Where in the World is Dani?

Japan #2 & Xin Nian Kuai Le!!!!

2012-02-05T06:39:00.001+01:00

February 5, 2012
hi there all and happy chinese new year to you - Xin Nian Kuai Le (shin knee-ahn quai leh)....this weekend the new year is coming to an end...15 days of craziness and fireworks i don't think can ever be topped, unless i am china next year for new year....definitely put the USA fourth of july fireworks to shame anyway....but i guess i am in the land where fireworks were created....next update will be all about my stay here in shanghai for the chinese new year, as it was incredible....but i still need to finish my update about japan....which is what is below.....

i am also in the process of updating and cleaning out my email list, so if you get these updates and have not been in touch some time in the last year and would like to continue to get them, please let me know...if i have heard from you in the past year, no worries, i won't remove you....i just don't want to clog people's email system or send them things if they never look at them....thanks to all who respond and thanks to all who read or at least look at the pictures.....

so where was i in japan....ah yes.....the toilets (paul this is for you....thanks for waiting!)

this is a typical japanese toilet - notice the arm on the left with all of the buttons...one so you can make a flusing noise and no one can hear you doing your business....one for the temperature of the seat and one for the bidet and the direction, pressure and temp of the water you want coming out of it...also, on the back of the toilet is the sink....so when you flush, the clean water from the back of the tank comes out of the faucet and you wash your hands with it and that water is what refills the bowl....so you wash with clean water, but the water in the bowl has been used to wash your hands....sooooooo smart....loved this....

i decided i needed to take a picture of one of the directional signs as well....see all the amazing things a japanese toilet can do....incredible....and i just found a japanese restaurant here in china that has one as well...so i can play again with the toilet....some toilets in japan also have remote controls to take care of all of these things...heavens forbid if someone got control of that while you were on the toilet....whoa...anyway...i give you the toilets of japan....amazing!!!!!

this update specifically focuses on tokyo....holy cow, what an amazing city....the metro is the biggest in the world...it is crazy how many lines there are and they go everywhere in this city....i was really lucky i was there over new years, as i only once had to deal with a crazy crowded car....it was the perfect time to travel if you do not like to be in crowds....but some of the restaurants and things were closed as this is a very family oriented holiday....in the shot above, this is the entrance gate to the Meiji-Jingu shrine, this gate is a called a torii....this torii was made from cypress trees in taiwan....and was incredible....there are a few to the entrance...and you walk through a forest to get to this gate in the middle of tokyo....also amazing.....

the shrine was preparing for new years....so these are the offerings that people could purchase and donate to the monks in return for a blessing to start the year....most japanese at midnight on new years go to their local shrine to receive a blessing and then over the course of the next three days, families go to the larger shrines to ask for even more blessings....this shrine in tokyo, along with another further below, are some of the busiest....what you see above is mostly cooking materials, with some oils for burning candles and some other basic food staples for the monks in the shrine...it was a beautiful place, i couldn't shake that i was in the middle of one of the busiest metropolitan places in the world...and it just did not seem like it, due to it being so peaceful.....

from the shrine i walked over to takeshita street....if you look closely at the picture you will see nearly everyone in this picture is a teenaged girl....this is the THE place to find the newest "must-have" fashion....it was wild....seems like one of the newest fads here in asia is the wearing of glasses frames without any glass....they were everywhere on this street...although so were really mini skirts with thigh high socks....and uggs in all shapes, sizes, colors with and without fur....and vinyl, shiny, puffy jackets....it was crazy to be here...i think i was one of the oldest people on the street....

from takeshita, i walked to the shibuya part of town....this is the area that has the cross streets where everyone takes their picture with all of the neon signs and crazy ads....its is also the area where everywhere you look you see malls or stores selling clothes...very high fashion district...and the hachiko statue (above) is also here....hachiko was a dog to a professor in the 1920's, who used to accompany his master to the train station here everyday and returned in the afternoon to pick up the professor and walk him home....one day the professor died of a stroke at the university where he worked and hachiko awaited his return...sadly he did not show....hachiko was seen at the train station waiting for his master every afternoon for the next ten years, until his own death...the locals loved the faithfulness of this dog and built a statue to him in the very spot he waited daily for his master in....very cool :) someone told me a movie is being made of this story....with richard gere as the professor (weird)....also, interestingly enough, it is a meeting spot and there is a smoking area right next to it, where many people meet in the city....that was another amazing thing about japan....people only smoke in the designated areas....even outside!!! it is just a population that really abides by the rules the government sets.......

later in the evening of my day of walking around, i wandered into the kabukicho area of town, seen above....also known as the red-light district.....very different from bangkok's red light district, as even though you knew what was being offered, it was being done very discreetly....those japanese certainly are discreet.....

i was staying in the shinjuku part of town....very lively and next to the red-light district....and just across the street from my hotel was this shinto shrine....as you can see on the sides of the front posts, there were evergreen boughs with lightning forms made from white paper...not really sure what they meant, but they were one each side of everyone's front doors....i think it was a good luck thing....i found out after i walked through these torii that this was the fertility set of gates, mostly for men who are having problems or for women who want to get pregnant....i don't really fit either of those descriptions, so i didn't stay long :)

this shot above is for everyone who has seen the "love" sculpture in philly or nyc....i thought it was way cool that there was one in tokyo as well...who knew....

on one of my wanders through town i headed to one of the highest parts of town to get a look at this city from above....i ended up in roppongi hills, a rather posh mall, with a look-out on top of it....i even paid the extra price to go out on the sky deck - which is also a helo pad....waaaaaaaaaay cool....in this shot i am looking towards central tokyo....they have a tower that looks every similar to eiffiel's in paris, even if it is not the same color....

this is me of the helo deck, with the area of shinjuku in the distant right (where i stayed) and the botanical gardens in the distance behind me....this city is HUGE and there is no way i could get to it all...maybe i would go back, as it was probably the easiest city to get around in ever, but i am not sure....just a bit too perfect for me....

this is a better shot of the tokyo tower....with some good lighting, due to the sun setting....it is a cool tower, but i never had the time to make it to the bottom of it....it is a bit taller than the one in paris, and i think they did that so they could say that (kind of like the arc de triumph in bucharest, which is bigger than paris')

in the shot above i am headed into the other large shinto shrine getting ready for new years...this was the 30th of dec and it was crazy busy....this temple is called senso-ji....and you do not walk through a torii to get here....you walk through a ton of vendors selling everything a person could or couldn't want....this was the area of town i was told to have tempura....so i followed the suggestion and was very happy i did so.....yummy!!!!! this shrine had a buddhist temple on the grounds near it, so it was cool to see the differences between them....the majority of japanese are shinto, but there are a small few who are buddhist....

while wandering back from the shrine, i came across this tourist trap section of riding in a rickshaw....really they are not in tokyo (or shanghai) anymore except for tourists in very busy areas....most of the rickshaw drivers were going after japanese tourists....and not ex-pat tourists....actually, there weren't that many ex-pat tourists i came across....i wonder if people are still worried about traveling to japan because of the earthquake and tsunami last year....there was no evidence of it in tokyo or anywhere else i was....except for the places where you could donate money, clothes and food for people who were affected by these disasters......

along the river in tokyo are these three buildings...i took a boat down the river (sumida-gawa river) to see the sites along it, the two buildings on the right are the asahi brewery....notice the one in the middle is gold with white on top - its supposed to represent a beer glass full of beer....very cool....and the other building with the golden swoop is their headquarters....the other tower is known as the tokyo sky tree and was under construction while i was in town....it is the tallest tower in the world (not the tallest free standing structure though - that's in dubai, soon to be surpassed by something here in shanghai)....this tower is 2080 ft. (634 m).....crazy.....they had to build it to be able to broadcast tv and radio to all of tokyo....amazing!

this shot above is from new year's eve....and was the local temple i went to....i got there at 11:50pm thinking it would be packed and no one was there....but literally 2 minutes before midnight, people poured out of their houses....i found out i was on the correct side to enter the shrine once others were there....girls on the right and boys on the left....and that the "totem" animal of this shrine is a fox...it was cool to watch, although i think the japanese were confused about why a westerner was there...oh well, i got my blessing and went home!

these last couple of shots are some of the crazy things i saw every where in japan....i have never seen so much fake food anywhere else in the world i have been...it is in every restaurant and bar....there was an entire shopping street in tokyo for fake food...it was incredible, and rather expensive....and boy-oh-boy did some of it look real....this shot was taken outside of a restaurant in a mall...as you can see, they had lots of offer...i think the japanese consider designing fake food a real art...it blew my mind!

also very interesting to me were the stores around new years...my friend randy and i were wandering through a store on january 2nd and these guys were wandering around blessing all of the stalls and vendors for the new year, in hopes that the seller would be profitable....they blessed all of the people as well with the gold ball thing in the guy's hand....myself included....i think the thing on the rights was a dragon, as it is the chinese new year of the dragon....but i am not sure....

and finally the metro....i LOVE this picture as this is what happens to all of the japanese on the metro...literally all of them....they are not allowed to be talking on the phone, and they really don't, so they are either texting or sleeping....no one is talking....it was so nice to be someplace sooooooo quiet after being in china, where everything is sooooooo noisy....what i also find amazing is that most of them have their naps timed perfectly and don't miss their stops....sure there were some panicked faces when folks woke up and realized they had gone to far....but that was few and far between or they just didn't show it....sleeping on the metro...an art in japan.....

of course there is one more shot....me wishing you a happy new year - western or chinese version....you take your pick....japan was an incredible place to visit....so easy, and the people are so helpful....if you looked stranded or lost people just start stepping up to help you....what i also found amazing about this part of the world is how easily old-world tradition is seen right next to the most modern thing you have ever experienced...the people i met and talked with and saw, honored all things of the past in their daily lives and it did not seem out of place....this is something you do not experience many places in my opinion and it was really cool....like watching a real geisha walk down the street shopping...all made up and buying the latest cell phone....incredible.....

if you have never been to japan...i highly recommend it, especially if you are not a seasoned traveler....the japanese have everything orderly and laid out for you....i would say you should like seafood and be willing to go without dairy products....but if you like meat, teppanyaki is for you...really, its beautiful, historical and so easy to get around.....just be warned it can get expensive depending on what you are doing....but go and be sure to try the takuyaki - ocopus balls - they are to die for.....

so there you have japan...land of the clean toilets, old world history and the most modern and largest metro i have ever experienced....next up will be chinese new year here in shanghai...of course i will try and write that sooner rather than later...but you never know when it will happen....i wish you all a happy chinese new year of the dragon (a water dragon, by the way) and i hope you have a terrific lantern festival (that's tomorrow here!)....more on these things soon....

once more...drop a note and say hi if i have not heard from you in the past year...otherwise i will be removing you from the email list....its huge and i know my updates are going to many dead-ends....all the best and talk soon....thanks for reading and zai jian (goodbye in chinese)

Japan for Xmas & New Years (part 1)

2012-01-07T14:25:00.000+01:00

January 7th, 2012 - Happy New Year!

hey there all...happy 2012...i hope you had a great holiday season...things here in china are getting a bit crazy with the chinese new year two weeks away....this is the biggest holiday of the chinese year and many things are being readied....the cops are out in force, cracking down on everything so they can make some money in time for the holidays....the red lanterns are being hung everywhere....red envelopes that are used to spread holiday cheer are popping up in all of the stores...and dragons are literally everywhere (it is going to be year of the dragon - water dragon i was told today).....i am sticking around for my first chinese new year, because i hear it is insane....all of the fireworks and such.....

as for my holiday season, i traveled to japan....a place i never really thought i would visit....but stars aligned and my good friends the watts, who lived there previously, were headed back and invited me along for the ride to osaka, kyoto and nara.....i also got a chance to visit my friend randy in tokyo....so it was a terrific trip and i think i experienced a wonderful aspect of japan with people who know it and love it.....

the trip started in osaka and ended in tokyo....things you should know about japan...it is waaaaaaaaay clean....you can eat off the sidewalks....its quiet - they say no talking on your cell phones in the metro...and no one does....they utilize space like no ones business....wait til you see what they do with toilets.....they have old world tradition, right next to new world conveniences and there are vending machines on every corner....they recycle everything...but create the hugest amount of trash i have ever seen with all of their packaging and fresh food that has to be eaten the day it is created (think sushi)....they follow the rules and are so very polite....and believe in personal space - but at rush hour, the metro is crazy....and finally....new years is NOT the best time to visit tokyo....it is a holiday all the japanese spend with family and friends....sure, you can find crazy times in disney tokyo or in clubs, but most people visit shrines for the new year and hang with their families eating a lot of food.....below are the pictures....i hope you enjoy the ride.....there will be a part 2....just too many things to see and experience....

this first shot comes from osaka....this is a mall - outdoors, but covered...on a sunday night....the section of town we were in was shinsaibashi....and its where people go on the weekends and in the evening to see and be seen....the outfits alone were amazing....before xmas many were dressed in santa and reindeer gear, even though xmas is not really a holiday in japan...many girls wear short skirts or shorts, thigh high socks (which they glue in place) and platforms....it was crazy...and many of them looked so cold....

in the middle of shinsaibashi is this huge set of neon....called the running man....it is right next to one of the canals that runs through here and is a spot most people meet at....these signs cover the entire side of a set of buildings....huge and cool....

osaka has a castle...it is surrounded by a moat and is in the middle of the city....in the shot above you can see the moat and one of the outer buildings of this place....

and here is the castle, with a dragon in front of it...in japan, they are prepping for the new year as well....we did not go into the castle, but it was stunning to look at...plus, right next to this was a time capsule that had been buried in the 90s and was going to stay buried for another 500 years...it was cool to see...

also located inside of the castle's moat and walls is a shinto shrine....the day we went to the castle there was a japanese wedding happening....we walked up and they were in the shrine and then we waited for them to come out....as you can see, the bride and groom are traditionally dressed in wedding kimonos....after the ceremony was over, everyone at the wedding and the bride and groom took a huge group photo....it was cool to see them get organized and such....many of the guests had on traditional kimonos as well

one of the things we of course ate was sushi.....and we went to this conveyor belt place to have it....many of the offerings were things i have had before...but there were a few things that were different....they had this one very purple, almost electric purple, eggplant sushi....didn't try that one...plus they had tuna and mayo - like a tuna sandwich....didn't have that one either...they also had a tofu one that was unlike anything i had before....very fresh....unagi - bbq eel - was there and is still one of my favorites....yummy!!!!

greg and i went to kyoto for a day....wow - what a beautiful place....we did a lot of walking, and saw much of the old world and new world in this town....we wandered down to one of the biggest shrines and on our way there we passed through some smaller ones....for every shinto shrine you first come across a water spring that is being used to cleanse hands and quench thirsts before entering the shrines....i liked this one because it was a dragon...you can see the ladle style spoons that are upside down on the bamboo...you use these to collect the water to purify your hands and your soul....

this was another shrine we passed by and i had to take a picture of the garden....the japanese really do have amazing gardens and they are everywhere...if someone has land their house or apartment is on, they have some form of garden there....everything is sculpted and in place....just beautiful....

the main shrine we were walking to was the Toji temple, which was having an end-of-the-year flea market....when we reached there we saw they were making takoyaki - fried/grilled octopus balls....you can see them being made above....holy cow - they are amazing and addictive....there are bite sized pieces of octopus in these dough balls and they are grilled to perfection...you put this brown, thick sauce on them, plus mayonnaise and bonito - fish flakes - i do NOT like the bonito....mainly because when they are put on hot food, they act as if they are alive....gross!!!! but the takoyaki - yummy!!!! and on this trip i found out there is a place in shanghai that makes it...woot!

from the toji shrine we headed to the golden pavilion (kinkaku-ji) - and this place was incredible....you can see the pavilion above....and the reflection was the thing that really got me...loved it! this is a zen, buddhist temple and is said to be covered in gold leaf....when the sun peaked out as we were wandering around the grounds, it sure shone as if it was real gold....just an amazing site....world heritage as a matter of fact....breath taking!

on the beautiful grounds of the golden pavilion there are many different statue shrines, with metal bowls in front of them that people try to through coins into, as you can see from all of the coins on the ground in the picture...greg tried...but nothing made it in....you have to wonder, just how old are these statues...incredible....

the two shots above are the last two from the beautiful town of kyoto...the heian shrie....this shire was huge and had a lot of empty space...i have done some research on it and found out this was the way the zen master of the time said it needed to be built...lots of big open space....i think they succeeded....we loved the bright orange color of the different buildings of this shrine....plus the tree above it is a tree filled with wishes and fortunes...one of the things you can buy at all shrines is a writing of wisdom....or a poem or something sage-like written down....what most people do with these written pieces is tie them on a tree, bush or other wooden structure in front of the shrine, so that they will come true....what would you wish for with your written words??? i really liked that they used the small tree in front of this shrine for the wishes....

we also visited another town called nara...known for its deer population, that is sustained by all of the tourists i think....and for it having the largest wooden structure on the planet there....on our walk to that structure we watched the crazy deer and got some sweet potatoes from the lady above....i loved the thing she was cooking them in and boy were they perfect for a cold afternoon....

the picture above is of that largest wooden structure in the world....and it houses a buddha inside...it is an incredible structure and located in the center of a park with amazing grounds....but what i have determined is that gardens and parks of japan are all beautiful....they make them that way....

this is the buddha on the inside of the structure...it is enormous - called a daibutsu - or big buddha of nara - it stands around 15 meters high - which is about 45 feet high - now that's a big buddha....and you have to love the serene look on its face....love it....

outside of the buddha temple was this walkway filled with people feeding the deer...now the deer, if you ran out of food (these cracker things you could buy), would chase you and head butt you around until you got away....they were pretty aggressive....this one guy dressed as a monk, offering to read fortunes, had some deer come up to him and they would not leave him alone....this did not help business, but it certainly helped for a kodak moment....

as i said above...new years is a time when people get together with family....its also a time when all of the japanese ladies buy a new kimono....they wear them when visiting shrines, going to weddings or big festivals and at the beginning of each year....these ladies were dressed for the shrine...i love that the deer is chillin' next to them too....


here's santa at the osaka aquarium - it was a girl santa and you can see a ray swimming past her on the upper right of the picture....it was crowded, but the perfect way to spend xmas in osaka....

somewhere above i mentioned the vending machines and how they are everywhere....that is literally the truth...and here you see some of the offerings of them....they have hot and cold liquids in them...and when i say hot, i mean steamin hot coffee with milk and sugar...i became a bit addicted to having a hot milk tea before bed....you can even get a hot corn soup....a brilliant idea for when you are walking around outside on a cold day....which many city people do, because they live in such small apartments.... much of their time is spent out of the house, meeting with friends and entertaining them....many go out for food because they have such small kitchens....

this last shot is of me with udon soup....yummy!!! you can buy noodles everywhere and ramen, soba and udon are the main choices....good enough to slurp!!!! bon apetit!!!!

okay....so there you have part 1....i am hoping to have part 2 out sometime in the next two weeks....it will be of tokyo....an amazing city in oh so many ways....it was a great vacation and i can't believe how fast it flew by....school starts up again on monday, but only for two weeks and then we get another week off for chinese new year....remember, its the year of the dragon....can't wait to send out an update filled with the sounds and smells of fireworks, fireworks and more fireworks.....crazy!!!!

again, i hope everyone had a great holiday season, no matter what you celebrate or where and i wish you and your families a very happy new year (2012)...i will wish you a happy chinese new year when it happens....oh yeah....if you have any questions, please don't hesitate....

peace out and have a fab day :)
dani

China Update #3

2011-12-04T02:10:00.001+01:00

December 4th, 2001 - It's beginning to look a lot like christmas in a town that doesn't really celebrate it - wild!

Hi there folks and happy holiday season to all! Sorry I have fallen quite behind in my postings, but I do hope to get this one out and one more before my big trip to Japan for the winter break - woot!!! the pictures below are from lots of different things from over the past few months...with of course some funny food and chingrish (chinese-english) pictures....lovin it....

the holiday season has started here and i had a fun holiday brunch with some folks last week in a place called the rabbit hole - was designed after alice in wonderland....plus i sang at a swanky hotel's tree lighting ceremony....the room we warmed up in was amazing and guarded by a full size king kong who growled every time you walked past....as we went to this room we passed prada and gucci and chanel and cartier stores....and in the driveway were rolls royces, bentleys and ferrarris.....just incredible...and i was there....go figure....so the lighting of xmas trees and decorations everywhere have started....plus chinese new year is just around the corner...i have decided to stay in town for this and have been told it is mind blowing....so i figure i should do this just once.....

okay....on with the pictures....the first set of shots is actually from a water town here, outside of shanghai, called hangzhou (pronounced hong-jzo)....which is where one of the school campuses of my school is located...its about two and half hours by bus and 35 minutes by bullet train....crazy that! but the three school campuses decided to have a raft down the river day and it was hilarious to watch us....as you will see from the shots....also included in these pictures are shots from the fabric market - where you can have anything from fabric made....no joke...and for cheap too....UN day at school....one of my favorite things about international schools....random shots from shanghai...and lastly funny things and food things from the past few months....enjoy....

in this shot above you see water buffaloes taking a break from pulling the carts of people to the starting point of the rafting excursion...it was still quite warm out so this helped them keep cool....our particular water buffalo decided he could race our cart with another group's cart....we ended up in some bamboo and knocked a bunch of the grove down...it was hilarious....nothing like a crazy chinese driver....

this is one of the raft drivers....we paid him off at the beginning of the ride to make sure we were in the thick of the water fights....we also gave him a beer and then we gave him more money at the end for being awesome.....we were soaked and laughing the whole time and he took it in stride.....we even got boarded by another raft...and almost sank....what a crazy ride....

this is our bamboo raft from another boat....i am seated in the middle with a yellow hat....what a crazy bunch of people we had....and as you can see, all of us had water guns and were armed and ready....can you say soaked....a few cameras and such were messed up and it took people a few days to fully dry out.....it was awesome....

this is a shot down river of a few boats....getting ready to fire of course....the waterway was really shallow, but quite clean, although rule number one was make sure you do not get water in your mouth....parasites would be a probable result.....a few folks did get sick....but nothing an international traveler couldn't handle....

one last shot from this crazy day....as you can see full scale water war....we even started shooting people on the bridge...hence why most have vacated the area....it was insane....there was even a wedding by the waterside....people tried to hit them with water, but they were just out of reach...i guess its something that happens quite frequently with this being a watertown....

onto the fabric market...all types available and you can literally have anything made...costumes, clothes, jackets, pjs (because everyone in shanghai wears their pjs out to the store - no joke), hats, winter wear....i have gotten quite a few things made and will go back again for more now that i have a tailor that knows what i like....yep...my own tailor....how insane is that....its a married couple...he sews, she sells and she always gives "best price" to her return customers :) oh the fun of haggling....love it!!!!

this is a typical store front....everywhere there are styles to see and cloth to try....if one stall does not have what you want, they always have a friend just down the row who might and then you work with them both....i think its a few main families that own all the stores and therefore they make all of the money....just incredible...and everyone goes here....i mean everyone...chinese and expat alike...where else can you get a hand made suit, with shirts for under $100.....so weekends are insane.....

i love UN day...its the one time i get to see where all of my kids are from...we have around 50 different countries represented by our student body....with the largest number of kids from korea...US comes up second, sweden comes up third and the netherlands is fourth....no croats or romanians though....two kids from ecuador....always fun to see who is from where i have been and who is from where i have never been....here are some of the flags of the countries represented....

i love this shot, as it is five of my girl students doing a korean fan dan...and the kids are from korea, america, malaysia and japan....i don't love the person's head in it...but it was the best i could do from where i was....they did a fantastic job.....

you never really know what you will see while walking around shanghai....just the other day i saw a person dressed up as a piece of sushi in front of a restaurant.....this dude in the shot above is the mascot from the shanghai expo....which i missed by a year....it was supposed to be amazing and when i first arrived here many of the country pavilions were still standing....at this point many of them are done, but the china one still stands......i guess this guy was all over the city during the expo and i heard the expo itself was pretty darn amazing.....

speaking of the china pavilion....this is it....as you can see the day was not a real clear one, even though the sun is out in this picture and it is 9am.....the pollution we have here really is visible at times....this particular week of visiting this pavilion at times the air was so thick you felt as if you could chew it...i do hear that shanghai has gotten much better since they took the factories that used to be in the city and relocated them....plus, its much better than beijing because at least we have the ocean wind blowing much of it out of here....at times though its just gross.....they were having a picasso exhibit at this pavilion, which is why i was here...pretty amazing that a man who paints such different works, was such a middle class family man....never knew that....

and here's another building from the time of the expo....this is the mercedes benz arena that looks like it is out of close encounters of the third kind....i keep expecting it to play that string of notes and light up....i saw cirque de soliel here....an amazing show....they have left the arena standing and it will be used for concerts and such....recently akon performed here....he took his shirt off for the performance in beijing...which was a no-no, and so when he was here he wasn't allowed to do that....rumor has it that madonna is coming....its one of those i'll believe it when i see it kind of things....it is china after all....and the government is still in charge...even if this town seems like its gone capitalist.....

we go from the modern architecture, to the old style narrow streets of apartment buildings and one floor apartments....this was another sunny day i spent wandering around the french concession....an area of town where you see big old mansions and tons of expats....but there are many little chinese neighborhoods too...notice all the bikes....many people still have them, but many have also moved onto the motor scooters of death...they are electric and you never know when one is about to run you down until the last moment.....

shanghai is definitely a mix of old world and new world....i loved this shot of an old woman getting her mail...which is delivered everyday of the week....no sundays off for this group....

one of the things we see a ton of in this city are sidecar motorcycles...they are everywhere...you can even do tours in them....usually you see expats riding them, not the chinese....a guy and his dog jumped out of this one on the way to the avocado lady....a storefront that caters to expats....she has wheels of dutch cheese shipped in weekly....she has corn tortillas...she has cheaper avocados and she has goat cheese for an amazing price.....dairy products are hard to find in this country....not big milk people....so much of the cheese and yogurt and milk is from overseas and rather pricey....its a bummer....

i also saw this mobile shoe fixing store while i was walking around the french concession....people here are definitely industrious....if they can figure out a way to make money....they will...from the people who pick up recyclables and metals and styrofoam, to the people who sell produce from their trucks, to the people with a sewing machine on the street who are ready to fix your buttons at a moments notice....its incredible....

okay...onto the funny products and food pictures of this update....i especially love the one above because it is on the side of a pencil sharpener in school...."I would shot you!" is what it reads....what the heck are they thinking about having shooting and school mixed...and they are kiddie pencil sharpeners....i can't find ones that are better quality and made for teenagers and adults....insane....

here is some more of the spicy packaged food you can buy in the convenience store...the one to the far right is beef on a stick...the one in the middle is fish cubes and the one on the left i couldn't figure out from the words on the outside...i would say...okay...i won't say because who knows what it would be....just today when walking to grab lunch with a friend we saw a cage of snakes outside of a restaurant....of course i stopped to see them and the hostess was so excited that we were coming to have snake....man, was she disappointed when i said i just wanted a picture and did not want to eat them....

this picture is one of my favorites....its a chicken restaurant....and guess what is in the cage underneath the sign of the chicken....chickens....yep, you pick the one you want...they take it in the kitchen and kill it right there....i guess you can't get any fresher than that....whoa! this place is just across the way from my apartment....and let me tell you, its always busy....

the last shot of the update is from a menu of my new favorite hot pot place....okay, its the only one i have been to since the last time i was in china....but its really good....they have some really funny things in english on their menu, but one of the best has to be above - homemade fried corruption clothing....what the???? for those of you who don't know, a hot pot is when you make your own soup at your table for dinner....they bring out the broth and a stove, which heats up and you cook at the table....you add what you want to the soup - like tofu, seafood, meat, noodles, veggies, you name it, they have it...including homemade fried corruption clothing....i just have no idea....

okay....so there you have my latest update...sorry, i forgot to get a picture of me with a beer or drink or food this time...i will have a new one next time i write though.....i am hoping to have another update out soon....but it may just be a year in review...and what a year it has been for me....

in two weeks i am off to japan...a new country for me...and i am very exited....very excited to get out of china, because at times this place is just to overwhelming....stimulation floods you in every direction....so it will be good to just chill....very excited to spend xmas with friends who lived in japan....very excited to be on break from school....and very excited to relax with nothing to do for school....woot! so even though my current week will be ridiculous - 90 labs & 90 quizzes for 8th grade and 20 labs and quizzes for 6th, comments & grades due in a week for 113 kids....i will be finished real soon and i can see my vacation coming closer and closer....

i hope everyone is well and happy....and again, sorry to take so long in getting this out....hope you enjoyed this update and i wish you and your family a very happy holiday season, no matter what you celebrate....new year 2012 and chinese new year are just around the corner....time is a flyin!!!!!

have a fab day :)
dani

Bali - Island of the Gods

2011-10-30T14:49:00.000+01:00

October 30, 2011
Hi there folks and happy end of October....what a crazy month this has been, especially this past week....first there was the international food festival (what an array of amazing dishes from around the world provided by members of our school community), then we had parent-teacher conferences (they went fine), UN Day (one of my favorites of the year - will send along pics in the next update so you know what i mean), my shipment from croatia arrived (WOOT!!! and only one thing broke just a little bit, but its already fixed) and last night was a halloween party with work folks and others at a fun bar close by my place.....and that's only this past week....the up-coming week looks to be just as busy......

yes, it is definitely a change from croatia....there never seems to be enough time to do everything i want to...like today was a beautiful day, but i needed to grade....i would have much rather been out wandering the streets of shanghai....maybe next weekend.....keep your fingers crossed....but what i really wanted to accomplish this weekend was writing this update about bali.....wowowowowowow... what a place.....nicknamed the island of the gods.....and hopefully the attached pictures will do it some justice....i had no idea bali was so big and had so many different things to see....i thought you went there to hang by the pool or on the beach....which i did, but i also got an amazing tour from a friend of friends....the guy is balinese and amazing.....anyway....let's go to the tape (okay, really the pictures)....enjoy :)

the shot below is what i entered when i went into my room upon arrival...how cool were those mosquito nets....and they worked...no bites....the room was huge and the bathroom was even bigger...way too much for one...but i enjoyed the space...i had my own bungalow....

as i stepped out of my bungalow, this is what i saw....a plunge pool....this was not the main pool, just one i could jump in and out of...and that little bungalow thingy is for getting massages by the pool...pretty swank....the place was owned and run by balinese....they shared a beachfront with a resort next door and served tasty breakfasts that were included with the room...plus they were just off the main street in sanur....one the small towns not too over crowded with tourists.....

i also had no idea how religious bali is....the main belief is hinduism....90% of the population....which is quite strange for indonesia....most of which is muslim....on bali 5% of people are muslim and 5% are buddhist.....so hinduism is everywhere and VERY present in every day life....these are the offerings to the gods you will find in front of every house and business.....they are put out at the beginning of the day to help ensure a safe and protected day.....and at the end of the day they are thrown away....things you will see in the offerings - flowers, food, money, tobacco....all in a palm leaf holder.....very cool....

as i wandering the town of sanur i came across one of the community temples (pura - this what a temple is called)...as i learned from my guide gusti - every house must have three shrines, every community must have at least three main shrines/temples and then there are the most important temples where everyone is required to go twice a year on a specific day to them...anyway, i came across one of the community temples in sanur and the doors were open and no one was there....so i went in....the top most portion was really cool....as you can see from the carving below, these are where the shrines to gods are located and on those shrines are these type of stone carvings...not really sure why look like this, but i really liked them....they're on every corner of the shrine and up and down it as well....when they are carved....

This was one of the guys guarding the entrance to where the main shrine was....he is a protector and you can see they have an offering to him as well...notice the relly big knife...you definitely would not want to mess with this guy....

And along the street was this shrine to ganesha, the elephant god....you can see a local woman putting out her offering for the day and it's in the middle of the street....they put the offerings out there three times a day....bali is one of those places where they drive on the left side of the road....so you always have to watch when you cross the street....the cars are fine, but the amount of motor scooters is INSANE....almost as bad as shanghai....

this was the beach at sanur and these are the main fishing/snorkeling/tourist boats run by locals...i love that they look like spiders on the beach...albeit very colorful spiders....they have a sail and seem to balance quite well on the water...they are a type of sampan....

this boat caught my eye as it was peaking around the tree i was walking next to...i love the way it looks like it is smiling....the balinese seem to be pretty happy and laid back people....their island had a huge set back with the bombings there nine years ago...but they have rebounded and gusti told me that the revenue was almost back to the same amount it was before the bombing....the week after i was there was the ninth year anniversary of the bombing....security was beefed up many places because of that....

along the beach was this boat...i wasn't sure if they meant to be beached and were waiting for the tide to come in and take them out and i never made it back to the beach to see if they were gone...but i thought this was a cool shot of this beached boat and the clouds behind it....the weather was very warm while i was there - shorts and tshirts every day, plus flip flops....but it did rain a bit....i guess it was just starting to be the rainy season....i did see the sun....and made sure to be outside then....

the next shot is from one of the main large temples in the center section of bali - Taman Ayun Temple in the town of Mengwi....all large balinese temples have these amazing gates to enter them...all hand carved...if you are not a worshipper, you are not allowed in....but they do allow you to walk around the outside and observe and take pictures....the grandiose-ness of the doors reminded me a lot of the carvings on the temples of angkor wat in cambodia...just incredible and so much amazing work!!!!

the roofs you see are called merus and they always have to be an odd number...the more roofs a shrine has within the temple, the more important it is...i think the maximum was 11 roofs....very cool and they are soooooooo thick with woven fiber...plus you can see many more carvings on these shrines...and an offering for the day on the outside wall, which is what we were walking along...

from the temple we were off to have very special balinese coffee....can you guess what it comes from??? i bet you can't (unless you have been there of course)...in the picture below is a woman who is 87 (yes i asked) and she has been roasting coffee ever since this style of coffee became famous...it is called kopi luwak and is produced from an animal....yep....an animal - a relative of the mongoose....actually the animal eats the coffee beans and then excretes them out...undigested, but cleaned of the unwanted "shell" of the bean....these beans are picked from the droppings and then are roasted....yes, you really are reading this correctly...this prized coffee comes from the droppings of a civet cat....crazy....it was not my favorite coffee of the bunch they served me....but of course i had to drink it because its a great story and one of those things you have to try....just once....

so this is me....having the coffee...it just cracked me up where it came from and that this is considered prized coffee....great for the tourists and definitely worth a joke or too....especially for middle school science teachers...they really did have some great lemon tea and balinese coffee...not from a mongoose like animal and its droppings...

i had no idea bali was such a big island or had so many different regions....plus it has volcano...who knew...not me...in the center of the island the main food produced is rice...there were tons and tons of rice paddies...and they were beautiful and went on for miles....i guess they grow two main kinds of rice....jasmine and balinese....the balinese rice is brown...i never did see how it was different, but it was the wrong growing season for it....here you see some of the beautiful terraces of the rice

after visiting the rice paddies we were off to another temple...this one is called the ulun danu bratan temple and is located on bratan lake...so water surrounds the edge of this one....they had just had a festival the previous week and these were the faded and withering flower pieces that were made for the temple as an offering....this is another large community pura (temple)....and every one in the community has two specific days they must go and pray and give thanks....

on our way away from this temple we went through an area where you can feed monkeys....i didn't feed them but we did stop by and say hi...i loved this one with his mohawk...they came right up and asked for food...in monkey language of course, and i had to let them know i didn't buy them any....they got bored and went off to ask another tourist for something....they were cute...in a monkey kind of way :)

after leaving the monkeys we walked down to a nice waterfall....paved all the way with stalls where you could buy stuff...not a very brisk business was going because i guess tourist season really starts in earnest in november....lots of aussies go to bali for their holidays...as you can see there was a temple at the waterfall....i love all of the white and yellow of the temples...they are the purity and luck colors for bali....

and then i got really lucky....as we were driving to hot springs we went past a funeral procession...i did not see the body and that could mean it had already been cremated or had already been buried to wait for when cremations were done for free...that happens on the island every five years....having a funeral pyre is very expensive and some families cannot afford it....so they bury their family members until the "free burning" month comes...i know that sounds weird....but for hindus, the body must be cremated so they can be reincarnated, if necessary....i love that the women in the picture below, are carrying everything on their heads....and all of them can do this effectively (reminded me a bit of ghana!)....and don't you love all of the colors....so amazing....

the picture below is of my favorite temple....tanah lot....it is located right on the water and can only be entered when the tide is low enough....it is one of the seven sea temples of bali....and crazily there is a fresh water spring coming out of the bottom of this temple....i visited it and gave a donation and because of that they gave me a prayer and some rice on my forehead....they feel the gods and goddesses are in everything, and rice is their main staple and gods are definitely found in rice....this temple, as well as the other sea temples, is where ashes of people who have been cremated are thrown into the ocean...watching the processions to this temple from all over the island were amazing...we were hoping to be there at sun set, but the day we saved for that was rainy....so when i go back i want to see this amazing temple at sunset along the beach....

this is gusti at the sea temple....this is after we went to the freshwater spring at the base of the temple, hence why he has rice on his forehead....such a nice guy and what a tour guide...he knows all of the best places....we had some amazing meals and saw some amazing things.....rockstar gusti!!!!

of course i had to end with my traditional shot.... me with bintang...the local beer....this is when gusti and i went out for traditional balinese food...lots of seafood and rather spicy...it rocked...

so there you have the island of the gods...i was definitely there for too short of a time and i really hope i get to go back....i had such a blast and there is still so much to see...the volcano, the artisan town of ubud, the elephant sanctuary, the west coast temples and the main beautiful white and black sand beaches....so much to do, so little time....hopefully you enjoyed this little explanation of this amazing island and all of its rich traditions....and again...another place you should think about visiting because it is incredible.....

okay....i hope you enjoyed this update...i certainly enjoyed this trip, if you couldn't tell.....the next trip i am taking is to japan with the watts for xmas...my third xmas with them...we are going to osaka and kyoto together and then i am headed to tokyo to see our mutual friend randy....i will be there for new years.....so exciting...i hope all of you are well and happy....i hope those of you on the east coast of the states who got the freak storm are okay and dealing with the insane weather....it has gotten chilly here, but is still really rather nice...although i have been told the weather should become frigid soon...but then again, what's cold after antarctica....lots of folks says it gets cold here....we'll see....

get in touch if you have any questions or want to make comments....
thanks for reading....happy halloween and all soul's day.....
have a fab day :)
dani

China #2 - Wandering the streets & tastes of Shanghai

2011-10-02T12:49:00.000+02:00

October 2nd, 2011 - Happy Day After China's 62nd National Day!!!!!

Hi there folks...sorry it has been a while....but the beginning of this school year has been super crazy....i am not sure if i ever will feel in the groove here...the technology just keeps working against me....but the kids are great and we have been having fun playing in the lab.....i am just about to head out to bali, indonesia for my october break and when i return 8th graders and i will be embarking on a exploration in chemistry and 6th graders and i will be playing with things that fly....should be fun....

life here in shanghai is going quite well...i have started taking mandarin lessons, we have them twice a week....should be interesting...just from one lesson i can tell the hard selling chinese folks i am just looking and am not really interested in buying something (bu yao or kankan)....a great thing to know for the markets.....in the past few weeks i have wandered down along the Bund, had some amazing dishes from lots of different types of foods, danced the night away to a band composed of fellow teachers, taken a bamboo raft down a river & had a massive water fight the whole way, celebrated the moon festival, celebrated my birthday and yesterday was China's national day - 62nd year of celebration....which means fireworks were everywhere and all of the chinese people who normally live in this town have left to go to hometowns, and all of the chinese people that don't live here are here as tourists....its really mellow out where i live...but pretty busy in the downtown area, museums and tourist attractions....hence why i am getting out of town....so to bali i go....woot!!!

this round of pictures has some of the shots i took from some of the adventures i have been on since you last read....and i have more coming.....on with the pictures....the first one below is from my walk along the bund....the bund is the main waterway through town and it separates puxi (pronounced pushheeeeee) from pudong (sounds like its spelled)....i live on the puxi side....one day i hopped the metro and went to visit the bund and take some pictures and i was so lucky because it was rather clear that day....not much pollution, as you can see from the shots....i love this first shot, because it is taken through the monument to People's Heroes and is focused on the pearl tv tower...one of the most recognizable buildings here in shanghai....last time i was in china i was up in that tower and i will get there one of these days again....

this next shot is of the pudong side of the bund....so you get to see many of the sky scrapers here in shanghai...but that's only on one side of the river...there are plenty from the side i am taking the shot from....also, behind me on the puxi side are the very art deco buildings...so one day i will get over to the pudong side and take a shot toward puxi so you can see the craziness of the combination of buildings...and then there's the french concession....but that will take an entire update to show photos from that section...old villas, ivy covered and mansion-like....its way cool....

along the bund are monuments to everything that is china....and of course chairman mao is there...and here he is with the pearl tower behind him....i wonder what he would say about this building and everything that has come about in china since that day 62 years ago when he declared china its own republic for the people.....i just wonder.....

from the bund i wandered up nanjing road...which is a crazy busy shopping street...and i was there at 5pm on a saturday....it was packed out with tourists and chinese folks....had to push may way through for part of the time....but this shot below can give you an idea of what it looks like....anything and everything you could want...and two enormous malls to boot....just insane...i do like this shot because the lights were all just starting to come on....

and here is another one of the many buildings of shanghai....i think i could take a picture of everyone of them and never be able to post all of the pictures i would take...the architecture here is simply incredible and one day i will get to walk around and take them all...i hope....and we have a building down the street that has been being built since we got here, and i can't believe how fast it is going up....they have added so many floors in the 2 months i have been here...its now about 56 floors high....crazy!!!! however, if you heard about the line 10 metro crash this week....things that happen fast (like the building of the metro lines) are starting to be questioned quietly....and not many folks were on the metro this week after wednesday....makes a girl wonder....but i do like the building in the shot below

on the walk i took i finally made it to my favorite building in the entire city....the marriott downtown...and as luck would have it it was way close to 1st quarter of the moon and all was visible for this shot...LOVE IT!!!! i love the pyramid + the sphere of this building....

as promised last time, i said i would send some funny shots....so here i am out with some of my favorite people, in one of my favorite restaurants....an italian place, run by a japanese family....and yes...it rocks and i am eating my penne pasta with chopsticks....they have forks for those who cannot use them, as chopsticks are not used in japan...and many japanese go to this restaurant....but i aim for using the chopsticks whenever given the chance....mangia!!!!!

i thought you also might want to see one of my favorite breakfast foods here in shangahi...its a dai bin...i think :) its a crepe, made on a very hot pan, filled with potato chunks, cilantro, spicy sauce, a type of black bean sauce, an egg scrambled & blended in and this crunchy thing, fried bread sort of....this is the lady who makes me these twice a week....yummy!!!!

these are the ingredients that get mixed and and blended with the crepe....at the bottom of the shot you can see the money box....these cost 3 kwai = 50 cents....not bad for a breakfast that fills you up until lunch....if you look closely at the money, there you can see chairman mao again....he isn't everywhere, but yet, he is.....

for the funny sign this update, i promised to show you the saying on my favorite brand of cashews....and here you go....they tease you and capitrate you....whatever that means....they sure capitrated me....i love them :)

the shot below is the name of the street where i live and where the school is...it is a major street in puxi leading out of the city....hongqiao - pronounced hong chow....in mandarin it is looking like i will only be speaking this language...i am finding i do not recognize any characters....except for the numbers one, two and three...one horizontal line, 2 horizontal lines and three horizontal lines...but maybe you can figure it out....

another funny shot comes from a stop in the pearl market...where you can find anything for sale...even a lighter that is a huge match and a huge cigarette that is a lighter too...di was making her mom face about me not smoking....love it! but no...i did not buy it....you can see the bugs in plastic behind me...they literally sell everything....even "real looking" NFL football jerseys...might have to pick one of those up though, as they are super cheap...but of course they aren't real-real....

the first weekend in september was the moon festival...and in honor of that moon cakes were everywhere....now you can get these filled with sweet or savory things....and some people swear that the meat ones are the best....i say the ice cream ones from haagen daaz are the best, but i didn't have any of the meat ones....i did have this one though, filled with red bean paste....not my favorite...but i felt i needed to try a traditional one to say i had done it...no more in the future though...i put it on my living room table top, just because i have some really cool furniture and this is a way you can see it :)

this is the obama club...i haven't been inside...but i thought it would be cool for you to see this....that's his name in chinese....its a bit too much for me...and i am not sure if it's even open, as i have only gone past it on the way to a breakfast place we go to often...because they have the "big american" breakfast and unlimited coffee....today when i was there i got blueberry pancakes...yummy...the big american has way too much meat and food overall for me...but it is a good breakfast spot none-the-less....

the last shot is of me in a convenience store again....this time for your viewing pleasure i have some chicken feet in my possession....yummy....the ones i am holding are barbequed, but the ones to the left of me are plain....i am not sure how one chooses which one they want....eat them up...yum!!!!

and there you have it....update #2 from shanghai....yes, i am still really having fun exploring this place...but i am also very glad i am getting out of here tomorrow....i need some time away with a massage or two thrown in...i am hoping to get to the monkey temple and maybe see a celebration or dance of some type....but mostly i am excited to relax...it has been a crazy seven weeks of school and i know things will be better for me when rested and relaxed....it will be good for my kids too...

so happy national day (china style) and fall for everyone too, as we have now had the autumnal equinox....i am on my way tomorrow and i hope you are each happy and healthy....peace out.....

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

2011-09-04T04:48:00.001+02:00

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!!!!!

Update #37 - The LAST European Update for awhile!

2011-07-28T23:58:00.000+02:00

July 28th, 2011

hey there folks....well, its my last full day in the states and i am already packed, so i have some time to send out one last update about europe before my whole life changes again....as you already know, tomorrow the asian adventure will begin with my trip to my new home for the next two years at least - SHANGHAI!!!! but before i can start writing about there, i need to finish up my summer vacation time in both montenegro & croatia.....and what an ending it was....

the pictures below are from two coast trips - one to montenegro with my friend vlad and one to the island of brac with my friend catherine....both locations showed me just how amazing the coastline of these two countries is....croatia was just a reminder, but montenegro was a new country for me...and if you haven't been to these places for a vacation on the coast, i highly recommend them....on with the shots....

vlad and i started off our vacation in dubrovnik....it really is the "gem of croatia", as i read recently in some travel magazine...and because it was still june, it wasn't too crowded....this time also i did not get caught in a two hour storm that included hail...however, we did decide to "walk the walls" in the heat of the day - noon - and let me tell you, it was HOT!!!!! wouldn't recommend that time frame to anyone...but it was still stunning none-the-less.....the shot above is taken from the top of the walls around the city and through this canon port hole you can see the small harbor of dubrovnik proper and some of the walled city across that beautiful water....i really liked this shot :)

while we were in town, a cruise ship was bringing folks back to their ship and while walking the walls we watched this huge ship depart....i love this shot because it really does look like the ship is just about to hit the buildings....but there of course is a huge fortress wall separating them....but the trick of the eye made me smile....and don't you love all of the red-tiled roofs....this is what helps make the view from the walls spectacular.....

in this shot you see vlad pretending to fire on the imaginary guys attacking the walls...personally i think he went into this little space because of the shade it gave us....did i say it was really hot....but you can also see from this shot, just how thick the fortress walls of this medieval city are...very defend-able...and offer protection to those inside the walls....

in this shot you can see the walls and the amazing water of the adriatic....and vlad walking the walls...this shot really does show you how high the walls are and how beautiful this body of water is....when you walk the walls, the view is always quite incredible....the fort in the back is called fort lovrijenac....i never made it there in the two times i was in dubrovnik...but i sure photographed it a lot...

after being in dubovnik for a night and walking the walls, we headed to montenegro...crossing the border was easy and the border guard really wanted to practice her english, so she said "okay, buh-bye" about four times as we were pulling away....montenegro is another country that was once part of yugoslavia and can be found just south of croatia...we went into the bay of kotor and stayed in a sea-side town called budva....i forgot to take pictures there...as really it was just a beach town and we were there to relax....but we did go into kotor...another medieval town along the bay with a huge fort above it....in this shot you can see the cobbled stones that were well worn on the way to one of the gates (drawbridge style) into the amazing old city...

this is the outside of the spot the previous picture was taken from....but now we are on the outside of the walls...on the right side of the picture you can see the small drawbridge styled gate we walked through to get to this point....i love all of the stone....

this is another shot inside the walls of kotor....some of the courtyards were kept up really well by the people who lived there....it really was not a big town, but it sure was beautiful and very old...and yes, the well still pumped water....

in this shot you see the trail/steps up to the fort....i decided not to hike up, but vlad did and got some amazing shots....i was amazed with the town itself and wanted to walk around and take pictures of the crazy way it was built on the side of a mountain....the steps to some of the courtyards were incredible....

this is the main church of kotor, or at least the biggest one in the main square....if you look closely at the towers of the church, you will see it was first built in 809....yes....809 - it's amazingly old....and they had a celebration in 2009 for its 1200 birthday....crazy....there was a great family in this courtyard that i watched, because the mom was blowing bubbles with this huge wand and there were about 10 kids trying to chase them down and pop them....so much fun!

this final shot of kotor was taken after we had dinner and were headed back to budva....you can see the fortress walls of the city in the foreground and the the climb to the fortress about the city is all lit up...it was a beautiful spot and very cool to wander around a place that had so much history....just incredible..

the two shots above are from split at night....vlad and i & catherine and i were here and these two pictures are from those trips...split is a coastal city of croatia where most ferry lines head out and therefore it has many tourists....it is a cool medieval, walled city with amazing roman ruins still in tact...one of them being the diocletian palace...the first shot is taken just outside of what was the main court of this palace in roman times...and the second shot was taken in another one of the squares (called trgs in croatia) just outside of the walls....i felt the shots at night really showed the beauty of this place....ans as you can see, it was not crowded yet!!!!

this is vlad and i as he was getting ready to hit the road once more for the croatian coast....

and here is catherine and i just before we hit the road for our relaxing beach trip to the island of brac...

this is the view from the town of bol on the island of brac...its another medieval town with cobbled stoned streets and amazing sea views...it is not a walled city and as you will see below it is well known for its pebble beach peninsula that can be found at the edge of this town....i loved the harbor....it was tiny and we sat here and had some drinks and dinner...and people watched....it was great....

here's a daytime shot on the island of brac...the water is amazing and very salty...so salty it is hard to sink or even dive under in this water....plus, because there is the island of hvar across the way, the waves are very calm....it was an incredible place to swim....

here you can see the peninsula part that juts out into the sea...this is where everyone goes swimming and it is spectacular....we spent an entire day chillin' out and swimming....simply perfect....

i LOVE the water of the adriatic sea...it is soooooooo crystal clear everywhere you go....really a perfect place to swim and boat....if you haven't been there...i highly recommend it....

this is the shot as we were coming back into split from the island of brac....split is another medieval walled city, as mentioned above, and is a fun place to wander around and check out the history...just keep in mind that the coast of croatia is very similar to italy and that they take siestas from about 1-4pm.... the day catherine and i were there we got to watch salsa in the main square of the dicletian palace...it was a bunch of fun....

the shot below will not let me write underneath it....so i will write above it....this is a shot taken inside the dicletian palace tower...and as we were in this spot an gentleman on a tour decided to sing some lines from an opera...it was cool due to the acoustics of the tower and he sounded terrific....i just like how the picture turned out with the view of the sky and the tower peaking through at the bottom of the circle....

my last shot from croatia had to be me with my favorite drink! this was taken when we were on the island of brac having dinner...it is of course palinkovac and schwepps bitter lemon....which i am going to have to find a substitute for in china.....but i felt this was a perfect ending to my last update from this region of the world....croatia was an amazing place and really if you have not been to the coast of this country, it is stunning....and there are incredible places throughout the entire country....it was a good experience for me for three years, but alas, it is time for me to move to the next continent...however, i do feel i experienced much of europe and have only missed 10 countries located there :) can you guess the ten????

so as i say goodbye to europe....i say hello to asia....specifically i will be saying hello tomorrow....i am excited for my new adventure and invite you all along for the ride....if you no longer wish to receive the updates, just let me know and i will take you off of the list...and some of you i have not heard from in a long time and i may be cleaning out my list in the near future...if you do not get an update from china sometime in the next month, let me know.....

i hope you all have a terrific summer (or winter if you are in the southern part of the planet)....consider this an invitation to come visit and if you have questions or thoughts along the way, send me a note....

catch you on the flip side and if blogger does not work from china, i will let you know.....

Update #36 - CERN & Croatian Spots

2011-07-09T18:32:00.000+02:00

July 9th, 2011 -

hi there folks.....HAPPY SUMMER!!!! i hope everyone is enjoying their summer, if in the northern hemisphere.....i am actually in the states for the next month before heading off to my new teaching position in shanghai, china (woot!!!) i just got back from the jersey shore with my folks & we had a blast and i got to hit the beach and have my favorite pizza in the world.....it was terrific.....

for those of you in the philly area, i am setting a night up at a place for dinner and drinks...please get in touch with me if you are interested....and if you are not in the philly area, and just want to catch up, here is my cell phone 484-288-9457....feel free to call before july 28th....would love to talk and catch up with folks :)

before i can start sending updates from china though, there are some ones i need to get out about Switzerland, Croatia and Montenegro...which were the last three places i visited in europe.....this first round is from places in croatia and the trip i took with my middle school students to switzerland, with the highlight of the trip (at least for me) being a tour of CERN.....no - we did not get to go underground to see the large hadron collider (LHC)....but we did get a tour from a researcher at the facility and they explained just what they are looking for at CERN....

more on that later....but let's start off with some shots from dr. judy's retirement party down on the croatian coast....we stayed in a beautifully restored , old stone house, with a pool, bbq area and room for a lot of folks, just above crikvenica.....below are some shots from the amazing weekend....

this is a shot of the retiring woman herself....yay judy!!!!! as you can see we planned for a fun few nights of partying to celebrate judy's 42 years of teaching.....amazing!!! some of the folks on hand included ozren and chris....what a time we had....

bob and amy were also there for the big celebration here at the coast....molly and jake too, but they are not in the picture :)

here's a shot by the pool....more partiers.....jason, suncica, julie and gill....or should i just say jason and the harem.....

this was what we saw from one of the decks of the house....okay, not that close up....but how can you beat a castle-view.....only in croatia...er....europe.....as you can see, we had a perfect day on saturday, day of the festivities.....

in honor of judy, chris and jason made up some shirts for folks to wear....judy's was the only one that just said "retired".....it was one of the many surprises judy had that evening.....

more of the party people in the bbq area...it was a night of fun, friends and food.....a perfect way to say goodbye to croatia.....

the shot above is actually from the UN, in geneva switzerland....where i went with majority of the middle schoolers at the end of may....we took a very long bus ride and stopped at a cave in slovenia, had dinner in italy and then hit a chocolate factory, the UN, and CERN in geneva....this shot is from the room in the UN where the Human Rights Council meets....obviously they were not in session....but the ceiling of this room is incredible and 3D.....looked very similar to the cave we had been to in slovenia the day before....although it was much more colorful.....

and here i am at CERN.....for those of you who have no idea what happens here, it is one of the most important science laboratories in the world....they smash particles together in the biggest accelerator on the planet (27 km in diameter) and try to figure out how the universe started....using the very, very, very small to figure out the very, very, very big.....they do lots of other things of course, but this is what is one of the most amazing things they do.....talk about cutting-edge science....perfect for a science geek like me :) by the way....i am leaning against one of the accelerator tubes they have on display...

this picture i have included because it is mind blowing....above i stated the accelerator is 27 km in diameter.....in the red container above, the small fire extinguisher thing....is liquid hydrogen....about one-fourth of this bottle will supply enough protons for that HUGE accelerator for the next TEN YEARS!!!!! this is just incredible to me....that small amount of gas supplies enough for the next ten years....whoa!!!!!

my last trip picture is of the kids....i loved that they could pretend that they had received radiation while on this trip....i thought it would be the perfect shot for PR of the school.....and no, they were not radiated....but in this particular facility we got to see where they created anti-matter....incredible....the kids and sites were amazing on this trip and i am so glad i got to visit this once in a lifetime place.....such a science nerd i am....

this last set of pictures is from vina soskic (missing all of the accents in croatian)....amy & bob won a day at this winery, which was a fellow teacher's, wife's, family's winery (did you follow all of that)....it was a gorgeous day and we got to taste some great white wine (the reds were not my favorite)...this is a view from the building overlooking some of their vines....

and here we are - the tastin' crew....it was a lovely day and the scenery was spectacular, as were the hosts....tasty wine and cheese and bread and cherries....yummy!!!!!

this was their tasting room....love the brick and barrels.....just made for a pleasant, and not too warm experience.....

i got to ride back with stephen in his triumph convertible.....loved it....it was his wife's family we were visiting and had a wonderful day!!!! not sure you can tell....but the car, as well as stephen, is british....steering wheel on the wrong side for us from the states....so although it looks to many that i should be driving....i just got to sit back and enjoy!

last shot from the tasting....me and one of the barrels....i realize it is not a shot with me and a glass, but it will have to do....this winery was started in 1997....so they are just getting their feet off the ground....but they have a great start in my opinion and i wish them all the luck on their new adventure....

next update should be out soon....last shots from montenegro and croatia.....where i got to go to the coast in both countries....simply stunning.....a lot of people have asked if i am sad to be moving from croatia....and of course i am sad to leave some great people i have met there....but i someday i hope to get back, especially to the coast....it is an amazing place and like no other on the planet i have found....so i know i will be back there at some point in my life.....

that's all the news at the moment....remember if you would like to get in touch, either call my cell, send an email or find me on facebook before july 28th....would love to catch up with folks while i am in the states....and for those of you in pa....i will send out an email with a date and time for food and drinks....hopefully you will be able to make it.....if not, let me know and we'll try and get together at a different time....

hope everyone is well and again, happy summer to those in the northern hemisphere.....

Update #35 - Scotland, Land of the Green

2011-06-15T13:59:00.003+02:00

Calton Hill in Edinburgh......the picture everyone gets....i took it too...but it is pretty darn amazing....loved this town.....

June 15th, 2011-
hey there folks....this is probably my last update from croatia before i hit the road for the summer....in the next update i will include some shots from the croatian coast, an amazing winery we visited here in croatia and some CERN pictures from the trip i took with the kids....then montenegro and wherever else i make it during these last two weeks here in croatia....but that won't happen until i get to the states or maybe even china.....yep....china....here i come....

things here have officially ended...my stuff has been packed out of my house, my last grades and comments have been written, the last big, messy goodbye parties have been had (people let loose and tell you what they have thought of you for the past three years for better or for worse....that's what i mean by messy)....and i will be having my last trip here in europe starting tomorrow....this is the end of an era....five years on this continent and i wouldn't trade any of them.....especially because of the people i met along the way and the places i got to visit and experience....

but onto my spring break trip that i took to scotland, edinburgh to be specific....and if you have not been to this part of the world, you just don't know what you are missing....green, green, green....both in landscape and in mentality.....i was there over easter and they sure did everything to make my visit a fun one.....easter was rather traditional, in the sense that all men and boys were wearing kilts....but after breakfast with families, the scots went out on the town....fun, fun, fun......anyway....pictures of this beautiful city and countryside are below....enjoy....
this first shot is on princes street....mainly a shopping street, but it had this cool monument to sir walter scott....very cool, gothic structure that you can climb....but i felt i climbed enough of the seven hills to climb this too.....did you know that edinburgh is another city of the world built on seven hills....something i did not know....

this is the famous calton hill....the place i was staying was just on the other side of it... i liked this shot because of everything in it...nothing like a greek ruin + an egyptian obelisk and a scottish castle time keeper to make your view a pretty one.....very cool....

this shot above is some public art, outside a large church in downtown edinburgh....if you look closely at the hand, you will see its not just a hand....i love it....there was a foot too, but some kids were kissing on it and i just didn't have the heart to interrupt them for a picture i wanted....ha....

the cathedral above is the st. giles cathedral on the royal mile in the old part of edinburgh...i tried to see inside, but they were getting ready for the easter mass and would not let me in unless i was worshiping....not really my scene....but its a stunning building on the outside....actually, all the buildings on the royal mile are pretty amazing....i love the old stone architecture....beautiful to look at....

and of course this is the edinburgh castle....up on one of the hills overlooking the city....regal and royal and a very imposing structure....you can see it from pretty much everywhere in the city.....you just look up....i wandered through it on easter, figuring it wouldn't be that crowded....nope....so i spent a good deal of time outside watching the birds of prey....they had about 20 animals with them....all beautiful animals....

i did like wandering around the different towers of the castle and of course had to take one shot looking out where the cannons were located....just a good shot of the old part of edinburgh...

on my way back down the royal mile, after wandering the castle, i saw some pretty cool buskers...my favorite was this one....he had a little girl enchanted because she couldn't figure out how the glasses were moving....very creative in my opinion....

after walking all over the royal mile, i decided i needed to get a lower shot of the castle...like i said....it's just so imposing and visible everywhere....i loved it...and how amazing is it that they built it on top of this rock....who knew there had been so much volcanic activity in this part of the world....another thing i learned....

one of the days i was here i got out of town and did a tour...on this tour we went to one of scotlands lochs (lakes to non-scots)....it was a great stop and had castles along the edge, a nudist camp in an island in the middle (although as you can see it was quite chilly, so no people were seen), an amazing mountain in the distance and lots of water birds to look at....and green, green, green, as far as the eye could see....simply stunning part of the world....

this is one of the castles, turned hotels on the side of the loch....i guess its either a hotel or very expensive apartments....one of the favorite stops of the scotsman sean connery....unfortunately i did not see him getting into his car or anything.....that would have been amazing....

we also made a stop to see some scottish cattle.....this guy was shacked up with his lady and they had recently given birth to a baby....don't you love his horns....but of course, i wouldn't want to mess with him....even if he is a tourist attraction and has his hair in his eyes....he's a big hunk of cow.....
we also made a stop in a wool town....scotland is known for wool and scotch, it's everywhere....and this sheep freaked me out....yep....it has four horns....sometimes this variety can have eight horns ( i did not see that)....holy sheep.....the scotch was sort of tasty, but very expensive....they tax it like crazy in scotland and therefore its actually cheaper to buy it outside of the country....i did have a sip or two, but scotch is not my drink of choice.....

my last day in town i made it a point to go see the parliament building in edinburgh and the holyrood castle of the queen when she comes to town....obviously she was not stopping by, as this was the week before the big royal wedding....but scotland was all dressed up for the royal wedding and warm wishes for kate and william were everywhere you turned....i went through london airport on my way back to croatia, it as well was all dressed up for the wedding.....the building above is parliament.....such an amazing structure

these are actually the windows of all of the offices in the parliament building....the structure is incredible and simply crazy....there are no 90 degree corners from what i could see and the wood is gorgeous...its just really different and if you are in edinburgh, you have to go visit it....

the shot above was taken at sunset from the window of my room....on the fourth floor of this brownstone...i didn't enjoy the stairs much, but the managers were friendly and helpful...and you couldn't beat breakfast (no i did not have the haggis or blood sausage....no thanks)

i also went out to the grounds of stirling castle, but did not go inside as much of it was under renovation....i did like the statue of robert the bruce and he is actually looking out towards the monument of william wallace (the story braveheart was about)....simply beautiful countryside, with quaint pubs and fun people....i loved it....

and speaking of pubs...i have returned again to my traditional picture.....this was a tasty cider, taken with some new friends i made and shared a beer with....yummy....cheers scotland....

so there you have the shots from scotland, just like most pictures i have....they simply do not do this town or country justice....it is simply stunning and i am glad i made it before i left this part of the world....which is what is happening soon.....the next update will come from either the states or the place i will live in the for at least the next two years, shanghai, china.....what a list of travel i have for asia....as this will be the fifth continent i will live on....two more to go....

i may not get a chance to blog over the summer and this blog may not work in china, but i promise to get something set up and will still be sending out updates....thanks to those of you who have written and wished me good luck and i am glad so many people are still enjoying the updates and my adventures....i sure am....

i will be in the states for one month - july - so if you wish to get in touch, please do so....i hope to have the same cell phone number and my folks are still in the same place....so call and say hi if you get the chance and live there or are visiting....i hope you all have terrific summer and have lots of adventures of your own....more stories and travel excursions are coming, but until you hear from me again....peace out and have fun :)

Italy, Robotics in Romania & Vienna

2011-05-18T20:59:00.007+02:00

May 28th, 2011 -
Hey there folks....sorry it has been such a long time and i will try and get updates out this weekend as i am running out of time to get them done....school is ending in two weeks....yep...two weeks and i am so excited...of course i will miss all of the cool folks i have become friends with and i know a trip to croatian coast will not be so easy from china....but it is time to move on and see another continent....

at the moment i am trying to get all of the end of the year and moving stuff done...i have hired and moving company and am hoping to start the shipping process as of june 13th or 14th and then i hope to head south to see two final countries before leaving this area of the world...macedonia and montenegro....wish me luck....i am also now working on my chinese visa...incredible that i need to be there by the end of july....my time in the states will be very short....four weeks in total....so let me know if you want to try and get together this summer...east coast only...PA, NJ and maybe if i am very, very lucky NYC....will keep all of you posted....

the update you see below is from march & april...i did a bunch of traveling with my friend wendy in italy....she stopped by on her way back to the states from a summer season at the pole....i also got to go back to romania for a robotics competition...and i made it to vienna where i saw my friend carolyn from croatia and watched my friend dan finish his first ever marathon...woot!
on to the pictures....
wendy and i started our italian weekend in udine...a cute little town about three hours from croatia....i love all of the bikes you see in all italian towns....and they are always parked next to beautiful buildings....

this building was the town hall place and had some courts involved as well...i just really liked the clock on the top....just elegant....plus, it was a sunshiny day!

just about noon we had the roman cocktail as my friend bruno calls it....everyone was having one....i have to say i was not a huge fan....campari and soda i think...plus a free bowl of potato chips....it was great to sit in the piazza, in the sun watching the italian world go by....from the crazy dressed people to the kids in strollers and the kids getting out of school and of course the dogs and people on bikes.....just a great spot to people watch....

from udine we headed to padua...or as the italians call it padova....as we parked the car within the old city walls we saw this man playing his baby grand in front of one of the churches....definitely not something you see everyday...it was fun to have a gelatto cone and listen to him play....

as we were wandering the streets of padua....the birth town of saint anthony i might add, more on that later....we saw this incredible statue....i loved it...wendy was not a fan, but i just had to include the picture....reminds me of sinead o'connors really short haircut....and its probably some saint i just insulted.....sigh....
in padua's main part of town there were these two amazing markets....you could find anything in them from clothes to fruit to cheeses of all sizes and smells and of course meats and veggies....the markets were surrounded by these amazing towers and the italian flag was hanging from the buildings as you will see below...it was cool....

we walked into a random church....as there are always many in italian towns...and saw this one of a kind lectern...it was a really cool church that had a nature theme and trees and animals were incorporated into the church and the altar...i really liked it...this represented mother nature....

here is one of the buildings with the italian flag hanging along it....amazing....as you can see a part of the market is located in front of this....i loved this market and really liked this cobbled stone part of town....
and then we visited the church of saint anthony...his tomb is there and many pilgrims were stopping by to pray to him....you could also go visit the relics they had of him in the back of the church...most of which i could deal with....except for the vase/jar-thingy that contained his teeth....yep, i said teeth...and man, his teeth were not straight when he was alive...saint or no saint....it was interesting to see his robes and the church itself is incredible, both in size and beauty....it was a unexpected stop and experience....i never knew he was from padua....

this picture above is in vienna and is of me and my friend carolyn....we wandered around the nash market....we even found a turkish man selling burek and fresh oj....i got to spend two hours with carolyn and her mom, wandering the streets of one of the most perfect cities in the world....way too perfect for me....but a great visit with carolyn....

i had to include a shot from one of the veggie vendor's stalls....so many pretty colors and tasty food to try....the thing that was in at the moment in vienna was fresh wild garlic....i had some soup later with it...oh my goodness...YUMMY!!!!!

this picture is one of the robotics team....after they won the competition....WON I SAID!!!!! they were all rewarded with a round of laser tag....i love this shot because i told them to all aim at me....and as you can see, some of them took it really seriously...and they are the ones who are getting the best grades in my classes.....hmmmm....what does this say....maybe i really am a hard teacher.....hahahahahahaha....

and here i give you one of the winning robots of the winning team composed of sofia and us...our team was nicknamed the bearbots..it was an amazing competition and i hope i get to do it in china....we'll see....we had a blast and it was icing on the cake that the kids won and that i got to see some of my friends and past students at AISB in romania....some of my past kids even participated against our team....it rocked!!!!

this last shot is me with a large door knocker of a church in padua....actually the one the guy playing the piano was in front of....the church was huge, as were the door knockers...they didn't move, which is why you can see them holding me up....i know, i know...no beer in this shot, but i didn't really have beer on this trip....i was too busy having prosecco....sparkling wine in italy...it is the beginning of summer after all....

okay....that's all the news at the moment....i will be trying to get another update out this weekend... probably my last before the summer break and then the next update out will come from china....a NEW experience in total....hopefully all of you are well and i will get to see some of you over the summer in the states while i am in town....remember...get in touch if you would like to get together....sorry again for the slacker update schedule....hope to have the next out in a few days....scotland.....green, green, green....and don't forget the kilts....peace out....

Update #33 - Iceland - the land of fire and ice

2011-04-10T19:09:00.010+02:00

April 10th, 2011 -

Hi there folks....i know, i know...its been almost two months since this trip and i am finally getting around to sending out the update....sorry about that, but we have now come barreling into the fourth quarter and time is flying past....this is actually my first full weekend in zagreb since the beginning of march...and it is the last one i am here until the beginning of may....i love this time of year....it's sunny...i am hitting the road....i am eating dark chocolate ice cream and did i say its sunny.....so much better and spring break is just around the corner, when i am off to edinburgh, scotland....a new spot in my life.....woot!!!!

but let's talk about this amazing trip to this incredible place of iceland.....all i can really say is wowowowowowowow and that my pictures do not do it justice....i will return to this part of the world when i can get all the way around the island and check out some of the interior....many people have asked if it was a crazy idea to go there in february....and i, and my friend catherine who traveled with me would say NO WAY!!!! it was named iceland, but we discovered they got the name wrong....they (the vikings that is) mixed it up with greenland....iceland is green and greenland is ice....so we didn't even have snow while we were there....it was mainly sunny and beautiful....we did have a day of rain....but that's it.....

we stayed in the town of Reykjavik and really enjoyed it....iceland has a total of 300,00o people on it and about 200,00 are in reykjavik....yes...you did not read that wrong.....2/3 of them live in the capital city and its cute and quaint and has absolutely amazing food....the other big question we got from people was about the prices of things.....yes - its expensive....but is it doable....i think so....yes....and if you are a camper and hiker and rock climber, then it would be cheaper than the route we took....although you would have to go in spring/summer/fall.....and the final question people asked was did you see the northern lights - and the answer is yes...but my camera was not good enough to capture them on film.....sorry about that....but it was amazing and mostly green and it looked like an artist had swiped a paintbrush with green across the sky....it was stunning....

which brings us to the pictures....and again....my camera did not do it justice.....i thought i would start with the quirky road crossing signs....don't you love the smiley and not smiley faces....very creative....which is what icelanders are....creative....they have come up with ways to use geothermal energy and they have greenhouses that are so big and bright you can see them from space (if you haven't figured it out yet - i LOVED this place!).....

this next shot was taken from the city hall building...feeding the ducks and geese is a favorite past time of families here in reykjavik....we even saw a little kid fall in while feeding the ducks and then get rescued by some guy who was there taking pictures....it was incredible & scary....if you look at the shot close enough you can see the the ice is partially gone...and the swans are hanging out on the ice on one foot....all of them were doing this....it was wild....in the background are some buildings along the lake....iceland is a conglomeration of architecture....a real mish-mash....especially the churches....more to come on that....

they also take they art seriously and have it everywhere....i loved this "block-head" statue....it was down behind some buildings, just kind of standing there....

and here is what i meant by the churches....this is the hallgrimskikja....you can actually climb to the top of the middle tower, but unfortunately every time we walked up to the church we either just missed opening hours or there was a funeral....it just was not meant to be and is a great reason for me to go back....
i even loved this church from the back as you can see - and check out that blue sky - wowowow... i guess its a lutheran church....but we never got inside....and was named for a poet/clergyman...i just thought it was an amazing piece of architecture....as were most of the churches we saw here...and all of them were different from each other....
the next shot is of a viking ship - called the solar craft....it is along the waterway that surrounds reykjavik....it is an amazing piece of art that you can walk around and climb on and fits perfectly with the past and present of this part of the world....i love that the mountains are in the background as well....they had snow, but there was none where we were....love it!!!!!!

we wandered around all of reykjavik....and we even tried to find the harbor....but this is all we could find....it was crazy....i did find a place that i was told sold the best lobster soup and had been selling the best lobster soup for 47 years....let me tell you....it was tasty....i didn't try many of the specialties of iceland while in town....many of them i just couldn't do....but i did have lobster and a drink called black death (vodka infused with caraway seeds - yucky!!!) i did not have reindeer or whale or seal or lamb.....so maybe when i go back i will need to do that...maybe

the shot below is some more of the cool art around reykjavik....this guy is just relaxing and looking back over the lake to city hall....the picture close to the beginning of the lake - this is the same one....just a different angle.....very cool....we actually were on our way to the national museum of reykjavik....which i have to say was a very cool place, with an interesting layout....the history of this place is just amazing....it started with all of the ruffians that were kicked out of norway....and they stopped in the UK along the way and picked up women and slaves to take with them into exile.....and that's just the beginning....just crazy.....

we also made it outside of the capital city....we hit the blue lagoon...a stunning waterway that is a geothermal spa, where the water has a combination of sulfur, calcium, salt and silica....people climb into the hot water and just soak for hours (or at least that is what we did)....it is amazing and you can see from the shot below that the water is truly blue....not artificially either....it comes this way.....simply stunning,...

on the way to the blue lagoon the landscape looks like something from the side of a volcano...i have never seen anything like this except for in hawaii and the galapagos....its incredible landscape....although instead of just being lava rocks....it is lava rocks coated in green moss and lichen....just incredible....i kept trying to get pictures of this, but they just didn't turn out as i wanted them to....another reason to go back with a better camera......
on our last full day in iceland, we rented a car and drove the golden circle and then some....and it was stunning....we went to the place of the first parliament on this planet....it was founded in the place below in 930.....yep....you read that correctly.....just amazing....and this is where two continental plates slam into each other so the cliff faces and upwelling and geology of this place is incredible......
from parliament we went to these enormous falls...gullfoss waterfall...which sometimes freeze in the winter (which i wish we had seen)......so much water, but it was not frozen....because of the slush and ice here and there, we were not allowed to go down close to the waterfall (another reason to go back)....the amount of water falling was incredible....it is a two tiered waterfall and stunning....

along this route we also saw the icelandic horses that live all over iceland....as you can see they were wearing their winter coats....and i guess they were specifically bred for iceland and are found nowhere else in the world....i loved that this one stared me in the eye as i was taking the shot :)

from waterfalls, continental rifts and horses to geysers.....this was one of my favorite things we did in iceland....we stopped in this national park and you just get to walk along the edge of the geysers as they are bubbling and erupting....nothing like the strict rules and walkways of yellowstone....didn't really have the microbial colors either....but amazing to listen to, smell and watch erupt none-the-less....below you can see one of the bubbling pools....this was around 100 degrees celsius....hot, hot, hot.....

i took this shot so you could see how close people were allowed to get to the geysers....this is stokkur before it erupts....which is does every 8-9 minutes.....you can stand this close and watch it bubble and hiss.....

and when it erupts, some of the liquid may even land on you....there were a bunch of kids there when we were there (they were brits)....and they stood right where it was the wettest and then complained that the water was hot and made their clothes smell.....hmmmmmm....smart kids, that group......

while we were in town one night we went to comedy show about the history of iceland and how it all began....when we got there there was a crown on the chair to be used in the show....if any of you know catherine, you know how much she loves being a princess and because she was so good during the show as an audience member, she got to perform in it and wear the crown....all hail princess catherine!!!!!
and of course there had to be a traditional shot of me here too....of course with the viking beer....the food and drink of iceland was amazing....from the tasty lattes to the gourmet and incredibly expensive pizzas, to the homemade thai food at the best place in town and the incredible lobster soup tradition.....and of course the beer....as you can see from my smile....

so there you have it....iceland in a nutshell....i really, really , really loved this trip and i will go back there again....just not sure when....i highly recommend this place for a visit....but rest assured, it will cost a bit of money once you get there....even though the locals say everything has dropped by an enormous amount.....but it is totally worth it in my book....a beautiful land of ice and fire....i hope to see volcanoes next time around and make it all the way around the island....get there if you can....you will not be disappointed....

okay....that's it for this update.....the next one will be about a trip i took to italy with my friend wendy from the ice....and then i went to a robotics competition in romania....where my kids won...i will probably just include a cool shot of the robot....it was a blast and sooooooo cool to see past students, friends and colleagues and get to say goodbye.....my last big trip during this school year is to scotland for part of spring break....more on that, after it happens.....

hope all is well with you and your families....drop a line if you wish and i will try and get back to you....life is on full speed though, so please do not hate me if i don't get back to you quickly....the end of the year is approaching fast....yahoo!!!! enjoy spring and talk soon.....

Update #32 - Amsterdam & London

2011-03-06T14:42:00.009+01:00

March 6th, 2011

hey there folks....well, i am trying to catch back up and many folks have said they wanted to see iceland stuff as soon as possible....and although that was my most recent trip, i still need to get amsterdam in here....so i have combined my january trip to the dam and the end of my feb break stop in london for this update and iceland will be the next one sent....and what a trip that was....more on that soon....

my trip in january to amsterdam was for work....a middle school teacher conference....always a great place to see old friends and learn new strategies to handle the hormonal years of middle school....and this year i was lucky enough to get to go to amsterdam....if you haven't been here, you have missed a rare gem....i LOVE this town....from the amazing food, to the beautiful train station, to the lights and the incredible canals....of course the red light district is interesting to walk through and vapors in the air let you know you are in a place with interesting rules that differ from most places.....and the bicycles....watch out!!!!!! they will run you down and have the right of way....well, at least they seem to....what a place....

in the shot the below you see what one of the main squares was looking like all dressed up with holiday lights still....i took this shot as we were forever searching for a really good indian restaurant we had been told about....never found the place and settled with mediocre instead....but it was fun to jump the trams, walk around the small streets and see the leaning buildings (more on that later)....

i figured i would include a picture of the bicycles and how prevalent they in amsterdam....they have places for bike parking only....this is one of the biggest ones i saw, while dodging bikes of course....its right outside of the train station....so well organized and green is this town....love it....
the shot below is one that was taken across a canal....as you can see the buildings here are very tall and narrow....matter of fact at the top of most of these buildings you will find a pulley system so people who live int he buildings can haul their purchases up outside of the stairwells, which are usually super narrow!!!! the buildings on the edges of canals are running into problems these days, with sinking foundations....you can see the brick building is sagging pretty hard on the right hand side....incredible....and these leaning/sinking/sagging buildings can be found all over...i love the way the buildings look squished and that they are so narrow....makes for cool architectural views.....
of course most people know about the red light district in amsterdam....and yes, i did walk down the main canal and caught some window dressing in other parts of the city....but in most spots the women in the windows do not want you to take pictures....which was fine with me....but as i came across the window below, i had to laugh....who knew there were so many different kinds of crazy condoms....yes, these are all condoms....i actually shared this picture with my 8th graders as we were studying contraception in wellness/health....they were just as amazed....who knew???? oh, and some of these are female condoms....not male....if you need to know more....just ask....heck, if i can teach this stuff to 8th graders, i can teach it to anybody :)

one of the other cool stores i came across was this one....it was a dutch souvenir shop....and yes, the cows are on the ceiling....as i am sure you are aware, this area of the world has some of the best cheese ever....and of course i sampled some and brought some back to be shared....yummy....but this shop was definitely the winner for most creative ceiling in my book....

i have to say, one of my favorite things about amsterdam is all of the water....and the houseboats along the canals are amazing....people really take care of them.....maybe some day that will be where i will need to live for a little bit....obviously not in the near future....but you never know....

this is the train station....an amazing building and i have to say, very efficient, but always under construction....well, at least every time i have been here...i still have never seen the main museum of the city without scaffolding....beautiful, but crazy construction....

this last shot was taken at the heineken factory, as that is housed in amsterdam....and the conference where i was had our last party in this particular factory....the coolest thing is that they card you and if you are not of age in your home country, you may not partake in this adult disney world....imagine our surprise when we got to the end of the tour and were directed to the bar on the top floor....where we had an open bar with seven different types of beer to choose from and a DJ.....i sampled each beer....and was on the dance floor for a turn or two ;)

from amsterdam to london....where i spent two days at the end of my feb break.....we actually had sunny skies the first day and did the hop-on hop-off bus....it was an amazing way to see the sunshine and sunset in london....the place we stayed was right around the corner from the sherlock holmes pub....so of course we had a few drinks in there and thought about solving a crime or two.....

on the open air bus we saw all the highlights of london....including the gruesome tower of london....so much death happened here in the past....even if it is a beautiful building....

and of course i was blown away again by the stunningness of big ben and the parliament building....these are two of my favorite structures in this incredible town.....

our second day in town we actually went outside of town to greenwich, someplace neither cat nor i had been to....so close and free boat trip convinced us to go....and what a great stop for a pair of science geeks....this is one of the official time keepers in greenwich, where the prime meridian is located....so this is where longitude starts and official worldwide time is kept....

the red ball is also a time keeper....it rises to the top of the pole everyday and falls at precisely 1pm in the afternoon....why 1pm???? i have no idea....but its the same time every day and its how time was announced visually.....pretty cool.....

here you see the electronic version of the time keeper and the the line that separates east from west....

and of course, just like i did at the equator (north and south line), i had to stand over the line with one foot in the west and one in the east....very cool if you ask me....plus, we got to see all the clock inventions that had been part of the longitude race....i actually got to see the H1, H2, and H4....i know, geeky stuff....but way cool if you are into it....

on our way back into town i had to take a picture of another one of my favorite buildings....this is city hall...many londoners hate this building....i really like it....it adds a flash of modern in a rather architecturally older styled city....i know many will disagree with me...but i think this gives the thames its own flair.....nicknamed the pineapple....

the last shot i got before heading to see the show wicked - which is incredible and if you have not seen it, you really should.....was of this colorful building next to the london eye....we were amazed at how many tourists were hanging in london....so it made for crowded times, but also fun times to see all of the diversity....simply amazing....

my last shot for better or for worse, is in a british pub....this place had some tasty treats, including cider on tap.....yea strongbow!!!! yummy!!!! and how could you not stop in a pub for some chips and a beer.....perfect end to a perfect day!

so there's my update for amsterdam and london....both very cool towns, with lots to do and lots to see, every time i go back :) my next update will be out soon....i promise....it's going to cover my recent trip to iceland....wowowowowowowow.....

things here in croatia are fine.....you may see something on the news about protests, and yes, they have started here against the government....seems to be the thing going on worldwide....they have been peaceful and on the smallish side....but it's true....we are having them too....school is fine....people are stopping by from the ice in the coming months and i am excited and i have started organizing visa stuff for china....so life is rollin' on....

i hope you and your families are well and have a fun mardi gras/fat tuesday/fasnik.....and be sure to have a doughnut....that's what they eat here to celebrate (i found out poland does too)....drop a line if you wish and hopefully i will get back to you sooner rather than later....peace out.....

Update #31 - Thailand for the Holidays

2011-02-13T14:39:00.009+01:00

February 13th, 2011

Hey there folks....sorry it has taken me so long to get another update out, but life has been crazy busy since i got back from bangkok...this past week was the school-wide science day that i organize...it went well, but kept me busy...plus i was in amsterdam for a conference and have tried to stay on top of my classes....but enough excuses....sorry

this update is for the holidays - xmas and new years - in thailand - a country i love for the friendly people, warm weather in december and january, multiple chances for swimming, the islands and of course thai food....yummy!!! this trip originally was for the job fair, but i didn't have to have that stress during my break due to already having a job....i did stay at the swanky hotel where the job fair was held and ran into many a stressed out person ...i met my new director while i was there, met up with a past student of mine and hung with one of my favorite families on the planet....

most of my time was in bangkok proper, but i did make it to one of the islands for some fun at the beach....koh samui...it was a bit rainy, but oh so nice to hit the waves and i even found a bar on the beach that had swings....

so let's move into the pictures....below is one of a tuk-tuk...i rarely traveled by tuk-tuk this trip, because they are notorious for ripping tourists off...and cabs and the sky train fit my budget and schedule...plus they were close by....however, i love tuk-tuks for some odd reason...there is no other travel like this in the world....exhaust smoke and all...love em....

on one of our daily wanderings we found a 100 yen shop, the japanese version of the american style $1 shop....it was amazing what you could find for 100 yen or less...i got some amazing postcards of kittens and pasta with really messed up english on them....love it....here are di and greg with some of their finds...definitely a fun shop with interesting things....

we also took a boat on the river - not a long tail, but kind of like a ferry for people up and down bangkok's main river - the chao praya river - this river is used by many and is a good way to see parts of the city....a lot of folks live right by the edge and i wonder what happens when the flooding season happens...i guess first floors flood...they are stilt houses and are found up and down the river bank....also in the picture below is a long tailed boat....i was on one of these at the floating market, but not on this day...i love the colors and all of them say long live the king....thai people love their king....his picture is everywhere...

one of my favorite spots in bangkok is wat pho...you will see pictures from inside the temple with the reclining buddha below, but this is shot of the temple complex from the river....we did get out and wander through the amulet market....and of course we were wondering how all of these sellers stay in business as most of the amulets were of the same thing...but i guess amulet buyers know what they are looking for...we didn't....

this was my second xmas celebration with the watts (the first was with them in ghana)...wasn't it nice that they gave me a stocking...those watts sure take care of me...here i am with alysha and kelsey....smiles all around...the coolest thing about most of my gifts from this family was that they were for china next year....planning ahead for me...it's so good to have friends where you are headed....

the day after xmas i headed to koh samui....where i stayed a place right on the beach that had its own swimming pool....i read and swam and ate and drank and read and swam....i am sure you get the idea....it was a slice of heaven...below is a shot just down the beach from where i stayed...loved the big rocks and had dinner looking over them on the beach at a cute place.... i even found a bar that had swings for seats...one of the dreams of mine if i ever own a bar...loved it and the cute bartender lady-boi who had much better hair, nails and style than me....he was a sweetheart and made a wicked capiroshka....

i headed back up to meet the watts for new years in bangkok where we found the celebration in the center of town filled with blinky lights for everyone and christmas lights and amazing fireworks....the streets were filled with thais...most of whom were sober and having a great time...it was a mellow, yet exciting way to spend new years and we did have one round of drinks before the fireworks...we did not however snack on the fried bug selection we saw on the street...maybe next time....

my favorite thing for new years eve though was a temple we happened upon....here you can see it below....we walked to the edge of the entrance and asked the guy there why everyone had strings wrapped around their heads....and he told us the string came from the robe that was wrapped around the buddha in the temple for the year and everyone was meditating and sending their thoughts as one to the buddha through these strings....it was incredible and gave an amazing sense of peace and community....and through it all the four monks in the front of the temple chanted....it truly was magical...and i felt it was a perfect start to the new year....

the celebrations that occurred downtown were at the site where a bomb had exploded about a year ago in bangkok.....so there was a lot of security...but most people seemed sober and were having a good time....below you can see the colorful changing xmas tree that was in the middle of it all...

for the fireworks, we were literally right under them....it was amazing....they were intense and powerful and everywhere you looked for the time they went off....it was awesome!!!!

one of the things we all did together was go to the patpong night market, where you have to bargain hard for what you want....we stopped in this random bar to get a quick drink and watts let me take a family shot....then it was onto shopping....both alysha and kelsey have gotten quite good at bargaining since living in ghana and now china....you go girls!!!!

on new years day, greg, di and i went to wat pho to get the new years blessings from the monks there....this is where the reclining buddha is located...and here is a shot of this buddha from its feet looking towards its head...he is 46 meters long (15.3 feet) and 15 meters high (5 feet) ... and the bottom of his feet are all mother-of-pearl....its my favorite buddha....and we had a great time walking around this temple complex....

there are buddha images everywhere you turn in this complex....you need to be sure to look up and down as the ceilings and floors are incredible...as are all of the stone statues and images....just an incredible place all around....very cool to receive blessings there on new years day!

after the watts left i visited some sights i hadn't seen before, including the public shrine of erawan...this shrine was built at the hotel with the same name to remove bad karma that had been laid down in the foundations of the hotel (or so the owners believed)...it is a stop that locals make on their way home from work and is right in the middle of town....there are dancers there and many flower sellers....i was told there is a version of this in vegas....weird....

one the trips i took outside of the city included a day at the floating market north of the bangkok....we took a long tailed boat into the market itself and then we were paddled around by a flat bottomed canoe styled boat...i was amazed at all of the tourists...i wouldn't say locals shop here at all...and the other thing that was incredible was all of the food and drink vendors...they would make you lunch or serve you a coconut drink or sell you fruit....it was way cool...here is one of the coconut vendors with one of the stall vendors....the stalls are on concrete platforms and not floating...but the food and drink vendors are in their own boats....

here's a shot of all of the boats trying to move in between one another....talk about traffic jams on the water...our paddler was a very loud lady and she seemed to rule the water ways...it was interesting to be with her....she yelled at a lot of people and then yelled at us for not giving her a tip....interesting to say the least....

in one the hotels i stayed, there was a shrine to ganesha....i really like this place, it had a open wall plan with a beautiful pool and at least three days there were wedding pictures being taken in the breezy lobby....cool place, but on the outskirts of town...

while i was visiting, i got to see one my past students, salila...we had drinks and dinner one night and as you can see the city was getting ready for the chinese new year of the rabbit...so of course we had to have our picture with a rabbit for good luck....

the shot below is from my last day in bangkok...this was the sunset view from the pool of the sheraton on the riverside, where i stayed my last two days...its where the job fair was held...talk about living the life of luxury....it was incredible and had an amazing view, as you can see....

the final shot is more of my traditional...but on the swing seats at the fun bar on koh samui...i loved it here and the staff were really nice....

so there you have it....my trip to thailand over winter break....i love this country for so many reasons and there are so many cool things to see and do....one place i highly recommend and they definitely know how to treat visitors right....i know i will be back again soon due to the proximity to shanghai....woot!!!!

i hope everyone is well....has a happy valentine's day and has started the chinese new year of the rabbit off well....next stop on my update tour will be amsterdam and next weekend for my february break i am headed to....ICELAND!!!!! i am soooooo excited...a new place to be and chase some northern lights and swim in the blue lagoon there....let's hope there are no eruptions that interrupt the trip...although how cool would it be to see an eruption live and in person :) talk soon and drop a line and catch me up on your life....
peace out and have a fab day....
dani

Happy Holidays 2010

2010-12-20T18:47:00.007+01:00

December 21st, 2010
Happy Winter Solstice to all today! An if i was in the states i would have been able to see the total lunar eclipse....so if you are there, please go outside and look for me....it will be visible in all of north america.....i am off tomorrow to thailand for the winter break.....in looking at the weather, it seems i will not need anything but shorts and swim suits.....yahoo....its a relaxing trip planned with my friends the watts....

originally i was going for the big job fair in bangkok....but i no longer need to do that.....i have a job for next year....it's official....i am headed to the shanghai community international school....woot! i will be teaching 7th & 8th grade science....with a teaching partner and other members of a department will be there too....the school is 1300 students, its a mac school and one-to-one with laptops....in shanghai....i am very excited.....

what this means for my winter break is that i get to enjoy it and not be stressed out by the looming and freaky job fair....yayayayayay!!!! i will be working at the same school as the watts, my friends i am meeting in thailand and they helped me get this position in the fast and furious way i got it.....it's great to know where i am going and to know there is light at the end of the european tunnel i am in at the moment.....yay!!!!!

anyway....i wanted to send out a happy holiday greeting to everyone, no matter what you celebrate and also wanted to let folks know where i have been in the past few months and where i am headed in the coming year....so on to the pictures.....

the first set of shots come from croatia during all souls night....i was up at the big cemetery here to celebrate and lit a candle to honor folks in my family who have passed..it is an amazing thing to see all of the candles burning at all of the graves....it was also really warm that night and there was some crazy fog in spots....as you can see in the shot above....

in this shot above you can see all of the candles that are brought to the cemetery and left in honor of folks who have died who are not buried here....they make a huge cross down the center of the cemetery with these candles and the heat coming off of them is unbelievable.....

in these next two shots i can be found in romania....i actually got to travel back to the place i lived at and the school i worked at....and where we had the coaches dinner (for speech and debate) they brought out this tray of meat and offered french fries for the vegetarians....i guess some things just never change....in the end we had an amazing salad....but it was just too perfect not to take a shot with a tray of meat....ha!

the best part of the weekend though was seeing all of the cool people i used to work with....and going to one of my favorite Mediterranean restaurants in the world...piccolo mundo...yummy....it was a great turnout and we had a blast....thanks to laura and doina for making it happen.... interestingly enough i will be headed back to romania in april for another competition....how crazy is that....twice in one year....

these next couple of shots come from graz, austria....where we went for shopping on black friday....the best part about shopping on this day here in europe is that everyone else is still working....they do not have thanksgiving and friday off like we do....i saw this street graffiti while we were walking around in the christmas market....i found it interesting that it was there.....

graz is always dressed up nice for the holidays....down the main pedestrian area, where the excellent christmas markets are, with the tasty mulled wine, they hang a bunch of xmas trees upside down from wires and light them up at night....simply stunning.....

however, zagreb does well with xmas lights and their celebrations as well....i found out this year that they spend a lot of money on putting these lights up every year....and i really like it....this is one of the only cobbled stone streets in zagreb, and it leads up into the old part of town.....

this shot was taken looking down the main road through the center of town...illica....they hang these lovely lights all along this street....they actually go out as far as my place....

this is a view of the main square - or trg as it is called here....you can see the main xmas tree, the stage where they have performers every night...and the street lights with their lights as well...

this is a bit further down....still in the main square....this tent style thing is the main bar serving mulled wine, beer and sausages to everyone....they have nightly performers in this area and it is packed on the weekends....all the way at the far end they put in a skating rink....very cool....

and last, but certainly not least, this past weekend we headed to Ljubljana, slovenia to check out their xmas market....it was rather small and they had a bunch of snow and very cold weather, but it was a great trip....it was the first time i had seen this sculpture....i love it!!!!

because it was so cold, we stopped in and had a cup of hot chocolate....also known as melted chocolate....i love this style of hot chocolate....its so thick the spoon can almost stand by itself....yummy....and perfect for the weather they were having.....

slovenia is a pretty place....and they have lots of lights too....but many of them are in crazy shapes....my favorite was a strand of DNA....i am sure you can figure out why.....

another one of my favorite sites here is the dragon bridge....and how great does it look with snow on it....in the background you can see one of the cathedrals found in this city....it was a fun day and as we left the sun was setting....just beautiful....

this last shot was taken in graz....we went to this chinese restaurant that had its menu on a scroll....i just think its a perfect shot for a girl headed to shanghai.....yay!!!!! we had a great time in graz and i am looking forward to an exciting and new challenge from living in china.....think about visiting in the next two years....maybe more....you never know

so....as is said in croatia....sretan bozic and nova godina....merry christmas, happy new year, happy holidays and all of that fun stuff.....i wish you and your families a happy and healthy new year and all the best in 2011.....drop a line and say hi if you get the chance....

Update #30 - Munich, Prague & Budapest

2010-11-28T18:49:00.008+01:00

November 28th, 2010

Hi there all and Happy Belated Thanksgiving to those who celebrated it from the States and other places. Hope you had good food and good times with family and friends.....here in croatia we had a tasty potluck including all of the regular foods found at the table at this time.....it was a bunch of fun!!!!! for black friday me and four friends headed to graz, austria to go to ikea and the christmas market in town....we had a great trip and of course got caught in a crazy snowstorm....just like the first year we went....

people have asked how the job search is going....well, its going....at the moment i am talking with two schools...one in shanghai and one in hong kong....both have their pluses and minuses, like any job, but the pluses for each seem to be great....i am still waiting to hear from one place in africa....and hopefully they will be in touch this week.....who knows, maybe i'll have something in place before the job fair in thailand over the winter break and will just get to hang out and enjoy my vacation, instead of attend a stressful job fair....i'll keep you posted and i would appreciate you keeping your fingers crossed for me :)

on to the update.....this update focuses on the three places i traveled to during september and october....three weekends in a row actually....what a good life i have....the first stop was munich, germany for oktoberfest with friends from bucharest and the states....next up was prague, czech republic....to visit friends from bucharest and see the city again with friends from here....and the last stop was budapest, hungary....so friends of mine could be in a race and we all could enjoy the beauty and fun of that city.....it was some excellent traveling....on with the shots....

this first shot is here for all of those who have never been to oktoberfest....it is crazy and intense and lots and lots of fun....this is the haufbrau house tent (yes, this is one of the many HUGE tents)....and as you can see it's wall-to-wall people....they have a live band and people are standing on the tables...there is also excellent beer on tap, some really tasty food and lots of fun to be had....outside of the tents are the fair grounds....its a party for all ages....

in this picture you see some of the crazy people i was hangin with...keith, joel, nathan and brad...all of them came from places not in germany....the states and abu dahbi....and then i was there from croatia and our hostess was from germany....it was the first time i had seen brad in about three years....
in this shot you see the whole crew....shannon and joel (from the states and very good friends of mine) nathan, brad, susie and keith.....on the table....the funniest thing about this picture is that i took it, but don't really recall taking it.....imagine that.....

the second day of oktoberfest i was hanging with my good friend darren....he came in by bus from prague to have a grand time....and we met these cool cats from slovenia....marko is the one next to me....we spent the afternoon and evening in the beer garden of lowenbrau....it was a ton of fun....and in the lower right you can see one of the steins.....1 liter....amazing.....

the weekend after munich was our october break and we headed to prague....i saw some aspects of prague i had never seen before....and it was especially awesome to have more time to catch up with catherine....in the shot above you can see that we timed it perfectly for the colors of fall....and the building is prague castle....and it's grounds....

we went around front to the main gates....where we saw the end of the changing of the guard...the gates are huge and beautiful....and the guardsmen do not smile.....

from the castle we wandered into the center of the old part of prague....and stopped at the st. charles bridge....here a guard of the bridge is threatening to take off my head....okay, i asked him to pose this way because i saw some else doing it....too much smiling to make it real....

while in prague we had a reunion of sorts of folks who used to work in bucharest....darren, jimena, cat, john simon and i had not all been in the same place since cat and i left bucharest....we had an excellent time catching up and telling stories....

one of the main reasons some of us were there was to watch the start of the NHL season.....the sat game between the Boston Bruins and the Phoenix Coyotes....unfortunately the bruins forgot to show up to this game....which was a bummer....BUT, how cool is it to be able to watch NHL hockey in europe.....sooooooo cool i tell ya!!!!!

the trip was a great time due to our hostess catherine....we had an excellent time catching up and sharing teaching stories and talking about science...its one of the main things i miss from being at a small school....i am a department of one....and miss having colleagues....that's why it was so great to hang with catherine....and because she is one of my closest friends too......

the zagreb folks on the trip are seen in this picture....amy, kristin, bob and me...it was a first time visit for kristin and bob and i know they will go back....we had such a blast in this beautiful city...

this last shot from prague just makes me smile....it is a view from the main square...and the sun is shining and we were so happy to be walking around on this gorgeous fall day...love it....

and after prague it was onto budapest....one of my very favorite "B" cities in the world...it was a girls only trip and i think everyone had a blast...in the shot above you can see one of the stalls in the central market...which is a food and souvenirs market....gotta love all of the paprika....its everywhere....

while wandering down the pedestrian street we found this green cow....why was it here you ask???? i have no idea, but i like the picture of kristin and amy hanging with the cow :)

the city of budapest has some excellent sculpture....here is one of my favorites...if you look close enough you can see the face of the person riding the scooter is facing upwards....i love that this was made from stone and is just randomly on a sidewalk for all to enjoy....

another funny shot i took was of the gals on the piano keys of the street....i think this was in honor of liszt, one of the great composers of hungary....they were pretending to play the keys like tom hanks in big....it just looks funny.....

this is the entire crew i went with....kate, judy, upside down amy, nicole and kristin....it was a mellow time and we had fun hanging with each other....some cards were played, some wine was drunk, some distance was walked and run, and some fun was had....

for the last shot i had to use my normal....this is from oktoberfest at the haufbrau house tent....yes, that is one liter of beer....and yes...i drank the whole thing....

my travels in the fall were amazing and i am so glad i have gotten to make it back to some of my favorite cities....and i got to visit and go with some of my favorite people....if you have missed any of these cities, i cannot recommend them enough....they are easy to get around, they cater to travelers and they offer many exciting things to see and do.....just go, will you????

i hope that all is well in your corner of the world, wherever that may be....and i wanted to thank those of you who looked at my class blogs....the kids were so excited to see dots show up allover the place from folks who visited them.....unfortunately antarctica again does not show up on the map....so that was a bummer....

for those of you who tried to leave a comment, you can only do that if you have gmail account or an aim account....i appreciate that you tried though and if you want to stop by and check out our sites now, they are filled with information from the scribers of the classes who have posted....

7th grade - http://www.aisz71011.blogspot.com/
8th grade - http://www.aisz81011.blogspot.com/

okay....i have to go....still have some grading before i can call it a night....again, i hope those who celebrated had a happy holiday and i wish all of you the best during this crazy, family and friend filled holiday season....drop a line and let me know how you are....i am hoping to have a holiday update....with some of my favorite pictures from the year on here....but we'll see what happens as the holiday actually approaches....all the best and have a fab day :)

European Roadtrip with Martha Part 2

2010-11-07T16:37:00.014+01:00

November 9th, 2010

Hey there folks....well, i am trying to get back to the blog a bit more frequently and therefore you get an update sooner....although i am still really far behind....thanks to those folks who wrote me to say hi and let me know they were impressed with my english skills...i guess i just wanted you to know that i do know how to type with capitals and real punctuation...and maybe it happened because i have been applying for jobs and didn't get out of the habit....

before i go any further....a strange request i know, but a friend of mine's father is not doing very well and needs a kidney...if you, or anyone you know would be willing to donate, please check out his website....all you have to do is click on the link....my friend karen would appreciate any and all good thoughts and vibes sent her dad's way....so thanks for that.....

for those interested in my job search....well, it continues...i have some good leads, but am hoping with the beginning of november i will have few more interested folks getting in touch with me....november is the month many schools ask their current employees if they are returning...if anyone here knows of a good job in asia or africa for me, i welcome any and all suggestions...i am looking for exclusively middle school science....but would entertain the possibility of middle school math/science combination or a hs/ms science combination.....thanks for all of the well wishes and send your good thoughts and vibes my way for success....i promise i will let people know what is going on as i know it :)

and now onto the second part of my road trip with martha.....the first shot actually comes from a beer town in the czech republic....plzen - yep, this is where pilsner urquell is made....and of course we had some....we stayed at a place just along the main square....where there was a festival and these really cool fountains in the shapes of greek letters....very cool.....and the beer was tasty too....

we also visited the old jewish synagogue while there....it was under renovation and had an amazing art exhibit throughout it's halls....i think it is still being used, but we weren't sure....the interior was amazing, especially the altar....i loved the arches and the blue ceilings and the stars on those ceilings....just a really cool and historical place...of course this place, along with many other jewish places, was abandoned during the second world war....but they are trying to bring it back to its former glory of the past....a very cool place.....

there was a really big storm in plzen while we were there....so we took refuge at our hotel's terrace, it was covered of course, and while drinking a tasty pilsner we were treated to a rainbow above the square and the old beautiful buildings that surround the square....cool eh?

oh look....a famous dani shot, with the tasty pilsner....too late for the rainbow, but a tasty shot none-the-less....
after plzen for a night we drove onto prague to see catherine and the beautiful city of prague....in my mind this town is the quintessential stop for old town europe.....but be careful of all of the tourists....i actually did not spend much time in the city this time....but we did go downtown around sunset and i was able to take this great shot of the castle on the hill....love it!

because i had my car with me i decided i needed to go out to the "bone church" one day....as you can see from the shot below, the interior of this church is adorned with people's bones....in this church there are bones from 40,000 people...they have a chandelier, a family crest, and an altar that is taller than me....and they are bones form real people....it's call kostnice ossuary in kutna hora, czech republic....and yes....the bones are ALL real....

i LOVED this stop....talk about right up my alley....i thought the shot below was my coolest with the light coming from behind the skull and through the eyes....freaky....it all started when a sacred man was buried here....then other folks wanted relatives and themselves buried in the same spot as the sacred man....and then the bubonic plague hit and they needed to deal with lots of bodies....so many people ended up here....every bone of the skeleton can be found and the chandelier actually has every bone of the human body used once....it is simply incredible....

the creator and artist of bone church made this so that people would be remembered in a work of art....and when you see this with your own eyes, you realize truly that it took many, many hours to painstakingly create this incredible work of art....and it had the effect he was looking for....it is a stop that people make and remember the people that gave their bones to make this awesome place....if you ever get the chance to see this in person....take it, you will not be sorry...this is one of my favorite places i have been to in europe....and i would go back if i had the time....just phenomenal....

in this picture you can see catherine, my teaching twin, who is working in prague and my trip companion martha....we had a blast hanging out together, as it had been the first time the three of us were together since our first year in bucharest....

after visiting catherine, and getting pulled over in germany...not for speeding....just for whatever....really it was a weird pullover and i think it had to do with us having zagreb plates and the germans having no idea what they were....we stopped in salzburg, austria for one night....we got lucky as it was the big music festival and their were works of art, and much music to hear and see....i loved this shot of the castle and the big ball with a fake dude standing on top of it....

from salzburg to bled, slovenia....wowowowowowowow....what a stop this one was....trying to find our farmhouse hotel was a challenge with old towns and streets that rub up against old buildings....but this town is a beaut....as you can see, behind martha there is a monastery on an island...and you can only get there by boat.....this shot was taken from the castle overlooking the entire town....simply stunning.....

plus, there is an amazing gorge with a walkway through it....the water was running hard as we had seen quite a few days of rain, but while we were walking the sun was shining....which was lucky for us, because at the big waterfall at the end, we were treated to a double rainbow....perfect end to a perfect walk.....
and of course we took a trip around the lake and found that the best view of the monastery on the island was from the opposite side of the main town...in the foreground is the monastery and in the background the castle up on the hill....just a beautiful place....

the final stop of our trip was ljubljana, slovenia....which is only an hour and half away from here....and i love visiting it....as we wandered around for the afternoon we visited a few fun shops, ate some tasty mexican food and walked along the river....i love the pink church down in the old part of town as well...it just puts a smile on my face....

and then we came back.....martha continued her trip to the coast and i got ready for school to begin...i think she got the better end of the stick on that one....but what a road trip we had...in the final picture we are in salzburg having a delicious indian dinner....with some prosecco to celebrate the excellent time we were having....what a trip....

okay....so now i am officially caught up on my summer trips this year....but since then i have traveled a few more times and this week i am actually headed back to bucharest as a chaperone for the middle school speech and debate trip....so hopefully i will be sending out pictures about munich and oktoberfest, prague and our october break visit and my weekend in budapest....and now i will need to add bucharest....its been a busy fall...job searching and trying to visit as many places as possible before i leave europe....

one last thing before i sign off....my classes have started up their blogs again and i would love it if you would check in and see what they have been doing....i am hoping to post links to our global warming/climate change commercials, some which are good and some....well....you get the idea....but they aren't there yet....when they are, i'll let you know....but in the meantime, check out the blogs.....

8th grade blog - http://www.aisz81011.blogspot.com/
7th grade blog - http://www.aisz71011.blogspot.com/

and please feel free to leave a comment....the kids love to see new "dots" show up on the map for people who are looking at what they have to say....it's really cool....so if you get the chance, check it out....

okay....thanks for reading per normal....and be sure to check out my friend karen's site for her dad and his search for a kidney match, as well as my student's blogs.....i hope you have a great american thanksgiving if you celebrate and if not....happy daylight savings.....all the best....talk soon

have a fab day :)
dani

European Roadtrip with Martha Part 1

2010-10-24T12:07:00.006+02:00

October 24th - the roadtrip before school started.....hey there folks....i am back and might be soon again with this roadtrip stuff....this is part 1 of the trip martha and i took before school started for me this past august....we saw a few folks we had worked with in bucharest, and went to a wedding party for a friend of mine from high school, saw quaint little german towns, drank beer in the czech republic, wandered around salzburg at night and hung in a great town called bled in slovenia.....it was a terrific trip and we put a lot of kilometers on the car....below are pictures from the german part of the trip....the other three countries will be in the second part of the this update....

i picked martha up in munich, where our good friend susie has moved this year....we were the first folks to see her apartment, and even made it before her shipment arrived....what a cute place it is, even if there are 88 sloping stairs to the top floor spot she has....we had a tasty dinner in an italian restaurant around the corner from susie's place and hung out catching up and hearing about how susie's new school was....it was a great visit....

from susie's in munich, we headed north to the wine growing region of germany to go to my friend jimmy's wedding party with his wife ulrike....they were married in the states this past february, but many of her family and friends couldn't make it, including me, so they had this celebration before they headed off to greece for their honeymoon....the party happened in an
old post office that was converted to a restaurant and was simply charming....you can see me and the groom before the celebration begins....this was the wein castell we stayed in....very cute...

in the shot below you can see the interior of the courtyard where the festivities were held....and then dinner was hosted in what used to be the stables.....at this celebration jim, martha and i were the only native english speakers....it was cool to play the role of jim's "family" as they couldn't make it....even though it was martha's first time meeting jim....it was terrific meeting all of ulrike's friends and family and all of us were introduced by the bride and groom over tea and cakes under the trees of the courtyard....

as you can see they had flower children helping them stroll in to the celebration and jim is a very happy man....the day was beautiful and the spot was perfect....

just another picture of the happy couple....such a great place to celebrate....

one of the best things about this celebration was how close the place we were staying was - a walk away....here we are at the end of the party - i am not sure jim remembers this picture...but all three of us look great and fun was had by all in attendance!

the next day martha and i wandered up the weinstrasse or wine road to get to brady, jeanette and charlotte's house.....i was a bit nervous that sam, the dog they got in romania, would not like me, as shown in the past, but there was nothing to worry about....along the wine road, we stopped at a wine festival and wandered around a quaint town....where people really took care of their houses....too cute

and then we were in bonn, with charlotte....what a cutie....she is such a happy kid and we had a great time getting to know her and catch up with her parents and the cute place they live....this shot is from breakfast....love it!

we took a trip to another town close by that was on the river to have lunch and walk around one day.....it was the end of brady's vacation and he really wanted to get out....they were also in the process of buying a car, which was successful the day we left....yahoo....maybe they will come down and visit me!
we also walked around the part of bonn they lived in....it was also well kept and quaint....plus we had some tasty ice cream....yummy and found an amazing indian grocery store - yahoo!

i love this picture of the happy family - brady, jeanette, sam and charlotte....too cute :)

before leaving we got to have breakfast on the deck one last time....it was a fabulous visit and i hope to get there one more time before leaving this part of the world...we'll see.....here we all are celebrating the time we had together.....

and then we headed towards prague....before getting there martha and i stopped in a very cute town called bamberg, which is known for beautiful buildings, especially a fresco-ed church, and smoked beer...which we both had....very interesting....this was my favorite piece of art in this town....very cool and overlooking the river that separated the main part of the city from the old part.....it reminds me a lot of the head in krakow's main square....although this one is upright and that one is not....don't know why....it just does....

this is the church that is completely painted on the outside and located between the old part of town and the new part of town....its amazing looking and they light it up at night making it even more stunning....

after dinner we walked up to where the main government buildings are located and the main cathedral of the city....nobody was up here, which was both cool and creepy....but the buildings in this area of town were incredible....and oh so gothic :)

okay....this brings us to the end of the first part of the trip martha and i took together...in the following update we will have part two including prague, plzen, salzburg and bled....all amazing places in their own right.....until then i hope all is well with each of you and that you have a happy halloween wherever you are in the world....

sorry i have been missing for the past two months, but i have resurfaced and am trying to catch up with things....so if you wish to send an email, please do and i promise i will let people know about how the job search is going....if you hear or know of any positions you think i would be perfect for or interested in, please, please, please get in contact....thanks for all of the well wishes....and catch you on the flip side.....

Summertime Visiting 2010

2010-10-24T00:17:00.011+02:00

October 23, 2010
Yep - time is fleeting, as they say in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (which Glee will be performing this coming week - YAY!) I just never seem to have enough time to do everything I need to and this blog always comes in last place. I am in the midst of a full-fledged job search and it is taking up much of my time. Plus I have school and have been traveling the past three weekends. Okay - the traveling was for pleasure, but it still took time. I am trying to visit one more time all of my favorites in Europe - so I hit Munich for Oktoberfest, Prague for October Break and Budapest because friends of mine were in a 10k run/walk.

But I am finally writing the blog posts from the summer....and hope to get out another update before the weekend is out and this day has ended. School is going fine - busy and crazy, per normal. Although this time it has been heightened in craziness because my 7th and 8th graders are finishing up a HUGE project about Global Warming and Climate Change. It included researching and combining information on google docs as a class, writing an essay and filming a commercial with about personal opinions and ideas of those two topics. It's been some work, but things are turning out well. We will post the commercials on blogs and I will send you addresses to view them if you so choose.

Below are pictures from my trip to the States this past summer and many of the folks who are in these pictures have specifically asked if they would make it to the blog....so they did :) I was in the States to see family and friends and to attend an amazing conference in Boston. First stop in that part of the world was to my friends Flo & Bob's place. Interestingly enough there had been a fire right around the corner from their house and this is what happened to the vinyl fence across the street from the fire. It looks like melted chocolate....doncha think....

In this shot you see Flo & Bob - we were having the traditional New England foods of New England Clam Chowder, Lobster Rolls and Fried Clams.....it was tasty!

Lunch was a reunion for three of us from college days - Flo, Judy and me. We had done this last year too and if I go back for my excellent conference next summer we hope to do it again. It was a blast to catch up and hang out again with these gals....and don't forget watson the wonder dog...

During the conference I met up with a bunch of old friends for dinner and such. One delicious middle eastern dinner was with sarah and melissa....friends from seattle who live in boston (although sarah has moved on these days to philly)....

My partner in crime for this trip was judy...she wanted to experience the conference and boston as well...so she got to meet all of my old friends, and hang in one of my favorite cities....we had a blast....
i also met up with my old student and current friend anna....we went out to a delicious indian restaurant which i was sooo happy about....judy lived in india for 4 years and she said the food at this place we went to was perfect....that's a HUGE compliment....yummy!!!!

when we weren't in the conference, which was very little time, i wandered around the city remembering all of the good times i had there during school and taking some pictures....i know everyone has the picture you see below...but i love my camera and i think it took an amazing shot here of trinity church and the hancock building....love it....

and here's the reflection shot everyone takes while they are visiting copley square...because it is just beautiful....
another group of folks who got together during my visit were band folks...brothers and sisters we can say.....we went to the whiskey priest...my first time....what a fun place...plus, squeeze and cheap trick were playing just down the street....it felt like the late 80s all over again :)

my trip would not have been complete without visiting with the next couple....michael and lisa....we went to this tasty place just around the corner from our hotel....the coolest thing, besides hangin with them, was that the restaurant was filming a cooking show while we were there....we weren't on the set, but it was still cool to watch....

after the conference was over, i got to hang with vlad....we went to this beach party and i think we were the oldest people there....but fun was had by all and vlad was happy that he got to "ice" a few of his friends....it was terrific to see him and the new triplex he is the proud owner of....and to think....i met him when he was a mess of a kid.....ha....you've come a long way baby!

back in the philly area, i got to hang with my whale house sistahs, susie, lou and monique, down in manayunk....it was a tasty dinner and the first time in a few years the four of us had gotten together....
i also hung out with my science buddies from science explorers....tracy, jen and karen....we went to this place called lemoncello in west chester....and the bartender there was one of the only ones on the entire trip that could make me a capiroshka.....ciao bellas.....

one day of course was out at the pool with joan and kenny at old forge crossing....both of whom are enjoying their lives of leisure these days.....

and then i met folks out for drinks and again it was a reunion of sorts....its always so interesting to me to see who comes out and joins me and how they all get along....there were a few pleasant surprises that night....with one of them being kristen....a woman i played volleyball with one summer....it was way cool to see her and it had been a few years since we connected....

plus, joel and mary came by as well....we caught up on all of the newest things of their kids and life....it was great to see them as always....

and of course there was the great valley crew....the biggest surprise this time around was that eric came out to play....it was so great to see him....in this shot we have eric, me, debbie, karen, shannon and jimmy....
i also made it to nj while i was in the states....and one of the folks i saw was pat...my old science department head from my first teaching job....we realized we hadn't seen each other in a very long time, so it was great to catch up on everything that had happened from then to now....

i also got to hang with some folks from my first post teaching....richie, drew and sue....i hadn't seen drew since i left either...it was a trip catching up with him....and as always, it was terrific staying with sue and richie and hanging out with them....

jimmy and wendy also joined us for a yummy cuban dinner at cuban pete's in montclair....jimmy i know from croatia when he student taught here and wendy and i worked on the ice together....where she has just deployed to again....although this time its to the pole....you go girl!

one of my last nights in town was with shannon and joel.....i always have to have one night with the friend i have known the longest....i even got to see her dad while we were out....

i also met up with my friend laurie from BU....trying to find each other halfway from where she was to halfway from where i was, was a challenge.....but in the end it worked out and we had a delicious lunch together.....

and of course i hung with greg....what a guy and always a good time....smooches

the last few days were with my parents....as always it was wonderful to spend quality time with them and be close by for the unexpected....they are the reason i am who i am, and for that they are the most important....love ya and miss ya....

now, i realize this is not my normal last shot for a travel update, but one of my favorite stops along the way on this visit to the states was to my favorite pizza place in THE WHOLE WORLD!!!! mac 'n' manco's down in ocean city, new jersey.....i realize this sounds pretty crazy, but believe you me....they are the bestest!!!!! i had to take this shot to show you all how happy i was to be there....YUM!!!!!!!
okay....there you have it....my fast and furious trip to the east coast this past summer...thanks to all of those who made it possible, met me for food or drink, let me stay at their place and showed me a genuinely excellent time....YOU all make it worth it to come back and visit....so thanks....

the next update i hope will be coming your way today.....it will be done in two parts and is my road trip around europe with my friend martha to visit friends from bucharest and pretty places along the way....it was a fantastic end to my summer...and i can't wait to show you the pictures....

peace out and be sure to keep it real.....

Summer has ended - Croatian Cruise

2010-08-29T19:18:00.009+02:00

August 29th, 2010

Hi there folks.....long time no talk with you....actually it's been for my summer vacation....and what a summer i had.....at this point i am back in croatia, and we have already been in school for a week and a half....not a bad thing.....just a work thing.....

i had an amazing holiday for a bunch of weeks....and for the first week off, i was in croatia....on the southern portion of the coast, also known as the dalmation coast.....i was on a boat with five friends and about 40 other people.....it was a terrific way to start my summer vacation....

i also spent 5 weeks in the states - PA, NJ and MA....seeing family and friends and going to an amazing conference again in boston.....and then i was back in europe for two weeks before school began, traveling with my friend martha from bucharest times to see other bucharest people in germany and the czech republic, as well as attend a good friend's wedding party in the wine region of germany.....we also stopped by salzburg in austria and bled in slovenia - WOW is all i can say about bled this time around....pictures in a future update.....

so all in all it was a great holiday away from croatia.....and this update is focusing on the part that did occur in croatia....the cruise.....below you can see our boat....it held about 50 people including vacationers and the captain and crew.....the captain and crew were not very nice people, which was a bummer....but the boat had only been on the water 3 times previously and the islands we stopped by and saw were amazing.....

we met the boat in split...about four hours from zagreb and our first port of call in the evening was makarska....where we partied in a cave....there was a huge thunder and lightning storm happening out at see and the cave was the perfect place to stay dry and watch it happen....while sipping tasty beverages.....the folks in the picture below are the cool cats i traveled with...left to right - bob, susie, cynthia, sally and matt....it was a fun crew that got along and had a good time hanging and getting to know each other.....here we are in the cave....

As we traveled along the croatian coast, we had many views of stunning water and wineries along the edge of the adriatic....in the shot below you can see one of the many wineries....i guess most folks in croatia grow grapes to make their own wine....we did sample some from a winery along the way....but this is not that one....that was when we stopped a VERY small place called trbnik....where we had the largest and tastiest pizza ever....it was incredible....

this next picture is me trying to imitate these great artists here in croatia who take shots of the beautiful water on the coast....i have two of their photographs....and although mine is not as clear and perfect as theirs, i do like this because it does show you what the water looks like along the adriatic coast....this shot was taken on the island of mljet....most of the islands is a natural park and they have two huge salt lakes we walked to and swam in....it was terrific....

in the following picture you can see the small, very small pot of mjlet where we stayed the night....one of the boats we were tied to here had a HUGE party and we got caught in a HUGE thunder and lightning storm....and got SOAKED!!!!! it was amazing.....for the beginning of the trip we had quite a bit of rain and thunder and lightning, but by about mid-week things finally did clear up and we got some sun....

but the place where we hit the biggest storm was dubrovnik.....a medieval, walled city that is stunning to experience, as you will see from the few pictures that follow....this town has been around for centuries and when we arrived, it was to an enormous storm that included hail....we stood under the awning of a hotel/restaurant for two hours waiting for the rain to stop....and three of the six of us were drenched....including me....but for some odd reason i had packed jeans and an extra shirt in my backpack that weren't soaked....go figure....this first shot of dubrovnik shows you how narrow the alleyways are there....and all of the stairs you can climb to the highest part of the city....it is built on the side of a mountain :)

as you can see from the shot below, the clouds were menacing even after the storm, but the sun did win out....i love this clock tower in the main square along the main way of dubrovnik....

and then we climbed the walls.....WOW, is about the only word i have for that experience....it took us about 1.5 hours to make our way all the way around the walls, and it was stunning....the views of the roofs of the houses, the sea, the small port, the drawbridge, as seen in the picture below....just incredible....this is why this city is so spectacular and i am so glad i have been there and walked the walls myself....with very few people....it was june and the rain storm had sent many people away....we were very lucky :)

this hot is one of my favorites....the roofs of dubrovnik....simply amazing....you can see some of the wall to the right of the picture and that is where we had actually started this walk....and we were coming close to the end in this shot....BUT in this shot, we are at one of the highest points along the wall, hence why you can see so much....
another town/island we visited was korcula, which is where marco polo is from....the italians and the croatians don't agree about him being roman or croatian, but they do agree he wasfrom here.....the stirs you see below are the way into the old part of the city....while we were here we were treated to a spontaneous choir competition...because net to where we were having dinner had fabulous, outdoor acoustics....it was an added bonus to this stop :)

after korcula we headed to hvar....the playground of the rich and famous (and us for a night) on the dalmation coast....we had a stupendous dinner and pre-dinner wine tasting on this island/town....it was a fantastic stop....

one of the other beautiful stops we made was to this beach....we were so happy, there was decent coffee and fruit cups to be had while on this spit of land....some folks got in a swim too....just amazing

the last town we stopped in was split, where the whole adventure had begun....it was terrific....and roman ruins were everywhere in old town....plus it was bob's birthday so we did it right for our last night together....below you can see part of the roman wall that still stands in the center of town, it surrounds a palace.....

the next shot is split by night....just amazing.....the architecture, the lighting, the history....

but the trip had to come to an end....unfortunately....what a trip it was....incredible swimming, terrific meals on the islands (not on the boat though), a great bunch of folks to hang with and a fantastic way to start my summer vacation.....we may be trying to do it all again next year....but we are thinking of a smaller size experience...i'll keep you posted though....all-in-all it was incredible and i am really glad i got to see the beauty of the southern croatian coast (dalmatia)

the final shot is me on the wall of dubrovnik....hanging in one of the guard towers....what a view....

so i hope that you and your families and friends have enjoyed our summer (or winter in the southern hemisphere)...i sure had an amazing time...but now its back to work for this girl....i am in croatia for another year, but am earnest putting effort into finding a job elsewhere for next year...it has been fun being a big fish in a little pond....but now i need to get to asia or africa and be somewhere that is bigger....small schools, although incredible in their own right, are not really my choice for the future....i want a science staff....not just me....i want a middle school team that focuses on the middle school student....

so wish me luck in this quest....i promise i will keep you up to date....and if anyone works in asia or africa in a setting like the one describe above....please let me know if something opens in your school for next year as a middle school science teacher.....

hopefully the next update will be out soon.....hope all is well and that you are happy and healthy....drop a line and say hi if you choose :)

peace out.....dani

Lisbon, Portugal - Spring Break 2010

2010-05-19T21:11:00.009+02:00

May 18, 2010

Hi there folks.....sorry it has been longer than promised for this update about my april trip to lisbon, portugal....time in the last month of school just seems to disappear and as i type this update i have 15.5 days of school.....YAHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

it's been a crazy year for me...from my friend judy having her brain explode & live throughit, thank goodness....to a great group of 7th grade (the grade i normally do not like) and a horrible group of 8th grade (usually my favorites)....to making the decision to stay longer than intended because i just didn't feel like job searching....and now i wonder if i made the correct choice....but we live with what we choose....to having only 15.5 more days left and a packed calendar until that date of freedom.....and so it goes.....

but onto the update about my trip to portugal....which i took all on my own....many people ask if i get lonely when traveling by myself....well, of course at times....but i really like making my own schedule, seeing what i want to see, eating when i want to eat and having whatever i want....it's a pretty good deal.....don't get me wrong, i love traveling with people too, but you learn quickly if you will travel together again soon after your trip has started and there are folks i will travel with again, and others i will not...i am sure you understand

so i like traveling alone.....and with people....so this summer should be a good one....but back to portugal.....wowowowowowow....what a great town this one is....so much old world charm.....they may be in the EU....but its got more soul than many of the polished cities of the EU....with its cobbled stone streets sporting many sea-oriented mosaics...to the old world rickety tram system....and modern underground....to diversity on every corner due to being so close to africa....its a terrific mix of old world and new and i really enjoyed it and may try and get back when its a smidge warmer to be able to go swimming along the coast.....

i was in the city for easter....not the greatest time to be there, as it is a catholic country and everything shuts down....but its a fabulous town to wander up and down the streets of and there is lots of music and water to be seen and heard....and it's hilly....really hilly.... the old town is in a valley between two hills...on top of one is the castle and on top of the other is the remains of a burnt out monastery....easter sunday i wandered up and down both of the these hills, took trolleys and explored all over....i even was lucky enough to come across a ben and jerry's that was open....haven't seen one of those is a long time

i did get out of the city for one afternoon and what i saw of the coast of this country was stunning...it has a beautiful coastline....some that is the best on the world for wind surfing

and some that is great for swimming....and of course lisbon is along a river that empties into the ocean and much of its history is tied into the sea and exploration....it's a cool place that i recommend for tasty food and port, beautiful vistas, and lots of old world charm.....plus, it is a bit cheaper than many other countries of the EU...always a plus :)

okay....onto the pictures......the first shot was taken in the old part of town where they have this cool elevator that links the monastery hill to the bottom of the valley...that's the grey thing in between the buildings...i didn't take it, but it's wild, you turn the corner and suddenly see this elevator to a place you can't see at the top....crazy...

the second shot is also down in the old town....you are looking at one of the main theaters of lisbon, but i took this picture mostly for the mosaic tile on the square than for the building itself...

this tile was everywhere and all of it has a story....this one in particular was made to represent waves of the water....cool huh!!!!

the third shot is one of my very favorites....it was easter and i walked into the biggest cathedral, that had just mass, and was closing up....and look at what i saw....it was incredible....this shaft of light....amazing....and what perfect timing....so i lit some candles for my grandmothers....and wished them well and left....loved it :)

the next shot was taken up on the hill where the monastery is, looking over the city towards the river....you can see the castle across the city and that is where i walked to next....

this shot was taken from a spot where i stopped to have coffee, read a book & listen to some terrific buskers....they were playing fado....these songs are often played in a minor key and are of course all about love lost and love hoped for....these players were terrific...and an interesting mix of men and women and different ethnicities....

from this almost too perfect stop i hiked up the hills to the castle...where i got to climb the walls and look down on the city and the river...this is one of the towers i climbed and at one point i got the perfect shot of the flag of portugal waving....

after hanging at the castle for the afternoon....reading, catching some sun and watching people, i headed back into the main part of town....took a trolley....these are very similar to the trolleys of san francisco, except no outside seats or hanging off...which means no getting wet in the rain :)

the day after easter i toured some places on the edge of lisbon and outside of the city....i took this shot of the maritime museum and monastery of jeronimos from one of those hop on and hop off buses....awesome buildings that i went into the next day....but this was the better picture....

outside of the city i went to sinstra....and the pena palace....a castle up on a hilltop with many different architectural styles....making it seem more like a frosted birthday cake in my opinion....it was wild....

here's a shot from the main entrance the other picture i took here is based on mythology and the sea...they call it the triton - half-man, half-fish....and he watches over the gateway of creation....i loved it!

from this incredible palace we drove out to the coast to the farthest point of continental europe without falling into the ocean....here you see me at that spot with the sea and light house behind me...spectacular views here....but really windy....this is the area that is known for wind surfing.....i even got a certificate that said i was at this spot on the globe...pretty cool :)

the final day in lisbon i was back on the outskirts of town....in the belem district....i stopped by the monument of discoveries....i loved this statue...it was built to honor the many people who left portugal is search of the passageway to other lands like india and the west indies and parts of africa....even to circumnavigate the globe....i really wanted to show you what the whole thing looked like and this was the best i could do....this was taken from the terrace of the modern art gallery across the street....the gallery itself was awesome!!!!

they had this amazing exhibit of soft sculpture made from colored cloth and done as creations people of all ages could snuggle up to & roll around....this next shot is of part of that sculpture....you can get a sense of size with the person standing in the picture....it was fun to watch adults and kids play among this art....and then they had a part where you could create your own....they also had a chandelier made entirely of ob tampons still in their wrappers....you couldn't tell what it was until you got up close....it was wild....

the next shot is the tomb of vasco de gama....the same man who stands at the front of the statue in the last set of pictures....it was in the monastery of jeronimos....and i thought it was neat to see the ceiling and walls have such a sea oriented motif....the entire church did....it was a cool combination of religion and ocean.....

the last shot is not from portugal....but i got complaints from people who missed the shot at the end last time of me plus a beer or a drink....so i have included one from the recent labor day celebration here in zagreb....it was saturday and the city makes beans and bread for everyone....so went we and enjoyed the celebration...i didn't have any beans as they were of course cooked with meat (its croatia afterall :) but i did have some of the beer that was being served....and it was a beautiful day....

okay...hope you enjoyed this update....again i am sorry it took a while to get this out..and this will be the last "regular" update....i will be trying to get one or two out over the summer as i have some amazing plans that include sailing in the southern islands of croatia, hanging in boston for a conference and meeting up with friends, and hanging in PA....i may try to hit NJ, NYC and DC too, so if you live in one of those places, you may hear from me saying i am coming your way :) and then i am traveling in europe in august before school starts with a few friends and visiting a few folks :) it should be a blast :)

so i hope all of you have a terrific beginning of your summer and that each of you does something fun and different over the summer as well....and i should be dropping you a line

at least once over the summer and then will pick updates back up again for the next school year here in croatia...i am hoping to make it to prague, ireland, macedonia, montenegro, and maybe iceland before i am done here in europe....but we'll see what happens....happy summer to you and yours and drop a line and say hi if you get the chance....thanks for reading and looking at the pictures :)

Have a fab day :)

dani