It’s nearly time
for Chinese New Year, and this 4,713th year in the calendar is all
about the sheep. Or the goat. Or the ram.
It depends who you ask. Starbucks sold out of these things pretty quickly in celebration.
Some of histories’ finest were born in the year of the sheep:
Michelangelo, Mark Twain, Thomas Edison and Matt LeBlanc. I expected wild celebrations, parades, and
constant fireworks for ‘CNY’. Instead, everyone I've met says they are going back to their hometown to be with family. No one is really from Shanghai. According to Wikipedia, from 1990
to today the percent of Chinese citizens that live in urban areas has increased from 26%
to a staggering 53%. Just to put that
number in to perspective, that’s a 340 million person difference. That’s greater than the population of the
United States. For CNY the government
opens the interstate, and offers toll-free travel to get home.
The year of the sheep is about peace, nurture, and art. I think that roughly translates to good
coffee, quesadillas, and NBA League Pass.
Sumerian Coffee over in the Jing’an neighborhood imports
single origin beans, and does their own roasting on site. It’s a really cool atmosphere, and a much
needed break from the pace of the city. The
owners are actually the ones busing tables and serving food. Dogs were running around inside happily distracting everyone. The
owners also have a sidewalk bar right next door, Dogtown, which looked to have
a few good beers on draft.
One last bit of news; I’m now an alien resident! It’s a big moment for a few reasons: I can go
home for CNY, I now have my passport back in my possession, and they aren't
going to kick me out of the country. Yet.
Divided. You favorite blog followers are having some conflict on this response. First all, we need to apologize for our absence. Birthday's, vacations, and that stupid thing called work has really been getting in our way. Have no fear, we are back!
ReplyDeleteAs educators, our first concern is your use of reliable (or should we say unreliable) sources regarding the population change in Shanghai. Considering, Wikipidia is just wiki, how can we validate that statistic? For all we know, you're lying, and using big number to impress us. Not cool.
Now to the conflict. Becky seems a tad concerned there were dogs hanging out in the coffee shop. Doesn't seem sanitary. Mandy on the other hand pictures this scene with a sweet, housebroken, Fido laying casually at your feet. Take your pick.
We are happy to hear you can return to the homeland. It is still rather cold, but the sun is shinning... NOT GREY! Let us know what type of welcome party you would like at the airport; balloons, signs, streamers, American flags, or Portillos? I guess we can make an exception and eat it outside of lunch time hours.
I wish you could see these two writing their comments. They really work very hard at them. "That was a good one," exclaimed Becky, after they posted this.
DeleteHa don't be deterred by Rachel's sarcasm. That was a good one. I heard a blizzard tried to get in the way of your birthday. Still have a good time?
DeleteAs for Wikipedia, who needs bibliographies anymore? I hated sources as a kid. Not that I enjoyed making things up, it's just so painful to do citations. This is why I love wikipedia: http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2010/cognitive-surplus-visualized/
"Now to the conflict." (Mandy [pseud], 2/13/2015: "Sheep", The Shanghai Five Blog). The dog's were very housebroken and sweet. They are the owners', and most of the regulars seem to know them by name: Burrito and Toto. Not sure on sanitary, but as someone who grew up with dogs, they were very welcome.
American flags and Lou Malnati's please!