Journals

It took me eight months, but I have finally filled my journal. Last week I was in Shanghai and had a free day, I decided to explore the French Concession and search for a new journal. I been there several times before, but I still get lost, so my plan was to wander and hope I stumbled across a store (it's how I found my last journal, so I was hoping I would get lucky again).

I spent about an hour wandering around the streets of Shanghai, turning down random streets, not really caring where I was going. I love the French Concession with it's tree-lined streets and mix of Tudor houses mixed in with Chinese life. I love going during the week when it seems like you are blending into daily life.

I decided to pop into a cafe for a cup of coffee and stopped in a park for a bit to write. During the week, the parks in China are usually filled with older people and young children who are free from the pressures of work and school. There was even an old man doing laps in his roller blades.

I was sitting for maybe twenty minutes when an old Chinese man tried to talk to me. Now I don't speak a lot of Chinese but I've been getting a lot better at reading body language lately, so the conversation with him involved a bit of miming, writing (him in Chinese with me trying to explain I can't read Chinese), crude Chinese and my Chinese dictionary. He decided to sit down next to me and we spent about thirty minutes trying to communicate. A lot of laughter over the communication barriers and awkward smiles. He told me he lived close so I asked him if he knew a place I could buy a journal. Well he took it as his mission to find me one and we trekked around through the park, through stores, until we found a book store which sold journals.

Well that was my adventure to buy a new journal (or in two in this case).

In case you're wondering, it says:

Travel Time
It takes some silence to make sound. And it takes a loss before you found it.