。。。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

没睡觉，希望吃面 （No Sleep, Hopes of Noodles）

Back again,

Jet lag seemed to hit me a bit harder this time around. I know I talked to a few of you at around 3am my time...and still wasn't able to crash till 5am. Anyway, still trying to figure out this whole host family thing. They're super nice, both the mum and the dad speak English really well, as does the daughter, Shirley. She's an English major, which will be helpful if I stick around my homestay. My room is also very nice, with a full sized bed, shelves, and cubbies; and it has AC (crucial to surviving Shanghai's late summer heat). They served a simple breakfast, yogurt, and a egg/cucumber sandwich (which was like a triple decker, not so sure why that was haha, hungry Americans?!). I'm really torn about whether to stay in the homestay or move to the dorms. I've heard mixed reviews on both, "stay in the dorm, you meet more people/have more freedom and can still learn a lot of Chinese" vs. "stay in the homestay, the families are so nice/you'll really challenge yourself with the language." I think my compromise is that I'll either wait a couple of days and see how things go, or I'll switch to the dorm and plan to frequently visit my homestay family to chat.

Other than the mild homestay drama, orientation starts today! We have a pretty packed schedule to introduce us to the campus, extra curriculars, classes, etc. I think I'm going to go hunting for a good noodle shop today for lunch, or at least some baozi (steamed buns with different fillings). Slightly terrified about classes starting. I feel as though no matter how many years I've studied Chinese, I'm still constantly building. Which is great because things never get old, but disconcerting because there's always going to be "one more thing." haha.

Hope everyone's doing well, don't forget to let me know what's up on the Hilltop :)

Another 13+ Hour Flight

Helllo everyone,

I'm going to try to be brief, but as most of you know I'm spending first semester of this year in Shanghai. Being in the wonderful world of China, Facebook is often blocked and even blogger has its downsides, but I figured I'd do my best to keep up with everyone via this blog. Whimsy Wanderings seemed to fit my trend of alliteration (see Nightly Noms), and since I'll most likely spend the time that I'm inhaling Chinese characters wandering the streets of Shanghai looking for a good adventure, the name seemed appropriate.

Anyway, thus far I've survived my 15+ travel itinerary that took me through Toronto (yes, Poutine was eaten and I did have the good fortune to hear someone say "eh?") and then on to Shanghai. Per usual, movies were watched, napping occurred, and meals were served at the most random of times. I have to admit though, I did miss having travel buddies like on my last trip to China...although I'm glad I avoided a 6 hour layover in Moscow.

Upon arriving to Pudong International Airport, I was ushered to a CIEE holding area and then taken to East China Normal University (ECNU), in Putuo District of China. I was supposed to be staying in the dorms at ECNU, but after checking in they informed me I was a homestay student...WHAT?! was my response. I mean, homestays are great, but I was sort of hoping for the freedom of a dorm. So now, I have to deal with whether I request to be placed in the dorm or remain in my homestay. A hard decision to make since the family is so nice, understanding, and had me go through all of my photos to tell them about my family/friends... Either way, orientation starts tomorrow, I'm exhausted, and I forgot how smoggy it gets here. But, I'm super excited to be back East and can't wait for the exploring to begin!

Keep in touch!