Less than two months left

It's May. The last three days have been hot; in the 80s scraping 90, clear skies. It reminds me of when we arrived, not that long ago, but long enough. We were clueless and lost. I couldn't keep food down. Two slurps of noodles and that would be it. And it was hot.

Pretty soon it'll be over, and it'll be time to move on to our next (perhaps better [ok probably better]) city. Now I have a small inkling of what a teacher does, and a very good inkling of what a SHSID foreign teacher does (hmm, I won't go into it).

So, today I meant to write. I wanted to write about things (lessons?) learned, growing up, our changing bodies, etc., etc..., but really do I understand Shanghai or the people who come to Shanghai? Maybe, maybe not. There's a hardened China shell now, a protective layer against the common zaniness of your average day, but actual understanding is still hiding around a corner, asleep and ruffled.

So I meant to write, but instead I just went for a run in the dark. At 9:00pm on a Saturday night, the only other person on the track is a groundskeeper watering the hedges and smoking a cigerette. His eyes followed me around, and I avoided stepping on the length of the hose. It was too dark to see his features, but the glowing end of his cigerette occasionally grew brighter and dimmer. It was odd, and hard to tell if I was sleeping or not. When I finished, I passed him without waving or looking in his direction.

Here is a good point for an inappropriate anecdote. Two weeks ago (before Korea, oh I have to tell you about Seoul and the wonderfullness of it, but I'll save it when for when I post the pictures), I was going over vocabulary on a Monday in my English class. Typical vocab Monday. The kids are bored and still waking up, because I see this class first period. They're too tired to even try to sneak some iPod listening or PSP playing during class. So, they're dead. Then I get to the vocab word "emission." Yes, you see where this headed. One boy looks it up on his electronic dictionary, giggles, and passes it to some other boys in a row.

"Oh, this is very good word Mr. Wong," Shone says. Shone, half Isreali and half Taiwanese, who is the loudest kid by far, spikey hair, skinny jeans.

I ignore him and move on. "Can anyone use this word in a sentence? Anyone?"

Shone's hand shoots up. "Oh, oh. Mr. Wong, I have sentence."

I hesitate, but everyone else is still dead, so I give in. "Ok Shone."

"I cum. C-U-M," he spells out.

I freeze for a bit. "Um..." Finally I say, "That would be a better sentence if you used the word emit."

ok, inappropriate anecdote done.

I'm still trying to figure out when to tell the kids I'm leaving. One knows already, June, but she hasn't told the others yet. I don't know why I'm dragging my feet. These kids are used to their teachers leaving them, but I want to wait a little longer, if just to pretend that I'll be around to see them grow up, and help them when Shanghai and life in general are too much.

Ok, that's enough of dear diary. Next will be Hangzhou or Korea, or maybe I'll move on to a Joyce post I've been meaning to get to.

Nanjing

Cole just uploaded all of our Nanjing photos, so I won't duplicate them here. Instead, I'll leave you with this video. A slice of Nanjing morning:

note, that is a sacred statue.

Hitotoki

It's not much I know, but at least it's something right?

http://hitotoki.org/shanghai/

Fourth Anniversary

March 20th was our four year anniversary. We didn't do much since we were going to Nanjing soon, but we did have the best sushi since we've been in Japan.

In general, sushi in Shanghai is...disappointing. Maybe even more than disappointing, often it's horrible. The fish has clearly been frozen, as far as fresh as possible. Both taste and texture are rubbery. To be honest, after trying four or five different places, we were ready to give up.

But then we found Haiku. Nestled in a renovated block (go gentrification!) of Hengshan Lu, Haiku is a modern Japanese restaurant known for its rolls. Stephenie suggested it, and we went, and it was good. Very good.

Yep, happy four years.

Trustmart

The closest supermarket to school is this Chinese version of Wal-Mart, aka, Trustmart. Nicole decided to take a couple covert shaky videos while shopping. Note the extensive seafood selection. Mmm, fish floating belly up. They also favor the repeating message on loudspeaker method of announcement here.

Shanghai Sharks

About a month ago, cole, conks, brian, and I went to the final home game of the Shanghai Sharks, the local Chinese Basketball Association team.

Now the CBA isn't exactly the best basketball league in the world...in fact it's pretty horrible. And to top it off, the Shanghai Sharks are the worst team in the league.

So, after being accosted outside by scalpers (really, if you've never been crushed on all sides by sketchy Chinese men waving tickets in your face, you should try it, it's an experience) we sat back in our cheap seats, and watched the comedy unfold.

The mascot

One of the opposing players (Shanxi??). Ball hog and a bit of a crybaby

cole and conks

a little too close up

oh, I can't describe it all. The missed shots, lack of defence, the inexplicable calls from the refs. And the cheerleader and mascot dances. That, you'll just have to see for yourself.

April so far, words from maki

So, it's been awhile since I've last posted. Here's a quick update:
We told Helen (our boss) about leaving for HK a few weeks ago and she took it rather well. She was a little taken aback, but really, after about 5 seconds, she was ready to move on. I guess the whole nature of English teacher here is pretty transient, and she's used to people disappearing every year.

What else has happened? Nanjing pictures will be up soon (cole might have them up already, and conks put them up quite awhile ago). This weekend, nicole and I are going for a weekend trip to Hangzhou, a scenic lake resort area an hour or two outside of Shanghai.

After that will be South Korea! where we'll meet up with DK, former Tor intern extraordinaire, and now soon-to-be law student extraordinaire. Can't wait for the food either...bi...bim...bap.

oh, and a group of us ran in a 10K race in Pudong last week. I know it's been awhile since the marathon, but I was still pretty surprised that the five miles weren't that bad. Usually, I only run about two or three times a week, and only three miles each time, so I didn't really know what to expect. Well, it turns out that I finished the 5 miles at about 42-45 minutes (not that bad). Because I missed all the distance markers (and didn't have a watch on), I left way too much for the end, and had to all-out sprint the last K to make up for it.

I was at least able to pass most of the old ladies, girls running in tight sparkly jeans, run-down expats, and smoking migrant workers. The prevailing strategy of the Chinese runners seemed to be, go go go as fast as you can for...the first mile. And then hack hack your way through the next couple miles. Then sprint! Then die. Then shuffle.

We forgot our camera, so no pics from us, but conks (as she always does) posted some, including one horrific shot of our post-race eating.

Well, that's about it for me. Instead, I'll let Maki speak for me, since it's been awhile since I've talked about her (she talks much more now, but is still much more interested in reading comic books in class than studying or listening...oh maki combo).

From the midterm: What would you do if you found a time machine?
(Maki)
If I found a time machine, I will use it. I want to go future very much. I want to go about 1000 year later, so it will be 3009.
I want to go future because I want to watch more developped world!! I want to know the exist of “flying car.” This mean, I want to know if there are any flying object except airplane, bird or other things that exist today. In movie or TV program, if they show about future, there are almost always any flying object. Isn’t it? So I want to make sure it very much!!
Next, I also want to watch about human. I learned that “All living things changes their state or something to adapt to their environment” so I want to watch the “evolved human” in the future. My mother said “Human will have shorter leg. Because they (maybe include me) don’t walk or move more (except sports human who play sports) compare to past!”
And I want to know about their boom. It is popular music, fashion, animation and so on. And I want to read comic book in future. I think story, their speaking or picture will be very different from now. I am very interesting to it.

I also interesting in more useful or unique machine in future that I unable to image, so I will go to future if I found a time machine.