Well, you aren't going to get too much else, so it will have to do. Onward!
I think the best time for me to go back to is Friday. I had my first test in my Chinese class. I was finished with the written part pretty quickly, which meant the bane of my existence was coming: the oral exam. I am not a big fan of oral exams, and this one had me reciting an entire dialogue from memory. Needless to say, I was not excited. However, I walked out of it saying "That went pretty well." I didn't want to say I did a good job, as I knew that would jinx me. Still, with that positive feeling in the back of my mind, I proceeded to go out and have an amazing evening.
Saturday, my plans got altered - in a very good way. I have decided that I would like to volunteer to teach English to elementary school students. I feel that this will not only be an enriching experience, but I will also be able to hopefully develop my Chinese skills by doing this. Anyway, we were under the impression that the meeting was going to take place on Saturday, but we soon found out that the meeting would take place on this coming Saturday. A large group decided to go to the Shanghai Museum in People's Square, and I tagged along. If you are ever in Shanghai, I highly recommend going to this museum. It is free to get in, and the relics they have are simply astounding. This, for example, is a set of musical instruments:
I was extremely impressed with some of the detail that went into the pottery:
My favorite section, though, was the calligraphy section. The fact that people could create something like this is simply astounding:
After spending hours at the museum, we went back to the dorms, then went out for the night. A good time was had by all.
Sunday was an activity planned by the Alliance program. We went to the Yuyuan Garden, which was created by a man who wanted to give his parents someplace peaceful to live out their last few days. They apparently did not live to see the completion, but the garden has become a historical and cultural monument. It is an extremely relaxing area, and I can see why it has become so popular.
I had a really good time while I was there.
I don't think this dog-lion-thing would have liked me back in the day. I don't think it would have liked anybody.
After the gardens, we went to the financial district. This is one of the richest (if not THE richest) areas in Shanghai, and it showed at every opportunity. This is also the location of some of the most recognizable sights in Shanghai, including the Pearl Tower:
We spent a little bit of time in the area, mainly looking at the shops in the area. A lot of the places I went to were pricey to say the least; I am not sure I want to clean out my entire savings account for a coat. For that price, I was hoping it would have been made of pure gold. But I digress, the area was astounding, and I want to go back again soon. Plus, wouldn't it be awesome to wake up every day and see this outside your window?
Monday rolled around, and with it a return to classes. It also meant getting the results of my test back. When I got it, I didn't want to look...but I did anyway. I did really well, far better than I thought I had initially. I even did well on the oral part of the exam. I was in a good mood for the rest of the day.
Tuesday was a cool day, in that we had a Chinese workshop in the evening. The Chinese teachers here set up tables highlighting some of the features of Chinese culture. There was paper cutting, mahjong, and Chinese chess tables. I, however, made a beeline for the calligraphy table. Here I am, putting the finishing touches on a paper with my Chinese name:
On every trip I take, there is that one picture that after I take it, I look at it again, and I am just amazed by how it turns out. The next picture is that one for this trip. There was a Connect Five game going on, and I just had to get close to the action:
I really was thinking about throwing a funny story to the end of this post, but I could not think of any particularly good ones to tell. Then I was going through the pictures to put up, and I remembered taking this picture. There was a branch of the museum dedicated to the relics of minorities, and this Tibetan mask was on display. I could not stop laughing when I saw it. So, I will leave you on that note, and I hope you got as much enjoyment from the picture as I did:
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