Protection for your protection

During my stay here in Shanghai, I have attempted to show interesting and unique things which make China different from the United States. I have shown you the sidewalks, the bullet trains and the like. Now I want to show you what happens when it rains, like it did today in Shanghai. When it rains, you will find at every door in every building a stand with plastic bags or "umbrella condoms". There is a person at this plastic bag stand that assists you in covering your umbrella in the plastic bag. This is done, so that water will not drip off of your umbrella unto the floor which could lead to some serious trips and falls. This not only keeps one safe, it prevents any civil liability issues from arrising. This is another example of Chinese ingenuity and perspective. For Anita's information, this is a picture of my umbrella on my desk. As you can see there is not much to my desk!!!!!!

The Taxi Ride

You may remember that I said that I would tell the story of the TAXI ride. Taxi rides are sometimes a "crap shot" here, the reason I say that is there are very few of the taxi drivers that we see that seem to speak English. We have cards that have simplified Chinese symbols that give the locations of where we want to go. In this case, we started at the office and were heading to where we reside at the "Diamond Court" I gave the driver the card, he looked at it, he looked at me and nodded his head "yes". So Kurt and I jumped into the cab and thought we would be home in 20 minutes max. The driver drove around the corner on to a main drag, just far enough away where we could not jump into another cab and he pulls over to the side of the road....shakes his head and pulls out his map....he mumbles to himself in Chinese, shakes his head, motions to see the card, I had shown earlier, shakes his head again and takes off......Now Kurt and I are beginning to wonder, just what all of this means. We give each other looks like "Oh no...what is happening here" and "So, do you think we will make it home????" We are now going through areas of town that we have not seen, since we have been here. Ever like the boy scout, I take various pictures of our surroundings so that if the authorities ever find the bodies and the camera they can tell where we have been!!!! The driver continues to drive...at various times looks at the map, shakes his head, beeps his horn and drives on....he beeps his horn more at some bike, motorcycle, car or person. At virtually every stoplight, and there are a lot of them in Shanghai, he looks at the map, points, waves his hand in a fashion that would indicate that he is either unknowing or exasperated. And he continues to drive. After what seems to be an interminable amount of time, we begin to see signs and sights that look familiar, about an hour after we started this journey....we were back at the Diamond Court with another story to tell. When I say that Shanghai is an adventure...I really do mean it!!!

Hey to all of you that write comments, I want you to know that I really appreciate the weather,sport and golf scores updates. Those and the personal words are a joy to read and help me to stay in touch with all of you!!! Again thanks so much.....all for now, my next topic will be on umbrella condoms.....caught your attention??????

(Not) Faster than a speeding bullet . . . But close!

Lest any of you think that China is a country not leaping forward in technology, take a look at the train system that opened April 18,2007 this year. This train can travel at a maximum speed of 240 KMH or 144 MPH. This train was very comfortable to ride in and was as smooth as silk. Basically it was as smooth as a plane ride and there was NO turbulence!!. We went to the Nanjing Auto Parts exposition and there were in excess of 1,500 suppliers. This was bigger than AAPEX in Las Vegas!!! I swear Kurt and I walked at least 8 or 9 miles. The trip to Nanjing took just over 2 hours. The maximum speed that we went was 214 KMH OR 128.4 MPH. All in all a good adventure and it was a chance to get to know our Comrades here in China better!!! All for now..............

They even have Cheerleaders in China!!!

Recently, there was an 8K race that took place in Jinqiao (pronounced Jing Chow) and very near my apartment. It was very early in the morning about 6:30 AM last Sunday when I heard loudspeakers and music playing. Come to find out it was the start and finish line for the "6th Annual Jinqiao 8K Race." It seems that running is very big here and there are running clubs. The gentleman in this picture, on roller blades would skate up and down the road and beat the drum for those members that are in his running club as they approached the finish line. And, as you can see, there are many nationalities represented by the flags on his helmet!!! It was a trick timing the picture as he roller bladed by me!!!! Yeah!!!! I got it!!! Do any of you think I have a future in photography? All for now. Take care everyone......I have more stories especially about a taxi ride in Shanghai and the importance of language!!!

We could truly learn some things from the Chinese!!!

When I arrived in China and started walking around, I noticed this pattern on all the sidewalks. You will find this all over Shanghai. As you can see in this picture there are generally bike paths (the paved area) next to the sidewalks. Many times, if you are walking next to someone on the sidewalk, I would find myself walking on this pattern which is actually kind of uncomfortable. As it turns out, this pattern is used to help blind people in China maneuver around. It is almost like a Braille on the sidewalk. It acts as their guide for position on the sidewalk. We could definitely learn from the Chinese on this one. What an excellent idea!!!

Pearls of Wisdom

Today, Kurt and I went to Honqiao (pronounced Hong chow) International Pearl City. We met my Sister-in-Law Deb and her very good friend Terri and had the opportunity to experience this famous market in Shanghai. . Pearl City is a building that contains three floors and on those three floors are merchants ranging from clothing, to golf clubs, to pens, purses, watches as well as a whole floor of pearls. Walking in to the place, you are greeted by people coming out to you saying things like “Come look at my stuff……….I will give you very good price.” Half of the fun is in the negotiation!!! (Let me remind all of you, that I do not have an export license and there are limitations to what I can bring with me!!! ) They will always start high and you must always start low. But, never negotiate if you are not planning on buying. To do so, causes the vendor to lose face and this is a very serious thing here. Based on the suggestion and guidance of Deb and Terri, I have decided that there is one very good Pearl Vendor and her name is Vicki. The name of her business is “Vicki Pearl” Vicki had lots of questions, wondering if there are Pearl Markets in America like this one. I told her no and that this is an amazing place to shop. As you can see in this picture, she is actually stringing a set of pearls for someone. You can get freshwater and saltwater pearls, as well as shell composites. Vicki has two types of quality that she works with; there is “good quality” and there is “best quality”, she measures the quality based on the shine, smoothness and shape. The string that she is working on here is “Best Quality”. All for now, time to do the laundry. The washer is quite a bit different than mine in the US and the instructions are in Chinese. I will figure it out though!!!!

Now this is what I call International Teamwork

Well, because of Internet Explorer issues here, my daughter, Andrea has agreed to upload my "picture of the day" from our home in the US. Andrea has said that she will have them posted by noon my time. That would be 12 midnight for all of you back in the States. What teamwork!!!! Today, I want to show you where I work. You will see in the picture a building called "Aurora" This is where I work in Shanghai. This picture happens to be taken from across the river. One of my work comrades, Kurt arrived today and he is getting all settled in here. We did not shock him to bad, as we went to Pizza Hut at the Super Brand Mall, just a couple of blocks from the Aurora Plaza. More pictures will follow as I attempt to portray the life and flavor of Shanghai. All is well here everyone. My best to everyone...keep those comments coming. They are very much enjoyed!!!!!