Howdy-Kevin here updating the lovely doctor Jones' china blog extravaganza. she has left shanghai and her comfortable posh  ritz  hotel room and is now settling into her Beijing  university housing. she found an ikea in town and is excited about buying trendy yet functional stuff. i'm all alone with those monsters you see in the pictures below. i'll be doing most of the updating for karen between tears and dog walks.  

In Shanghai

OK so I am sort of recovered from jet lag after being here almost a week. So now I am going to back up and recount the first seven days of my adventure.

So the trip started with a tearful goddbye with Kevin and then an unscheduled 8 hr delay in Chicago. Word to the wise. .. did you know that you could pay $50 and get into the fancy red carpet club where the first class and business class passengers get to stay. It is like traveling Nirvanva. Quiet, Big chairs, and continual free snacks, free Wi Fi. Worth every penny. A lady who was sitting next to me actually offered to upgrade my ticket with her extra points but apparently my ticket was Z class. I am not kidding. I was practically sitting with the goats and chickens (or the modern equivalent) My new friend was worried that the 16 hour flight in coach would be torture and she was right. A sleep aid and sound reducing headphones made it bearable.

I arrived to super swank accomodations in Shanghai. This is your tax dollars at work. The Portman Ritz. This is how the other 1/16 live. Please see pictures.

We were wined and dined by the state department in between orientation meetings. Overwhelming amounts of information. I found some French comfort food in the Ritz complex.

Obviously I did not eat the fish. But all the dishes were on a big glass lazy susan. You will also see my special vegetarian plate below.

Me taking my picture in the frosted mirror with my fellow Fulbrighters in the background.

This is the city rises Shanghai style.

Leaving the group and the super nice hotel with the indoor and outdoor pool etc was scary but the representative from Beijing normal was very helpful and nice. More on Beijing shortly. . . . .

Karen and Kevin's Wedding

This has been a VERY busy summer. I got married and was awarded a Fulbright to teach in China. So with all of these huge life changing events I thought it made sense to start with the wedding. Although we are legally wed my name will remain the same. Jones is a fine last name but I could not stand all the Dr. Jones jokes (i.e. Indiana Jones) I have already had the clever Dr. Spock jokes. And just for the record Dr. Spock is a baby doctor and Mr. Spock is the Vulcan on the Enterprise.

Kevin and I got married on July 24th at the York wedding chapel. The ceremony was very small, with only Kevin's immediate family, but it was very moving just the same. This picture shows us posing in my backyard.

We had a lovely honeymoon in Asheville and stayed at the Cedar Crest Inn which I recommend highly. We walked all over the Biltmore estate (a castle built by the Vanderbilt's @ the turn of the century) It is very excessive and beautiful.

I leave for China on Saturday August 23rd and will arrive in Shanghai for orientation. After that I will be headed up to Beijing where I will start teaching at Beijing Normal University. Of course I will miss all my boys. Kevin, Ralph, and Harvey.

I am still trying to get the hang of this blogging thing so I imagine I will get better with time. If you have any tips then please feel free to send them along. I will be taking lots of pictures with my tiny new camera so I will try and keep everyone informed.