I'm playing fantasy hockey with a group of canadian friends in Shanghai. I haven't followed NHL hockey in depth since I lived in the Sigma Nu house, so I don't know Eric Desjardn from Luc Robatile any more. But that hasn't stopped me and my team, PLUS OR MINUS NOTHIN, from becoming a juggernaught in the AHL (our fantasy league). After one week of play, I have beaten my first canadian in any type of hockey contest and led the league of points while doing so.

We may not have Lord Collier's Cup in the AHL, when I win the league I'm going to demand that we purchase a ceremonial Mao's flask for the winner to proudly display.

The US Department of Transportation has announced that they will be granting one US-based airline permission to operate a daily direct flight to China.

My airline of choice (because of it's use of Memphis as a domestic US hub), Northwest, has proposed a direct flight from Northwest to Shanghai. Currently, northwest flies all Shanghai flights through Tokyo, which is about 2 hours out of the way and then another 2 hours of layover, before it flies to Shanghai. If Northwest is granted permission to run this new direct flight, it would cut about 4 hours out of my trips back to the states, cut 4 hours out of Sara Hart's trip to see me in a couple of months, and make it easier for all of you to come visit.

So do me a favor...go to this website
http://www.nwa.com/features/shanghai/?omni=em.solo.20060918.cta.chinabid
and sign the petition. Then get your friends to petition.

Post the petition on your blog, and get all of your readers to sign the petition.

Even if you don't care, this is still a great experiment in how to mobalize people through the internet. Think about that, and if you're really interested join my facebook group...you can find it on my profile.

Peace, I'm going to bed.

Or, atleast if this doesn't work, your failing with everybody else in China because everybody is using this for their advertising strategy. And I think the best genre of merchandise to observe this ad strategy has be in the weight loss/personal health area. Of course, some of you could argue that I'm just fat so I pay more attention to this stuff in a desperate search for exercise inspiration, but thing is...wieght loss products in China don't really invove exercise.

The other day I saw a cheesy infomericial for what I call drainage socks (I have to make up my own name because I have no idea what the Chinese name is). The premise of these things was unbelievable: when you wear these socks, they shoot some sort of wave through your body which causes fat to break up, drain down the interior of your legs, and then oose out of the pourous surface of your feet. The socks had dispossable pads to absorb the excess fat. Aparently, with these things you can spend your day in the office and lose more weight then you would with a moderate hour long work-out without stressing your muscles and joints.

Who knew wait loss was this easy...sign me up, and tell Oprah I found these things on TV and I'll be an overnight star.

Here's a picture of my second favorite Chinese "exercise" equipment, the iGallop.

Do I need to explain this one? Probably not, but let me tell you this, you HAVE NOT LIVED until you have a watched a mall full of Chinese people riding these things. Who knew that when I went to ride the Merry-Go-Round at Barnes Crossing Mall as kid, besides having fun, I was also shaping and toning.

Of course, the ultimate irony of this is that Chinese people are NOT fat. I guess there's such thing as obicities of scale.

Maybe soon I'll load some pictures.

Snyder, maybe if you post more frequently it will inspire me.

Clearly, the soccer was not the memorable event of the night. But dinner was, and for once I will remember a meal for the company and not the food! That night I dined with a collection of worldly quarter-lifers, all trying to make their mark, and find their footing. A wide range of countries and states were represented; Scotland, England, Canada, Mexico, China, Iowa, North Carolina, Mississippi and Ohio all had ambassadors at this table. As I ate some delicious spicy fish soup Sichuan style, I couldn’t help but think that few places at home offer a young Mississippi, bible-belt-bred conservative Republican the chance to exchange experiences and ideas with such a wide variety of people.

I think that is what has been most appealing and amazing about expat life so far. I’ve found that in life, I learn the most from those that have had a totally different experience growing up. I’m not saying that I’m a partaker of group think. Often when I congregate with these new friends, I’m surprised if anyone agrees with me about anything politically or socially. But I think that’s what I like most, a subtle reminder that even in these politically polarized times, there are people that are still ok with agreeing to disagree; nay, to even look past those disagreements and focus instead on the commonalities that they share rather than ideological variations that pull apart.

Maybe my next post will be a little more light-hearted. Too bad the soccer wasn’t a little better, or I’d have probably written about it.

Three weeks ago was really only my second weekend in Shanghai…I was short on friends, inexperienced in how to get around the city, and still trying to get plugged into a social network. But I’ve found that in some ways it is easier to make friends being in a new guy in a city like Shanghai than it would be if I had left North Mississippi to start a career in somewhere like Chicago, Kansas City, or any other American metropolis (except for maybe DC where so many high school and college friends have migrated after school). Of course, I realize that sounds completely contradictory to what most would think…I’m living in a non-English speaking country, I have no real previously established connections/friends here, and this city is home to upwards of 20 million urban people, who, as most urbanites do, tend to walk the streets wrapped up in their own goals and business, a definite sharp contrast to what we’re used to in Mississippi. That certainly does not sound like a formula for making friends quickly.

But what I have found in the past few weeks is that living in a non-European/American majority international city provides a unique chance to make new friends…friendships that would not likely occur in most North American or European cities. Here, half-way around the world from home, traditional western social constructs are nearly totally broken down. Couple this with the expat-shared-attitude of, “I’m living in the heart of the fastest growing economy in the world, I’m meeting friends from everywhere, and I’m only going to be here a limited time so I better take advantage of all of this now…plus if I meet this new person, I’ll have one more person to talk to, hmmm…” and you find a very unique place in today’s world.

The best way to explain this is by presenting concrete examples…stories of the people I meet, the friends I make, where they are from, and what they believe about the world. And probably a lot about what they do for fun. To go along with my theme, most of these stories will be set in Shanghai Saturdays.

I'll try to make up for it sometime this week.

I love all my readers dearly.

Now, a little over 100 years later, Shanghai is in the middle of a rebirth. And since I've moved back to China and get the privledge of living in such a vibrant city, I thought it may be a good time to revive Rants and Cravings.

I'm really too busy to post daily; what with setting up my apartment, feeling out my job, trying to make some friends, and whatnot. So, I'm planning on posting weekly recaps of my weeks events every Saturday...so now let me officially unveil the new title of Rants and Cravings: SHANGHAI SATURDAYS. Appropriate isn't it?

I've now officially been living in China 2 weeks, and what a flurry it has been. I've made 3 business trips, moved into an apartment, gone to buy furniture, and started setting up an office. I've hired a driver, gone to meetings, and had dinner at one of the 2 Taco Bells in China...in fact, I've eaten Mexican food as much as I've eaten Chinese food. I've also found a place called Buba's Texas Barbeque...you can bet I'll be going back there often.

I've made some new friends, found a church, and work long hours. I've gotten lost more than I've found what I was looking for, and I've had days where I speak more Chinese than I do english (which means I don't talk much, and we all know how hard that is for me).

But the allure of this city is something that makes most of the trials of week one easy to bare. Don't get me wrong, there is no place in the world better than America...and that is clear from the first moment one steps off plane in place like China. But to be living and working here and now, on the cutting edge of a country that is taking off in every way immaginable, is an experience that I know will affect me in some profound ways.

I'll try to share these experiences, best I can, with all of you dear reader. Hopefully I'll be able to share some humour, some insight, and some entertainment with the rest of the blogging community out there.

Oh, and by the way...National treasure is on Star Movies right now, and it is way better than the Davinci Code.

Every quarter-aged American male that I know has fond memories of what might well be the best Nintendo sports game ever, RBI Baseball.

In doing my daily check of The Shanghiist , I found and unbelievable RBI Baseball-based reinactment of the 10th inning of the 1986 World Series from The Gothamist. These guys have overlayed the classic Vin Scully broadcast commentary over their pitch-by-pitch video game reinactment, and it is unbelievable to watch. It's about 8 1/2 minutes long, and you really need to watch with sound to get the full effect, so those of you who, like Michael Koury, read this blog while you should be paying attention in class need to wait until you get home to check it out.

Click here to check it out.

Then of course, when I sit down to write to the post I check today's baseball stats and find that Vlad has hit 2 longballs. I really should learn to try and write a post when I think about it. Believe or not though, with my propensity to not post everyday, I've actually learned this lesson before.