Goo Goo Dolls live at Shoreline = Ultimate love

The Goo Goo Dolls/Counting Crows concert owned. It was so freaking kickass. Johnny Reznick has such a soothing, resonating voice. And when they sang Iris it was like magic. I've been waiting for so many years to see them in concert, and it was well worth it. They sound awesome live. I was talking to Brian about live performances vs. cd sound, and we both agreed that new bands suck live. So many bands now have their sound synthetically enhanced for the cd. For example, take Warped Tour. I've definitely enjoyed myself the last two years I've went to Warped, but a lot of the fun there is the concert atmosphere and not necessarily how good the bands are because honestly a lot of the bands there are horrible live. But older bands such as U2, Chili Peppers, Aerosmith, Goo Goo Dolls, etc. rock the live performances.

Anyways, concert rocked, but didn't get to hang out with DC+2 kids after because it didn't end until 11. And since I have to run around with kids every day (I swear all of them drink caffeine before they come), I couldn't stay out until our normal hours of 2am and 3am.

I'm getting so dark from being outside every day. I'm turning black.

Oh, funny thing at work today. hahahahahaha. I'm laughing just thinking about it. During lunch time, these two brothers Suraj and Jeavan were sitting with me and Stephen, and they started talking about the MTV show Pimp my Ride. And these kids are six and seven. Wtheck are they doing watching Pimp my Ride. Ok, maybe you had to be there. But it was funny at the time.

I've been listening to the new Goo Goo Dolls cd, Let Love In, continuously for the last week and a half. All of you should do the same.

Last thought, the hyphy movement is definitely not the greatest thing to come out of the Bay Area. Being on the East Coast for the past year I think I missed how it got popular, so I come back and all around me I'm hearing things like "go dumb," "go stupid," and "ghost ride the whip." Wtheck. Oh goodnesss...

[]Deace out y'all.

Haven't blogged for long time. Here are all the thoughts currently running through my head...

Kids have so much freaking energy. It's like they all take sugar shots before they come to Northgate (Northgate is the site I work at).

Boys are crazy. And violent.

I'm so happy that I found a church to go to here in Fremont. I'm going to Jo's church, and it's been really great. I like the Sunday services and the college fellowship. Everyone's been so welcoming; it's great. I'm so blessed.

Just this past Sunday during church I witnessed a guy proposing to his gf. awwwwwwwwww.

I'm so tired out.

FREAKING PSYCHED FOR THE GOO GOO DOLLS CONCERT TOMORROW.

Portugal vs. Holland game was CUHRRAAAAZY. 4 red cards and 14 (or was it 15 or 16? i kinda lost track) yellow cards. It got hella dirty at the end.

I can't believe Switzerland lost to Ukraine. I can't believe they missed three PK's. WTF.

My eyes are heavy.

OMG IT'S ALREADY 11PM I SHOULD'VE SLEPT AN HOUR AGO.

Shut up you don't have to tell me I'm old; I already know it. I feel it in my bones.

Greetings all. I'm back in the States =]. I left Shanghai at 12:45pm on June 14th and arrived in SF at 8:00am June 14th. hahaha, cool. It's funny....a few days I really wanted to go home, but when I got on the plane today I really wanted to be back in Shanghai. Weird how that works. But I ended the trip on a good note. I watched two soccer games then stayed up the rest of the night talking to people. I got in a one hour power nap before I had to catch my plane. We all talked so much but none of us knew each others' names. I just got in the habit of referring to them as the Dutch guy, the Aussie, the crazy French dudes, the German guys, the British lads, etc. But it's good that way because then it's not sad when each person leaves. We don't keep in touch or anything because we all know that we're just stopping by in this one area for a bit to have some fun with new people, then we're on our way again to a new place. Well it's all good. It's always fun talking and laughing till the sun comes up.

It's almost 12am, and I should get some rest. Hope to see all my lovely friends soon!

While I was shopping today I struck up a conversation with a Canadian-Italian guy today who had an uncanny resemblance to Orlando Bloom. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there's a creepy, vulgar and crude, middle-aged, alocholic British guy living on my floor who calls me little girl and who also said to me, "21 would've been ok, but 18 is much too young. you're like my teddy bear."

Five days ago, I was so ready to go home. But now that I'm meeting more international kids, I want to stay and hang out with all of them. Watching the World Cup back home won't be the same. Americans don't love soccer (or more correctly, football) like the Europeans or South Americans, and I won't be in the fun international atmosphere with everyone cheering fervently for their own country. Maybe I'll find a hostel in San Francisco and hang out and watch the game with the kids there. hahaha.

Well I'm off to the bar next door to watch the games, which is what all of you should be doing too. []Deace.

Last night was freaking awesome. I admit that walking around Shanghai everyday got tiresome and made me really want to go home, especially these last few days. But, oh man, last night was so fun. So as you may or may not know, the World Cup kicked off in Germany last night with a game between Germany and Costa Rica. And since I'm staying in a youth hostel a whole bunch of us students went to the bar next door to watch the game. The game itself was great...three goals scored in the first 20 minutes of the game, 2 of them being Germanys. Beautiful, I tell you. The game ended 4-2 in Germany's favor But the game was made all the better because I was watching it with a whole bunch of international students. And Europeans are crazy when they watch soccer, so they made it really fun. Lots of singing (particularly the Tequila! song), clapping, and cheering. We all knew Germany was going to win, but it was still fun singing Cooooossstttaaaaa Riiiicccaaaaaa.....gotta cheer for the underdog yenno. Everytime there was a goal, we did cheers all around. It was great. Such a wonderful atmosphere last night...there were Chinese, Americans, Germans, French, Swedes, Irish, Scottish, British. Oh man, how wonderful.

Oh and I almost forgot to mention one of the best moments of the night. About 45 minutes before the game started, there was a HUGE fireworks show over the HuangPu River. Everyone ran up to the bar on the top floor of our hostel and stood out on the balcony for a fantastic view of the brightly lit Shanghai skyline, the river, and of course the fireworks. Everyone on the roof was cheering because we all thought this show was put on to kickoff the World Cup. Someone told me later on that it was to celebrate the successful completion of this 3-day conference among 7 Asian countries. But who the hell knew about that? Everyone was cheering and clapping for the World Cup on that roof. That's what I was doing.

I didn't like staying at the youth hostel at first because even though it's clean, it's not the comfortable hotel room with private bathroom that I've had the whole trip. But now I remember why we chose to stay here...the people. I love meeting a bunch of international people...students and adults alike.

Well, it's 12am and my time here is up. Adios!

I'm so itchy everywhere. I mean, bitching won't get me anywhere, I realize that. But I have 17 mosquito bites on me. FREAKING SEVENTEEN. WTF. Die mosquitos die. And six of the bites are on my face. Yeah, it's pretty gross and unattractive.

So this morning my friends and I left the large, historic Astor hotel for the Captain's youth hostel. Not as fancy but it's clean and simple. Plus there's tons of international kids to hang out with which should be fun.

Today is also Nina's last night here. She's headed to Nanjing for five days, then Harbin for an intense Chinese language program for the rest of the summer. And then Brian will leave in a couple of days for his language program in Beijing, and it'll only be me and Dylan left. Aw, how sad.

Today I visited the Shanghai Urban Planning Museum, and wow I'm impresed. It has the entire history of Shanghai as well as a city plan for the next 20-30 years. It's interesting because in the States cities are planned out only for the next four years because that's how long the leaders are in office. I also visited the site for the first CPC (Communist Party of China) meeting house. That was pretty cool and propaganda-ish. Haha. I also had the most amazing lunch with Nina. We sat like on this sofa matress type thing. So the table was on the matress and we sat cross legged. There were mirrors on three sides of us with pillows along them. It was so relaxing. And the food was excellent. The 120.00Y I spent for almost a two and a half hour lunch was well worth it...the best part of that being that the money wasn't mine =]. Oh how I love CPGC.

CPGC is the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship at my school and they sponsored this trip to China. They gave us a $2,100 grant for the trip, which translates to about $16,000 in Chinese money. I've spent a little over half of that amount, and I only have 7 days left. I guess I'll just have to eat really expensively. I think I can handle it =]

I'm taking an overnight trip by myself to Suzhou the day after tomorrow. It'll be nice to get away from the city for two day, relax, and walk around some gardens and temples. And with all the money I have left to spend I guess I'll have to stay in a really nice hotel and get a massage.

Our professor left today. It was kinda sad. He has been so much fun to travel with. He treated us like traveling companions and not students, which was good because otherwise the trip could've been really boring. But he's such a funny guy, and so knowledgeable. But really he says the funniest shit...

When we were in Yannan and our taxi driver spoke a different dialect, Paul says...
"Sorry pal, I don't know what the fuck you're saying."
When we were in a boat in Lanzhou and our driver walked off, Paul says...
"Hey! Fuckhead! Get back here."
When we got stuck with a tour guide we didn't want in Yulin, Paul says...
"Mr.Ma...that fucker."

Oh, there's so much more, but those were some of the best moments. I'll see how much I like him after he grades my 20 page research paper. Ha.

Ok homedogs, I'm going to go out and buy some shower shoes now. Later.

I'm in Shanghai now and basically on my own here in the city. It's nice having this independence...wandering around by myself during the day and eating and partying with my friends at night.

My head hurts from shopping so much. Among many other things I bought four purses, and I want more. I'm out of control. I have to keep in mind that even though stuff is cheap here, it still adds up. Oh dear.

I'm drinking so much pearl milk tea it's like coming out of my nose.

Shanghai is an amazing city. But as this trip is winding down I'm starting to think of the 20 page research paper I have to write for which I haven't picked a topic yet. Damn. I can't wait to go home; I'm ready for it. There's so much to do in Shanghai that ten days isn't nearly enough, but I miss home, friends, and family.

I have like 5 mosquito bites. It's not pleasant.

Tonight is our professor's last night here, so from now until the 14th I'll really really be flying solo.

All the girls here are insanely skinny. It's ridiculous. I have to wear a large or extra large. Wtf.

My time's almost up. Bye kids!