Have a zhoumo kuaile

In case you were wondering, we survived the typhoon and the weather is back to being hot and humid, sticky and muggy. This weekend, I'm hoping to take the camera out and snap more photos as we explore new areas of Shanghai. I'm anxious to get out of the neighborhood and gain a change of scenery. And of course, we're planning on riding the new bikes. (I tried adding a poll to find out whose you thought was cooler, but Blogger wasn't cooperating. Maybe you can state your pick  by adding a comment below.)  

Up next week: The start of beginner Mandarin, level 3. That's right, I've made it passed two levels and I'm on to the third. Can I carry on a conversation? No. Can I survive? Maybe (certainly in Shanghai). Mandarin is actually the seventh language I've studied: French and English, of course; Spanish in high school; Italian in college; German while studying abroad in Strasbourg, which, if you don't know, is on the border of France and Germany; and Arabic while studying in London. (I told you I was language nerd. Note that I've studied these languages; I'm not claiming to have mastered them, or even come close with some!) And Mandarin is by far the most difficult. Maybe because it's really foreign. Yes, a foreign foreign language, imagine that -- but in all of my previous language courses, there were some elements of familiarity. With Chinese, there are none whatsoever. A lack of tenses only complicates things, as do complex sentence structures and multiple meanings for the same words (or characters). Wish me luck! 

In other news, we've upgraded our cable so that we can catch the end of the Olympics. I'm currently watching a rerun of the final women's soccer match, USA versus Japan. (USA, USA, USA!) So while we now have Olympics coverage and several more channels, we no longer have any English channels. Sigh. Oh well. Maybe it'll help improve my Mandarin.      

What are you up to this weekend?  

Hers or his? Choose wisely.