Greetings

posted by Alan
*click on pictures to see them full sized

One of the most confusing things about living in such an international city is simply greeting someone. The word 'Hello' seems to be pretty universal and understood in many countries around the world, but it's the accompanying actions that are so hard to keep up with. When meeting or seeing someone in Shanghai, you don't know whether you're about to get a handshake, a hug, the handshake-one-arm-manhug, a kiss on one cheek or a kiss on two cheeks. It all depends on where the person is from. The result is many awkward hesitant lean-ins and pull-aways where you have to come back in for a hug or a kiss. I have yet to find a solution to this dilemma, but if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to let me know.

We've just hit Autumn in Shanghai...which pretty much consists of the month of October. We get 4 weeks of beautiful, sunny, 75 degree, no-humidity weather before the dreaded, humid Shanghai winter starts to creep in. It's making me count down the days to when riding my scooter no longer becomes enjoyable. So, before then, allow me to show off my favorite summer joyride machine.




We were also able to get out and enjoy a little late summer retreat with our small group a few weeks ago. They're some of our closest friends in Shanghai and when moving to another place, community like this is so important. It was a two night, three day getaway at a beautiful resort-like place about an hour outside of Shanghai at a place named Oriental Land. No, that's not a joke. Despite the unfortunate name, it was a really great time of getting away from the city, growing closer with our friends and growing closer to G0d.



Click here to see a full album of pictures from the Retreat: Retreat 2010

Stay tuned for the next update which will come much quicker than this one did. I'm just itching to post about our October holiday trip to the Philippines.