China Update #1

Merry Christmas!!! Christmas in China is not the same... people go through the same motions but the spirit is not in the air. Hope everyone is having a safe and happy holiday back home.

I've been here a week and I think all I have done is shop. I guess you had to expect that when you are in a group with 3 girls. I haven't even bought anything... I just hold their bags... thats my job.

We sent Ann, Wei, and Linda to the airport yesterday. Now its just Tuan, Julie and I. The group dynamics have changed a little. Hopefully no more shopping.

We did take a break from fake LV bag/Burberry scarf shopping on Monday and took a day trip to Hangzhou... my old stomping grounds. We joined a local tour group offered to us on the trainride there... and visited about 8 places in 4 hours. And then we went to the nightmarket where they bought LOTS more fake purses.

I realized that I missed the laid back pace of life there. Shanghai is a little too fast and furious for me. I can't hang with all the shopping.

Winston, Andrew, and I went to Thailand with 1 backpack each... and we came home with 1 backpack each. We barely even fit their luggage into the van we rented for going to the airport.

The pollution here was ridiculously bad here yesterday... we had trouble seeing a building two blocks away on our way to the airport. I caught a cold... and my snot has been constitently black. YUMMY!!!!

Tuan was acosted by two local shanghainese "ladies of the evening" at Mao Ming road. We had to save him.

I think we're going to take off on Saturday and go to Xi-An to check out the terracotta soldiers before coming back here for New Years.

Back to the Motherland

currently sitting at the airport in San Francisco waiting for my flight to Shanghai. Its about a 4 hour layover. Perfect time to dick around and set my fantasy lineups. ARGGGGHHH... I've been so busy at work that I forgot to set my lineups in our fantasy bball league. I'm losing to CTV 8 to 1 for god's sake!!! Thank god for those Intel technology showcases at most of the major airports these days... its still early enough for me to catch up.

I can't help but feel like I have missed out on a lot of the action already in Shanghai. Ideally, I would have met up with Julie and the gang last weekend... but work required me to stay on a few extra days. I'll be meeting up with a group that is already settled in. The initial shock and novelty of a brand new country has probably worn off for them. I'm gunna have to catch up. Only obstacle now to my drunken bliss is 14hrs of transpacific hell!!!

Hope you guys have a good holiday!!! I'll talk to you guys when i get back.

OU is AWESOME!!!!

FOR ME TO POOP ON!!!

I'd never clean the skidmarks in this baby...