I'm a Stranger Here Myself

In a funny way nothing makes you feel more like a native of your own country than to live where nearly everyone is not.  [...] being an American was my defining quality.  It was how I was identified, differentiated.

- Bill Bryson, I’m a Stranger Here Myself, pg 3

Happy 3 Years Anniversary, Shanghai

3 years ago today I boarded a plane at LAX.  Destination: PVG (Pudong, Shanghai, China).  I had two check-in 50lbs. bags, one carry-on bag and my backpack with my laptop in it.  I had an open roundtrip ticket, meaning I was free to choose my return date as long as it was within a 12 month period.  My cash consisted of an American ATM card that was supposed to work in certain Chinese ATMs with no transaction fees.  I did not have an apartment set up.  My family dropped me off at Point A and I was told that “somebody” would pick me up at Point B.

The first thing that hits most of us arriving in Shanghai in late summer is the humidity as it latches onto your body. My native Southern Californian skin immediately felt this new change as I got in line at customs under the heading “foreigner.”  I looked like the locals, yet I was a foreigner.  I would learn soon enough just how this would be to my advantage and disadvantage, and the beginning of many funny and frustrating stories.

My heart skipped a beat when I did not see anyone holding up a sign with my name on it in the arrivals lounge.  “Maybe I missed it” and as I turned my luggage cart around I noticed out the corner of my eyes a Chinese girl running panicked towards the lounge with a piece of paper.  Upon closer inspection I read my name, introduced myself, am escorted to the van and driven into the city that would become my home for the next 2.25 years.

Shanghai.

You’ve been mean and unkind, scary and unpleasant. But you were also exciting and delightful, warm and full of surprises.  You stole my wallet with my passport in it, but a compassionate migrant worker found them in the bushes and and returned them to me via the contact information I had left on an old receipt.  Your store owners always tried to charge me extra because they knew I wasn’t from “around here,” but your taxi drivers always got me from here-to-there without taking the “scenic route.”  The people would spit, blow their nose with their hands, pick their ears with long pinky nails, children would #1 and #2 on the streets, but they would also smile and be genuinely curious about me and my life and make me feel welcome. 

You were the starting point of many trips, domestic and international.  It was always so nice to leave you and your smoggy air and grey skies behind, but there was always the sense of familiarity and anticipation whenever I was returning.  Off the planes or trains to navigate the subway system back downtown or jump into a cab and say “Xujiahui, xie xie.” 

You are a city of contrasts.  The skyline is decorated with some of the newest, tallest and most modern buildings in the world. Neon signs flash while billboards and jumbotrons make their claims.  Yet around each corner is an alley leading into a quiet neighborhood where families still hang laundry out to dry.  Starbucks, McDonald’s and of course KFC reign supreme in every shopping plaza, but it is the friendly baozi lady or mala tang man who could serve up a quick tasty Chinese meal.  Superbrand Mall is more likely to have clothes in my size, but Qipu Lu is an exhausting and lively game of shopping warfare.  Cheese is expensive, but nothing beats the 3 RMB convenience store ice creams.

So 3 years later, I look back fondly at the times when every experience was new and fresh.  Grabbing a taxi,  learning city’s urban geography, reading menus, grocery shopping, paying bills, figuring out the local dialect, trying the Chinese chip “flavors,” the list goes on and on.  The sense of accomplishment that came with each step kept me going.  My Shanghai experience had been a little weird, but nothing short of exhilarating.  Some of the best times were spent exploring China and nearby countries, and some of the best times were spent simply lounging and hanging out with dear friends.  It was just as fun to wander its streets as it was to escape to a foreigner-friendly spot.  I left Point B and returned to Point A a few months ago, and will probably remain at Point A for the foreseeable future.  I brought back the trinkets and the kitschy souvenirs, but in my mind and heart are the real treasures, the stories and the memories.

I’ll be back. I don’t know when, but I’ll be back.

Welcome to Beijing

In a smoky internet cafe in Lhasa, Tibet, Jing and I made a quick decision to travel to Beijing post-Tibet because:

    1.    In my two years of living in China, I had not been to Beijing yet.
    2.    There was a flight deal from Shanghai to Tianjin (via Spring Airlines - China’s budget airline), and we could just take the train or bus from Tianjin to Beijing.
    3.    While in Tibet, our tour guide found us relatively cheap return flights, essentially saving us 2 days on a train, meaning I had “gained“ 2 additional days of traveling.

We had about 1.5 days back in Shanghai before heading out again and we spent it doing laundry and packing for the eventual flight back to the States.  By now, we had moved out of the "Girls’ Apartment" and was living/storing luggage in the now-open spare room in the "Boys’ Apartment."  Things move fast in China, and even faster when you’re at the Expo.

When the day of departing for the north came, Jing and I took public transportation to the Shanghai-Hongqiao Airport.  We had timed it so that we could take the metro over, since line 2 had a terminal at the airport.  Little did we know, or expect, for the distance from the metro terminal to the actual airport terminal to be such a hassle.  We arrived to the area just fine and followed the signs to take us to our destination.  We get in line for the shuttle bus; no worries since we had at least an hour before the plane took flight.  I take a look at the sign for the shuttle bus and my heart drops.

"Departs every 20 minutes"

We had to make it onto THIS bus that was currently boarding otherwise we would probably miss our flight; we are at the end of what looks to be a long line.  Somehow we make it on board (me trying to sneak our carry-on onto the bus and not the bus’ loading trunk to save time, but the bus ayi saw me and stopped me) and breathed a sigh of relief as the bus starts its journey.

"It should be about 5-10 minutes I think."  That 5-10 minute bus ride ended up lasting close to 30 minutes.

"Terminal 1 and terminal 2 shouldn’t be too far away from each other. It wouldn’t make sense." Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 were not next to each other; we (slowly) drove through a construction site, (slowly) through what looked like the leftovers of an airplane field, (slowly) through a couple city streets, (slowly) through the area with hotels for airplane staff/stewards.  Things in China don’t always have to make sense.

"We’re going to Beijing!"  We hope we can still make it to Beijing!

With 30 minutes to departure we dash off the bus and quickly find the check-in counter for Spring Airlines. Past experiences of others in China have said that you can still make it onto the plane even with 15 minutes to departure, since, well ... because it is China.  Jing and I think we’re in the clear until the check-in girl says, "It’s too late, you won’t make it."

Oh. heck. no. I am going to get on that flight and I am going to go see the Great Wall and the Forbidden City.

Two girls might be easy to push around, but my American forefathers fought for my right to the pursuit of happiness and dang it, I was going pursue happiness even if I was in a Communist country.  As sad as it is for me to now say, it was time to play the role of The Foreigner. I grab our passports and push them to the check-in girl and in hurried English I say, "Please please please, let us get on the flight. We need to be on that flight."   I told her that "someone" had told us that we just had to arrive 30 minutes prior to departure and it would be okay.  I keep speaking in English and only occasionally switching on "bad Chinese" of simple phrases and butchered tones (i.e. wo yao qu Tianjin, hao bu hao? 我要去天津, 好不好? I want to go to Tianjin, ok?).  She makes some hurried calls over the walkie-talkie and recommends we pay an extra 20RMB to get seats closer to the front of the plane since we are boarding so late. No time to argue and I quickly give her 20RMB.  She hands tickets (yes!) and our passports back to us and tells us to run.  When those on duty at the security check/x-ray saw which flight we were trying to catch they decided to just let us go (only in China).  A Chinese lady at the end of the hall frantically waves to us and says "TIANJIN!"

She "checks in" our bag by simply asking if I had liquids or explosives in it and hanging a paper ID tag on it, no x-rays or opening it (again, only in China).  We climb into a 面包车 miàn bāo chē, (literally translated as "bread car" because it’s supposed to resemble a loaf of bread on wheels but in the West is more commonly known as a ”van“) with a group of 3-4 Chinese men who were also on the same plane.  We find our 20RMB seats and can’t believe this had all happened. After we eat our bento meal from 7-11 (yup, bringing our own food onto the plane) we try to nap but obnoxious passengers who speak too loud and make crude comments about everything kept us awake.  But the main point is we made it to Tianjin, and after an hour or so bus ride, we made it to Beijing.

Day 1 of Beijing saw us on a trip over to the Badaling section 八达岭 bā dá lǐng of the Great Wall of China.  There is a bus that takes you directly from Beijing to Badaling for about under 20RMB.  All the tour groups (ugh) were heading to the right side of the Great Wall so we, and other small groups of foreigners, headed to the left side of the Great Wall.  The Olympic signage for "One World One Dream" was still there and managed to appear in half of our photos.  I was very excited to be on the Wall, even if it was commercialized with vendors selling panda hats, "I climbed the Great Wall" t-shirts and Mao memorabilia.  Despite the blistering cold, I enjoyed occasionally pulling my hands out of my pockets to touch the stone walls.  There were steep sections of the wall which were easy to climb up but a little more difficult to climb down.  At one point, Jing and I took a "cracker break" and sat our bums on the cold steps eating Chinese crackers and admiring the view of tiny Chinese tour groups walking up the opposite hill like ants.  We met and talked to other travelers from China, America, the Netherlands, and India to name a few.  At the top of one of the towers a vendor tried very, very hard to sell to us small commemorative plaques declaring that we had climbed so and so meters on the Great Wall.  No thank you, but he was pretty persistent until he figured out that we wouldn’t be moved.  Finally, he asked for something else, a quick English lesson on how to say the English equivalent of, "不能错过 bù néng cuò guò." I write down, "You can’t miss this opportunity" in his notebook and he wrote some pronunciation hints next to it.  We practiced it a few times together, answered the usual questions of, "You look Chinese but your English is so good" and "American? But your Chinese is so good!" and then we parted ways. 

Giving free impromptu English lessons on top of the Great Wall? Check. 

Oh, Great Wall - definitely a highlight of my life in China. Better late than never :) 

One World One Dream

Badaling section 八达岭 bā dá lǐng of the Great Wall of China - it's a long wall

We take the bus back into the city; next destination: Beihai Park 北海公园 běi hǎi gōng yuán.

Beihai Park is a large imperial garden with the Bai Ta, White Dagoba, as one of its most notable things to see.  It was nearing evening by the time we got to the Bai Ta so the entrance to it was closed already.  We wandered around the grounds for awhile until it got to be too dark to really see much and headed out. 

Bai Ta, White Dagoba

Beihai Park 北海公园

Jing and I were going to meet up with a friend of hers who lives in Beijing for dinner nearby.  We got a little lost and ended up at the rear entrance of the Forbidden City, though it did offer the opportunity for some interesting night photos.

 

The original plan was to find a particular Peking Duck restaurant, but after walking the same street for awhile it was discovered that the restaurant had closed down.  Instead, we stumbled upon a snack street and since we were all super starving by now, it was quickly decided to eat there instead.  The snack street had some of the usual suspects for Chines cuisine such as buns stuffed with shredded meat and noodles, but it also had some surprises for us.  We had been eyeing the insect delicacies for awhile when Jing finally asked a cricket eating Chinese couple standing next to us, whether they tasted any good.  They nicely handed her a fried cricket to try and Jing and her friend split it.  They watched as Jing and her friend took their first bites and slowly and politely nodded their heads.  The Chinese couple smiled and said that there was really nothing special about the cricket taste except to be able to say that you’ve eaten it, which in a way probably best described the taste of all the other fried insects on display. We kept wandering around and ended up at Wangfujing Lu 王府井 wángfǔjǐng, a well-known pedestrian street. I would say it’s Beijing’s version of Shanghai’s Nanjing Lu, except is felt more spacious.  

Day 2: We were determined to hit up as many sites as we could and had a whole plan laid out taking into consideration locations and positioning of the sun to ensure the best quality photos we could get.  Early morning start, we took a city bus (conveniently located across the street from our hotel) to see the Olympic Park.  Bird’s Nest and Water Cube and a lot of Fuwa’s (Beijing Olympic mascot).  From there, we took the metro back into the city for the Forbidden City.

 Due to our dislike of following behind large Chinese tour groups, Jing and I wagered we could avoid them by entering from the rear entrance of the Forbidden City since chances are the tour groups would be entering from the front entrance (Chinese tour groups = lemmings).  We were also able to get "low season" ticket prices!  But despite the "low season" there were still tons of people visiting.  Did not spend too much time reading the descriptions of every building, pagoda or column, but do recall everything being called "so and so of Divine Harmony" or "so and so of Heavenly Tranquility."  I thought the Forbidden City was supposed to be larger, but we were able to walk through the entire (open) area rather quickly.  I wouldn’t say it was a ton of fun, but it’s a must-see for any Beijing trip.  We walked out to the Tiananmen Square area and took some photos of Mao’s portrait.

Forbidden City

Our next destination was Jing Shan Park 景山公园 jǐng shān gōng yuán, whose entrance was conveniently located (literally) across the street from the rear entrance of the Forbidden City.  To save time we wanted to take a taxi from the front around to the back, however our transportation request was met with some unexpected resistance. Taxi drivers refused to take us saying, "It's unlucky to go because an emperor committed suicide there." Finally, when refused by the nth taxi driver to take us to Jing Shan Park, I say to him, "In that case, please take us to the back entrance of the Forbidden City." Sure enough, he took us and we just walked across the street to JingShan Park's entrance.  Oh, China.

The specialness of Jing Shan Park is that you can view the Forbidden City from the top of the hill.  As the sun set, many people had started gathering at the top to see the view.  Jing and I shot a few pictures and after seeing our fill headed down the opposite side of the hill to wander around and see what else was at this park.  We found the spot where the Emperor committed suicide; might have been a little more interesting to read the description if it wasn’t already pitch dark and thus a little spooky when we stumbled upon it.  We ended our final full day of Beijing by FINALLY having Peking Duck ... it’s so delicious. Eating Peking Duck in Beijing is a definite must!

Peking Duck served on a duck plate - yummy

The next morning, I headed back to Shanghai by myself (fast train from Beijing to Tianjin and then fly from Tianjin to Shanghai) while Jing was going to visit Tianjin and see another part of the Great Wall and then head back to Shanghai a day after me.  I had several errands to run in case I was not able to get my flight changed (making the move back to the States means making sure all your affairs are in order - things to pack up/donate/throw out/buy, people to see, etc).  Luckily, I came back to see the flight change confirmation in my emails which meant that I was now preparing for my move to the Hongqiao area of Shanghai to live for the next few weeks - but that’s another story.

Impressions of Beijing? I had so much fun and I really enjoyed the city and the vibe that I got from it.  It didn’t feel as chaotic or crowded as Shanghai, and even felt a little slower paced.  I loved seeing the sites and the people were friendly.  Transportation (metro and bus) and stuff is also generally cheaper than Shanghai.  The classic question of Beijing vs. Shanghai ...

Personally, I might be a Shanghai girl, but I’m just being biased.

Tibet? You Bet!

After the Expo ended, I felt the need to see some more of China and so Jing (friend, MAISer and Expo roomie) and I made travel plans for Tibet and later, Beijing. We set off for Tibet in November.

Since we are foreigners, we needed to make sure we had all the right paper work and travel permits ready for Tibet.  We got a letter chopped (official stamp from work/organization/entity, it’s a China thing) by USAP, copies of passports and visas and paid the fees.  Everything was done, bags were packed, winter jackets were purchased, personal luggage was stored at a friend’s apartment, goodbyes to Expo, USAP and Haibao 海宝 were said and we made our way to the Shanghai Railway station for our 2 day train ride from Shanghai to Lhasa.

Well, we made it to the train station on time alright, even with time to spare.  We grabbed some dinner at KFC and seeing how we still had time, took a bathroom break before boarding.  As I exit the bathroom, I see that everyone in the waiting lounge had disappeared.  Make a quick phone call to find Jing and all she says is, “RUN!” I run to the ticket checker and when he sees “Lhasa” on my ticket, yells to someone, “LHASA! SOMEONE FOR LHASA!” to which I see another woman look out from the door and and yells at me to, “RUN!”  I see David (another USAPer we were traveling with) at the top of the stairs with my suitcase and we run down as fast as we can.  Jing is up ahead but being refused entry onto the train car because the guy decides, “Your ticket is for car #1, you still have time to make it.” The problem with this?

We were currently standing at the end, at car #13.
The entire platform was devoid of people.
We had about 2 minutes before the train left.
Trains in China leave right. on. the. dot.
CRRAAAAPPP!

We sprint with our luggage.  The whistle signals one minute to take off.  The train-door-operators step off the train and turn to face the train, meaning the doors were about to automatically close.  No one seems to want to help the three people making a mad dash across the empty train platform in the middle of the night. Finally, I see someone motioning to enter the train so we quickly show our tickets and climb aboard.  I was the last one on and the doors closed behind me; within 10 seconds, the train moves and starts making its way to Tibet.

We had made it.

We were in car #7, but we had made it.  Catching out breaths and dragging our bags, we make it to our sleeper compartments in car #1.  I call (and paid extra for) bottom bunk and as we are settling in, someone comes to check everyone’s IDs. In China, it’s required by law that you carry your Chinese National ID card, or shēn fèn zhèng 身份证.  I hand him my US passport and seeing I’m a foreigner, ask to see my permit for entering Tibet.  He told us where the bathroom and the hot water dispenser was (very important) and that lights out was at 10pm.  The lights certainly did turn off at 10pm and since we didn’t have any individual lights, we just tucked ourselves in and went to sleep.

Now there’s not much to do on a long distance train besides sit and look out the window, read/write and talk to your neighbors on the train. I woke up to the loud conversations of a group of retired Shanghainese.  There was also a Swedish father and his daughter who I gave some Tylenol to to help alleviate headaches.  The first guy we shared our compartment with was on his way to Qinghai.  The next old lady we shared with was on her way to Lhasa to visit her son.  We Americans wrote or sketched in our journals, read our books, chatted, took our altitude sickness medicine and ate our duffel bag of snacks.  Out the window we saw the Chinese country side zoom by and I realized that outside of my Shanghai bubble, the lives of the Chinese were drastically different from the lives of the Chinese in the big city.  We made pit stops in several cities but had to remember to be back on the train before it departed. 

We woke up one morning freezing cold because of the snow (!) and found out that due to some technical difficulties, it was a decision between running the heat or pumping extra oxygen into car #1. Apparently they chose oxygen over heat, so we all layered up a little more, held our hot water bottles closer to our bodies and enjoyed the snow scenery outside.

The hours passed and the instant noodles were consumed and pretty soon, we disembarked onto Tibetan soil.                            


Our tour guide, Lamu, welcomed us with the traditional Tibetan hada, a long piece of silk used as a greeting gift.  Similar to receiving the Hawaiian lei in Hawaii.  We were dropped off at our hotel, told the morning pick up time, and were advised to not shower, bathe or wash our hairs for at least the first night as our bodies adjusted to the cold and high altitude. So yes, if you do the math, we went without showering for about 3 days.

In Lhasa, we visited Potala Palace bùdálāgōng 布达拉宫, Jokhang temple dàzhāosì 大昭寺 and Barkhore Street bākuòjiē 八廓街. Potala Palace had been on my list of “things to see” and it was great to finally be able to check it off the list.  Devout Buddhist pilgrims spin prayer wheels and walk around and around the perimeter of the Palace.  Lamu guided us with information, much of it quickly running together because all the people’s names sounded the same.  The yak butter/wax burning in all the temple altars was pretty overwhelming and made my head heavy. I was doing okay with the high altitude, but had little to no appetite and near the end of the day, really had to lay down and rest.

 

 Potala Palace bù dá lā gōng 布达拉宫

Jokhang temple dàzhāosì 大昭寺

Barkhore Street bākuòjiē 八廓街

The next day was an early start to a long car ride from Lhasa to Shigatse, the second largest city in Tibet. We climbed even higher in elevation and made a stop at Yamdrok Lake, one of the three holy lakes of Tibet.  Here, we paid 10 RMB to take photos with a yak and a Tibetan dog.  At the time it seemed like a blatant attempt to hustle some money from tourists, but looking back, it was definitely money well spent.  Yamdrok Lake was so cold, but so beautiful and there was a sense of peace that fell over you as you gazed at the snow capped mountains reflected in the blue waters. 

Yamdrok Lake

         

                                               10 RMB photo ops

We arrived at Tashilhunpo Monastery zhāshílúnbùsì 扎什倫布寺, and did some more Buddhist templing.  Due to the increase in altitude, my body started to fail me so by the time I got to our hotel my head was pounding.  I got into bed and didn’t make it out to dinner so Jing brought me back some comfort food, tomato and eggs with rice.

 Tashilhunpo Monastery zhāshílúnbùsì 扎什倫布寺

When we got back to Lhasa, we went to a dinner show with dancing and yak comedy skits. 

And our final day in Tibet was spent taking it easy with a stroll through the area near Potala Palace and some last minute shopping for gifts and trinkets.  Interesting fact: many shopkeepers did not accept Chinese coins, but would accept Chinese paper currency.  Reason? Because the coins do not have any Tibetan writing/language on them, but the paper currency does.

We even took the suggestion of our tour guide, Lamu, and went inside a butter tea “bar,” where Tibetans hang out and drink butter tea.  I guess two ABC girls of Han Chinese descent and dressed in tourist gear, stick out like a sore thumb in butter tea bars because we got our fair share of stares and curious looks. For the first time, I felt like a lǎowài 老外 (foreigner) in China.

Tibetan butter tea bar - where everybody knows your name

Impressions of Tibet?  It certainly is a beautiful place to visit and I think we went at a relatively good time because we were able to see the snow, but not be too overwhelmed by the deep cold of winter.  Spring is supposed to be the best time to visit.  Be prepared for the high altitude by taking medication and take it easy the first few days.  Sometimes we would just randomly run out of breath even if we were just walking on flat surfaces.  Rest if you feel tired, out of breath or a headache and try to eat and drink even if you have no appetite.  The people are friendly and the food (not a fan of butter tea or boiled yak meat though) is good. And the nature and sceneries ... pure awesomeness.

Getting Back on Track

Even though I am currently not in China anymore (return date to be determined ... if it happens), I will still post about past adventures and stories and share photos as I remember them.

A little thing called the 2010 Shanghai World Expo happened and things got a bit busy for me the last few months I was in Shanghai.  Needless to say, there's a lot of catching up to do and I hope to get around to updating again.

Dance in China

The following videos are among my favorites.





And now you can join Matt in dancing in Beijing and Shanghai.  According to Shanghaiist, Matt will be in Beijing in the "Sanlitun area at the San Li Tun Fountain, near the northwest corner of the fountain. The time and date: 3pm, Saturday, February 19." And for Shanghai, "he'll be at the Science and Technology Museum in Pudong (on Line 2) near the sculpture at the entrance. The time and date: 3pm, Sunday, February 20."

Unfortunately, I will be missing out on this, but for those who will be in either or both of those two cities, please go dance. Remember to smile and to have fun!

China ALL THE WAY!

Back in 2008, when I was about to graduate from UCLA, I made the decision to move to Shanghai, China for 10 months. The plan was to finish up some graduate school course work, research for my thesis, teach some English and then come back to the USA. Little did I expect that original 10 month plan to become a “6 more months” plan, which turned into a “3 more months for the Expo” plan, which turned into a “stay until Expo is over” plan, which turned into a “I want to spend a few more weeks after traveling” plan sprinkled with short trips back to the USA to clear my lungs of Chinese pollution and to restock my luggage with American goodies.

2.25 years later, I’m back in the USA again but this time with no definite plans to return to China. There’s been no plane ticket purchased, no Chinese visa applied for, everything that I left in China has either been thrown out or donated. But, who knows what could happen in the upcoming weeks which may have me scurrying around getting travel arrangements and documents settled and making trips to Costco to buy in bulk.

In the time that I’ve been on the other side of the world, I’ve:

- been sick more often than in the 24 years of my life combined
- been stung by a jellyfish in Phuket, Thailand
- sprained my left ankle (day 2 of China, great way to start right?)
- popped the ligament/tendon (?) behind my right knee
- bruised my right wrist go-karting
- had a bruise in the shape of Mainland China on my left thigh
- as “Teacher Amy/Amy Laoshi” taught over 1000 Chinese kindergartners how to say “ho ho ho, Merry Christmas”
- taught the “Nobody” dance to Chinese kindergartners
- given English names to hundreds of Chinese children
- from Shanghai, traveled to Hangzhou, Suzhou, Singapore, Cambodia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Xiamen, Taiwan, South Korea, Nanjing, Tibet, Beijing.
- saw The Amazing Race in action in Shanghai and waited in the freezing cold for the shoot to end to talk to the host
- saw Wang Leehom twice in Shanghai for a total of four times in my life; photos and a short conversation with him too!
- told U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that I was “Amy from California” before taking a photo with her
- introduced the USA Pavilion to former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
- had photo ops with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jimmy Carter and David Tao
- traveled the world in 184 days at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo
- sat on a yak in Tibet and an elephant in Thailand
- climbed the Great Wall of China
- discovered my stomach was no longer queasy after eating eggplant and duck meat
- showed up to work to find Derek Fisher giving a speech to Chinese people
- 8-clapped with Bruins who came to visit
- ridden bumpy bus rides through the Cambodian countryside
- had a hard time finding a dim sum restaurant in Hong Kong
- discovered Tom N Tom’s peach iced tea in South Korea
- seen the Annoying Asian pose go international for the first time ever
- learned what a VPN was
- saw snow actually falling from the sky
- had food delivered from McDonald’s, KFC, Wagas or Element Fresh for those times when you just can’t deal with going out for food ... or cooking
- had to sprint through terminals (like in the movies) to avoid missing trains and planes
- experienced more rain in Shanghai than in my whole life in Southern California
- improved on my Mandarin and picked up some Simplified Chinese characters
- watched too many movies on DVD-9
- spent the night at the Bangkok Airport to save money
- seen pre-cooked, skinned dog meat
- asked a Chinese person to take me to a place that would sell Xiamen souvenirs, only to have her drop me off at a Wal-Mart
- trekked through the tea fields near West Lake in Hangzhou
- met and made a whole bunch of new friends

and most importantly of all ...

I had the time of my life

Stars Wang Leehom and Angela Zhang at the USA Pavilion

[Originally posted on the USA Pavilion blog and on the Student Ambassador blog]

There had been a rumor floating around the USA Pavilion that one of our global sponsors, PepsiCo, would be holding a media event involving Taiwanese pop stars Wang Leehom 王力宏 and Angela Zhang 張韶涵;. I am a fan of both of them and especially a fan of Leehom’s. I was introduced to his song “花田錯 (Mistake in the Flower Field)” during one of those productive group study sessions we all had in college. From that day on, I was hooked on Leehom’s music (and his dreamy smile) and hooked on Asian pop culture. Friends started suggesting other artists and songs and Angela Zhang’s song “寓言 (Fable)” followed soon after. So you can imagine my excitement when I received an email from Peter Winter, the USA Pavilion Student Ambassador Program Director, and Ming Lai Alterman, the USA Pavilion Digital Media Manager, asking whether I would be interested in taking on the role of Student Ambassador Journalist for a PepsiCo media event.

The same rumored PepsiCo event that we have been hearing about for the last few days.

The one with Leehom Wang and Angela Zhang.

Did I want to go?

YES!

July 5, 2010 was the big day. I made sure my camera was fully charged and made my way to the USA Pavilion. USA Pavilion staff was running around making sure everything was running as smoothly as possible for PepsiCo. I was quickly introduced to PepsiCo as the Student Ambassador Journalist and then told to wait until it begin.

The media event began with PepsiCo saying a few words about why they decided to partner with the USA Pavilion. PepsiCo and the USA Pavilion share common values: optimism, innovation, and the desire to share. You need optimism to inspire hope in future improvements. You need innovation to drive new advancements in methods, ideas or products. And you need the desire to share in order to make positive contributions back to the community. PepsiCo takes their social responsibility seriously. Rather than just selecting any random area to farm the potatoes used in their Lay’s potato chips, they made a conscious decision to farm potatoes in Inner Mongolia. PepsiCo had high hopes for the area. PepsiCo was optimistic that their investments into the land would yield large crops of potatoes. They were innovative in developing new technologies that could use water more effectively when watering the fields. Finally, PepsiCo’s desire to share gave them the drive to build more public libraries and schools in Inner Mongolia in order to further develop the talent of both their workers and their workers’ families. The result of all of this is a successful line of potato chips that is constantly introducing new flavors. Today, Leehom and Angela were promoting the new flavors: mala tang (spicy hotpot soup), BBQ fish, lemon tea and cherry tomatoes.

Yeah ... China has some ... interesting ... potato chip flavors. What we call “normal” flavors back in the United States are not so normal here. I am pretty sure that Chinese people might find the American flavors “salt and vinegar” and “sour cream and onion” pretty ... interesting ... as well. Different culture, different taste buds. But back to the event ...

The doors opened and Leehom walked in. The thoughts in my head went something like this: Wow. That’s him. It’s really him. He looks different in person, yet exactly what I imagined he would look like in person. Amy, that doesn’t even make sense. Whatever. He’s standing just a few feet away from me now. I wish he would look over here. OH MY GOSH! He just looked at me!

Cool. ^_^

After doing some promotions for his new movie “Love in Disguise 戀愛通告” (which I am excited to see!), Angela Zhang walks in and together they start promoting the new Lay’s potato chip flavor: cherry tomato. They did a simple magic trick of putting some ice cubes and cherry tomatoes into an empty black box, locking it up, and then “magically” pulling out packages of Lay’s cherry tomato potato chips. Angela made the joke that they were now better than Jay Chou 周杰倫 at performing magic tricks. They had also brought in some young children and gave them Haibao 海宝 dolls as gifts. Two lucky fans were also brought up to present Leehom and Angela with flowers and a fully stamped Expo souvenir passport. Before I knew it, they finished promoting how delicious Lay’s cherry tomato potato chips tasted and I was suddenly standing in a group photo of Leehom and Angela with some USA Pavilion staff and Student Ambassadors.

Smile for the camera! *click* Excellent.

As everyone moves from their positions, I look over at Leehom and said quickly, “Thanks Leehom.” And guess what?! HE SMILED AND NODDED BACK TO ME! Again, cool.

Leehom and Angela went back in to answer more media questions. As the media session drew to a close, I knew that it was now or never. I had to “rise to the challenge” (the USA Pavilion’s theme) and say a few words to him. Back in 2007, I had attended an autograph session for his “Change Me 改變自己” album in Taiwan and all I could do was wave “hi” to him as he signed my CD. This time would be different. Oh my gosh, he’s walking right towards me now!

(For some reason, I decided to use English instead of Mandarin Chinese to speak with him.)

“Hi Leehom, have you visited the USA Pavilion yet?”
“No, not yet.”
“I’m one of the Student Ambassadors here at the USA Pavilion. If you have time, you should take a look.”
“Take me ... take me ...”

Whoa. Was he being serious? Did he really want to go through the pavilion? Just in case he was being serious, I go stand next to other Student Ambassadors and we quickly summarize all that has gone on so far. By now, Angela had moved downstairs and is getting ready to do a viewing of the USA Pavilion and I was wondering whether Leehom would do the same.

He walked back out and I admit I was a bit disappointed when he said to me, “Sorry, there’s no time today.” Too bad. Leehom, if you’re reading this, we would love to have you come back to view the USA Pavilion.

The event was great and I was so glad to have been given the opportunity to attend. Not only did I learn more about PepsiCo’s role in delivering a healthier future for people and the planet, I also had the chance to see and speak (though just a mini-conversation) to one of my favorite music pop stars. Just another reason why this summer working at the USA Pavilion at Shanghai World Expo 2010 will be so memorable.

Little Chinese Friends

[Originally posted on the Student Ambassador blog]

My job prior to being a USA Pavilion Student Ambassador was as an English teacher at a local kindergarten in Shanghai. A bit of a random job for an International Studies/International Business graduate student in Shanghai, but you do what you have to do in order to pay for food and rent. My time as an English teacher showed me that Chinese children are no different from American children; they are curious about the world around them and (most) love to talk.

One of the fun things that we Student Ambassadors get to do is to spend some time playing with Chinese children waiting in the queue line. Children (no matter where they are in the world) get bored easily and this is especially true when they have to wait their turn for something. Student Ambassadors will oftentimes spend a few minutes entertaining Chinese children in Mandarin Chinese. I once had a group of 5 antsy Chinese children end up in the front of the queue line, right at the cut off for the next group to enter the USA Pavilion (10 minutes wait). How do you keep little kids from running around and driving both their tired parents and the busy Student Ambassadors crazy? You teach them something! Kids love to pretend they are back at school, right? ... Right? Maybe?

Well, first you loosen them up and gain their trust by telling jokes. Student Ambassadors have a handful of jokes handy for moments like this when the crowd is restless and there is time to kill.

Q: 哪一种茶是不能喝的？ What type of tea (cha) can you not drink?
A: 警察! The police! (jing cha)

Corny, I know. But our target audience loves it. My audience of 5 that day got pretty competitive after I told them there was a prize to whoever got the answer first (they could be the first to enter the USA Pavilion). One girl of about 4 years old gave me a serious look and said “You can’t drink poisonous tea.” Sorry kid, wrong. This answer was not incorrect but it wasn’t quite what I was looking for. They were never able to get the answer (I win!) so we moved onto the next thing I knew I could do that would make both parents and kids smile. Quick (not to mention free!) English speaking practice. From a REAL American! At the USA Pavilion! It doesn’t get better than this folks.

“Hello”
“Hello”
“How are you?”
“I’m fine, thank you. And you?” (By the way, this seems to be the official answer all Chinese students must learn ... just about everyone gives this answer).
“I’m fine, thank you. What’s your name?”
“My name is William.”

I learned that William’s cousin was named Sweet (yes, Sweet. Not a typo). The serious 4 year old girl who doesn’t drink poisonous tea was named Rose. Another girl was named Angel ... because she was her parent’s little angel. And then there was another boy - William’s other cousin - who remained quiet.

“Hi, what’s your name?”
“他没有英文名子, 他没学过英文” He doesn’t have an English name, he hasn’t learned English yet.
“我给你一个英文名字好不好?” How about if I give you an English name?
Parents and child nod enthusiastically.
“我的弟弟叫 Andrew ... 我叫你 Andy 好吗？ 喜欢吗?” My younger brother’s name is Andrew ... how about Andy? Do you like it?
“Andy? ... 好听, 好拼. 说 “thank you”” Sounds nice and it’s easy to spell. Say “thank you.”
The boy smiles and says, “Thank you.”

So what’s the best souvenir you can get for your child from the Expo? It’s not a stuffed Haibao (海宝 the Expo’s mascot) doll or an Expo passport for the purposes of collecting country stamps. It’s a real English name from a real American.

The USA's "National Treasure"

[originally posted on the Student Ambassador blog and on the USA Pavilion blog]

I was on my way to my lunch break when I had to make a detour back through to the USA Pavilion’s Act II and Act III. I had forgotten my sunglasses and didn’t want them to go missing within the 45 minutes that I had for lunch. However, it turned out to be one of the most memorable detours of my Expo experience so far. x

As I make my way through the crowd of Chinese people walking around in the USA Pavilion’s Act III (an area for our pavilion sponsors to showcase the innovative steps they are taking to creating a healthier future), a middle aged Chinese man waves for me to come over to him. Thinking that he wanted to know where he could get a USA Pavilion souvenir stamp (guests can “collect” stamps from the pavilions they visit in a souvenir passport), I automatically ask him to please turn his Expo passport to page 44 and to line up near the stamping table. Page 22 if he had the big brown book. Instead, he surprises me by saying that he wanted to ask me more about our pavilion and its contents.

I recite to him the answer I usually give to our Chinese guests: The USA Pavilion consists of four parts, the Overture, The Spirit of America, The Garden and the final section where our pavilion sponsors share the steps they are taking to creating a healthier and better future. He casually waves my answer away saying that he knows all that already. He adds that he thought Obama’s speech in The Spirit of America was respectful in recognizing the importance of China’s rise in the “community of nations” and the shared dreams between Americans and Chinese in a better future for our children. He also thought the message in The Garden was nice; people working together towards the common goal of “better city, better life.” But what he really wanted to know was, was there more the USA wanted to share with the Chinese and with the rest of the world? Past world expos had introduced the telephone and the elevator, this year Denmark brought their Little Mermaid statue to showcase in their own national pavilion. Besides the American ideas that had been shared earlier, what else could the USA Pavilion offer? Where was, he asked, the USA Pavilion’s “national treasure” 美国馆的国家宝?

“National treasure? Well ... we didn’t exactly bring any statues with us to China ...”
“Nothing the USA can show to the world and be able to say this is what represents the USA?”
“umm...”
“No ‘national treasure’ 没有吗?”
“Well, the pavilion did bring over from the USA many representations of what makes the USA so unique. If you look around and see all the USA Pavilion staff that wear either the blue or white shirts, well, we’re all American student ambassadors.”
“What does that mean 什么意思?”
“You can see that we’re a very diverse group. Not only are we ethnically diverse we all also come from different parts of the United States. But even with our different heritages and backgrounds, as Americans, we all understand the importance of working together towards a common goal. Here, our common goal is to provide a positive experience at the USA Pavilion for our Chinese guests. And this idea, that a country of built by people from all around the world can put aside differences and find similarities, is what makes the United States so special and unique.”

The Chinese man thinks about what I have just said. Was this the answer he was expecting?

“Some countries may have hired local Chinese to represent their country, but we brought real Americans to represent our country. Real Americans from various ethnicities and heritages that together give our country its identity. We student ambassadors may not be famous but we still represent the United States. Sir, I will say that the USA Pavilion’s “national treasure” is its American people.”

The Chinese man breaks into a smile and I knew that I had successfully passed his test.

“真好! Good! That really is what makes the USA so unique. The people.”

He then went on to tell me how his experience at the USA Pavilion of going through the shows and exhibits and interacting with various Americans had opened his eyes to how wonderful and strong a country could be even if all its citizens originated from different parts of the world. All we need is a common passion to join us together. He said he could feel our passion for the United States just from the warm welcome he had experienced from student ambassadors, from when he first queued up and through all four parts of the pavilion.

The conversation I had with the Chinese man lasted for about 15 minutes. What I thought would be just another question that could be answered with a prepared response turned out to be one that allowed me to really share with someone my perspective of what makes the United States a unique country. I hope that the short time I had spent talking to him stays with him just as it will stay with me.

He asked me to write in his notebook and so I write a short message in English and Chinese, “Thank you for visiting the USA Pavilion, 谢谢你来美国馆. -Amy.” Something so simple for me to do, but he smiled and said that he would keep it as a treasured message that came from the United States. His final parting words to me: The USA Pavilion’s student ambassadors are the pavilion’s “national treasure” and by extension also the “national treasures” of the United States.