It’s 9 p.m.
and almost bedtime for me (Day 3). Thanks to friends and family for encouraging
emails and replies to my lengthy missives from the other side of the world. We
are up at 5 a.m. here (something about sunrise) and back in our dorm room by 7
p.m., so emailing becomes my connection to the rest of the world. In case you
don’t know from earlier email—no television, no telephone, no Netflix, limited
internet, restrictions against leaving the compound, and a return to the
simpler life.
The last blog covered me and my red slippers preparing to leave for Shanghai. Here is the trip in a nutshell: 13+ hours of flying time (over the North Pole and Russia) and about 7, 545 miles. Curve is a long way off right now. We had a visual on board the plane showing our flight pattern and location as we made our way from Newark to Shanghai. We just followed the sun, and I tried to sleep, listen to music, read, sleep, walk, stretch, readjust my traveler’s pillow—you get the picture.
Then mid-afternoon on Saturday we landed in Shanghai. After a very efficient passport check and the quietest airport terminal I have ever been in, we picked up luggage and met our welcome committee. An hour-long bus trip to campus, past high rise apartments looming over small lopsided houses and garden plots, and we were met by another welcome committee, and given a gift symbolizing happiness, a meal card, and the coveted internet connection ID and Code.
The last blog covered me and my red slippers preparing to leave for Shanghai. Here is the trip in a nutshell: 13+ hours of flying time (over the North Pole and Russia) and about 7, 545 miles. Curve is a long way off right now. We had a visual on board the plane showing our flight pattern and location as we made our way from Newark to Shanghai. We just followed the sun, and I tried to sleep, listen to music, read, sleep, walk, stretch, readjust my traveler’s pillow—you get the picture.
Then mid-afternoon on Saturday we landed in Shanghai. After a very efficient passport check and the quietest airport terminal I have ever been in, we picked up luggage and met our welcome committee. An hour-long bus trip to campus, past high rise apartments looming over small lopsided houses and garden plots, and we were met by another welcome committee, and given a gift symbolizing happiness, a meal card, and the coveted internet connection ID and Code.
My roommate discovered too late that a cold shower was the bathing option, but I didn’t want to keel over on my first night, so I found someone who could tell me how to get hot water. The water was hot (30 minutes later) but the shower nozzle no longer worked so I used a coffee mug to pour water over myself. The towel was a disappointment—a water-repellant invention to be sure. We remembered the advice about brushing our teeth with bottled water and then lights were out for us at 8:30, so no surprise we were up before 5 a.m. on Day 2.
Crowing roosters started my morning—a comforting sound that reminded me of Curve. Our little balcony is wonderful and looks out on a stretch of well-tended trees and a brick walkway. Birds galore and an incredible breeze mark the start of the morning. Tai Chi began on Day 2 (every morning at 7:30). Breakfast wasn’t Pop Tarts or Cheerios. The table was piled with food—boiled eggs, steamed stuffed buns (baozi) with surprise fillings, warm soy milk, bananas, and other things I didn’t recognize (but some I tried).
Walking is the focus of our day—to the gym, to the dorm, to the canteen, to the dorm, to the classroom, to the canteen, to the dorm, to the classroom—up four flights of stairs at least twice a day—and that’s on top of our early morning walks before Tai Chi. Fewer calories and more miles on foot should equal a healthier me.
The shower (note where my focus seems to be since I love a hot shower before crawling into bed) was back to cold water on Day 2—and the trusty coffee cup to pour from. We found out that hot water was only available from 8:30-10:30 p.m. and wouldn’t you know—I stayed up reading until 11 p.m. As a concession to their American guests, however, the rules were changed on Day 3 and hot water is available around the clock. As another gesture of goodwill, coffee was served at the break on Day 2 and sugar and cream were added on Day 3. Now I look forward to an afternoon cup of coffee and a cookie—maybe two.
I have been on one outing outside the compound. Four of us ventured to a supermarket (think small Walmart with everything written in Chinese). We were an unusual sight. Speaking of traffic--no one stops for anything and the pavement outside of stores is not off bounds for cars that want by. Eyes and ears on the alert. No clear pedestrian zone. Even on campus the students on scooters and the motorbike delivery people slow down for nothing.
In the market, I tried out my new Chinese vocabulary—nee-hao (hello), and that met with favorable reactions, but it seemed most people were more interested in watching us and practicing their English—hello!
My chopstick maneuvers are getting much better. I was able to eat boiled peanuts for breakfast this morning. I can also count to ten in Chinese and might remember the names of basic fruits and for sure I remember how to say thank-you (shie-shie). We all asked today in class how to say—I need to buy a towel. I think everyone is a little weary of drip-drying after showers (either hot or cold).
I hate to dwell on food, but lunch today was great too. Since we are not going anywhere for the travel experience yet, we are all finding thrills in whatever is at hand. My excitement yesterday was finding bok choy and some leafy greens, rice, eggplant, and bean sprouts on the table. I was a happy camper.
The gardeners / grounds keepers are also fascinating to me. I keep snapping photos and wanting to ask them where to buy their tools. My favorite serrated pruning knife seems to be used in a heftier version here. I watched from the classroom building yesterday as a worker hauled off a cart piled at least four feet high with grass clippings and someone in the distance pruned peach trees lining the campus drive. Tis the season for pruning. All the trees and shrubs have been meticulously pruned.
My observation to this point is that the China I have see is a juxtaposition of old and new—high rise apartments and lopsided shanties, rusty bicycles and garden carts and shiny pink scooters, iPhones and laundry drying on dorm balconies. Students are wearing American slogan tee-shirts and Chinese music is piped through the dorm hallways. One student sported a tee-shirt: “Beware the Culture Vulture”—written in English. And I haven’t even been into Shanghai yet!
