And the Oscar goes to...

I received an email today I am sharing with you since it struck me as both funny and outrageous at the same time.

Hear the buzz? The lights of the room dimmed, the sudden click of the film projector silenced the eager crowd, and we fixed our eyes on the screen to see what all the buzz was about... Oscar Frontier 2013! Just in time for movie award season, Markgraph Rooftop Moonlight Cinema is hosting Saturday evening screenings of the nominated films for Best Picture at this year's Oscars. We checked with our friend organizing the screenings, and he tipped us off that this Saturday, January 19, they will show Spielberg's "Lincoln" (the frontrunner of most Oscar buzz so far) starring the amazing Daniel Day Lewis. Let's go to the movies! P.S. The Saturday night films start at 8pm, and there are drinks and popcorn on site.

So most of these movies have not yet been released on DVD and here in Shanghai there is someone holding public screenings of the movies and selling drinks and popcorn. If there ever was a place for budding entrpreneurs, this is it - forgetting of course whether it's legal or not.

Chilling at Central Perk

For those of you who were fans of the TV series "Friends", Shanghai has got a treat for you. Come for a visit and we'll take you to Central Perk.

It's a new cafe just opened here modeled after the coffee house/restaurant featured on Friends.

It is a real-life replica of the TV show's restaurant set. The owner of the cafe looked at thousands of pictures of the set, watched hours of re-runs, and took five months to construct the look alike café.

This is almost as crazy as the Forest Gump  Seafood Restaurant we saw in Guilin.

A Taste of things to come

Just in case you wondered how bad the smog really gets here in Shanghai, below is a an email a friend’s school sent to all parents yesterday.

 

Dear Parents,

This morning we have decided to activate the red level response of our air quality procedures. 
Please see below the Air Quality Procedures for YCIS Pudong.  

For your information, when deciding on what level of response to take as a school, we take into account: the official air quality index reading for China, the unofficial US consulate air quality reading from Puxi and our own observations of the air quality.   Please note that parents of children with respiratory problems can ask us at any time to keep their child inside or not allow them to participate in strenuous activities. We will monitor the air during the day and if the conditions improve, we will then allow the students to play outside.

 Regards,

 YCIS School Office

Air Quality Response Plan:

YCIS Pudong will use 3 levels of Air Quality Readings and the following chart shows the action that will be taken for each of the 3 levels of Air Pollution:

 

Air Quality Level	API Reading Range	School Response
Green Level	Less than 100	·           No restrictions required
Orange Level	From 100 – 150	·            PE lessons / activities held indoors ·           Recess / outdoor play go ahead as normal ·           Students with respiratory conditions are  encouraged to stay in designated indoor areas during breaks ·          Outdoor events and field trips may be postponed if the activities are considered to be strenuous (decision made by relevant school leader)
Red Level	150 and above	·          PE lessons / activities held indoors ·           Indoor recess and lunch breaks (same procedures as wet days) ·           Field trips may be postponed, depending on the activity (decision made by relevant school leader) ·           Any planned outdoor events are postponed