Arrival

I'm finally here! After one cancelled flight and a four hour delay on my Chicago-Shanghai flight, I arrived 28 hours later than planned but that's alright.

It's very cold and it's snowing here; I've been told that the latter rarely happens in Shanghai. I slept very well, since I was so exhausted. After nearly 18 years of coming to China I've learned to combat jet lag, and that is through sleep deprivation.

Anyway, today a friend of my dad's and his daughter came to spend the day with me; they took me to their apartment to chat with Kelly, the daughter a little bit since she is going to school in the fall in the US- actually, her English was quite good. We went out to Cloud Nine shopping mall and had lunch in a Guizhou-cuisine restaurant; then walked around in the mall. I got bubble tea! And then I bought a Chinese-English dictionary, which I am certain will get much use.

Then they drove me around to the Bund; the weather wasn't great and I had to be back home for dinner soon so we decided to come back when we had a full day to spend, and when I hadn't left my camera elsewhere. I was mad that I didn't have my camera for the sights I had already taken in today, since I take pictures of practically everything.

That's basically it; I've watched Family Guy on my laptop and have been reading Oracle Bones when I have down time (a fantastic read, by the way). My days are pretty well planned- loosely planned, but planned nonetheless, which is what I prefer anyway.

I'll try to update as much as possible; writing as simply as possible. I know blogs get boring with mundane details, so I'll write the summaries of my days, unless something really monumental occurs.