Just another day at the supermarket...

(Alternately titled, "Why shopping in China anytime even close to the vicinity of Chinese New Year's is a really, really bad idea")

Most people know that I'm not that big of a shopper.  In fact, I'm a very lazy shopper. If I can avoid having to go shopping, I will.  When I do go shopping, I go straight to find what I want and bam, bam, bam, I'm done. I like being able to go in and get out quickly. Unfortunately for me, I forgot that the weekend before Chinese New Year's is probably the worst possible time for me to pick up my daily use items.

There were So. Many. People!  I was jostled and tossed about like a little toy boat in the sea that is holiday-shoppers.

But, I will say that there has been vast improvements since the last time I was in China.
1. There were lines. (Or at least something that resembled them).
2. People (some) actually said "Excuse me."
3. The fearsome older generation of Shanghai ladies actually asked each other where the end of the line was.

I hope you realize that I'm not being sarcastic (not completely, anyway). I really do think there have been some really good attitude improvements from the general public and it's heartening.  The fact that little things like this are heartening is a little disturbing in what it says about how things were like before, but still, count your blessings, dear soul.

Admittedly, I was really grumpy when I was being bumped about in the store, but as I was waiting in line (with those measly five items), I couldn't help but find the humor in the situation. Why get upset when it'll just be a waste of energy?  Better to save up the moments and report to all you dear ones who may be reading this. :)

In other news, a big thank you to Anita for teaching me the use-toothpaste-on-burns trick.  Silly girl that I am, I just bought a heat/cold preserving tumbler, and when the pictures said that I can turn in on the side without anything spilling, I tried it without thinking. Suffice to say, false advertisement still runs rampant in China.

The Body of Christ is Amazing!

Today, I went to visit BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) for the first time. The cool thing? I went with my supervisor who I just found out is also Christian. Yay! How awesome is it that God has placed me where I am right now with exactly these people around me?

Week 1 in Shanghai: What I've Learned

- Don't take hot water for granted: I'm reminded of this every day as I turn on my water heater which takes about 2 hours to heat the water enough for about a 10 minute shower.

- Don't take heaters for granted: It usually works fine, but every now and then it just stops and I end up seeing a white puff of air from my breath that really shouldn't be there.

- Don't take soft beds for granted: And I thought the mattress I had for college was bad. My current bed is about as soft as sleeping on the carpet at Grace Church (yeah, all you people who stay for Evening service to "study" know what I'm talking about...). This has been fixed, however, as of last night by doubling up a blanket on the bottom as a cushion.

- Don't take stoves for granted: My mind keeps wandering to what I should cook for dinner...until I realize I have no stove to cook it on. I want to buy a single-burner electric stove soon, but it's been too cold out for me to want to do anything. Like move.

- Public transportation is my friend: 2 RMB for buses, and 4 for the metro. That comes out to about $.30 and $.60, respectively. This is how the rest of the world gets around, California.

- Tote bags are my friend: Curiously, the supermarket near my apartment only gives you ONE plastic bag to hold your purchases. Hello, free UCLA blood donation tote. :)

- Living with myself cannot be good for my sanity... because I've found myself talking to, well, myself a LOT more often. Haha...whoo boy...

- Google talk is pretty darn amazing: Yay for cheap free international calls home.

- Bringing an umbrella would have been a good idea: For all that Shanghai only snows once every couple of years, it's snowing this year. Haha... It'd be pretty if it weren't for the fact that I'm kinda freezing my posterior off.

Annnndddd...I think that about sums up everything except for work. But I'm getting a little chilly at my desk, and since I don't have wireless and I can only do internet things while AT my desk, this means that I'm done for now. Until next time, dearies.

Win

Thousand year egg and slim pork congee + you tiao = 6 yuan.

Yay KFC.

I'm still looking to see how much cheaper I can get my meals.  If KFC is going for 6 yuan, I'm positive I can find something at 2....

Day 1 at work...

1 hour in: my head is practically spinning from the training. And I haven't even gotten into the meaty parts yet. Yikes.

2 hours in: more training. Lots and lots more.

3 hours in: lunch! Yay for 85 degrees in China! :) (that's right, suckers. there's one right next to my workplace...guess who's getting fat on pastries?) 

4 hours in: first project - program writing: due date - Monday, 1/17

6 hours in: am told by supervisor that I can leave an hour early since it's my first day. yay!

8 hours in: just kidding. internet problems. must cover for some other teachers.  thrown feet first into teaching with very little prep time. yikes!  okay, so it wasn't too bad, just unexpected and a little funny considering it was my first day.

9 hours in: braving the harsh winter winds of Shanghai to go home.  Was originally planning on dropping by the supermarket, but the cold changes my mind.

Annnnddd...there you have it. My first day of work. Half-exciting, half-what-in-the-world-am-I-doing, but altogether pretty good. My coworkers are all very friendly so that's a plus. Now if only I can get off my lazy butt to go to the supermarket tomorrow morning before work...(my hours are 10-7).  The below-freezing temperatures are something of a deterrent from going anywhere. Granted, it's also probably a really good incentive for going to work since my workplace has better heating than my apartment. Lol...

Full Circle

Well...this is exactly why I fail at keeping journals. I forget too often.  :)

Anyhow, these past couple of weeks have been extremely crazy for me.  In a matter of two months, I've essentially uprooted my life and readied to plant myself right back where I started from six years ago.  That's right, it's back to Shanghai for me (as of 10 hours from now).  That being said, if memory serves me correctly, blogspot doesn't work over in good ole China, so I think this journal is going to be abandoned for six months. Sad.  I'll try to set up something that does work, but in the meantime, I think I'll just try to stick with email updates.

Aside from all that madness, the last 2 months can be summed up like this:

- Titus
- family fun (Settlers of Catan)
- food
- Titus!
- Settlers
- food
- Titus
- food
- TITUS!!!
- Settlers
- Mahjong
- food
- Tiiiiiittttttuuuuuusssss!!!!!

Yup. That's a pretty accurate summation of Christmas 2010 with the Kwong family. Love it. :)  Anyway, I'll go more in depths with all the wonderful blessings these past weeks have been in a later update, but for now, I just finished packing and really shouldn't be up this late.