The Wandering Monkey

Last Friday the House of Blue and Jazz call us and requested that we dance over at their place. They had the most fantastic band from New York there. We talked with the band and they played some good dance music for us, and we had two really fantastic dances. The saxophonist said that if he were staying in Shanghai, he'd take lessons with us.

Today I am working on my business plan. The name for our effort is called Shanghai Swings! We have business cards, and we have a Web domain registered, but no Website yet. Also, we have the one place to dance but I think we need a bigger location. We'd like to get two lessons on the weekdays and another on the weekends. And somehow we'd like to support ourselves doing it! I've got a lot of ideas, so we'll see how they all pan out.

On a personal note, these last couple of weeks have been a little tricky. I've tended to try to seek familiarity, falling into certain patterns. This is OK in a way, but in the long run you can't keep doing it. I think the brain after a while has simply had enough new input and it wants to just process what it has been given. So it asks for a break. Something like that.

I am beginning a language exchange with a woman out here. I don't want to pay for language lessons, and the language exchange is when two people just agree to meet and talk with each other. She is rather smart and responsible - a computer programmer. So I teach her English and she teaches me Mandarin.

I had not thought of it, but I think I will probably remain in Shanghai for Christmas. My brother is considering coming out as well. That would be cool, indeed!
-J