Personal Hygiene and Other September Amusements in Shanghai

I licked a stamp at the post office, only to find out I had to use a brush in a container of glue provided at the counter. China rookie.




Public service announcements are full of cartoons, and the rule-breakers always look super mean.




I thought these perma-handwarmers on a scooter were clever.




There are bicycle and scooter repairmen sitting at a lot of corners, just waiting for your misfortune.




I thought my backpack was big. Maybe it looks like that on me.




Dog in a backpack (for realsies).




Big puffy coats are being advertised as sweat drips down our faces. Also, on a bride?




I was so excited--a Target in Shanghai! Turns out this mall just likes circles.




This is the most peaceful study area at HULT International Business School Shanghai. (Side note: Michael was elected for HSA.)




We had our first wedding anniversary. A disastrous attempt to bargain at a fake market meant I showed up at Michael's school with a pot of flowers and a piece of chocolate vanilla cake.




Finding the tepanyaki place we were going to eat at to celebrate our anniversary was also disastrous, so we ended up at this really good Japanese restaurant.








The food was really good.




This is where Sunday services of the LDS church are held.




A nice entrepreneur we met brought us to the Shanghai 2013 Design, Art, and Fashion Festival. I didn't actually get to try the Ethiopian food, but just the prettiness of their setup made me like this place.




I watched this woman physically haggling pedestrians and was so glad I was not out there.




It never ceases to surprise/amaze me when a well-dressed woman suddenly reveals a full armpit of hair. The stereotype is that European women don't shave their armpits, but it looks to me like not shaving is far more normal here in China.




Check out this guy's fingernails. I see a lot of men with super-long fingernails.

A lot of men also will make this really loud, nasty sound and then spit a logie (sp?) onto the ground--sidewalk, street, wherever.




Somehow it's also normal for men to wear pajamas in public.

And finally, I've been too shy to get a picture, but when the weather is hot, many men walk around with their shirts up so their stomach can get some air. I keep telling Michael that I'm going to do the same just to be funny, but I don't really want to show my stomach.




There are so many impoverished-looking shacks and people, with a background of prosperity.




I'm sure glad that last sentence is on there, because I had no idea that water is the source of life.




Clever customer service at Carrefour, a favorite grocery store for many HULT students.




This poor bride seems to have collapsed on her wedding day.