October 29, 2017

We wake up each day not being able to believe we live in the biggest city in the world.  A couple of small town folks who think Chicago is too big a place for us to live, living here and loving it.  What a blessing! What an experience!

There are 14 different Metro (subway) lines in Shanghai.  The Metro is an amazingly clean and efficient system, although sometimes crowded. Each line has both a number and its own color.  Signs are clearly marked and include English.  It's very easy to get around (once you figure out how to get and load subway cards on Chinese machines).  We can't believe that we don't miss driving at all. But the subway has taught us about the "Chinese massage" we heard a tour guide reference--when an area is so crowded with people that it's like a giant massage. Urgh. But we feel very safe. The subway isn't usually terribly crowded, but we don't often get to sit down, either. We keep track of our purses, etc., but for a major metropolitan area, it's a surprisingly safe environment.

We love going exploring. Picking a subway station and "popping up" to see what's above ground there.  Friday night we had a group dinner with the international vice president of BYU at a restaurant in the "French Concession." We hear you can get good crepes there. Shanghai has a complex history, but briefly, from 1842 for about a century, Western powers were dominant in Shanghai; there were areas that belonged to the British, the Americans, the French, etc.  Their influences as well as those of other nations remain and make Shanghai a very international experience.

After dinner, we strolled around the metro stop, where there is a Buddhist Temple, and the sights and sounds were amazing.  Street musicians, sidewalk market stalls (decorated for Halloween--they're catering to cultures that celebrate Halloween), color-changing lights along the street.  Simply amazing!

We have spent time exploring shopping areas near us that have a larger variety of international foods. We truly can get a wide variety of Western foods if we are so inclined. Cold cereal, however, is pretty expensive. Outside one supermarket near us was a little shop with a long line (which is a good sign!).  Turns out they make something that looks much like a quesadilla, with a flakier bread and filled with scrambled eggs and green vegetables (maybe leeks).  Delicious!

We both got our first Chinese haircuts this week. Kathy (after wondering what she could do to get Kathy Arzani to move to China) saw a salon that looked clean and like they were using a technique that works well on her hair. When she went in to ask whether they had any appointments available, they had to send out for someone who could speak English in order to answer her. We have "Google translate" on our phones, where we can speak and it will translate what we said into Chinese, and where someone else can speak and it will translate what they said into English, but it didn't help a lot. They communicated with us that it would be "just a minute" and served her some biscuits and water while she waited. Sign language worked pretty well during the haircut until it got to the point where she wanted a little more taken off her bangs...But all in all, it was a good haircut with a nice shampoo and some styling afterward. For about $10.

Kathy got nice little Chinese girl bangs...

And John's is SHORT!

It cost John about $5--at a different shop--which for him included washing hair, cutting, and washing hair again - then trimming just a little more to make sure it looked good, probably because his is so thick and curly. There was a person at the desk who spoke English - confirmed John wanted scissor cut on top and clippers on the side, which was about the extent of the communicating until finished.

We finally got work permits this week!  Which means we were able to apply for employment visas!  Our current guest visas expire on November 14.  Our passports with new visas will be back November 7.  An exciting week on that front!

Yesterday our branch held a Halloween party which included a chili competition among several of the men.  John has won this at our church in Iowa before, so his ego was on the line.  And he felt handicapped by not being able to find jalapeno peppers, cayenne powder, or Graziano sausage (Iowa friends will understand).  But he forged ahead and used four other peppers, bacon, and a very dark chili powder we found.  And how did it turn out???  Tied for 1st place!!  His ego remains intact, but it was close.

As we approached church today, a Chinese man was headed the other direction.  He stopped us to ask in very broken English if we were Mormon.  We said yes, he shook our hands, said "The Lord bless you," and went on his way.  It was so touching!

We coordinate a dinner on Sunday for the young single adults after the church services. (It's a challenge carrying all that on the subway--see above for reference to Chinese massage!)  Today we had 11 singles there for the dinner, including individuals from Brazil, Russia, Australia, France, the Philippines, Nigeria, China, Tonga, and two from the USA.  Six continents represented!  What an amazing experience.  We are so blessed to be having the experiences we are.