好久不见！ （long time no see)
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.
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 :)
 |
| The Bund-River Cruise |
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 |
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 :)
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