Good Day After All

This past weekend was kind of a let down. After having dinner with friends during the week and getting used to a new environment. I came down with a little bug, that combined with the heat and humidity, here in Shanghai, kind of put me in a bad mood. The highs have been between 95 and 97 but even worse the lows have around 87, still kind of hot. The humidity has also been high above 70%. So Saturday night when I finally ventured out in the evening I was grumpy.

But that was when things changed. I went over to Renmin Park and as I approached, I heard Brahms lullaby being played on wood wind over by the big fountain. So I went over there. When I got there I saw kind of a mini festival going on. The fountain was lit up and was full of kids in the water and everyones else talking with each other and watching the water. It was also cooler here due to a breeze from the ocean blowing across the water.

It was like a small festival; people were blowing bubbles for children to chase, and friends talking and relaxing with each othere. One group was launching a propeller toy that lit up when it flew. There was even someone flying a kite in the dark. It changed my mood completely.

While I leaned against a wall watching this little festival, a girl came up to me wanting to try her English out. For once I didn't feel like someone was trying to scam me and her parent who were near by seem to be happy that the Mei Gou Rin was being nice to their child. So I talked with her. Lucy was going into 7th grade and her pronunciation was good. She like school and discovery was her favorite class. Just as we began to run out of things to talk about the music and fountain abruptly ended. So I excused myself and finished my walk around the park feeling a lot better than when I started.

Here are some random photos of dinners.

Back In China

My flight was good, there was no major snags and I landed safe back in China. So far the only person I have seen is Dong Yan, she helped book my before I came, we got something to eat and went for a run yesterday, she is a great friend. I will get together with several people this Thursday. I am looking forward to that. There are many conflicts going on with me though. It is great to be back here but it doesn't feel as good this time this time though. It is hot and muggy here. Plus even more important to me I am really happy to see my friends in China, but now I miss everyone in St Louis. Of course in a year I will back in St Louis missing my friends in China. I guess I am never satisfied.

I am so proud of myself, I met some professors on the flight and ended up helping them catch the Maglev train, the subway and a taxi. I felt like a real world traveler. At least until I started walking to my hotel and had to get a map out to find the street my hotel was on. It was very embarrassing when I realized I was standing right across the street from the street I was looking for. Although I don't feel too bad since I had asked some people and they didn't know where the street was either.

I am hoping to post once or twice a week, so stay tuned.

New China Adventure

Stay turned for my next China adventure. I will be teaching English at Jiangsu Institute of Economic & Trade Technology. Tentative itinerary to follow.