Whisk, a love story.

I have been terribly remiss, and I must apologize.

You know how when you have two best friends and you hang out with each of them so much and you love both of them so much that when you all show up at a party together they end up introducing each other because the fact that they haven't met yet is unfathomable to you so you don't think to do it yourself? You just assumed that because you love each of them and spend time with each of them that they would also be best friends. Well, this is a lot like that. I'm sorry that it's taken so long, because I so rudely forgot to do so, but I'd like to introduce you to my friend, Whisk.

Whisk is a piece of heaven here in Shanghai that specializes in chocolate. Chocolate Mousse, Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Gelato, Chocolate Churros, (and yes I'm Capitalizing their names on Purpose because they are Important and Important things get Capital Letters) and it's all one hundred percent perfection.

Chocolate Mousse

Inside the ramikin is what chili's molten cake wants to be when it grows up.

Warm Chocolate Liqueur

My SIL, Rachel, was the one who originally told me about this place. Hearing about its delictible chocolately goodness from a connoisseur such as herself was half the reason I decided to come here.

Joel with his churros and chocolate dipping sauce.

If you think I'm exaggerating, I'm not. Legit breakdown of coming here: 45% proximity and availability of cool traveling, 50% Whisk's chocolatey goodness, 5% money saving/new fun life overseas in China adventure. (Slight fib- there was a much longer, more reasonably appropriated list for making the decision to come in the first place, but this revised version is what actually got me to board the plane-and that's the truth.)

So for all of you who were thinking about coming to visit but weren't quite sure- now you too can have a fabulous reason to visit! Because I will take you!

Moon Festival

I spent the majority of last week being sick. Boo.  I didn't even let myself update the blog because, as many of you have surely experienced, being sick far from home just makes you homesick and I didn't want to send out any gloomy tidings by posting when I was in "such a state." By the end of the week I had pathetically lost any sense I may have brought here with me having convinced myself that I was probably going to die here on my couch if I couldn't get home to America before the Chinese germs got me for good.

Needless to say, they did not get me (I only had tonsillitis and a stomach bug in the first place) and I'm feeling tons better thank you very much.  It was really nice timing too that the first day I was able to leave the apartment the weather here had magically snapped into fall paradise. Fall is my absolute favorite. I've heard it doesn't last long here, so I'm glad I was out and about to experience it from day one.

Here were are on Lujiazui

Joel had Wed-Fri off from school in celebration of the Autumn Moon Festival. Last night we went downtown with two of our favorite people here to do a little picture taking and sightseeing. It was a beautiful night, and we had delightful company.

Downtown at the Bund

The full moon was beautiful over the skyline. It almost looked like they'd planned the cityscape to compliment the sky at this exact time of year. I can't express to you how many people were down at the Bund cramming into each other trying to get the closest spot to the water for pictures...it was intense. But I can't blame them- the moon really was in fine form.

Skyline under the Autumn Full Moon

After our pictures somehow a fun little game of "take pictures with the foreigner" got started.  I've never really understood why that's such a fun pastime over here. I just don't get the appeal. Back home I've never had the desire to take my picture with a stranger, but who knows, maybe after a year here that will change.

Please note: I'm not noticeably taller, and I'm wearing heels.

The boy in the middle was extremely polite and we had a good conversation during which I feel certain that he used ALL the English phrases he knew. If I said something outside of his script he became very puzzled.

This guy was just awkward.

Unfortunately having three days off in the middle of the break means that Joel will have to work this Sat and Sun, but we think it was worth it. We got to explore the city together yesterday and today. We found a few used book stores that we were excited to find. Granted, the vast majority of shelves were filled with yellowing copies of Danielle Steel novels, but we think that a little rummaging might produce better results.

We've also discovered a new and intriguing treat from McDonalds. I give you the flavor-piped soft-serve cone!

Tada!

They come in green, pink, brown and purple. So far we've tried three out of four flavors with mostly good reviews. This afternoon Joel and I ordered a pink and brown cone each respectively and our English speaking cashier confirmed that we had ordered "chocolate" and "strawberry" which, we agreed made sense. Come to find out the flavors were actually mocha and raspberry, but we were still quite pleased. The green flavor is some kind of lime. I haven't tried it personally yet, but my friend said that it was actually a bit tart. Interesting!

New uses for old things.

I love Real Simple magazine. I love the stories and the recipes, but my favorite section is probably the one that involves repurposing old household items for new tasks. 

It is important to note that I do not like this section because I find it useful; quite the contrary, I find that most of the entries are more of the "look what I can do!" style.  Don't get me wrong, I've experienced the occasional "aha!" moment when perusing the section [i.e. using my hair straightener to iron little ruffles on a shirt, or get between buttons- brilliant!] Do I really need a list of 40 "new" things to do with aluminum foil? Of course not, but it's novel, and I appreciate the creativity however ridiculously misconstrued the suggestions may be, practically speaking.

So,  sometimes when they've used up all their best ideas, the Real Simple staff lets their readers contribute their own new uses for items, and I think I've got a real winner...

This is a mushroom.

On the surface it looks just like your basic decorative lawn ornament.  You'll find these sprinkled all over the grounds of our apartment complex. They don't look out of place because there is a huge, nice playground in the center of the area, and lots of benches and things to make it look quite parkish.

But these mushrooms have a secret....

To give you a sense of scale (and stealth- there's another hiding behind those bushes).

Imagine my surprise when on my way home one evening the air suddenly filled with classical music, seemingly out of nowhere.  No one else seemed to be concerned by the fact that a furious piano sonata was erupting from the bushes with no one there to claim it. 

"Oh, that's the mushrooms," my friend said, seeing my dismayed expression. "They act as speakers in the evenings to play music for the children."

So many questions....why do they only play in the evenings? Why paint something green with red dots if it's sitting in the grass anyway? How do they choose the music? Is there a committee? How can I overturn this committee and become the solo contributor to this project? [Already in my planner].  If the music is to calm the kids down in the evenings why were they playing Rachmaninoff last night?

It is not an exaggeration to say that these mushroom speakers are one of my absolute favorite things about being here. Well, the mushrooms- and the fact that it's socially acceptable to have a fridge that looks like this:

Oh yes, this is my actual refrigerator.

Now the acquiring of this fridge and the subsequent controversy that have come because of it in my own house could be a separate post unto themselves.  Joel detests the [looks of the] fridge. I happen to love it because...

a) It's hideous to a point that I think it's awesomely bad- the white paint sparkles.

b) It was on a super sale so we got a WAY bigger fridge for less money than we could have gotten a much smaller fridge of lower quality- the flowers were just a bonus.

c) The purchase experience of this fridge is a right of passage for me. I had to find my way to the store alone, shop and purchase it alone without any English speakers available to help me- I ended up finding a Vietnamese man who spoke French, so he translated my French into Chinese so that I could communicate with the saleslady.

d) When else in my life would I even be able to find something like this to laugh at, let alone keep in my house as my possession!

I won't judge you if you hate my fridge, by normal standards it is quite unappealing. But I happen to love it, and I hope you will try to learn to also.

Click-clack, click-clack

As good luck would have it, I was hired on the spot at the school I've been lovingly referring to as the Chilton of Shanghai. [That's a Gilmore Girls' reference. If you don't get it, please clear your schedule and go rent seasons 1-6 immediately [*don't bother with season 7, they switched writers=destroyed the show.] But I digress.

My interview was for Thursday afternoon with the elementary school principal for an elementary substitute position. Well, I passed! She signed me up for a job the next morning and two more the following week before whisking me away to the Middle School and High School offices to meet with those principals, despite the fact that I didn't have appointments to meet with either of them. Both gentlemen squeezed me into their busy schedules and gave me the thumbs up, so I was hired THREE times in ONE day [don't worry, I didn't let it go to my head or anything...] Keeping in mind here- I'm just a sub. Right. Check. Moving on.

So I get up Friday morning, SO excited to start my first day of school. I laid out my outfit the night before, I got up way earlier than I had to, I even went to wait for the bus half an hour before it was supposed to pick me up just to make sure I didn't miss it. I stood on the street. Waiting. Waiting. Squinting into the sun. Checking my watch. Waiting.

But it never came. Stupid bus! I was there so early and you still outmaneuver me! Oh well, I'd just have to take a cab, but since I didn't have enough money on me to cover it I had to run back to our apartment [literally, more like a fast skip] and climb the 4 flights of stairs in our non-air-conditioned corridor to our room to grab the cash I'd left on the kitchen table. I burst open the door to the apartment and reach for the dining table for the cash. Gone! What?! I just climbed four flights of stairs only to find that Joel [even though he still denies it] had taken the money? So I had to get to an ATM. The closest one is just on the other side of Joel's highschool- probably a 5-6 minute walk away. No problem! I can do this! By this point it's well after 7:30. The bus should have come at 7:00. I'm starting to get a little antsy.

I get to the ATM, "glistening" quite a bit now in the heat of the morning. Someone is inside already [it's in it's own little building off the guard house]. perfect. So I wait. Moments later a peeved man emerges from the tiny building sputtering in Chinese. I shove past him, more aggressively than I usually would and go to put my card into the machine. It. won't. take. my. card! No! You can't be broken! I already missed the bus! It's my first day!

I tried calling Joel for moral support [and to attempt to reclaim the dollars that were so wrongfully swiped from the dining table] but his phone was broken. My fury was welling up within me. Luckily, I found a familiar face in the crowd of people shuttling into school- a new friend who lent me the money to take a cab.  My driver, naturally, didn't know where the school was and I ended up more than half an hour late on my very first day.

Once I actually arrived at the school, the teaching part was a breeze. I had fourth graders, and they were great. I subbed again today for a fifth grade class, and I genuinely enjoyed it. I wore heels today and, let's be honest, reveled in the sound of the click-clack, click-clack they made against the floor as I walked. I promise you the students sat up straighter in their seats when I crossed over from rug to tile.

Back again tomorrow, hoping the bus is there this time. It was this morning, but it's a very tricky bus.

Tut tut tut, looks like rain.

Today was supposed to be Joel's first day of school, but last night he found out that it had been canceled because of [drum roll please....]

a TYPHOON! Are you kidding me?

The best part is that Joel still had to report to work today. We'd hate to see anything happen to one of the students if they set out in such dangerous weather, but what the heck- let's see what happens to the teachers.

I, of course, haven't left the apartment today.  I tend to avoid things I consider to be overtly dangerous [which makes transportation here quite a challenge-every taxi ride you take is a huge gamble. I'm thinking of getting a helmet and a universal seat belt to carry with me at all times], and I am convinced that the typhoon will decide to rear it's ugly head the moment I dare to step outside these walls.

But even if I had wanted to leave, I was stuck here babysitting the internet guy for three hours this morning. It was a long, arduous three hours with the most highly technical game of charades ever recorded.  There were lots of phone calls made to potential translators, but nothing helped.  In the end he decided to leave, and he drew a picture of his watch to explain that he would come back at seven. He did not specify am or pm so I've decided to be prepared for either.

In the meantime I thought I would catch things up a bit here.

If you ask a foreigner here if they speak Mandarin, about 87% of them will bashfully admit that they only speak "survival Chinese," and explain that they can, let's say, order their favorite dishes and get a cab to and from the market.

While I'm talking about food- here's a peak at the dishes at one of our favorite lunch spots.

["Crispy Beef" although I'm not so sure. It's tasty though.]

[Joel practicing with his chopsticks.  This is what happens when you refuse to smile for pictures.]

[delicious greens and mushrooms]

However, upon closer inspection, everyone's "survival" vocab turns out to be quite different. For instance, the girl who can't live without a new pair of shoes each day knows all the words for shoes, size, color and the corresponding financial parameters for haggling, whereas the person considers himself an adventurous eater knows how to ask the waiter what his favorite recommendations are from the menu instead of just asking for kung pao chicken. 

...which leads me to, well, me of course. What does my survival Chinese say about me? Drop me within a small radius of home an I can lead a taxi back [I only know how to say "turn left" so I avoid routes where rights are necessary.] But so far the only vocab set I've acquired is design oriented. I can ask the price per meter for fabric, and can haggle my way through markets full of materials, designing curtains and furniture for my home and negotiating prices to have them made. So I'm pretty sure that makes me a housewife, for now. And here is your first glimpse at my efforts...

[Living Room. Please excuse the poor lighting that back wall is actually painted a lavandar-grey, once we hang things on walls we'll have a do-over.]

Fine, so it's not fabulous...YET! But you'd be more much more impressed if you'd seen what we started with.

I interview tomorrow for a substitute position at one of the international schools, which Joel and I think would be ideal. Great pay, flexible hours and schedule, same vacation schedule so we don't have to worry about time off for our travels.

Speaking of which! Our first big break is just around the corner and we want your advice on where to go. We have 10 days beginning October 1st and we're not ruling anything out! [except places that require a visa, I suppose- I don't think there's time]. Send us your suggestions. We're looking at Thailand/Cambodia, Laos or possibly Australia/New Zealand if we could find a good enough deal...checking on if visas are required on the last bit.