Rainy Days

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!