Busy!

Its official, no matter where you are the holidays are always hustle bustle.  In China Christmas isn't celebrated (really, though it is Valentine's Day) but I still feel the same sense of aaak gotta do this gotta do that, school, Christmas parties, gotta here there quick quick loose ends everywhere and then everything all of the sudden slows done, then suddenly comes to a halt and its Christmas.

So, this week it turns out that I am all over Shanghai.  First, my trusty computer had a bad day, which involved the epic search for an Apple Store.  Despite Shanghai being the center of the Chinese material universe, there is really only one Apple store-and its located in the bowels of Shanghai's metro line 2 next to Ronald McDonald.  So that was interesting.  But now my computer is wonderful and healthy and I have a fancy ridiculously cheap external hard drive!

Last week my school informed us that finals would be moved up two weeks-in order to have a proper graduation ceremony and have a slightly longer spring holiday.  That's all fine by me, except my first final is the day after I come back from Taiwan.  Luckily its my spoken final, which is relatively easy.  But I have been tacking on another hour and a half of tutoring to learn the material that we will cover in class.  Plus I have a paper due in my culture class, and I am stuck in my oh so common rut of changing my topic as I do more research and learn more interesting things.  Oh, nelly.

One of us five gappers is also leaving for America for ever this Friday.  So we have spent the last few days running around doing and seeing everything left for her in Shanghai.  Yesterday afternoon we were all invited to karaoke with some Chinese friends, so naturally today we are all missing our voices.  Which isn't good especially since I have a little cold.  

Also, Christmas parties have taken me by storm.  Well, not really.  But this morning in class we all brought in breakfast from our respective home countries.  I brought PB&J out of a lack of creativity.  But there were donuts, German chocolate cake, latkes, Russian smoothies, Korean sushi like items, etc.  Plus we listened to Christmas carols and it was fabulous.  On Friday I am invited to a Christmas party, and I need to find some sort of White Elephant gag gift.  Also, I need to figure out some sort of holiday food that is inexpensive to make (anything I can make is priced to the euro, blech) and can be made without really cooking all that much.  (No oven, stove is questionable)  

And I leave on Monday!

Edit: This sounds really whiny, but I am not whiny, just amazed at how busy I am.

Jenny, this is for you.

A few years ago, Jenny had a small fascination with the great ancient Chinese Tai Chi 太极拳(tai ji quan).  I had essentially forgotten this, and I hadn't really given Tai Chi much thought since arriving in China, because people of my generation simply don't waste their time with that.  Tai Chi is an old people thing.  They ideal Tai Chi body is becomes rounded, hunched over, with a big gut, so its not even appealing as exercise.  Everymorning (chi is the strongest at dawn) Shanghai's parks become flooded with the elderly, practicing their goofy looking routines.  They move very such speed, its amazing to me that such slow, seemingly effortless movement can be achieved.  My grandpa says Tai Chi is for the very sick people who aren't strong like my family.  So its understandable that I forgot about the Tai Chi that my sister was obsessed with, the KAPOW bing kill kill whack Tai Chi.

Until today that is.  My Chinese culture teacher woke us up really early this morning to go to a park, meet his friend (an Aussie who moved to China ten years ago to found a yoga school, then later moved to the woods/mountains/countryside to practice yoga but then discovered Tai Chi and studied it in a temple for several years then studied in Beijing and then moved to Shanghai) who would introduce us to the fundamentals.

His myths about Tai Chi (they might not be common myths for those outside of China)

Tai Chi is easy

Tai Chi is for really old people

Tai Chi can't be used for fighting

My biggest shock was the last myth.  Hear, Tai Chi practictioners sort of just move there hands around like butterflies to some ancient-sounding Chinese music blasting from a scratched up boom box.  Some of them even hold fans, which appears to be the most civil and un bloodly martial art ever.  (but actually the fans used to have daggers in them and in ancient China concubines were also trained political assasins)  

All of Tai Chi is about killing.  The moments are essentially stoomping on your opponent, pulling him down, pushing him over, stabbing him, etc.  Its about the Yin and Yang, the constant flow of energy.  If a person uses too much energy (Yang) you can go all Yin (relaxy) and absorb his energy and he fails.  One man, who evidently knew the most about fighting and stealing chi pushed me over just by standing still.  Its sort of incredible.

What really made me fall in love, however, is the intensity and the beauty at the same time.  Your body is solid, like earth, but your hands are like silk scarves.  When you move your hands, they simply follow the path of the universe dictated by your body and create wind, energy, chi.  My explaination does the art no justice, really.  I can't even define Tai Chi.  Tai means too big, too immense, but Chi means the smallest point of the horizon.  Too much of the smallest.  I guess.

Oh, also, a while ago I was talking about how the Chinese believe that if you eat salt you will get sick, so here is either the cause or effect of that belief.  感冒 means to get sick, and if you look at the first character（感）, it has a 咸 on top.  咸 means salt.  The thing on the bottom（心）means heart.  So the salt gets into your heart and make you sick so the ancient Chinese made a character too reflect that, or since the character meaning getting sick that was created by the all knowing ancient Chinese has salt afflicting the heart, it must be so.  Both are interesting.

My Chinese Class.

Ignore the fact that my eyes are closed.

Check dis!

China in a nutshell.  This article is excellent.

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200811/chinese-progress

Goal: Accomplished

Well, I am not fluent in Mandarin, but I have now witnessed an epic battle at the dinner table.  Yes, why of course, that does mean a bloody chopstick duel.

The Chinese all follow a certain set of strict health rules that have essentially become second nature.  One with bad eyes eats fish eyes.  If one's skin is bad, drink flower tea.  For a rash, drink hot things to draw the fire away.  Every possible consumable substance has some benefit or must be consumed at a certain time, or with something else, or only under certain circumstances.  Right now, both of my brothers are getting coughs, so they must not eat salt.

However, both have a penchant for salty food, which has only been amplified since its ban.  So this evening, we had two fairly salty dishes: a fish and and egg pork concoction.  Its interesting, we have had these two dishes for dinner countless times, yet I have never seen either one express such passion for either one.  Its usually only eaten when my host mom put it in their dishes and says “吃！吃饭！ 吃！ 快 一 点！ 快 一点！” "Chi! Chi fan! Chi! Kuai dian kuai dian!" (literally, eat, eat rice, eat, faster, faster) 

Whenever my host mom would start to eat her own food and become the slightest bit distracted in conversation with me (with requires almost every bit of energy and attention from both parties) the oldest of my two brothers would snake his chopsticks past the barriers of non salty dishes, and snatch a piece of forbidden fruit.  While bringing it back to his dish, my host mom would whack the ends of his chopsticks with hers, thus making the food fall from his clutches, then both pairs of black wooden fingers would kick and poke at each other, at which point my youngest brother would notice that this was a fun game and became involved.  He prefers a hands-on approach, extending his fingers directly into the match and grabbing whatever.  Somehow, my host mom managed to reach her chopsticks into his claws, and pull the remaining bits of what was once food out into the arena, where once again, they were fair game. 

Just Cuz.

So, the other day I went to the world's second tallest building.

I have now been to the two tallest buildings in the world.

Here is some evidence.

A Tragic Tale Concerning Pumpkin Pie.

Thanksgiving 感恩节 (gan en jie) in China.

My program decided to take us (all of us, the Gappers + hundred collegers) to Thanksgiving.  I wasn't really anticipating a Thanksgiving feast, but since one was promised, I started to get pretty excited.  I was assigned to eat at the Grand Hyatt on the Bund, absolutely gorgeous, plus American, so I decided that I would be guaranteed mashes potatoes and turkey and cranberry sauce.  Score!  But then, the worst happened, and on the way there my friend fantasized, "Oh, I wonder if they'll have pumpkin pie."

Pumpkin pie?  I had forgotten it existed.  Pumpkin pie. 

Well, we arrived, there was no turkey, no potatoes, and no pumpkin pie.

They did however, present a pumpkin pie as we were leaving, and I was stuffed with duck, xiao long, oysters, sashimi, lamb, spring rolls, lobster, crab, green tea ice cream, muscles, and so on.  It was delicious, just not Thanksgivingy. 

Nothing really feels like the holidays here.  All the department stores have Christmas trees and decorations, People's Park is lit up, I have seen a Santa, but it still doesn't feel as simultaneously artificial and authentic as it does at home.  But I do have an Advent calendar.

Another update.

Well, the blog of the small part of Shanghai hasn't happened yet.

But, last Sunday I decided to take a detour, and ended up seeing some pretty interesting things.  I love that I can just walk down a small road and see so much.  Sometimes, however I feel really intrusive, like when I accidently walked through and apartment building and into someone's home, but being Western, I can't be subtle about anything.

So the things I saw in a period of fifteen minutes or so include:

-an army procession

-a live fish leap from the street where is was trying to be sold and flap onto the street vendor's face Nasty!

-about twenty to thirty people gathered around a game of high stakes Chinese chess (one of the players hands was shaking as he moved his general (king) out of check

-I taught the word "orange" to another street vendor

-a little kid said what I assume to be his first word: after he said "Mama" (its the same) the woman holding him yelled something along the lines of "Oh my goodness! Oy! Get out here! He spoke!"

-"masseuses" being bored and playing Majyang

 So that was Sunday.

Today was really an excellent day, as well.

I skipped the last third of my language class, (bad, I know) to go to a cooking class at the new Shanghai Cultural Center.  I learned how to make Xiao Lon Bao (shaw long bow (like take a bow)) which are the most famous of all Shanghainese dishes.  They are dumplings with pork and delicious juicyness on the inside.  To eat them you have to take a small bite, then suck out the juice, then bathe with vineagar and eat.  They are amazing and I can make them now!  After the class I started to talk with the lady in charge of the center and she is looking for someone to essentially audit the new classes and review them.  Oh, woe is me, I am that auditor.  I am very excited to learn how to cook more dishes, take a Tai Chi class, Feng Sui seminar, etc.  These are all things that I have done to a certain extent, but I am eagerly awaiting a more formal presentation.

Tomorrow I am catching a 6:30 am train to Suzhou!  

Yesterday, I went to the Beaujolias Nouveau (in Shanghai?)  The French girl in my class was adimat that we all go, so we did.  It was, for some reason, my night.  There was a magician, and he decided that I needed to be the assistant for a good twenty minutes, which was very exciting.  I also met the French head honcho of Shanghai, and then, to culminate the evening, I won a bottle of wine in the raffle.  When my number was called, the announcer said (in French) "How wonderful to finally have a French winner!"  Each winner said something about how they were all enjoying the evening, and I awkwardly stumbled around some Chinese, while butchering the pronunciation of "Beajolias Nouveau" in my supposed mother tongue.  It was also the first time that I reverted to Chinese to check what I heard in a language that I pretty much suck at (French).  Also, the magician was French, and would ask me questions first in Chinese, then French to try and help me out.  I think they wanted me to use my French, you know, to make things a little easier.

Its starting to get cold here, but and like I was warned, I feel much colder in my apartment then outside.  So because my hands are a little numb, and I can't type with much accuracy while wearing gloves, I'm going to sigh off.

Toodles!  

YIKES!

So I have been terrible about updating, I know.

I am going to try and get better about this.

Key things that have happened:

-I climbed the most famous mountain in China.  This is also where Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was filmed.

-I have made actual Chinese friends.

-I have lost my abililty to speak fluent Spanish, though I can still read and understand perfectly.  Its actually rather strange, I met what could possibly be the only Argentinian in China, and when he spoke to me in Spanish I was fine, but when I needed to talk Chinese kept coming out.

-I experienced my first bit of intensive testing in China.

-Things I have eaten: duck tongue, chicken feet, pigeon heart, cow stomach, sea cucumber, hairy crab, snails...etc

-I can now text in Chinese!

More coming later....

Today I am off the Huzhen for a day trip, I am leaving in a few minutes so this post is going to be cut short.  

But what is of real interest is an assignment for my culture class: a photo essay.  Now I am really quite motivated to become a good photographer.  Yesterday I decided to get off at a random subway stop, and I ended up in a wonderful little neighborhood, it was rather similar to time travel, actually. Shanghai ten years ago, before it all exploded.  So I solemnly swear to write the post on the way up and type it later.

Oh yeah, I am also learning calligraphy from a Chinese master, and he gave me a Chinese name (which is sort of an honor) Its 胡娟。 Pronounced Hu Juu'en.  My last name (hu) somes from the current Chinese president's last name and it is also part of a past American's last name.  (That is up for you to guess)  This means that I am good for Chinese American relations.  My first name means beauty or grace, so hopefully that can mean that I will move between the two countries effortlessly?

So China.

My brother asks me, "What is your favorite color?"

Thinking, hmm, what is my favorite color these days, well, I just bought a green bracelet, I really like it, so, "Green."

"Oh!  Me too!" And I think, that's neat, green is a pretty chill color, man.  He continues, "Green is very good for the eyes.  Green is the color of the grass and the trees and is very natural.  It is healthy so I like green."

Huh.

OMG! Beijing

Right now China is celebrating National Week, the National Holiday, National Day, ya ya ya.  This means a lovely week break for everyone from life.  Way neato.  Especially since it happens in October, so almost immediately after school starts.  Its nice.

On Friday morning myself and three of the G kids left for Beijing.  We took a train.  It was really quite a pleasant journey, for being ten hours sitting in the same seat.  We had two rows of seats and could spin the front row around so both were facing each other (like Southwest exit rows) and played a lot of cards.  And during the last two hours a nearby Chinese student struck up a conversation which was neat because he got to practice his English and us our Chinese.  During the conversation he took a moment to text his friends and say something along the lines of, "I just made four foreign friends, envy me."  Making Foreign Friend is a big accomplishment in China, especially anywhere outside of Shanghai, being a much more cosmopolitan city and we are more common.  But since this was National Week, Beijing was full of people from more rural and less Western accustomed people.  Making Foreign Friend was huge.  And I was even more popular, being tall, blonde, blue eyed, so foreign, but knowing some Chinese.  At popular tourist destinations, I am a celebrity, definately the most photographed one, say, Britney Spears?  During my stay in Beijing I got really good at the conversation, 

Chinese:  Excuse me, where are you from?

Me: Wo shi mei guo ren.

Chinese: (oh my mao the girl speaks chinese!!! says something really fast then asks for me picture)

or they would just make a camera gesture, I would oblige and then they would say xie xie, to which I would respond bu ke qi, and they would then do the really fast something in Chinese. 

Unlike many other places, where natives assume that a foreigner who knows a few words really only knows a few words, the Chinese assume that any foreigner who knows any Chinese KNOWS CHINESE.  I think it has to do with the fact that for so long the Chinese language was kept under strict wraps.  It was illegal for a foreigner to learn the language until the late nineteenth century, and I think that China still sees there language as a complete item, not something that can be separated,  simple words cannot be set free about the world, one either knows the language or not.

So we arrived in Beijing, and I had another one of those tricky mind trick experiences done by the government.  The idea is to make China as beautiful and appealing as possible from the get go.  Upon exiting the train, a passenger is escorted into massive and beautiful marble hallways, vacant, whispers echoing of the walls, my oh my is it poetic.  There is no evidence of this rumored over populated China, throngs of people nonsense.  Its lovely.  I had the same experience getting of the plane in Shanghai.  I was really shocked.  Its not under things need to happen that China reveals itself.  We needed a taxi to get to our hotel.  Okay.  The signs of the station serenade us to the taxi stand, where we are met by no fewer than ten hundred thousand screaming, pushing, suitcase bearing megaChinese all fighting for the same three cabs.   It was messy.  Survivable, but messy.  Especially noteworthy not because of the unwanted heads in my armpits, but because of the beautiful juxtaposition.  Yeah.

Anyway, we get to the hotel safely, check in sans passports.  (Which opened up a bureaucratic nightmare, to be detailed at a later date.)  Then we ate McDonalds.  It was late, we were hungry, it was close, and I had Chicken McNuggets.  (I have eaten a better bird to be honest)

Lets talk Cuisine.

We started off (after the arches) going the traditional Chinese food route.  Then we all got sick.  My theory is that the food we eat is cleaner, less oily, Shanghaiese, subtler, and for me meat free.  I decided to complete ditch being a vegetarian while in Beijing.  Nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea.  The four of us were a real life Pepto Bismal commercial.  Which is cool, in a not so cool not even a little bit kind of way.  We perservered however, and ate at more touristy spots the rest of the trip.  (Trying bai guo the second night didn't help either, but when in rome)  Fortunately, touristy spots included the amazing delicious eat the flesh off your fingers in case there is some remaining flavor good Quanjude Peking duck restaurant.  The famous one.  Georgie ate there.  We ate duck No. 115,708,630.  We went back for a second meal there on National Day Eve, expecting a small crowd and were turned away at 7:30 because there were about 200 people camped out waiting.

Also on National Day, the Bird's Nest opened to the public.  It was our last day in Beijing, and we really wanted to see the stadium, so we decided to brave the crowds and give it a shot.  One expensive cab ride later, (actually only 15 US, but still) and we were thrown into the crowd.  So unfortunately we didn't get closer that a hundred meters, but I can say that it is breaktaking, though looks more real on TV.  In real life it looks like something from a cartoon or lightyears away in space.  Just sayin'.

Beijing also brought us Tianamen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, The Great Wall, Ming Tombs.  We saw how jade and ancient Qing dynasty pottery was made.  I bought a beautiful jade bracelet.  It rocks and is very Chinese and will give me super powers. 

To be continued.  I am sick.

Meet the Bureaucracy.

So sometimes in the States I feel like I am jumping through a thousand hoops to get anything done.  Oodles of forms, go to A, see B, then stop by C.  And of course I am always interested in finding some way to manuever my way more quickly through the alphabet.  "Well I bet if I talk to so and so..."  Usually I can get to Z with relative speed.

Going to China I realized that they have a fairly large scope of government and I had read about their messy desk dwellers.  But I thought it could be finagled like it is at home.  NO.

They are a completely different species, I think that if the Chinese government wants to really prove that Chinese did not evolve from Homo sapiens they should simply point a few scientists towards the Bureaucracy.  

My visa permits my to stay in China studying for some period of time longer than six months.  While in the States I did the billion forms, the ridiculous physical, etc.  Then I get to China and have seven days to get my residence permit, then thirty days to apply for my visa.  Wait, what? Didn't I need a visa to get into this country?  So one would think.  Because of the volume of students with my similar situation, ECNU organized for the police to help take care or our visas.  

Dilemma A:

Students must report to the Second Floor Office of the Building of Teaching the Liberal Arts for JW202.  (A form I had already filled out)

I go to the building, only to be recieved with the statement, "No, you don't need to come here.  You go somewhere else for the form, but wait, here I have your form."  It was odd.

This is really minor, but just strange.

Dilemma B:

Never before have I been struck with so much awe.

The police were supposed to come to our school at 9:30 to take our passports and get our visas. I arrive at school at about 8:00 (school starts at 8:00) and decide to forgo class for my visa and join the line of about fifteen people.  I tell my teacher and she gives me the look, "Oh good luck dear, oh how I know what this paperwork things can mean.  Please survive." By 8:30 the mob reaches the entire length of the school.  My goal is to finish by about 10:30, so I can catch the second half of class.  At 10:00 the office calls the police station asking them where they are.  No one knows.  I call the director of my program, she calls ECNU to find out what is happening, and they tell here that the police have been on campus for the past two hours and that I need to go to the first floor of the Foreign Students building (which is where I was).  At 10:15 the office sets up desks and hands out arbitrary number cards to the masses.  Now, this is no ordinary line.  I was near the front, and I didn't need to use any effort to support my body.  When the desks showed up, the entire force of the line pushed my off of my feet and sucked my up into the very front, sandwiched between a wall, a desk, and a very tall Russian.  Also, this is also in a building without air-conditioning with outside air temperatures of about ninety degrees and similar percentage of humidity.  Steamy.  

The police saunter in at about 11:00.  In China, rank is very important, and since these are government affiliated people, they are treated like kings.  They are presented with food, beer, and air conditioning.  They take a few students, finish about two or three visas, then they all stand up.  

Since I was compressed against the glass door to their room I was the involuntary commentator for everyone else in the mob who couldn't see.  I joked, "Oh, the must be exhausted so they are taking a coffee break everyone.  Stand back for the cadres." 

And then exactly that happened.  But it wasn't a coffee break.  It was a lunch.  At 11:20 they took lunch.  Now, I am fine with the idea of nourishment, but that is an early lunch.  And what about us?  We have been standing for three hours, and we havn't gone to lunch.  Plus they only did stuff for twenty minutes.  Someone asked the office person as she walked past to clean up the policemen's food and she shrugged, "They go to lunch."  It was really the defining moment of me understanding the Chinese ranking system.  She had been pushed and shoved all morning by thousands of whiney students, and really it was the policepeople's fault, but the go to lunch.  That' s how it works.

Now, this seems really down on China, but I am not.  I am really just fascinated.  Luckily this all happened while I am still honeymooning.

The Middle Autumn Festival

This past weekend marked the celebration of Mid-Autumn festival.  Yes, I am aware that it really isn't autumn, and it definitely not the middle said season.  Don't tell the Chinese, there are 1.3 billion that could easily take you in a fight.

Anyway, its essentially a massive eating a thon.  It is a traditionally Buddist celebration, however, religious holidays in China are observed similarily to the department store holidays.  Reading about the festival is really misleading, because it is described as if most Chinese observers eat moon cakes under the moon and dance and light lanterns.  And mooncakes aren't as special as they seem.  They are sort of like fruitcakes.  During the week preceding MAF you eat the moon cakes you recieved from friends and family the year before.  They never expire.  And by the time of the actual festival the sight of a single mooncake is sickening.  And Starbucks makes mooncakes.  Seriously.

My MAF consisted of waking up, eating a massive breakfast which included a moon cake, hoping in a taxi and meeting my extended family for lunch, during which, the moon or the creatures (a tree, rabbit, and women) dwelling upon it were not mentioned once.  We then went to my uncles house and ate lots of the Chinese interpretation of cake (lots of fruit bits and eaten with modified chop sticks) and more moon cakes.  Then we went to a movie, "Zues and Roxanne," an American movie about a dog and a dolphin and their caretakers.  It was noisy.  Upon entering the theathre all members of the audience were presented with fan and wind up toys and windmills.  It was strange.

Then we ate dinner.

That's all.

What is that?

Just a person.

A tall blonde one. 

People stare at me, that's a given, we knew that coming into this.  It really doesn't bother me at all, I just am still at the stage where I find it fascinating that people are fascinated by me.  

Babies always stare intently at me in the elevator.  

People turn their heads when I am walking down the street.

The guards at my apartment know me better than anyone else in my apartment complex (and there are 10000 of us!)

There are a few instances, however, that are worthy of elaboration.

Circumstance A

Setting: passageways of the Shanghai History Museum

Characters:

Megan (playing herself)

Tourista ( a lovely English speaking Ukranian)

Tourist's entourage (laden with cameras and maps)

Scene one:

Megan admires a wax depiction of a tradition Chinese farming family while tourists snap photos of her and whisper.  Megan notices, but isn't bothered and continues on her way.

Scene two:

Tourista approaches Megan in the 1920s section of Shanghainese history.  

T:Excuse me..

M: Yes?

T: Where are you from?

M: The States.

T: Oh. You are very beautiful.  (rushes back to the entourage)

Scene three:

Somewhere near a wax man.

T: Can I take a picture?

M: Of course.

T: I am Urkanian.

Megan and Tourista take an awkard photo together.

The end

Circumstance B

Setting:

NingXia Lu, lane 366 park

Characters:

Megan (herself)

Charming six year old (Willy)

Confused man (older Chinese man)

Passersby (speaking several words of English)

Scene one:

Megan and Willy are playing (or at least attempting to do so) a bit of Badminton, which is interestingly enough, extremely popular in China when a confused man, after staring, approaches Willy.

CM: Who is that? (in Chinese)

W: Jei jei (Chinese term of endearment for older sister)

CM: (pointing at me) Sister??

W: Yep.

Cm walks to M.

CM: Where are you from?

M: (in Chinese!) I am american.

CM: That is your brother?

M: No, I live with him.

CM: You call him brother?

M: Yes.

Scene two:

Five minutes after leaving and being thoroughly puzzled, CM returns.

CM: Who is that?

W: Jei jei.

CM: Are you related?

M: No.

Confused man draws a crowd, people try to help, offering that we are neighbors, or we just met.  It becomes established that I am completely not Chinese.  Of course, since I started speaking Chinese with CM he thought I was fluent.  Communication was actually really quite difficult.  

Scene three:

After dinner Megan and Willy return to the park together.  CM is there and just watches.  

Foriegn exchange just doesn't happen in China.

Lack of blogging explained.

I am so exhausted.

On Thursday, the group of gappers was set loose on the town on a wild scavenger hunt.  Boys vs. girls.  Naturally, it got very competitive.  We went to all the must sees of Shanghai in a period of hours, saw the Shanghai that most people take days to visit.  It was beyond human.  After completeing everything, my team and I could hardly walk.  In fact, when we got back to the office, we didn't leave the lobby for over and hour because it felt so good to sit.

It was however, a day well spent.  We took a gazillion photos and are now quite well accaquainted with the city.  I now feel like a pro on the metro, and am decent with the buses.  And I saw a bus so full that the doors didn't have room to open (though the doors did try to open on me, not comfortable).  Plus there are a lot of places that I need to visit again, and a lot of places that I could take people to (like if my people visited).

Must sees-

Yu Garden-taste the tea and stinky tofu

Renmin square and people's park

Nanjing Road-shopping!  (great store with really bright stuff the fred would love)

Portman complex, amazing hotel and neat building across the street

Walking the Bund-the colonial side of Shanghai, a Big Ben knock off, too

Jing An Temple-way cool, I went back today with my host mom and she told me about all of the gods

plus more

Friday-the official worst class of my life.  Somehow I managed to get placed into second year Chinese.  HAHA! During the placement test I think the proctor thought I was reading characters, but I was actually just reading the pinyin that she had partially covered up.  Problems ensued.  The class was fine for the first five minutes, when the teacher explained how the syllabus and that we would focus on not just speaking, but writing and reading too because it helps exponentially when learning the language.  Then she taught the first character, slowly writing it and prounouncing it.  Then, since we all did that fairly well, she covered the entire blackboard (as far as her small frame could reach) in no fewer than 10,000,000,000,000 characters and started yammering away.  Of course, I was the first student she asked a question to in rapid Chinese.  And since I had no idea what she was saying, she clarified by squeezing more characters that I could read onto the board.  I am never sitting in the front row again.  For three hours she always asked me questions first, and for three hours I gave her my best deer caught in the headlights.  It was torture.  

I am moving down a level.

Welcome home.

In celebration of my successful trip to the biggest and the best mall in Pudong (according to my host mom) and buying a shiny new camera here are some photos of home.

My bed, my window, my youngest host brother.
Part of my desk and a cabinet with Chinese stuff.
My HUGE desk and tiny host brother playing with Photobooth on my computer.
My overstuffed closet.
The view out of my window.
My front door.  The sign says welcome.

My host brother, near the elevator on the way to play badminton.  He actually has done some modeling.
The park outside my front door.

Unlocked: A Secret to Learning Mandarin

Go shopping!

Seriously.  

Today at school we each met our new tutors and took a crash course in Mandarin, covering the basics: ordering food, getting directions, naming places in the neighborhood, and bargaining, then had lunch, then went for a campus tour.  My tutor, Amy, and I finished early so I left campus much earlier than the rest of the gappers.   So, I took and extended route home and went shopping.

Shopping, of course, requires many skills.  Taste, which is essential and cannot be taught, is something I already have (wow my ego really needs to be checked here), but communication is also key and I learned the basics today!! I needed to get a new camera, so first I had to ask, "where is the electronics store?"  Upon arriving at the store, I had to pretend I knew Chinese and greet people who greeted me.  Then I had to say what I wanted.  (this actually utilized more pointing and grunting, its still my first time).  Then, unexpectedly, the salesperson wanted to negotiate a price!  I was simply overcome with joy.  So many new skills to use!! I was able to ask him for a cheaper price than what he originally offered, and he accepted!! However, I didn't come home with a new camera because they only accept certain cards from union banks (NO visa, NO mastercard) and I couldn't find an ATM for the life of me.

Oh well.

I'm about to go back at it, woohooo!!

Official Schedule.

For official purposes exclusively.

Monday

Chinese language class 8:45-11:45

Chinese tutor 1:00-2:30

Tuesday

Chinese language class 8:45-11:45

Core class 12:30-2:00

Wednesday

Chinese language class 8:45-11:45

Volunteering 1:30-3:30

Thursday

Chinese language class 8:45-11:45

Tutor 1:00-2:30

Friday

Chinese language class 8:45-11:45

culture activity 1:00-5:00

kay I'm going to class now.

Tour de Shanghai.

Well, it was a tour of my neighborhood at least.  

The great traveling circus of us gappers and all of our families hit the streets to get our residence permits, cell phones, and a greater misunderstanding of how to navigate ourselves.  I think I shall forever be in one state: lost.  But that is okay. 

Its quite frustrating to listen to Chinese speak to eachother, because they speak with such conviction and such passion, that everything they say seems like a major argument, when in fact, it is just a simple discussion.  When we were all working on our residence paperwork I was so tempted to jump into the conversation and say, "Don't worry!! Its all right! Stop fighting, it will work out."  Of course that would never work.  I think eventually I will adjust to the sounds of fighting.  It is seems odd, maybe not odd, but fascinating that is a society where it is valued to save face and be non-confrontational, people always sound and act like they are fighting.

One other important topic to address: electronics.  The store where we bought our new cell phones today had the most incredible devices known to man.  Cell phones appear to be ages ahead of what is available in the States.  And they had really high technology kitchen appliances and hairdriers and stranger looking vacuums.  And while I was looking at everything, the employees gathered in corners to stare at me.  I am well adjusted to the looks I get on the street and in the elevator, but I always take particular notice when people have conversations about me.  I am curious about their curiousity.

Right now my littliest brother, Willy, is in my room and we are playing games on my cell phone, so I had better get back to that.

Ta chien!

Initialness.

So, I arrived in Shanghai.  My family picked me up at CIEE along with two other people on my flight.  There are five total of us gap year people.

I came home (to my new home!) and started unpacking and met my whole family. 

They are really quite lovely and friendly and really nice.  My oldest brother speaks the most English, and thus is my primary means of communication, excluding charades. My mom speaks quite a bit of English as well, and is really helpful because when she teaches me a new word she will say it to the kids so I can pick it up.  I just might get a handle on this Mandarin thing.

The two boys love watching Dora the Explorer, its actually some sort of Shanghainese (or maybe even national) infatuation.  They were excited to here that I speak Spanish, just like Dora.

Both of the boys are also very intrigued by all of my stuff.  They like taking pictures on my camera and pushing the buttons on my phone.  They are enamored with Photo booth-I think we have taken at least 70 hen cho (very ugly) photos of ourselves.  I think they are also very fascinated by me.  The first night the youngest (Willy) would run in and out of the room, looking at me, then run back away.  Now they are a bit more adjusted.  Its interesting to note how people will look at you.  Especially in elevators.  The first ride was completely full and all eyes were on me.  When I am in the back and someone walks in, they catch a glance of me, then face away, then turn back and start to stare.  Walking around Shanghai, I saw a Westerner and they looked so foreign that I started to stare at them,  so I can’t blame anyone for looking at me.  I mean, I certainly do stick out.

Today I got my schedule, I have four hours of language class everyday Monday through Friday, then on Mondays and Thursdays I meet with a language tutor.  I also take a core class about China, which I think might be for every day as well.  On Wednesdays we volunteer teaching English and activites at a center for people with cerebral paulsy.  Then on Friday we go on little adventures in Shanghai with the delightful Bryan (an grad student who interns at CIEE with the biggest smile and most passionate personaltiy ever).  On weekends, the host families organize activities for all of us. 

 

PS Blogging might be the slightest bit difficult, I don’t have internet yet where I live, so I am borrowing a weak signal from the very generous Zhuang residence.