Jason and I had our first Thanksgiving abroad and unlike our family members back home, we had to work! It actually wasn’t too bad since we knew that Friday would be a professional development day! We started our week with a Tuesday night Sushi date! Even though it was only Tuesday, it was great to get out of our neighborhood and eat some delicious sushi! On our way home we stopped at a new Mexican restaurant to get Corona-ritas! Let’s just say, it was the perfect night cap!
This past weekend was a very entertaining weekend for us Iowans abroad. On Friday night we met a few teachers for a drink at a nearby pedestrian street called “Golden Street”. For those of you who have frequented the Iowa City ‘Pedestrian Mall’, this is a similar sort of thing. There are a number of these pedestrian streets around Shanghai, but this is the closest to our apartment. We did not stay out too late. Saturday we had to play for the musical at school. Angela is accompanying the musical on piano, which is a very important job. I am playing trombone in the pit, which is not nearly as important of a job, but also means I can screw around more in rehearsals. There are several teachers playing as well, so I have plenty of people to talk to when I should be playing.
On Saturday night we celebrated a coworkers birthday by eating dinner at the Shanghai Brewery followed by a rousing session of karaoke. See below.
Believe it or not, Jason and I actually have jobs here in Shanghai! And due to these jobs, we are busy, well at least one of us! Jason is always off doing something! Since August he has been coaching cross country Monday, Tuesday, Thursday! Thankfully, that just ended this last weekend! Besides coaching, Jason is in a community Jazz band which rehearses on Tuesday nights. On Mondays Jason and I have been going to an ultimate frisbee league! It’s been fun so far, besides getting yelled at by our ‘teammates’ and it’s great workout! We’re on different teams so it’s allowed us to meet other people! I’m not sure how I’ll feel when we have our games in late November….may be a bit chilly!
This weekend was an exceptionally eventful weekend for us Iowans in China. On Friday Angela and I had musical pit rehearsal after school, so we did not get home until a little before 6:00 PM. We went out to a great local dumpling restaurant just down the street with a big group of friends, and even got one basket of dumplings for free, as the owner seemed to be enjoying us. Afterwards, we wandered into the park right next to our apartment complex. There is social dancing in this park every single night, and Angela and I have been here a few times before. On Friday night, we took turns dancing with one another, and I even got to dance with an older Chinese woman named Ms. Lee. Her English was very good, and she told us she taught Chinese. One of the new teachers got her phone number so that we might call her for lessons someday.
We got bikes! This morning we took a cab to the Giant store to search for a bike. The store had a great selection of bikes that were all decently priced. After going back and forth between a cruiser and hybrid bike, I decided on the hybrid. The guy at the shop let me take it for a test drive down the street….the breaks felt a little weak so they tightened them up for me. The bike felt a little small but the weight and color sold me. It didn’t come with a kickstand but was able to have one installed before we left. Oh and of course I bought a helmet! Less than $500 for a brand-new bike, kickstand, and helmet. The only weird thing about it is the disc breaks….not sure how I feel about those! Since we had cabbed it to the bike shop one of us was going to have to ride the bike home. Jason volunteered and ended up beating me home! After an afternoon nap we rode our new bikes to the pearl market to pick up my clothes that I had ordered last week. The whole adventure took about 20 minutes and was pretty easy. Having a bike really makes getting around a lot easier! Actually biking in Shanghai is pretty nerve racking because you don’t really have to follow any traffic laws! In fact I noticed the more careful I was, the more dangerous it seemed. Cars yield for you but you can never really tell if they will! So for example when the light was red we just went for it and weaved in and out of traffic! Not to worry –we wore helmets and really, we were the only people wearing helmets! Once all of our friends get bikes it will be nice to bike around the city!
Oh and the clothes I picked up are awesome. The dresses that I got are a perfect match and fit great!
Iowans Abroad 