A Great Day...

Today was a great day. I went with a group of about 16 other people to a town outside of Shanghai to play soccer. I do realize that I play soccer just about every weekend or so, but that soccer is 7 aside on a turf field. While it is fun, it does not compare with playing 11 aside on a grass field. It has been almost two years since I have played 11 aside and I forgot how much I love it. We played a Chinese team and it was loads of fun. For once in my life I did not have to play goalie, and I honestly think I prefer field now. The best part was that I scored a diving header goal! After the game we went swimming (which I have not done in awhile), then went to lunch, followed by a foot massage. I now want to play soccer so much more. I cannot wait to get back to San Diego to play again. All in all a very fun day!

Getting ready for the Olympics

Beijing Baby!

Just your usual dancing in the park. Apparently Sundays are when people bring out their best dance moves and vocals.

What better way to spend a Sunday than a nap?

Just hanging out... Check out the Chinglish on the sign.

Looking down a Hutong.
If teaching does not work out then I can always become a rickshaw driver.

After the 1/2 Marathon we had a day to explore Beijing. While I have been there before, I went to places that I had not yet explored. My friend Sarah and I spent the day exploring a park and the hutongs. It was nice just to be able to walk around, and the sky was actually blue in Beijing!

The Great Wall 1/2 Marathon

I know I originally planned to do the full marathon, but after only having three weeks to train I decided it would be smarter to do the half. In honesty I do not think I could have done the full, and if I could have I probably would not have been able to walk very well after the race. It really was a very cool race and I had a lot of fun.

Let the countdown begin

I have learned this year that teachers countdown the days till summer and other holidays more than students. It is kind of fun and reminds me of back when I used to countdown the days; however, instead of starting the countdown at smaller numbers like 10 or 15, teachers start as soon as one holiday ends. As of now, I have 32 1/2 days of teaching. To be honest, it is a bit bittersweet as I am really happy with my job and will miss the little ones when I leave. Now, for the big countdown... drum roll please... 73 days till I am I am in San Diego! This too is a bit bittersweet as well. Don't get me wrong, I am convinced that my time here will be done, but right now I am having a blast. It is good to leave on a high though and I think (well know) I will be ready. I cannot wait for the beach! This will be the longest stint in the twenty-five years of my existence. I will have gone for 7 months without seeing the beach and 11 1/2 months without steeping foot in the ocean! Craziness! Ah, to be able to swim in the waves and tan in the sun... I know I will be ready when I leave. So here is the official breakdown of my time here:

6 1/2 weeks of teaching
7 weeks till my cousin comes to Shanghai
3 weeks of traveling around with him
4 days till I get on the plane for good ols Cal-i-forn-i-a

A sweet walk home

Of the things I will miss most in China, I know I will miss my walk home from the bus each evening. It is so awesome to walk home surrounded by the tall skyscrapers that light up the sky. Even to this day I still am stunned by the view of the buildings. Since I do not have a tripod nor a quality camera nor a steady hand, the night pictures tend to get a bit blurry when I take them, but here are a few pics. Well, most of them are of the same building as it changes colors.

A night out...

Shanghai is definitely a fun place to go out... Last weekend I had a couple fun nights out. Here are some pictures from the nights of fun.

Bittersweet

This period of my life can only be described as bittersweet. For one, I feel a bit bipolar right now (although, since I am a Psychology major, I do know that I am not). Last week I was not liking living in China and could want nothing more than to be home, but as I look to book my flight home I honestly admit I am a bit sad. I don't really know if I should be happy knowing that I will be back in San Diego or a bit saddened knowing that this adventure is soon over. As much as I get frustrated with some of the common occurrences that happen everyday here, I know that part of me will miss them. Part of me will miss the dodging of cars and motorcycles when I am crossing on greens and the incessant honking and the street spitting and babies with splitty pants and pushing in line and the miscommunication in taxis... So as I approach my last three months in China I realize I will hit lots of highs and lows of being torn between really wanting to be in San Diego but I also know that I need to appreciate the random chaoticness of living in China because I have to admit, I will miss it.

A day in my life

I have to admit that there are moments when I just want to get out of China and not have to deal with the day to day hassles. Every now and then it seems like the little things of China just start to annoy the heck out of me. Some of these things are: people spitting everywhere, motorcycles driving down sidewalks, people everywhere I turn, lack of lines and the need to always push... However, these annoyances do pass and then I start to like living here, but now is a time where the hassles of China are wearing on me. To deal with this, I decided to take my camera and take pictures of my normal life to remind me that things aren't that bad and that in three months when I leave these are the things I will miss. While I will love being back in San Diego, there will be things that cannot be replicated there from China.

One of my cross streets...



And my other cross street.


This is the outside of my apartment building. In case you were wondering what Jack Hut is, Jack Hut is pretty much the most awesome hole in the wall drink place ever. It is here that I can get iced coffee or boba tea or a mango smoothie for about 60 cents. And it is convenient because it is across the street from my building. My new favorite thing is to get the mango smoothie after a long run. Basically the mango smoothie is my Slurpee replacement.

An empty Jack Hut cup where iced coffee once was.



This is the bakery I buy my wheat bread from. For whatever reason the Chinese love their white bread and wheat bread is not the easiest thing to find. While it is not multigrain bread, it is not bad. I just have to make sure I get there early enough to buy it before it sells out.

Now the Lianhua is no Ralphs or Vons but it is as close to a grocery store as I can get. OK, that is a lie, but it is the only one within walking distance to my apartment. It does not have everything, but I can find just about all the essentials here to get me by.

The vegetable produce store.

And where I buy my fruit.

Just your normal street repair.

Taking a break to read the paper... who needs a coffee shop?

View from the top...

The Lupu Bridge is just one of the many bridges in Shanghai. This is the bridge that I go over every day to get to work. What is cool about this bridge is that you can take an elevator to the top and walk across the arch to get a cool view of Shanghai. As you can see, Shanghai is full of construction and cranes. I think I read somewhere that China has more cranes than any other country, and I believe it. In one of the pictures you can see that they are getting ready to build more. I am not sure what will be put in in the cleared area but I can only imagine that next year it will look completely different. The area around the Lupu Bridge that has been cleared out did have factories and other buildings, but in just the past few months they have all been taken down to get ready for something bigger and better I guess. While it was overcast when we went, the smog was not too bad so there actually was a good view. It is kind of hard to find a perfect day to go because of the smog, so my friends and I just decided to compromise and go on an overcast yet somewhat smogless day.


Looking down from the arch to the road below... this is where I drive everyday.

The two building sticking up are the Jin Mao and what I like to call "The Big Ugly". The Big Ugly is actually going to be the International Finance Center and is the World's Tallest Building. It will be the tallest till the one in Dubai gets finished.

This is the area that has been cleared out... China is always clearing out and building new things.


Some of the cranes and a view looking down the river.