Sha Sha in Shang: Explained.

One of my former roommates and best friends was my cheerleader in getting the blog off the ground, which began with the necessity of naming such endeavor. Here is her explanation behind the name...

I have been asked to explain the name behind the new blog-Sha Sha in Shang. I'm very honored at this request, especially since I can go on far too long when relaying personal accounts, but she knows this about me, so she must not care too much. Onward!

At the risk of sounding insensitive, I must first point out that ShaShaInShang, said in a fast, sing-songy way, sounds very Chinese, so give that a try. It's especially wonderful if your two-year-old picks up on it and starts buzzing, "ShaShaInShang!" unprompted.

We both agree that the best way to keep in touch with a close circle of friends after a move is to blog. We understand that personal phone calls and emails are nice, too, but really, who has the time to reach out to all those important to us on an individual basis? We love that when we get together and one of us references something, the other knows the story behind it, thanks to blogging. This would simply not be the case if we relied on phone calls to keep us in touch.

As she prepared for her move to China, she needed a clean slate in more ways than one, so her old, private blog was scrapped and exchanged for a new non-private (though identity is unknown to those not on this email list) one where she can share her day-to-day thoughts on educating young minds, the brilliance of having a maid chop your vegetables and most importantly, hot Asian men. Who doesn't want to keep up with that?

Naming a blog can be of great importance-this is something that will define her for at least the next two years, so there was pressure to not screw it up. While falling asleep one night it hit me: One With the Animals should be the name. She met me with a disapproving look and reminded me that animals are not her thing. True, but the phrase has a lot of connections to her new life. She'll be teaching in the middle of a zoo. To me the phrase stands for an individual living amidst something so foreign, it's like being surrounded by animals. In the end, her dislike of animals won out and we went searching for something better.

Around this time of starting over, it was decided, on a whim, that she would chop her hair. A text was sent out to most of you, I'm sure, asking if this was indeed a good choice. One friend replied that it wasn't necessary because, 'it's cooler in Shang.' After a bottle of wine, the use of the word 'Shang' can be quite hilarious. So Shang it became.

All good teachers use alliteration, right? Once the Shang was in place, her old nickname, Sha Sha, seemed liked the natural next step. Blogger is quite popular, so when ShaShaInShang was available, she hastily snatched it up while snickering about the word 'Shang.' Whoever you are, you 'Shang' texter, you done good.

Welcome to ShaShaInShang. Read it up.