Date Night

It all started with a 10 minute scooter ride to the subway.  Date nights in China are a bit different than in the US and in the course of the evening we drove our scooter for 20 minutes took 4 four subway trains and walked for a total of 40 minutes!

Landon and I got home from the Christmas Bazaar fundraising event in the mid-afternoon after having sold our share of popcorn for the scouts.  Regan soon followed having returned from a victorious Soccer Tournament where he played goalie and Mason - well Mason had just woken up.  I tried to rally all the troops to go out to a Chinese restaurant by my office called Dong Bei Jia Ren (literally - North East Family) that I have been to several times with co-workers.  After pleading my case that it would be an "adventure" and that "No, the food is not spicy" I still had no takers.  Then Mason sprung into action and said "Why don't you two go on a date night! I'll watch Landon and make dinner for the boys!"  It didn't take much thought from Cynthia and I before we made a mad dash to get ready and head out the door before anyone changed their mind or attitude.

After securing the scooter outside of Yunshan station on Line 6 we made our way through the crowds to the first train.  It was rush hour and to get on the train we had to push and shove our way to a place inside the car where it was SRO - sardine room only!  6 stops later found us at Century Avenue station where we changed to Line 2 and headed toward our destination of Jiangsu station.  In total it was about 45 minutes on the subway one way.  You don't see many Westerners on the subway although they are scattered here and there.  It is a great time for people watching and often times someone will try to strike up a conversation with us in Chinese and we try to communicate but poorly and usually it just ends up in mutual smiles and silence.  From Jiangsu station we had a 20 minute walk through the heart of the city - busy roads, honking horns, street vendors selling fresh fruit, roasted chestnuts, and bouquets of flowers, cars passing above on elevated highways and scooters weaving their way along the sidewalks and roadsides.  It really is an adventure and I can see why big cities like Shanghai are referred to as "the concrete jungle" 

We arrived at Dong Bei Jia Ren restaurant around 6:30pm and were welcomed by a host who was waiting for guests on the sidewalk.  Upon the opening of the large colorfully painted doors we were greeted by two hostesses dressed in brightly colored jackets and the familiar "Huan Ling Guan Ling" chant, but here at what seemed the top of their lungs!  We were quickly seated at a table on the first floor and soon had the menu in hand ordering our dishes.  The menu was in pictures (as in most Chinese restaurants) but also had both Chinese and English descriptions - things like Private Place Meat Pie (which we ordered and it was delicious), Would Need a Lake Shrimp and Deep Fried Silkworm Chrysalis (did not order these although I offered to get them for Cynthia)  Besides the meat pie we had fresh vegetables, cabbage & pork dumplings, and a Flaming Dragon Fish which was neither on fire or spicy but did sort of look like a dragon.

After dinner we walked a short distance to a place to have a foot massage.  Cynthia's knee has been bothering her so I ordered the Ginger Paste treatment.  They place paper towels spread with a ginger paste over each knee then put a wet towel over that and wrap the entire knee in plastic.  The heat from the ginger paste penetrates into the joint and is very restorative - think Chinese BenGay.  We also ordered "cupping" which is where they take a glass cup and put a flame inside of it then quickly place it on the sole of your foot creating a vacuum.  They rub the glass cup around your foot and then pull it off with a loud "POP!" This procedure is repeated several times and really feels wonderful.

By 9:00pm we were heading back home and arrived around 10:00pm.  The boys were still alive, the house was in tact and all was good.  Not bad for a Chinese Date Night!

On your mark...get set...GO!

It takes a few days but the jet lag eventually passes as your body catches up to the pace at which you crossed several time zones.  And just as you get feeling back to normal - the weekend is there to welcome you with a host of extracurricular activities.  It all begins on Friday with football practice from 5 - 7pm then followed up on Saturday with the "Christmas Bazaar" held at the school where Landon and I have vendor duty from 12 - 2pm selling popcorn and soda.  Sunday is a football game followed by church and then usually a dinner out with friends and before you know what hit you - it is time to head back to the office!  Whew!  I am already tired just thinking about it and it is only Thursday.  I guess that is what this particular stage of life is all about - hustle, bustle and somewhat organized chaos!

Cynthia made a nice American dinner last night - hamburgers!  We mostly enjoyed them although the ground beef here leaves a bit to be desired.  We also had instant mashed potatoes in place of french fries.  It was good but we all got a bit melancholy for burgers on the grill back home.  It did help to remember that back home it is in the 30s (F) with snow cover while here we are enjoying temps in the upper 50s and low 60s with sunshine.

What do you miss?

On my recent trip back to Minnesota the most frequent question I received from friends and family was "Besides the people, what do you miss the most?"  I didn't have a great answer at the moment but now that I am back I have been giving some thought to it and have come up with the following things:  I miss the Garage Logic radio program with Joe Soucheray; Buffalo Wings at Applebees; listening to sports talk radio in the mornings.  I miss driving! I miss our church services on Saturday nights; our dog Huntley; putzing in the yard and the garage and really the thing I miss the most are the people.  You really can't exclude them from the list.  When you boil it all down it is the people in our lives that make it all worth while.  We are making some new friends here but it is a slow process with the exception of Mrs. Cynthia "Woo" Smith who seems to befriend everyone.  Take care and give someone close to you a hug!

Home at last

I finally arrived home late on Sunday evening after a VERY long day of travel.  The best part of the trip home was seeing Regan and Landon at the airport to welcome me back.  The rest of the trip I could have done without.  Leo and I got back to Minneapolis late Friday night from the most beautiful weather in San Diego only to be welcomed by temps in the upper 30s and rain.  As we drove to the hotel the rain turned to sleet and by the time we were checked in it had fully changed over to snow.  It was 11:30 pm and the news was forecasting 1 - 3 inches by morning - no problem!  But as they say in Minnesota - "If you don't like the weather just wait 15 minutes and it will change"  By 6am there was already 3 inches of snow and no signs of letting up.  The news was reporting that the current Winter Storm Warning was calling for continued snow, heavy at times at over 1"/hour with total accumulations from 6 to 12 inches.  Our flight was scheduled to Detroit at 8:20am then our connection to Shanghai was to leave at 3pm.  We checked our bags in and headed for the gate, got on the plane, sat through 2 de-icings during which they found a "problem" with one of the tail wings and decided to head back to the gate for inspection at which time everyone had to de-plane and then race to get re-booked on another flight.  It was now 10:15am.  We got booked on the 11:30 flight to Detroit which would leave us about 30 minutes to make our connection - again, no problem.  The snow was getting heavier.  By 12 noon they cancelled our plane to Detroit and so it was back to our friendly Delta rep (no, seriously.  Her name was Gerri and she was great!) to get rebooked.  This time we really changed things up and got onto the 1:10 pm to Tokyo with continuation to Shanghai.  We were thankful to be on a flight but had given up all hope for our bags.  We finally arrived in Shanghai and were waiting patiently by the baggage claim when I decided to check with the luggage service department and lo and behold our bags were there AHEAD of us!!  Not sure how that happened but it did - must have been the "Priority" tags due to my Medallion status - finally a benefit from the Sky Miles program.