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