7/31/06 ~ Chinese Valentine's Day

On the Rio: David Gray ~ White Ladder.

Today is “Valentine’s Day” in China.

According to ancient Chinese mythology an orphaned Cowherd and the 7th daughter of Emperor of Heaven, the Weaver Maid, who were lovers, were separated by the Queen Mother of the Western Heavens. The 7th daughter was forced to move to the star Vega and the Cowherd moved to the star Altair. The distance between Vega and Altair is 16 light years. They cannot meet in the sky, as they are too far apart. In the ancient story, magpies spread their wings to form a bridge across the Milkyway on July 7, enabling the couple to meet for one night in heaven.

On the Chinese Valentine's Day, people in love like to go to the temple of Matchmaker and pray for their love and the possible marriage in China. People still single will do the same thing to ask their luck of love in the Matchmaker temple.

The Chinese Valentine's Day is also called The Daughter's Festival. Long ago, Chinese girls always wanted to train themselves to have good handcrafting skills like the Weaving Maid. The skill is essential for their future family. On that night, the unmarried girls may pray for the Weaving Maid star to let them become smarter. When the star Vega is high up in the sky, girls do a test, which is to put a needle on the water surface. If the needle doesn't sink, then the girl is already smart enough and ready to find a husband. Girls may ask for any wish, but only one per year.

In some Chinese provinces, people believe that decorating the flowers on the ox's horn on the Chinese Valentine's Day prevents disasters. Also, girls throw the five-color ropes, made at the Chinese Dragon Boat festival, on the roof for magpies who will carry the ropes to build the bridge.

In Nanjing in East China’s Jiangsu Province, a total of 770,000 colored paper birds decorated the castle of the Zhonghua Gate, wishing the city good luck in love.

And nearly 40 young people in traditional Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) costumes, gathered in Chengdu, Southwest China’s Sichuan Province yesterday to celebrate the festival.

According to the Chinese lunar calendar, there will be two Valentine's festivals this year. So the Cowhered and Weaving Maid can meet again, when the next festival falls on August 31.

7/30/06 ~ Hong Kong Part I

On the Rio: Grateful Dead ~ When I Paint My Masterpiece, 4/7/95 Tampa Stadium, Tampa, FL

I had a nice, although very wet, trip to Hong Kong.

The express airport train service to Kowloon, the district I stayed in, is extremely convenient. Kowloon is a mangled way of saying Nine Dragons (gau lung) in Cantonese. Legend has it that Kowloon received its name in 1277 when Song dynasty boy-emporer Di Ping arrived. He counted eight mountain peaks, so figured there must be eight dragons. But his counsel reminded him that he, too, was a dragon, and since he was there, there must by Nine Dragons.

My hotel was at Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong’s best known tourist and shopping district (and you all know how much I love to shop – ugh!). The first thing I noticed was that all of the cabs were red with white or silver tops, and all are Crown Comforts by Toyota.

But the hotel was also only a block away from the Waterfront Promenade (today's topic), Star Ferry, Museum of Art and only several blocks from Kowloon Park.

My first stop was the Waterfront Promenade. But let me tell you, it’s extremely hard being a tourist during the rainy season. Here is a picture I took of myself (although not flattering) in my rain gear with Hong Kong in the background.

[I was unable to do everything on my Hong Kong itinerary such as visit Victoria’s Peak and check out some beaches on the south side of Hong Kong, due to the weather and low clouds, which you will see in following pictures of Hong Kong.]

The Waterfront Promenade area I visited includes The Avenue of the Stars, similar to the Stars of Hollywood, dedicated to Hong Kong movies and actors.

I was lucky enough to find the “stars” for Jackie Chan and Jet Li.

And here is a great statue of Bruce Lee.

I love this boat shot.

Sorry folks, that’s all for today. I promise to post more random thoughts and pictures this week.

7/27/06 ~ Real Adventurers

On the Rio: UB40 ~ Cherry Oh Baby. Yea, Yea Yea Yea

I was reading an article in the April 2006 Smithsonian Magazine I brought along about some real-life women adventurers of today. They are photographers Michele Westmorland and Karen Huntt who decided to trace the steps of two American women, Caroline Mytinger and Margaret Warner, who in the 1920s set out from San Francisco, with little more than art supplies and a ukulele, to explore the largely unmapped and headhunter/cannibal inhabited jungle isles of the Coral Sea in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. They are currently trying to raise money to make a film documentary of their journey.

I feel so pampered compared to their adventure, both now and in the 1920s, and realize I really have nothing to complain about. They contracted several diseases on the trip (in the 1920s), including “Shanghai feet”, but I haven’t found out exactly what that means.

I really want to read Mytinger’s book "New Guinea Headhunt" now. And her artworks from these adventures are currently at the University of California’s Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology in Berkeley. [I may even need to make a side-trip visit there].

I saw my second bicycle accident today. I’m surprised it’s only been 2, considering the density of bicycles and traffic in the city streets. I will never consider riding a bicycle here, especially with the bad experiences I’ve had [cars and bunnies come to mind].

I watched the Johnny Cash DVD “The Man, His World, His Music” last weekend. This beats the “Walk the Line” movie because it is all live clips from his life in 1968-69, and I highly recommend it to all you Cash fans. There is a great full duet with Bob Dylan singing “One Too Many Mornings”. I also hadn’t realized that the song “Ira Hayes” was about a Pima Native American. The footage was quite touching. For those of you who don’t know, I briefly worked at the Pima Indian Reservation outside of Phoenix in the summer of 2005.

Check back soon for my Hong Kong adventure stories. And yes, Carol H, I am taking Eleanor Roosevelt’s advice to "Do something every day that scares you." It seems to be my motto!

7/23/06 ~ Three weeks down

On the Rio: The Temptations ~ Don't Look Back.

Well, I've successfully completed 3 weeks in Shanghai.

It rained most of the day, so I watched Asian TV: a sumo wrestling match, a National Geographic show on Chinese foot binding and shoe making for those feet (they showed the bound feet of some women who are now over 100 years old), and an international badmitton competition.

I did end up going for a walk to find the German brew pub, which I did not find, apparently because all of the streets aren’t marked and I missed my turn. And by then it was getting dusk, so I headed back to the hotel. But the areas I walked in were not crowded for a change, and it was interesting to see some of the local grocery stores, street vendors and furniture and non-Western clothing stores.

I ate in the hotel Chinese restaurant, and thought, I’ll order something normal: wonton soup and chicken and rice. I know what you are thinking, picturing in your head. Well, you are wrong. The wonton soup had wontons (pasta filled with spinach and something), but also included whole shrimp (eyes, shell, antennae), some green bulb vegetable, a large mushroom, and lots of spaghetti. The chicken was cold, served with the skin, and very difficult to maneuver with chopsticks. There were 3 small bowls of dipping sauces: ginger, red pepper sauce, and soy sauce. There was another bowl with bean curd and scallions, which I presumed was to pour the hot chicken broth on top of. I really could have used a dinner guest to show me how to eat this meal. The rice was delicious!

I hope I’m not boring everyone with my food experiences.

Well, back to another week of work, and then I’m off to Hong Kong on Saturday.

7/22/06 ~ Boat Trip Bummer

On the Rio: Steel Pulse: Earth Crisis.


















I was Shang-hai’d. The ferry trip was so boring. And I got a headache from the boat fumes and smog and industrial waste along the river. Definitely not worth it just to see the Yangtze River entrance where the East China Sea meets the Yellow Sea. There are so many ships and boats. I felt as if I had been dropped into a game of Battleship.

We passed under the Yangpu Bridge, which is the 3rd third largest cable-stayed bridge in the world. A cable-stayed bridge is a modern and increasingly effective variant on the suspension bridge, in which the cables are anchored in the tower, rather than at the end. It is 7658 metres (8375 yards). We also passed the main train yard linking all goods from China to the sea, as well as the main ship building yard.















The World Expo is coming to Shanghai in 2010, and there is a clock counting down the days.

Not sure what my adventure will be tomorrow.

I’ll spend the evening working on my 3D jigsaw puzzle of kites that I started yesterday.

7/20/06 ~ Midweek Tidbits

Playing on the Rio: David Gilmour ~ Shine On You Crazy Diamond, 3/11/2006, Hamburg, Germany. R.I.P Sid Barrett.

I noticed on the elevator in both the hotel and the office building that there was no Floor 13 and 14. Apparently the Chinese are superstitious about 14. A one and four together suggest imminent or impending death, so no Chinese building has a fourteenth floor.

I've been working extra hours this week in order to have conference calls with the U.S. team. So, on Tuesday night we went out for a traditional Shanghai dinner. Thank goodness I asked for an order of fried asparagus. Two of the dishes I did not care for. The first was chilled broth fat with a meat piece (I don't know if it was pork or beef). [Picture chilled clarified soup fat cut into slices.] The second was bean curds with crab and egg in a sauce. My colleagues could tell right away by my facial expression I did not like these items, but at least I tried them, and I swallowed.

The soup was ok; it had big chunks of pork fat with little pork, bamboo shoots and rolled out bean curd tied in a knot, which I thought this was a big pasta noodle. They all laughed at me when I said I liked the pasta.

Besides the fried asparagus, I also liked the spicy beef with peppers dish, cucumbers in vinegar, and the baked whole fish.

They also told me not to ask what I was eating…it is better not to know and not very polite. I'm not sure if they were serious. At such a large round table it was hard to reach all the dishes, especially with my novice chopstick skills. But I managed not to drop anything.

7/16/06 ~ From Bund to Buddha

On the Rio: Led Zeppelin ~ Communication Breakdown (Live, Paris Theatre, London, April 1, 1971) in honor of Newt's voice message, in which I would never have known Zeppelin was playing in the background if he hadn't said so. Keep those late night calls coming!

I didn't make it to the boat cruise. I took the metro in the wrong direction and I ended up being 10 minutes late to catch the ferry. So I took pictures of Pudong, where I took the tunnel trip to last weekend.

The tower on the left is the Oriental Pearl Tower. It was completed in 1994 and at 1535 ft is the highest tv and radio tower in Asia and third highest in the world. It’s instantly recognizable by its two 164 ft diameter pink spheres, which are connected by concrete tubing. Visitors can go inside the bubbles, but
I’ll save that for another day.
The next picture shows how crowded the Bund promenade is on a Sunday afternoon. The clock in the background is the Meteorological Signal Tower, build in 1907, and now home to the Bund Museum, which apparently has mostly old prints and a replica 1855 map of the area. The Tower was originally used to deliver typhoon warnings to local shipping.

And here is a fruit stand, with watermelon and cantaloupe on a stick.

So, now that I had an entire afternoon free, I had to think fast on what I wanted to see next. I headed back towards People’s Square. On the way I took this quick shot of a boy on one of the two Lions of Shanghai, at the former Hongkong & Shanghai Bank, which represent Protection and Security, and reputedly bring good luck if you rub their paws (which I did not).

I just thought this was a cool statue.















I decided to head towards the Antiques, Bird and Plant Market, because I miss my birds Zorro and Skye. Well, I found it, but they had everything but birds. It is a traditional Chinese market tucked off the main street with small alleyways. There are ancient Chinese fossils and rocks, porcelain, turtles, rabbits, all types of plants, and really beautiful bird cages. [I wonder how much to send one home?] Oh, I just read in the guidebook the best time to visit this market is Friday afternoons when the courtyards fill with "up-country peasants".

It was still early, so I decided to keep walking up Nanging Road, past the Shanghai Center Shopping area, to the Jingan Temple [Temple of Tranquility]. The first temple was build around the third century AD, but collapsed in 1216, to be rebuilt in somewhat similar fashion as today. It was rebuilt again in the 1990s, complete with shopping mall underneath.















I was exhausted by this point, so stopped for a beer and then headed back to the hotel (I had been walking for 6 hours). I read on NBA.com that Kevin Garnett arrived in Shanghai today after visiting Beijing and the Great Wall on a basketball promotion tour, but I wasn’t lucky enough to run into him. Guess I should have rubbed the lion’s paw.

7/15/06 ~ New Digs

Currently playing on my RIO is S.O.S. Band: "Weekend Girl"

Not much to report. I had a mellow week at work. But unfortunately, the woman I was to work closely with, Helen Xu, is leaving Yum in one month to attend a Master’s program in Investment Banking at Columbia University in New York. So I have to get up to speed on everything about being the project manager.

We went to lunch on Friday for a typical Chinese lunch: shrimp dumplings, fish rice soup (which is really tasty, much to my surprise), a cold vegetable similar to a broccoli stalk with spinach-like leaves (I don’t remember the name), pork meatballs, deep fried shrimp spring rolls, and this very sweet and very purple jello-like dessert with unknown nuts in it.

I met one of only two other Americans (both women) who work for Yum in Shanghai. Paula is the Finance Controller. She has been here for 9 months and lives in the Marriott Executive apartments that I had originally considered. She has offered to go on some weekend day trips with me outside of Shanghai using her driver and guide, which I will take her up on.

I had been warned that my body would need time to adjust to the different foods and I’d probably have stomach problems, but I have been very lucky so far and feel great. I even use the hotel water to brush my teeth. But I do drink bottled water, which the hotel provides, and there is a water dispenser at work.

I’ve tried two different Chinese red wines. Dynasty and Grand Dragon Cabernet. The Dynasty is actually pretty good, and reminds me a lot of the Turkish wine Villa Doluca. The Cabernet is kind of weak and a little sweet for me. It was a known gamble at $2.50 a bottle. But the buzz is all right.

I am able to listen to Sirius satellite radio through my laptop, so that is quite cool. (Although I did contemplate stopping my subscription once Bill Walton left.) Even with the 5213 songs I have on my laptop/RIO, I can always use some alternatives. I listened to the pre-release event of a Phish concert in its entirety from Brooklyn in 2004. Although I like the band, and I did enjoy hearing Trey play at the Jerry Garcia Tribute Rex benefit in Berkeley this past September, I can say I am not a Phish-head.

I changed rooms in my hotel today. I am not on the Executive Floor…yet. I liked the room I had previously, but it had an adjoining door to the neighboring room, and it was a smoking floor. Well, last night, I got sick from smelling the smoke from my neighbors, and also there had been some other guests who had been quite loud, coming home all tipsy in the wee hours of the morning. As a working gal, I need to get my rest.

My new room is very similar, but I have less drawer space, there aren’t as many “western” outlets, the bathroom isn’t nearly as nice (no set of speakers, not as nice faucets) and the safe is too small for my laptop. But I’ll see how it goes. The advantages to the room are it has a couch for lounging and a table that my jigsaw puzzle will fit on, and I’m not overlooking the construction site.

I bought a new camera today until I can get my Nikon repaired. I bought a Canon PowerShot A620. The sales guy spoke ok English. I did very well at haggling over the price, and feel I got a fair deal. The real advantage for me in purchasing the Canon is that I will be able to buy an underwater case in the future to take better pictures when I’m snorkeling, as well as the size.

So here a couple of pictures of my new view.

These two activities took up most of my Saturday. Also, it’s raining again. Tropical Storm “Bilis” has arrived. Hopefully the weather will be clearer tomorrow as predicted. But maybe the Chinese weather forecasters aren’t any better than those in the U.S.

Here’s a story I read in the China Daily newspaper: There is a chimpanzee, Xiku, that became addicted to cigarettes while a member of a circus. He is now in a zoo, and signs are posted to not throw cigarettes at him. So what are the zookeepers doing to help quell his addiction? Giving him beer and nuts every day! Yeah, that’s much healthier.

7/12/06 ~ Wo jiao Laurie (My name is Laurie)

Supposedly, this is my name in Chinese characters.

7/10/06 ~ Hotel Scenes

I gave my camera a little "shake" and it now appears to be working. So here a few shots of "home" [aka hotel room] and the view I have. In the last picture, I work in the tall building on the left side, on the 19th floor.

7/10/06 ~ Tunnel Pictures (or into the Rabbit Hole she goes)

7/9/06 ~ Officially a Tourist

Here I am in a self-portrait, back at the hotel room, with a Chinese fan. Unfortunately, my camera isn’t working, even in auto mode, so I must apologize for the picture quality. Hopefully I'll figure out the problem this week.

The rain finally let up yesterday afternoon so I was able to venture out and explore the neighborhood.

I found a large bookstore that has an English book section. So I bought "Foreign Babes in Beijing" which is about an American who came to China in 1994 to work for an American PR firm but ended up starring in a Chinese television drama. The other book is "Goldie: A Lotus Grows in the Mud", the memoirs of Goldie Hawn. I always liked her: she’s funny, smart and happy.

While shopping and buying a new microphone headset to use the internet phone, the shop lady of course starts talking to me in Chinese. What do I do? I start answering her in broken Turkish! For example, instead of saying “dwawshow” for “how much?” I said “Ne kadar?” Of course, to her it was probably no different, but I started laughing. Just another crazy American.

Then, as I was walking home, the guy in front of me (he's about 50) starts doing kung fu-like moves – kicks and arm punches. Minded, this is a very crowded sidewalk. I was worried for the woman in front of him, but he never touched anyone.

The movie theater lines were quite packed for a Saturday afternoon. The big hits out are Superman Returns and MI:3.

I took the metro for the first time today. The metro is quite similar to the DC Metro or the SF Bart system. It is possible to buy a reusable card, like the DC SmarTrip card, but today I just bought a one way farecard from the ticket vending machine. It was very easy and English is provided. The metro was super crowded, just like a DC rush hour. I will eventually get a reusable card, as its valid not only on the subway, but also buses and taxis.

I got off at Remnin or People’s Square. Renmin Square started as the Shanghai racetrack (the city gentry raced short-nosed Mongolian ponies). It was first built by the British in 1862 and races were held in the spring and autumn of each year until the Japanese occupation in 1941, when it became a holding pen for enemy nationals. During the Cultural Revolution it was the venue for pro-government propagandizing. Only since the 1990s has the area become a major shopping zone and home to City Hall and the Shanghai Museum. I ventured into several silk shops – the materials are so beautiful!

I used the bathroom at McDonald’s. No matter where you go in the world at least you can count on the McDonald’s bathroom being clean – even if it is a Chinese style one – which I actually prefer in public places.

My primary destination for the day was the Bund and the Tourist Tunnel that takes passengers under the Huangpu River to the city section of Pudong (think going from Manhatten to Brooklyn within New York). The Bund is an embankment along the river with a raised promenade, and the view of the skyline of Shanghai is magnificent and quite sci-fi. Huangpu Park was originally created in 1868 as a “public” garden, although Chinese were not permitted to enter until 1928. The promenade gardens are quite beautiful. I was surprised to see palm trees here. There are restaurants and cafes along the river front, as well as numerous benches to just hang out. It’s also a good place for watching ships maneuver through the city. I so had the feeling of being in Istanbul.

The Bund Tourist Tunnel is quite the trippy experience, literally. Passengers ride in glass-enclosed capsules that whiz along a 2,123 foot tunnel of strobing lights. There is a section of stars, meteors, a screen with sharks swimming around you, then you pass these large blow up dolls (like you would see at a car dealership or similar to the Sponge-Pants Bob that was stolen from Burger Kings). So far, this has been the high-light of my visit to Shanghai! Some of the pictues turned out ok, but I have to figure out how to include more than one picture per day on this blog site! So check back all you acid-heads.

Now I just have to figure out what’s wrong with the camera…

7/8/06 ~ First week of work

My first week of work went well. This week was mostly spent reading and coming up to speed on the project, providing feedback on planning documents for the payroll conversion and making suggestions for establishing a help desk and procedures, and how to implement change request procedures.

Yesterday I had lunch at KFC with several coworkers. It’s amazing how the food tastes the same as in the U.S. but the chicken was a little greasier (as far as I can remember since I haven’t eaten at one since who knows when). The restaurant we ate at was quite large, 2 floors, with a children’s playground. I was told this KFC had the highest sales record of any store in the world. The corn-on-the-cob was served on stick (think corn dog), which I thought was quite practical. Plates weren’t used, the chicken bones are just put on the table (I put mine on a napkin).

There was also a group of high-school students hanging out at the KFC. They dressed up like popular cartoon characters to entertain the kids. My colleagues said this is quite normal, and the students just do it for fun.

I asked how concerned they were with bird flu, and if chicken sales/consumption has declined. They sort of just laughed, and said that eating chicken was such a staple for the Shanghaienese diet and eaten almost daily.

At some point I’ll probably eat at a Pizza Hut and Taco Bell as well, more for the experience of than the food itself. Seeing Chinese wearing sombreros and serving nachos just seems rather humorous to me. And the pizza toppings are different than the U.S., with items available such as shrimp, peas, chicken and egg (as well as the usual mushrooms, peppers, salami, pineapple, and ham).

I was so looking forward to the weekend, but it’s Saturday around noon and Shanghai is experiencing massive thunderstorms and downpours, so I don’t really feel up to being a tourist and getting my camera wet. But I am so ready to explore more than this 5 block radius. And I have my itinerary all planned. Hopefully the rain will let up soon.

My computer microphone also has malfunctioned, or I’d be calling everyone to pass the time away. You can still leave me a message as I can hear, just not talk (which might actually be appealing to a lot of my family and friends).

I’m trying to get an exercise routine started to work off some of this great food, so I used the pool last night and did treadmill this morning. I went out for Taiwanese the other day and the lunch special consisted of the most delicious shredded lamb with sautéed red and green peppers and onions along with a bowl of rice, cucumber salad, watermelon and some warm cream/mushroom dish (which I didn’t eat) and iced tea – all for the grand total of $3.50.

Compare that to the cost the hotel wants to charge for doing my laundry: $5 per skirt, $4 per blouse, and $2 per underclothes/socks. So this morning I did some laundry in the shower. It brought back memories of living in the dorm in Kazakhstan and life on the road during the Slavic Trip. But I’ll try to find a local laundry place with local prices.

I’m trying to learn at least one new Chinese word a day. I’ve got the basics down: good morning, thank you, please, hello, my name is, how much.

More soon…

7/4/06 ~ Arrival

I have arrived safely in Shanghai. Check-in and the flight went smoothly. It was a 12 hour flight from San Francisco. The hotel car picked me up at the airport. The driver was burping, which I understand to be quite acceptable in public here. The car ride from the airport is about 45 minutes.

Upon arrival in my room I plugged in my power strip to the adapter and blew out the electrical fuse. So housekeeping had to come to trip the fuse. I don’t need an adapter after all.

The hotel is nice. There is a gym and swimming pool (which I must wear a swimming cap in), 4 restaurants (Japanese, Korean, Shanghaiense, and a general restaurant now serving a German buffet dinner in honor of world cup), a karaoke bar, health spa, pool table and garden rooftop bar (which I won’t be going to for a while since the weather is 90, feels like 105, and there is about 85% humidity).

Breakfast is included in my stay. It is buffet style with all kinds of food, including traditional American (made-to-order eggs, bacon, sausage, cereal like coco-crispies, fruit loops, corn flakes, juices like tomato, orange, grapefruit and apple, and of course coffee), German (breads, cheeses, scalloped potatoes, franks and beans), Japanese (miso soup, dried vegetables), fruit and vegetables, and other items I wouldn’t consider for breakfast such as Thai fried rice or fried vermicelli and vegetables. There are a lot of items I do not yet know what they really are, and have not tasted. All in good time.

My hotel room includes a hot pot for making hot water, and at some point I’ll probably find “just add water” soups and such to make small dinners. I also have a mini-bar in the room, so I can keep some small food items chilled. I get about 50 tv channels, including CNN, ESPN, HBO and Cinemax in English.

There is major construction everywhere.

I am able to walk to work in about 15 minutes. Cars, mopeds and bicycles all have the right of away, not pedestrians, so I must remember to be careful and always be on the lookout. The streets are crowded (of course with a population of 13 million). My work is located at Grand Gateway Shopping Mall, which I hope to check out soon, which is also on top of a major subway stop, so I’ll have easy access to the rest of city.

My first day of work went well. My co-workers all speak English, and most have either lived in the U.S. or visited at some point. (Bill L. grew up in Toronto and raised his children in San Francisco before returning to China and Eric C. went to graduate school in Milwaukee from 1989-1990, then moved to Connecticut before returning to Taiwan and then to China). But the first meeting I attended both Chinese and English were used. Surprisingly, I followed along rather well and even contributed to the discussion. But the meetings are chaotic, with people having side conversations, taking cell phone calls. One of the team members quit over the weekend by sending an email that he needed to go to Canada to be with his wife and daughter.
Most of the team is younger (mid to late 20s). The 3 people I will mostly be working with (Helen, Eric and Bill) appear to be about my age however.

Bill and Eric took me to a traditional Shanghaienese restaurant for lunch in the Grand Gateway mall and ordered tons of food: Lotus Flower roots (very sweet and tasty), bean curds with kelp and peanuts, chicken soup, beef with mushrooms and onions, Lion’s Head (pork meatballs), baby shrimps with vinegar, steamed spinach, and green tea. Green tea is preferred in this region, whereas most other parts of Asia drink black tea.

During lunch we discussed politics a bit, which surprised me, as the guide books I’ve read said that wasn’t really done. I’m sure it has something to do with them having lived in the U.S. previously. Bill explained that the 20-somethings today are not interested in politics or history, although they are proud of their country. They are more focused on education, career, and family.

KFC and Pizza Hut are not considered fast food places here; in fact, quite the opposite, since it may take up to 2 hours to get a table.

I'm sure you are all waking up now getting ready to eat burgars and brats and watch fireworks. I just finished work and am drinking Heineken (because I'm a beer snob and refuse to buy Budweiser. and they are only 80 cents a can) and eating salted peanuts and snicker bars for dinner. My co-worker Eve took me out for Vietnamese for lunch. I wish I had more practice (and knew all the ettiquette rules) with using chopsticks.

More soon!