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

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

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 :)