People be People

I have been in this nation for two months, and needless to say I have been in contact with the Chinese people a lot. I mean A LOT. Like, everyday. I know, what a shock. Anyway, I figure now that I have had a good amount of interaction with the Chinese people, now would be a good time for me to talk about what the Chinese people are like, and just what they think of Americans in their homeland.

As far as I have seen it, there seems to be four major age groups in China (other people may argue with me about this, but this is simply my opinion):

1)      Toddlers/Young Children – The youth of China, I wish I could say that they are always under the control of parents. Interestingly though, this is not always the case. On quite a few occasions, including yesterday, I have seen little kids - probably no older than 6 – running down the streets, with no visible parent behind or in front of them. Children will stop at my table and look at me; they look amazed that someone that is probably (to them) so weird looking is sitting at the table eating. You do not see a great deal of children really crying or acting out against their parents (when they are there), so I guess they must know something.

2)      Young Adults – The group that people my age would fall into, this group entails everything from the second half of high school to after the first few years after college. This is where I feel the greatest schism between men and women can be noted, simply based on how the young adults spend their time. For the ladies, this is going out with friends and trying fashions. However, for guy, this often involves video games. I have seen guys (including my roommate) sit for hours straight playing World of Warcraft. Young adults make up the vast majority of the nightlife in China, which is not a surprise.

3)      Adults – On the whole, this seems like the forgotten group to me. I know this seems horrible to say, but the adult group does not stand out in comparison to the rest of the individuals in the city. To be honest, they seem like the bit players in the show of Chinese life, simply melding in the background to help the more colorful personalities stand out. They are the ones who run the shops, and usually are the ones trying to hock their knockoff wares on the side of the street.

4)      The Elderly – This group honestly interests me the most because of the personality they seem to take. You know that one old guy who, because he was in the war, feels like he is entitled to the best treatment in the world? Yeah, now multiply that by a few million. That is the elderly. Far too often have I been standing in line, only to get shoved by a lady probably four times my age who does not feel like shifting to the side to the gap in between two people. I have also seen some elderly people simply basically cut to the front of a line and start yelling at the cashier to serve them (or at least that is what I assume they are yelling, we haven’t covered that part in Chinese class). One other note I have to make on this group is that they seem to make up the majority of the beggars in the city, and unlike in other cities, they do not have any regard for personal space in this matter. Beggars will get in your face and  will not leave until they have achieved their goal. And to those of you saying just walk away…nope, it doesn't work like that. They follow you. I have basically had to yell at people that I don’t have money (in Chinese) to get them off my back, and even then they still will shake their cup in my face and ask for change. I am not saying they are bad people, but they are a group you will have to look out for if you intend to come to China.

Worse comes to worse, just interact with people as best you can, and you will be fine. It’s worked for me so far.

Further Away From Home

Oh. You’re back. You want to hear about stuff that is going on, I take it. Fine, pull up a chair and I shall regale you with tales of merry and fun. Oh, and pictures. Those too.

This past weekend was one of our major excursions of the Alliance program. We took off of classes on Friday in order to go to some cities outside of Shanghai. After a few hours, we arrived at our first location, which was Shaoxing. The main draw of this city is that it was the birth place of Lu Xun, who was one of the most well-known writers in Chinese history. Well, that means we had to go see where he lived, right? Right!

After this, we went to take a black-awning canal ride. Think of taking a gondola ride through Venice, with the people looking out at you on the water and the sights slowly passing you by. Now, put it in China. It’s kind of like that. Sort of.

The next day, we made our way to Hangzhou, one of the largest tourist cities in China. Along the way though, we stopped at a valley for a hike and local lunch. This valley was amazing to walk around, with plenty of scenery to enjoy.

One of the things that we had been looking forward to during this part of the trip was the crossing of the bridge. Basically, this was a small bridge over the water outside of the valley in order to get back to where the bus was. Well, we made it to where the bridge was, but it wasn’t there. Instead, there were rafts:

So comfortable. When we got to the other side, we found out where the bridge went:

The wind had apparently blown over the bridge. Really glad I wasn’t on it.

After the valley hike, we arrived in Hangzhou, and then went to one of the most popular streets in the city. This street is set up like a pedestrian mall. We were all starving so we went down a side alley which acted like a food court for local delicacies. The popular food we had to try was “beggar’s chicken,” which is basically a whole chicken wrapped in mud and paper, buried for a while, then cooked. It is very tasty, as soon as you get rid of the head first. After that, we took the chance to look around the area, which allowed me to get my first real souvenir of the trip: Two pairs of decorated chopsticks. There was a whole store devoted to chopsticks, an entire store for fans, one for…well, you get the idea.

The next day, we went out to West Lake, the main tourist draw of Hangzhou. This joins the small list of places that have been able to take my breath away. I cannot think of any place to really compare to the lake, so I will just put up some pictures so that you can make your own opinions:

After that, we went to a restaurant to sample some local food, including the tea, which is among the best in China. It was here that I ate what is most likely the most disgusting food I have had in my life thus far: fish eyeball. There, I said it, let's move on.

After that delightful meal, we went to a local spring, which boasts powerfully pure water. I have been to Chalice Well Spring in London, so I was skeptical at first. However, I did sample some of the water, and I was impressed with what I had. The spring is very serene, and the area surrounding it seemed to be set up for meditation.

Most of the time here was spent taking pictures of the sights, and I could not resist the chance to make a “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” reference:

This marked the end of our trip, but I have heard from a few people (myself included) who would love to return to Hangzhou for a weekend. Who knows, maybe there will be another post about the city in the near future.

Until next time…

What's the Deal with Clubbing? Ohhhh....

So I realized I should probably put a blog post up before we leave for our long weekend tomorrow. After wracking my brain for ideas on what to write for the past week or so, I had to take my mind off it. Luckily for me, some students from Arcadia, my home university, were in Shanghai for spring break. I knew someone who was on this program, so I met up with them a few days ago and brought them to a nightclub.

And it was then that I knew what I could write about.

It was so obvious. What hadn’t I thought of it before?

And so, without further ado, I present: The long weekend trip!

Um, wait. Hold on. This isn't right. That’s next week’s post. Hold on just a second, I know have this week’s topic around here somewhere…

Oh, right. Nightlife. Duh.

I know some people will wonder why I am choosing to write this topic. Well, I figure that a lot of people who read this are either family and friends or people that were recommended to this blog by the Alliance Facebook page (If you are reading this from there, then hello to you!) No matter who is reading this, though, my goal for this blog is to give insights into the culture of Shanghai. At the same time, I know that I should be giving some advice of some kind for people who plan on going to this fine city; since my target audience is people around the same age as me, these people are naturally going to be interested in the nightlife. I am just filling a simple need here. 

Consider it a public service. 

You're welcome.

Anyway, I can say with 100 percent certainty that I am not normally the person to go out to clubs. I normally like spending time in with friends and family, I do not usually go into large crowds of strange people, and I certainly do NOT dance.

Then again, this whole experience is meant to open my eyes to the world, and if people go out to clubs to have a good time, who am I to disagree? So I was going to go to clubs while I was here, but I was still NOT going to dance.

I have been to quite a few clubs already, and I have really enjoyed my time there. I do not know exactly what the club scene is like back in America, but from what I can glean, it is very similar to that of Shanghai. There are two basic crowds in every club I have been to: those people who are there to drink, and those who are there to dance. Everyone falls within a spectrum of those two groups.

One thing that has really stood out to me is the fact that the nightlife in Shanghai tries to cater to as many people as possible. There seems to be a club or bar here that covers every type of person imaginable. If you want a powerful, upper-class style experience, go to Zeal or Muse. For a classy bar experience right on the main river, you have to go to the newly renovated Bar Rouge. For the stereotypical hipster, go to Shelter, which is a bomb shelter converted to a club (insert hipster and underground joke here). For a more relaxed time, Mural is a good choice. And if you are someone who wants to go out and have a good time without destroying your credit rating, I recommend my personal favorite, No. 88 (no cover means good times). I am not going to say that I am a nightclub connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination, but these are just a few I have been to or have heard about. There are still many more clubs to see here, but that is something I do not need to worry about right this moment.

And yes, I have danced. I am really bad.

Until next time.

I Got Sunshine. I Don't Need Much Else.

Today, two very interesting things happened. First, we had a sunny day. This is kind of a huge deal for us, as we have nothing but rain, rain, clouds, rain, rain, snow, rain, more clouds, rain, rain, and did I mention rain? I was starting to feel waterlogged, so when I walked out of class for a break, I was amazed by the large glowing orb in the sky. I am not going to say that the weather was perfect (the wind was a little bit stronger than usual) but on the whole it was an improvement over most of the days we have been having. I figure I should enjoy this day, as it is probably the only nice one we will get all month.

This positive turn of events fit in nicely with the second interesting event of the morning. We have been writing essays for the past few weekends on a variety of subjects. This week, the topic was “Report,” which confused us. Our professor explained that we would be going to a neighboring university, and we would be asking people questions about themselves…in Chinese. This combined my two most favorite things in the whole wide world (note the dripping sarcasm): talking to people I do not know, and talking to people in a foreign language. 

Needless to say, I was not completely ecstatic about the assignment.

Still, at least I was with a group of people, who were as experienced in Chinese as I was. When we got to the university, we split into small groups. I was working with Nikolaj (yes, that is how you spell his name) and Weston, and we were initially just trying to find people who were on their own and did not seem to be in any hurry. Eventually Nikolaj was able to wrangle a person to talk to; at the same time, I noticed a young lady walking behind us. I did an about face, and started to ask her questions. She seemed a little confused at first, but was able to settle in, and we had a nice conversation about the questions. I am sure she was likely disturbed a little bit by the questions I had to ask, but I didn't pick them.

So, I ended up talking to a girl named Rane (Chinese name Liu Xueying). She is from Shanghai, and is a general studies student. She has 5 family members, and no pets. Her birthday is January 14th. She has a lot of American friends (I had to ask her how many, and it turns out she studied in America for a while along the East Coast. Small world.)

On the whole, it was a very interesting experience talking to Rane. It was the first extended conversation I have had with someone in Chinese. Before this conversation, I think my longest conversation was along the lines of "Can I get an order of that over there?" I am glad that I was able to be understood, and it gave me a huge boost of confidence that I could understand her responses. I now look at the work I have to do for that class with a renewed vigor.

On a side note, next weekend is our long weekend. I will be sure to give some kind of a update soon after the weekend ends.

Until next time, Zaijian (Goodbye)!

Study Abroad and its Commandments

I have been writing this blog for around a month, and I realized that while I have been giving you guys some insights into the area I am in. Now that is all well and good, but what if some random person come across this blog and says, “Well, all of that looks pretty cool, but is he truly getting the most out of his experience?” To you, random person, I say, “Yes I am, because I am adhering to the Commandments of Study Abroad.”

Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, you might think. Commandments? Where is this religious stuff coming from?

Well, don’t worry; this has nothing to do with religion. The Commandments are a set of “rules” I have come up with, and try to follow, in order to get the most out of any travel opportunity I may have. These rules are not binding in any way, and are merely suggestions. You do not have to follow any of them, or you can follow all of them. Some of the rules are very obvious, while others may take more time and effort to follow.

So without further ado, I present The Commandments of Study (or any sort of travel) Abroad:

I)                    Thou Shalt Prepare Adequately – Nothing is worse than getting somewhere and not having the right documents needed to get to where you want to go. Things like passports, visas, airline tickets, hotel reservations, etc. should be kept somewhere safe and close at hand. In addition, bring enough toiletries to last you for a long time (longer than you plan to be there), plus enough clothing to last for a few weeks at least. On that note…

II)                  Thou Shalt Dress Appropriately – You wouldn’t wear shorts and a tank top in Moscow in winter, and you wouldn’t wear sweatpants in Egypt in the summer (or ever, really, the sand is probably a major hassle to get rid of). Look up the climate of where you plan to go before you go. That is not to say that you should not prepare for other circumstances, but I would not count on them.

III)                Thou Shalt Know About the Resources Available – nine times out of ten, if you are studying abroad, there should be someone overseeing the program, usually either a native or someone who has been living in the country for a while. These people are here for your support; UTILIZE THEM. I cannot stress this enough. For people who are traveling on their own, it is a good idea to know where your country’s embassy is, as well as the number of your hotel if necessary.

IV)               Thou Shalt NOT Kill (or commit any other crime, really) – This one is hopefully self-explanatory (I really, really hope I do not have to explain this one). The police systems in other countries are not like ours, and you should not go into any nation thinking that as a foreigner, you have some magical immunity to crime. You don’t. Get used to it.

V)                 Thou Shalt Immerse Thyself in the Culture – It does not matter if you are going to be in a country for three days or for three months. You will not truly enjoy the experience if you do not try to feel like a native. If you are in England, try to talk to a local about soccer (but remember to call if football). When in Rome, do as the Romans do. In Amsterdam – well, you get the idea.

As a side note to this commandment, be sure to research where you are going to go before you get there. Some of your social norms may not be deemed to be acceptable in the country you are going to, so be prepared (See Commandment I).

VI)               Thou Shalt be Cautious – I put this right after Commandment V for a reason. No matter how much you try to fit in, you are still a foreigner. This puts a huge target on you for all sorts of things. People will try to scam you often, and it is not a bad idea to keep one hand in your pocket to cover your wallet and other valuables (a money belt is not a bad investment to combat this). A good idea is to look at each thing you are taking and saying to yourself, “Do I really need this today?” If not, stow it away, because someone else could take it.

VII)             Thou Shalt Make Friends – In regards to Commandment VI, do not look at every native like they are on the Most Wanted lists. Many people you meet are very happy and excited to meet foreigners. In addition, if you are studying abroad, you are likely studying with other people. Be nice to them; you are going to be living with them, so you should get along with them.

VIII)           Thou Shalt not Neglect thy Studies – I know I just lost about half my readers with this commandment, but hear me out. If you are studying abroad, nothing puts a bad taste in your mouth more than knowing that the semester you spent partying and enjoying the people of the country you are in actually put you further behind in your quest for a diploma. If you spend even a tiny amount of time studying and doing the work you are supposed to do, you will be able to put that worry aside, and still have plenty of time to enjoy the country you are in.

IX)                Thou Shalt Budget Thy Money – Too many times have I heard the line, “Oh, I really want to do that, but I don’t have the money for that right now.” Lack of money is one of the biggest issues to any person who wants to enjoy themselves abroad. Many people blow through a large part of their money right away, meaning that they are going to be in trouble in the later months. Set aside some money each month for things you need, and you should be fine.

X)                  Thou Shalt Go Out of Your Comfort Zone – You are already taking a big step by choosing to go out of the country. Good for you. It doesn’t stop there though, not by a long shot. If you are going to have a great time, you need to do things that you would never do if you had the chance. Try new foods, talk to people in their native language, skydive, whatever you want to do. The sky is never the limit; there is no limit to what you can do.

XI)                Thou Shalt Have an Open Mind – News flash, people: not every place is like your home country. Let me repeat: NOT EVERY PLACE IS LIKE YOUR HOME COUNTRY! Got it? Good. So don’t compare countries you are in to your home country. Every place you go has its own way of sticking in your mind. It is up to you to figure out how it will stick.

XII)              Thou Shalt Have Fun – I cannot stress this one enough. I may have put it on the list last, but it is certainly not least. You are in a new place, you have no idea what is going on. Do not shrink into a shell and hide away. Experience everything the world has to offer. You have taken the first step, but it isn’t a slide; you get from the experience what you put into it.

So there you have it, my lessons for people prepping to study abroad. If you agree/disagree with anything I have said, please let me know.

Insert Witty Title Here

So I know I haven't been posting recently, and I wanna take this opening sentence to apologize. As an added apology, I am going to put up a super-sized post up, detailing some of the goings on over these past few days. I'll even throw in some pictures. Does this make things better?

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:

Here we have an ax head made out of jade:

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:

Hanging with the roommate

So I got to spend some time with Varys, my roommate, and a couple of his friends. I feel like we do not spend as much time together as we should, being roommates and all. Usually one of us (me) is in classes, and then after that we just kind of hang out in separate groups. I started to feel bad about it, so when he said he had a few friends he was going to hang out with and asked me if I wanted to come, I jumped at the chance.

We went to a hotpot place near the campus. For those of you who do not know what hotpot is, you basically order what you want and how spicy you want the food. They bring out a broth and put it on a hotplate in the middle of the table, and you basically dip what you want into the hotpot. Overall, pretty good. Today's hotpot contained bamboo, potato, some small dumpling-like balls of meat...oh, and bullfrog.

Weird food of the day - CHECK.

Anyway, Varys and his friends were very interested in my culture. One thing I have to note, as a New Yorker, is that Linsanity has swept China by storm. If you are not a sports fan, Linsanity is the term given to the ridiculous streak of great games Jeremy Lin has been having for the New York Knicks. These guys keep me updated about how he plays every day; I don't even need sports sites or newspapers anymore. I have mentioned before that basketball is one of the main interests of the Chinese, but listening to them throw out stats like it was nothing is impressive.

I have to say that I had a lot of fun while hanging out with Varys and his friends. They are very nice people, and we had some interesting conversation (if a little difficult for some with limited controls of the other's language). His friends want me to drop by their English classes, if just to meet the teacher and the other students. At some point, I hope to take them up on that offer, and I would definitely have lunch with them again.

During the lunch, there was a moment which caused me to laugh hysterically. I have permission from these guys to retell what happened. We were talking about Nanjing Road, one of the busiest shopping streets in the world.  I have walked down it once, and the amount of stores there is boggling. There are a lot of high end stores along this road, and it is home to one of the largest Apple stores in China, and possibly the world. This place is huge. Anyway, we were talking about the store, and I mentioned that I did not have a lot of apple products. Varys mentioned that Apples were very popular, but that there was a big divide between those who liked Apple and those who hated it. Varys and his friends were on the anti-Apple side. He then asks me if I know Jack, another Chinese roommate who lives a few doors down from us. I say I do. These were the next words out of his mouth:

"He is totally an Apple dog. He says all of our stuff is garbage."

I was amazed. I had never really heard Varys say anything bad about anyone, and I knew he and jack were friends (they often played video games together). And yet, here he was, bashing the guy with a huge smile on his face. I couldn't help but laugh. They joined in, and I realized it was OK.

I may never understand the culture completely, but I know I will have fun with it regardless.