Yea for Halloween...

Running and running and running...

This morning I was going to be late for my pilates class so I thought, "I will just go for a run." My friend asked if I wanted to do brunch and I told him sure, but I need to go running first so I will be back in like 45 minutes. I set out with my Ipod in hand for my run. There is a loop I had done before and started down that way but wanted to go just a bit further. Well as I kept running and running and running I realized I had no idea where I was. I thought I was in the right direction so I kept running. After about over an hour I decided to ask a Hotel where I was. They showed me a map and I realized I was completely in the wrong direction. I was told that I could run down this one road and I would be close to where I needed to be in about 1/2 hour. So I took off feeling optimistic till I realized nothing was looking familiar. I had no phone or money to catch a cab or subway so I was not sure what to do. I found a VW dealership and figured someone would speak English and point me in the right direction. Well, I found out that I had somehow ran to the other side of Shanghai and was no where near my home. Anyways, the guy who was helping me told me he could drive me to a subway station. We got in his car and he realized that he didn't have his wallet, which meant no money for me to catch the subway, so he volunteered to drive me home. As we drove we talked and listened to 50 Cent and I was completely embarrassed about how far off track I had run and really had not idea that I was that far away. Just to let you know how far I had run, it took us about 15 minutes to drive to my apartment. We laughed at the situation and I got out of the car. Needless to say, I did not make brunch.

I have learned a valuable lesson about running, I need to bring the 3 M's: money, map, and mobile phone. The good thing about this is that there is a 1/2 Marathon coming up and I thought I could not run that far, but today I accidentally proved myself wrong and I ran for quite awhile; however, I still am not sure if I will do the 1/2 marathon. These things happen to the best of us, right? At least I can laugh at myself.

Fun times, fun times...

Last weekend was a girls' night on the town. I must say it was a night of crazy fun, quotable quotes, and stories we will laugh about for awhile. Ah, it's good to be young. Here is a glimpse of the night.


What can I say, we're quite posh.

Sabrina and I at the bank.

The girls... Sheridan, Anne Marie, Alfreda, Me, Abi, and Sabrina.

The bag of stuff we collected for Anne Marie's "Bachelorette" party

Funny faces = Good times

Back home...

As much as I feel at home in Shanghai right now, San Diego will always be called, "home." Earlier this week I received a call from my brother stating that my mom was being evacuated because of the fires. Seeing that I am in China, I did not know about the fires so I admit I dismissed them for not being too big, until the next morning when I woke up to look up what was happening. Reading about everything and how big the fires are shocked me. Being able to see a list of all the homes that were lost in the neighborhood I grew up in has made me speechless. While my family is alright some of my friends have not been so lucky. It is hard to know what to say and do when people you know and love have lost so much. I want so badly to be back to help out, but what would I be able to do? I remember when my dad died and how people in the communities of Rancho Bernardo and Poway helped to step up and provide for my family during our loss, and this is what I want so badly to do but realize I cannot be there to do anything. But I do know that San Diego is doing a great job with support and that many people are volunteering at shelters and evacuation centers to help to make the best of a bad situation. For all of you who are reading this and have experienced a loss or have been effected by the fire know that my thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family, for all of you are giving your time know that your time is appreciated by many people in San Diego. I cannot imagine what it must be like being in San Diego and I know I will be in a bit of shock when I return over Christmas and see the damage.

What would you do?

One of the top things I like about my apartment is location. As the saying goes, "Location is everything." Basically I am in the middle of the city... right smack in the middle. It is nice because I am close to the subway station and many of the big sights of Shanghai. However, with every good thing there is always a twist, something that makes it not so good. So here is mine: since it is in the middle of everything there are tons of people all the time. I am convinced I have to cross the busiest corner in the world everyday to get to my apartment. There is always people and lots of people in big cities brings pick pocketers. I had been warned about a month ago to "be careful of my belongings" on my street. I will admit that I did catch some guys trying to pick pocket me but I heard my backpack get unzipped and turned around. Anyways, they left. I was a bit pissed because there were people watching this whole thing go down and no on said anything. I was relieved that I caught them. I have learned my lesson and now I tie my zippers on my backpack.

Anyways, today as I was coming home I saw a guy opening a lady's bag as I walked by so I touched her on the shoulder so she would turn around and see them. Well, she did. She at first gave me a look which said, "Why the heck did you just hit my shoulder?" until she realized that a guy was trying to get into her backpack. Well, the guy (and his friends I didn't see) then looked at me and I was like ,"Shit, this might not be good." I kind of gave them an innocent look and said, "Sorry" (in Chinese and English) and just prayed and thought good thoughts that they wouldn't do anything. They pretty much all split and just gave me a mean look. I was told previously (when I got the warning) what the pick pocketers look like (they come from a certain part of China) and they totally fit the description I was forewarned about and I swear one of the guys was one of the guys who tried to get in my backpack.

Basically nothing happened. The girl said thank you from afar and I just kept walking and knew I did the right thing. It was one of those situations that I just couldn't watch someone get pick pocketed, but then again what do you in that situation especially because I thought it was just one guy, not a group of like 6?

So what would you do? Would you try to stop it and say something or tap the person's shoulder or would you keep walking?

Moral of the story: when walking on Fuzhou Lu in Shanghai watch your bag and if you have a backpack make sure the zippers aren't able to get opened easily.

A brief update

I must admit I was going to write some witty story last weekend about how a went with a running group to a town called Hangzhou and how we ran through tea fields and a village, but I am too tired to write a coherent story. The tiredness is good and good things are happening here but things are busy. Yesterday as I walked to the bus stop I just was filled with contentment. I am happy with the way things are going here and I am happy with life. Even though I leave my house at 6:45 am and don't get home till usually around 7:30 at the earliest (that does include a trip to the gym) I am happy. I like my job. I like my friends. I am meeting new people. I have found a group to play soccer with on Sundays, volleyball on Thursdays and Saturdays, and running on the weekends. I am feeling a bit challenged in my job but not enough to make me go insane or have to be a workaholic. I found a Mexican restaurant that has burritos along. I have found a store that has cute jeans that are even too long for me. My kids are cute and still listen to me. Overall my parents are happy and I only have one that is causing problems. So basically life is good and really no complaints. While it is not San Diego I am honestly can say that I am enjoying things here.

Hancun

Along with HuangShan, we visited a nearby village called Hancun. It was gorgeous but very touristy because it was the village that Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was filmed. Enjoy the pictures.

Huang Shan

This past week is what is known as the Golden Week in China. I am not sure why we get it off, but needless to say, I will not complain or question any one week vacation. Anyways, for my holiday I went to HuangShan, which is Yellow Mountain in English. As you can see, it is GORGEOUS.

Women's World Cup Finals

I must admit it, I was super excited to go to the Women's World Cup Finals. Never would I have thought that I would go to the finals, but since it was in Shanghai there was no way I could miss is. For those of you that didn't follow the World Cup, USA lost in the semis to Brazil (it was a horrible game and has caused a lot of controversy for the Women's National team for many reasons) so they did not advance to the finals. I did get to see them play Norway in the game for third place where they won 4-1. Anyways, the finals was Brazil vs Germany. I cheered for Brazil, but Germany came out ahead 2-0. It was a lot of fun and the soccer was really good.