Back in Shanghai

I arrived back in Shanghai on Saturday after spending the month of July in "The States."  It seems appropriate to call 'them' 'that' now that I live eight ba-zillion miles away!  SO thankful to have the opportunity to travel back and forth and stay in close touch with family and friends.. I've had so many comments regarding my lack of writing on this blog, that I'm going to make an effort to keep everyone updated more regularly - so here goes!

Jet Lag .. oh how wonderful!  Heidi and I arrived in Shanghai at 2pm and were met by my wonderful driver, Steven.  He's a very nice man so he quickly grabbed some of our luggage (between the 2 of us we had 6 bags and a backpack!) and we headed for the van.  Justin was excited to see all the goodies I brought back - even excited to have new deodrant and hair gel from "The States."

This first week back hasn’t been too eventful - most of the women here travel back to the US for the entire months of July and August - so it’s a quiet neighborhood here in Jinqiao!  The weather is HOT HOT HOT and HUMID!

The four of us (me, Justin, Heidi and Josh) purchased tickets to the USA vs Australia Olympic Exhibition game on August 5th.  After finding out that both Justin and Josh needed to be out of town on business, Heidi and I invited a Chinese friend, Willie (her chosen English name).  She was super excited at the opportunity to see her first basketball game!  Since we still had one extra ticket, we let Willie know she could bring a friend.  Heidi was on the telephone with Willie, as I overheard Heidi’s half of the conversation.. It went something like this..  “Willie, you know - basketball. .. and you can bring any friend you want.”  “Oh Sure!”  “What, your friend is a boxer??”  laughing..  “He works where??”  “At a hostel?”  (This shows how interesting a simple telephone call can become with someone who’s native language is foreign to ours.  Willie speaks good English, but on the telephone understanding it can be challenging!)  We later found out that her friend is a doctor who works at a hospital!

The game was really fun!  I was able to get some good use out of my new camera taking shots of Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, Jason Kidd, etc...  Also quite entertaining listening to the game being announced in Chinese.  Oh the joys!