Watersports Stadium Beijing

Dear friends and family,

I hope you had a chance lately to enjoy some minutes in the pleasurable coldness of a nearby swimming pool. At least I find comfort in the thought that my two cousins are learning how to assist a person in need of help in the water.
After the visit to the Stadium, our tour continued to the nearby Olympic pool, where we enjoyed the "water" design all around us.

I hope you like it as well,

Cheers,

Mat

Olympic Stadium in Beijing

Liebe Freunde und Verwandte,

ich hoffe meine Zeilen finden Euch bei guter Gesundheit und bester Laune. Da ich mir auf der Arbeit meine wenigen Ferientage zusammengespart hatte, durfte ich meine MBA Kollegen aus Singapur auf ihrer Studienreise in Peking begleiten. Der offizielle Teil ihres Programmes war 45 min nach meiner Ankunft vorüber, so dass ich mich gleich für das nachmittägliche Sightseeing angemeldet habe. An diesem Tag stand das "Vogelnest", das berühmte Olympiastadium im Norden Pekings auf dem Plan. Innendrinn hatten wir dann am meisten Spass mit den Masskotchen und als Gruppe auf dem Rasen.

Ich hoffe ihr geniesst auch den ein oder anderen Ausflug ins ein oder andere Stadium,

liebe Grüße,

Euer Matti

Working can be fun

Dear Readers,

I hope my lines find you well.My excuses for lately not blogging so much. Please find this time some impressions from work, where people in my English course warmed up to each other in a teambuilding/icebraker excercise. The had to build the tallest freestanding paper tower with only regular DIN A4 paper and paper clips. I hope they had fun, because otherwise I would have been the only one enjoying this little break from "regular work".
On the right you can see my helpful colleague Laura, cutting up some honey melon that grow on the fields nearby our office. Sadly, despite abundant availability, we do not enjoy fresh fruit every afternoon.

Have a nice day and enjoy some fresh fruit!

Mat

Foto Safari zweiter Teil

Liebe Freunde und Verwandte,

nach den ersten Froschköpfen kommt nun der zweite Teil meiner Fotosafari aus der Altstadt Shanghais. Ich hoffe die Pluralismen der Bilder wirken ähnlich stark wie die Realität.

Euch jedenfalls alles Gute,

Matthias

Ein Sack voll Kröten

Liebe Leser,

dass ich das große Glück hatte meinen Freund Andi bei mir in Shanghai begrüßen zu können habt ihr unschwer dem letzen Post entnommen. Da er schon einige Zeit in Shanghai gelebt hat, durfte ich von seiner Ortskenntnis profitieren. So waren wir gemeinsam auf Fotosafari in der "echten" Altstadt Shanghai's. Davon habe ich euch folgende Bilder mitgebracht. Lasst die kulturellen Unterschiede gut einwirken.

Alles Gute,

Matti

Dumpling Dinner at Leila's

Dear friends and family,

I hope my lines find you smiling. No matter how far away from home you find friends to cook and enjoy fine foods with, it is always a great experience. This evening Andi and I were invited to join Lela and David for a dumpling dinner at their apartment. Leila prepared the ingredients and Andi, David and I formed most of the beautiful exponats displayed below. They were tasty as well.
I extend my warmest thanks to Leila and David. They are always welcome at any of my places as well. I hope to soon prepare some German food for them as well.

Cheers,

Mat

What I thought was Yuyuan Garden

Dear friends and family,

One of the first sightseeing tours in Shanghai brought me to what I believed was Yu Yuan Garden. Originally built for government officials of the Ming Dynasty, it was meant to be a place for them to enjoy a tranquil and quite retreat from the already busy life of the city. What I found on that day was rather a place full of food stalls selling everything from mouse bread to steaming slime. One of those wonderful volcanic drinks I tried for your amusement and my curiosity. I believe it was dried ice that caused the "smoke" that you can see creaping up inside the cup.
However, a semi-local guide told me afterwards that this foodplace was not Yu Yuan Garden. So I hope to show you some real pictures some other time.

Have a nice evening,

Mat

my new Hotel room

Dear Readers,

When in the beginning I did not have excessive reasons to be happy about my accommodation, that changed when I moved to the Holiday Inn Express in Jinjiao. I enjoyed more space and a luxurious bathroom, more stable (but equally slow) internet connection and a complementary breakfast (Chinese style buffet). Not bad compared to no breakfast before :-)

Have a nice day,

Mat