It's rainning.... grrr...

Oof it's been raining for the last few days and it doesn't look like it's ever gonna stop... grrr... and BRRRRR... every time I go outside with pants that accidentally touch the ground I get home wet to my knees- coz there's puddles everywhere. It's like there's no sewage here- and the water keeps piling up in huge quantities- just for me to get wet... I understand now why Chinese ppl always wear pants that are narrow in the end- not touching the ground. It's really hard to find a Chinese person wearing bell bottoms or anything that is even remotely close to that. Now I know why!

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My dad was here last weekend- it was so much fun! I really enjoyed his stay here... We went to the Tennis Masters Cup Final together- with Rob. It was between Roger Federer and James Blake. Federer won- and it looked like he didn't even try hard- he was just standing there most of the time letting nature do what it's supposed to do- WIN... Blake is a new comer to this contest (it's a tournament between the 8 best players in the world and 8 best couples in the world) and I think he gave a good performance regarding his short past in these kind of contests. Well anyway- it was really nice to spend time like this with my dad- especially coz I know how much he likes watching Tennis.

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School... hmmm... I really like the classes... I think that a student like me should get more classes everyday- rather than have to work at home. When I get home- all I can think of is doing nothing special. At least once a week I do something after school with my Spanish friend Lia- and then when I get home I really don't feel like studying. Big problemo! Next week I have another exam- and this time the teacher said it's gonna be all in Chinese characters... OOF! Not ready for that at all... I hope I'll sit on my ass and study some more this week. The rain outside should do the job but it just does the opposite- makes me wanna stay under the blanket!

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Bought the second season of "Veronica Mars"... I know I know- I'm not a teenage girl- but I just love this TV show... it's so unreal but so clever and never ever boring... so of course I saw the whole season in 3 days (22 chapters) - couldn't resist!!!

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Rob's going home for x-mas. I've decided to not join him. He's going for about 10 days- and I know he's going on a family marathon. I love his family- They were all so nice to me, but most don't speak enough English to communicate with me for more than 5 minutes and I figured that it wouldn't be so much fun... Plus- I don't feel comfortable getting in to the family x-mas eve- being Jewish I've never been to one- and I don't think that coming from China for 10 days - having nowhere to go to after that evening - is the good time to start. I guess that when we'll live there and coming for the holidays will be just coming from a few hours away by train- it will feel different. I'll have more freedom then- not like in this case- where I know that I'll be dependant on Rob and what he's doing- like I was in every visit in Germany in the last 18 months. To make things short- I'm gonna stay in Shanghai ALONE!!! for about 10 days... But I made him come back here on the 31st- so I wont be alone on new years eve (not that I care about the evening it self- just here- I don't feel like being alone when everyone is coupling up and going out to parties... I guess that in Israel I really wouldn't have minded...)

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Can read here again in China- cross your fingers it'll last... Have been reading Dorian's blog so fast- afraid that any moment the connection will fall LOL I'm getting Paranoid...

Chinese holidays...

This week is a week "off" in China coz of October 1st- which is their sort of independence day. I said "off" coz obviously a lot of them still work. They have a system - each worker gets his days off at another time- and this way places and work are not totally shut down for a whole week. There's not even one day in the year, not even one- where all the businesses are closed. Not even one day that all the people are off work. Not even one day where its totally quiet... And even so- on the holiday weeks- all the flights are booked, all the hotels are booked, all the trains are full, all the places are full of people. Two days ago we decided that we should do something - see a bit of Shanghai. So we went to the other side of the river, to the new area, to see the TV tower and maybe a museum. As soon as we got out of the subway- we realized that its pouring down cats and dogs... The rain just didn't stop. It wasn't really cold- just so so so wet. There were huge puddles everywhere, and we got wet to our bones. So I offered that we do get in the tower- just not all the way up- only to the Shanghai History Museum (which I really liked last time I was there) - it's on the bottom floor of the tower. We bought tickets and ran in to the building. We were soaked. Then we realized that we couldn't have made a better decision- the line to the tower was looooooooooooooooooong and there was no line to the museum!!! We passed all the people going to the tower, felt like VIP's not having to stand in line... We were there for about 2 hours, got dry while walking in the museum, and then left. It didn't rain anymore... The amount of people, especially Chinese tourists everywhere was amazing. They were everywhere. And it was really easy to spot who's from a city and who's from the smaller towns: first according to their clothes, second according to the taking pictures everywhere (even on the subway, and in a restaurant) and of course according to their loudness, to their saying hello to and having a conversation with the manikins in the museum (yes- even adults did that) and to the fact that they were generally astonished by the miracle called "the subway system". For example- when I went to uni a few days ago I saw one old woman standing in front of the machines that sell tickets to the subway. She was standing there for about 15 minutes trying to figure out how to work the thing. It has instructions both in Chinese and English by the way- it really couldn't be easier to use. When she finally decided what kind of a ticket she wants and clicked the right buttons on the screen (with the help of a kind man) - she took her coins and tried to put them in the bills entrance. she's probably never seen one of these things in her life I guess... Ha ha ha... Thats it for today, more stories about the aliens called "the Chinese people" next time.