"Speak Chinese" Or at least that is the general gist of communicating over the next two years or so. We've arrived in Shanghai none the worse for wear. Despite a couple of days of jet-lag, we are doing pretty well. I would have posted something sooner except (large air quotes) technical difficulties (large air quotes) have kept me from doing so. That minor problem aside, I shall continue to update our travelogue as often as I can make myself do so.
Our flight in was pretty uneventful. That is always a blessing with International travel as far as I am concerned. We had a brief stop over in San Francisco which was beautiful. I had never been there before so it was great to see it if only for a day. I made the unfortunate mistake of walking up Knob Hill (sp?) . Only to find out on a cab ride over to Haight-Ashbury that there is a convenient tunnel that travels right under it. Yay for excercise!
Right now as I look out my window, snow is falling n Shanghai. Wow. I need to look up the last time it snowed here. Nothing is sticking, but the sight is fairly impressive by itself. The weather has been a mix of bright sunshine with cold, mixed in with a couple of days of heavy cloud cover/fog/crap-in-the-air and slightly warmer temperatures. I'm looking forward to the Spring even though I know that means a humidity that makes you look like you've just come through a car wash with the windows down.
I've muddled my way through a couple of conversations using whatever Mandarin my panicked mind could recall. I always walk away knowing what I should have said and what mistakes I made. That is the key though. Open your mouth, let sound come out, and try and do better the next time. Part of my problem is I need to make a list of all the things I need to learn for my own special vocabulary. I don't know if nerd-swag is easily translated here...
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