Ah Choo! Is Not a Chinese Word

I am well into my third week of the World Cup and have been on 7 different airplanes, 10,000 plus miles, countless taxis, 5 hotels, 6 games, over 10,000 images shot and finally, one common head cold.

In the interest of health, my health and the teams’ health, I decided not to go to the practice field this morning, or to the Presser (as the media sessions have come to be known) in the afternoon.

I have spent the day catching up on normal office stuff, e-mail, filing images and making what has become the standard early morning and will be evening phone calls, since I am 13 hours ahead of colleagues who are also working on our Portrait of Passion project.

Being a bit under the weather, I miss the comforts of home. Sitting in my big chair watching movies, stocking up on OJ, getting out for a quick Starbucks and hanging out with my dogs.

Oh wait! Starbucks is across the street. When I walked in this morning the barista remembered my drink. Not only that but he told me that my American friend, who I had met there yesterday, was also there reading the paper.

A bit later I ventured out again in search of the local equivalent of Walgreen’s to pick up a few supplies. I found the pharmacy, why was I not surprised to find as many roots, mushrooms and other dried plants, as bottled over the counter capsules and other remedies. I managed to restock my ibuprofen supply but nothing else.

The pharmacy is one thing, but the Personal Store is another. If combined you would have Walgreen’s. Well Walgreen’s with mushrooms. Extra Kleenex, nail clippers and of course, some chocolate.

One more stop for orange juice and bottled water and I am set.

Back to the room to relax and watch some DVD’s that I picked up yesterday. Very interesting, movies just released in the US a couple of weeks ago, already available in DVD here, with Chinese sub-titles and only $1.33 each. Pretty amazing indeed.

Life here is pretty good, but I do miss the comforts of home and I certainly miss my dogs.

The team is traveling to Hangzhou tomorrow, so it will be another work and recovery day for me. Several of us are taking the bullet train down on Thursday morning – 200 km / hour. That will be another adventure.

At the risk of having a day without a photo, it is a clear night in Shanghai so here is the view from my hotel, with a view of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower in the background.