The Lost Files

I lost these pictures earlier in the year and forgot to repost them. So here they are in all their glory. Actually it's only part of their glory since they're significantly smaller than my other pictures. But they're still good enough to post, even though it means my "summary pictures" are now buried a bit. The perfectionist in me groans, but he does that frequently.

Good ol' Shanghai

This is just a picture of downtown Shanghai. There's no interesting story behind it. So I'll make one up. This artificial lake was built by Ganghis Khan. He decided he wanted a 30 foot goldfish, so built the lake as its fish bowl. The fish only grew to 23.5 feet and was an enormous disappointment to Ganghis. Not so much because of its size, but because it spoke only French and was a member of a horrendously bad garage band. In the middle of the fishes first concert, Ganghis stabbed Koytery (this was his name) in the eye. This is why the Chinese use chopsticks. 

"Striking Firmly Sheds of Illegal Management"

The banner says it all, or maybe absolutely nothing. Either way, this is THE place to buy fake Rolexs. Or is it Rolices? Whatever. 

View from the Top

Here's Lara, Aubrey and Wes, from the top of Dragon Mountain. The town of Longshen is named after this mountain, and it sits just outside the borders of our school. 

Kick The Bucket

So 2 seconds after I took this picture the cop kicks the money bucket in front of these street performers. Darn my camera and its processing time! Cops are mean in China. This is because they aren't allowed to carry guns, only sticks. Guns make our American cops feel safer and consequently makes them nicer to deal with. This cop kicks four blind musicians' bucket, which is the very definition of mean. Maybe they weren't blind (though they did have their eyes closed) but come on copper. Be cool! 

Oppressive Chinese Regime

This is what it's like living in a communist state. No shirt, no shoes, no service. Oh, also, no dogs, no fire, no parking, no cameras, no smoking, no running, no yawning, no bringing in buckets of water, no creased currency, no argyle sweaters, no service. 

Penguinmania

Sadly enough, this is the first picture I took in China. But look how frickin cool those penguins are! They greet you at the Shanghai airport, where we waited for 4 hours for a ride. The Chinese are obsessed with penguins, and I haven't quite figured out from where this fascination stems. I've traced it back to the Manchu Dynasty, but the papertrail ends there. 

Looking backsides

I suspect this is all the pictures you're getting for now. I'll put up any that are requested, or new ones that turn up. I'll also post the link to wherever my new blog is once I set it up.

I hope you've enjoyed the show. Go visit China when you've got a spare 4 months. 

Piece de resistance

This is perhaps the best summary of our trip.

To prevent any vicious beatings of Chris, I'll state that I did not witness any actual romantic behavior between Meg and Lara. All kissing was nonsexual, noncommital and strictly for my amusement. 

Summary shots

Another good summary shot is us eating strange things. Way to go Melissa for looking somewhere different from everyone else! Way to ruin my photo blog! 

Summary Shots

Nothing summarizes our trip like shots of touristy places with random Chinese people. Here's a relatively good one. 

One Last Egocentric Shot

Screw all these group shots. People come here to see Chris! Right? Shutup. 

Last Few

These are probably my last few pictures. I could be wrong, it's just never happened before. 

Mealtime Entertainment

The kids would usually come over to our table during meals. Here Squeek and Skyler (both of whom communicate mostly in squeeks and animal sounds) serenade us with some romantic drumming. 

Teaching conditions

This is what our teaching rooms looked like when we got them the first day. We had the great pleasure of removing several generations of refuse and then carrying tables and benches up 5 flights of stairs. But we were wearing matching blue t-shirts, so looked professional doing so. 

The Elusive Pic

I tried to take a picture of the Bund for about ten minutes with zero luck. I guess I'm just a moron, but wasn't able to get my camera to take a satisfactory picture of this street. But here it is thanks to Melissa. 

There's just something about Lara

Hopefully the other girls don't feel bad that Lara has more pictures posted than they. She just lacks control of her hair, face and bodily functions, so makes for more compelling photos. 

Nice Scenery

Wes took this picture, probably because he felt inferior compared to the greatness of our backsides. I think I would've had the best if I'd known the secrets of butt posturing that the girls learned in YW. 

Arrow Targets

I believe this was the side of the Great Wall facing the Barbarian Hordes. I couldn't be sure because there wasn't a single barbarian present that day. It must have been a tribal holiday or something. 

Post-Typhoon

Now we're not so happy, and not at all dry. I'd make a wet t-shirt joke but this is a family friendly site. Email me and I'll give you the t-shirt jokes. I came up with 17 of them. 

Pre-Typhoon

Notice how happy we are. Happy and dry. Most importantly, dry. 

Best Little Whorehouse in Longshen

So we noticed one evening that this "beauty parlor" had a red light shining. We enquired about it and discovered that the red light means the same thing in China as in America. So if you need your hair done after dark, this really isn't the place to go. 

Wes and Michelle, sitting in a tree . . .

At one point in the semester Michelle and Monica would fight over me. But by the end she only had eyes for Wes. I suppose it was the Texas charm. She liked it when he called her ma'am. 

High Five, Putty style

I'm actually singing Jingle Bells with Lauren's assistance. This is during a period with no heating, hence my gloves, coat AND jacket. Lauren later gave me her scarf, but the pink didn't match the rest of my outfit. 

Metro Micro-Scott

This is Micro-Scott. He's not really that small, but is the smallest of the 4 Scotts. He's demonstrating how Chinese children really have no concept of what clothing is intended for males and whats for females. Sadly you can't see his pink gloves that have tiaras on them. That's not a joke, they really do. 

Advent of Digital Photography

This is clearly a digital picture. Before digital cameras no one would just hold the camera out and take a picture of themselves. This is probably the most important effect of technology in our day.