Zaijian Shanghai

I am heading to the airport in about an hour ... it's hard to believe that a month has flown by so quickly. Last night, while I was doing some last minute shopping for a few more souvenirs, and while I was starting to pack, I spent some time reflecting on my experience here in China.

Things I'll miss

Things I won't miss

Being engaged in another culture. Traveling to see the sights -- Beijing, Shangahi, Hangzhou, Zhujiajiao. All of my new friends at the University. Trying new foods. Breakfast of rice porrage, dumplings, pickled things, steamed buns, and juice for 6RMB (about $0.90). Buying pearls, silk, and other local products very inexpensively. Comparing the 200+ year history of the USA to the 2000+ year history of China. Shanghai haircut. This included 15 minutes of hair washing and head massage followed by a scissor cut and then another wash. Not bas for 20 RMB ($3.00).

People spitting. Drivers constant use of horns. The aparant right-of-way going to the biggest vehicles: 1. busses/trucks; 2. cars/vans; 3. electric scooters; 4. bicycles; 5. people. Squatty potties. No toilet paper in the bathrooms; no paper towels/hand dryers in the restrooms. The smog and haze -- It has been so long since I have seen a blue sky, or stars at night. Bargaining for purchases -- it was fun at first, but got old after a while. Local "merchants" on the streets offering watche, bags, t-shits, antiques. "Good price for you, friend." Not understanding the language -- pointing and grunting can only get you so far. Not being able to read a menu. I'm sure there are some really great restaurants that just dont have pictures on their menus.

Last day of class

Today was my last teaching day at Shanghai Normal University. All of my students were sophomore electronic engineering students. I taught in two lecture courses -- digital electronics, and electronic devices, and one laboratory course. I delivered about 45 hours of lecture and 8 hours of lab during my visit. I know that some of the students had difficulty with instruction in English, but I think I reached the majority of them. I think that many of them appreciated my efforts, and quite a few came to me after my last class indicating that they hoped to see me in Dayton next year when they come for their last year of study in our 3 + 1 program. I think this experience gave me some good insight into the teaching and learning styles of students in China, the expectations of the University, and the preparation of students who will choose to study at UD.

Yes, it is all about the food.

I just got back from a wonderful dinner with my friends Yiming, Shangguan, and Shangguan's husband, Tory. The best part about this dinner, is that it was at Shangguan's house, and I got to participate in the preparation and cooking -- one of my highlights from the trip.

We started by going to one of the "traditional" Chinese markets. All kinds of fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, etc. For really fresh chicken, fish, eels, or other animals, you just select one that looks the tastiest, and the butcher would take it from the cage/tank and prepare it for cooking to your specifications (whole, pieces, chopped, etc.). We saw all matter of animals and vegetables that I am not accustomed to seeing in our local Kroger -- especially not live.

Once we got home, the cooking began. We had a beef rib stew, several vegetable dishes, cooked peanuts, steamed clams (my recipe), steamed buns, jelly fish, crayfish, and wine (lots of toasts). As is typical, we finished the dinner with fruit. One fruit was a small red ball about the size of a large cherry, but surrounded by what appeared to be hundreds of pointy protrusions. They called it a wax berry -- it was slightly sweet, with a bit of tartness. We also had fresh lichees -- small balls with a very tough and ugly outer skin. Once the skin was peeled, there was a very sweet and firm fruit with a pearl-like luster. Both fruits were excellent, and I was told that they are both available for only a relatively short season of about 4-6 weeks. I feel very lucky that my timing was right for both of these.

We had a very nice conversation about differences and similarities in culture, religion, and of course, food. This was truly a memorable experience.

Wow, was that fast!

Today was Young Scott's last day in China. I accompanied him to the airport just so I could take the Maglev (magnetic levitation) train back. This train travels between the Shanghai Pudong Airport and the Longyang Road subway station, a distance of abut 30 km (19 mi), in just 8 minutes. Along the way, the train reached a top speed of 430 kph (267 mph). The train is considered "pricey" by many local people -- 50 RMB ($7.00) each way, which may be why there were plenty of available seats. Nonetheless, it was a cool expereice to be on such a fast moving vehicle.

For more about the Shanghai Maglev train, including information on the technology, visit http://www.smtdc.com/en/

Yu Garden at night

Young Scott and I took another shopping trip to the Yuyuan Garden Bazaar for our last (?) batch of souvenirs. As usual, we took the metro to Shanghai, but this time we decided to walk from the metro stop to the Yu Garden. Along the way, we walked through the old city. It was really interesting to see, hear, and smell this lifestyle. Since it was approaching dusk, we saw people making and preparing their dinners. Makes me long for all of the modern conveniences of home. Also interesting, were the amount of people, especially older folks, walking around outside in their pajamas. We thought that this was because we were walking among their "yards" but we later realized that many locals were also wearing their pajamas walking through the Yu Garden, a place typically filled with more tourists than locals.

At the Yu Garden we did the usual shopping for silk, pearls, and other Chinese memorabilia. We shopped and used all of our powers of negotiation to get the best bargains. We were hungry and decided to look for something for dinner. I don't think either of us were up for a sit-down dinner where we would have to negotiate the menu, so we decided to get some dumplings. I remember reading in one of the guidebooks that the best dumplings are often found at the shops with the longest queue. We did just that, and were not disappointed. This shop served only dumplings -- nothing to order, just put down 12 RMB (about $1.75) for an order of 16 dumplings, and walk away with a bowl fresh out of the steamer. They apparently made about 40 batches (16 dumplings each) at a time, which took about 15-20 minutes per batch to steam. We topped it off with a satisfying Dairy Queen Blizzard, and were very happy about our choice for dinner. A long walk back to the metro, and back to the campus topped off a enjoyable (but very tiring) day.

Visit to Zhujiajiao

Today, Yiming, Young Scott, and I visited an ancient water town near Shanghai known as Zhujiajiao. This is a beautiful Venice-like city with a history of more than 1700 years. The most famous sights are the many bridges in different shapes and styles, like wood, stone, and marble. But also equally notable are the ancient buildings from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the local museums that highlight the history and current art from the area, and the many local eateries and shops.

We crossed the Fangsheng Bridge (Setting-fish-free Bridge), which is the is the longest, largest and tallest stone bridge in both Zhujiajiao and Shanghai. We took a gondola ride though many of the passageways, and went under another famous bridge known as the Huimin Bridge (Veranda Bridge), which is the only wooden bridge in the town.

We visited beautiful Shu mansion built around 200 years ago, which is now mostly art museum, but also part residence. Still living here is one of the decedents of Shu, a very nice woman who insists that everyone who stops in her house sign the guest book. We also visited another amazing mansion that contains the incredibly beautiful Ke Zhi garden.

After stopping for lunch at a local restaurant, where we had wonderful local dishes of Mandarin fish, spicy tofu, fresh greens, hot and sour soup, lotus root, and spicy beef vegetable soup, we stopped at many of the local shops.

Farewell Dinner

We had a fabulous send-off dinner. The Dean of the College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering hosted a feast for Young Scott and me to thank us for for our work over the past several weeks. In attendance were the Vice-Dean, several of the faculty whom we have been working with, and Yiming, the college's international coordinator. We ate a lot of great food, and had many-many-many toasts. Apparently it is the custom for everyone to offer a toast somewhere throughout the meal -- some were "half" or "bottoms-up" toasts where everyone was obliged to either drink half or finish what was remaining in their glass. We were also give several very nice gifts.

Reunion with our first graduates

Last night we had a very nice dinner with six alumni from the first UD-SHNU cohort. These students graduated in 2007, and all have good jobs. We had a nice conversation about the culture differences between China and the US, especially when it comes to food. We also talked about traveling around in each other's countries -- they were surprised that we only spent two days seeing the sights in Beijing, until we reminded them that they were in Washington, DC for only one day. We talked about how UD prepared them for their job -- several have already received nice promotions in the year since graduation. We also asked them what they missed about the US. Most indicated that they missed the friends they made and their teachers. They also missed the pizza, and the deserts -- especially the brownies.

Zaijian Family

Today, I escorted Caryl, Pamela and Joshua to the airport. It is hard to believe that 2+ weeks have passed since we arrived in Shanghai. Our days and nights were very busy as we traveled around Shanghai, Beijing, and other areas together. I'm sure that this is a family experience that we will reminisce about for many years. And, if there is something we can't remember, we have 758 photos and video clips that we can always review.

My next ten days will be filled with teaching and other work related items. I will also do a little more sightseeing and shopping. I look forward to it, but will miss having my family with me. Wo ai ni.

Hangzhou/last day

Yesterday we went to a city that is called Hangzhou [hong-joe]. It was pretty cool!

First we went to a lake that has 3 towers, the tower's picture is on the back of a one yuan Chinese bill.

Next we went to a silk factory that was ok because we had all ready gone to a silk factory on this trip so we knew what was going to be there. Then in the basment of the silk factory there was a place to eat and the food was not the best meal we've had in China.

After that we went tea tea house that was cool except for the tea. The tea had a funny smell that smelled like cut grass after the rain! So I didn't drink it!

When that was all done we went to the Lingyin Temple, a very famous Buddhist temple in Hangzhou. That was the best part of my day! The coolest thing about the temple was that it was in caves! We went into so many caves with Buddha's in them! It was so cool! When everything was done we got back on the bus and it took 2 hr. to get back to the hotel. So now we are packing and we'll go home to night! I'm so happy to go to the U.S!

A Very Fun Week

I haven't written all week so I am going to tell you all about the week.

Sunday- Today we had lots of fun because we went to the forbidden city, Tian'anmen square, temple of heaven, a silk factory, a pearl factory, and we had to do it all before six o'clock because we had to take a plane from Beijing back to Shanghai.

Monday- Today we went to the Jewish refugee museum and the Yu garden. The Jewish museum was a little small but it was good because it had a lot of information. The Yu garden is like a really big outdoor shopping center. It was really cool.

Tuesday- Today we went to the Chinese acrobats circus but it was more focused on culture and flexibility then tricks. What I thought was really cool was that all the music was live like you could see them off to the sides. This was a fun night.

Wednesday- Today we went to hang out with some friends we met on campus. First we went to a restaurant were we ordered a hot pot witch is basically a pot with a soup in it and you would dip raw things in it to cook it. Then after that we went to a shopping mall called Xujiahui. It is so big that there is one building 8 stories high for all the electronics and one for all the woman's clothing and you'd see rows and rows of buildings. It was so fun.

Thursday- Today we went to the Shanghai Science an Technology museum. It was so fun because you would walk in and there was exhibits on everything from animals of the world to amazing robots to the human body. In the robot exhibit there was a robot that could play the piano. The only thing I was disappointed about was the space exhibit. Everything you could do you had to be a certain age or be a certain height. All in all it was pretty good.

Friday- Today we traveled around Hangzhou. One of the best things we did was take a boat ride on West Lake. It was really pretty because in the middle of the lake there were little towers on the water and it is the same picture that is on the one yuan bill. We were riding in a tour bus all around. Then we came back and we ate the best meal we had all day because nobody in my family liked lunch and we kind of skipped breakfast. We had shrimp, pork, noodles, and a lot of other stuff that I don't know the name of.

This was a really good time in china but I leave tomorrow so I will be home soon. This trip = success!

Chinese Acrobats

On Tuesday we went to see the Chinese acrobat circus. It was so cool!!! We saw people doing flips, and hand stands it was awesome! If any of you have seen the Simpsons Movie, do you remember the part where Homer gets on a motorcycle and goes around in the cage of steel. Well in this show there was a steel round cage like the one in the Simpsons movie only there wasn’t only one person in it there were EIGHT motorcycle riders in the cage at one time! It was amazing! At first I thought that they couldn’t do it but they did it.

If you ever come to China you have to come to Circus, you’ll love it!

Jewish Refugees Museum

On Monday, we visited the Shaghai Jewish Refugees museum. This museum is in the former Ohel Moishe Synagogue, in the Hongkou District of Shanghai. Shanghai was settled by a succession of Jews, beginning with Sephardic Jews, who came seeking business opportunities in the 1840s, Russian Jews fleeing pogroms in the 1880s and early 1900s, and finally German and Austrian Jews escaping the Nazis in the 1930s and 1940s. The Hongkou area, was the main asylum for Jewish refugees during the late 1930s. From 1938 to 1941, there were nearly 20,000 Jews exiling to Shanghai from Germany, Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. During this time, the Jews of Shanghai made the best of this ghetto area, creating a thriving community in Hongkou District, with cafes, plays, synagogues, a kosher butcher, and even their own newspapers. Along with the earlier Sephardic and Russian Jews, over 30,000 Jews once lived in Shanghai. Most of the Jewish refugees left Shanghai at the end of World War II.

In recent years, the Shanghai Municipal Government made a significant investment to restore the Synagogue, and nearby buildings into the Shanghai Jewish Refugees museum. Since I last visited the area four years ago, the renovation has been remarkable. The synagogue is beautifully restored, and an adjacent building, which now houses an exhibit on the history of the Jews in the Shanghai area, is quite moving. A beautifully produced multimedia presentation shows the history of the Jews in the Hongkou District, and the exhibit shows many photos and artifacts from the area. There were also several pieces of artwork depicting the relationship between the Jewish and Chinese people. Among my favorites was a large glass star of David with text from the book of Genesis engraved in Chinese.

During my last visit, I met Mr. Wang Faliang, a resident of Hongkou District who befriended his Jewish neighbors. He was the local historian and tour guide who gave first-hand account of the Jewish history of Shanghai. I looked forward to seeing him again, and introducing him to my family. Upon our arrival, I was sad to hear that he passed away just one month ago. Nonetheless, we had a very nice tour guide who showed us around the synagogue and exhibit area, and who gave us some interesting insight in to the former Shanghai Jewish community.

China Earthquake

Thank you to all of our friends and family who have inquired about the Earthquake in China. We are fine, and didn't even realize that there was an earthquake until we started receiving e-mails and Skype calls from folks who know that we are here. The earthquake was located in Sichuan Provence (highlighted on the map), over 1000 miles from Shanghai. We did hear of some people feeling the earthquake here, and of some buildings in Shanghai that were evacuated, but for us, it was business as usual.

Thanks again for your concerns and prayers.

Yu-Garden

Today we went to the Yu-Garden. The Yu-Garden is a shopping area that had great prices!

We got a silk robe for my brother and, I got a beautiful jade bracelet! We walked a lot today. And we went on two subways and four cabs. At the Yu-Garden we saw lots of cool stuff like kites, toys, makeup, jewelry and, much more. We spent about 2 hr. But on the way to the garden we saw something that was so funny! A dog, that had spray paint on his feet, ears and, tail! He was cute and funny at the same time.

On the way home we took 2 subways but before we got on the subway we looked at the town and it was beautiful! All the buildings were lit up we even saw a HUGE TV screen. Today was so cool!

City Slickers

Beijing was amazing. As you can tell from the kids and Scott, the Great Wall was absolutely awesome -- breathtaking. We had a blast just hanging out there together. We also did the Ming Tombs, a jade factory and Peking duck dinner on Saturday. Then on Sunday we went to a silk factory and pearl factory and it was off to the Forbidden City, The Temple of Heaven and Tianneman Square. All very ominous and large...beautiful, detailed and enormous for one guy -- the Emperor (at the time during the Ming and Quing dynasties). Got to our Shanghai homebase last night, exhausted.
Today, we traveled into the city of Shanghai and had a most pleasurable subway ride (it's a good thing, because I thought for sure the kids were scared for life from the last ride). We went to the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum. It was quite amazing to see the ghetto where thousands of Jews lived during the Holocaust. The museum was a beautiful tribute to these Jews and the Chinese people who helped them.
We are becoming much more comfortable traveling the streets of Shanghai. John and Sue, our baker friends will be proud, we found a great bakery with beautiful cakes -- we took pictures for you. Went to the Yu Garden markets and had these amazing Shanghai dumplings, a steamed dumpling with soup inside. So good...
I love being in the city, it's bringing the city-girl out in me!

Weekend in Beijing

This weekend we took a quick trip to Beijing. After all, how could we spend a month in China, and not see the sights in the country's capital. Two and a half days is not nearly enough time to see even the highlights of this country's rich history, especially since it takes well over an hour to travel between some of the sights. Nonetheless, we scheduled a tour, and saw as much as we could -- we will rest when we return to Shanghai. The itinerary for our trip is below. We ha Visit our other Blog postings with details on some of the sights.

Friday: (1:15PM) Fly to Beijing from Shanghi Hongqiao Airport. Arrive Beijing. Stop at a tea house enroute to the hotel -- sample several traditional teas. Check in at hotel. Find a place for dinner. (10:00PM) Sleep.

Saturday: (7:00AM) Breakfast in hotel. Visit Ming Tombs. Visit Jade factory and gift shop (apparently frequented by tour groups) enroute to lunch. Stop for lunch at a restaurant and gift shop apparently frequented by tour groups. Visit the Mutianyu Great Wall. Have a Peking Duck Dinner at a restaurant apparently frequented by tour groups. Return to hotel. (10:00PM) Sleep.

Sunday: (8:00AM) Breakfast in hotel. Visit Temple of Heaven. Visit silk "factory" (apparently frequented by tour groups). Lunch. Visit pearl shop (apparently frequented by tour groups). Visit Tian'anmen Square. Visit Temple of Heaven. Shop in local mall-type flea-market shopping area. Travel to airport. (6:00PM) Fly to Shanghai.

A Packed Day

Today was a very long day. First we went to a Ming Dynasty Tomb where there was so much land you would think they would have burred 34 people there. They didn't. Instead they burred 2 people. They burred the third emperor and the empress. They were burred under a big mound.

Then we went to a store that sold only things made out of jade. It was beautiful. They had orange jade, green jade, yellow jade, and red jade.

Then we went to lunch at a place where the front was all a really big shop. In the back there was a restaurant. After lunch we looked in the store. They had silk clothes, pottery, rugs, there was even a guy that was doing sand art.

After that we went to The Great Wall of China. It was so long. We went to one end of the wall. Then we got to a place that had a sign that said that no one was allowed to go beyond this point. There was still people that went there but they were hikers. After we stayed at the top for awhile we started to go back down. I personally thought going down was harder because the steps ranged from 1 or 2 in. to 15 or 16 in. to get to the top we took a ski lift and to get down we took the alpine slide.

After that we went to a dinner. But not just any dinner it was a Peking duck dinner. I loved it because they served it with wraps so you could put what you wanted in your wraps. It was so good. After that we went back to the hotel and went to bed. So far Beijing has been a blast!!!

The Great Wall

Today was awesome! First we went to the Ming Emperor's tomb. Which was a place to learn about the past Emperors. It was really cool because it showed some of the Emperors treasures, like some gold plates, gold spoons, some of the crows he wore and it showed some of the fabric he might of wore.

After the tomb we went to The Great Wall! It was so cool! The great wall is 3,000 miles long! But we didn't walk the whole way. It was amazing because on one side of the great wall was China and on the other side was Mongolia. Sometimes people call the great wall The dragon because it is so long and looks like a dragon. When I was on the great wall I was thinking about who was standing here hundreds of years ago!

Tea Types

Today we went to a tea house. I really liked it because they didn't give you just one type of tea, not two, but they gave you five types of tea to taste. My favorite was a tea called black lychee tea mixed with rose bud tea. It had a sort of sweet taste to it. It kind of reminded me of a cool winters day. Also the structure of the house wasn't very modern. It was kind of shaped like a triangle. Also after we went to taste tea we went outside and we were watching two girls play bad mitten and so they let me serve a couple of times. It was a pretty good day.

Longhua Temple

Today my mom, my brother and, I went to the Longhua Temple, it was so cool! We saw so many Buddha's, they were so BIG! I saw a few that were so much taller than me. The most coolest thing was that they all have a meaning. For instance the Buddha of wealth and the Buddha of peace. The Chinese people worship these Buddha's. It was cool because there were so many of them. There many rooms with Buddha's in them. Some were older Buddha's then others and some were babies. We went into a room with a Buddha of peace and happiness. It was so cool! She was so beautiful and big!

Then after that we went to a HUGE mall it was so cool! After we looked around a little we went to an excellent restaurant! We sat at a sushi bar, no no, a MOVING sushi bar. What ever sushi you wanted you just grab a plate from the moving sushi bar. And you know what, my dad missed it!

Buddhas and Lunch

Today we went to the Longhua Temple. It was so cool because there was all over the place solid gold statues of Buddhas. There were Buddhas of happiness, babies, wealth, Northern, Western, Eastern, and Southern kings and they each held something. The Northern king held a sword for freedom, the eastern king held a musical instrument represent peace, the western king stands for protection, and the southern king stood for all human beings. The thing that was most interesting to me was that in front of the statues there were people that would burn incence but they would blow out the fire and go to every Buddha and bow with the burned incence in their hand and in would be smoking. It was also surprising that they have different rooms for different Buddhas. It looked to me that they put the bigger Buddhas in the back and smaller in the front and the really tiny ones on the side.

After we went to the Longhua Temple we went to a really big shopping mall. There they had many places to shop for clothes, books, and restaurants. We picked a restaurant that right smack dab in the middle of the bar there was a sushi stand. But not any old sushi stand this one stretched all the way around the bar and it had all kinds of sushi. I had 1 tiny plate of crab salad, 1 tiny plate of crab sticks, and 2 tiny plates of crab and egg wrapped up in one. It was so good. and then to top of our day we took all the escalators all the way down because we were on the 6 floor and when we got to the bottom we went out the door and caught a taxi home. All in all, it was a pretty good day.

Interesting Walks

Yesterday, the kids and I toured the Shanghai Botanical Gardens -- it was beatiful, rows of roses, orchids, peonies and gardenia. In spite of the heat, about 75degrees, (and complaining) fun was had by all. We rambled along new streets today, and the people watching was great. First of all, on every street there are many food vendors, selling their specialty of dumplings. We came upon a yarn spinning shop that was very cool. Josh purchased some spun wool to work with. We watched a group of dancers, at noon time, right outside of a restaurant, break out in line dancing. People, people were everywhere. And, watch out for bicycles and motor bikes -- they have the right of way. Right outside of our Guest House building we watched Chinese dancers with fans -- very beautiful. Today the kids and I will venture out to a famous Buddha Temple and then off the a large, large mall (8 stories high). Xia Jian

Dinner With Our SHNU Friends

This evening, we were treated to a wonderful welcome dinner by our friends from SHNU. Chunli Zhang, Vice Dean for the the College of Electronic and Mechanical Engineering, and several other Engineering faculty joined Caryl, Pamela, Joshua, and me for a traditional Chinese feast. The food ranged from traditional sizzling beef, sweet and sour pork, and dumplings (giouzha) to the rather "interesting" -- jellyfish, chicken feet, pork innards, wild "greens" and more. Pamela and Joshua tried almost everything -- most before we told them what it was. Aside from the food, though, the conversation was quite lively, focusing on (of course) food, places to visit, and culture (American and Chinese). All in all, a very nice evening.

Meeting Interesting People

Who'd have thought that we would be such celebrities. We met another faculty member from the US (New York City, actually), who is teaching at SHNU in Early Childhood Education. He has been living in Shanghai for the past two years, and currently resides in the SHNU guest house, just a few doors down the hall from us. In addition to his teaching schedule here, Glenn also holds a periodic English Free Talk for students to improve their conversational skills. This evening, we were the guests of honor. We met for two hours with about thirty SHNU students to talk about differences between American and Chinese culture. Pamela and Joshua were the real stars -- talking about their interests and comparing favorite foods, art, music, sports, pets,and more. The students seemed genuinely interested and quite appreciative of our time. Afterward, we had several offers for shopping, restaurant, and sightseeing escorts.

amusement park

Yesterday we went to the amusement park. At the park we rode on the second largest ferris wheel in the world. We also went on a roller coaster that went up and up and up until you got to the top and then it went all the way back down the mountain and around a loop and straight up and down and then you went back to the loop and back to where you got on. It was really fun. I also got a raccoon stuffed animal. I named him Mackashino (mack-a-sheen-o). It was a really fun day.

Jinjiang Amusement Park

Today we went to an Amusement Park called Jinjang Amusement Park.
It was so cool! There were so many rides and games. My brother and I went on a roller coaster that was awesome! It went like you start going up the steep hill really slow then the track ended and you went backwords really fast, then there was a loop that you went through and when you got to the top of the loop it slowed down then it went back down it was awesome.
After that we went on the second largest ferris wheel in the world!! It was so high!! My mom almost got sick. But other then that it was so cool because you could see the whole city!!!

Real Chinese Food

Yesterday (Monday) we did a little food exploration. First for lunch, we went to a KFC -- similar to American, but menu all in Chinese. We ordered everything by pointing to pictures. Popcorn chicken and fries. Went to a wonderful garden, the Guilin Garden -- the kids described it perfectly. Then in the evening we ventured off campus to try a new restaurant, authentic and non-English speaking. It was so much fun to try to communicate by pointing to pictures and use hand gestures. A little scary since we really didn't know what we ordered, but the food was amazing! Stir fried snow peas and garlic, amazing dumplings (we eat these for breakfast, lunch and dinner), awesome ribs (we ended up ordering a second round) -- it was all outstanding. This is an amazing trip...the food, the people, the sounds...
Today I even had a very smooth subway ride. I went with one of our friends from the University to pick up our airline tickets to Beijing at the travel agent Downtown. The subway was pleasant and a breeze to use. And the shopping malls are huge, ginormous -- 8 floors tall. And, gorgeous!

New parks

A few minutes ago my mom, my sister, and I went to a park called Guilin park only instead of a park it was more of a garden. there was so many flowers rock formations and plants. There was one rock that was almost three times as big as me. there was also a temple, a tea house, and many gazebos. There was one rock that was like hollow so you could walk in it.

Park

Today my mom, my brother and, I went to a park while my dad was a his work. When we walked in everything lit up! It made you feel like there were no worries in the world. We walked down a stone path that lead to a big stone sculpture. It was so big that it would take five of my brother to get to the top. So then we kept walking and we came across another place the park called Central Place. Now Central Place had so many stone sculptures in it. There a couple of stone sculptures that you could go into that lead to other places.
Then when we got out of the park we went to KFC and the food taste like the food in Ohio.

First Teaching Day

Monday -- my first actual day of work here. I took the teachers bus from the Xuhui campus where we are staying to the Fengxian campus where the College of Engineering is located. The bus ride was about 45 minutes. I taught an analog electronics class -- 2-1/4 hours with a 15 minute break. There were about 50 people in the class, but because of how closely they sat, it didn't seem like a very large class. I'm just glad that I don't have to grade exams for that many students. The class seemed to go quickly, and the students appeared quite receptive to my teaching style. In just a short time, they were comfortable enough to interact with me in class. While they didn't actually ask questions, they did respond when I asked questions of them.

Laundry Day

I decided it was Monday, and I need to do laundry. Went down and did a load of laundry in a regular washing machine, but they don't have dryers here -- so off to the roof to hang out the laundry. A new experience for me!

bargaining on the street

Yesterday we went to a street shop actually many street shops. My dad taught me how to bar gin with people to get a lower price than the original price. I got two things. I got something that you have to twist a string attached to two strings around a top and you pull the strings it make the top spin. If you spin it fast enough you can make a whooshing sound. You can also do tricks with it like you can twist the top over the pole and keep it spinning and flip it back. The second thing I got was kind of like a recorder. It basically is a recorder only it has a gourd on the top. so then we stopped at the bathroom and instead on the toilet your used to it was a squatty potty. Yes it is a potty on the ground. It is so weird. well I got to go.bye!

New Finds

Yesterday was excellent!
We went shopping, and ate great food, and even made some new friends.
But the highlight of my day was the new find!
The new find was a special thing that can only be found in China. A squatty potty!! Now you may ask what a squatty potty is but it is a potty on the ground!
It was so funny to look at!! I even took a picture of one!
The squatty pottys can be found in public restrooms of China.
Ha ha he he!!!

Shanghai Tour

Yesterday, we went with our friends from Shanghai Normal University (SHNU) on a tour of a few spots in Shanghai. The morning was spent at the Oriental Pearl TV Tower along with Scott and Monica Schneider, Wang Fang, Chunmei Wang and her Chunmei's, Ruby. After a somewhat disappointing lunch at an "Italian" restaurant in the Super Brand Mall, we went shopping in the Yu Garden Bazaar. Caryl, Pamela, Joshua, and I had the opportunity to practice our negotiating skills as we tried to get the best deal on merchandise. It was quite a rush to feel that we were able to purchase items at a price that was much lower than "advertised." I'm sure, however, that the merchants found humor in our techniques. Our hosts were very accommodating as we moved between shops.

Pearl TV Tower & Shopping

Highlights of our day included a tour of the Pearl TV Tower, the world's third largest tv tower. We were in Pudong, the financial megaopolis of Shanghai, which was only built since 1990. Skyscrapers are everywhere, but it was only a small village as of not even 20 years ago. Then off to another mall that had to be 8 floors -- the Super Brand Mall -- and still very crowded. We settled on Italian food for lunch, big mistake. When in Rome eat as the Romans, or in this case, we should stick with dumplings and real Chinese food. Then we went to Yu Garden Bazaar for some real Chinese shopping. This was a large "flea market" type of shopping area, with some great buys, and bargainning was a must. We had two of our friends from Shanghai Normal University with us who live here, so they helped us haggle with the salepeople. I had a blast! Got a pair of real pink pearls for $12. Tomorrow there's other deals to get, I feel it in my bones!

People, People Everywhere

A very interesting day yesterday. The subway was the most amazingly crowded place I have ever been. The highlight of the day for me was the Ferragamo exhibit at the Shanghai Museum of Art. Shoes, bags and clothing made by hand by Ferragamo -- amazing. Leather, suede, skins, different materials, beads, it was all beautiful. The Museum was amazing too -- it was very modern architecture. Going down Nanjing Road once again was extremely crowded. I have never seen a line of people just trying to get into a Dept. Store, and there wasn't even a sale -- just tons and tons of people.

Traveling With The Crowds

We had an interesting day, making our way to downtown Shanghai on our own. The one thing we did not consider was that this is the May Day holiday, when many people use their time off from work to travel and shop. For us, it was like traveling to the mall and shopping on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), but with millions more people. The taxi's were easy to find, and pretty easy to navigate -- especially since we had the name of the subway station and the University (for our return) written in Chinese. Actually being in a taxi, however, was sometimes a bit nerve wracking. We discovered that road signs, lane markers, and traffic signals are used as suggestions. With one hand on the steering wheel, and one on the horn, the driver's nerves and skill had us imagining that we were on a thrill ride at Disneyworld.

We figured out the train station pretty well. We were able to select the correct train, and purchase our tickets using the automated machines pretty easily. Actually getting onto the train was another issue. We were a bit nervous seeing several "packed" trains stop at the station, and crowds of people waiting to get on, but decided to literally, join the crowd. The process of boarding the train was chaotic. Massive crowds simultaneously pushing on and off though each doorway. When it looks like there is no more room for anyone else to board, another surge of people pushes on until "security" pulls out the people who would prevent the doors from closing. Pamela was uncomfortable, but seemed to take it as part of the experience. Joshua, on the other hand, was horrified, claiming that this was the worst experience of his life.

We finally arrived at our destination, a bit shaken and disoriented, but considered it part of our "adventure." We spent some time walking through the park at Peoples Square. We stopped into the Shanghai Art Museum to see the Ferragamo exhibit -- shoes, purses, and dresses, oh my! We then took a stroll along Nanjing Road -- a shopping street filled with department stores, upscale retailers, and familiar western restaurants (KFC, MacDonalds, Subway, Starbucks, etc.). It would have been a shoppers dream, had it not been for the crowds.

Mayday

Now you might not know what Mayday is but it is a Chinese holiday. And today we went EVERYWHERE which was a bad idea because Mayday is such a big travel holiday!

So first we went to a beautiful park and everyone was having so much fun. At the park we came across a large pond. We looked in the pond and thought that there were just fish, rocks, and water but we looked closer and we saw the tinest frogs you'll ever see. They were so cute!! Josh and I were holding the little frogs and they were jumping all over us!

Then we walked a little farther and we got to a HUGE shopping area. When we walked in the first thing that we saw that caught our eyes was the BIGGEST COKE BOTTLE EVER! It was so cool.

the subway

We just got back from something that wasn't exactly my favorite thing...the subway on a holiday! There was so many people that wanted to get on at one time that they had to get the security gards in to block the people. All in all it was horible! We also went to some shops in between the trips. We went to a shop called Shanghi No. 1 Department Store. We couldn't even get a pair of sunglasses it was so crowded. We had a pretty good lunch. I had a ham and egg sandwich. Then we went to see McDonalds. To get a double cheeseburger it was 12 yuan [1 dollar=7 yuan]. Without the subway and department store it was a pretty good day.

Music in the Park

Music seems to be a large part of the culture here. While in the park yesterday, we saw people of all ages playing instruments, singing, or dancing. It is particulary relaxing to see the harmony of music and nature as they were playing in the park on instruments and songs that seemed to have deep roots in the culture. We took time on a few occasions to just sit and observe.

New Sounds

Yesterday we went exploring into a park. We happened to come across a small path that lead to a very beautiful place. When we got there we heard a wonderful new sound that we have never heard before. The music was coming from a strange instrument that we have never heard before. The instrument was kind of like a flute but it had a gourd at the end. It made a really cool sound.

Ni Hao -- First day hello

It's been a great first day. Josh and I began with a 1 1/2 mile walk/run. We started at 5:45 am -- it was truly amazing to see at least 100 people on the track walking, running, playing tennis in the middle of the field and most amazing doing tai chi -- just out in the open, in groups and alone, so graceful. Then we did breakfast -- we are all trying very different foods -- there's no Fruit Loops or bagels here. Later in the day we went to another park -- KangJian Garden. Again, amazing. We stumbled upon so many interesting people doing very interesting activities. First we came upon two women working with spinning tops on heavy string attached to stick handles. I know I'm not describing it so well, but we all tried to do it, and Pamela and I got it right away. Very much a balancing act. I'll find the real name and put it up later. We came upon a floutist, who played beautifully -- and another musical group playing a kind of recorder instrument (looked like a recorder with a gourd on top), and maroccas. Next a chorus group singing in Chinese and into a big square where many people were dancing in the area. Very cool. People just stare at us, and Josh is like a rock star -- people love his curls and just want to touch his head. He's pretty shy about it. People are very quiet and nice. Went shopping to find an extension cord so we could use the outlets here, and that was interesting shopping not knowing much Chinese except three words. We were successful, though, using a bunch of hand signals. At dinner, we all tried sea cucumber -- just kind of slimy!!! But, the food has been very good. Looking forward to many adventures ahead.

time at the park

Today after dinner we went to a park . While we were walking along the street we found a store and bought me a drawing book. Then we took it to the park and I drew a picture of a palm tree and a pine tree. It was quiet because my sister and dad went for a walk so it was just me and my mom. It was really peaceful.