In these past few months I have met and associated myself with so many different people. Most of them have one thing in common with me, the employment of Disney, and that's pretty much it. Never would I have thought I would travel to Korea for vacation with a Brit and an Australian. I'll get to that soon. The experiences I have had here have been numerous and astounding. I'm not going to list them all here, because that would just be a list of stuff. However, I have enjoyed my first 5 months here, and though it has been cold and rainy lately, I know that the spring season is just around the corner and those fun experiences will be had again. Though my bike got stolen, but that's a different story.
In two days I begin my Chinese New Year (of course here it's just called "new year") vacation to South Korea. Much against my mother's nightmares, I will not be embarking upon the border of North Korea in any type of capacity. I will be traveling with my friends Haley and Mason (the Brit and Aussie). We have many adventures planned for the 4 days spent in Seoul and the 2 spent in Busan. I will go into further detail upon my arrival back in Shanghai. One hint, I will be trying my hand at eating live octopus.
As for Shanghai, my job is, well, a job. There are ups and downs as there are with any job in the world. Teaching is teaching, and kids are kids, no matter where they are in the world or what language they speak. But to have good friends as co-workers is never a complaint either. The city has become my home in many ways, and I find comfort in that truth. Though it will not be my home forever, I cherish the fact that it is my current home, at least for the next 7 months. I have made friends with cultured and interesting people from all over the world. We do anything and everything from visiting the Shanghai Zoo (not recommended if you like animals), to eating street food, to shopping, to watching movies on a Tuesday night. Our lives are centered mainly around our jobs which is the usual topic of conversation at a gathering. Whether it's learning that a friend lived in a cave in Sri Lanka, is fluent in Japanese, or learning that there is yet another Canadian among us, these are people that I would have never met if I didn't move here.
New Years (of the western variety) was definitely different from the normal house party situation I am accustomed to. We got dressed up, paid a lot of money, and went to a bar on the Bund overlooking the gorgeous skyline of the angelic city. Time seemed to stand still as we gobbled down our bottomless champagne and liquor. The coat check was a great idea until everyone realized there was a terrace outside. So it was cold, but that was what the alcohol was for. As I was getting ready and tying my tie, my friend Dominic looked at me and said, "dude, does it feel to you that we are going to a high school dance?" He had a point. We got dressed up, waited for the ladies we were accompanying to the party finish getting ready while we hummed the tune of "Wonderful Tonight" in our heads, and gobbled down Subway sandwiches. After about 20 minutes of unsuccessfully finding a cab, we finally did, and from that point on, New Years was quite a blur. Now, I wasn't told this directly, but apparently I danced due to quite a bit of rum and champagne. Hence, the first time the "Alex crazy dance" was implemented into the Shanghai nightlife.
After a New Years Day full of headaches and putrid smells, it was back to work. In these past few weeks I have experienced being sick for the first time, cold and rainy China weather, and a karaoke event for work where I found myself singing "Total Eclipse of the Heart", "Firework", and "Sexy Back". After that last one, I knew it was time for me to leave. Fortunately, a week after New Years Day, I got notice from my mother that she and her friend Karen are coming to visit. That was a fantastic way to wrap up the holiday season. Now for Chinese New Year. I'm excited to have a break from work, traipse around the streets of Korea, and find these two famous "hills" that I have been told about over and over again. I'm looking forward to the year of the Dragon.
