Uh Oh...

Don't be alarmed, but I think I may have died and found myself in laowai heaven. A few days ago, my sometimes-coworker told me of a little place called City Shop here in Shanghai. There are multiple locations, he informed me, and one was somewhere in the vicinity of Xujiahui. Little did he - or I - realize that this location was not truly near Xujiahui, but actually about a 15 minute walk from the metro stop... placing it about a block and a half from my doorstep. Yaay!

And let me tell you, had it been a 40 minute walk, it would still have been well worth it.... A full bakery, a full imported beer, wine, and liquor section, Pop Tarts, Lucky Charms, Dortios, Cheetos that are cheese-flavored, Newman's Own salad dressing, about 20 wheels of various cheeses, a deli, sauces, mustards, pickles, oh the list goes on and on.

So here I am, a block and a half away from any and everything my foreigner heart could desire. Things I - and many others - might have killed for in a place like, say, Wenzhou. Oh, it's good to be in Shanghai.

In other news, work is going well... though very busy. My heavy days are Saturday and Sunday which, as you may have guessed by now, sucks majorly. Fortunately, Shanghai is a thriving enough metropolis, populated by enough foreigners and Chinese who work at private English schools, that even weekdays (such as, say, Monday and Tuesday) can be good days to hit the town. Near our apt, Nancy and I found the Pomegranate Lounge, which featured a live quartet of guitarists and bongo-beaters in a groovy, though almost certainly spur-of-the-moment jam session set against a hilarious Soviet-era Russian poli-cartoon. Drinks, though certainly not cheap, were reasonably priced: a Tequila Sunrise ran us (a very reasonable) 40 kuai, and a Mojito (yum) put us out 65.

I'm looking forward to my next paycheck - ETA: 4 days. After running me though the document ringer (claiming the police didn't want the perfectly legitimate scanned copy of my release letter, then needing me to send my TEFL cert AGAIN...ugh), my work has finally issued me a time card (whoop-dee-doo) which seem to indicate they're actually going to keep me around. Not that I was concerned... at all. I'm doing quite well at my job. Every time I'm put on a demo lesson, about half the kids sign up then and there. I call that a win.

OH! I almost forgot, as I sit here sipping it now... City Shop stocks Rogue Beer! Hallalujah! And it is delicious!

Cheers!

(CS) TAW Out.

She cried to the southern wind