Last post of the month

I wish I had some more interesting things to write about for this post. Something newsworthy, quirky or enlightening. Something of excitement happening in my life; something I learned about Shanghai and China this past week. Unfortunately, I've been too run down to come across any of these things.

I've been sick since last week, and voiceless since Friday evening. I have a mid-defense for my thesis next week. The combination of these two things has led to a self-imposed lockdown. I'm not going out until I: 1) recover from my illness, and 2) get a significant amount of writing done.

So, like I said, I don't have any boisterous happenings to share with you at the moment. But maybe you feel a bit enlightened about what's going on in my life lately...? Ok, probably not. More to come in the coming days.

The Daily Me

After 146 years, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer printed its final paper on Tuesday. And they're not alone. Next month, the Christian Science Monitor will go online-only as well, replacing its daily print newspapers with a weekly magazine.

The end of coffee + your morning paper seems to be near. While I may be worrying about future job prospects and the fact that the newspaper is becoming somewhat of an antique, there's also a huge concern with the future quality of news and access to information.

Nicholas Kristof of the NY Times wrote a great column about this. Instead of getting The Daily News at our doorstep, readers are now reading The Daily Me. Who we choose to read in terms of blogs, the subjects/filters we set up in Google News -- the Daily Me is about how we're reading less from writers' of different opinions, and trading in a variety of voices for the ones we like and identify with the most.

Gotta run

On April 12, I'm running the 8K Jinqiao race in Pudong.

I usually try to run outdoors about 3 times a week, anywhere from 30-50 minutes each session. And it can be a nerve-wrecking experience in Shanghai, where I have to keep dodgeball's essential D's in mind too -- dodge cars, duck under scaffolding and construction, dive for cover when people throw garbage out of their apartment, and dip . . . Hm, dip . . . Ok, can't figure that one out. (How do you even dip in dodgeball?)

Anyway, wish me luck on my training. I'll need it. Adding another kilometre to my run also means that I'm putting my life on the line even more!

Lindsay comes to Shanghai

One of my best friends Lindsay Cook came to visit me last week. This photo pretty much sums up our time together.


Mud masks and straight chilling.
If this photo also pictured a basket of xiaolongbao/steamed dumplings, it would illustrate Cook's visit to Shanghai even better.

Since this BFF left, I've been putting my head down, trying to plug away on my thesis. From now until May 8, all I should be talking about is nationalism in 2008 among Chinese diaspora . . .

Dining ware

Brett's apartment was in need of a new set of bowls and a few other knick knacks for the kitchen, so we headed to a huge warehouse store that sells hotel quality culinary equipment on Aomen Lu. Aisles and aisles worth of plates, pots, pans, woks, buffet-sized serving trays, espresso machines, Rubbermaid bins, on and on.

Passed by one mysterious houseware piece though. Was it a rake? A tool to loosen up soil in the garden? Some sort of wicked torturing weapon?

Nope, this happens to be the best (and certainly the biggest) potato masher in the world! Well, at least in China, anyway.

Oasis ain't comin'

Oasis was set to perform in Shanghai in April, and the city was abuzz with the fact that finally, another big name band was coming into town. But this past weekend, the Oasis China tour was canceled and people (like me) are pissed.

This year is an especially sensitive one in China -- leaders are fearful of social unrest as 2009 marks the 60th anniversary of the PRC, the 20th anniversary of the 1989 student movement, as well as sensitive anniversaries marking Chinese rule in Tibet. On top of all this, China's economic growth is slowing down in the midst of the recession, of course, and unemployment could also lead to flare-ups.

So in this year full of flashpoints, Oasis isn't wanted in China because of something that happened in 1997. To avoid another Bjork incident, the band's China tour has been canceled because word got out that Noel Gallagher appeared at a Free Tibet benefit concert in New York 12 years ago.

Oh dear.

Chinese interview

One of the interesting things about my life in Shanghai is how people are taken aback when I can't speak Mandarin. I can pass as a local, blend in, and get around fine with my basic Chinese. But when people start asking me for an opinion on something, I freeze. Suddenly, all that comes out of my mouth is a string of incomprehensible sounds.

Funny enough, this was all caught on camera on Saturday afternoon while I was walking around People's Square with Lindsay (who's currently visiting me!). I was stopped by a Chinese TV station for one of those streeter interviews, and the reporter asked me what my favourite car is. I had to tell him what I thought was the most important feature about a car, what makes a car safe, etc etc.

Though I gave him a few one-word answers, I think I said "ting bu dong" more than anything else. I just wanted to get outta there!