Melora's profilemeloraPhotosBlogListsMore  |  Tools Help |
|
June 29 my walk to workSo everyday something is changing on my way to work. New buildings are getting new faces. Outside our building are rows of bright orange mushrooms that play music 'round the clock. As I pass each building, many are in their uniforms for the day. Each job has a special uniform. Often white gloves are part of the style.
Many t-shirts and bags with english sayings that I love -- "Supreme Wicked Void"..."Bow Bow Cute Love"..."Inside the Energy World" > much like teens in Japan in the 80's and 90's. I must try to get some pictures! The youth here are so much more "stylish" than a year ago. I've been told it is important for them to have an english name, this is considered being "modern." So I'm working with people named Alien, Azure, Rocky, Zero...nice.
I'm learning the tricks of pedestrian lifestyle too. Big sunglasses. Umbrella. People on scooters wear caps with very long brims or actual long sunshades like long sunglasses that cover their whole face. Girls often wear these wonderful, delicate light white capes that cover their shoulders all the way to an attachment on their hands. They look like delicate, techno angels buzzing through the streets. Adventures in daily livingI thought I'd do laundry. We have a washing machine, so why not see if we can save on laundry service costs? No one has a dryer, everyone hangs their laundry out on bamboo or metal poles. So we gave it a try thinking we could get around the chinese characters on the machine. We were successful with the microwave, so why not this one too? Hah! Somehow we ended up washing our clothes for 2 hours AND then we hung them out to dry. The end result was very stiff clothes that smelled of a mix of sweat, machinery and detergent. So now I've taken pictures of all of our appliances and decided to have friends translate for us. June 27 Buffy does Shanghai!It's official...I have now been in Shanghai one full week and the jet lag is gone. I feel as though I have been sleep walking for the past week as I my brain and heart adjust to the heat, color, noise, food, currency, humor, hum and rhythm of our new city. Each day that I walk back from my office, something is changing, adding to the complexities of adjusting.Within a few days a building will be torn down or the face of the building re-done. Just today I was surprised by a whole sidewalk to our building was turned completely into rubble challenging an already overcrowded pedestrians. It's partly energizing and partly perplexing...so much change so quickly! I am rethinking what it means to have landmarks as a guide. The artists in the office are truly kind. I feel so welcomed and excited about working with them over the coming months. I love fresh starts like this. It reminds me of my incubation days doing Three Degrees or start-up days back in the 90s in NYC. Everything seems possible, taking risk is good and it's OK if it doesn't work the first time. I love this photo where the branding of MSN and Live are bit confused -- the message somehow comes through as a friendly experience. Happy. Joy. Butterflies and flags oh my! |
|
|
