp on the back of his motorbike and they are constantly jumping out....its hilarious....

i also decided to take a shot at my local grocery store....which has most of what i need (no cheese though so i have to go to the bigger, more international store for that)....but i wanted to show folks just how many different types of instant noodles exist here....everyone eats them, all the time....these and dumplings - which are amazing....even coming over on the plane you got a cup of noodles...it's awesome....but they can be rather salty and have crazy flavors.....my favorite so far....pigs feet...referred to as trotters....yummy!!!! 

i have been getting out and doing things and one of the things i did last week was go watch the shanghai sevens....rugby of nations from the area...there was actually 12 teams and you can see their flags below the scoreboard and we watched both men's and women's rugby....it was fun, but we almost melted from the heat.....

okay....i decided to throw in on funny language picture for you to enjoy....i have been taking lots of them, as the translation here is ridiculous sometimes.....can you guess what the picture above might be for????  any idea????  i bet you are wrong....this label comes from the side of a pencil sharpener....and it "will make you happier than you ever dreamed"  what????????  most things are like this so i will throw in a few for your viewing pleasure and humor.....one about cashews should be coming next :)

i know my last shot is usually with a beer....but i thought this was funnier....me with a vacuum-packed chicken leg....you can pick this up in any convenience store for a snack....LOVE IT!!!!  i will not eat it, but really, you can find anything vacuum packed...including chicken's feet....the beer - its okay....and you can find anything in the way of drinks....i am really happy to be back in a land that has ginger ale....that has definitely made me a happy girl.....

okay....enough rambling for the first update....sorry it has been so long since you last heard from me...and in the future, hopefully they won't be so long in words...but it has been an adventurous five weeks and there is so much more to come....if you have any questions or want me to write about something concerning china in particular, please drop me a line.....and if you are interested in sending anything here, it usually takes 1-2 weeks....everything we have tested has made it through, very quickly....but i am not looking for things from folks....unless you want to send me a letter or something written....i will repay with a postcard of some sort from future travel stuff or from here in shanghai....my address is the schools.....

Shanghai Community International School
Dani DiPietro
1161 Hongqiao Road
Shanghai, 200051
China

you can also find me on skype and facebok....although i am not on a lot, as i need to use a vpn that scrambles my IP address, so i can use the sites that have been blocked by the great china firewall...its not a hassle, but sometimes i forget to turn it on....and this means that my emails and skype calls are always being looked at by someone here in china....big brother and all that really does exist, but you only notice it on occasion....

i hope you enjoyed the first update.....i am really excited to be living in this incredible city, with so much opportunity...and to be at the school i am at, because it is good place on the cusp of change....woot....hope all of you are well and have a good labor day in the states....also here's to opening week of american football....go eagles.....drop me a line and say hi!!!!!