7am "Post-Abroad Traumatic Stress Syndrome" Too Soon!

Hello All,

Hangzhou

I've been a terrible blogger...sporadic, gone for 3 weeks. Very irresponsible. This post is completely out of order, but considering the fact that some weird feeling woke me up on a Friday morning at 6:45am (a day that I have no reason to be up at a time to have coffee with the sunrise), I thought I'd blog. I'll probably end up falling back asleep, but for now all I can think about is a weird achy feeling I woke up with this morning. At first, I couldn't really place it. A mixture of confusion, unsettled thoughts, and pins and needles in my arm from sleeping on it strangely. I soon realized that this weird feeling was one of reminiscing/nostalgia about China... so I think so myself, "how can I miss being in China? I'm still here." Then it dawned on me, this is the one month marker point. One month from now, instead of lounging in my hard, by comfy, dorm bed, planning what to do with my class-free Fridays, I will be preparing to embark on my journey (back) to the West.

I'll spare everyone a sob-story of "all the little things I'll miss" and how that day will probably look/feel, but know that it probably won't be too pretty. My friends here will probably kill me if they read this post, we have a "no talking about that day we have to leave" policy. This definitely breaks that rule. But I can't help but wondering, how does 4 months pass so quickly?! Like where in the world did that time go? For us, it's a mixture of Chinese classes, random travel excursions, late nights dancing, dinners at the Houmen, bargaining with the locals, and listening to people whisper "Laowai (Old Foreigner)" as we pass by to only astonish them further by speaking to them in their mother tongue. From looking at this list, people who aren't in China are probably just nodding their heads waiting for a clarification story for each event mentioned. That, right there, is probably one of the hardest parts about returning home from study abroad, but also one of the greatest. The fact that you return home and a part of you has changed, no one can quite place it, but something's different. It's like you gain a new part of yourself from wherever you studied abroad. It's great, because it's an experience you'll never forget. It's hard, because it's an experience that's nuances and quirkiness you can try to describe to your friends, family, and classmates, but will only every entirely make sense to those who experienced it with you.

But, enough of this melodramatic 7am blogging rant. We still have a month left, and there's no reason to be thinking about it yet haha.

Bund Night @ The Roosevelt

While I know I'll be excited to go home and then back to Georgetown, it's hard not to think about the things I feel like I'll be leaving behind in China. We've all talked about how much more relaxed we feel here, how being in Shanghai is almost like being in Wonderland. I'm sure many people feel similarly about their study abroad experiences, which is why they try to prepare us for the "post-abroad culture shock," which I'm now thinking of retitling as "Post-Abroad Traumatic Stress Syndrome." Anyway, like I said, the day will come, I'll be sad to go, but excited to come home to friends and family! Besides, I'm positive that I'll be "falling down the rabbit hole" and be coming back to Shanghai soon. So while it may not be the same, it'll definitely be a quirky, exciting, new unexplored experience, which is really what we're looking for when we decide to travel, right?

tis life,

e

Happy Hallows from the East Side of Life

Hello Everybody!

Long time no blog, but I'm finally back from the adventure on the Silk Road in western China and super excited to tell you all about it in the next few posts (trust me, it'll take a few with all of the craziness that went on in Xinjiang (aka Uyghur [pronounced Wee-Ghur]Wonderland) and Gansu (home of pulled beef noodles) Provinces.  Before I begin my thoughtful ranting post on my weeklong trip, I'd like to take this brief post to wish you all a wonderful Halloween weekend and start to the holiday season.

Shanghai, as I've mentioned much too frequently, is an epic place for nightlife. Luckily Halloween is no different. Although we arrived home from our respective cultural trips yesterday afternoon, we still managed to pull together costumes for partying that night. From searching around the trusty backgate shops to perusing sketchy street vendors' wears, we managed to scrounge up some light up devil horns. Those, with the addition of red sequin body dots, black dresses, and some liquid courage, resulted in our cute group of "little devils" that took Shanghai's streets by storm...well maybe not the streets, but at least a couple of clubs.

We made our way to Barbarossa, in People's Square, first. Great ambiance and free "bloody shots" all around. The bar had a nice rooftop terrace and enough people in costumes to almost feel like I was in a bar in Georgetown rather than halfway around the world. After Barbarossa, we made our way to the real fun and dance floor at M1NT. M1NT is one of those places that ever expat/Shanghai dweller must visit at least once. With glass tanks filled with sharks lining the walls, two amazing dance floors, and a guest list/table list system that would made any person trying to ascend to M1NT's top floor club location cringe, this club was the place to be for Hallow's Eve Debauchery.


Long story short, the group of us had an awesome night parading around the city in our lightup horns and dancing the night away. Although, my feet are paying dearly for 5+ hours of 4inch+ heels....eeek! what a fright.

Sending lots of "Boos" from Shanghai!

Enjoy your Halloween Weekends,

e

The Whimsy of Haerbin and Upcoming Wanderings

Once more I am failing at consistent blog posting...I guess it's a good sign cause it means I'm too busy living life to document it...or it means that I'm a bit lazy. Either way I'm back with another update on my wanderings in the East. Alex and I survived our Beijing layover and managed to make a few friends on our way. Of course, standing in line to scan our ticket, we had a few "omg it's a real foreigner!"stares. Usually these stares from people result in, A. more staring, or B. a conversation. Therefore, when a middle-aged Chinese man struck up a conversation with us, we weren't surprised. Something tells me he really wanted to practice his English though, and did so a bit creepily due to the fact that he relentlessly followed us chattering away until we made it to the safety of our seats. Sitting down quickly, I figured I should use the plane ride to sleep...no such luck. Immediately after my sigh of relief from being able to plug into my iPod and relax, the gentleman next to me struck up a conversation. He was incredibly friendly, and very excited to speak with a "老外lao wai (foreigner)" who could speak Chinese.  

火锅！

We managed to fly in at 10pm, go out to SanLiTun (one of the larger nightlife areas in Beijing), and after dancing until 4am on a rooftop patio, we pulled ourselves together and headed back to the airport to catch our flight to Haerbin (哈尔滨）! If that isn't a whirlwind trip, then I don't know what is.

China's Little Europe

After arriving to Haerbin, we soon realized we were in for an amazing weekend. Haerbin is known for being a mix of Chinese-Russian culture due to its proximity to the Russian boarder. Visiting this far north city made the group of us feel as though we were in our own little Chinese version of Europe. Haerbin is probably one of the only cities in China where the influence of religion seeps into the surrounding culture. From St. Sofia's Church, to our hostel, which was an old synagogue transformed into one of the coolest international youth hostels I've seen. The Haerbin people were also amazing! They were incredibly friendly, curious, and often would strike up conversations about our travels, Chinese studies, and America. While visiting Haerbin, we had the chance to visit many of Haerbin's well-known attractions. Even though Haerbin is known for their Ice Festival, which occurs in late-January, we got to visit some of Haerbin's churches, walk around the old Russian quarter, and visit a Tiger preserve (老虎公园，Tiger Park)!



Finally, the Haerbin food was some of the best in China. Our first lunch we had 火锅（hot pot, sort of like a Chinese version of Fondue where boiling broth is placed in a giant bowl in the middle of a table and a variety of meats and veggies are placed around it for individuals to cook in the hot, hot soup!). Then that evening we walked around our hotel's neighborhood, which happened to be in one of the best locations possible for a group of traveling college students. With cobblestone roads, ice cream shops, and pop-up dinner areas, we had a lot of options for exploration. Our favorite was probably an outdoor dining area that boasted street food stands with anything from sausages on sticks, to squid, to egg pancakes, to purple rice, etc so forth. Obviously foodie's paradise. We we also had some great Russian food that kept us super warm in Haerbin's chilly night air.


Overall, my break was a great experience. I feel as if my Chinese ability quickly improved because I had to use it so much in both Shenzhen and Haerbin. Traveling from the southern most point of China up to the northern, really put how vast and diverse China is into perspective. From the people, to the food, to the terrain, there's always something new to see and experience. And to think, I'll be shoving off for my program trip this Friday!

Each program here has their own trip that they participate in as a part of our cultural practicum. The Advance Chinese Studies group (my group!), is traveling to XinJiang!! If you know nothing about XinJiang, the basics are: it's the start of the Silk Road, it's in the middle of the desert (very far west!), it's home to one of China's minority groups, the Uyghurs (notorious for their conflicts with the Han majority ethnic group, but according to the Chinese government those types of problems don't "exist"), and XinJiang is apparently home to some of the best honeydew melon (who knew!). There are 11 of us going on this trip, which makes it especially fun because we'll be able to cover more ground. Our itinerary has me practically dancing in circles with excitement. We'll be starting in Urumqi and head along the Silk Road toward Gansu Province. Along the way we'll have the opportunity to ride camels, see the Thousand Buddha Caves (UNESCO World Heritage Site), visit 天山(Heaven Mountain), have dinner with a Uyghur family, and shop in a Bazaar. I believe this trip will be another collide of cultures, much like Haerbin! Can't wait :)

I'll try to get better at this blogging thing. *sigh* 

Shenzhen in Review-Fake Market Madness, Strolls Along Rivers, and MUN

Hellllllo again my reader friends,

For those of you who have been keeping up, you know that I'm currently on National Holiday Break, meaning I'm getting the chance to travel a bit. As I mentioned, Alex and I have been in Shenzhen (southern China) for the past 5 days teaching Chinese students about Model UN, International Affairs, and various workshops. We've had a bit of cabin fever cause of being in a hotel most of the time, but last night and today we broke out a bit.

We finally went into downtown/bar area of Shenzhen, which turned out to be gorgeous! With a square/"garden" of outdoor bars and clubs, a group of us "teachers"sauntered our way over to one of quieter locations for a round of drinks. Each of the bars was really nice and sort of bled into each other. With fairylights strung from each overhang, sleek chairs, and a sea of people holding pina coladas, daiquiris, and margaritas, it was hard to tell whether we were in the Caribbean or China. I guess that's what happens when you hit southern China; everything becomes more tropical!





Today was a really nice break from teaching lessons too. We finished up classes with our kids at about 11am and headed back to Luohu, which is a massive MASSIVE shopping center. With less than 3 hours to browse, bargain, walk away multiple times, and finally pay, we knew we'd have to be strategic about our shopping trip. Thank goodness we only brought a portion of our salary, otherwise we probably would have spent it all in one go. If you've never been to a fake market, let's just put it this way, it's like a maze of twisting stalls filled with shoes! purses! jeans! coats! dresses! watches! makeup! jewelry! so on forever and ever until the end of time....plus, you have dozens of Chinese shopkeepers swarming you and dragging your arm toward their store. All in all....it's EPIC!

Anyway, we head to Beijing tonight to meet up with some other friends from our program

Hello Shenzhen!

Flying into Shenzhen

Nimen hao!

After spending the night celebrating the start of our break at the Apartment, we managed to survive making our 8:45am flight to Shenzhen on Friday morning. Alex and I flew Air China out of Hongqiao International Airport, which surprisingly wasn't a mob scene! As many of you either know or are able to guess, crowds in China are about as common random people on the street trying to sell you a "Rolex" watch. The ticket counter line moved fast, security was a breeze, and we made it to our gate in time to take a 30minute nap and grab breakfast, which was a egg mcmuffin...yes, I know, why support the global domination of mickey d's? I'll tell you why, 1. it was either that or KFC, 2. real cheese! (none of that random sweet stuff they produce here)...also, there may have been a cup of coffee and hashbrown involved.

Shenzhen

Our flight was pretty normal, except for a random 20minute layover in a city called Jingdezhen. We had no idea that this layover existed, so as the plane descended almost 2 hours ahead of schedule, we were a bit confused. Luckily we finally got the message that we were supposed to disembark for our odd 20 minute layover and then quickly return.

Shenzhen is gorgeous! It's apparently like a smaller version of Singapore; with palm trees, tropical flowers, and temperatures that are currently around 86/90 (which is going to make going to Harbin where it's 30deg a be a traumatizing experience). We're only here for 5 days, but the hotel is really nice and the food is pretty great; so even though we're technically working for GMUNC, it's like a mini vacation.

Shenzhen

Yesterday, after a team meeting, a group of us went to Luohu Shopping center. Now, if you didn't already know, China's like the bargaining/fake capital of the world; and since we're so close to Hong Kong, the quality, variety, and overall craziness of shopping in a knock off market is pretty much incomparable to anything else. We went with the intent of spending 2-3hours, and somehow managed to stay from about 3:30pm-11pm! Let me say though, it was epic. From shoes, to bags, to trench coats, to iphones, to 3hrs massages for 100rmb, and 10rmb pedicures, it's madness!! 

We also grabbed dinner at said knock off superstore. A Chinese man who had been stalking us screaming "missies! gucci! prada! shoes! purses!" for the past five minutes showed us to a restaurant and then proceeded to drag us to his boss's shop while we waiting for a table. The shop was pretty nice. It's amazing how much detail/organization goes into the fake market operation. There are the people to lure you in, the sales people who try to sell you everything, the runners who go to the warehouses to get the best fake stuff (because, yes, there are different levels/qualities of fake everything), and then the owners who you struggle to negotiate with! But anyway, the dinner was pretty amazing too! We had cauliflaouer with corn and this clay pot rice dish with meat and veggies :)

Claypot Rice

Hope everyone's enjoying the start of fall! I'm sort of sad I'm missing the start of Pumpkin Spice season haha.
 <3 from china,

Peking Duck in Shenzhen

e

。。。I'm getting bad at this blogging thing

Hello everyone...

Long time no blog? I think yes...does that mean I've been eaten alive by Chinese words and captivated by the intensity of Shanghai's culture and nightlife: most definitely. Anyway, these past two weeks have been pretty epic (and random as usual). With classes picking up and Chinese words fogging our brains, we're managing to assimilate to the crazy culture of learning Chinese. They've sort of indoctrinated us into speaking Chinese nonstop. Like, we had to sign language pledges, so in certain places we MUST speak in Chinese (there are signs up everywhere that say "language cop on duty"), I know...super scary. But,  with all of this forced language usage, the group of us are starting to really embrace the nuances of "Chinglish." An example, if you will: "You're so mafan!" Or, on one particular night when we got locked out of the back gate because it was passed 12am, a scream of "I've got the HouMen floor on me!"

In addition to the quirkiness of Chinglish, we've taken to using our nights for walking around the area near the Houmen (back gate). There are storefronts ranging from dumpling houses, to stuffed animal bazaars, to random racks of sweaters, dresses, and pantyhose. Chinese fashion is one of those things you just can't quite put a finger on. On one hand, some of the cutesy frills and bright colors can actually enhance a person's appearance. On another, giant bows and lacy puff sleeves a
Therefore, as we were walking into the 6th shop to look at clothes, we determined that "Chinese stores are strange, you see the clothing and you think 'oh! that looks like a good shop, let's go in' and then next thing you know they've ruined the clothes by putting sequins in the armpit or something!" As of now, Alex and I have dubbed stores that boast traditional Chinese styles as "Sequins under the armpit" stores.

Tomorrow is the start of our October break (National Holiday), which means we get a week off of classes to travel. Alex and I are first heading to Shenzhen (south China) to work/relax at GMUNC (similar to WEMUN for all of you MUN people out there). After that we're meeting up with Meagan, Amay, and Nate in Beijing and then heading up to Harbin. Per usual, spontinaity is the theme of our vacation considering the original plan was for GMUNC to be held in Beijing, but then to "political tension" it was moved 1000+miles south to a more "western environment." Go China! Either way, we'll get to see some pretty awesome areas. Although, I think our Chinese teachers think we're "silly Americans" who don't know geography since Alex and I are literally hitting up about as far south as we can go to then fly up to almost Russian territory.

I'll try to be more renzhen (serious) about posting!



-e

Ni Hao AH from Wonderland (aka Shanghai)

好久不见！ （long time no see)

The Bund-River Cruise

So, these massive gaps in blog posts must mean that I'm completely devoted to studying my 50+characters a night, writing essays, and being an overall 认真 （serious) student, right? ...half-truth. Yes, I'm doing my work, yes I'm learning my words, and yes, I'm doing my best to keep up with the language pledge meaning that I'm practicing my Shanghai accent enough that my English is starting to suffer. BUT, I'm also having a spectacular, crazy, spontaneous, and random time in Shanghai.

This weekend was much needed after our whirlwind week of classes. From deciding that the proper way to be flirty in Shanghai is to put and "ah" sound on the end of sentences (thank you, Nate), to almost getting hit by buses, we do our best to make our school week lives a bit more interesting. But with all of the quirky randomness of being in this great place home to the Little Red Book, we also get a good dose of studying. Not only do we have the chance to explore the fantastic culture of China, but we also get to experience the nuances classwork in China, which can be summed up in one Chinese sentence "“放松"的意思是什么？" (What is the meaning of relaxation?). From people who had 10+hours of classes in one day, to others who had 4 hours of Chinese in the morning followed by 2 hours of tutoring and homework, the group of us were completely ready to go out and relax this weekend. And by relax, I mean drink and dance until roughly 4:45am...I know, this lifestyle cannot be sustained.

This weekend we explored some new places to dance and let loose and get a good dose of Shanghai's black lung (I don't think we'll ever get used to have a puff of smoke being blown into our faces). Friday night we started out at Windows Too, I think at this point I can say it's one of our "places." With cheap drinks and good music, this is a pretty good place to start off your night; it just so happens its like attached to a temple... yes, once again, thank you, China. After spending some time there, the seven of us hopped a cab to G+ (the club names never cease to amaze), which was awesome. Let me tell you, when you go clubbing in Shanghai, be prepared for anything and everything. This place had a huge dance floor, dozens of tables, and enough wacky lighting to make you feel like through fell headfirst down the "rabbit hole." That night ended with a great rendition of "Sweet Caroline" and shouts of "XinTianDi" (a popular club/restaurant area) outside of the club.

@ Windows Too

On Saturday, we once again tried to have an "early night." HA! I'm learning there's no such thing as an early night if you decide to go out...might as well just admit to yourself that if you say you'll be home by 2am it means you'll consider being out of wherever you are by 3 or 4am...With our typical stops at the neighborhood "Family Mart" (the equivalent of a 7/11 that sells basics [cheap beer and ice cream being the most important]!) Saturday was spent at a place called Da Da...a random club/lounge is that can be found only by sauntering down the proper alleyway... but once in, you're greeted with flashing lights, cozy couches, and a Foosball table...hmm, I wonder which item seems out of place?

Being in Shanghai is like being in Wonderland, except instead of Mad Hatters/tea parties and the Queen of Hearts/gardens, we have crazy people trying to sell us flowers outside of spastic clubs and Mao with a forbidden city filled with little red books! Study abroad is definitely a mad mad world, and we're all just little pawns waiting to see what crazy experience they throw at us next, which is an awesome existence.





Anyway, enough about nightlife. I'll be posting about the cultural wonderfulness of Shanghai in my next post. So stay tuned for more foodie blogging/some info on our weekend trip to SuZhou.

Off to do homework...and excuse any typos, I'm too lazy to reread this and all my studying of Chinese has probably ruined my English anyhow.

Till next time :)

Hey All!


It's been a bit of a stretch since I last blogged, chalk it up to the fact that the group realized that we had less than 78 hours of freedom with no classes/homework and we ran with the idea. This weekend was awesome and jam-packed. I started the weekend off Friday afternoon with a CIEE sponsored "Amazing Race-Shanghai." Unfortunately we didn't come in first, but we seriously used our Chinese, which we keep telling ourselves deep down past all of the competition is the true exercise. Post Amazing Race we headed back to campus from XinTianDi (the cosmopolitan pit spot of the race). We were in serious need of a nap after all the running we'd done, but after about an hour we were up and ready for the night to start.

出去玩 (Going out) Section
Thus far our trip has been defined by the quirkiness and spontaneity of China (both traits are part of the reason I selected Chinese as my major), Friday night's adventure was no different. From starting at a place called "The Spot," to sitting on a stoop drinking beer, a contingent of us managed to run around to about 6 different places from 10pm to 4:30am that night. With a mix of G'towners and new found friends, we hit up two different dance clubs, two different bars, and a variety of random pit stops (like the 24/7 KFC and McDonalds for those who couldn't resist the call of freedom). So basically...we had an Amazing Race-Shanghai Part II: Nightlife edition. Result? Awesomeness. Although we did have a couple of close calls when playing our own personal game of Frogger as we crossed large streets. End result, Friday was a night of exploration.

Saturday, on the other hand, was supposed to be pretty chill...but I should know from past experience "pretty chill" usually turns into some sort of craziness in Shanghai. After taking a trip to the fake market and bargaining with the locals, Meagan, Alex, and I went to Nanjing Road for dinner. Instead of taking the normal foreigner's path and eating at typically restaurant, the three of us went down a couple of alleys, through hoards of people crowded around buying produce off of carts, fish out of buckets, and live squid, and found ourselves a nice 牛肉拉面餐馆(Beef Noodle Soup Restaurant). Now, these aren't just ordinary noodles, these are noodles that the sketchy little shop owner "throws." Meaning that each bowl of noodles is handmade on the spot as dough is whipped through the air and smashed down to a marble slab to stretch! One of the best bowls of noodles a person can find in China.

As previously stated, when deciding to just have a quieter night of drinking and socializing in Shanghai, one should be aware that you must actively attempt to do that. If you don't focus on not staying out till all hours of the night, then it WILL happen, and you WILL end up looking at your phone at some random point between dancing around a crowded club and speaking Chinese with a random local and realize that your quiet night of 1am turned into a raging 4am! Obviously, I'm not speaking from experience or anything, ha. The usual suspects were present, Meagan, Alex, and I, plus we were accompanied by some of the CIEE boys that are in a homestay. The night started at Windows Too (cheap drinks, lots of foreigners, good music), and ended at Club No. 88 (88 because double eights are lucky in China). This club was recommended by the Sweds, and SmartShanghai referenced it as the Moulin Rouge of Shanghai...I thought they were exaggerating, but I should have known better. From tasseled lamps, plush sofas, and antique bars, to crazy loud music, mobs of people, and random nooks where people could disappear, No. 88 was probably one of the coolest things we'd seen since setting foot in Shanghai. So anyway, the dancing and socializing was pretty epic and I think we should start a club No. 88 in Georgetown/DC...or at least they should give us our Healey Pub....on to food!



食物 （food）Section
In edition to the nightlife explored this weekend, I had some awesome meals with friends. The first visit I made was to my old homestay sister. In true Chinese fashion, I asked them to dinner and they demanded that we do no less than "go to the countryside to eat fresh food to celebrate my arrival to Shanghai." Due to their generosity, I ended up with my 中国家庭(China Family) about 40mins outside of the city at what could only be described as the equivalent of a Chinese vineyard to eat 农家菜(Country-People Food). The entire experience was unbelievable. From walking around rice paddies, to seeing pomegranates growing on trees, this country spot played host to an amazing dining experience. We started off with fresh rice wine, pumpkin juice, and soy milk, and followed it up with a selection of cold appetizers of meats and pickled veggies. Following the starters, homemade noodles arrived with fresh scrambled eggs (yes, that's dinner here, just like in college!), soups, fresh fish, fatty beef, etc so forth, on and on until I could no longer breathe I was so stuffed.

Ah yes, finally, classes....the reason I'm here. Well, they're good. Each morning I wake up crazy early to go to 4hour long Chinese language classes and then Mon/Wed I have a Business in China class. Overall, I'm excited about improving Chinese, not so much about the 60-100 words I have the pleasure of memorizing each night. I guess I need to just be a bit more 厉害 and 认真 (fierce & serious). Anyway, hope all is well with people. I know this was a crazy long post and you'll probably read only a fraction of it, but at least you'll get something out of it!

-e

So where are all the Expats at?

Hey All!

@Zapatas Shanghai :)

Hope everything is good with you back in the states or on your own study abroad adventures! Life has been simply smashing since the last time I blogged. I got the testing out of the way (yes!), and moved on to exploring my home for the next 3 months. So in an effort to further our social educations, we decided to use last night as that first of many explorations of Shanghai's nightlife. What you have to understand about Shanghai is that nightlife not only means clubbing, drinking, and a string of open bars, no cover dance parties, etc, but also includes a huuuge food scene!

If you just want to read about clubbing, scroll down lol.

Seafood Heaven

On the food front, per usual, Shanghai didn't disappoint. Our campus has many different gates or "们" that allow students to enter and exit from a variety of locations. The back gate in particular plays host to a crazy amount of street food vendors and pop up food stands that come out late at night (think pop up Tuscany!). With dozens of little twinkling lights illuminating the outskirts of the campus, students have the opportunity to taste bbq'd meats, veggies, and seafood on a stick, along with ordering fried rice, noodles, or just dozens of bottles of beer. Last night prior to going out, we sat down with some other internationals and had snacks of the "on a stick variety." I personally had octopus, but then also had this amazing scallop with garlic sauce (see picture). Shanghai has some awesome seafood and it's all really fresh/cheap. Each item on a stick ranges from 1.5rmb-7rmb (.10-1.00usd).

pomegranate tree on campus!

After finishing some drinks and our food, we hopped a cab to the French Concession area of town, which is home to cosmo spots like XinTianDi and Huaihai Rd, both of which boast awesome shopping during the day and raging parties at night. Since it was Wednesday, we decided to go to Zapatas, a Mexican bar/club that has a "ladies night" (those are super popular here haha) with free margaritas. The atmosphere was great, with outdoor seating and indoor dancing, the area was packed with foreigners, which was a nice change from campus. Silly side note-I never thought I'd be super shocked by something I saw in China at this point, but after walking into the club to see three Asian girls dancing ontop of the bar in itty-bitty shorts and shirts that said "我爱Tequila" (I love tequila), I think I was proven wrong.

Scallop!!!

We met a lot of cool people who were either in Shanghai studying or for business, like a Brazilian dermatologist. Although the club was great for meeting foreigners, we soon acknowledged it was home to some skeezy people too, like this random guy who kept creeping in on our dance cirles, or the random 45+ year old eastern euros hiding behind clouds of smoke. Besides the tequila girls and couple of creepers, there was one really entertaining couple...nothing beats seeing a middle aged Chinese couple dancing on top of a bar.

After dancing for 2+hours, we ended up making friends with a group of guys from Sweden (the hair was a bit of a give away once we'd eliminated Australia) and cabbed over to Jing An Temple to Windows (drinks were soooo cheap), and stayed there till about 3am. The guys were definitely cool and we'll probably go out with them again since they seem to know good spots. Thank goodness for cheap cabs, drink specials, and random adventures.

Anyway, headed out tomorrow night too...we have to get in as much socializing before classes start as  possible. As always, keep in touch!

-e

Mission Accomplished-Back to Dorm Life 好极了！！！

大家好！ （Hello Everyone)

G'town Love

For all of my friends 朋友们(pengyoumen) that have been keeping up with my stumbling arrival to Shanghai, you knew that I was dealing with dorm vs. homestay. You'll be glad to hear that I've moved out of my candy-disliking host family's apt. and into a lovely dorm! (sadly no in suite bathroom, but hey, I get awesome storage) I'm on campus in the "International Students' Dorm No. 2" “国际学生宿舍二”near the back gate of campus, which by the way has the best street vendors/dumpling “饺子” (jiaozi) shop!

Overall impressions of my study abroad were so much better today. I felt bad leaving my host family, but honestly, the freedom of the dorms won out. I had round two of orientation that consisted of an overview of the Advance Chinese Studies Program and an advisor meeting to pick my elective. I realized that with 8am-12pm language classes Mon-Fri, a commitment to speak Chinese 24/7 (including dreams), and the fact that we're doing upwards of 3 lessons a week, that I've basically sold my soul and sanity to Mao (现在下死我, kill me now!）. Thank goodness for three day weekends and amazing nightlife. I have a placement test tomorrow too...wondering if I should be worried that I might epically fail at remembering Chinese.

Other than academic stuff, I went grocery shopping at "Hao You Duo  好又多" aka Walmart or "Wa Er Ma." I also had the chance to set up my dorm room. I'm so glad that I was able to fit clothes, shoes, and decorations in one bag. It's quite amazing how one becomes proficient at packing...I think I did a pretty good job considering I fit 8 pairs of shoes, pictures, food, and waay too many clothes in one bag.

Moon Cakes!

On a final note, this weekend is a holiday. Mid-Autumn Festival is the day where family/friends come together to watch the moon and eat "moon cakes" (no, not of the marshmallow variety). I bought a strawberry moon cake today, so I'll let you know what it's like once I take a bite :)

Comments are always appreciated, although since I'm on facebook at random hours of the night (your time), I'm sure you'll find me there (many of you already have!). OR, if you want to be awesome and really keep in touch, there's always "whatsapp" it's a free messaging app on your mobile, so if you need to text, that's where you'll find me.

-e

Housing Resolved-The no sweets eating was a deal breaker

Hello my stateside/abroad friends,

Host Home

All has been resolved, I'm headed for dorm life tomorrow. Yes, I'm slightly selling out, but oh well I want a different experience than what a homestay offers; and yes, that experience includes going out to bars/clubs along with my academic goals of blowing my mind up with Chinese characters. You know...continue the work hard, play hard tradition. I shall be dragging my stuff back to campus tomorrow morning, much to the dismay of my host family. In the end, I guess you win some, you lose some. And considering the fact that I offered them homemade caramels from the candy shop I worked at this summer and they refused saying they were trying to lose weight....something tells me this arrangement wouldn't have quite worked out.

Expo Chinese Pavilion 

Other than housing issues, today was a good day, orientation took up most of the morning, but it was definitely entertaining. With tales of Chinese tea scams and reasons why you avoid "Dirty KTV/Massage Parlors" (Happy Ending, anyone?), we were talked through what our semester abroad would be like and reminded that "yes, go out, drink, club, have fun....but please don't rage" Obviously, someone raised their hand to get the exact chinese definition for "raging." Apparently pregamming is becoming more popular, but still something new.

In the afternoon we had lunch at Cloud 9 mall. In terms of food, no noodles today, but a pretty good lunch consisting of minced lamb with scallions, plum sauce, cucumber, and moo shu pancakes (Peiking Duck 北京烤鸭 ［Beijing kaoya］ assembly required). Quite a tasty lunch for 40rmb (~$6.10)...I still want my noodles 面 (mian) and egg pancakes 鸡蛋饼(jidan bing) both cost under $2...I did get a good dose of ice cream today. Thank goodness for those cones, today was a cookies'n'cream type of occasion. Also went to yoga today with host mum/daughter, sort of interesting, it's a good way to learn the words for the body parts...along with giggle at alternative sounds they use to breathing.

Anyway, hopefully more exploring tomorrow, and then you can feel free to read this rather than skim for juicy stories (ha! too early in the semester for that).

晚安 wan an (good night),
-e