Herro from Shanghai

Hey all-

I will be posting updates from time to time on the happenings and goings-on in Shanghai. I have been here now for over a week and much of that time has been spent working. (Big surprise there.) The most interesting item of interest so far has been the Chinese New Year. It began over 14 days ago and will end this weekend. The most common theme: 24 / 7 fireworks. Literally. Its pretty amazing. And they just set them off on the street corners and streets. People walk and drive by as if huge explosives were not being set off. The sparks commonly hit our building.

The context is that the fireworks scare off the bad spirits and gain the attention of the god of fortune. This will bring them fortune for the next year which is pretty cool. Makes me want to go out and find fireworks considering the uncertainty of this year. We have also done some site-seeing. We visited the World Financial Tower which is now the tallest occupied building in the world with over 108 stories. Of course in true Futch fashion, I didnt charge my camera battery and it died after the first photo I took of starbucks in China.

It was a pretty amazing view of the city at night. I could see the whole Bund lit up. Ill try and locate some photos and post them as well. Im currently planning my trips to Beijing, Tokyo, Thailand, and perhaps Korea. Also, the college app process is almost done and I have interviews coming up which is why I probably need the god of fortune. Anyways, I will continue to post and blog when I have time and will post pictures and videos as soon as I figure out how.

Hope all is well.