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melora|| buffy lives shanghai ||
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1月25日 Permanently in Shanghai!We landed in Shanghai last week. It was so crazy getting ready for this move, that there was little time to soak it all in. There was little time to say a proper goodbye to friends, family, co-workers...to Seattle, the states...In the midst of a terrible winter with ice, snow and power outages, we made the move, much like ripping a bandaid off quickly so the pain is quick, sharp and over in a flash. Every step of this move was close to near catastrophe, yet somehow it all came together. Now I could take it as a sign that coming to China was our destiny, that it was meant to be. Yet, I really see it as pure determination on our parts. Nothing was going to get in the way -- we had dreamed of the moment for months. Our will was stronger than the snow! Now to find a permanent home, unpack our life and start anew... 9月3日 da SpaceSeveral of us went to see the opening of 2050 Bombing / 768 Squad at the gallery da Space. Alien's work is awesome -- the character design is very good. And I loved seeing graffiti in chinese characters; it made for impressive graphics. Check out the gallery: http://www.da-space.com/... Getting to the gallery is an adventure. It's in a small hallway and up dimly lit stairs. If there had not been a sign for the opening, one might never have find it. We tried to capture this feeling in Annie's photos I've posted. I still need to upload mine. I just wanted you to see how hidden the gallery feels. It reminds of shows/events back in NYC when Williamsburg was first taking off. We always had a feeling of adventure as we tried find our way to new spaces. 8月9日 Why so many mirrors?Mirrors...everywhere. Mirrors on the streets, on the side of buildings, in the elevators, on the walls...everywhere I turn I see myself. This is not so good since I really want to pretend to be much slimmer. I am constantly reminded I am short and have not lost any weight here in Shanghai. Even with so much walking! So much sweating! And its OK to look in the mirrors. People always stop and check themselves. They are beautiful people and more fashion aware than I expected. Girls are dressed in beautiful, feminine dresses of lace, ruffles and pleats. Men are in dress pants and crisp short sleeved shirts. No hair out of place. Dressed for work, dressed for success. This is juxtaposed with teens dressed in funky outfits with streaks of blue, red, pink and gold in their hair. Big plastic jewelry, colorful, pinned together here and there with fake paint, rips and "chinglish" sayings. Freedom from stress of finding a good job for now. Each stops and checks a tuck, a piece of hair, a fake rip, a button...ready for the day. Ready for the next big thing. Mirrors are a necessary friend. Perfection no matter the age or job.
Silver mirrors, gold mirrors. Life in a city under constant reflection. So for now I must face myself and live with what looks back. A short white girl who needs to find a gym! 7月6日 the fine art of staying cool and watching dragon boatsNot since my childhood in Texas have I had to practice the fine art of staying cool! In those days we learned quickly how to dash from one air conditioned spot to the next, while finding a cool stream or swimming pool along the way. Strange that those memories have come back so vividly for me here in Shanghai. Even in Tennessee or those sweltering days in New York City did not have the same effect. Perhaps it is the humming and buzzing of the cicadas? In Texas the sound gave the sun personality and made the trees sound alive. Or perhaps it's the sudden pouring rain showers and the smell hot dirt made wet.
The difference here is that it is very urban with much traffic and concrete. Though in an effort to balance this, there seems to be a park or some form of greenery everywhere. In the heart of the fast growing Pudong area, we went to the Dragon Boat races last weekend. The races took place in a beautiful inner city park by a river. Despite the heat, the shade and bottled water helped us stay cool as we watched the coloful spectacle. Such an event! In between each dragon boat race (3 boats per race), there were shows put on for the guests. This included dragon dancing, martial arts demonstrations, musicians and young dancers.
We felt we were drinking from a cultural water fountain all at once. The audience had one of the best inventions -- multi hand clappers! One hand could sound like a small audience clapping! The is awesome when you consider that staying cool means not over exerting oneself. So the crowd sounded much larger than it appeared with little effort. Brilliant. 6月29日 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. 6月27日 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! |
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