Two Weeks

2 weeks. wow have they come and gone! I am still staying at the hotel, and looking for an apartment I have one week before I have to start paying for the hotel so hoepfully something will pan out soon.Training is finished and I start at my center on Saturday, definitely looking forward to starting my routine and getting to know everyone.

Haven't gone out on too many crazy adventures. These pictures are from a very neat area near the hotel called "Old Shanghai." It's very Asian and made me feel as though I was actually in China! Funny how that works.

It's starting to feel more real that I am and will be here for a little while. I do get stared at by the locals for being Western, and some try to sneak pictures. Some don't even try sneaking though and just ask. It always makes me laugh.

My favorite though is in a subway station or the sub itself and the little kids just stare. When I wave back at them, they smile from ear to ear. The older ones (6 or so) get really excited and really enjoy saying "hi" to me. We have a very limited conversation consisting of "hi" and "hello" for about a minute. I'm pretty sure it makes their day though!

The fashion here is what I heard a lot about before coming. I must say however, I haven't noticed it as much during the day. People definitely do dress up at night though for going out on the town! The two biggest day trends I have noticed are:

1) Harem Pants. I must say that I kind of love them! Finally able to get my harem jumper out of hiding and flaunt it.

2) Nautical stripes! This picture is actually a perfect example of a striped dress that would be found on any fashionable twenty- something in Shanghai. Striped shirts are also very popular.

These are just two of the main fashions I have really noticed so far. I believe these are becoming more and more popular in Europe as well. Not sure how the US is feeling about the harem pants in particular...

Well, that's it for now. I will post again soon, next topic will be food! Hopefully at that point I will be typing from my apartment.