Shanghainese Ramblings

A few random things that I have learned while living in Shanghai the past 2.5 months:

1. You can get ANY kind of food including personal favorite CJ's Chicago style pizza. This isn't even found in Los Angeles!

2. There is a seperate bike/scooter lane alongside most roads, but always, always look both ways when crossing the street. Even if it says walk... you may get hit by a bus/taxi/scooter..etc.

3. Speaking of scooters, you can also fit anything on them: families of up to 4, large dogs, propane tanks, doors, windows and more!

4. I never believed it, but yes! Whole birds (including heads) can be dried, preserved, put in a bag and sold in your local food store.

Mom- you won't like this one...

5. Midnight runs are the most exhilarating and refreshing that I have experienced. The air has cooled for the day, and if you run alongside the biking lane it's not busy and safe!

I have learned so much from this city. There will be more updates on this later on.

This photo was taken by Jenny (who also captured bird in a bag and propane scooter) while we were in Hangzhou. I'm just obsessed with it, this picture has such great character. It was taken while shopping in the market street. Love, love it Jenny!

And finally a quick fall fashion update from the Orient: denim print legging pants, flannel shirts and flow-y, flowery tops are all the rage. The best store for all your flannel needs? UNIQLO.

Melting.

Well, well, well. It has been a while... the heat is getting to me making me lazy and slow. It is 10am right now and is 97, feels like 113. Soo hot and I have at least 40 minutes of walking in my commute to/ from work. Hopefully the

rain will come soon enough to cool everything off a touch.

Sights:

Last week I was finally able to get out of Shanghai for the day! Took a day trip through work to Oriental Land and raced dragon boats. This is difficult to do with a group of up to 10 in a boat, it was fun though.

After the boats we headed out to a water town: Zhaojiajiao. Here is a picture of the canal and great boats they "zip" around in.

I also visited some more green areas- Fuxing (pronounced *fushing) Park. This was a great area with many older people playing cards, a pond with large lily pads and flowers, a rose garden, cafe and mini kids amusement park. So much fun for everyone!

Food:

After the park and being green, I decided to go out and watch a movie- a nearby bar was playing "Blade Runner." It was fun to be in Shanghai and watching a movie in English. Once we were done with the free buttery goodness of popcorn, headed across the street to a local man selling skewers of raw veggies (large variety of mushrooms, potatoes etc.) as well as raw meat (chicken, and many unidentifiable meats, overheard a nearby English speaker saying chicken hearts...). I stuck with potatoes and the chicken that looked most promising. I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious it was once it was cooked and spiced right in front of me! This is a bad night pic of the set-up. Just a street corner turned ultimate snack bar.

Another addition to my list of interesting food experiences: frogs. I was served frogs at lunch during the company outing. It reminded me of dissecting them in the middle school, looked and smelled the same. I was just as nauseous at the smell then as I was at lunch.

On a good note, I did make my first meal in the kitchen! I got some pre-cooked udon noodles, reheated them and added in some veggies. It was pretty good, needed some soy sauce or more seasoning though. I also made pico de gallo and bought some chips to bring in for co-workers (luckily I have a foreign mart right by me, so corn chips were easy to find). The local girls didn't know what Mexican food was, so I thought they should try a simple dish. They loved it, very excited to have something other than "traditional Chinese."

Fashion update:

Man bags are all the rage in Shanghai. Not briefcases, not laptop bags... man purses/bags. The guys here typically carry their ladies purse for them (which is amazing), but typically they have one of there own as well! Joey from Friends was right; man bags is where it's at!

Another interesting trend that's found throughout Asia in general, or so I've heard, is matching shirts. This is common in couples, not even just t-shirts, but matching exact, button downs or something similar. Fantastic. So just in case holding hands or smooching isn't enough to tell you're together, the shirt will let me know for a fact.

Deal of the Day:

10 yuan ($1.50) new copy of Lolita! This was bought off the back of a woman's bike. I pass her everyday at the corner outside my apartment so I finally caved. Also bought a jade necklace for 15yuan ($2). There are good deals here, they just have to be sought out.

I did learn a lesson last night however. I bought a DVD from a street vendor- Sex and the City 2. I went to play it and it was all in black and white. So.. you do have to be careful when purchasing the 5 yuan (less than $1) movies off carts.

Being in Shanghai has taught me how grateful I am that I have had the opportunity to travel throughout the states. Many locals here never leave Shanghai, it's too expensive for them and many just don't value the experience of travel. I'm also thankful that I haven't had to eat the same foods and to have diverse choices in the western world. There are foods in Shanghai from all over the globe, but again as a local, they stick to what they know.

There are video blogs up on YouTube as well: my neighborhood, Xiantandi, more of dragon boat racing and more! Take a look, I think you can get a better feel for this place through them over pictures alone. Next weeks topic: nightlife.. there's plenty of it! Any questions or if you want to know about anything please ask!

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.

Made it!

Thunder!! I finally made it to Shanghai. Was welcomed by rain, clouds, a thunderstorm and humidity- have yet to see the sun! Monday we start training which I heard is a bit overwhelming, but I have met a few other co-workers and they are all extremely welcoming and said not to worry too much about it.

Shanghai itself is a crazy city! So many people, cars, horns, bikes and mopeds. There's definitely always something going on. I have only had one person get in my face to take a picture. This is not what the others here have experienced however. Apparently they were suckered into taking pictures with gobs of people for 15 minutes. yikes.

There are so many influences from other countries and this makes it very unique. It's... EuroAsian I guess. The people that are here are all very nice and interested in Americans and the English language. I surprisingly am already acclimated to not understanding anything that's going on around me- you never realize how much eavesdropping you do un-knowingly.

On the way out to dinner last night we went through the French Concession which is a very European influenced area. The streets are tree-lines and there are many art studios and small coffee shops/ cafes. So much pretty!

I have gone out to eat at a Chinese restaurant two nights now. The first was with work and the food was great! I love the eating style, they don't rush at all and being a slow eater, it's even better. Last night, I went to eat with some girls I have met through training and we experienced hot pot. It's very interesting- delicious though of course. You order different meats and veggies, make a sauce at the counter which has all different spices, peanut, sesame, etc sauce, herbs- mix it all up in a little bowl. Then the server brings out boiling broth (spicy or not) and you add the meat to the broth to cook it and dip it in the sauce. So good and it took forever to eat because there was so much!

However, I am already missing fresh produce terribly...

Intro

As of one week ago, I have been offered- and I accepted- a position teaching English to young children in Shanghai. I have an extensive background in working with children so working with them will be familiar to me- always a good start!

Now originally I am from MN, and upon college graduation, moved out to Los Angeles, CA on my own. So I am somewhat familiar with change and moving... but across the world?! Well... we will see. It still hasn't quite sunk in for me that I am leaving, but in the meantime am feeling many different things at once:

I leave in exactly 40 days. Still lots to do and hopefully this will all sink in sooner rather than later....

** Any advice, tips of what to bring/ see/ do/ expect in Shanghai, or even China would be greatly appreciated! **