December 7th, 2013
hello big, wide world from the disgusting, polluted town of shanghai...normally i love this town...but yesterday and today have been nothing short of GROSS!!! why you ask....well, the pollution levels yesterday broke all records...we were actually above the index of what had been measured previously here in shanghai...by a lot....we went over the pollution index of 500 particles per million....to give you an idea of just how bad that it...generally, in the US or europe, the readings never go above 50....and those are considered high....we were above 500 yesterday....simply disgusting.......this is such a bummer and i am so happy i am outta here for the holiday in just two short weeks....because really, it's nasty out there....
i have a different announcement with this update though...i am actually leaving shanghai at the end of this year...which many of you already know...and i officially signed a contract with a new school...in AFRICA last weekend....i am headed to the lincoln school in accra, ghana....i will be teaching 6th & 8th grade science once again...on my 6th continent i might add....woot! woot! i am so happy not to be in johannesburg as i type this, for the job fair...a. because i hate job fairs and b. because mandela died and i can only imagine what things are like in that country this weekend....so sad....but i am here in polluted shanghai, celebrating my very good fortune of getting a job and not having to worry for the next few months....woot!!!! so consider this an invitation to ghana or somewhere in africa that i can fly to....no safaris in ghana, and i will be going somewhere to do that, i promise....yahoo!!!! AFRICA!!!
this update will focus on the things that have been happening and that i have been doing in shanghai...not this horrible pollution that is so bad that i cannot see clearly across the street i live on....i needed to smile about being here and some of these shots make me do just that....also, i wanted to wish folks a happy holidays for however they celebrate...i am headed to israel, jordan and laos over winter break...so excited and the update after the new year, will focus on pictures from that trip....so on with the shanghai show...enjoy :)
i decided it was high time i made it to the graffiti street here in shanghai...moganshan lu....they have been threatening to tear it down for the past two years, so i figured no better time than the present....it is connected to a gallery spot known as M50, that i previously posted pictures about....it is not long street, but there is definitely some amazing street art here....as you can see from the picture above...wreck 'em ralph....
i loved this this shot of old world shanghai street sale + new world shanghai street art....just a nice combination....they are really going to tear down this street soon...which is a bummer, but here in shanghai, progress must continue....they have been ripping things down left and right in the past few months to build things that are bigger, taller and faster....and there seems to be no stopping in sight....
on that same wandering day around town, i met up with my friend sandy at central perk....yep, it is a cafe that has been built in the theme from friends...everything is the same...from the couch they sat on in the show to the coffee bar...its crazy....but when you look out the windows its not nyc you see....its shanghai....in the cafe they play friends continuously with no commercials...it was a hoot....
my good friend and past student jamie is now living in shanghai....so we have been hanging when we have the time....one of the things i was telling her about was the concrete filled trees near where i live and in the french concession....and as we were discussing this, low and behold, there was one on the street....why do they fill them with concrete???? really, i have no idea....the crazy thing is that this process does not kill the tree....they still have green leaves and are standing....its weird....hypothesis anyone????
some of the fashion in shanghai is just mind blowing....people are really into themes and wearing the same outfits for couples and bright neon colors and just plain bizarre things....right now the puffy, ribbed coats are in style.....but this shot is from earlier in the year....this woman has her kid to her right...but get a load of the wings on her shoes and the acid wash...simply amazing!
this shot above is from a restaurant we went to recently and i loved all of the lanterns...it was a thai place and was rather tasty....the lantern festival and chinese new year are just around the corner...so i thought this would put you in the mood....
this year for my birthday and another friend's birthday, we did something a little different....we invited a bunch of folks to come with us to the new cirque le soir....which is a night club/vaudeville act/burlesque show/magic show/freak show.....it was rather interesting....i had a few favorites from this evening, but really the picture that says it all is above...my friend billy with two of the three dwarves who were there...really, it was quite bizarre....but i am glad we had the experience.....
here in shanghai stuff is always for sale....so there are always lots of big costumed things roaming the street....this shark was was wandering around for an all you can eat salad place....why a shark you ask....who knows....ahhhh shanghai....
a few weekends back i told my folks i was going to spend the afternoon at the marriage market here in shanghai...they of course were wondering what i was doing there....i just went for a look see...no worries....but holy cow....what a random experience....above and below you can see shots from our long walk thru the marriage market....in the picture above you can see the marriage match maker on the phone....she is helping the couple seated in front of her and the lady to her right is her assistant....this is a HUGE money making business here in shanghai, as there are many desperate parents trying to marry off their kids....because if you hit 25 and are single here....you are headed for a life of being a spinster or a bachelor forever....which is a fate worse than death here in china....
some of the ads are handmade and on bags as you see above....so the parents are sitting across the walkway watching who is looking at their ads in hopes of finding their son or daughter mr/ms right....its amazing to watch....
some of the ads are professionally made with a match maker included...here you can see the match maker (the guy in black) working his magic...although i think he was a bit frustrated by the people he was helping...mom seems quite anxious and dad not so much....match maker, match maker pick me a match.....
there were thousands, literally thousands of ads to choose from....there was even a whole section for second and third marriages for men and women who have become widows....it was such a trip to visit this....why does it exist you might ask....well, the shanghainese men and women are extremely busy making money and don't have time to do the whole dating scene...what with their insane work hours, commute hours, familial commitments....finding a mate is hard to do....on-line dating exits...but the older generation does not trust it....so instead they try and get their children hitched this way...some of the sons and daughters have no idea their parents are even doing this....some of them are extremely grateful because they just have to go on blind dates their parents set up until they find the person of their dreams...and finally the population of boys is on the rise....soon there will twice as many men than women of the marrying age here in china...its a HUGE fight to find the women of your dreams and shanghainese women are PICKY and particular... you must have a degree, a car, a house, and be making lots of money...they can be picky, as there are not enough of them to go around....
one of the last advertisements i saw was for someone who was born the same year as me, but was a bit taller...i am not sure if it was a guy or a girl...my chinese is not that good...but i was happy to see others like me are here in china fighting the good fight of looking for a mate.....i say...better them, than me....this is definitely not the way i think it would work....so sorry mom and dad....no marriage from the market has been arranged....
from the marriage market we headed to the urban planning museum...one of my favorites of this city and i just had to get there one more time....in the shot above you can see the buildings of the bund and pudong....the skyline shanghai is known for....it is missing the newest building that is being built at the moment and scheduled to open in 2014....it will be only second to the building in dubai for height....and has been progressing at an amazing pace...i am hoping they get it done before i go...because i really want to go into it....
on the third floor of the museum they have a 3-d model of the main part of shanghai....this city is HUGE!!! i took this shot from where my apartment building and school would be located....we are actually just outside the first ring road of the city and are not in the model...but i am standing from the point about where it would be located...crazy the size of this city....
the model does both a daytime view and a night time view....in this view you can see the newest building being built....its the tallest one on the right....the other buildings i have been in and this new one looks like it will dwarf them....this also has my favorite building in it....down front on the right hand side...the marriott of tomorrow...it has a pyramid on it...and a huge sphere in the middle of the pyramid...kind of reminds me of the tower of sauron...only kind of, but i love this building....
this is the "helicopter" shot taken from the fourth floor....again its the bund and the pudong side of the huang pu river, which runs through the middle of this city....the amount of humans here is just astounding....25 million....with 1 million of us being expats....insane in the membrane....
i just couldn't do an update of shanghai without some funny "chin-glish" signs to share....we sometimes go to a vietnamese restaurant for dinner....but i have to be honest....i have never had the "fresh straight diaphragm juice"....would you?????
recently one of our favorite restaurants here changed their menu...the names under many of the dishes are just plain crazy or not understandable....but for the one above, how the heck did they come up with this...."farewell my concubine"???? with a turtle in the bowl....really???? what????? creativity points need to be given i guess.....
this last shot is plain freaky...it freaked out the kids and me....mo-vember was celebrated in our school with some of the male teachers growing beards and mustaches for the entire month to raise money for cancer awareness among men.....they then had a fundraiser where the kids and women could get involved....and so i did....i bought mine during break and then proceeded to wear it all day....i just couldn't take myself seriously and neither could the kids...some of them were really weirded out....can you blame them????
okay...so that's the update....another will be out after i return from my winter holiday vacation....i hope each and every one of you has a great holiday season with family and friends....i hope you enjoyed this update....and remember, this is an invite to ghana for all of you starting next sept....all the best in 2014 and catch you on the flip side :)
peace out and have a fab day :)
dani
October 24th, 2013
hey there folks...sorry it has taken me so long to get an update out...but life is way busy this time of the year and the great chinese firewall has been working overtime....not really sure why...but it has been a pain these past two weeks....hopefully i will actually finish this update the same day i start it....but i finally got all of the pictures uploaded and now can write about the amazing trip i took to indonesia at the end of sept/beginning of october....it was amazing....
things with me besides traveling are busy, busy, busy....this week was parent-teacher conferences...and i did about 60 in two afternoons....its good that i am a fast talker and don't really give the parents time to say anything....and its good that i have mostly good kids this year...nothing to say but good stuff....i also am in the busy part of starting the job search....wrote to seven schools this week in africa and have heard some good things/leads back from some of them...which is exciting...nothing is definite by any means, but things may be promising....i am headed to a job fair at the beginning of december in south africa and hopefully something will come of that....
so....on with the trip....this fall break i headed with three friends to borneo (kalimantan) & sulawesi in indonesia....the focus of the trip was animals...specially orangutans, proboscis monkeys and things in the sea we could swim with...tropical fish, sea turtles, nudibranchs, etc.....we lived on a boat for two nights and then went to a resort on the sea and also spent two nights in jakarta....borneo for the orangutans was incredible.....and snorkeling in sulawesi rocked.....so all in all it was terrific trip....below are some pictures from the adventure...
this shot was taken as we were going down the river on the way to camp leakey, where they have been studying orangutans for about 50 years....this is the proboscis money....named for their large noses...the male above was just hanging out, while the rest of the money crew was flying through the air around him....if you look close, you can see his huge nose...
this was one of the female monkeys in the same group....she was still carrying her baby...who is looking at the camera for this shot....they were all over the forest on the way to camp leakey and we went to sleep next to them and had them wake us up the next morning with their shrieking and fighting and jumping through the trees.....we slept on the top part of a wooden two story boat....open air, in mosquito nets....it was incredible to see the stars at night and wake up to the sounds of the forest at sunrise....simply amazing....
on the way to camp leakey, we stopped to see some of the other orangutans found in the forests of borneo....there are feeding platforms in parts of the forest, where workers bring bananas and milk to the orangutans everyday....so we would walk into the forest...the workers would bring the bananas and call to the orangutans and the orangutans would come....this shot is from one of our stops...this was a female, with her baby, trying too grab a few bananas for her meal....i love the expression on her face...
at the same site, this is the male who dominates the group....he allows other males to stay with their mothers, his sons of course, until they reach the age of about 7 or 8....then he chases them away so they can start their own group....there are never two large, older males in one group....some of the baby males in this group were reaching an age where he was definitely bossing them around and keeping them away from "his" bananas....you can see where he may have gotten into a "fight" on his face....again...love the look on his face as well...could put captions with orangutans, as their faces and eyes are so human-like....and so are their hands....
in this shot, its one of the males of another group eating the bananas...he is younger than the other male, as his face pads are not fully developed yet....again, the eyes say everything....and really their hands were incredible....they look just like human hands....and they are so strong....like rock climbers they generally have three points of contact with trees they are moving through...but sometimes they just use one arm or a foot to hang on and swing...simply impressive....
this little guy was hanging around our boat as we got to camp leakey and had lunch...him and his mom really wanted to climb aboard and join us with our meal...his name was mario and his mom's name was moot (or sounded like that)....they are wild orangutans who do not live at camp leakey, but live around it and have gotten quite used to people and all the good and evil they bring with them....including lunch....
mario really did try to come onto our boat...not sure how that would have gone....he also did a bit of showing off for us...look at those arms & legs....so strong....and he's just "hanging around"....our guide, bain, was incredible....he was an amazing photographer and all of the orangutans knew his voice...he used to work at camp leakey helping with research, but now the camp is for tourists....so most of the local workers lost their jobs there and became guides....he was the best one there in my opinion, as all of the other guides kept asking him where to go and which orangutans were which.....he also had an incredible camera and you will see two pictures of his below....we got really lucky....
this is the entrance to camp leakey....this particular camp was started by a woman named Dr. Galdikas....she was one of "leakey's girls"...along with dian fossey and jane goodall...they all started their own research stations for different members of the primates family and he, as one of the most famous anthropolgists in the world, help them start their research facilities...she started camp leakey in 1971 in borneo to study orangutans in the wild...and she has done so ever since...orangutans are threatened by poachers (as their hands are ingredients for chinese medicines) and by destruction of habitat...jungle is being cut down for the planting of palm trees to make palm oil...it is said that if the destruction & poaching continue at the current rate, orangutans could be extinct in the next ten years....this camp is one piece of land they are currently safe on because it has become a tourist destination....many of the orangutans have been there for years.....
i love this picture of one of the orangutans in camp leakey....her name is siswei and she has been at camp leakey for quite a long time....she was just hanging out next to the path as we walked in....and really took no notice of us...not angry, not excited, just chillin' and seeming quite content, as you can see from this shot.....
as i said, one of my favorite things about the orangutans besides their eyes, are their hands....so much like human hands....it was amazing also how they used their feet just like hands...in this picture you can see siswei's hands curled...i have so many of these pictures, just because they are amazing to look at....it's like looking at my own hands...okay, maybe they are more hairy and a bit more wrinkly...but really....so similar....
what i also found amazing was how close they came to humans...if you were in their path on the way to the bananas and the milk....they would just push you out of the way...gently, not in a mean way....but humans did not seem to be a threatening factor to them here at the camp or wherever we went that they were fed....we did not go up on the platform with them, and just watched, but they walked among us to get where they wanted to be...incredible....this is one of the females with her child...and you can see how close people are behind her....no zoom here....just a quick hello and she was back up a tree....
as i said before, our guide bain was amazing...he knew where to go and at what moment to see orangutans up close and personal...this was one of the moms we walked with...and he took this shot of the two of us...she wasn't so much into it...but how amazing....this really was an incredible trip....
this is an up-close shot of the female from above - rani - and her baby....i love this shot too, but cannot take credit for it...i actually stopped taking pictures at one point and just watched...this incredible shot was taken by bain....like i said, he had an amazing camera and the ability for us to hang with the orangutans up close and personal....and i love that this little one is just chillin' on his mom...seems to be what they do :)
this is the front of the boat we were on for a few days...and you can see the cool folks i was traveling with, our main guide and the tracker who walked with us as well...we also had a captain of the boat and a cook along who made delicious food...one of the things she cooked with, and i guess it is a main staple in indonesia, was tempeh...who knew it could be made so many ways and taste sooooo good....from left to right - alyssa, the tracker guy, bain, maggie & darby....all-in-all a great group of folks to travel with and explore indonesia with....
this was the top deck of the boat, where we slept and ate and hung out when we were traveling down the river...not too big and not too small...just right...there was a bathroom...but the shower was with river water...so most of us bypassed that aspect of the two days....it was sturdy and safe and lots of fun :) i really do recommend this adventure....but if you plan on going, get in touch so i can put you in touch with our amazing guide...he made it even more amazing than it was and i know would do the same for anyone else who went.....
from borneo/kalimantan we went to sulawesi....a different island of indonesia that is known for its amazing diving and snorkeling....maggie got certified for diving in open water while we were there and the rest of us went snorkeling....it was awesome....and we even swam with a sea turtle....i have decided i need to go diving again soon and get re-certified, as it has been way too long....didn't work out on this trip....but maybe in the spring....
this was our pool overlooking the sea.....it was a great resort, but really the only reason i think folks would go here would be to dive...some of the best in the world...and therefore excellent snorkeling too, but not much else to do but relax...which is just what we needed after a crazy first quarter of school....
this was our sunset the last night in sulawesi....pretty darn spectacular if you ask me :) all-in-all it was a great island-hopping trip and i would recommend the orangutan trip for everyone and sulawesi for all of you who dive....we saw incredible photos from the dives people at our resort were taking....simply amazing what they were seeing under the water....
our last night in town we were in jakarta, where i had the good fortune to meet up with my friend julie again....she was going to do a live-aboard dive trip two weeks later...it was great to see her and to catch up with one of the families i used to teach - the salims.....i love visiting indonesia not only for the eco-aspect, but also because i can see friends and students and people i know when i go :)
i figured i would end this update with a common picture from previous up-dates...me and a beer...this time it's bintang...the indonesian beer...this was a surprise gift from bian....which was difficult to come by in this very muslim country....no alcohol and no pork....so it was very much appreciated....as you can see from the satisfied look on my face...
this trip overall was amazing and again, i would recommend it to anyone....its a difficult place to get to and from, but totally worth the time and effort to do so....the orangutans with melt your heart and you will be amazed how much they are like us....if you want to know more about the organization at camp leakey, the one Dr. Galdikas is part of...check out this link....www.orangutan.org
thanks again as always for reading....and i apologize for taking so long to get this out...but i hope you understand...also, i hope you keep your fingers crossed for me and my job search....the goal is africa, but you never really know what a job search in the international world of teaching will bring...feel free to get in touch and have a fab day :)
dani
August 25th, 2013
I am back in shanghai....and man is it hot!!!!! it hasn't really gone below 90 deg F/32 deg C....and we have had tons of humidity....and no typhoons in this part of china....china itself has been hit with 12 this summer....but none here....which means this heat wave could last a long time....the chinese in shanghai say we have to have three typhoons before the heat and humidity break....i hope that is not true this year.....
so i am back for my third and final year....i am teaching 7th & 8th grade this year with a teaching partner, who is a very nice guy....and i have a whole new department to share science with....which seems to be going well....my schedule is not an easy one and i am not very excited by that aspect of the year...but everything else seems to be going swimmingly....which is a great sign....
my job search has already begun....i have my portfolio on-line with a head hunting company for international teachers and have even created a website that showcases me...feel free to check it out if you wish....danidipietro.weebly.com....i am searching for a teaching job in africa this time around....and have quite a few schools on the list....so if you know people working/living/teaching there, please get in touch and put me in touch with those you know....in the end it's not what you know, it's who you know that gets the ball rolling...i promise to let people know what is up and hopefully i won't have to go to a job fair this time around.....but enough about that....
in this update i am focusing a small bit on my summer trip to the states and more on shanghai and it's quirks...i have been giggling a lot and making a bucket list for must-do's before i am on my way....below are some of my favorite "chinglish" signs and some of my favorite pieces of art here in the city and just things that make me smile....so on with the pictures....
one of my favorite places i went this summer with my folks was to cape may, nj....the sunset you see above is from there and it is the only spot on the east coast of the united states where you can actually see the sun go down over a large body of salt water...sure you can see it set in a lake or a river...but not salt water....and this specifically has to do with the way nj is shaped....we caught a stunning sunset two nights while we were there....they were spectacular....
one of the other places i went this summer was the air and space museum in virginia...yes, that does say virginia, because i did not go to the one on the washington dc mall...we went to the one out by dulles airport....it's housed in an airplane hangar....and in the picture above, you can see me with the REAL space shuttle discovery....doing my best asian girl pose....this museum was amazing...it had a whole space exploration wing and hundreds of real airplanes and helicopters in the hangar itself....plus, i got to go with my friend laurie and her kids and we had an amazing docent....who helped build one of the very first passenger boeing planes....it was awesome....and i highly recommend going there....
this is what it looks like as you walk into the space portion of the hangar...it's awesome and just verifies for me that someday i still really want to go into space...as a tourist or a teacher or a scientist or even a trash collector...i just want to go....
i figured i would include a picture of me and my family....we take one of these every year...and this year we were all in gray and black...my mom and my brother tony even smiled....well, sort of, for this shot....you really can't misplace any of the four of us....but the left side of the picture shows who is okay with smiling in pictures....and the right shows you who is not....ha!
at the moment this is how shanghai feels to me a lot...hot and humid....and look at all of the pollution...it actually has not been so bad of recent....we have had a couple of "blue-sky" days....which last year were rather rare in this part of the world....when we first got back though, that was not the case....this shot is taken from the flair bar on the top of the ritz-carlton (68th floor)...it was where our welcome back to school party was held....a good time was had by all i think....except for the haze and the heat....but it's still a nice view....
i figured i would include this picture too for all the folks who know the watts....we are still all together...heather & brad too, from the bucharest days....this is later in the evening at the flair bar and our friend jenn is included too :) as i said before....a good time was had by all....
one of the things i feel shanghai does right is flowers....the plants and flowers on the roadside and on buildings and for sale are simply incredible....we even have a guy who is at our school campus every friday afternoon selling cut flowers like these....from his bike....they definitely brighten up the room....although i don't like how they wrap each flower individually with plastic....not really necessary in my opinion....but they still are beautiful to look at and have in your house....
i also am a big fan of shanghai art....this is one of my favorites and i think i might have used it before...but i just find it so cute...i love the elephant with wings....this sculpture is located on one of the best restaurant streets in the city.....so i know i will probably be having a tatsy meal when i see it ;)
this is a picture i took last spring but never got the chance to share...the chinese love their family pet dogs....they dress them up...like the ones above...they put them in strollers....they turn them different colors...they give them different outfits....they give them raincoats and rain boots when it is raining out...it is just hilarious to see how they pamper and treat the family pet...when i took this picture, the lady was beside herself with happiness...she asked if i wanted her to be in the picture and when i said no...she totally understood....hahahahaha.....
here is another one of my favorite sculptures in shanghai....the "flower" tree....now to give you an idea of size...there is a person in the foreground of this picture...behind the white sign...its actually really big....this one just makes me smile....no matter what the weather...its also very close to my apartment....so i get to see it quite a lot....
the picture above was taken because i was a bit freaked out one day when i saw some folks working with this tree....if you look really close at the tree, you will see it has been split open....and the dark grey stuff you see in the center is actually cement....why do they do this??? i have no idea....but i started paying attention to the trees where i walk in this city and have come to find they do this filling in the center of the tree with cement quite often....i have walked past this tree this school year...and it is still growing...it still has leaves, they are green....i am just very confused by this...how does the tree get nutrients???? where are the xylem and phloem???? ahhhhhhh...how does this work and why do they do it???? just another one of those "chinese things", i guess....
this picture was taken in one of my favorite sculpture parks int he entire city....called Red Town....can you tell that one of the clowns on the bike is real....hahahaha....all laowai (expats - foreigners) seem to have this picture....and while i was on the bike, at least three other chinese people were talking my picture too...i have been in hundreds of photos here with my "closest" chinese friends....i know, i know...its because i am stunning and the chinese know it....i know ;)
here's another one of my favorites at the sculpture park....me and einstein....i'm not really sure what the one on the right side of the picture is behind albert and i....but i think its awesome that i have a picture of me and him in china....i have no idea if he even ever made it to shanghai....he probably would have loved it like i do :)
okay....above is one of those horrible "chinglish" signs you see everywhere in china....there are even websites dedicated to these types of signs....they make me giggle everytime i find one....i have to say that i really have no idea what this one is trying to say...as i have no idea what "virescence" actually means....and transmitting the civilization....okay....whatever....
on one of my first days back at school, we had an amazing race planned....me and my van of colleagues decided to head to the bund and have a drink at the captain's bar...it is one of my favorite places in the entire city....and in this picture you can see the super-tall building that is being built next to the one that looks like a bottle cap opener...that's what we call it....the earlier picture above with all of the smog, was taken on top of the pointy building to the left of the bottle cap opener....no one really knows how tall that new building will be...as the chinese are keeping it a secret....it's amazing how fast it has gone up though and they work on it 24-7....i heard it is supposed to be done at the beginning of 2014...i hope so...cuz i want to go to the top :)
one more "chinglish" sign that i saw in the grocery store (carrefour) last week....as you and i know, that is a sign for red cabbage....but i guess in chinese red cabbage is referred to as "European fall the earth"....i hope it tastes the same....to give you an idea of prices...500g of this stuff costs 8 rmb, which equals $1.33....
and one more of the cool sculptures from Red Town...the legs walking down the hill....they are painted with "flags" of different countries and are just really cool....i was so happy this picture turned out...as i took it into the sun on my phone....its amazing how good phone pictures can be....
and here i am with the "american" leg going down the hill....this gives you an idea of size of the legs...they even have good musculature.....love them....
sorry no drinking picture this time around....but i don't have a good one i can share...something to work on for the next update....this year is shaping into some excellent travel and the first place i am headed is back to indonesia, specifically borneo and sulawesi....borneo to see orangutans and sulawesi to re-cert for diving at the marine park there....or at least get in some snorkeling....i am also headed to israel and jordan with my good friend cat for the winter break....and may have to go to johannesburg, south africa for a job fair in early december....so really lots of excellent travel, even before 2013 comes to an end....
and that's my life at the moment....i hope everyone is doing well and feel to comment or ask questions or whatever....it was nice to reconnect with folks this summer and to hear that people are still reading the blog...although some of you only check out the pictures....and that is okay....i know there are lots of words to get through....but because it is so enjoyed, i will continue to take you around the world with me if you wish and here's to another year filled with safe and amazing travels and adventures...remember to keep me updated about you and your adventures too.....
and finally, if you are headed to china or want to visit, the countdown for me has started and i will no longer be living in this amazing city after june 2014....so come on down if you can, there doesn't seem to be another town in the world quite like it :)
have a fab day and peace out.....dani
