Weather changing, Suzhou, and yelling on the phone

I feel I need to get something up here before I leave too much time between posts, so here's a post on a bunch of nothing. First, Shanghai's temperature has dove over the last two weeks from swampy heat and humidity to refreshingly crisp autumnal coolness. I'm liking the change, so far.

Last week, China's National Day was observed with a week-long holiday for most non-service sector workers. Unfortunately, since I'm working at an English tutoring center, I still had to work a few days. Apparently, my students' parents didn't like the idea of a whole week of relaxation, as several of them mentioned that I was just one of many tutors they had during the week for various subjects.

I did manage to make it to Suzhou for about 36 hours with Adam and Sam, which was a relaxing break from Shanghai, in ways that watching DVDs in the apartment can't compare to. Highlights included Suzhou's traditional Chinese gardens, canals, Lin Biao's car, a steampunk bar, and not being surrounded by 40-100 storey buildings on all sides. I'll link to the pictures when I get them up later. Suzhou is just a ~30 minute high-speed train ride away from Shanghai, and at ¥52 round-trip, not a bank breaker, so I'll be back to see what I missed this time around. I'll soon be checking out the nearby Jiangsu province cities of Yangzhou and Nanjing, both of which are quite close and seem interesting enough to merit a visit.

One last thing: I always chuckle to myself when I see or hear out-of-towners/country bumpkins screaming into their cellphones on the public transportation here. This past week saw a big influx of such types on sightseeing missions to Shanghai, so I was startled out of my morning commute/coma several times by a man screaming at his ostensible friends or loved ones, "HEY!!! IT'S ME!! YEAH I'M IN SHANGHAI!!! GET THIS, A LAOWAI IS SITTING ACROSS FROM ME AND LOOKING AT ME IN A SORT OF SURPRISED WAY!!! YEAH I CAN'T FIGURE THEM OUT EITHER!!"