Ni hao,
So I'm sitting here updating my blog rather than wandering the city because it is raining again and my plan for today was to go on a long walk down antique street to the bund and pudong. So it's really messing me up. I actually have not seen the sun since I've been Shanghai, although I've heard it does happen just apparently not when I'm around?? So the weather has definitely been a bummer. Maybe I'll check out another museum today or something.
However, even though the weather has been a bummer, I've been having a fabulous time. I checked out the Shanghai museum on Wednesday. They had bronze tools that date back to the 18th century BC and coins that would have been traded during the time of Alexander the Great on the silk road. Not to mention a lot of beautiful calligraphy and paintings.
Wednesday night, myself, Peter, his roommate and roommates girlfriend all went out to some open raquetball courts and played a little raquetball. Peter and I were feeling pretty confident in our skills and challenged a Chinese team to a game. Let me just say that everyone else who was there (all Chinese of course) were pretty intense about the game. We were fully expecting to be blown out but actually made a pretty good standing. We ended up losing 21 to 17 but let me just say that score was very unexpected by both ourselves and our opponents. Every time we scored we were so shocked there was a minor celebration. I think we represented the U.S. well. It was a lot of fun though and the guys we played against were a good time. We also ate some pizza that night which never tasted so good.
So yesterday, I went for a long stroll to Old Town Shanghai. Got to go into a daoist temple and see some of the ceremony. Haggled prices at the Old Town bazaar, which I was pretty proud about. I actually had a Chinese woman compliment me on my mandarin, which made me pretty happy. Even though I could only say a few words, but still. I also got to see the Yuyuan gardens in Old Town which were so beautiful. I'm going to try to put up some pictures or maybe just send a link to a picasa album or something. Then last night, Peter and I got some hot pot meals then went to a rhythm and blues bar on the bund. It's a cool ex-pat place where there's live jazz music every night. There were people there from all over the world so it was pretty wild.
So I've tried a few more interesting foods and am pretty proud of myself for branching out. Yesterday I had some jellyfish for the first time. It was pretty awful in my opinion. Not only is the texture really gelatinous, but the flavor was super intense and overwhelming. Yesterday I had some eel for lunch and then Peter and I tried some Chrysanthemum and edible tree fungus in our hot pots. They really weren't too bad. I also bought a pastry/cookie at a chinese candy store yesterday only to discover that it was a cookie stuffed with pork. I don't know why I was surprised. I've definitely had more meat here than I've really eaten before since I've never been much of a meat eater. What I'm really having to adjust to is the fact that there is a ton of fat on all of the meat. Normally in the states I just cut it off but I can't really do that with chopsticks so I've been stuck having to eat the fat to even get to the meat. It's been an adjustment.
So a few other interesting things I've noticed. There is a really high demand for work here since the population is so huge and there are so many migrant workers. So there are a crazy number of unnecessary jobs I can't believe people have to do all day. Like there is almost someone everywhere you go to open the door for you or great you. Someone will be hired to keep cleaning a small portion of the floor in a building so they just keep sweeping the same small area all day. There are numbers of people in every restaurant who just watch all of the tables and will constantly replace your dishes or refill drinks. I've had my plates taken away before I was done eating just because I think people were bored and just wanted to bring me a new plate. There are just a lot of unnecessary jobs here.
Also, in terms of the sidewalks, I feel like walking around here is like walking on a sidewalk full of little kids. Normally, in the states, when I notice a kid ahead of me on the sidewalk I try to pay attention if they are going to dart a new direction at the least second, suddenly step in front of me, or just run right into me cause kids tend to be pretty oblivious to the people around them. However, it's not like the Chinese are oblivious, they could just honestly care less that I'm there. I've always felt like the sidewalk sort of obeys the laws or traffic where you walk on the right side, pass on the left, people from buildings have to merge into the walkers, etc. But all of those rules are thrown out of the window here. People don't walk in straight lines but kind of meander around and will literally curve right into you. There are hoards of people sometime walking one direction that won't leave room for people walking the opposite directions. There have been many times when it's been me and one other person walking the opposite direction on the sidewalk and I feel like we make eye contact and if we both just continue on in a straight line we will get by unscathed. But there has been a run in almost every time. People just don't care much about personal space and if some of these things happened in NYC, it would result in a verbal confrontation at least. However, the fact that people just run into you is never meant to be rude, it's just the way it is because I've found that the Chinese are some of the friendliest people. Whenever I ask them what words are they try and tell me and really want to take the time to communicate with me. I've really appreciated it.
The last thing I've noticed, and not gonna lie kind of enjoy, is the fact that I am very exotic looking here. Since I am pretty average looking and as American as apple pie, I've never been thought of this way before and I am relishing it. It's awesome. People seem pretty fascinated by my curly hair and how tall I am. I've had a few people stop me on the street and take a picture of me or ask to have their picture taken with me. It's been fun to feel more unique.
So that's just an idea of what's going on here and some of the things I've noticed. I'm only in Shanghai through the weekend and will then head to Nanjing for the next week or two. I'm not really sure how long I'm going to be anywhere at this point. Everything is going to be last minute decisions I think. I've been having a great time though and have found China to be very hospitable. It's been a great start!
Friday, March 5, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Here in Shanghai!!
Hey friends!!
Sorry I'm just now getting around to updating this thing, but as Fish so helpfully pointed out after I left for China, blogspot is indeed blocked here. Fortunately Peter has VPN so I can access blocked sites through the internet in Hong Kong. However, everything on my blog was showing up in Cantonese characters so it was really guess and check on how to write a new post.
ANYWAYS, this is my second and 1/2 day in Shanghai. I left NYC on Sunday at 11am and landed in Shanghai at 3pm, meaning a 13 hour difference. I only slept for one hour on the flight which kind of sucked but I still managed to stay awake and somewhat coherent until 8:30pm here in China. Which meant I was up until 7:30am NYC time which I'm pretty proud about considering I'm a girl who likes her sleep.
So the first night I walked around people's square and east Nanjing road (sort of similar to times square). Yesterday, I wandered around the less developed area of Shanghai right behind Peter's apartment, got a Chinese massage (which was incredible) and walked around the French concession. Today, I plan to visit the Shanghai museum and will be going to lunch with several Shanghainese who plan to order us some more unique Chinese foods. So that's a rundown of what I've been up to so far.
I have really been enjoying seeing what kind of food and snacks are available here. It's definitely been an adjustment as I've had pork (or what I believe to be pork) dumplings at every meal since I've been here. Also, if you're a vegetarian you'll definitely have a rough time as there are quantities of meat tossed into everything. I've also found it interesting that when you order water in a restaurant, it is served to you warm and in a hot glass. So that was pretty different.
So the weather here is supposed to be in the lower 40s and raining all week. so the weather has been kind of a disappointment. However, fortunately, when they say rain here, for the most part it just means extreme mist, which is way more manageable than rain but I go into the day with zero expectation of looking decent at the end of the day.
I've also been picking up more words and phrases in mandarin since I've been here. I can count to 100 and am able to say things like "not interested thank you". "how much does this cost", "excuse me", "what?", "good bye", "I don't understand", etc. I have actually made a couple of purchases all in mandarin and directed a cab yesterday on where to go with good enough pronunciation that he actually understood me. I'm trying to pick up a few more phrases and words every day. It would be really nice to be a bit more self sufficient.
So a few interesting observations here. Almost everyone gets around via bike, electric bike or mopeds. You see a lot of families piled onto one moped moving around. Also, unlike NYC, there is very little respect for pedestrians. Vehicles can turn right on red here, so even if you have a walk sign, you have to be careful not to get barreled over by a city bus. Even bicycles and mopeds might run you over on the sidewalk so you've always got to be on your toes.
Also, the spitting thing. One of my biggest pet peeves is spitting in public and it's multiplied by 100 here as opposed to NYC. I don't even see it that often as I'm constantly hearing the sound of spitting. Just something I'll have to get more accustomed to I suppose.
Also, one of the trademarks of Shanghai and something I've found to be really interesting is the stark contrast between developed areas right next to the poorer/older areas of shanghai. For example, you might see a high end retail jewelry store while across the street is a noodle shack where cabbies will pull over for a quick bite to eat with people laundry hanging above it. The build up is happening so fast here that it really seems somewhat haphazard.
Ok, well gotta run, I would have liked to put up some pictures but it's gonna take me a little while to figure out how to do it with everything being in cantonese. I'll try to keep everyone updated as best I can but we'll see how it goes since the site is blocked! Hope everyone's doing well!
KO
Sorry I'm just now getting around to updating this thing, but as Fish so helpfully pointed out after I left for China, blogspot is indeed blocked here. Fortunately Peter has VPN so I can access blocked sites through the internet in Hong Kong. However, everything on my blog was showing up in Cantonese characters so it was really guess and check on how to write a new post.
ANYWAYS, this is my second and 1/2 day in Shanghai. I left NYC on Sunday at 11am and landed in Shanghai at 3pm, meaning a 13 hour difference. I only slept for one hour on the flight which kind of sucked but I still managed to stay awake and somewhat coherent until 8:30pm here in China. Which meant I was up until 7:30am NYC time which I'm pretty proud about considering I'm a girl who likes her sleep.
So the first night I walked around people's square and east Nanjing road (sort of similar to times square). Yesterday, I wandered around the less developed area of Shanghai right behind Peter's apartment, got a Chinese massage (which was incredible) and walked around the French concession. Today, I plan to visit the Shanghai museum and will be going to lunch with several Shanghainese who plan to order us some more unique Chinese foods. So that's a rundown of what I've been up to so far.
I have really been enjoying seeing what kind of food and snacks are available here. It's definitely been an adjustment as I've had pork (or what I believe to be pork) dumplings at every meal since I've been here. Also, if you're a vegetarian you'll definitely have a rough time as there are quantities of meat tossed into everything. I've also found it interesting that when you order water in a restaurant, it is served to you warm and in a hot glass. So that was pretty different.
So the weather here is supposed to be in the lower 40s and raining all week. so the weather has been kind of a disappointment. However, fortunately, when they say rain here, for the most part it just means extreme mist, which is way more manageable than rain but I go into the day with zero expectation of looking decent at the end of the day.
I've also been picking up more words and phrases in mandarin since I've been here. I can count to 100 and am able to say things like "not interested thank you". "how much does this cost", "excuse me", "what?", "good bye", "I don't understand", etc. I have actually made a couple of purchases all in mandarin and directed a cab yesterday on where to go with good enough pronunciation that he actually understood me. I'm trying to pick up a few more phrases and words every day. It would be really nice to be a bit more self sufficient.
So a few interesting observations here. Almost everyone gets around via bike, electric bike or mopeds. You see a lot of families piled onto one moped moving around. Also, unlike NYC, there is very little respect for pedestrians. Vehicles can turn right on red here, so even if you have a walk sign, you have to be careful not to get barreled over by a city bus. Even bicycles and mopeds might run you over on the sidewalk so you've always got to be on your toes.
Also, the spitting thing. One of my biggest pet peeves is spitting in public and it's multiplied by 100 here as opposed to NYC. I don't even see it that often as I'm constantly hearing the sound of spitting. Just something I'll have to get more accustomed to I suppose.
Also, one of the trademarks of Shanghai and something I've found to be really interesting is the stark contrast between developed areas right next to the poorer/older areas of shanghai. For example, you might see a high end retail jewelry store while across the street is a noodle shack where cabbies will pull over for a quick bite to eat with people laundry hanging above it. The build up is happening so fast here that it really seems somewhat haphazard.
Ok, well gotta run, I would have liked to put up some pictures but it's gonna take me a little while to figure out how to do it with everything being in cantonese. I'll try to keep everyone updated as best I can but we'll see how it goes since the site is blocked! Hope everyone's doing well!
KO
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