Ni Hao : )

Hi. I just wanted to let it be know that I am itching for a vacation. We can't really take sick days or "mental health" days here . . . because if you need a sub YOU DON'T GET PAID. Talk about motivation. Supposedly there are three personal days, but even if these elusive personal days exist, your bonus at the end of the year will be lower if you use them. Part of the bonus is based on perfect attendance. Talk about motivation. I don't think I ever abused my sick days at home, but I definitely was willing to use them when need be, and right now would be one of those times.

Oh well.

We did have a great weekend at least. On Friday, we headed over to XuJiaHui (the closest place to us that is not the ghetto : ) and we had an amazing Italian dinner. It was a close call between that and Noodle Girl (Asian food) but I think we made the right choice. We split a pizza and pasta . . . mmm . . . so good. After that, we just started wandering. We ended up walking back toward the Indoor Stadium. We had a successful jaunt in another random DVD store (I think I am getting into this bootleg thing too much) and then headed over to the Starbucks in the stadium. I know we are in China, and it seems that we are trying to recreate America, but if you were actually with us that evening, you would see how you really can't take the China out of anything in China. It is funny on a good day . . . and beyond frustrating on bad day. But Friday was a good day. It had been raining pretty badly for the past few days, so the reprieve from being wet that felt great--as did the (relatively) fresh coolness that the showers left behind. We just hung out at Bucks for a while and talked because for once, we didn't have our books on us.

One of our main topics of conversation was if we should spend two years in China and a third in Japan. I sort of imagine a three-year plan, but Denis is on a two-year plan. I guess the thing with me is that once I get home, there really isn't going to be anything new. I can't ever see NOT teaching in my future. So this is my time to mix things up a bit before I settle in for the next twenty-some-odd years. I know that there will definitely be exciting events that will define specific times, but nothing as sure as what I am doing now. Denis will be going to school and changing careers--something to get home for. The one sure way to keep him here is Japan (as he freely admits : )

Okay, don't feel like thinking anymore . . .

Saturday, we tried (unsuccessfully) put money into our Citibank accounts. I don't know where we heard this, but someone had said that if we go to the main Citibank branch in Pudong, we can put money into our American accounts. After a long subway ride and a bit of lost wandering, we learned that this was not the case . . . we were pretty sad about this (especially me because I have a little more than 100 dollars in my account) so where did we go . . . to what used to be the biggest mall in Asia until just recently--Super Brand Mall. Okay, so this is like a major tourist destination--no joke--there were whities everywhere, as well as all sorts of bewildered non-Shanghainese Asians. The place was quite the spectacle. We weren't going to stay for that long but . . . we kind of lost ourselves in Charterhouse Books for a few hours (and God it felt so good). They had a pretty nice selection of fiction and non-fiction, travel books, and language books. It was a happy time.


Oh yeah, we also had a great lunch. We were going to make up for ditching Noodle Girl the night before, but again . . . she was forsaken. We found Noodle Plus and DAMN it was good. While Noodle Girl has better ramen, Noodle Plus had better everything else. The gyoza and vinegar were so good; I couldn't stop smiling. And even though I had been full for a while, I refused to stop eating the Japanese fried rice . . . AND they had diet cola (a rare find in Chinese restaurants). Do the wonders never cease?


I found some great Asics--very happy, as my feet were sick of getting wet in all this rain.
Denis found a great pair of jeans.
And of course, the books. Oh the books . . .

How do you even begin to top this. I'll tell you how . . . with Indian food for dinner : )

We subbed over to Hengshen Lu, and (after again, getting quite lost) found this fun little Indian restaurant called . . . Indian Kitchen (hey, originality in the name has no correlation to the yumminess of the food). The walk over, even though my feet were getting kind of cut up by my shoes, was refreshing. This area is kind of calming--it is between XuJiaHui and the French Concession, so it has the charms of both neighborhoods, but not the craziness. Everything just seemed too good, so we didn't expect too much from the restaurant . . . but it totally exceeded our expectations. The naan was great. The chicken tikka was delicious (I only wish it was a little spicier), and the raita was super. Mmmmm. We stuffed ourselves.


Even though it was raining a bit, we got a cab right away. The cab driver understood me with out the paper that had our address written out. We got home without any troubles, took warm showers, got on comfy clothes, talked with my mom, and then sunk into our cozy couch for some TV fun. A perfect day : )

Unfortunately, that perfect day left all the work for Sunday. We tried to make the day a bit better by trying a new restaurant we have been meaning to go to. Kung Fu is a chain (like Noodle Girl and Noodle Plus) and it has an image of Bruce Lee, well, kung fu-ing on all of it signs and plates. It wasn't too bad. Not the best, but do-able.

It kind of funny how eating in China is nothing like it was when we first go here. In the beginning, everything sketched us out. We viewed all the food around us as dirty or contaminated, but as time went on . . . it all just started looking better and better. And now, it is hard to get truly grossed out (it does still happen, though . . . just not anymore as we watch the chicken we might have for dinner get pluck on the street during lunch time . . . hey, it needs time to stew : )

Another stint at Starbucks enabled me to get a bit of my work finished . . . (and to eat a delicious apple muffin). For the rest of the day we had just sort of been loafing, with a tiny spurt of activity thrown in for good measure (a sheet washing here, a quiz making there . . . )

When does next weekend start?

Zai Jian