Happy 4th of July!

This photo was taken July 4th, 2006. Little did we know how many fireworks we'd see in the next few years. :-)

Congratulations to my cousin Chris and my new cousin-in-law Denise! They are getting married today, and I think it's safe to say I am the first person to say Congratulations on the day of the wedding, as we're 13 hours ahead of you now.

Next year, we'll be in the US for Pete and Sara's wedding on July 3rd. I've been waiting 2 years to get to go to the US in the summer! Thanks for the excuse, Pete and Sara!

Christmas lights spell Danger... or wet floor?

Part of the alley outside of our apartment building is torn up. They've decorated the rubble with Christmas lights and put a "Caution: Wet Floor" sign in front of it. There is water lying in the lower lying area... quite close to the Christmas lights. Dangerous, indeed.

We're off to Sweden!

Today we're leaving for Sweden! Our friends Hanna and Henrik are getting married on the 4th of July... at a castle. OK, maybe not a fairytale castle, but the summer home of Swedish Royalty.

We went to Jönköping University in the Spring of 2003. Six full years since we've been there. We're very excited to go back for a visit. We'll be traveling around for few days with Hanna, Henrik and a few other international guests.

Henrik, Hanna, me and Jon at the international students good-bye dinner

We lived a couple blocks away from Lake Vättern.

The view over Jönköping.

I'm having some posts publish while we're gone, so there will be new content while we're gone.

The story behind Haibao

Haibao is the mascot for the upcoming world Expo in 2010. We always though he was just a cheesey cartoon character. However, at the Urban Planning Museum, we did find out he has a somewhat interesting story.

Haibao is in the shape of the Chinese character for "people." The ocean blue color reflects the robust dynamism of China and the ocean-sized bosom of the Chinese people who embrace the whole world.

I particularly like the "ocean-sized bosom" part. (So many slogans or captions here are just too much.) Feel free to read the whole text in the photo below.

The Urban Planning Museum

The Urban Planning Museum has been on our to-do in Shanghai list for a couple years. When Bettina said she'd like to go, we decided to join her and cross it off that list!

It seems to be open every day until 6 PM. Different websites say different things, but the official site says 6 PM. (The official English site doesn't work.) If you exit the subway at People's Square from Exit #3, on line 1 or 8, you are at the base of the museum.

The whole museum had lots of interactive LCD displays, backlit info panels, and models for everything.

One annoying thing was that many titles had English translations, but none of the body of the text was translated! (This annoys me about magazines too. They'll have Chinese and English titles on the cover, but only Chinese inside.)

The model of the inner city of Shanghai is a highlight. It's very cool. This photo was taken from the 3rd floor, looking down at it.

See the building that is taller than the WFC (the bottle opener)? They are just beginning construction on it, so it's a bit strange that it's already in the model. Online, it says that the "clear plastic models" are planned buildings, but I didn't see anything in the museum mentioning that.

This is what the exhibition grounds for the World Expo in 2010 will look like.

These are our apartment buildings, but they look nothing like the actual buildings do! The roof has nothing like that, same with the round holes in the sides.

One cool part was on floor MF (between 1F and 2F). There were many old photos of Shanghai. Two LCD screens had simultaneous photos of Shanghai, taken from the same viewpoint, but years apart.

Two more couchsurfers

Recently, we had Sonja, a German woman who is doing her PhD study on China's influence in Darfur, stayed with us several days. She was staying in Shanghai longer than we could host, so she moved to another host.

Bettina, a German woman on sabbatical from her job at a EU Library in Greece, stayed with us a little while after that. Since they were both in town, we had a little CS get-together for lunch Friday.

Bettina, Jon S., Sonja, me & Jon at the Blue Frog in Daning.

At the local dive bar after a fabulous meal at Da Marco.

We have had all good experiences with Couchsurfing so far. We've hosted four times now, and will host two more couples in July. We're hoping to surf sometime in the future!

Elaborate Bacon...

For those special occasions when regular bacon just won't do...

Disturbing Images Ahead

If you have a weak stomach or are a member of PETA, don't look at this photo. It's pretty gross; gross enough I made it smaller than usual so you don't have to see many details unless you want to click on it.

Frogs are sold as food here.

One vendor apparently will gut the frogs for you, using scissors.

This is one reason why you really need to watch where you are stepping in China!

One of the things that totally gets under my skin.....

I hate it when people smoke right by No Smoking signs. This guy is in a grocery store. It's just the way it is here. People smoke where ever they want to. I've complained to the manager in a restaurant when someone was smoking by me with a NO SMOKING sign on the table. She just giggled. (Giggling is a common response when they know something is wrong but are afraid to do anything about it.)

If you want read more about things Westerners find annoying about living here, check out the Arrrrrgh! section of WoAi's blog.

ROB-B-HOOD

I totally don't get it. There is a gun pointed at a baby!! Someone please explain....
(Thanks for pointing this out, Claire.)

Storming in Shanghai

Right after the boat turned around, the storm started rolling in. It came in quick and made everything very dark and spooky.


It looks like a set from a movie set in the future!


About 10 seconds after I took this photo, the Pearl Tower was hit by lightning. The streak was white hot and probably the thickest lightning bolt I've ever seen. For a minute I wondered if it really hit it, but another American guy saw it strike it too. I did not want to be on the water then.

I took a ton more photos, trying to capture some lighting but failed. Silly me, I should have just turned on the HD video part of my camera and could have gotten something cool that way! I forget I have that feature now.

Huangpu River Cruise

Last Saturday, our Couchsurfer Sonja went on a river cruise with one of her friends, and I also joined them. I've never done this in the two years we've lived in Shanghai, so it was about time I did. It cost 50 RMB for about an hour on the boat.

The Bund is all torn up. You can no longer walk along the river (which I didn't know. Oops.) Normally, you'd see crowds of people here, all taking a photo of their self with the Pearl Tower in the background.




This is a view of the IFC and Jin Mao that you don't see often.

Photo Contest

Mom just told me that I won a photo contest! It was called "Between Fences" and it went along with a Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibition that was at the Miner County Rural Life Museum in Howard (my hometown in South Dakota.) Above is the news article about the contest. I won the adult category with this photo I'd taken when I was back home and fixed fence with Dad. Someone involved in the contest told mom that the judge picked my photo as 1st right away, then had a harder time picking out the 2nd and 3rd places. It's not a huge prize or lots of fame, but I'm happy!

Pay Attention to Your Life

This sign was for a home furnishings store. However, I think it should be on all streets, crosswalks, and sidewalks in China.

"Pay Attention to Your Life" is a very important safety notice.

Hotel Equipment Store

I think this is one of Shanghai's best-kept secrets as to where to find Western kitchen things! If only I'd have known to go here when we first moved to Shanghai, instead of buying everything at IKEA. *sigh*

This store has everything, and you don't have to buy 20 of everything. Anything you can imagine needing in a hotel, restaurant, or bar - it's here. Fake fruit, napkins, tablecloths, glasses, silverware, serving utensils, massive refrigerators, sinks, ovens, those big gas outdoor patio heaters, bells to ring for service... it's all here and inexpensive. Three floors of fun! (The 2nd to 4th floor, in case you notice the 4F sign further down.)

Address: 345 Aomen Lu, near Jiangning Lu
澳门路345号近江宁路

Claire and Bonnie have a custom baking business called "Sweet Bon-O-Mine." They are expanding and looking for a small, inexpensive kitchen space - let me know if you have any guanxi to find this!

Bakeware... I'm going to have to come back and get some casserole dishes.

The 4th floor is where to find all of those baking supplies you can't find in Shanghai. Including cookie cutters, icing decorating bags and tips, pans, molds, rolling pins, etc.

I just love Lock'n'Lock containers. I bought this size of container at Tesco and it was about 80 RMB. Here it was 28 RMB!!!

Look, even a wedding gift set. If only I had more cupboard space.

Ever wonder where the bars get hundreds of dice for the dice games? Neither did I. But, apparently they buy them here!

Happy customers!

Saturday Sidecar Shopping in Shanghai

Jon has been wanting Chang Jiang sidecar motorcycles for a long time. When Abram got a sidecar and then got deported for driving without a license, his wish was put on hold. (See the video Abe took of himself being escorted to jail here.) However, recently Jon got his Chinese driver's license and Steve is just a step away from getting his.

Every show room should offer beer to its customers.

After looking around for a while, one guy said to the other, "I'll do it if you will." I'm still not sure who instigated the actual purchases.

Trying to decide on paint color - Jon is getting a maroon color like this with silver pinstripes, and Steve is getting light silver with just slightly darker silver flames.

Steve getting driven to the nearest ATM for the cash deposit.

If all goes well, in 40 days two custom-made and painted Chang Jiang's will arrive in Shanghai! I think it will be a LOT of fun cruising around in them!

Ultrasounding cattle

This is probably my last post from South Dakota photos for a while! (Until October, anyway.) When I was home, Jason and dad spent a couple days ultrasounding cattle. Not to check if they were pregnant, but to determine their back fat and marbling and the date they would be ready to sell.

Fashion - part 3

I think the word "clash" doesn't exist in Chinese. More huge purses... where are the guys to carry them?? Very typical. The old-fashioned dress with shoes that don't match at all. It's hard to see the moccasins, but they are true leather moccasins, complete with fringe. Maybe it's only in the west that fishnets mean "hooker." Bows everywhere too. A friend once asked me why Americans don't wear bows; she observed that even on the TV shows Americans never wear cute clothes with bows. She said that even on Desperate Housewives the clothes are boring and not cute. America certainly doesn't have the Asian "cute culture." Check out Japan's new ambassadors of cute!

People watching at People's Square - part 2

It does make sense for the guy to carry a purse that big... Jon packs a smaller suitcase than that for trips to Beijing! Tour groups often wear bright, long-billed matching caps. Couples wear matching outfits. First there were the ankle-high stockings, now we also have the knee high stockings. (In the west, we'd wear these under a long skirt with heels, instead of wearing pantyhose. Never showing the top and never with sneakers.) More shorts with black nylons. Stayed tuned for part 3 tomorrow! If you can't get enough of Shanghai fashion, check out Fashion Friday at I Love China, and Shoe Tuesday at ISpyShanghai.

Fashion at People's Square - Part 1

The other day, Jon, Shane and I decided to sit outside and have a Corona (when it's warm out I have a strong desire to sit in the sun and drink Corona) at a little cafe on Nanjing Lu. The spot is just perfect for people watching! I'm going to have a 3-part series on some of the fashions we observed. This style is pretty common in Shanghai. To me, it seems a bit too frilly and old-fashioned, like either something a child or a grandma should wear. Notice the man carrying the purse. Everyone wears black shorts and often colorful or black tights. I don't get the colored tights, since they don't match anything. Also, I'm used to shorts being worn by themselves. If it's not hot enough to wear just shorts, why wear shorts then? Red pants, green shirt and an orange, permed mullet. I have nothing more to say. This girl dressed as a maid walked by 3 times. We were pretty curious as to why she was dressed like that. I thought maybe she was promoting one of those Japanese maid cafes? The girl in the pink had nice coordination going on with the pink umbrella, pink shirt and skirt with gray and pink plaid. Not sure why teal tights and baby blue sneakers needed to be added! Parts 2 and 3 will be published the next 2 days. If you can't get enough of Shanghai fashion, check out Fashion Friday at I Love China, and Shoe Tuesday at ISpyShanghai.

Fashionable Dog

Bonnie's Birthday

Steve graciously hosted Bonnie's birthday party at his house. She made her own cake since she didn't trust anyone else to do it! It was 3 layers of chocolate cake, with chocolate frosting and covered in chocolate chips. It was the richest cake I've ever had! We played Twister and Wii most of the night, with a couple rounds of Mahjong and Mexican Train Dominoes. That was the latest I've stayed up in a VERY long time.

Rain and Hail

In the two years we've lived in China, we've never seen hail. On Friday, the storm clouds rolled in and it poured down. Then, it started hailing! Marble-sized hail pelted down for quite a while. I happened to be walking in it and Jon was stuck in the metro station, umbrella-less, for about 20 minutes.

50 Moganshan Lu

Moganshan is Shanghai's art district and filled with galleries and artists' studios. It's the only place in Shanghai where there is graffiti.

The Polo

Last Saturday 12 girls went to the Polo matches and celebrated Casey's upcoming wedding. We all dressed up and had a marvelous time in the VIP tent! Jo won the "best hat" contest with her cute little feathery thing. Alicia had some guanxi - a friend with a few bottles of champagne after everything else ran out, and another friend doing a documentary on first time Polo spectators in China (the photos of me being interviewed). And we all had a blast!

Jaws

Jon snapped this photo as Boots was lying in her box on the balcony. We can't believe how far her jaws are open in this yawn!

Driving

Jon got his Chinese driver's license!  First he had to get his American license translated, then go to the hospital and take a physical and pick up a book of 100 questions to study.  Then he went back, took the test on a computer, and was issued his license.  He can now drive a motorcycle, 3-wheeled motorcycle and car.  (NOT a van.  Apparently there is a big difference between the two.)

Geocaching in Pudong

We went Geocaching today and got a FTF! (First To Find)  It was a micro cache; also known as an evil blinkie.  (Blink and you miss it.)  It's about the size of a button and magnetic. The sign says "No speel."  It's not a spelling mistake - look it up.  It actually means "climb."

Wholesale Food Market

Bonnie has a custom baking business, and has learned where to get the supplies cheaply.  (All of the foreign stores are NOT cheap.)  We went to a market with at least 20 huge halls of vendors.  The vendors live above the stalls.  The stalls are filled with massive sacks of mushrooms, flour, rice, nuts, peppers, dried fish, cinnamon sticks, and all kinds of other things.    We bought cream cheese, butter, almonds, pistachios, cashews, walnuts, canned peaches, flour, corn meal, evaporated milk... and maybe a few other things I'm forgetting about!   The address is 1255 Lianhua Lu.

Saturday night

Last week, Steve and Sylvia, Shane and Bonnie, Amy and Casey, and Jon and I all went to DaMarco for supper.  We had a drink at the little bar close to it, and then went to play some more Guitar Hero.

Sihouette entry for I Heart Faces contest

This is my favorite silhouette photo - it's Hanna and Henrik in the Badlands!

Couchsurfers

Jon and I are members of www.couchsurfing.com and last week we hosted two Australian girls, Amy and Casey.  They were super nice; both of them (especially Casey) liked to cook.  We were spoiled by them cooking for us several times!  They have a cat (Michael Arthur MacMoussen) back home so really liked Boots too.   Couchsurfing is a site where travelers can offer or request a couch to crash on, or just find someone to meet up with for coffee or a drink.  It's kind of like Facebook for travelers.  It's also similar to eBay, in that you give others feedback so others know how they were as hosts or guests.    We also hosted a Polish couple, Daniel and Martina, before I went to the US.  In the last couple weeks we've gotten requests to host people from Italy, Spain, Germany, Mongolia, and the Netherlands.  We won't say yes to everyone (you can pick and choose as you like, no pressure) since we want to have a little time to ourselves!  We wish we had this when we were traveling through Europe - it's such a great way to meet like-minded travelers if you host; save costs and meet people living locally where you are traveling if you surf.   Here's another article a fellow China blogger just wrote on it.  http://grahamwoodring.com/2009/05/18/couchsurfing-whats-in-it-for-me/

favorite photos

Flowers Dad and I got mom for Mother's Day and dad's boot.  Dirty, cracked leather...  I like it!

Auto-steering tractor

Everytime I go home we have some fancy new-fangled thing.    This new tractor has auto-steering.  It has a computer and GPS in it.  Dad needed to turn the tractor at the end of the row, get it about where he was supposed to start planting the next row, and the auto-steer took over.  It drove the tractor in a straight line until Dad took over to turn around.   This computer/GPS also keeps track of things like what variety of corn was planted, what time, which field it is, etc.  At harvest time, the computer is put in the combine, where it records moisture, bushels per acre of yield, etc.  Dad and Jason can now keep incredibily detailed track of everything about a field.

Planting Corn

Dad planting "Round-up Ready" corn.

birthday cake

This is the cake I made dad for his 60th birthday.  It's a retro-colored cake.   (Really, the frosting was supposed to be white, but mom didn't have any white shortening.  So it turned out yellow.  I decided to tint it slightly blue, but the blue combined with the yellow to make green.  So I kept adding blue until it wasn't green.  Not exactly what I had in mind!)

photos from South Dakota

Here are some more photos from my trip home - one night we went to look at the cows and their new calves with Shannon and Chloe. Chloe kept saying "Hi Baby Cows!" in a super cute 3-year-old voice.  The town, Vilas, is a few minutes west of Howard.  Yes, that is a population sign, and yes, it does say 19.  When people in China say "I'm from a small city, only 2 million people" we can't quite comprehend what is small about that.  I think our whole state has a population of 800,000, with a population density of 1 person per 1.7 square kilometers.