I have not been particularly successful in any of the above, but I promise that I have given it my best shot. (Although not socking someone in the face Grange Middle School style has been a massive win for me...)
Oh, and my friends here BLOCK blogger (the host of this site), so I can post, but can't see what I write. I promise you, I am not inciting rebellion or anything of the sort. (In fact, maybe I should wait to write about this 'til I get to Korea tomorrow...) This also means I'm missing out on Pink is the New Blog, a dire tragedy in my little world...and yet Perez Hilton is still accessible. Someone needs to reevaluate priorities, I'll tell you that.
Beijing traffic. Delicious.Beijing was, well, OK. Not my favorite place in the world. But interesting nonetheless. And like I mentioned before, no one was socked in the face, so that was good.
I've been in Shanghai for a few days and leave tomorrow. I'm VERY sad about that. I genuinely dig it here. It's sort of New York to Beijing's DC. Bustling, tons of character, walkable, efficient, just a little more friendly. That and I feel at home here. Last summer was incredible for me, so it has provided a much needed dose of home. Funny how 'home' shows up half way around the world with a bunch of strangers, but it does. It's an incredible city.
As soon as Asia and I arrived on Thursday and checked into the hotel (an experience unto itself-- the Regal Beagle has decided to become way fancier since I was here last...), I ordered from Shanghai Sherpa's. Lifesaver, I tell you. It was a weird hour, so the Indian restaurant I wanted to order from was "on break", so we went to the gym for a bit where I promptly sweated out 1/2 my body weight over the course of 30 minutes on the clunky elliptical machine. China has its own breed of heat, even when it's not technically hot outside. So bizarre. But never fear, once the food arrived we re-consumed said 50% of our body weight in Indian food, then headed down the street to the local blind massage place for an amazing foot massage (from what I understand, the government gives tax breaks for employing the blind).
I think on this particular occasion that my masseuse was, in fact, blind, but couldn't be sure. Hmmm. Weird. However Asia's definitely was not (blind). This made it tough to make all the cringing faces I wanted to make as this woman worked out whatever ailments I may have had-- could she see me screwing my face up? This was essential information that I just couldn't sort out. Any way you sliced it, I could not make a noise without her misunderstanding and thinking I was asking her to stop or change or bring me some more flower tea or turn the English TV station back on. So I zipped it and tried to pretend my cringing was some sort of American non-verbal communication style between Asia and myself. Asia was suitably baffled. But, in the end, it worked out well enough. My feet felt amazing and I don't think I gave myself away. All in all, 63 RMB for an hour of cringe-inducing acupressure makes for $8 very well spent.
Yesterday we visited a university P.E. class. I have video, but can't post it at the moment. I promise, you will not be disappointed. Moments like this make the insomnia, stress and general insanity all worth it.
One of the most striking things about Chinese girls is that they are (at least) 3-5 years behind other girls in age. No joke, 26 year olds think of themselves as girls, and act correspondingly immature. The 20 year old girls we met yesterday may as well have been 14 in both stature and demeanor. And I don't mean that derogatorily, it's even the way they speak about themselves. And their bodies? Holy. As my grandmother would say, these girls have "teacup butts".
Anyhow, it is-- once again-- 2:30AM. Never in my life have I been so incapable of sleeping normally. We are off to Seoul tomorrow, albeit very briefly, then to Tokyo on Wednesday.
Oh, and I didn't cut my hair. It just looks like it in the picture.
xoox
I've been in Shanghai for a few days and leave tomorrow. I'm VERY sad about that. I genuinely dig it here. It's sort of New York to Beijing's DC. Bustling, tons of character, walkable, efficient, just a little more friendly. That and I feel at home here. Last summer was incredible for me, so it has provided a much needed dose of home. Funny how 'home' shows up half way around the world with a bunch of strangers, but it does. It's an incredible city.
As soon as Asia and I arrived on Thursday and checked into the hotel (an experience unto itself-- the Regal Beagle has decided to become way fancier since I was here last...), I ordered from Shanghai Sherpa's. Lifesaver, I tell you. It was a weird hour, so the Indian restaurant I wanted to order from was "on break", so we went to the gym for a bit where I promptly sweated out 1/2 my body weight over the course of 30 minutes on the clunky elliptical machine. China has its own breed of heat, even when it's not technically hot outside. So bizarre. But never fear, once the food arrived we re-consumed said 50% of our body weight in Indian food, then headed down the street to the local blind massage place for an amazing foot massage (from what I understand, the government gives tax breaks for employing the blind).
I think on this particular occasion that my masseuse was, in fact, blind, but couldn't be sure. Hmmm. Weird. However Asia's definitely was not (blind). This made it tough to make all the cringing faces I wanted to make as this woman worked out whatever ailments I may have had-- could she see me screwing my face up? This was essential information that I just couldn't sort out. Any way you sliced it, I could not make a noise without her misunderstanding and thinking I was asking her to stop or change or bring me some more flower tea or turn the English TV station back on. So I zipped it and tried to pretend my cringing was some sort of American non-verbal communication style between Asia and myself. Asia was suitably baffled. But, in the end, it worked out well enough. My feet felt amazing and I don't think I gave myself away. All in all, 63 RMB for an hour of cringe-inducing acupressure makes for $8 very well spent.
Yesterday we visited a university P.E. class. I have video, but can't post it at the moment. I promise, you will not be disappointed. Moments like this make the insomnia, stress and general insanity all worth it.
One of the most striking things about Chinese girls is that they are (at least) 3-5 years behind other girls in age. No joke, 26 year olds think of themselves as girls, and act correspondingly immature. The 20 year old girls we met yesterday may as well have been 14 in both stature and demeanor. And I don't mean that derogatorily, it's even the way they speak about themselves. And their bodies? Holy. As my grandmother would say, these girls have "teacup butts".
Anyhow, it is-- once again-- 2:30AM. Never in my life have I been so incapable of sleeping normally. We are off to Seoul tomorrow, albeit very briefly, then to Tokyo on Wednesday.
Oh, and I didn't cut my hair. It just looks like it in the picture.
xoox
4 comments:
I'm so impressed: no sleep and still you spell correctly and manage to make sense! That's my girl..... Carry on and I can't wait to hear what you think of your hotel in Seoul. Please post which room you are in so I can look at it on line again.
xxxoooo Mom
The building under construction is fabulous -- can they get rid of the smog like they show in the simulated picture of completion?
How we gonna get you back on the farm after you've seen Shanghai?!?
Be careful out there...TD
hot pocket! can't wait for greece!
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