Gotta Love Familiar Faces!

I can't read 'em, but I know what they are! At least I think I do! Can you recognize these popular global brands?

World Expo in Shanghai!

The World EXPO was here in Shanghai for 6 months. The last day was October 31, 2010. We almost didn't go. Then it occurred to me that it would be a big mistake not to. After all, the Expo has had a huge impact on Shanghai... mostly, if not temporarily, for the better. Many buildings were built, roads were improved, flowers were planted, and pollution was bettered over the past few years in anticipation of the world coming to Shanghai. Plus, we had free tickets!

So, three nights before the EXPO was closed for good, we made our way to the EXPO site. It was a beautiful night with a clear sky so we could see the moon. We only had a chance to visit one area of the EXPO since it is so massive. The USA Pavilion had invited U.S. residents to enjoy VIP access by showing our passports, so we decided to hit Zone C where they were located. One emotion that I have experienced over and over since I've been here is the pride that I feel when I see our nation's flag or when I say "Wo shi Meugoren" (I am American). I am very proud of our country and I was proud to show my passport and cut the long line of non-Americans waiting to enter our Pavilion.

Gavin in the VIP access line at the USA Pavilion (well, there really wasn't a line, we were the only Americans there at the time!)

 

As it turned out, Matt and I didn't think our Pavilion was all that great. It was really crowded, of course, and our Pavilion thought that the best way to showcase our country to the crowds was to shuffle everyone from room to room and show films. We saw the first one and then bailed. We figured we know all we need to know about our country, let's check out some of the other ones that we don't know as much about. Here are the highlights...

South Africa was so proud to host the World Cup this summer, so of course, their Pavilion was all about it!

Tyler & Gavin posed with the South African World Cup team.

This is the elevated pedestrian walkway that winds through the EXPO site. It was very quiet the night we were there! The kids are the only people on it!

This is the Chile Pavilion. The room was upside down - very cool! The theme was based on what Chile dreams a city should be like, and questioned "why people choose to live in cities if they aren't going to interact with the many people that live so close to them" - a.k.a. "urban loneliness" or "urban alienation." Interesting topic.

This was the hands-down highlight of our EXPO visit. It was near the exit to the Chile Pavilion. It is the test rescue capsule used to free the Chilean miners only days before. It was interesting to see the size and scale in real life. It was being guarded by Chilean policemen/women (one or two of whom spoke English). We chatted with them for a little while and they gave us a beautiful book on Chile's cities and Chile pins for the boys' pin collections. Of course, as soon as they gave us those things, all the Chinese people came running over to see if they could score some! It was funny!

This is the Cuba Pavilion. It was very small and not much to it, but it was a street scene and pretty cool to walk through. Here are the boys taking in the sights and dreaming of visiting Cuba one day (maybe they will in their lifetime?)!

Our night at the EXPO was a great night. We laughed a lot - at the gross squatty potties (can't believe they didn't have better ones, although when Matt went to a different bathroom, he said they had Western potties) and the boys got a lot of attention with their blond hair - their pictures were taken over and over again (you would have thought that THEY were the attraction!) The boys even had fun, and everyone had warned us that kids would be bored. Maybe we did it the right way, by going at night, avoiding anything with lines, enjoying the exteriors of the Pavilions lit up and just being happy to be able to say that we were there!

More Backyard Strangeness

So we hired a gardner to cut our "grass" (aka weeds and random patches of different grass). One day he scratched up this patch of dirt and planted what I thought was grass seed. The next month he came back and weeded and watered it! I asked my ayi what it was... she said "qingcai (Chinese leafy green vegetables)... eat!" The dude planted a garden in my yard without even asking... what???

These chickens are our neighbors. Thankfully, they aren't that noisy...

Halloween in Shanghai

The Chinese don't get this holiday. I was decorating my house the other day and everyone stopped and stared at me and our house. And I didn't even have that many decorations up. Maybe it was the styrofoam gravestones. The Chinese may be superstitious or it may be against their qi. Since we don't have pumpkin picking and they don't sell Halloween lights, we Westerners did our very best to celebrate this holiday American-style, and we didn't do such a bad job considering the resources we had! Some were creative and brought duffel bags of "real" candy back from the States, others carved watermelons, and many went to the fabric market to have costumes custom-made for a fraction of the price paid in the US. Since this holiday is not celebrated in China, the expat compounds have their own trick-or-treating. Well, you can just imagine that through the years, the Chinese and their children have caught wind of this amazing day where you go around and collect free candy from strangers! Needless to say, every house runs out of candy (and every year, from what I've heard!). So, around 5:30pm, the minute it gets dark, you better get out there and trick-or-treat because the timer is on! In about 1-1/2 hours the "No More Candy" signs go on the doors and the outdoor lights get switched off...

 Not a very large selection.

These ugly, brown, expensive things are what the Chinese try to pass off as Halloween pumpkins. Of course, the locals think foreigners are crazy for buying them! I do too. We opted for the small Japanese squash below which looks more like a pumpkin. And it's a lot cheaper!

Its shell is a lot harder to cut and there are lots more seeds than regular USA pumpkins.

We did our best to make the house look festive! On Halloween night, we put out some candles and most houses did too, so it looked very cool, kind of like a movie set with all of the trick-or-treaters walking around in the light fog with the candles. Spooky...

Guess who's under those masks...

Want some candy, kid? Matt scared away some kids... we had a lot of laughs!

Some of the Chinese candy from our loot (not very good)... but we also got some Dove chocolates and this Mom scored a Reese's from a friend down the street, so all is good!

Until next year...

Lost in Translation

Mandarin is a very difficult language to learn. Lots of things get lost in translation usually because there is no literal translation between English and Mandarin. For example, "white wine" in English is translated to words that mean "white grape alcohol" in Mandarin; "yogurt" is translated to "sour milk"; and the Mandarin translation of "Diet Coke" is "healthy light cola" as there is no Mandarin word for "diet." So, you can see why, after this sign was translated from Mandarin to English, it reads very strange. This was found at a skateboard park near our house. I think they meant to title it "Skateboard Park Rules."

Weird Things We See

This is tame compared to some other bikes/scooters full of stuff that I've seen. Once I saw a guy with styrofoam and the load was at least 10 times bigger than the bike. Not quite sure how he got all of it on and how long it took!

These are decorations for the Moon Festival in October. If you ask me and the boys, they look like Easter decorations!

Little kids pee everywhere and usually they are not inconspicuous about it. This little girl was peeing right in front of a seating area for a snack shack. Yum, eat your ice cream and watch someone pee in front of you. Sounds appetizing, doesn't it? The Mom freaked out and grabbed her when she noticed us taking pictures. Well, what do you expect???

Chinese people love white kids. Especially little blonde ones. This is my friend's daughter. She gets lots of attention wherever we go!

A Shanghai Mystery

This is a picture of the house behind ours. A wealthy local Chinese family lives there. If you look closely, you can see the ayi (housemaid) sitting cross-legged on the ground through the branches. She is wearing black. She is washing her hair and her arms out of a large white bucket. Why is she doing this? Is she not allowed to use one of the 4+ bathrooms in the house? Is this a Chinese ritual? Is she communing with nature? I don't know. Another cultural mystery. What do YOU think?

"It's Different Here"

This is one of the first things that one of the first Americans I met here in my compound said to me. I kind of assumed that it would be, but differently than I thought. First and foremost, I'm learning to tolerate more and quicker than I thought. Now that I'm two months in, things don't bother me as much. I actually look for things outside of what I was the norm. I have accepted that this culture is very different than ours, even though I may not always agree with it! :-)

Let's Get it Started!

I've always wanted to keep a record of my traveling adventures, but I haven't been that great at it. Plus, I want to share our experiences with our family and friends. There is a lot to write, so it's hard to know where to begin. But, I'm just going to pick a topic and jot down some sentences and maybe add a picture. I think in time it will all come together to be the story of our life here for the next few years! So, cue the Black-Eyed Peas, and "let's get it started!!!!"