Shanghai-Nese and other things that make me smile

I dreamed of Mavery last night. I don't remember much except that she was mine and she was giving me that diva look. You know the look that is in all the pictures? My arms are aching for her this morning and we are counting down. 48 hours to go. While we are glad we came in early, it is hard to not be with her OR our other 4. But hopefully by Monday we will feel more normal and on a normal schedule.
I slept ok last night. Up at 6 but my back is just hurting so bad from the beds. They have a spa here but from everything I have read about Chinese massages I am to scared to go. I believe some of the posts I have read involved spanking and since I can't communicate that I just don't like that type of thing, I think I will settle for a hot shower and motrin instead. Yeah don't even try to talk me into into it, first and last massage I had caused me to run fever and feel horrible(I read it can do that to some people) so I think I will live with back pain. Mark on the other hand thinks the beds are fine. He would, nothing ever bothers him. Ok, here we go with some random things that I don't want to forget...

• Bobo told us that Mandarin is the number one language here, but they speak Shaghai-nese here which is a form of Mandarin. Meaning that the words are just a little bit different. She tried to explain the difference to us, but of course it all sounds different when they speak so I can't explain to you any words. She also mentioned Chinglish, but she lost me on that one. But the words are cute enough in themselves aren't they?
• Speaking of the language, one thing that amazes me here is the fact that they all talk to each other as if they know each other. Now I realize that it seems this way partly because they CAN speak to each other and I have no idea what they are saying so of course I feel out of the loop. But it is more than that here. I think in America we are so standoffish with each other. We hold ourselves back, we don't stand to close, we like our personal space. Here, there is no such thing as personal space. I think about when we are driving and our driver "almost" hits someone walking and that person does not even flinch, just stands there and when they move the person keeps walking. At home, you would be cussed out for this kind of thing. I don't know how to explain it but I just envy the way they are with each other in some ways. Though I am thankful I can cross the road at home with out fear of being killed.
• Another thing that makes me laugh is that while Bobo argues with me that they DO all know english here, they don't. She claims I am talking to fast for people maybe. Well that might be true. Anyways, what is funny to me is that when I get in the van our driver says Hello, really loud and really clear and really cheery. Say something else and he just stares at you and smiles big and you can tell he has no idea what you are saying. I have decided if I come back I am going to learn the language, but hold back at times that I know it and just listen to what they are saying. Though if I could communicate with them it might give them less to laugh about and so I guess I should be thankful I can make them happy for the day! ;-0)
• Bobo talked about the driving in Beijing and how for the olympics they had rules on what days cars could drive. If your license plate ended in an even number, you drove on certain days, odd, you drove on the opposite days. She said the rich got around it by having 2 cars with 2 different numbers, and how many people want to keep it up so the traffic and pollution are better. We learned alot about car, prices of cars and I am sure Mark will tell you all about this kind of stuff.
• Smog is thick here and everything is smoky like it was in Beijing. Though I am thinking maybe I see less smokers overall. Mark did mention he saw an article on them putting more warning on cigarette packs now.
• Bobo told us that while most homes now have washing machines, they do not have dryers because they believe that outside is the best dryer. Which is true, I have seen more bras and underwear hung up outside on the street or on the back porches than I have seen in the underwear aisle at home. Which goes back to that connection thing I think. I would DIE before I would hang my underwear outside. Remember I am the one who packs disposable undies for this trip because I am not washing my underwear and hanging them to dry, or sending them to be "cleaned" here.
• Someone asked if we like Beijing or Shanghai better. Hard to answer. Beijing will always be special in my heart because it was my first glimpse of China in 2006. It is where I fell in love with the country and the people. And I was so in awe of being in China that I just loved everything about Beijing. However, having a guide one on one here has been great and she knows SO much about Shanghai and it is a beautiful city also. I am thankful to see another part of this amazing country. If I were coming back and had to choose one to visit? Hmmm. I guess probably Beijing. But if YOU are coming back and have the choice and have not done both? See the one you have not seen. Bobo told us that she thinks Beijing is like Washington DC and Shanghai like New York and maybe that is true.
• There is a ton of construction here, going on for a World Expo that will take place in 2010. Bobo gave us the number of new hotels that are needed for the expo and it was insane. Of course when we saw Beijing the construction was going on for the olympics at that time.
• Someone said our hotel did not look that nice and were we disappointed. It is comparable to every other hotel we have been in while in China. Yes, 2 twin beds, though I hope we land a king in Hangzhou so Mavery can sleep between us. I am ok with twin beds till it comes to the middle of the night and I am woke up by Marks snoring and have to get up to hit him instead of just rolling over. ;0) It is a pretty nice place actually. Just no french toast on the buffet and that is disappointing.
• I am out of toilet paper in my room, what type of hotels don't give you an extra roll? So how do you think I can get that across? Maybe it is not that nice of a place. hehe!

Better run, just heard from Leigh and we are going to meet up with them in a bit so I need to get ready for another fun day here! They are staying with friends they know that live here in Shanghai so we are excited to meet Leigh and her friend Kristy!