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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Update #37 - The LAST European Update for awhile!

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

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.....