Updates

We are now back down to a family of 4 as Renee's parents left the other day. This would mark the first time since the end of July that it was just the 4 of us in the house. We had a great time with all the guests, but it was good to have some silence last night as we ate dinner as a family of 4.

I feel bad because I never owned up to 2 things I mentioned regarding baseball way back at the beginning of the season:

1. I won the bet with my friend back in the States because the Orioles ended with an overall record that is 1 better then Pittsburgh Pirates, it was actually pretty cool because it came down to the last game of the season and the O's were able to pull it out for me.

2. On the same light of the Orioles, remember I made the whole prediction for how the Orioles were going to do. Just as a refresher I said they would finish 4th in the AL East (plus for me), with a record below .500 (another plus for me), but I did say they would have a record of 80-82, so a huge minus for me since they ended the season with only 69 wins, so yet another season down the toilet bowl.

Stick with baseball, I saw the Rockies play the Giants back in May and had no idea I was watching a team that would eventually make it into the World Series, I actually hope they win cause then I can say that the one game I made it to this season involved the new home run champ and the World Series Champions, although I do think the AL is much stronger then the NL so that may not happen (but take a note from above, my predicting skills are not that great.

World Cup

I got up at 2am this morning to go to an Irish Pub and watch the England v France Semi Final World Cup match. If you have been reading, you would know that I have really gotten into Rugby since getting hear, and going to watch an England game with a British friend is always fun, in fact the place was packed with Brits for the 3am start. To cut to the chase, England beat France 14-9, and for those of you not familiar with Rugby scoring, it is similar to American Football in that a try (touchdown in American Football) can result in up to 7 points. As you can see, there was not much scoring, but the game was really intense and a really fun game to watch (England came from down 1 with 6 minutes left to take the lead and win the match). Most of the people there were not expecting England to win (which I am learning appears to be the typical British expectation, that their team will fail, so if they win, they can be all the more excited), so they were very excited to see the result. My friend and I have already booked a table for next weekend's final match that will put England versus either South Africa (note they got beat down by South Africa already in the World Cup) or the surprise of the World Cup Argentina.

On a side note, much of the world thinks that we Americans are pretty simple minded people, although I have observed many things to make me believe that we are actually one of the better countries when it comes to racial tolerance (I know we still have many racial issues, but believe me, it is definitely not as bad as some other countries). I was stunned to hear during the broadcast that one of the black French Rugby players (I only noted 3 black players on France's team) had a nickname of the "Dark Destroyer." Does anyone else out there think there is anything wrong with this nickname???? Again, we have racial problems in the US, but I don't think it would ever fly if a black player of any sport was called the "dark" anything. I guess he is okay with the nickname, or maybe it is just that so many white people refer to him as this that he has just accepted, either way he should probably think about his nickname being shortened to the "destroyer" unless of course there is a "light destroyer" on the team, then I can see the name being justified...oh wait, no, that just makes it worse.

Splish Splash falling out of the bath...

Remember where I was on the parenting scale? Well, I can't remember climbing up on the parenting scale, so I must be around a 4....and continuing to fall. In an attempt to be a good family dad, I got out the video camrea to tape my kids having their nightly bath so we can look back on it and laugh about the "good ole days." Anyway, the kids were having fun and showing off for the camera when all of the suddent Jacob starts to climb out of the bath and then, of course, falls right out of the tub flat onto his face. Being a great dad, I made sure I got it on tape rather then trying to save my son. Jacob is okay and only cried for a minute (more stunned then anything) and it definitely was one of those videos that we will crack up at everytime we watch it, but I definitely fell a couple more spots on the parenting scale (is there anyway to go below 0?).

One more year...one more year...

So after months of discussions between Renee and I and our families, we have made a big decision in our life. Drum roll please…we decided that we would extend my contract here in Shanghai for one more year, so we are now contracted through April of 2009. We are working through the logistics of what apartment we are going to end up in (probably going to stay in our same apartment), but we are happy that the decision process is over and we are very happy with the decision that we made.

Just to note, we are definitely going to go home after the 3 years are up and will definitely be looking forward to home after the 3 years, but we will be enjoying the next year and a half here.

2 Back Teeth, Krosa, and stuck in the rain

I have finally caught up to recent times, sorry if you are confused by the whole delay between when an event happened and when I posted on this blog.

On Monday (of this week), Typhoon Krosa was passing through Shanghai. It actually put Typhoon Wipha to shame, so it was definitely nice and windy and rainy, it was actually pretty neat. Renee was scheduled to have some wisdom teeth removed on Tuesday, so we decided to have a date night the night before. We had some good German food at Paulaner Brauhaus and had some good conversation with Renee's parents watching the kids back at the apartment.

I knew that we would have a hard time getting cab, so we went to the Shangri La close by the restaurant in order to stay under cover away from the rain, but it took about 45 minutes for a cab to come by, so we had some more good conversation, but were definitely happy for a cab to finally come by.

On Tuesday, Renee had her 2 wisdom teeth removed, which I wouldn't know how painful it is, but others have told me more then enough times that it is very painful. Even after a couple of days, she has been a really good sport about the pain thus far, the procedure went well and she is doing good recovering. Maddie was a little upset when Renee couldn't talk for the first couple of hours, I actually didn't mind it too much (sorry for the cliché joke). Anyway, she still has some pain, but is doing well.

Beijing Day #3

It was raining the whole morning, so we decided to head out to this North Korean art studio, this place had a lot of funny things that included a book of Kim Jung Il (telling all his happy go lucky stories) and a book with the title "US Imperialists started the Korean War." Going there was definitely worth it just for the laughter.

We then went to a Sichuan restaurant, which was another great meal, so all in all, the food was great in Beijing, and the sites were also pretty cool.

Beijing Day #2

We started our day with going to Tiannemen Square and walking around there. We then went into a garden that was right next to the Forbidden City (one of my favourite places to visit) before heading into the Forbidden City. Being that this was my second time in the forbidden city, I guided Ray around and we basically spent the morning there.

After the Forbidden City, we went to one of the suggested duck restaurants, which was one of our best meals in Beijing, duck, while very fatty, is soooo soooo good.

We then headed to the Lama Temple, which had this huge Buddha statue that they claim was built from one tree trunk, this thing was huge, so it was almost impossible to think that they used one tree trunk, I mean this thing was huge.

Finally we headed to the Summer Palace, which was an absolutely huge park with pagodas and a lake, it started to rain so our time there was petty limited, but the place was still pretty neat.

We ended the night with a meal at a Tibetan restaurant, Makye Ame. The food was very good, although the homemade Barley Wine was the worst drink I have ever had in my life. The night was made right when a bunch of Tibetan singers and dancers came on stage to perform for about an hour. This was definitely one of the highlights of the whole trip. Some good food and a nice little Tibetan show, made for an all around good meal.