There probably won't be much activity here for the next couple of weeks as we are heading home for the holidays. We're flying out of Shanghai Wednesday evening, which will put us in Cincinnati around 11:00 Wednesday night. This is a busy time for everyone but we really hope to have a chance to see everybody. Look us up if you're in Madison and have a few minutes to spare.
On a completely different note, I've been playing around with Google Earth (or Google Earf' as we call it in the 'hood) lately. I've been adding placemarkers to some of sights and scenes around Shanghai, several of which I've mentioned here in this blog. I was hoping to be able to add these markers to the blog so you could get a better feel for what it's like here but have had no luck. However, I can send them in email. So, if you use Google Earth, and if you are interested, shoot me a note at baamick@gmail.com and I will send these to you.
And lastly, don't forget..."Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."
Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Monday, December 17, 2007
Eat Your Heart Out, Charlie Brown
When it comes to sad looking Christmas trees, Charlie Brown's got nothing on us. We had decided that we weren't going to bother with putting up a tree since we're going back to the US for Christmas, but anyone who knows me knows that I can't pass up a bargain. The school was selling trees for 120 yuan ($15) at their Christmas bazaar. It wouldn't fit in our van so we had to pay some guy another 10 yuan to haul it to our house on his bicycle (actually it was a flat bed, three-wheeler). So we got a live tree, with a pot and delivered for about $16. But then, it looks like a sixteen-dollar tree.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Christmas Wishes (Lost in Translation)
I believe I've mentioned Shen Bo in a previous post but in case you missed it, he is our driver. He takes us anywhere we need to go, helps carry groceries, runs errands...in short, anything we ask. He is safe, professional, and polite, unlike many of the other drivers. In a way, he has also become part of our family. When he showed up this morning, he brought some Christmas presents for us. I really wish he hadn't done this. He doesn't make that much money and he has a new baby so I'd rather he spend it there. Anyway, a thank-you note was attached to the bottle of wine he gave to Kristi and me. He signed the card with:
Dear Brian,
Wishing you every happiness when Christmas is near and expressing appreciation for your care and concerns during these months.
Sincerely,
Shenbo
Shen Bo's English skill aren't that good so he obviously had help and went to a lot of trouble to do this. We were very impressed and touched that he would do this. Anyhow, later Emily was looking at the card and she actually read the embossed printing on the front. It said:
Thank You. These lonely nights have taught ne a lesson. Now I appreciate your love more than ever.
You know, I've been staring at the draft of this post for about ten minutes now trying to come up with something witty to say about this. I don' t know what to say other than I really, really hope he has no idea what this card said.
Dear Brian,
Wishing you every happiness when Christmas is near and expressing appreciation for your care and concerns during these months.
Sincerely,
Shenbo
Shen Bo's English skill aren't that good so he obviously had help and went to a lot of trouble to do this. We were very impressed and touched that he would do this. Anyhow, later Emily was looking at the card and she actually read the embossed printing on the front. It said:
Thank You. These lonely nights have taught ne a lesson. Now I appreciate your love more than ever.
You know, I've been staring at the draft of this post for about ten minutes now trying to come up with something witty to say about this. I don' t know what to say other than I really, really hope he has no idea what this card said.
Monday, December 3, 2007
The Good and the Bad
This blogging thing is not easy. When I started this, I had no idea how difficult it would be to come up with interesting stuff to write about. Alright, maybe I'm giving myself too much credit - I hope you've found this at least mildly interesting. Anyway, at first it was pretty easy as we started finding our way around the city and seeing some of the sights but now that we've been here a few months and gotten into a routine, it's a little more difficult. On the other hand, there is one advantage to being settled in. We have started to get some idea of the things that are better here, as well as the things that are worse. In the past few months, we've also began to discover the things we really miss about home and the things we don't miss at all. So to fill this space until we do something interesting, I'm going to post a few entries here about the good and bad of living here.
The first bad thing is easy - the water. The tap water here is unfit for consumption, at least for Westerners. It doesn't bother the locals, who drink it like - well, like water - but it has some serious adverse effects on foreigners (think Mexico). It's not too bad in our home, where we have a filtration system that cleans it up pretty well but in some of the hotels I stayed in before we moved here, the water was a little yellowish and had a definite odor to it, kind of like kerosene. Our filtration system, however, doesn't do anything about the microbes so you still can't drink it. It's fine for bathing, washing dishes and laundry - I even rinse my toothbrush with it. You just don't want to drink it, but it's almost impossible to avoid entirely (ice at restaurants, washed produce). I know that doesn't sound like a big deal but think about how many times you grab a glass of water as you pass thru the kitchen or open your mouth in the shower. Those things are so common that you don't even realized it until you can't do it anymore.
So we have to use bottled water for all cooking, drinking, ice, etc. Fortunately, bottled water here is pretty cheap. We have a dispenser in our kitchen that takes the big bottles. We use a brand called Sensation, which is a Coca-Cola product. The bottles are 18.5 liters (almost 5 gallons) and cost about $2. The best part is that we don't have to go out and buy them. We just call the service center for our apartment complex and someone shows up with a new bottle.
Perhaps the worst thing about not being able to drink the tap water is that you can't just order a glass of water with your dinner. The only water you can get at a restaurant is a small bottle (usually Evian) that costs about 30-35 yuan ($4-5). Actually, mentioning restaurants gets into a whole other good/bad topic but it's getting late so we'll save that for later.
The first bad thing is easy - the water. The tap water here is unfit for consumption, at least for Westerners. It doesn't bother the locals, who drink it like - well, like water - but it has some serious adverse effects on foreigners (think Mexico). It's not too bad in our home, where we have a filtration system that cleans it up pretty well but in some of the hotels I stayed in before we moved here, the water was a little yellowish and had a definite odor to it, kind of like kerosene. Our filtration system, however, doesn't do anything about the microbes so you still can't drink it. It's fine for bathing, washing dishes and laundry - I even rinse my toothbrush with it. You just don't want to drink it, but it's almost impossible to avoid entirely (ice at restaurants, washed produce). I know that doesn't sound like a big deal but think about how many times you grab a glass of water as you pass thru the kitchen or open your mouth in the shower. Those things are so common that you don't even realized it until you can't do it anymore.
So we have to use bottled water for all cooking, drinking, ice, etc. Fortunately, bottled water here is pretty cheap. We have a dispenser in our kitchen that takes the big bottles. We use a brand called Sensation, which is a Coca-Cola product. The bottles are 18.5 liters (almost 5 gallons) and cost about $2. The best part is that we don't have to go out and buy them. We just call the service center for our apartment complex and someone shows up with a new bottle.
Perhaps the worst thing about not being able to drink the tap water is that you can't just order a glass of water with your dinner. The only water you can get at a restaurant is a small bottle (usually Evian) that costs about 30-35 yuan ($4-5). Actually, mentioning restaurants gets into a whole other good/bad topic but it's getting late so we'll save that for later.
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