TOKYOShanghaiNYC

2011-08-29T11:22:00.000-07:00

New Men's Flying Pigeon cruiser. Smooth ride foreals. nycflyingpigeon.com check it out or email nycflyingpigeon@gmail.com . Limited to 40 in NYC.

Happy customers on their new limited edition Flying Pigeon Track bike. 20 left in the US -email nycflyingpigeon@gmail.com for purchasing info.

A few pics from my Israel trip. It was amazing!

2011-07-04T18:46:00.001-07:00

Today was the day. I didn't have my camera with me, but isn't that how it always works? The unexpected always happens, simply, unexpectedly. I looked up and felt summer. The sun was setting and I looked up. I don't even really know why. I always walk with my head down in New York City. The buildings always block my view. The lights always drown out the stars. The fumes always cloud my eyes but today I looked up. It was beautiful. Summer arrived in NYC.

It's like I can't stop my mind from thinking sometimes. Usually all the time. I think it's why I work so much. Why when I'm not working I run. When I'm not running I'm reading, and when I'm not reading I'm..searching. I've been trying so hard to be optimistic these last few months, and it has been working. I've been surrounding myself with good people, not taking things so personally, and really looking on the bright side of things, but for whatever reason this weekend was hard. I felt very alone. Can we ever truly conquer those demons that lurk within us. Will it ever be intrinsic, or will I only feel good when others are actively trying to make me feel good. Is that selfish or realistic? I always get this way when I read Murakami.

I wish I had a picture to put up here. I'll be snapping off lots this week. Summer in the city.

2011-06-22T19:58:00.000-07:00

Can you see it? The Empire State Building sprouting from Manhattan in the distance? I can. This picture taken in 2007, still captures the New York essence better than almost any photo I've taken. In my eyes anyway. I've had such an intense last three years of my life. From living abroad in Tokyo and Shanghai to transitioning to the grind of New York City adult life, things have been crazy for sure. I've never been happier. There is so much to write about. So many experiences over this last year in NYC that I want to share with you. I'm easing back into writing and taking pictures. I hope you enjoy what I have to share in the upcoming weeks and months.

Thailand

2010-02-24T19:34:00.000-08:00

For Jessica

2010-01-11T06:54:00.000-08:00

A while back my good friend Jessica came out to see me in Shanghai which was a great treat. It was really cool to see a friend from nyc, and someone who has known me for a really long time. For whatever reason she felt compelled to send me a thank you care package from NYC.

I told her over an over again that having her here was great, and totally hassle free, but she decided to go above and beyond and start my year off right with one of the best presents I've ever gotten!

Unfortunately, I cannot reveal what was inside the box. They were gifts for ME, not YOU! hehehe.

So Jessica, this is for you.

Thank you. =)

Hong Kong

2010-01-07T07:24:00.000-08:00

I went to Hong Kong this week with my Cousin Matt. It was his first time in Asia, and my first trip to HK. He flew into Shanghai, spent a quick night and then we took flew over to Hong Kong together. Here are five favorites from the trip. The food was great, the people are wonderful and I really liked HK. It was a good way to get out of Shanghai for a little while and gain my sanity back haha..at least momentarily. ..

The China Experience

2009-12-20T22:06:00.000-08:00

I often want to tell people what my life is like here in China. Sometimes finding the right words can be harder than you'd think. I set off on this trip over a year ago, with my friend Daniel. We were both in Japan at the time. After seeing Tokyo and Kyoto with him, he returned to NYC. I continued my travels to Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Harbin, Lijiang, and Malaysia. I've bought my tickets for Thailand in February, where I plan to see to Bangkok, Chiang mai, and Phi Phi island. I will hopefully be in Honk Kong with my cousin for the first week of January.

There are days that are hard here. Days that are unreal to even the imagination. Some days are even, boring. I'm still searching for meaning. Searching for the reason. Searching for the validity. It feels like I've been away a while. It feels like I'm loosing touch with home a little bit. The friends I've made over the years in New York have been distant. I wonder what it will be like when I return to the states. What will their reactions be? What will my reaction to them be? Will we still be friends?

Maybe I've created my own lane by coming to China. Maybe I've run away from one. As I sit here looking at the pictures on the wall behind my computer, I know my experience has been a unique and challenging one.

Trying to fill this page with words, I feel myself trailing off again. Not quite sure of what I'd like to say, or what I want you to know, but somehow I think you still understand.

recent pics

2009-12-17T07:00:00.000-08:00

Street shot of a little of what's left of the "old Shanghai" streets.

nuff said

Jessica and Mingles

Jessica reppin for NYC all day

Hungry?

Yo

2009-12-17T06:49:00.000-08:00

Sup everybody..It's been too long since my last post, but I've been pretty busy these last few weeks. I've had some visitors out here and have also been trying to plan a couple of trips. My friend Jessica from high school was out here for about two weeks. It was really great to see her. We had a blast. As much as I've made some good friends out here in Shanghai it was great to see an old face that really knows me. December can be tough with all the holidays and a lot of people traveling back to the states so to have a friend out here with me was really great. I got to show off a little bit of my Chinese which is always kind of fun (even tho it's still really bad). Work has been okay, the same grind. I haven't been in the gym as much from the visit but that's okay. I hurt my foot a while ago after my half marathon, so I've convinced myself that the couple weeks rest is good for me. I'll be back in there in no time. Speaking of old friends, my buddy Ariel from high school just recently moved to Shanghai. We played ball together at LAG. He's been living in Korea for the last two years and decided to make the move over to Shanghai for this new year. I got him a job with my company and he's all set with his own apartment already. I also just got news that my cousin Matt is China bound the for the month of January. We're planning to do a week together in Hong Kong and then I think he's going to be off on his own to check out some places in Asia. He'll end up coming back to Shanghai to fly back to the states so I'll see him at the end of January also. So all in all, things have been pretty good. I've been pretty busy..I'll put up some recent pics so you can see what's going on in Shanghai straight from the streets haha..Happy holiday's everyone

Jessica in Shanghai

2009-12-02T08:05:00.000-08:00

My one true friend from NYC, fellow LAG alum, Queens native, Jessica came out to Shanghai this week to pay me a visit. After her time in Shanghai she's headed off to Seoul. She'll return to Shanghai for another week. I have lots of new info to tell, but I'll save that for another post. Just a quick pic of Jessica and I in my apt.

Shanghai Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T08:17:00.000-08:00

Buddies, lol

Destroying food
Roomies, go red team!
Mmmmm Turkkeeyy
Patrick chopping it up in the kitchen

I had a good Thanksgiving this year out here in Shanghai. I got together with about 15 friends of mine and had some really good food. It was great. There was so much food. I tried not to go to crazy with it but I was feeling nice and full by the end of the night. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

A few fresh flics

2009-11-24T03:10:00.000-08:00

Corner of my block

The moon peaking
Hair salon lights

Eat up

ugh

2009-11-16T05:36:00.000-08:00

RAIN! The weather is so wack right now! It rained non stop today. On top of that it's getting cold out. Weather authorities said that if it stays this cold for another week they are going to declare winter next week. The earliest winter Shanghai has had in 10 years. So wack! Here are some views from my balcony of the nasty weather...This is not making me want to go to the gym, but gotta stay focused man! Race is in two weeks . .

Friends and family

2009-11-15T20:31:00.000-08:00

Xinjian black beer. Always hits the spot

Hao chi (delicious)
Grand Gateway..buildings right near my apt.

Luke!
Alan and Brian feasting

This last week was cool, I had visits from both my brother n law Luke and my friend Alan from college. I got to show them around a little bit, show them my life here in Shanghai and what I'm up to. Luke is off to South Korea on business and Alan and his friend Brian are off to Beijing to continue on their trip..

pics

2009-11-10T03:29:00.000-08:00

The weather had been nice for like the last month. It rained all day today. It'll probably be like this for a while now. .

Charlotte's Birthday

2009-11-08T08:35:00.000-08:00

It was my little cousins birthday today in the US so my family Skyped me and I got to video chat with everyone. It was nice! Mac lets you take a picture of whatever you have on your screen so I saved the moment haha. It was really nice to see everyone. I felt like I was at the party for a little while. I don't know if anyone who doesn't know my family will appreciate these photos but I thought they were cool and also really funny. Hehe

On another note I did 10 miles today. Training for the half marathon is fully underway, and it will be dominated soon. Nov 29th, lets do it!

Time is ticking

2009-11-03T08:02:00.000-08:00

I signed up today for the Shanghai half marathon. I'm still not ready to do the full. I haven't been training for something like that, but I think another half will be fun to do and this time it will be through the streets of Shanghai. The pictures seem cool, there are lots of people out on the streets dancing and cheering you on. I have a few more weeks to train but think I will be ok. I did 7 miles yesterday and will go for 8 or 9 tomorrow. Once I hit 1o its pretty much smooth sailing from there.

Daily

2009-10-28T07:57:00.000-07:00

Night

Muahaha
Halloween fun

Plants anyone?

A few for you

2009-10-25T08:52:00.000-07:00

My room

My lunch
My job
My block
My bike

Malaysia

2009-10-21T08:09:00.000-07:00

My tutor asked me how long I was going to be in China today. I told her most likely until August. She asked me if I was going to come back to China. I said, maybe but probably not for a long time. Then she asked me why I needed to learn Chinese. I said I didn't know.

Hope you enjoyed the pics from Malaysia..

Hey young world!

2009-10-12T07:35:00.002-07:00

YOoooooooo! Man! It's been too long! It ain't my fault! China has been wilding out and blocking all websites that let you speak your mind. I couldn't get on facebook for a really long time and I couldn't upload anything onto my blog either. I had this proxy that would let me access it but trying to upload information took forever! But I'm back..I hope...I bought a VPN that let's me access the internet from other countries and go around all of China's computer stuff. We'll see how that goes. I don't know where to start! I haven't posted anything in such a long time, so much has happened, so much to say, but I guess the last month or so will be for me to know about and you to wish you knew about..I was on vacation all last week. I hit Malaysia with some friends. We did KL, lankawi and Penang. All in all it was a dope trip. Good beaches, good company and good food. What else can you ask for? I'll be in Shanghai until August or so in case people are wondering about how long I'll be out here. After that I'll most likely head back to the city for school..Once school is done, who knows, maybe another trip? :) I'm pretty excited to have my blog back and I'm gunna throw some goodies on this week. This is cool..I'm reconnected..stronger, better, faster... Check back, good updates are on their way..

Hey young world!

2009-10-12T07:35:00.001-07:00

more pics from my parent's visit

2009-08-12T07:15:00.000-07:00

Beijing art district:

2009-08-03T03:12:00.001-07:00

Waddup world

2009-08-03T02:52:00.000-07:00

Being sick away from home is so much wacker than being sick at home, where being sick sucks anyway. I thought, this is it..This is how they will find me. In a pool of my own sweat, in a dirty ass apartment in Shanghai. DEAD! It was bad for like three days. Fever, chills, all that good sickness. BUT, a lil Chinese virus can't stop me! I mean, it totally did for like a week, but I'm back in business. My friends took care of me, brought me food, did my laundry, washed me haha, that would have been crazy, but that didn't happen. My friends were great though and did help me get better, by offering to take my possessions upon my demise. It gave me the willpower to get better and not give anything to anyone muahaha! So as you can see by this post the virus is still lingering and I may have gone a little crazy from the high fever I experienced.

I looked at 5 new apartments today. None of which really gave me that special feeling. I still have three weeks to find something which is like a year Shanghai time when it comes to finding apartments. I'm probably going to look at places again tomorrow and Wed, and even Thursday if I can. Hopefully I can find something nice and affordable in the next week or so.

What else can I say? Summer in Shanghai is tough. The humidity is no joke. Things smell, germs fester, and streets flood. August is here and the days are getting dark early already. At 6 it's still light but you can feel evening. This is my first summer out of NYC since I was a little kid and would go on vacation with my parents to Connecticut. No kelbasa bbq's or beaches for me this year. There have been a few rooftop parties, but Shanghai really can't do it like Brooklyn can when it comes to that.

My hair is long and curly, which I'm not too sure about. I'm skinnier than I was in NYC. You just can't eat out here like you can back home, but I feel healthy and still sleep good at night. My style game really isn't on point out here. I don't put much effort into what I look like, good, or bad you get stared at just the same. I just bought the new J depp gangster film and am almost finished with kafka on the shore. I can't front, i am a slow reader, but I have been enjoying the book a lot and recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it yet. When I was living in Tokyo (it's about a boy living in Tokyo and then other parts of Japan) my friend Josh recommended it to me and I finally got around to it here in Shanghai and am glad I have. It's very entertaining.

Send me emails, send me stories, send me love.

-Nate

The Great Wall!

2009-07-25T05:07:00.000-07:00

So, my parents came out to visit me in China. We traveled around a little saw some water towns close to Shanghai, but I think the highlight of the trip was The Great Wall for sure. We did the 10K hike which not many people do and we had the wall to ourselves plus our tour group. It was so dope. This was my second time to Beijing and I have seen the Wall before, but not like this. Last time I was running the half marathon and you couldn't see that much of the wall and most of the time you were just trying not to fall down the thing as you ran your ass off. This was so amazing for me and my parents. I only have five photos up, but if you have facebook friend me and check out the album, I put up 52 goodies. All in all I'm super happy my parents came out and I am proud of them for making the journey out here. China is as far away from NYC as you can get and having them out here was just as good as a slice of pizza from down the block. It really made my last two weeks. Enjoy the photos.

Parents visit

2009-07-22T21:18:00.000-07:00

I have so many pictures ( as usual ) and since the internet in China is still very slow and is always telling me it can't upload photos, I'm not going to push my luck. The ones up so far are from Shanghai and a few in Beijing. I have some great ones from our trip to the Great Wall which I'll put up later tonight or tomorrow. Enjoy!

more pics from my parents visit

2009-07-22T21:03:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just need a rest. I feel you homie!

Map of the great wall hike. 1oK kids!

Tiananmen square
Speaks for itself. . .
Just getting out of the private G4 before heading to the great wall

initial pics of the rents in China

2009-07-22T20:56:00.000-07:00

Ma getting back to her roots in Beijing

Daddio and Big Mao outside the Forbidden City

Family shot at the Forbidden City

The parents in Shanghai!
Qi Pu Lu. This area is too crazy. It is a must see however

yo

2009-07-07T11:10:00.000-07:00

I knowwwwwww I knowwwwwwwwww....updates have been few and far between, but to be honest things have been at a standstill lately for me. The scholastic project has been postponed, bosses are on vacation, there have been some legal issues with the company we were working along side with and yada yada yada..It's gettin real hot out here in the Hai. I mean I'm outside one minute and I'm sweating..yea man, it's humid and nasty..but to nothing has been going on, it's been a lazy month. I'm in limbo, waiting for this project to start back up and have some time on my hands, but not enough time to sign up for much or that kind of thing..Just gettin back on my reading game and trying to hit the gym hard..My parents will be out in Shanghai for two weeks which I'm gearing up for..It should be a fun time..other than that, your boy Nate is good. I'll try to get some good pics up to show you the heat of Shanghai, but troopin around outside is not what I call fun right now..Blog is still here..Nate is still here...I'll get some goodies up soon..Shanghai! Come visit me!

hit me up and send me an email:

teachnathan@gmail.com

A while back

2009-06-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

A while back my friends from nyc, Arel and Josh came out to Shanghai to visit their (and my) friend Ed. Josh introduced me to Ed via email when I got out here and we've become friends since then. He works for a production company out here that does some pretty cool stuff. He's also a graduate of NYU and an overall cool kid. It was great to see Josh and Arel out here. I promised they'd make the blog and here they are. Better late than never. Good to see you out here fellas. ---Josh,Arel and I went to camp together back in the day..they both live in NYC currently..

First flying attempt

2009-06-21T16:23:00.000-07:00

This video is from a while ago already. It was the very first attempt of having me fly. We are not even shooting in this studio anymore, but I thought it was fun video anyway.

Original Gangster

2009-06-21T08:45:00.000-07:00

I love you big dog. Happy Father's Day!!

Scholastic Project

2009-06-21T08:06:00.001-07:00

I know I haven't said too much about this project that I'm working on for Scholastic. I haven't really said anything because it has been a little all over the place and to be honest I wasn't sure if it was really going to be completed. I still don't know how the whole thing is really going to come together. I'm part of a team of three people that helped write the curriculum for a new ambitious program that Scholastic wants to put in second tier cities throughout China. It seemed like a monstrous program from day one, and it is getting bigger and bigger each day. Scholastic Asia wants to put a self sufficient, interactive, English teaching program into schools outside of Shanghai. We are working with a company that supplies white boards with similar technologies to a Smart Board. If you are unfamiliar, a board like this allows people to interact with and broadcast video images via touch. They have special markers that you can use to write over pictures and then erase it, as well as play games on the board that involve using your hands to move objects around and into other objects. The board is about the size of a normal classroom whiteboard. That part of the program is still in the works. So, along with helping with ideas for this project I have also been chosen as the actor on the program, leading the activities and modeling words and such for the kids. I wish I had some video to put up here so you could get an idea of what I'm talking about, because it is so much more than me speaking into a camera. The post production of the project is going to be huge. Everything is done in front of the green screen. So many editors are going to be so tired of looking at my face! This past week we shot ten hours a day, five days a week. I don't know if you know what kind of hours those are to be in makeup in an a studio with no ventilation and high powered lights streaming in on you, but it hurts by the end of the day. Literally. We are still not done either. Unfortunately, as things seem to go in China, the production company that we are working with is not the most professional. There have been a lot of bumps along the way, and filming for this next week has been postponed. We need to look at videos, make sure we like what we see and then take it from there. Deadlines have to be rescheduled as well. With all that said, I am having a great time doing this. It is such a cool and unique situation to be in. I'm back acting which I really missed, and since there is not one TRUE director of this project I have a ton of creative control over the project. My ideas are heard and I get to influence the final product. I'm going to try to get my hands on some footage this week, which might be a little difficult. If your interested, leave a comment with your email address and I'll try to send out a mass email with some footage.

P.S. It hit 100 degrees today.

P.P.S. Check out this blog. My friend Kate is teaching in India and it looks amazing!

http://mookambigaienclave.blogspot.com/

Lately

2009-06-15T04:58:00.000-07:00

My block:

My block: (black and white)
My block: (true colors)
My block: (true colors)
Top of the world financial building

Visit from NYC

2009-06-14T07:25:00.000-07:00

My aunt teaches high school English at the Garden School in Jackson Heights and takes a trip or two each year with some of her students to various places in the world. This year she came out to China. I got to spend a little over a day with her and her students and her chaperones and had a really nice time showing them around the city. They were good sports about it. I don't know how they had the energy to do it after the long flight from NY, but they were up and about and took the city by storm. They left yesterday to go off to suzhou and from there they were making a few more stops in various cities before heading to the Great Wall and then back to the states. In total they'll be in China about 17 days. Here are a few pics from my time with them in Shanghai

Jessica, a grad from the all womens Notre Dame school in Maryland, minored in photography and was getting her art on at the Jade Buddah Temple here in Shanghai.

This building (world financial building) is the second largest in the world (...I think.. ha!) ----

--anyway, I'm pretty sure it has the highest observation deck in the world. We went up and got to take a look at Shanghai from the top of this monster. It was super overcast and to be honest you couldn't see much, but it was worth it nonetheless just to say you did it. As you can see from the pic there are about 25 stories that didn't fit into the frame of my camera because it is such a giant.

The whole crew outside the Shanghai Museum....a little run down on day one, but we trooped through and made it happen!

Subway, rush hour style..All smiles all the time :)

My aunt Marcia giving out some knowledge at the Jade Temple...Have to teach the youngins!

All in all I think their Shanghai time was a success. It was really nice to have some visitors from NY out here. Always great to see my Aunt Marcia, and even cooler to see her here in the Hai. They're all off for more of an adventure, and I'm off to bed; filming in the morning..Updates on making movies --- coming soon to a blog near you..

your boy is back!

2009-06-09T08:13:00.000-07:00

What's good everybody! China is going crazy blocking everything that lets anyone do anything, so I had to download this stuff that sends me to a different browser or something..I don't know, I'm not tech or internet savy..All I do know is that right here right now, your boy is back in business. I've done a lot in the last month and wish I had the blog to communicate but I'll do the best I can to catch you guys up...

Me and my buddy on my Birthday..June 5 in case you didn't know and want to send me some hebrew nationals in the mail.

The whole team was out and about. We did it real big! You know I throw a mean party!

I believe I can fly..This is a much larger post..I'm doing a crazy project for scholastic that I will go into in more detail very soon..

I did the Great Wall half marathon. Finished in 2hrs 14 minutes..Not too shabby. It was mad fun!

Lights, camera, action. I'm back in business!

Broken Internet

2009-05-13T01:35:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone..so my internet finally expired at my apartment and I haven't been able to post anything up on the web. There is lots of stuff happening with me right now and I'm so super busy. It's cool, but it kind of sucks too. The weather is getting hot and I would like a little time to myself to enjoy but whatever. I'm not really sure when things will calm down, but hey, it is what it is. This is the Beijing weekend! I head out Thursday night and will be back in Shanghai on Sunday night. Hopefully all goes well. I'll see how many pics I can take and all that stuff. Don't think I'll bring my camera with me to the race though. I'm not going to hold it as I run. Gotta go, I'm at work..surprise updates coming soon..

Running update

2009-05-04T09:19:00.000-07:00

I did 17k again last night. This week is crunch for my half marathon. I'm going to do another long run tomorrow, and then one last run this Sunday and punch it up to 20 or 23K. After that I'm going to take the entire week off before the race next sunday so my legs are healthy and ready for the monster that will be the great wall. I've been eating mad pasta son. MAaaaaaad pasta. I burn crazy calories in the gym and have to refuel.

Stats:

*Although I didn't stick to my word and stay completely alcohol free, I've only had 6 drinks in the last three months. Do the math.

*I've cut out red meat from my diet for the last two weeks, and will continue that until the race is done. Yes, I'll have the chicken salad please.

*Water consumption has tripled. So serious. I sweat out like 2 or 3 pounds every time I run. I buy one bottle from each store on my block, EVERYDAY, each time I walk up my block.

*Fastest time still stands at 1hr 24 min for 17k. I'm not trying to KILL myself, just run this race.

*Haven't had a day off of work in the last 17 days. Get that money.

*Have bought 2 pairs of new kicks in the last 4 weeks. SHIT.

too many snickers bars

2009-05-02T07:51:00.000-07:00

I knew I should have stopped eating all those snickers bars before bed. Running that half marathon in a few weeks is gunna be harder than I thought..

Big Nate, little Sean

2009-05-02T07:42:00.000-07:00

I brought my computer over to Sean's the other day for a tutoring session. We took a few photos on one of the applications on my computer. Sean is a beast.

Don't freak out

2009-04-27T08:24:00.000-07:00

Like my new tattoos? JOKING!!! These are marks that are left on your back from a traditional chinese body cleansing called cupping. After my last massage my friend Gabbi and I decided to give cupping a try. Well, she's had it done before and I said why not. It's sort of like a vacuum process. You lay on your chest and glass cups are placed on your back. The insides are heated with a match and then quickly applied to your back creating something like a vacuum. After you have all the glasses on your back you are covered with a sheet and left for about 5 or 10 minutes. The glasses then take all the "negative" air out of your muscles. It puts your qi (pronounced CH-EE) in equilibrium. It's not a painful process. You do feel like their is a lot of pressure on your back, and you can feel the suction from each glass. After, the glasses are pulled from your back and you're left with these marks. Yes it does bruise, but it's not a deep bruise. I still have marks on my back and it's been three days. Each day they fade a little bit. When in China. . .

Coming soon to a great wall near you..

2009-04-23T10:29:00.000-07:00

Still Lijiang..

2009-04-23T10:09:00.001-07:00

This is a photo from the last night we were in Lijiang. (Ive been back in Shanghai a while but I thought I would put this up anyway) This guy was wilding out..the club was crazy..Mad fun..

Gotta stay fly

2009-04-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

6 months strong

2009-04-16T07:52:00.000-07:00

It's been 6 months in Shanghai. Here are some things I miss. It's great being here in China but I think about NYC everyday. Sometimes all day. Those of you checking my blog know I bleed that New York blood. First I did it down in Baltimore for College which was crazy. I thought that was hard. Being in China is so great, but man NYC is where my heart is at. Where it will always be. Growing up in the city gave me the courage to do anything and it's part of the reason I'm here in China but... I miss you.

Madness

2009-04-12T19:59:00.000-07:00

On the way down from Tiger Leaping Gorge, we came across a car that had almost flew off the road. I don't know how this happened, but it was nuts. The Chinese dudes didn't seem too shaken up about it as you can see from the pics. Don't worry we didn't leave them stranded there. They had called for help and a truck had pulled up behind us with cables and stuff to help them out soon after we had gotten there. Scary!

Tiger leaping gorge

2009-04-11T09:32:00.000-07:00

See the winding little road on the left of the picture. It was scary as shit to ride on that thing. I've got some crazzzzzy pictures about that for tomorrow...

These aren't tiger leaping gorge mountains(below). They are sister mountains of the yulong mountain which is no where near tiger leaping...just for the record..

Daily 5

2009-04-10T09:27:00.000-07:00

I'll be putting up five a day until these photos start to drive me crazy

this is out of the van window at tiger leaping gorge

This is Old Town in the morning when we left for Tiger leaping

View of Yulong mountain. We were up at the top which was dope.

Our little green van. I really like this picture

Let it soak in

still more to come..

2009-04-08T11:03:00.000-07:00

More more more

2009-04-08T10:56:00.000-07:00

Pics while biking

2009-04-08T10:51:00.000-07:00

First post of many. . .

2009-04-07T00:39:00.000-07:00

First off let me say, I took like 500 pictures over the weekend, so picking and choosing the best ones to put up here is going to be a little difficult. These five are from the major places we went to in Lijiang.

This is me at Tiger leaping gorge. It's a surreal place. The mountains are glorious. Yes that is truly the only word that I can think of to describe what the backdrop looked like.

The mountain shots like this with the snow are all from the top of Yulong mountain. We rode this little trolly car up the mountain. Me and heights don't mix so well but I had to thug it out and make it happen. You're in this tiny little car and are suspended in mid air as you travel up the side of the mountain. It's so cool. The views are incredible and once you get to the top it just gets better. This is the very top. There are glaciers that you can see behind me. Although there was snow and ice, it wasn't as cold as you'd think it was. Also the air makes you light headed, so it might have been really cold and my brain just wasn't telling me.

Our first day we biked to the neighboring town of Baixi (might have spelled that wrong). IT was about 10k to get there and on more than one occasion my obsessive compulsive mind thought to stop riding my bike and start running. Why not train for my half marathon here..enough said..I resisted. Here is big Mao chilling doing his thing.

Lijiang City

2009-04-01T08:08:00.000-07:00

I'm headed to Lijiang this weekend. It has been called "Fairyland" and I am thoroughly excited. Ever since my sister and I tried to catch the little fairies that lived in the rocks and only came out at dusk in cape cod in my youth, I have had a spot in my heart for the little magical creatures. I can now say this is a proud moment for me. hahaa. Anyway, the city is supposed to be great. Here is one of the attractions that I'm really looking forward to seeing.

The Jade Dragon Snow Mountain:

A mountain formation movement that took place 65 million years ago and which created the Himalaya, known as the "roof of the world" gave rise to the Qinghai Tibet Plateau. In the Southeastern part of this plateau and the northwestern part of the Yunnan- Guizho plateau, meandering mountain ranges tower to the sky and swift rivers roar in deep gorges, presenting magnificent landforms over an area covering more that 200,000 sq km. This area is the beautiful Lijiang Prefecture.

Originally a square developed on the basis of a former country market, Sifang Street is now the center for business and other activites in Lijiang. Lined with shops on all sides, it bustles with activity all day long.

So...

I will have pics and stories when I get back Monday. Do yourself a favor and google image lijiang!

Level C graduation

2009-03-29T22:35:00.000-07:00

psycho sean

2009-03-27T07:30:00.000-07:00

Dong xi

2009-03-23T08:42:00.000-07:00

So what if I bring the store with me!?

Mad dirty
More building shots:
Adidas track jacket
New p coat

Training update

2009-03-22T07:31:00.000-07:00

I ran 15K tonight. That's 9.3 miles.. 1hr 20 minutes..not the fastest, but I'm gettin it done..

2009-03-19T09:10:00.001-07:00

pics

2009-03-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

Back in Business

2009-03-17T02:51:00.000-07:00

Dumplings on the block.

yup yup
This is my building complex

Who has next?
This is my SPOT. They know me in here and everything. The soup is the jump off. These in the photo aren't bad either :)

2009-03-17T02:47:00.000-07:00

These poles are used to hang wet laundry fresh out of the washer. There are no dryers in China so everything is hung to dry.

Seats anyone?
Sky's the limit

Stickers

2009-03-11T08:28:00.001-07:00

Dreams where my teeth fall out always make me nervous. I can never remember if it means I'm going to loose all my money, die, or I'm going to become rich. I don't know why I would think that having a dream about loosing all your teeth would make you think you would become rich, but for some reason I always feel like that is a legitimate option for the meaning of that dream. Like I'm so rich I don't even need teeth anymore. Everything I eat will be in a pill that isn't available to the public that I will be able to swallow with a nice cup of water. I walked out of my apartment complex last Friday and watched a chicken get its head chopped off and then its organs pulled out. I've never not missed a bacon, egg and cheese so much in my life. Rise and Shine!

I put the clamps down on my classes so hard this week. They were getting out of hand. We were having a lot of fun but the kids were bugging out. I had to flip it back into, I'm the boss, we need to learn, I'm from NYC, now sit down! My second class of the evening tonight I laid into really badly. I told them that no one was getting any stickers at the end of class. The only way they could get stickers is if they had a total of ten stars next to their name at the end of the class. Kids like stars here like ants like sugar. They can't get enough of them. I told them if they had eight starts, too bad. Seven stars? NOPE. Five stars? NO WAY. One little girl said, Nine? - -NO! only TEN! Things got serious real quickly then.

Class went a lot smoother. I hit kids with stars when they deserved them, but I wasn't giving any freebees out. No one had more than 5 by the end of class. My supervisor is all about finding the intrinsic motivation for the children's learning. OK. but I'm still giving stars to get my kids quiet. It worked like a charm. I made a few other changes during class that caught the kids off guard as well. Gave them less time to answer questions. Told kids to sit down. Real teacher shit. Less day care shit. We got through a lot of material and everyone focused lovely. Success.

I lined the kids up at the door. I reminded them about the stars. No one had more than five. Let's make that better next week I urged them. I walked over to the fresh sticker sheet. Not one sticker was missing. It's like looking at that new purchase in your living room that you haven't even taken out of the box. It still smells like store. You're so excited it's yours that you don't want to ruin the feeling by taking it into your room and putting it in the closet,or the drawer or wherever it should go in your home. You marvel at it because it's yours now. Except this wasn't. I held up the sticker sheet. Little bunnies and bears, all so happy and smiling. Balloons! Lollipops! Oh me Oh my. Now class say goodbye Michelle! - Say, goodbye Nathan! Say: goodbye stickers! Overwhelmed with desire, they reached and pointed at the glistening, satiating, endorphin inducing sticker sheet! NO! TEN STARS! Pausing, the small children, no bigger than my thighs, my knees even, got back in line. They understood and walked out of the classroom in single file.

Slacking

2009-03-10T03:00:00.001-07:00

Update this week. I promise!

travel

2009-03-05T21:39:00.000-08:00

My next stop in China is:

Lijiang City

I'm headed there April 3rd - 6th for a weekend away with some friends. It has one of the best preserved ancient cities in China. I'll post more information about it when I have a little more time. (I'm at work) If you want to find any info on your own just copy and paste Lijiang City into your google browser

2009-03-04T09:35:00.000-08:00

morning part 1

2009-03-02T07:31:00.001-08:00

I looked out the window and saw more rain. The seventh straight day. 10am feels like 5pm. 8pm feels like midnight. It's all the same. Clouds and darkness. Wind and rain. The alarm on my pink Nokia phone went off. My blankets covered my body. Only my eyes went uncovered. I pushed my head out of the down sheet that was on top of me. Exhaling heavily I could see my breath. My room was cold. Early morning decisions were always hard. Should I let the alarm keep ringing and lay under my deliciously warm blankets? Should I risk sticking my hand out in the frigidness of my room to grab the remote for the electric heater on the wall? Should I push off all my blankets, grab my bathrobe that was sloppily draped on the old wooden chair next to my bed, put on my slippers and quickly start to get dressed? I decided against all three. Keeping my blankets close to my body I leaned out over the foot of my bed, grabbed my phone and unplugged it from the charger. No work today means my morning didn't have to be rushed like it is every Friday. I shut off the alarm and hugged my blankets tighter.

Morning was the worst. My mind raced. Uncontrollably. Everything and anything entered my mind. Maybe I would throw up. My legs and feet started to feel dirty. My chest hurt. My blankets didn't fit the bed right. How could I ever be comfortable? I thought about getting a haircut and a shave. I thought about when I lost my keys at the park in 5th grade and how upset it made me. I remembered when I left my favorite hat in the P.S. 122 playground at lunch and never found it. James had asked me how I kept my brim so straight and that he wish his hat looked like mine. So stupid of me to loose that hat! I looked to the left and wondered if my laundry had dried. I only have five shirts and three were hanging on hangers in front of the window. I really didn't want to wear the grey one again. Harry had a sneezing fit last night at work and the poor kid must have infected everyone in the room. No way I was putting that shirt back on today. I really hoped my clothes were dry.

I wasn't sure if not having curtains bothered me or not. Morning light used to drive me insane. Now I just stared into it wondering how much light was going into other peoples apartments. I wondered how many people had their curtains pulled open at that very moment. I grabbed the remote and turned on the electric heater. My Chinese book was on the floor to my left. I grabbed that too. Ni hao ma? Ni zai na li gong zuo? Ni zhu zai na li? Ni shi na li ren?

post

2009-02-25T00:26:00.000-08:00

I've been training for my half marathon and I just hit the 12k mark yesterday. I feel pretty good but my knee is straining a little bit. I don't know if I need to strengthen it or to let it rest. A good combination of both will do just fine I think. I ran 12k in a little under and hour which isn't too bad. I went food shopping today and stocked the house with a little bit of food. It's always good to have some snacks to munch on, fruit and soups and such. It's rained here for like the last week straight. Nasty weather. Good weather to take naps to and be inside. I'm glad my gym is around the corner or it would really be a struggle to get over there. I went on an interview last week for an international school here. I don't think I'm going to get the job. I have the feeling they are interviewing a lot of people and are going to hire someone with a little more experience than I have. I will hear back soon I hope. If I get it then great, if not, oh well, life goes on.
I've been studying my Chinese almost daily and am making a little progress. I know a few words but not enough to really say anything to anyone. It's cool nonetheless. I know there aren't too many new pictures on the blog but my routine here has been pretty set the last month or so. Haven't seen too much new scenery to put up on the site. Maybe tomorrow I'll get some new pictures up if I can get out and take some good ones of the city. Whenever I leave in the morning on friday to go to work there is a guy selling live chickens on the street outside my apt. It would make for a good photo and I'll try to get it next time I leave. I'm pretty tired in the mornings though haha and don't feel much like stopping to take photos. I've been away from home 5 months now. It really went by fast, I can't lie. Sometimes it feels like I've only been away a few days. Other times it feels like I've been here a LOOOOOONNG time. March is here. Winter is on the way out! Crazy, feels like it was summer just yesterday.

Harbin Tiger park photos

2009-02-21T09:18:00.000-08:00

also..

2009-02-14T06:36:00.000-08:00

Rafael Casal was a def poetry jam artist and his stuff is dope. You Tube him if you get the chance. He is also featured on Shira Tarrant's blog : girlwpen.com. Check it out if you get a chance. There is some great writing on the site, really insightful and cool stuff.

Update

2009-02-14T05:51:00.000-08:00

What's up guys? I completed my first week of Chinese lessons on Thursday and feel good about it. It gets me up early during the week and I feel constructive. I know my numbers and days of the week and the months and can tell time with a little hesitation. I also learned a few (two haha) verbs; come and go. I can put them in a couple questions and everything. It's cool. I never thought I'd be learning Chinese. If you had tapped me on the shoulder in 11th grade and told me that I was going to Shanghai upon college graduation I'd probably give you a screw face and ask you to not stand so close to my new jordans.

So I have class Tuesday and Thursday for two hours each lesson. It is through a company that supplies tutors and it's a cool setup. (Accentmandarin.com) The woman who runs the company is actually the woman I worked for when I was tutoring a few people who were going to the United States to work. She gave me a nice discount on the lessons and I like my tutor. Since most of the people my age who I meet out here are strictly out here studying Chinese I find myself in a good atmosphere to learn the language. They're always going off to study and I can do that now too. Although I don't have too much material to study yet, I have been going over my stuff and it's been sticking so far. It's exciting. Even little things like buying strawberries and understanding how much money I have to pay when the clerk talks to me is refreshing. I don't have to hand them my largest bill and hope for the best (HA! I'm a suckkkkka!) Speaking of strawberries, They are coming into season here and everyone and their mother is selling them (literally). They're delicious too. You can get a nice bag full of them for about a buck fifty. I wash them real good before I eat them though.

Training for the half marathon on the great wall has been going well too. I ran 10K the other day and am going to push up to 11K on monday, or Xing qi yi (what do you know about that!?)It might sound crazy but the hardest part of the training is actually my off days. I really have to be careful not to overtrain because when you run long distances you need to let your body heal or else you will crumble. In the States I was lifting everyday so taking that time off is a little tough for me, but it really helps my running. I just bought slumdog millionaire and Che so I'm going to go put one one. Order some Virginia ham and swiss on wheat for me next time you're in the deli. Light mustard, lettuce and tomato. "Yea, lemme get a bag of doritos with that too."

Renee

2009-02-12T02:13:00.000-08:00

Jewish Museum in Harbin

2009-02-08T04:10:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos of the Jewish Museum in Harbin that I never posted. Check em outttt

It's official

2009-02-07T20:39:00.000-08:00

The Great Wall MarathonHead Office of The Great Wall Marathon 200936-5 Fuchengmenwai Street,Xicheng District, BeijingAtn.: Ms.Grace Li, Mr. Kent Wang

Tel. +(86)-10-68512395, 68589496, 68391018/19/20Fax +(86)-10-68589497Mobile Phone +(86)-13241927096,13552481754E-mail add.: gwm_booking@263.net.cn grace.li@great-wall-marathon.com.cn
Web: www.great-wall-marathon.com.cn

Date:2009.02.05To:Mr. Nathan EinschlagINVOICE NO:##From:Ms.Grace Li – Culturestone Travel - ChinaRef. :GWM 2009/Mr. Nathan Einschlag/Entry No. 1267

DearMr. Nathan EinschlagWe are pleased to forward this invoice according to your booking.

Email from Moms that made me reflect

2009-02-07T02:32:00.000-08:00

Hi Nate,I've been meaning to send you a small chatty newsy email..so this is it..
I don't think I mentioned that we met ___________at Armondo's when we were there for that Obama party.. He was there with his parents and his fiance.. They are planning to get married next summer (2010). He is teaching math , in a middle school, in the Bronx. The fianace is a special ed teacher, in Chinatown.
Two days ago, ________ walked into Romeo's while I was having lunch. That story is really too hard to go into.. but it seems he lives on long island..doing rescue work (?!) whatever that means. His older brother lives further out on the island.. I don't know what he does.. his other brother lives in Fla and has a one year old..not sure about a wife. ______wants to go into the fire dept.. or maybe be a school aide.. He has only a 5th grade education he told me.. but he does have a GED.. I think. It was not easy understanding him.. but he was sweet and friendly and asked how you were doing, right away. (I am not sure he knows where China is). He says he does not speak with his mother much.. She's mad at him. I can only imagine. I think she has been mad at him since he was born.. Anyway.. He was in the "hood" to go to the doctor. I felt bad, like I always did, when I saw and spoke to him, since he was little. He really got the raw end of the stick, growing up in his family, dealing with whatever learning disabilities he has.. Because, deep down, I think he wants to do well and to please. His head is completely shaved and he looks a little scary.. It was cold and he was all bundled up, so I don't know if he had any weird tatoos.. I told him I remembered what a good athlete he was and was sure that would help in his fireman's test.. He took that to heart, I think.
Okay.. I guess that is all for the neighborhood news.. Sunday night we will be going to see Celeste's movie.. lovely lily. That should be a fun jackson heights event.
What's up with you?love you,maxoxox

Think about your fam and be happy you've got that love..i know i am! big up to all my jackson heights homies past and present- forever in a new york state of mindd...

the kid talked about above was my homie foreal foreal when I was in elementary school. I was always so mad that people said he was a better ball player than me. I always thought it was just cause he had two older brothers that were thugs around the way so people just gave him run on the court because of it. Not saying he wasn't nasty, cause I remember him to be a true ball player when we were little. He was like my big homie for a little while. We played baseball together and he always liked me cause I was younger but I could hoop and I could hit and I had a little queens swagger even at 9 years old (believe it!) I remember when he had bought the first Penny's that came out in the black and royal blue color way . We were over at St. joan of arcs and he was a year older and in a higher division, and he had come right from the store to the game he was about to play. He didn't wear those sneakers in warm ups..kept them in the box until right before tip off..he was THAT kid. Everyone knew "J" ..I vividly remember (finally) playing on the same team as him and feeling so baller..same in baseball.. I have more stories comin..i have to run...

Things just ain't the same for gangstersss

First draft of the first writing I've done in Shanghai. It's been a minute.. (FICTION)

2009-02-01T08:06:00.001-08:00

Yes, I did go away for the New Year. It was fabulous. I said, "I think it's going to be Hong Kong this year" and I just went! I know! It really was great, but I was only there three days. Yea, I just thought three would be enough and it really was. Well, I didn't limit myself to one place this year so why kill myself in Hong Kong? I was in Vietnam and Cambodia too. Vietnam was amazing. Great weather. I was laying on the beach and I'm thinking to myself, ugh, I should really go for a run, but then I realized I was in Vietnam and said fuck it, I can relax for a day. I'm about to close my eyes and what do I see, but a jogger running across the beach. Right, so now I really feel like a fat piece of shit you know? But this guy is like a big guy you know? Like shoulders, you know what I'm saying; fucking BIG. Find out the guy used to be a body builder. I'm serious! Not only that but since he's stopped competing he's started running marathons. Yea, and if that's not enough, now the motherfucker is training for a triathlon. I know, I started feeling better thinking I was crazy for running seven miles every morning, and this fucker is out burning more calories than palm springs on a daily basis. He's out in Vietnam with his wife and son just to vacation, yea, really nice guy.

So we all get to talking one night and he's telling me his training schedule. Guy swims in the ocean for an hour every other day. Just goes. He's telling me yesterday how he's out swimming, and his mind starts to wander. He's like, I was thinking about you telling me about playing soccer in France, yea you know I had to slip that in if this motherfucker is all total fitness-world domination, I had to let him know I did my thing for a little while. Anyway, so he's like and I'm in mid-stroke and just as I'm about to come through with my right arm, WHAP my head smashes into something. "I fucking swam into a boat" he says. "Don't worry, the boat was okay" he follows with. Right, because I thought the boat got hurt I was thinking. This guys nuts. He swims back to shore and gets back to his room and blacks out. Dehydration mixed with a minor concussion. Yea he was fine the next day.

Reasons

2009-01-31T21:04:00.000-08:00

For those of you just tuning in the last few posts are all pictures of my mini-vacation to Harbin in the North of China for Chinese New Year. It is a city that borders Russia and they currently have these awesome snow and ice sculptures. It was something I couldn't miss out on being here in Shanghai. I went on the trip with some people that I've met along the way here in china and some of their friends from Beijing. Hope you enjoy the photos and thanks for checking the blog!

Ice sculptures

2009-01-31T07:13:00.000-08:00

2009-01-31T07:10:00.000-08:00

2009-01-31T07:07:00.000-08:00

2009-01-31T07:03:00.000-08:00

Harbin Snow Sculpture Festival

2009-01-30T03:43:00.000-08:00

Whaddup everyone?? I'm going to let these pictures rock for a little while. I have like a hundred photos so they're not all going to get posted, but each couple days I'll throw some new ones on so you can see what I was up too while I was in Harbin. All these photos are from the first day we were there. The snow sculptures were awesome to see in person. It wasn't too crowded and all in all was a lot of fun. Enjoy!

2009-01-30T03:38:00.000-08:00

Snow galore!

2009-01-30T03:33:00.000-08:00

Yup..it was awesome..

2009-01-30T03:29:00.000-08:00

Snow sculptures. Really impressive to see

2009-01-30T03:25:00.000-08:00

St. Sophia Church and some ice sculptures. Our hotel was right across the street from this

2009-01-29T22:47:00.000-08:00

Hey - I'm trying to get photos up as soon as I can but my internet is taking forever..I have a ton and hopefully I can get them up soon. Harbin was great!

A yes yes yall, and we don't stop

2009-01-28T09:10:00.001-08:00

I just got in the door..it's 1 am..here are some teasers...

Harbin

2009-01-25T09:44:00.001-08:00

Yo waddup everybody?? Being in Harbin for Chinese New Year is pretty wild. Fireworks are exploding everywhere and shit is MAAAAAd cold! It's nice though, and I'm liking it so far. I'm in good company and I've already got some good pics from this first night. The homie Ming is holding me down, showing me a good time. He has a friend out here whose house we're at right now having a good time at...pics and stories on the way. I'm in Harbin doin what it dooooooo

The New President!

2009-01-20T23:01:00.000-08:00

Man! I wish I was in DC! How great was listening to Obama?? I know you laughed a little when he messed up the oath haha..get those nerves under control Obama! Hopefully good times lay ahead for America. Let's work hard and get America back to where it needs to be! Welcome Mr. President!

Some Students

2009-01-19T07:29:00.000-08:00

My homie Anthony

Renee. 3 years old!
Bonnie, Anthony and Linda. Anthony and Linda are brother and sister so you know they come from money. You can't have more than one child in China without paying a heavy fine.
Dora, Penny, Bonnie -Anthony on the very right

Just Fake It

Friends

2009-01-18T20:16:00.000-08:00

Some people I work with and have met along the way

Sina, who went to UNLV is out here working for Scholastic as part of a masters international business program. She works at the same Scholastic center as I do during the week.

Ming on the left and James on the right. James grew up in Italy, spent some time in BK and just got to Shanghai a few weeks ago.

Me and Gabi. Gabi just left for Singapore and Australia for the next month. She has family in both places and will be back in february. She also works for Scholastic at the same center I do.

Gym and views from my room

2009-01-18T19:38:00.000-08:00

speedin through life like there's no tomorrow

2009-01-17T20:24:00.000-08:00

My internet or something is being a pain at home, and uploading photos is being a hassle again. I just got another haircut. Army style, just shaved it all off. It's much easier now. I just wear my beanie outside and it's all gravy.The beard has made an official comback. I'm growing it out for my Harbin trip. A little extra layer couldn't hurt. I've got most of my gear and should have everything I need by Tuesday so I don't stay frozen up there. I'm looking foward to having some time off to just explore a little. I haven't been able to make it around Shanghai like I had hoped just because of my work schedule so far. I know lots of stuff closes down over spring festival but I hope I can still make it to some interesting places around town. So, I'm almost three months deep in China and four months into the trip on the whole. I guess that's pretty good right? I can't say I've found my calling or whatever it is I was looking for when I left New York, but I am trying to stay focused and get to that next goal. What that next goal is ...I'm unsure of but I think that is all part of what this trip was for anyway. I'm learning how to balance things better. I'm taking time to put things in perspective. I'm asking myself questions that I didn't have time to ask when I was at home. I think I'm starting to find some answers also, even if they don't hit me right away, but it's all good. I've met some real cool people out here which is rewarding in it's own light. The ex pats in China all have a story to tell. My next purchase is a portable tape recorder. I think interviews and short stories are on the way, but I need to record the voices of some of the people I've met. I've been trying to sit down and write but there is too much going on and I can't pick a direction to follow. I know I want to write about some of the poeple I've met here but I need to have more info and have more clarity about them. The tape recorder is a must have. While I'm not working next week it's the first thing I'll buy. - - I still have to buy a curtain for my room, but you know I get lazy about all that. So, what else? The language still isn't there for me..I didn't learn anything in my last class and was really frustrated. There is a new class being offered which I'm going to start taking and I hear it's at a much lower level so it will cater to my needs more. I'll like that. Still in China..Still doin what it doooooooo

Meatballs in a Wok and Chun Chun

2009-01-14T22:26:00.001-08:00

Chillin in the Kitchen - China style..Me and the roomie chun chun.

Delicious. First meal at home. Meatballs haha

Didn't know you could make them in a wok? Now you know!

P.S. The Harbin tickets have been booked! Goodies on the wayyyy...

2009-01-14T06:45:00.000-08:00

What's up guys. It's freakin cold here. I know it's cold in the city too, maybe I forgot what nyc winters are like. Speaking of cold I think I'm going to make it up to Harbin for a couple days over Chinese New Year. My friend Ming organized a group so we're all going to head up there together. Should be a lot of fun. Harbin is the place in Northern China with all the ice sculptures. I posted a link a while ago that said I wanted to visit there so I'm excited. I'll have lots of pictures when I get back not to worry. It's really cold, and I have to get into my bed and under my down covers or my fingers are going to fall off. I'll post pictures in the morning when it's warmer and the sun is shining through my window.

El Cribo

2009-01-11T08:44:00.000-08:00

My desk with wonderful baby stickers on it.

The "kitchen,dining room and hallway" and entrance to Chun Chun's room.

The "hallway"- Maybe 3 feet. pretty much enough space for there to be the bathroom. This is the view exiting my room.
View of my room standing in front of my window. The desk would be on the left of the bed but you can't see it in the pic.
View of my room upon entrance. The heater is in the top left corner. I'm loving my giant wall to wall window. The light streams in during the day. It really makes the apartment for me.

So there you have it. My apt. in Shanghai. Come visit!

Year of the Ox

2009-01-06T20:36:00.000-08:00

All my 85ers stand up! It's our year this year. Year of the Ox! Let's grab the bull by the horns and get what we want this year!!!!!!!!!!!! Big things ahead!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good start

2009-01-05T00:16:00.000-08:00

So I'm moved in and unpacked. It feels good! I'm going to go to Ikea on Thursday to get some more stuff for my apt. A few rugs and maybe a little comfy type chair or something. I'm really happy with the place. The location is great. There is so much near me. English menus. Let's clap it up for English menus. I can eat! There are also THREE supermarkets within walking distance from my home. All of them stocked with delicious edible and cookable things that will make me happy. I had my first workout this morning which was great too. It was a real workout. There is equiptment I can use and nice clean state of the art showers I can use. The weight doesn't go too heavy so some excersizes I don't even do because it would be pointless, but for the most part the gym has what I need. The freeweights only go up to 50 pounds so I make the best of that. It has a bench press that I can use so I'm set. I ate good today, worked out well and now am at work about to teach a little. So far the new year has started off right for me. I'll let you know when I get into the pool and the sauna. -Nate

My new hood

2009-01-04T08:34:00.000-08:00