I Know, I Know....I Know

I know...I've been a very bad blogger. It's been a while since I've posted and I am completely aware of those of you who are unhappy with this fact. What I can say is, it has been insanely busy around here. Who would have thought that not being employed would take up so much time?

I'm finding Shanghai to be a city of opportunity and activity. One of the more recent lessons I am learning is, if you are not careful, you can busy yourself into insanity. Add a little culture shock into that equation, and watch out!

Phil and I have been doing a lot lately. I attended a fashion show for a local designer last weekend. The following day, we attended a Chinese wedding. Just yesterday, I went on a tour of a water town called Tongli. This weekend, we are going for a short little getaway in a nearby city called Hangzhou. Then Phil is going to Nancheng and Beijing in the next two weeks! It's been busy to say the least.(I will post in the next few days on the wedding and Tongli with a lot of pictures, so stay tuned for that.)

All in all, life is going well for us here in China. We are definitely starting to experience some culture shock though. I find myself hanging out in my house a lot more these days. I am very aware of the importance of needing space and time in which to breathe. For the most part, I am giving myself that. Phil, however, does not have that luxury. Each day, he has to go out, deal with the taxis, travel to and from work, and just face the everyday challenges of working and communicating in a completely and totally different culture. Did I mention completely and totally different culture? Yeah.... I think we are getting closer to being able to blog on "You know you're experiencing culture shock when...." (when .... you want to beam an elderly lady over the head after she has disgustingly cleared her throat onto the street).

We have been meeting a lot of new people and making friends. I think one of the biggest concerns for us when we were considering this move, was making friends and being part of a community. It has been really cool meeting so many different people from so many different countries. Phil and I will be hosting our first dinner party next weekend with some of the people we have met, so we are looking forward to that. The theme will be "cuisines of the world" so I am really excited to share some of our favorites and see what others bring to share. For those of you who don't know, Phil and I love food. So we thought, what better way to get to know some people we have met, than with food as a theme?

And so, the Shanghai adventure goes on, with the cast of characters growing by the day. I certainly look forward to seeing what more is in store.