- Jason goes to help Jon film for a movie
- Jason drops me off at the Disabled Home to volunteer
- We make stars and those rice thingy's wrapped in banana leaves, I make 2 new friends, one have lived in NYC
- Herbal Jelly Milk Tea
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Sunday April 26 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Thursday April 23 2009
- My bicycle finally arrived.
- Rode my bike to language exchange
- Walked to the park
- During exchange a gentleman introduces himself, he is 84 and speaks beautiful English. He is a Calligraphy instructor. We chat for awhile and tell him we will be there next week if he would like to stop by.
- Begins to storm, walk back to bicycle
- As I ride by a cart selling CD's - there is loud techno blasting and the seller is feeling the groove just a little bit...I make eye contact smiling, he smiles bigger and starts dancing more, and I can't help but laugh out loud as I ride by.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Thursday April 16 2009
- Finish final steps in fixing my computer
- Go to MRT to seal items to ship
- Go to Shanghai Expo/Mart to sit with Annie at Shanghai Art Fair (kinda like NYC's)
- Muslim noodles (the little toddler there was all smiles to me but would get scared when she didn't have her mom around)
- Finish up computer problems
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Wedsnesday April 15 2009
- Late start
- Computer meltdown
- Unpack summer clothes, a high of 85 degrees F
- Meet with new Language exchange friend at KFC
- Go to MRT to get my new electric razor
- Go home to shave my legs, shoved the stupid 110 shaver into the 220v wall, now fried 2 electric razer's here in china
- Class at iMandarin, substitute teacher, she's awesome.
- Up til' 3:30 working on computer.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Tuesday April 7 2009
- Stay inside
- Finally it's getting warm out
- and Finally I am getting this sickness out of me
- Photograph jewelry
- Lots of Photoshop
- Laundry
- Soak black beans for later this week
- A game of Trivial Pursuit on the xbox
Monday, April 6, 2009
Monday April 6 2009
- Chinese holiday
- Breakfast
- Meet Cherro on the bus to go to wholesale market
- Beautiful weather today, crowded as all heck
- Buy one get one free burger night, we partake
- A game of Trivial Pursuit on the xbox
- Stay up til 2 editing photos
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Sunday April 5 2009
- Breakfast after sleeping in
- Pharmacy, instead of "foreign section of hospital" - get antibiotics
- To MRT
- Make packaging for earrings and watches
- Brainstorm with Cherro and talk with the other MRKT girls about stuff...really working with my Chinese speaking and comprehension skills
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Saturday April 4 2009
- Breakfast
- Carry felt up the stairs
- Meet at MRT with Cherro
- Make packaging
- Product photography for ebay
- Go back to MRT
- Help Jason Glue Felt Fairy Wings
- Vegetable Curry for Dinner
- Watch "Big Stan"
- Feel really like poop, out in the rain today.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Thursday April 2 2009
- All day in bed with an ear ache - throat lymphnoids the size of golf balls and hurt like heck
Wenesday April 1 2009 - April Fools
- Chinese tutor at KFC
- Go home for lunch
- Chinese class at iMandarin - don't think my 2 classmates care for me...I think they have something against Americans...or white girls.
- Muslim bread on the way home
Friday April 3 2009
- Wake up, no coffee, no milk, no cereal
- Practice product photography
- Lock the A-Yi out of the house
- Jason comes home early, had food poisoning the night before - sick
- Easy going evening, both still ill
Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday March 30, 2009
- Wake up - still sick, 2 weeks now
- Breakfast
- Leave as the AYI arrives
- Drop Postcards off at the Post Office
- Stop by MRKT to grab Jason for lunch
- Muslim noodles (lanzhou lamian)
- Go to KFC to study and grab a 5.5 rmb cup of coffee (This is where it gets weird)
- Take a seat at a table behind a migrant worker just "hanging out", he smells like a horse barn
- Within 15 minutes and 2 sips into my coffee his arm is reaching over showing me a hologram,"make shift " McDonalds name tag. He points to something, I read "2005 McDonalds". Shows me the back, written is "DaBangEmperorManager"
- Through his very few English words and my awful Chinglish, I ask him if he needs to get to McDonald's. He has shown me his McDonald's button up shirt under his dirty blue hoody and red sweater.
- He his now sitting at my table about 12 inches away, this happened as soon as I opened my mouth to speak.
- He then writes "ShanghaiTheArteAcademy"...I say, oh I don't know where the The Art Academy and he looks at me strangely and then I say..."oh, the Shanghai THEATRE Academy!!!" He looks happy, I ask him if thats where he needs to go (in English).
- I get the info into my cell phone via Guanxi, write down the address and phone no. Now he wants to call.
- I dial, hold the phone on speaker to him (hell if I am going to chase him down the street after my iPhone). Very short conversation.
- I help him pronounce "Theatre"...He now wants to call the Shanghai Grand Hotel...see above process.
- Whole time thinking - "I thought when moving to a foreign country the crazies would not be attracted to me the way they were in the states, and I can't believe I am practicing my Chinese with a crazy".
- The phone calls are very short and unsuccessful for whatever he needs. He then tells me he is a "Manager" at KFC, McDonald's, The Shanghai Grand Hotel, and that he teaches Ballet at the Theatre Academy - I am a pro at charade's and pantomime.
- He try's to help me with my Chinese homework, but he doesn't realize that I can't read more than about 10 Charachters...I then catch through our Chinglish that he doesn't think PinYin is real Chinese, that its like English.
- He was able to write my name in Characters for me.
- He is able to read, and he would be the correct age for the Cultural Revolution, so I realize he was probably raised in the countryside away from the city.
- I ask him if he is from Beijing, confirmed. Difficulty in understanding the Beijing dialect.
- He says "passport" in a sentence and realize he wants to know my area, tell him I am from the US. He tells me he has a passport from there, and then writes down "England" and "Japan". I tell him in Chinese that "YingGuo" is not the same as "MeiGuo", poor guy has no idea that there is a giant body of water separating the two.
- Now he begins to get fired up about something, seems to be telling me a story, I hear a "f*%k you" in the story. Of course people are very interested in our conversation and I see people staring, even stopping right at the table to stare at him. Finally, eyes are off me! He is getting more and more fired up, moving his arms around.
- My sign to leave. I have no idea what he is saying, but he begins to tell me he is a Chairman, and I was sure I heard a "Mao" in there. And THE LAST thing I am going to be sitting next to a person saying stuff I have no idea what he is saying, but it was after I told him I was American, and tells me he is a Chairman...whoa buddy, Im outta here!
- Go to Burger King to wash my hands and pen that he and I shared. (you know about the lack of toilet paper used by the countryside and not ever accepting food served from the right hand - more noted in India)
- As for coffee here, it's a Western luxury, my only options are KFC, McDonalds, BK, or Starbucks, Costa, The Coffee Bean, the last 3 very expensive...USA prices
- Loud table of 4 American college age guys at BK - shameful
- Chinese class, again, the only one that shows up
- Walk home and stop by the Muslim restaurant that sells Naan bread on the corner and kabaabs.
- Get two, ask me where I am from, I respond with "America", and they reply "OBAMA"!! in a half singing type voice. I respond with, "Obama" and show them my button of Obama. The older one says something I don't know and pinches his cheek and smiles. As my bread is being handed over he turns and says, "what about Bush", I give 2 thumbs down and respond with "bu hao". The young one that warmed my bread is like a parrot the entire time and says, "bu hao". As I walk away, I hear "Down with Bush".
- Home, eat bread, strange day.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Sunday March 29 2009
- Coffee - Still sick
- Talked with via facebook aim...a couple of "LOL"
- Take a walk, eat a greasy Taiwanese style pancake with lettuce and ketchup, get more Cold Medicine, get an ice cream from the "space ship" ice cream truck
- Study Mandarin, having difficulties with grammar dealing with "cong" and "gei"
- Watched "The Tracey Fragments" - indie artsy film rated 4.25 out of 5 stars on "E's Bootleg DVD extravaganza" list
- Drink Ginger Tea in hopes to get rid of this cold
- Talk to mom on phone, troubleshoot her computer.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Saturday March 28 2009
- Slept in
- Breakfast
- Go to Yu Yuan Wholesale market to find things to sell -Ill post pics and ebay info when available.
- Meet at MRKT with Jason and go have some Muslim noodles
- Go to Tesco and get some food and beers and cookies
- Watch "The Elegant Universe"
Friday, March 27, 2009
Friday March 27 2009
- Got out of bed "early"
- Coffee and talked to PR and Keith via IM
- rearranged the apartment before AYI arrives, because she always manages to f*#k my stuff up
- Picked up an Egg Sandwich with Thousand Island dressing in between the two sandwich triangles.
- Walked to City Mart: Ketchup, Fiber Cereal imported from Australia, Hot Cocoa Mix, and 10 free range eggs = 195 kuai
- Walk to Veggie and Fruit Stand: 8 Potatoes, 1 jin (.5kilo) of Strawberries, 4 persimmons, 1 Red Pepper, 1 Pineapple (shaved), 2 Carrots, 2 bunches of spinach = 64 kuai (about 10 USD)
- Finally walk home
- AYI still here, damn it, clean eggs and veggies and fruits, slice up Carrots
- Walk to 85C and buy Walnut Chocolate cookies, a glutenous green thing with red beans, and a flat bread with all kinds of seeds on top : 20 kuai (about 3 USD)
- Between bakery and grocery, overhear 2 old chinese women talking about me, questioning if I was an American and going on about laowei's...and yes, they were speaking and mandarin...and yes, I can understand Chinese now.
- Grocery Store on the way home: 20 roll of toilet paper, 18 pack of pocket tissues, 2 Veggie "fragrant sausage" - its expiration day, 1.5 RMB off, 3 pack of Halls, Japanese milk treat, Sunflower seeds with Anise and Saccharin and all kinds of weird bad stuff = 53 kuai
- Make dinner
- Watch "Game Over"
- Bath to soothe aching shoulder
- Talked to cousin via IM
- Mandarin Homework with hot lemon/honey water and listening to the Fiery Furnaces and The Kills
- Jason plays Fallout
- Goodnight
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Wenesday March 25
- Feel like complete a** after manual labor all day Tuesday...when have you met a lazy or fat photographer?
- Edit photos for MRT
- Class at iMandarin - only person in class
- Go to MRT, hear that some people were talking about my product photography - positively
- Eat a pack of crackers for dinner
Thursday March 26 2009
- Set up Still life of notebooks
- Uploaded to Website
- Set up another still life - did not upload on website
- Made a bean soup
- Watched "The Weathermen" Documentary
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