Even though it's a holiday, I'm spending much of this weekend working on my online sabbatical portfolio and prepping for my first class in March. So I don't have much excitement to report. I'm just trying to get as much done as I can before we leave for Chengdu on Monday. The next two weeks are going to be travel-crazy: Chengdu Feb. 19-23; Kunming Feb. 23-26; and the Fulbright Conference Feb. 26-March 2. We return to Shanghai on March 2, and then school starts for me on March 7; next term, I'm teaching on Wednesdays instead of Mondays.
It will be interesting because my friends Zach and Randy are DEFINITELY coming for visits: Zach in March and Randy in April. We plan to go to Hong Kong with Zach and to Xi'an to see the Terra Cotta Warriors with Randy. Hopefully my friends Crystalyn and Nick will be coming in late May, although nothing is for certain yet. Still, it will be nice to have visitors this term! Last term, Xuewei visited, of course, but she was coming to Shanghai anyway.
Kerry and I did take a nice walk around Wan'an Road on Friday--it was interesting to see that the fruit market was open, and there were many men crowded under a pagoda. We also saw young people playing badminton on the sidewalk (with no net, as they would in the US!).
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| Red lantern on our apartment door. |
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| Me outside our apartment building. |
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| Colored pussywillows sold at the florist on the way to Jiangwan Town Station. |
We went to the Westin again on Sunday--this time for their Chinese New Year brunch. Only 35 RMB for the cab there--a new low. Great food, as usual: duck, Mexican seafood, cheese, lamb, and even rum raisin ice cream! The whole drill. Sadly, neither of us won any raffle prizes (I have yet to win one...I'm beginning to feel like Charlie Brown!). Still, we had good food and then walked to the subway, and took that home (Line 10 to line 8 to line 3). We ran into Samira at Line 3; she's going to Vietnam this evening. I guess vacation isn't over for either of us! She walked home with us, which was nice. And then we settled in, did laundry, packed, and relaxed.
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| Seafood at the Westin! |
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| Dogs outside a red pussywillow tree, celebrating the New Year! |
Tomorrow...Chengdu! I hope there's no drama.
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