Senior: Abby

For those of you in Canada and America, and in case you aren’t following along with the Chinese calendar: today is Chinese New Year.   Yes, that’s right.  While we meander through “just another day” on our Continent,  the happy mayhem, celebration, and firework displays are only just starting to wind down over in the Orient.

In honor of China and the piece of my heart recently overtaken by my time in that beautiful culture and people, it’s about time that I (finally) show off the talented, beautiful, senior that I met and photographed while in Shanghai last month.  In the intricately complex world shrinking at the hands of technology, my college suitemate introduced me to Abby via email and we managed to coordinate schedules to talk photography, discuss aperture/shutter speed/ISO, and explore a sublimely cosmopolitan city.

Abby just posted photos of her Chinese New Year experience, so if you’re curious what the holiday looked like for her, that’s where you should head next. =)

And just in case you’re wondering:  my intercultural experience was made a complete success right after having lunch with Abby (the most delicious Chinese food EVER).

I  jogged to the Metro station at 12:35pm, purchased a ticket by myself in record-breaking time, ran down the escalator, boarded the right train with probably 10 seconds to spare before the doors closed, rode 20 minutes across town (double checking the whole entire way that I was heading in the right direction), found exit #6 at my metro stop, BOOKED IT down the sidewalk for three blocks (carrying my camera gear, of course), found my bus station and correct bus, flashed my bus ticket to the conductor, used hand signals and desperate pantomimes (while gasping for oxygen) to beg the bus driver to not leave without me, found the toilet, and then settled in my seat on the 1:00pm bus, relieved to not have to wait until the 7pm ride before going back to my suburb hotel – 2 hours away.

And that my friends is a victory.  Especially without a knowledge of Chinese in a city that doesn’t speak English.

P.S.  Abby photographed John & I while we were in Shanghai.   Pretty fabulous, eh?