It's starting to get cold!

Well I know that it's hard to believe, but it got cold over night here. One day it was hot and humid and the next it was windy and cold. This will be my first winter outside of southern California. Many people relate the winter here to the winter in Seattle. So it won't be too bad, but it will be a very wet and long winter. I have started to travel around the city on Monday's and Wednesday's because i have a break from 10:30 to 2:30. So it gives me enough time to hop on a bus and get off whatever area of town captures my interest.

I got a haircut today. Hahaha. I was a bit apprehensive at first but it turned out pretty well. The one thing that you must realize it that the barber shops and hair salons here are like night clubs. They pump loud music and they are open for long hours of the night. Before I went into the barber shop i learned the phrase "Just a trim" in Chinese. So I started to walk around downtown and find a shop that "looked" appealing. But there was one problem. All of the shops I was looking at had pictures of girls on the outside...so I think it was just for girls. So the 4th barber I found had a guy inside also getting his haircut. So now it was time to face my fears. I walked up to the barber shop and I was greeted by a boy with his hair sticking straight up and bangs that went half way down his face. Just my luck, right? So I said the Chinese phrase, "Just a trim", "Just a trim". He nodded and brought me back to the sinks to wash my hair. This is standard procedure for a haircut. He washed my hair...twice. Then he conditioned my hair and he started to give my head a massage. I couldn't help it, I started to laugh. Out loud. It was just too funny for me to keep it inside. I was thinking, "All this for a haircut!" hahaha it was too funny. After about 40 minutes of washing...rinsing, washing again, rinsing; and the conditioning massage...I was finally ready for the haircut. So he waved over the barber and I repeated the phrase that I had previously told him, and he started to cut my hair. He did a pretty good job...although at the end of the haircut he blow dried my hair straight up! I looked like Don King! It was quite the adventure.


Don King haircut!


They think being white is perfect. So they have this whitening cream that makes their skin whiter. Yeah, kinda like Michael Jackson!


Around Town.


I found this park/statue area...it was relaxing.


Some military recruitment poster.


Starbucks...coming soon. We are so excited. They are opening up three in the city!


Bamboo Scaffolding! It's pretty sturdy.


That's all. Thanks for reading and taking the time to look at pictures. And thanks for your comments. I always love reading them.

Break in Shanghai

Hello Everyone.
I'm sorry it's been awhile since my last post but I have been so busy. We just got a break from teaching because it is China's national Holiday. So it was the perfect opportunity to get out of Wuhan for a bit and see a little more of the Country. So we decided to travel to Shanghai. I had such a great time... it was the biggest city I have ever seen. There are more skyscrapers and buildings than any city in America. It was an amazing sight to see.

Stew and I went to the Women's World Cup Finals. We went to a few museums. We relaxed. We read. We went to Starbucks...Everyday. We ate some great food. We met some cool people. We saw some amazing things. We had a great time. Here are some pictures from our trip.

The beginning of our trip. A wonderful view.


Tea time! We Went to this teahouse. It was so good.


This place was near the teahouse. Yu Gardens. This place was beautiful.


Even though these buildings look new...they are actually ancient...They fooled me at first. They are preserved very well.


These lions are everywhere. They are usually in front of buildings. They symbolize wealth and good fortune. The bigger the lion the more prosperity they have.


Women's World Cup.
This was the final match to see who would get third place.
USA:4, Norway:1


Final Game.
Brazil vs. Germany.
These German Fans were Crazy!!! So funny! They were Yelling the entire night.


Brazil: 0, Germany: 2
Brazil put up a great fight. It was such a good game.


The winners. The best fire-works I have ever seen. They were going off all around us!


So Stew and I went to get some dinner after the game. Then we were walking back to the subway and we saw a small crowd and some media people. We decided to check it out and it was Germany who had just finished their press conference. They were singing and dancing with the World Cup in hand about ten feet away from us. Then the goalie (who was the MVP for the game) threw out here gloves and I caught one! It was a great night.


Since it was a "National Holiday" the entire country takes this day off. It was crowded many of the places we went. There probably a few hundred thousand people at this shopping mall!


Baby Chicks, Ducks, Bunnies, and Squirrels for Sale. Stasi almost bought the Squirrel. I convinced her not to, only because it was gnawing rabidly at it's cage.


These faucets are so crazy. They have no sink! The counter is slanted back, and it just flows back there!


From the top of one of the tallest buildings in the World! Great view.


Only 10,550 KM from Los Angeles. I was a little closer to you all this week.