Japanese Exercise Videos

Silvia and Ross found these videos a while ago and they've made my week. I don't really know how effective they are as a learning aid... or a work out... but that melody really sticks to you and they're SO FUNNY!!!

好久不见！ (long time no see)

i somehow managed to keep away from the blog most of march so i apologize for that, it's been a busy few weeks. i'm happy, healthy, and okay, so i return to you with some paintings i finished last month.

a portrait from a passport photo i found on the ground

yet another cake. this one is chocolate and strawberry from an internet photo

spring is a sort of mixed blessing in beijing. one is relieved from winter's awful cold with warm, windy days; but the air becomes drier and the sky thick with sand and fog. on the ground however, trees grow the year's first leaves and there are hundreds of these peach blossoms in every yellow, pink, white, and fuschia you can imagine. it's a pretty magical sight and these trees are all over place.













I finally ate peking duck. it's about time! it's beijing's signature dish and i somehow managed to be here 8 months without trying it. they roast and make a several course meal out of an entire duck. you eat the innards (guts, tounge, pickled eggs), roasted skin and meat, and ultimately a soup, mostly from the same duck. a chef comes to your table and expertly cuts the duck for you. it's quite a show.

more kids

some recent pictures of kids from a winter camp

Spring in Beijing :)

daytime is much warmer now. sunlight hits newly exposed skin and warms you to the core instantly. afternoon temperatures reach up to the mid fifties and at nighttime only drop to the forties. all the plants ross and i keep on the balcony are just starting to bloom. the landscape is also beginning to find new, brighter color and life. it'd be nice to wear t-shirts and sandals again. we'll probably be storing away all our really heavy winter clothes in the next few weeks!

this is silvia's kitty who stayed with me for the few weeks kristy stayed with silvia. he and big face got along just fine and were super cute and playful

meet kristy...

she's silvia's partner in crime back in miami and came over to beijing for a visit, so silvia and i took her to shanghai for a few days. this was my second visit and silvia and kristy's first.

mister donut is the freaking best thing in the world! there are no donuts anywhere in beijing so this small chain eatery in shanghai was one of the highlights of the trip.

some silliness

au revior shanghai

shanghai at night

the view from our hotel room!

a movie-theater sized screen floats along the river dividing the city regularly, showing commercials on loop.

above and below: the chinese take their new year celebrations really seriously. this being the year of the rat; there are cute, good fortune attracting mice and 福 (pron. fu in a rising tone, meaning good fortune) hung upside down as per tradition all over. a fireworks video will come soon

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

chinese new years fell on february 7th, welcome to the year of the rat! this whole country gets insane! there have been non stop fireworks for the last 3 nights, and it really sometimes sounds like there's a war going on just outside. you can hear the POW!s and crackles from explosions echoing over all parts of beijing for many, many hours every night until the sun rises. this is rumored to continue for the next few nights.

silvia bought some sparklers, and we had our own fun....

the character on the right is 人 (pron. ren in a rising tone like you're asking
a question, e as in men), which means people or person

this character is 中 (pron. chong in a high tone, o as in show) which means middle or center. this is the first character in 中国 which is the name for china in mandarin

and in other news, sylvia's friend kristy got here a few nights ago and tomorrow we're flying to shanghai! i'm not sure whether to expect the same new years craziness in shanghai but it's sure to be awesome. it's about 20 degrees warmer in shanghai than here in beijing so it'll be nice to feel less freezing air, that's awesome in itself. man i miss summer...

I'm alive by the way

the snows and winds have not knocked me down. the crazy weather is happening several hundreds and thousands of miles away in the south of china. weather has been cold, but not as hellishly cold as a few weeks ago. spring starts soon, and the afternoon sun already feels warm. temperatures are usually in the 20's and days are mostly clear. it's very surprising to a lot of people here that the snows hit so hard down south, and the north has been such a global warming style winter.
my birthday was great, shared it with new friends. didn't take many pictures so instead i'm putting up some skype art of sorts. maybe this is an unexplored field?


chad and leif










a picture of my computer in china, with the three of us as seen from a monitor in miami.




my stepmom oyalda and my reflection

it's my birthday!

celebrations started last night. had a small pizza party with silvia, a co-worker friend fred, and his awesome girlfriend fay. right now i'ma few minutes away from skyping my family, then later tonight a get together chez moi. pictures tomorrow! :)