Sorry to all my current and prospective readers, I know this post is way overdue. So far every day here has been jam packed with orientations, excursions and lesson planning (I am here to work, ya know). My plans this evening were canceled on account of a Typhoon rolling through, so I’ll take this opportunity to recap the last few days. Has it really only been 10 days since I left the states? I feel as if I have been in this country for months (although my shoddy/nonexistent Mandarin does not reflect that feeling).
Shanghai is reminiscent of NYC or any other big metropolis, save for a few differences- some small, others massive. For instance, Pizza Huts are fancy, sit down restaurants here. You can enjoy a nice glass of Chianti or Cabernet while chowing down on the fine American cuisine. I am happy to say that I have yet to indulge. In fact, I made it a whole week without eating anything remotely American (I broke down two nights ago and had a cheeseburger- it was glorious), and have yet to use a fork.
The bigger differences are what make it difficult to get acclimated to living here. Don’t get me wrong; life here is just fine and thus far this has been a great experience. That being said, I found it impossible to finish my meal after watching a little girl pee and defecate on the floor in the middle of a crowded restaurant. Apparently this is completely reasonable here, as very young children rarely wear diapers/underwear, and even when they wear pants, the bottoms are usually cut out. I have seen parents holding their children over gutters, trashcans, and potted plants so they can “take care of their business.” Excuse me for a moment while I grab a pepto bismol.
The CIEE orientation was really a blast and I was very sad to see many of my new friends depart to their placements around China. The CIEE staff here are some of the most accommodating, friendly people I have ever met. They took us to an incredible all-you-can-eat Sichuan restaurant where I tried Yak (delicious), the Shanghai museum (underwhelming) and an impressive acrobatic show (I will upload a video as soon as I figure out how- any advice is appreciated). The highlight was the time we spent at the Shanghai Expo. In fact I’ll go through the whole day because it was pretty amusing.
My day began at 7 am, when I was forced to visit a hospital to redo my physical with the 9 other Shanghai teachers. [Side note: Shanghai (maybe China in general, I’m not sure) is in the middle of its most severe heat wave ever. The first three days were unbearably hot, sticky and moist. Thankfully, the rain (typhoon) has cooled off the city considerably. Also I just realized how much I love parentheses]
Anyway we got picked up by Touba, one of the heads of our teaching program. She is a tiny, sweet, 60-something year old woman who is a laugh riot. She had us pile into a pair of vans and we drove 15 minutes to a hospital. When we arrived at the gate, the guards refused to let our vans into the parking lot and stated that we had to walk through. This did not sit well with Touba or the other drivers. After arguing for some time, Touba took it upon herself to exit the van and get in the face of the guard denying us. Even on her tippytoes, Touba was at least 18 inches shorter than this guy, but that did not stop her from giving him a piece of her mind. After negotiations failed, she resorted to smacking the guard on the head multiple times and then attempted to move the gate herself, but to no avail. Like I said, laugh riot.
Eventually we just walked inside and got started with the physicals. Each test had its own room and physician/nurse practitioner which was pretty entertaining, and made it almost like a game. The highlight (or lowlight) was when I was getting an ultra-sound. Yeah, who knew it was used on more than just pregnant women. Anyway, I asked the nurse how everything looked, and she responded curtly, “You have fat liver!” Guess it’s time to start cutting down on beverages…
After the hospital we met back up with the rest of the CIEE group at the expo. Keeping in mind the fact that we could visit the Expo any time we wished, the Shanghai crew was pretty unenthusiastic about spending the next 7 hours or so in the oppressive heat and mostly set on leaving early. While on our way out, we passed the Cuba pavilion and someone mentioned that there was a bar, so naturally we had to check it out. The pavilion was literally a cigar shop and a bar, nothing else. After a few beers, we noticed that the local Chinese were covertly snapping pictures of our group, so we decided to invite a few to take pictures with us. What ensued can only be described as a feeding frenzy. At one point we must have taken pictures with random Chinese people for 30 minutes straight. I could not stop laughing as Chinese men threw their kids and wives into pictures and then dove headfirst between two girls in the group for their own snapshot. The next day I tried asking a random woman if I could take a picture with her and she was ecstatic. I turned to look at her a couple moments after I walked away and she was still glowing. Its truly a phenomenal boost for your self esteem.
There is oh so much more to talk about but I don’t want to burn you guys out immediately. I’ll try to post again before I start work on Monday so I can clear the slate before my first day of teaching English to 3-7 year olds (I am sure there will be tons to share after that). I would love to hear any suggestions/comments/thoughts on my writing as I am new to this. Let me know if you want to hear about something specific or whatnot.
Love to all.
Sucs
American Paisa 
Great post Jake…you’re a rock star…can’t wait to take a picture with you when we come to China (this paren is just for you)…
What is the sentiment like there? Do you feel like your in 1984, or a fascist-like state? Does an integrated metro transportation system exist? Any good candy?
The sentiment is to go about your business with purpose; there is definitely no dilly dallying. You can smell the socialism in the air, but I don’t feel like Mao is watching my every move and I the concentration of cops is way less than in NY. The two cities are similar in that everyone is always rushing to a fro.
The metro system is very well done here. The only issue occurs during rush hour, when it seems like all 20 million inhabitants of the city attempt to ride to the same pace at the same time.
As far as candy goes, unfortunately I have not branched out much. I’ve had some American candy and also those asian fruit gummies which I am obsessed with. I’ll let you know when I step out of my comfort zone.