Mind Over Mutter

Shanghai, day 2:

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Yesterday, I took a number of photos from the smokers balcony of the BBY office building. Today's shots are of the BBY office and our Pudong neighborhood from my hotel room.

On the left side of today's index photo, you will see a gray and green office building. Look carefully at the far upper right corner of that building and you'll see the familiar yellow and black BBY tag logo. For the past couple of days. my desk has been just a few feet from that logo, on the fifth floor of that building.

Look carefully again, and follow the fifth floor across to the left, and you'll see a couple of orange spots. Those are the umbrella tables on the smokers balcony-- the spot from which I took yesterday's photos.

Clearly, my hotel is just a quick walk from the office.

Despite the fact that the Chinese call the holiday that surrounds Chinese New Year on the 26th the "Spring Festival," you can see from the barren trees and brown lawns that it is still very much late winter here. Weather has been in the 40's - certainly doable, compared to the Arctic conditions that our colleagues in Minneapois and Cleveland, but hardly balmy and springlike.

I topped off my day yesterday by falling - HARD- on the concrete and pebble path that surronds the lake. I really bashed my knee and scared Lisha when I couldn't immediately get up, but I'll be fine. I had Neosporin and Band-aids in my suitcase.

The city is beginning to become awash in red-- the lobby of the hotel now features a tree festooned with red envelopes. The park workers were hanging red lanterns in the branches of the trees that line the path to the office. The entrances of buildings are draped in red and white lights, and red is everywhere, everywhere in shop windows and displays. Even on the Disney New Year's tissue packages I couldn't resist at Carrefour