Graduation

The graduation for my school was last Saturday afternoon at the Shanghai Grand Theatre. The ceremony lasted 2 hours, which isn't that bad as far as graduations go. We, the faculty, were recognized in a similar manner as college/university graduation: adorned in robes. Our robes were blue, whereas the students' were black.

I didn't get any photos of the ceremony itself, but below are some friends & me in the dressing room.

Myself, Emel & Michelle

Myself & Allan; we both teach core-precalculus and collaborate well together.

Castro & myself; I think he was delaying putting the gown on.

Celia, Myself & Emel

Dachpian... acting goofy.

Myself & Bob, a former bus buddy from when I rode the bus to work from Pudong.

American School End of Year Party

Last Wednesday the American School had our going away party in downtown Shanghai, which was organized by our HR Department. School employees from both campuses are invited. This year was the first year the event was at The Glamour Bar, one of Shanghai's ritziest bars on the Bund.

The Bund is the old concession-era financial district on the waterfront property on the Huangpu River. In days gone by this area was known as "Wall Street of the East." Essentially the Bund is what put Shanghai on the map to become the major city it is today.

The party had lots of free alcohol, and very little food, a bad combination for teachers at the end of the year. :) Luckily for all of us the next day was the Chinese Dragonboat holiday. Below are some pics of me and friends (their respective discipline in paraenthesis) from the event.

Emel (French & Spanish teacher, one of my office mates & best buddies) and Celia (Chinese).

Me and Javier Castro (Spanish & office mate.)

Me & Emily (Math department chair)

Hannah (2nd grade)

David Dachpian (Economics & history)

Jane (Biology) & Karen (elementary ESOL)

Castro & Emel

Got Pictures??

As many may know, one of Jim's assorted hobbies is photography, and our adventure in China led him into a whole new level of the involvement.

Photo printing places abound here, as do framers. Through research and seeking recommendations from other expats, we found a printer and a framer that are in the top tiers of their traits in Shanghai. The additional bonus is that both of these services cost fractions of what they would typically run stateside.

We had several items printed and framed before Jim left and the first batch is pictured below. Jim did not get to see the results, so seeing these final products are a first for him too. Some of the items are not photos, but other art pieces we had framed.

Descriptions (left to right, in indicated row)

Top Row: Large silk scarf we bought at the Forbidden City in Beijing; two window boxes of Pudong skyline.

Middle Two Rows: Vertical Shanghai Sunset; two overhead photos of busy intersection we lived by in Pudong; (ivory mattes) two photos of interior of restaurant in Beijing; (green mattes) Chinese guards taking down the Chinese flag in downtown Shanghai & angled shot of Rachel looking at the happenings on a Beijing sidewalk; (Dark blue matte) Neat shot of Rachel at Shanghai World Finance Center - tallest building in China (aka my facebook profile pic.) (Light blue matte) old bicycles in Shanghai alley;

Bottom Row: Row of doorways & windows in Tibet; alleyway in Shanghai early one Saturday morning; 'reconstructed' terracotta soldier in Xi'an.

After Jim left, and the first shipment came in, we decided to get more...

Top Row: Large picture of Shanghai skyline, Pot on open fire in Yangshou.

Second Row: Framed Chinese Paper-cutting; Stairs to nowhere in Yangshou on Canvas

Third Row: Two Chinese paper-cuttings on mirror; Chinese Paper-cutting of Chinese woman's profile.

Birthday Party #2

The week after my birthday, my friend Michelle and her family (Kevin, Maya & Cooper) had me over for dinner. It was actually a dual-celebration, for both a me and another of friend of their family. We had thai food delivered from a local restaurant and a Cold Stone ice cream cake. The entire evening was fantastic, as was the leftover Michelle sent home.

We were greeted at the decorated threshhold by our young hosts.

While dinner was prepared, mood music was played by one of our hosts.

The evening moved onto other forms of entertainment. Maya sang her award-winning Chinese song and dance, followed by a rendition of Cooper's wu-shu routine.

I'm really upset I don't get any other pictures of Maya - she is such a beautiful young girl, the spitting image of her mother.

Then we ate and had cake!! I will say that while I am not 7, I am prime, so the candle wasn't a total lie!

Kevin & Michelle have been great friends and have taken me in as a part of there family since Jim left. This was not their first show of hospitality to me, and they will be sorely missed. I hope that I can pay their generosity forward in the future and always cherish the memories they have allowed me to share with their family.

By Invitation Only

This past Saturday was my birthday... to celebrate Saturday night I went out to dinner with some friends at an Italian restaurant called The Closed Door. The place only holds about 40 people when filled to capacity, so you have to have a reservation. Our group of 10 took up about 1/4 of the restaurant. It doesn't look like a restaurant, but literally a closed door with just the street number on it: 808. It was raining outside so we weren't able to enjoy the open air patio, but it was still a nice evening.

The restaurant is located in the former French Concession of the city. We had appetizers, 2 bottles of wine, entrees and dessert. Of course my dessert (chocolate banana tart) was brought to me with a huge firecracker/sparkler ablaze. The plan was to go dancing afterwards, but I think the rain was wearing on everyone, so we all went our separate ways after dinner. Another friend of mine has birthday this next weekend, so we might go dancing then.

I didn't take pictures, but just thought I would let everyone know I had a good time for my birthday. If you're ever in Shanghai you need to try to make it to the place... it beats the socks off Olive Garden. :-)

Link to a listing for the restaurant: http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/shanghai/listings/dining/italian/has/lounge-cafe/?most_viewed=1

Fun Times at the Fabric Market

One of the things that all the expats take advantage of out here is the fabric market. I've been travelling to that area of the town on the weekends to take care of the last items I'm having made.

We've had several items made including, cashmere coats for me, leather coats for both of us, and even the suit Jim wore to gala. Like most things in China, you haggle/bargain for the price as everything is negotiable, but sometimes you do want to pay a little more to have a nicer quality.

So this weekend, I went to pick up our "Chinese items." I had the name of a specific tailor on recommendation from a friend (and a copy of Jim's measurements). Below is the tailor's shop, his name is: Jim (his English name anyways). All the shops pretty much look like the one below. The other funny thing is that the fabric market is one of the few places in Shanghai where there is no smoking... I wonder why? Could it be because of all of the fabric??

Next is the Changshan (more commonly called an emperor's jacket) that I had made for Jim. Not entirely sure where he'll where it, but its a fun piece. (I editted the pictures with PhotoShop so the pieces would stand out.) The silk brocade looks red in the picture, but it's really more of a maroon. When I tried adjusting the tone of the color in the picture it made the gold look funny. The gold embroidery is dragons and an old horse-pulled Chinese caravan. Dragons convey power and represent masculinity in China and the caravan represents an elite status.

Finally, there is the qipao I had made for myself. It's a silk brocade with vertical stripes in black, chocolate, caramel, champagne and slate blue. The silk has gold dragonflies (again a symbol of power, but much more feminine) embroidered on it. I will probably wear this here to our school's graduation or end of year party. I'm hoping I'll have the oppurtunity to wear it sometime this summer. The dress doesn't look that nice in the picture, but fits nicely.

Want to know more on the Chinese garments? See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qipao & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changshan

New Record

WhooHoo!! Two, I mean, three posts in one day! That is a new "Shiner to Shanghai" record!

I realized that at this point the blog could now be properly subtitled, "and Shanghai to Shiner," since my time is almost done here... This past week I bought my return ticket home. I depart Shanghai on Saturday June 13 at 12:25pm, and I am scheduled to land in Austin at 4:54pm on Saturday.

I only wish the flight would only take 4.5 hours. The total flying time is 14.5 hours and I have a 3 hour layover in San Francisco. The layover seems like a long time, but it won't be, since that is where I will have to pass through U.S. customs.

So here's to hoping I finish the last stint of this blog in good form. Stay tuned!