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!
