Well it’s been another crazy few days. Don’t even remember where I last left off.. . lemme check. Ah, right. Abducted Purple Forever and Merida! How could I forget! Well I suppose I’ve recovered from that traumatic event: my lil’ Furby (don’t ask me why I call my electric scooter that) has been a terrific companion. Of course, I don’t use Furby nearly as often as I used Purple, but that’s only because I haven’t gotten the locking process down to a reasonable time. At present, I spend about five minutes on each side.
This week has been all about networking. Well, networking is probably a slight overestimate. Let’s just call it “attending social events.” Whatever. Here’s a summary: Shanghai Expatiate Association (SEA) coffee morning on Monday. Then, lunch with several ladies interested in NGO work. LifeLine volunteer dinner Tuesday night (at an unbelieveably posh place– who lives like that?). American Women’s Club coffee morning today. Expat American club meetup this evening. Unfortunately, oday was rainy, so it took me fuckin’ forever to get a cab to and from. And of course I forgot my umbrella, so I got soaked. No wonder I get sick frequently, my friends here say.
So the events have been okay. Honestly, I feel disappointed with them, but it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly why. SEA had a huge turnout– hundreds of people. I guess I was bummed they were ALL women (Don’t companies send women employees overseas with their hubbies trailing behind?). Moreover, they seemed mostly interested in shopping excursions and travel tours. Oh well. I passed my card out and met some SEA officers (from whom LifeLine usually receives dontaions).
The NGO lunch was cool– met up with Kendra (of LLS), Verinda, and Sara (of JA China). Had a tasty, inexpensive meal with interesting women. Tuesday, I went out to Betty’s to teach verb tenses. It was not easy, and she’s a very detailed learner who likes patterns and rules. After class, she took me out for lunch at an excellent place on the famous BiYun Road in Pudong. Betty is so sweet, and her 3-year old daughter Joy is really bright and cute. Yeah, don’t worry, I still have zippo maternal instincts. DINKs forever, man!
The American Women’s club this morning was ok. Had a big turnout and several people donated books for the book drive next month, but generally, I found the event quite distracting. I could hardly hear the announcements.
After the AWCS, I went to chill at a Taiwanese retaurant, Charmant. Really good milk tea and Taiwan comfort food. Took my laptop and got some work done (the apartment upstairs is STILL renovating).
The Meetup tonight was okay. Met some new peeps (mostly teachers), but I felt old. Dunno why. Maybe because they headed to Zapata’s afterwards while I just wanted to go home (I had to prep for a morning class– turns out the claas got canceled). Okay, there’s more to say but I’m falling asleep. More later, sorry.