Midterms et al.

We are now in the midst of midterm week. I both enjoy midterm week and despise it; I really like the week break from lesson plans and homework books, but I much less enjoy the mindless proctoring and redundant grading.

This weekend will be the huge Shanghai Alleycat Race. It’s a weekend of group rides, the main alleycat race, some fixie trick competitions, and a mini bike polo tournament. Although it is not the first event of its kind in China (I went to the first in Beijing in May) it is the first of it’s kind in Shanghai. I would like to inset the event flyer and a link to the website here, but due to my incapacitated blogging, I cannot. If you want to check it out, just type “Shanghai Alley Cat” into a google search bar. Believe me, it won’t e difficult to find what you are looking for.

I don’t have to do any proctoring today and I finished all of my grading from yesterday, so it’s a bit like a mini-holiday. Not sure what I am going to do today. Maybe go out to a café to read and write, maybe stay in for a while and watch a movie. I am still waiting for Where the Wild Things Are to reach the DVD stores here in Shanghai. No luck just yet. Probably another few weeks.

I should probably spend some time on my bike if I am going to be ready for the alleycat. Haha. The weather is finally getting cold in Shanghai (although it keep going back and forth) and I am now wondering how much I will ride during the winter. I have never really been a fan of riding in conditions I consider less than ideal, but so far things have been different for me in Shanghai in regards to that.

Check for updates this weekend about Shangahi Alley Cat and watch for a complete write-up from Hangzhou. Some funny stories to be had there.

Testing

One Two

Let Us Recommence

I initially stopped blogging because The Great Firewall of China had shut down my access to blogspot. I thought it would be temporary, and I was okay with the notion of a break in blogging – for a little while.

Many a month has now passed, and The Great Firewall is standing stronger than ever. I have, thus, decided to begin blogging again. I do not yet have a VPN, so my access to this site is extremely limited. There will be no photos or videos. Only my words. Daft and boring as they may be. My apologies in advance.

I plan to write one paragraph a day. About anything. This may, in fact be my last year in China, depending on the development of various aspects of my academic, social, and love lives. Where to next, I can never be sure. I hope to save for myself the often fleeting memories of fast paced life lived in modernizing China.

I am going on a weekend getaway to Hangzhou starting tomorrow after work, so look for a weekend full of updates on Monday. Nothing like starting a blog and then immediately a backlog as well. Such is life. I am really excited about the weekend, as this will be my first real getaway since coming to China. Going just to go. And most importantly, to enjoy good company.

Zaijian!

The Deal as of Late

So, the wondrous months of the Olympics are far gone, and the Great Fire Wall has taken many websites hostage once more. YouTube was the first to go and now Blogspot has followed suit. Clearly, this poses a problem for my blogging abilities, since I have to jump through firewall hoops to make even the most simple of posts. Hopefully, this situation is temporary. However, the fate of YouTube (which has been blocked for a of couple months now) does not give rise to very favorable expectations. I will resume normal blogging as soon as possible, and until then I will post dry and photo-less updates about my plight against the Great Fire Wall. Until then . . .

Videos from Seoul

Some cycling on TV.



The random bus Stephanie and I took to the 'burbs.



An insane taxi.



The lift to Seoul Tower.

10 reasons . . .

Why I have the cutest most wonderful mother in the world!


10. She can look this excited after a 14 hour flight. Just to see me!

9. She loves Obama.

8. She will do whatever pose I tell her too. "Point at the fish and say 'Ooooo'!"

7. She can see the comedy of life in almost any situation. Here: The Bund Sightseeing Tunnel

6. The loves Coca-Cola in the tiniest size. I don't think she could even finish this one . . .
5. She still bundles up for the cold like a little girl going out to make snow angels.

4. She loves Bill Clinton. And Hillary.

3. She wears braided pig tails.

2. Her drive to explore new worlds, most of which others would pass by.


1. Her smile.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!

All in a Friday afternoon . . .

How much can two people accomplish when they have a beautiful Friday afternoon and an enormous city at their fingertips? Brian and I found that the answer was more than our feet or brains could take.

In short: We went to People's Square, walked from there to a pet market, checked out some pets, walked from there to Old Town, bi-passed Old Town very quickly seeing as it is the bane of Shanghai existence (well, first we stopped for a coke at Burger King), walked from the fake Old Town to the real Old Town, checked out the residences and people there, kept walking toward the Huangpu River, hopped on a .5 kuai ferry, ended up in Pudong, found a City Shop and bought nothing, found a Pauliner brew house and ate pretzels, did the river-walk to the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel, took that (yes, I have now taken that ridiculous thing twice) to Puxi, saw a toy that defied the laws of physics, walked to the pedestrian Nanjing Rd, re-evaluated our lives, took the metro to the French Concession, ate dinner at Element Fresh on the terrace, cabbed it home where I proceeded to pass out in my bed.

That is a lot to pack in between 3:30pm and 11pm after a day's work. Here are some photos of the adventure:

The bus stop was in a strange state.

Bicycle anyone?

Thousands of grasshoppers at the pet market. The collective sound was deafening.

I like their style. A lot.

A lion eating the World Financial building and the Jin Mao Tower

Pudong skyline at sunset.

Puxi skyline at sunset.

Please, do not stride the Huangpu River.

The Bund lit up at night.