Shanghai

Shanghai is a truly international city. I could see the outside influences everywhere, but especially in the architecture. It's beautiful, frenetic, and a little overwhelming. I went with my coworker, Abby, a quiet, young Chinese woman whose easy-going and see-the-good-in-everything nature made her the best travel companion. 

I love the mash of time & culture in this picture.

Lovely. What you can't see is the crush of people behind me.

We took these organic coconuts on the train!

Abby & her best friend. They took me to Beer Lady, a famous beer spot. 

The world famous Oriental Pearl Tower

Outside Moller Villa 

The Bund at night

Soup dumplings. I never knew love like this. 

Sending a postcard to the future. Set to go out January 5, 2018.

Hodge Podge

I have two phones: my iPhone and a cheap Chinese smartphone I bought so my school could keep in touch with me. The problem is sometimes I leave one phone, like this day when I only had the Chinese phone, so I had to do some serious technology wrangling to get these photos to my computer. Hence, the reason they're all over the place -- day and night, food and places and all that jazz. 

The power went out on campus, so an expat teacher took us on a tour. 

It was sunny, but bitterly cold. I didn't mind. 

Art shot. 

Didn't know there were mountains until this day when the clouds and smog cleared right before sunset. 

Finally tried authentic Korean soju. It's great. 

Homesick meal. The tomato sauce is too sweet, the dough is too doughy, but it's pizza. 

My hallway. I love the plants. The Chinese keep nature close, even in the city. 

A lot of buildings look very official and I don't know that they are. 

The laundry situation. No dryers. 

This was a really great lunch. I made it into leftovers by adding more kale to the broth. 

First Solo Exploration: Youyi Shopping City

I decided to be brave and get outside my comfort zone on my last free day before training starts tomorrow. My guide mentioned there was a mall close by, so I went to find it. It was huge and overwhelming and I'm pretty confident that even after several hours of walking I still didn't see half of it. Once I got up the courage to buy things, I couldn't stop. I bought a pressed juice, a new journal and a calendar and pens, sushi in a restaurant, toothpaste and shower shoes, instant coffee and detergent and water and an orange. In total, I spent about 350 yuan or $50 usd. Pictures inside the mall weren't allowed, so take my word for it -- huge!

Despite the chaos of traffic, there's an order to everything here

Canal under a bridge on the way to Youyi Shopping City

Enormous. It's hard to comprehend.

Pressed pineapple and pear juice -- $3 usd

Right before I got demoted to a fork and knife

Love this presentation. Did not love unexpected filling

Perfection