Teriyaki-a-go-go!

It's really 11:18 AM over here in Shanghai, China. Just to avoid confusion with that timestamp down below. I got into Shanghai Int'l Airport at around 5 PM on Christmas day (over here). It's been a whirlwind tour and the fans are great.

I've gotten a haircut since I got here, and getting a haircut in China is a hour long ordeal involving multiple hair washings, a head massage, an arm massage, other massages. It went pretty well. My hair looks nice, I think. It's new, but I'll grow into it.

It's good to see family, even if I can't really communicate too well with lots of them and my parents are...well, my parents. We will probably always conflicts of philosophy, but they did give birth to me. And they do like buying me stuff.

I didn't really get to celebrate Christmas much as I was on a plane for most of it. Oh well. The food here has been plentiful, as always, although there isn't really too much to do. That's OK - I rather like taking a break from things and just sleeping late and reading and watching TV. But I haven't gotten to completely do that either; I still have to wake up at 9 to go somewhere with my parents (to visit relatives yesterday, to my dad's office today to get the internet hookup I need to survive).

So, yesterday, I met about 10 relatives I didn't know I had. That was eye-opening. Cousins and uncles and aunts and great-aunts and great-uncles. Where had they been all my life? Or perhaps, more appropriately, where have I been?

I finally got to chance to check my grades just now. Two As, two Bs; most importantly, a B in Networks meaning I have passed all my requirements to be done with CMU. That's it. I'm done. That's very exciting.

I miss Katie a lot. I miss her every time I'm sitting alone in a room full of Chinese people talking about me and how I can't speak Chinese and how I'm an American and whether or not I have a girlfriend. I miss her every time I have a drink and have to swallow the last sip myself. I miss her every time I wake up alone and go to sleep alone. And it's only been two days. Blarg.

The driving here in Shanghai is worse than anything I've ever seen in the US. Lane markers seem like suggestions and turn signals are rarely used. Drivers change lanes at will, weaving in and out of traffic. Except everyone does it. At the same time. Drivers turn right on red not when the traffic is clear but when they can cut in. It's insane and it's scary. The number of cars has gone up since...probably since I was born. I still remembered when there were bikes everywhere and the odd car every once in a while. Now the roads are full of every kind of vehicle and packed to the brim.

I'm officially fat. I thought I was 160 lbs. I weighed myself yesterday - I'm actually 175 or so. I really need to start working out. Maybe I'll do pushups while I'm here. Or go on a diet.

More when I get my next fix of Internet addiction. Stay classy, Shanghai.