First Post

The post below is one that I wrote after only being here a few days... Enjoy!

Where do I begin!!! I arrived in Shanghai on Tuesday, Auguts 28^th.  I met my contact, Shane Nunn, at the airport after going through Quarantine, Inspection, and customs.  We changed some money at the airport and then got on the magnetic levitation train to go from Pu Dong (East of the Sea) to Pu Xi (west of the sea, which is the district I live in).  Once we got off the train, we hailed a taxi.  Shane informed me that all the taxis are organized by color, so certain companies use certain colors.  He said that the red taxis are the ones I should avoid, because they are usually independent drivers who like to rip off foreigners.  We finally arrived at the main gate of my school, which is decorated with huge Asian lions on each side, big, over the top columns, and gold lettering.  After walking a mile and a half with my huge heavy bags, we made it to the international student dorm, where I will be living.  Needless to say, after two days of travel, I was exhausted.  I checked in and got the key to my room, which is on the 8^th floor. The room, while small, was still bigger than I was expecting and there was lots of storage space.  I have my own air conditioning unit (a commodity in China!), a balcony, and a hot water heater in my bathroom. 

            The bathroom is unlike any I have ever seen.  It is TINY, with a sink, a toilet, and a shower unit OVER the toilet, and a hot water heater over that.  So basically when I shower, the whole bathroom gets soaked.  On the plus side, it is an easy way to keep the bathroom clean..? Haha. The first few days I kept forgetting to remove my trashcan and toilet paper from the bathroom before I showered, but I am in the habit of doing that now. I also have a desk, a twin bed, a tv and tv stand, small fridge, armoire, and a bedside table.  I will like living here.  Down the hall is the washer and a small community kitchen.  I have clotheslines already hung out on my balcony, so it looks like I will be air drying most of my clothes.  There IS a dryer, but I will only be using it for my sheets and such.  There is a remote to my air conditioner, which is in Celsius degrees, but the whole thing is in Chinese and I have no idea what the difference between Celsius and Fahrenheit is.  So, this will be interesting to figure out!

           

            I don’t think the reality of what I have taken on here has hit me yet.  I didn’t cry when I left my parents at the airport, I didn’t cry during my two day journey, and I am still tearless now, three days later.  When the loneliness does hit me, it will hit hard and hopefully I can just have a good cry and get it over with.  On Wednesday, Shane and I had agreed to meet downstairs at my dorm at noon.  Well, I forgot how lightly punctuality is taken here.  After sitting down there for an hour, getting frustrated, Shane finally arrived.  We walked the distance to the East Gate (taxis are not allowed on campus-sigh) and got a taxi.  Shane took me to an electronics store to get a battery for my Chinese phone, which is an old school POS Nokia that takes me 20 minutes to send one text on.  As we walked around going to various stores to get things that I need, Shane starts to teach me how to count in Chinese and a few other basic words.  The Chinese only use one hand to count on, so he also taught me the hand signals for numbers.  We boarded the subway, which is insanely crowded.  Shane seems to think that I am magically going to remember which stops to get off of, which subway lines to take, when to switch trains, etc.  While I appreciate the vote of confidence, I don’t know where the hell we are or how to get back here!

            An interesting thing about China is that they are required by law to charge you for a bag.  So if you went to Walmart in the States, for example, you’d have to pay for every single plastic grocery bag that you needed.  Crazy! The Chinese government implemented this in order to keep the plastic factories in operation and provide more jobs. 

            It is much warmer and humid here than I was expecting, and after only 30 minutes of walking outside, I am soaked with sweat and regretting the makeup that I applied that morning.  Shanghai is beautiful in a big city, skyscrapers everywhere kind of way.  My favorite thing is when it gets dark and all the skyscrapers are lit up.  China does not observe daylight saving time, so it gets completely dark here around 6pm.  There are no visible stars because of the air and light pollution, but the clouds look beautiful at night.  By nightfall, the jetlag has hit me full force and I can barely move because of all the walking and heavy shopping bags I am carrying.  Shane seems to have boundless energy, which was fun at first but after several hours is absolutely exhausting.  We finally take the subway back home, and a taxi back to the gate of my school.  And now I get to walk a mile and a half to my dorm… Oh goodie!

            On Thursday, day two of my Shanghai experience, I meet Shane and his Chinese friend, who has her 3 year old boy in tow.  He is adorable but extremely spoiled.  We go to the office of Tokkie, the international student coordinator, to try to get my wireless internet password and my cafeteria card.  Sadly I will not be getting either until orientation on Monday, so I can’t skype my friends/family or even check my email.  Living in this country is proving to be quite a feat for a spoiled American girl.  So far, I have learned how to wash my dishes in a bucket, boil my own drinking water, shower in under 5 minutes before my hot water runs out, and to watch my step when I am out walking because the Chinese people love to spit.  It’s one of those weird cultural things that is just done.  They spit so much, in fact, that there is a sign on every floor of my dorm saying “no spitting please”.  Seriously?! Spit inside?!

            Also, pretty much everyone smokes here.  Kids smoke in their dorm rooms!! People smoke while walking through a mall and passing stores such as Armani, Gucci, Prada, and others that I can’t pronounce.  People smoke in the elevator.  They just smoke everywere.  Another interesting/challenging thing about China is that toilet paper and napkins are not provided, anywhere.  You pretty much have to buy your own and carry it with you, or just not use it. Eww! There aren’t even toilet paper holders in any public bathrooms, unless they are in the really ritzy parts of town.  Thankfully I had a small roll in my purse from traveling, otherwise it would’ve been a lonnnng day!

            The last time I lived overseas was when I was 19, in Jerusalem, Israel.  I have forgotten how different it is, and how good we really have it in America.  Things that you don’t even think about at home are luxuries here.  For example, having a car and not walking miles a day just to buy dinner.  It really makes you grateful for EVERYthing.  I feel as though I am complaining a lot, which I am not trying to do.  So, here is something that I can say absolutely nothing negative about; THE FOOD.  I LOVE THE FOOD!! Oh my goodness.  It is amazing! At the small little corner store across from the Main Gate, they serve boiled eggs that are boiled in many spices, including black tea.  The flavor permeates the whole egg and it is delicious.  The street food is wonderful as well.  My favorite place so far is a little noodle stand that serves you rice noodles with cucumber, seaweed, carrots, your choice of meat, and then all these sauces and spices on top.  At the food courts in the malls, upon entering, you buy a card with a certain amount of RMBs (money) on it, and then you go to whatever place you want in the food court and they just charge it on your card.  It’s very efficient and a lot less trouble than going to two different places and having to get cash out, get change, etc. 

            At home, you cannot pay me to eat tofu.  Here it is a different story.  The tofu is amazing, it tastes nothing like the bland, rubbery crap that passes as tofu in the US.  Depending on where you go to eat, it is usually a much safer option than ordering meat.  Nobody working at restaurants here wears gloves, or seems to worry about cross contamination.  Most of the food arrives in the morning, and then it sits out all day in the open air.  The vendors pick it up with their bare hands, put it in a big bowl for you, and stir fry it up.  Needless to say, I pray over every meal before taking a bite. 

            There are juice stands all over that have choices like kiwi, lotus, watermelon, starfruit, sugarcane, and many others.  You pick one (or two, or three) and they squeeze it right there in front of you.  It is delicious and very refreshing. There are also tea stands with options such as black tea with lemon, milk tea (which I haven’t tried yet), and bubble tea.  The tea here is wonderful!

            Well, that is all I will write for now.   I am going to buy some food and try to find some more cleaning supplies.  Wish me luck!