Steam bath, anyone?

Zach - November 29th, 2005
Just thought I'd mention that I'm at work and noticed a cloud of smoke engulfing someone's desk. Upon closer inspection, I realized that a girl actually brought in her own humidifier to work!!! There is a steady stream of water vapor sending up smoke signals from across the floor. It's the little things here that make me laugh...

Oh and my work buddy, Rich, and I love to watch the ayi (the cleaning lady/maid at the office) every afternoon when she mops the office carpet floor. We cannot figure out what in the world she is doing...

A Momentous Occasion in Shanghai

Tiffany- November 29, 2005

Today marks a very exciting day in my 3 months of living in Shanghai. For the first time since we moved here, while riding the metro, I did not have to cling to a wall for dear life, hoping to avoid getting trampled or pushed off the train at undesirable stops. And it gets better; I actually got my very own seat! It’s true, I even checked to make sure it wasn’t someone’s lap or a small child. Now, some of you may wonder, why the excitement, it’s just a seat? When you share a 2-line metro system with 17 million people, the word ‘crowded’ does not even scrape the surface of what these metro cars feel like. And I am sure many of you remember the previous blog entry, ‘Tiffany Takes a Tumble’, where I was, how should I say, ‘physically encouraged’ to get off the metro at another stop. So today, I’d like to think I’ve taken one tiny step in the direction of achieving ‘local’ status. It’s neat to see how far I’ve come in just a few months!

Happy Fire Chicken Day!

Zach- November 27, 2005

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Somehow, Tiffany and I managed to scrounge up some real, American Thanksgiving food for ourselves. Actually, it was our friend Brian’s parents to the rescue; they were in town visiting and treated a large group of us to dinner at Malone’s, an American bar and restaurant. Amazingly, we were treated to a gastronomic feast! For the fourteen of us, we were served two turkeys, an enormous ham, mashed potatoes, candied yams, peas and carrots, stuffing and more. And to top it all off, pumpkin pie!! While it wasn’t homemade food, just the fact that we were in China eating turkey and gravy made this one of the best tasting Thanksgiving dinners ever!

Absence truly makes the heart grow fonder. And absence not just in the physical sense, but also an absence of 1) people who we know and who know us, and 2) people who we can actually communicate with!

So this Thanksgiving season we are extra appreciative of all of our wonderful friends and family who we miss very much this holiday season. Thank you all for your amazing support and kindness over these past few months as we have begun adapting to our new lives here on the other side of the globe! The email responses, phone calls and care packages have kept us going, both emotionally and physically, and remind us just how invaluable you are to us.

It has been an incredible adventure so far, and it has been our pleasure (and catharsis!) to detail our foibles via this blog. Our future is a blank canvas, and the only certainties are that it will be exciting, crazy Chinese people will be involved, and all of it will be documented for you to share with us!

We continue to celebrate our good fortune at having you in our lives. You are always in our hearts and thoughts, and we wish you all peace and happiness.

Lots of love and virtual hugs,
Zach and Tiffany

p.s. Turkey in Chinese is "huo ji" or "fire chicken", so named because of the turkey's fire-like red wattle.

Shanghai’s Influx of American Celebrity

Tiffany- Nov. 18, 2005

It looks like Zach and I aren’t the only Americans that have figured out that Shanghai is the place to be! The month of November has brought a mix of famous Americans to our little city.


Tiger Woods made his professional Chinese debut last week by playing in the HSBC Champions Tournament in Shanghai. Apparently, Shanghai doesn't agree with him, as Tiger took second place to British player David Howell.








Where in the world is Matt Lauer? According to all the emails I got from friends, apparently he was in Shanghai this week! But since Zach and I have not broken down and gotten satellite TV yet, our programming is limited to bad Chinese soap operas and Chinese versions of 'American Idol'. Thank goodness for the plethora of pirated American movies and TV Series available on the street!







The Shanghai Tennis Master’s Cup is going on this week, and since the only tennis players I know tend to be the ones that date actresses (think Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick), none of the names really ring a bell. But my tennis-fanatic friend, Vanessa, informed me that these chest-bumping guys, aka the Bryan brothers, are a pretty big deal.







Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Schriver visited Shanghai this week to discuss the possibility of increased importation of California goods (we're selfishly hoping he pushed Peet's coffee and Jamba Juice) and to host a private screening of the new Harry Potter film.





George Bush also has a China stop on his current Asia tour, but he'll be visiting Beijing this time around. And rumor has it; Tom Cruise is also Shanghai-bound to film the climax of Mission Impossible 3 in our city in the coming weeks. I’ll have to see if they need any tall, blonde extras!

While you’d think these people might be easier to spot since they don't look like the average Shanghainese person, you’d be surprised how 19M people can get in the way of figuring out where the stars are this week, let alone getting up close and personal to them. Fortunately, Zach and I aren’t really that into golf, tennis, or politics so weren’t too disappointed to miss these familiar faces. Although we were VERY disappointed to miss the screening of the new Harry Potter film!

Shanghai v. the French countryside

Tiffany- Nov. 18, 2005

While our life in Shanghai is filled with lots of excitement,it's also filled with lots of other things, like people and noise! So we can't help but be a little envious of our friends, Anne and Michael, who have started an international adventure of their own in the gorgeous french countryside on our neighboring continent!

Anne and Michael have decided to move to St. Amour, France and try their hand at chateau management. It does make us happy to know that there are other people out there that agree that an international relocation is a great way to spend your first year of marriage. They're also posting a blog of their adventures and challenges as expats (stories that might sound slightly familiar if you've been keeping up with our blog), as well as some gorgeous pictures of the property.


So if you're interested in hearing about 'Newlyweds: France' or just looking for a fantastic french place to 'holiday', be sure to check out their site at:
http://www.yomap.net/default.htm
for their blog and lots of fun pictures!

News and Notes

News and notes: My weight has stabilized at an even 75 kilograms. And even better, I think I have to eat more than I used to just to stay there. Of course, that’s not as exciting when you remember that the luxury of pigging out is limited by the available cuisine of treats like fish meatball and pork tongue. Tiffany has stayed her usual weight throughout. I am definitely the more erratic side of the couple (in more ways than one, she would add…) Work has been going pretty well for me; I’ve acquired new value in editing a lot of their investment reports. Even the most advanced, English-speaking Chinese can’t really write well when it comes to English business terminology. The best part is that they understand and agree with me when I explain it to them, so I come out looking like a genius! So, thanks Mom and Dad for sending me to Carden Redwood. All those elementary school years of grammar focus are finally paying off! The pictures attached are from two weekends ago, when Angela and Brian joined us on a day trip to Hang Zhou, a pretty little lake town about 2 ½ hours train ride from Shanghai. And when I say “little”, I mean to say that Hang Zhou’s metro area only has about 6 million people! But compared to Shanghai’s 17-18 million, it’s a rural countryside. As soon as we got there, I noted excitedly, “Listen, do you hear that? Nothing! Sweet silence!” No horns incessantly blaring, no mobs of people screaming (aka conversing), no expectorating nasal snorting. Just a beautiful fall day in a lakeside town. We strolled along the sunny banks, took an incredibly relaxing boat ride (after a 7am train from Shanghai, we all were nearly lulled to sleep out on the water), and explored some historic, and still active, Buddhist temples.






We also discovered the most interestingly decorated Starbucks that any of us had ever seen. Like an overgrown jungle, the coffee shop walls and ceilings were covered in heavy greenery. And with its waterside location, it created a most enjoyable atmosphere for coffee sipping.


We also met up with Sophia, a friend of a friend, for lunch. Sophia is one of those adorable, tiny people that you want to put in your bag and take with you, so when she explained that she lives and works as a plant manager in a Hang Zhou manufacturing plant, we were all taken aback. Then again, I have noticed some inverse relationship between height and backbone-fortified spunk.



The yellow off-road looking motorbike is actually the Chinese version of a handicap vehicle! Tiffany chased down this guy to catch this great shot. This is one of the nicer ones. Some are black, some are red, and most are much more beat up, like the next shot of this poor lady back in Shanghai. I think hers doesn't even have a motor, just some pedals. But hey, in the States all they give you is a lousy blue placard!





Oh, and I don't know who the other woman in the boat is. She just joined us for the boat ride, since it was 100 RMB for a boat ride, it would have been too expensive for her to rent it herself. Very nice, though. At one point the scenery must have inspired her, because she started humming Chinese songs. It fit the tranquility of the moment quite nicely! At least until Brian insisted she hum some Bruce Springsteen. Heated words were exchanged, culminating in a kung fu standoff! No, not really.




Tiffany’s friend Elizabeth (one of her bridesmaids) had a friend in town. Melissa works in Hong Kong and was here on business. Our first visitor!


Today we took our fabric market obsession one step further. We purchased our fabric separately and took it to a tailor that Vanessa introduced us to, and he took our measurements and will make our clothes himself. The benefit, I guess, is that there is less chance of miscommunicating measurements than at the fabric market, where they take our measurements and then tell another tailor how to make it. Anyway, in two weeks we should have another set of clothes to model!



We had our best massage yet at the local Chinese spot. 45 minutes for 35 RMB (about $4.50). Unbelievable.

Tiffany and I bought a rice cooker. A decent enough 10-cup steamer for $10…

I bought an entire roast duck for 34 RMB. Of course it tasted so good with the fresh steamed rice that it only lasted me three meals…

Tiffany may have picked out a new Chinese name for herself. Our Chinese teacher wrote out a few names that she thought were good for Tiffany. They both picked out the same one as their favorite! It’s le (4th tone) xin (1st tone, for all you studying Chinese out there!). Not sure if this will copy over clearly, but it looks like this 乐 欣. The first character, le, means “joy; happiness”, and the second character, xin, means “enjoy, appreciate”. I was appalled at her lack of hubris and pushed for characters like “mountain goddess”, or “destiny jade”, but she insisted.

And finally, a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dad, who yesterday took one step closer to scoring early-bird dinner discounts and collecting Social Security! Happy birthday Dad!

What's In A Name?

Tiffany- Nov. 7, 2005

First names in Chinese culture have very specific meanings. Names are chosen to indicate, and hopefully influence, aspects of a child’s life, such as wisdom, beauty and fortune. Examples of Chinese names include Jin Jing- ‘sparkling gold’ and Lin Yao- ‘beautiful jade treasure’.

When arriving in China, my co-workers were shocked to find that the only real meanings behind the name Tiffany are high-end jewelry or a washed-up 80’s pop star. They could not believe that Americans choose names based exclusively on how they sound. They encouraged me to choose a Chinese name, as it is custom for foreigners to do when living in China. Since all the names that I liked tended to be on the ‘peasant’ side of the name spectrum, they ended up christening me with more of a direct translation (Tee Fa Nee), which is pretty much Tiffany with a Chinese accent.

Since my ‘renaming’ session, I’ve had a few run-ins or heard stories of some interesting English names that Chinese people have chosen for themselves when learning English. Here are the best ones I’ve run into so far:

·Mariah Carey
·Alan Iverson
·Black People (individual’s name, not a group)
·Crazy Girl
·Cocaine
·Moist
·Window
·Superman

I have to admit, the list I’ve been gathering is not only entertaining, but also makes me realize how happy I am I’ve chosen a boring translation of Tiffany, as the wrong name could have been quite embarrassing... with my luck, I'd end up running around with something like Toilet Paper as my Chinese name!

Chicago Fans are EVERYWHERE!!!

Tiffany- November 1, 2005

I tried REALLY hard to find a picture of a local wearing the logo of the 2005 WORLD SERIES CHAMPION Chicago White Sox, but haven't found one (yet). But, I was lucky enough to have my camera on me when I spotted this Bear's Fan at the Fabric Market! This one's for you, dad!