4 year anniversary in Shanghai

So after getting frustrated for far too long with the other blog I decided to switch back to this one since it seems to work better. Anyway this past week was teachers day in China so Disney gave us a coupon for free Hagendaz ice cream which was amazing. Hagendaz is a very big thing here and they have restaurants all over Hangzhou. I had no idea what the coupon was for since it was all in Chinese but it turned out I got 6 different things and a cute little freezer bag.

Happy teacher's day!

The pink things were ice cream moon cakes which were delicious. Moon cakes are the official food of the Mid Autumn festival which has been celebrated here for hundreds of years.We still haven't quite figured what the real story is behind the celebration but most versions we've heard involve 9 suns appearing in the sky, a man shooting all but 1 of them down, and then somehow his wife gets exiled to the moon and now lives there with a rabbit.

This year the festival happened to fall on our 4 year anniversary so James and I went to Shanghai to celebrate.Our first stop when we arrived in Shanghai was our favorite pizza place in China.It's owned by this old Italian man who is always really nice to us when we go.

The restaurant is divided in half, so half of it is decorated like a Chinese restaurant and the other half is an Italian restaurant which is funny to see.The best part though is the 4 cheese pizza : )

 After our delicious lunch we made our way to the Pearl Tower, or as I like to call it, the big ball building. James has been wanting to take me ever since he went to the top when our friends Michael and Julia were here.The view from the top was gorgeous and we were lucky to be there on such a clear day.Without all the pollution we probably could have seen all the way to the ocean : )

The best part was the glass floor that let you look straight down.It was really cool and also fun to see all of the terrified Chinese girls that refused to step on to it. 

 It definitely was a little scary.Especially since all of these Chinese men were trying to show off to their girlfriends by jumping on the glass as hard as they could.

Happy 4 years : )

We also really enjoyed seeing all of the different poses that people were doing.These were some of the braver Chinese girls that we ran in to. The best part though was the floating baby.His parents could have made a lot of money if they started charging for pictures.Imagine what his reaction will be when he wakes up and looks down.Poor thing will probably have nightmares about heights for the rest of his life.Or think he has super powers : )

 

For dinner we had real Mexican food which was amazing.Normally when a restaurant here claims to have "Mexican" food it's not authentic. For example they will have baked beans and some sort of warm white sauce that they try to pass as sour cream. This place was legitimate though and everything we ordered tasted amazing.My favorite was the goat cheese cake that was part of the dessert sampler.I need to learn how to make it when I get home.

This was the bathroom at our hostel which we thought was very strange. The Chinese for some reason seem to like having bathrooms that you can look in to.I guess since most of them don't mind peeing in bushes at the side of the road they figure if you are sharing a room with someone that you wont mind that the bathroom doesn't have a door but a window : )

 The following day we went to this really cute area in Shanghai called Tianzifang that had all sorts of shops and restaurants. We even found a fondue restaurant!As you can see we were very excited and will definitely be coming back some time when we haven't already eaten. The fondue restaurant happened to be next door to a cat cafe which we had to check out.

Our cat loved us

 There was no seating downstairs so we got to sit upstairs.There were no cats up there though and when James made a comment about it our waitress insisted that she would go get us a cat.Our cat was obviously not very happy about being moved upstairs and kept trying to get away.Every time the waitress would come back though she would track him down and put him back on our table.Well I think we are going to cook some dinner now.We made a stop at Marks and Spencers while we were in Shanghai and picked up some olives,tortillas,cous cous, and mascarpone cheese pasta sauce so we have lots of delicious meals in our future : )

Expectations

My flight is officially in less than a month now so I thought it might be fun to make a list of things that I am expecting to encounter in China.I have of course done some research but I am sure there will be plenty of surprises along the way and it might be funny to see the difference between what I think China will be like as I sit here on my couch in L.A with my puppy and my fiancé versus what China is actually like when I arrive.

What I Think of China Now

• They will spit...and smoke...a lot
• Dog is found on the menu in most restaurants
• Babies don't wear diapers and can be seen doing their business in the streets
• If you even so much as think something bad about the government they will hunt you down
• Everyday is like a really crowded day at Disneyland...a Disneyland that is covered in a layer of polluted smog
• People are very nice and friendly but they won't understand a word I attempt to say to them and vice versa
• There will be lots of beautiful scenery but also lots of people trying to see the beautiful scenery 
• There is no such thing as personal space.You will be touched everyday,everywhere,in every way
• Anything I attempt to order at a restaurant will be served with a head...and possibly still be moving
• Starbucks will become my refuge and I will go there all the time just to feel something familiar
• Everybody will stare at me with my natural semi-blonde hair and comparatively tan skin and large rear

So that is what I am expecting to find. I know I didn't paint a very optimistic view but at this point I am preparing myself to expect for the worst and hope for the best. I am sure it will be so much more than what I expect and I am excited to spend a year finding out what China is really all about so that when I am preparing to come back to the US I will be able to create a list of all the things I am going to miss about living in China : )

40 Days to China.Ahhhhhhhh!

40 Days to China.Ahhhhhh!!!!!

So in just 40 days I will be getting on a plane to China....this is insane. I accepted a teaching position with Disney English and will be living and teaching in Hangzhou from February 20th 2013 until April 4th 2014. I realize that this is a long time to agree to be in a country I have never been to before, with people I have never met, speaking a language I have never spoken, but it will definitely be an adventure. I am very aware lately of everything that I will miss while I am gone but at the same time I am also excited about having the opportunity to be completely immersed in the unknown. No matter what happens I am sure it will be an experience that I will never forget : )