...or not so much, actually. But after missing both Austin City Limits and OU weekend, we had to convince ourselves that we were getting a comparable replacement activity, so that’s what we started calling it. And it turned out to be a really nice day. It was no ACL, mind you, but a pleasant experience nonetheless. You know when you make yourself get the no-sugar-added option at TCBY? [No? Just me? Ok, moving on.] Well, it’s clearly not as good as the regular, calorie-laden soft serve flavors, but it’s still a delicious frozen treat. I mean, how can you not enjoy it? How could we not enjoy a carefree day of outdoor, live music?
And enjoy ourselves we did. Buffin and I had been working non-stop since coming back from Beijing, so we were ready for a fun weekend. [Side note: We were busy making up the days that the kids had missed during the holiday. Kind of defeats the point of a vacation, doesn’t it? Tell that to China.] Helen had popped into town for a last minute visit, so she joined me, Buffin, J+B (our very useful abbreviation for Josh and Becky), and Paige and Emily (two other foreign teachers who we’ve been hanging out with more and more...they’re great!) in our Jazz Fest escapades.
The day got off to a rocky start when my old friend, Hangover, decided to pay Helen, Buffin and me a surprise visit. Apparently, when you graduate college, move to China and lose any semblance of a social life, your tolerance for alcohol begins to resemble that of a 15-year-old who mixes beer with blue Slurpee (you know who you are). Luckily, there is a food stand right by our apartment that sells a variety of greasy, carb-a-licious wonders to cure such a thing. So we trotted down the street in our PJs – to mix in with the jammie-clad locals, naturally – and got some scallion pancakes and roasted potato “breakfast burritos.” The only other time I’ve worn my watermelon nightgown in public was when Mary Stewart and I ended up at the Dobie Mall on UT campus during a desperate quest to find Gatorade the morning after a particularly rough night out. Sweet, sweet memories.
We kept things moving by mixing to-go screwdrivers before we headed out to Century Park in Pudong armed with backpacks consisting of tangerines, PB sammies and cheap beer. Our first stop was the jazz stage, where we spent the better part of the day. The weather was, in a word, perfection. Warm in the sun and cool in the shade with a decent breeze. We spread out J+B’s lovely sheet that was covered in mallards (one of the many glorious things they’ve uncovered in their apartment) and just...hung out.
As the afternoon wore on, we finally managed to convince the group to switch things up and head over to the rock & roll stage. These designated stage names were kind of bogus – we saw a salsa group playing here. Seriously, China. Can just one thing make sense, please? But I’m sure glad we went to this alleged “rock & roll” stage because we got to see a baby asleep in his stroller with a pack of ciggies and a beer in the sippy cup holders – classy and appropriate.
When the temperature dropped a good 15 degrees in 30 minutes, we decided to take that as Mother Nature’s way of telling us to go home. A bowl of noodles and one episode of Grey’s Anatomy later we were all tucked into bed. And that is how I spent one of my very favorite days in Shanghai.
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