It's Snowing in Shanghai

I was taking out the trash and happened to peek out the windows in our apt hallway when I saw the small flakes falling from the sky. I quickly ran back to my bedroom to grab my camera. Keep in mind that I’m a SoCal girl through and through and while I have seen snow before, I have never seen it falling from the sky. It wasn’t cold enough for it to stick so the ground was a cold, wet mess. But seeing falling snow was just so cooooool!! It lasted about 4 hours. Here are some pictures.


The temperature that caused this little bit of snow. Not quite "freezing" yet, but almost there. In both C and F temperature scales for those too lazy to convert (aka: me and probably you).

The first picture I took out of my bedroom widow. Excuse my poor camera skills, but if you squint you can see SNOW!

I caught some snow with my mittens. My hands were getting really cold as I stuck them out the window to take pictures.


Then it started to come down heavier, but still not sticking. A few minutes later, it all stopped. And that was the story of my first snowfall in my life. :)

Michi in Shanghai

How awesome was it for me to have Michi visit me in Shanghai for a few days? Very awesome. I had not seen her since that last day in Wilshire Villa’s parking garage when after everything was packed into her car, we gave each other a quick hug and a quick goodbye. For those of you who don’t know, I have known Michelle all through my time at UCLA; we both lived on the same floor our first year and then again our second year. Then we were roommates our third and fourth years of college when we moved out to the apartments with some friends. She is probably the person who knows me best from UCLA.

The long weekend of hanging out with Michi started Thursday late afternoon (Dec. 17) when I picked her up at the Maglev in Shanghai. This was my way of saving money and having her meet me half way instead of me having to make a roundtrip taxi ride from Puxi to Pudong Airport. I arrived a bit early so I sat on the freezing bench in the freezing air of the freezing platform. It was a freezing day. Michi saw me before I saw her and calls my name out; I can’t believe she is only wearing a t-shirt and jeans!

The time she spent in Shanghai was mainly spent eating and touristy things. The trend seemed to be that it would take us forever to get out the door every morning. We usually made it out in time for an early lunch. We first made a shopping trip so that she could buy better walking shoes. We spent one day doing the touristy things of Shanghai. We went over to Lujiazui to see the Pearl Tower and to go up the Shanghai World Financial Center building - currently the third tallest building in the world (according to wiki). It’s the one that many of us think looks like a ‘bottle-opener’. After wandering about Lujiazui for a bit and grabbing a late lunch at Din Tai Fung, we eventually made it to the Riverside Promenade so that we could get a look across the river to the Bund on the Puxi side. We are standing around in the freezing cold, next to the freezing cold river when THE MOST AMAZING THING HAPPENED!

A few people run past us. The first thing that runs through my mind was, “oh no, they’re trying to steal my purse!” And then we saw the camera crew. Second thought that runs through my mind, “ITS THE AMAZING RACE!” Well, that was my theory at least. I’ve always thought it would be pretty cool if I came across the Amazing Race during my time abroad. Michelle and I start running after them and ask them what they were filming for and the guy answers with the two coolest words, “Amazing Race.”

OH. MY. GOODNESS. At this point I couldn’t believe what was happening before my eyes. Ultimately, we found the pit stop for this leg of the race and waited around long enough to:

1. see two teams check in. Including the last team to arrive. I have no idea whether it was a non-elimination leg or not though
2. see one of the world’s tallest men. He’s a Chinese man and quite tall. Though I heard soon after that he just recently lost his title to someone else. He needed walking canes to help him stand though.
3. see the production crew of The Amazing Race.
4. see Phil, the host.
5. say “hi, I love this show” and get a photo with Phil.

The crew in charge of keeping the area clear of bystanders was nice enough to let Michi and I stand around. I believe they let us because they could tell we weren’t locals from our American accents and probably figured we could do no harm. Truth is, some Chinese locals will treat you differently once they know you’re a foreigner ... even if we are ethnically Chinese.

After that cold, amazing experience, Michi and I headed across the Huangpu River back to Puxi where we grabbed some dinner and took a walk down Nanjing Road. It’s just a shopping street but at night it’s all lit up and you can people watch. Weather: still cold.

The next day, (weather: still cold) we took the train out for a day trip to Hangzhou. There was no real itinerary since I figured that we would just spend the day walking around West Lake and visit some of the tourist attractions. As we exited the train station and I was trying to remember which bus I took with Song and her family when we visited Hangzhou last June, a Chinese woman behind me suddenly starts talking to me and reassures me that “this” bus would take us out to West Lake. She kept talking to us even on the bus and started telling me where we should go for fun. At this point, Michi and I were questioning whether she was trying to scam us or was just a genuinely nice person. We decided to give it a try and followed the itinerary she wrote down for us. Along the way, another woman also told us that if we followed her we would end up at the first place. The bus took us past the lake and into the hills -- we were certainly off the beaten trail now. It turned out to be fine because we ended up in the tea leaf hills. We followed a trail that started in a village (fave part: the chicken and dark carcasses hanging out to dry) and were told it would end at a waterfall. We hoped for the best and off we went wandering along a trail and bumping into other random walkers every so often. The funny thing was other people seemed a little confused as well because would ask “which direction did you guys come from?” “What is over there?” etc etc. We kept walking until we found the waterfall, took some pictures and then started wandering ... “how do we get out of this area now?” Luckily, there were some private cars for hire that would take us down the hill to the nearby bus station. And from there we made our way back to the lake for a late lunch and some last glimpses of the lake. After a bit of an inconvenience with taxis and public buses (again, another woman helped us out by telling us to follow her to the bus stop), we made our way back to the train station and back to Shanghai.


Michi’s final day in Shanghai (weather: still cold) was spent at Yu Garden. The original plan was to visit Xintiandi and the French Concession, but when I told her that Yu Garden was one of the main things tourists do in Shanghai, we figured that she should go so that she could say she had been there. As typical with most Yu Garden visits, we never went to the actual garden (as the saying goes, you see one Chinese garden, you’ve seen them all, haha) and instead we spent a lot of time looking for souvenirs for her to buy for people back home. It was actually a lot of fun looking at “random crap” to buy.

And so, Michi’s long weekend in Shanghai ended and it was time for her to head back to Hong Kong for the rest of her trip. She left really early Tuesday morning and again the goodbye felt a bit rushed. There was no long tearful farewell, just another goodbye like we would see each other again next week.

me: When will we see each other again?
her: I’ll see you back in the States. [pause] You better come back!

You know, it’s a good feeling when you can pick up right where you left off with friends. It was hard to believe that more than a year had passed since UCLA because we were back to talking and laughing like old times.

Day of Good News!

Today was a good day for emails.

1) THESIS APPROVED! I have received my MA degree!
2) Shanghai 2010 World Expo Student Ambassador accepted! They decided that I’m cool enough to be one of the people to represent the USA at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai. Only problem is that no one really knows/cares about what a “World Expo” is. I am one of those people. haha. But Shanghai propaganda has pretty much brainwashed me into believing that it’s important and awesome. There’s just one problem with the logistics ... so don’t know how this will turn out.

However, I believe that #1 on this list is pretty great news. I made the deadline and have graduated on time. After two weeks of obsessively checking my inbox for that an email from the Dean, today was the day. Yay me!

To add to the good news, Michi is scheduled to be arriving in the late afternoon tomorrow. Hello to a long weekend (Thursday - Monday) of hanging out and catching up with one of my best friends from UCLA and from life! I’ll be showing her around my new “hometown” Shanghai for a few days with a day trip planned to the nearby city of Hangzhou.

Christmas came early this year!

Shanghai Metro Line 7

Today I had the opportunity to ride Shanghai’s newest metro line, line 7. Line 7 runs from the Northwest at Shanghai University down through Jing’an Temple and the Xujiahui area, across the river and then towards Longyang where the Maglev station is. And after taking line 7 today from the Indoor Stadium to Longyang, I believe that this will be more convenient for me in terms of getting to Pudong Airport in the future. The interchange between line 4 and 7 at Dong’an Station is short; you can get off line 4 walk down a flight of stairs and then you’re at line 7. No long hallways or corridors to walk through. From the Indoor Stadium, take line 4 for two stops, interchange to line 7 at Dong’an and then sit until the second to the last stop on the line (Longyang). Once at Longyang, the Maglev is right next door, pay the Maglev ticket and then you’re on your way to the Pudong Airport (it is under 8 minutes travel time!).

The bonus with line 7 today was the lack of crowds. Since it is a new line that just opened last weekend, I guess many people haven’t started taking it yet. It was so empty when I was on it (3:30pm) and I didn’t have to fight for a seat. I had a comfortable ride all the way. It is only running from 0900 - 1600 for now, but should have regular hours once the trial period is over. Here are some photos.

Line 4 Shanghai Indoor Stadium stop / 4 号线上海体育馆站

Line 7 Dong'an Road stop / 7 号线东安路站

Interior of line 7 metro cars. Notice the lack of crowds at this point. Also notice the green seats at the end of the rows. On every metro line there are special seats reserved for the elderly, disabled, pregnant, etc. However no one ever pays attention to this rules, even if an old, disabled pregnant person stood right in front of the seat, the other person might not even give up their seat for them. But the idea here is to give those special seats a different color. Hmm...good idea. But the other lines don't have the green seats yet. Also, line 2 is also the "green" line. The exact shade of green as in the picture I might also add. What will happen then?

The view from near the Maglev ticketing platform.

Haibao 海宝 welcomes you to Shanghai 上海

Punched

In my time teaching Chinese kindergartners, I’ve had my fair share of bruises, scratches, arm/leg pulls, stretched shirts, spit/sneezes/coughs in my face. However, today was the first time I got knocked in the face by a kid’s head.

I have a few deaf students (yeah, teaching deaf students in a foreign language how to speak a foreign language) since my kindergarten has a special program. They all have hearing aids so the program is designed to teach them to speak with the correct pronunciation. The deaf students have a reputation for being especially spoiled because everyone tends to take pity on them and give them their way most of the time. In one of my classes, there is a student who seems more spoiled than others and is intent on getting what he wants or he throws a tantrum. He also thinks that everything he does is funny and this totally disrupts the class when he suddenly decides to pull his chair up to sit directly in front of the whiteboard in line of everyone’s line of sight. Annoying.

We were doing bookwork today and he wanted a black crayon. Since there were no black crayons available, he took his book and started erasing the whiteboard work with it. I wanted the students to follow the example on the whiteboard, so I took his book away to make him stop. I placed the book back at his seat but he only grabbed it again to repeat. I take the book away again and this time hold it up higher so that I could put it in a place he couldn’t reach. Out of the corner of my eyes I see him crouching low to the ground when all of a sudden he jumps up and the top of his head connected with my mouth.

What. the. heck?! He looks up at me and as he rubs his head in pain his eyes accuse me of hurting him. Seriously kid? You’re the genius who decided to run your head into my mouth. I put my finger to my lips because I can feel it beginning to swell and there was some blood on my finger. I wasn’t sure whether it was coming from my lips or my teeth so I asked another student whether my lips or my teeth were “red.” Her eyes widened and she just nodded and so she was no help. All my teeth were still in place so I figured there was no permanent harm done. But I was mad at that kid!

The cutest thing was that another student heard from my TA that I had gotten hurt. He came up to ask me about it and I said that the other student had “hit” me and mimed it out to him using my fist to tap his mouth. He pulled my hand to lead me and told me, “I will show you who it is.” I think that he probably thought that I couldn’t understand his Mandarin and didn’t know their Chinese names (I don’t know their Chinese names actually ... only their English names). He pointed at the deaf student and I nodded “yes.” And then he told me that he would make sure to tell their Chinese teacher so that he could get in trouble. His sudden concern in my well-being was so cute. Besides the workplace hazards, it really touches me when my students share with me their love. It makes me feel like I’m actually making a difference in their lives.

Moral of the story: wear protective gear when teaching English to Chinese kindergartners.

10 Things to be Thankful For

I shouldn’t use the Thanksgiving holiday as my only time to reflect on what I am thankful for. It should be an ongoing task, recognizing all that I have been given and all that I have to look forward to in the future. However, that is not going to stop me from posting another list of “10 things.” So one this particular day, at this particular moment, at this particular point, I would like to share 10 things I am thankful for.

1. My life - it’s a beautiful adventure.

2. My family - they are my blood and I love them and miss them so much.

3. My comforts - I don’t have to worry about where I’ll be sleeping tonight or where my next meal will come from. Unfortunately, many people in the world are still not able to have these comforts to be thankful for.

4. My Shanghai “family” - these people are what help keep me going in this crazy, insane city. They’ve got my back and I’ve got theirs.

5. My ability to understand Mandarin - it’s not perfect but I know enough to be able to survive. It has definitely made my move to China a lot smoother.

6. My health - yes, I have weird joint pains like the muscle/ligament/something in my right knee that will painfully pop out of place sometimes, but I’m surviving.

7. My U.S. passport - it lets me travel around (most of) the world easily. Chinese people (the locals) remind me how lucky that I have an U.S. passport so that I am not restricted in moving around. I am also reminded of the freedoms that we Americans have when compared to Chinese citizens. There are a lot that we take for granted to have that the Chinese take for granted to NOT have.

8. My internet connection - Even with the Great Firewall of China blocking my internet access to certain websites (facebook, blogspot, just about anything to do with Taiwan) it still allows me to maintain contact with many people. The way that technology has evolved I can turn on my computer and video chat with people on different continents across numerous time zones. I can send an email or attach a document that will arrive in a few seconds to its intended reader. I can send text messages to American cell phones with instant messenger. We’ve come a long way from messenger pigeons.

9. My patience - most people say that I am pretty mellow and easy going. I don’t think many people have ever seen me angry before. I don’t know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. But I do know that if I had let every little frustration get to me and be blown out of proportion, I would probably have turned into a huge mess by now.

10. Chocolate - seriously, chocolate tastes good. How could you not be thankful for something so delicious?

Of course I have more to be thankful for, but it’s called a “10 things” list for a reason.

Cat Allergies

After living with Karol's (my roommate in Shanghai) cat for a few months now, it turns out that I might not be that allergic to animal furs after all. I either grew out of a childhood allergy or my parents just lied to me so that I would never ask for a furry pet.

I'm going to give my parents the benefit of the doubt though, since they said that my baby skin would turn red and get rashes when we went to homes that had pets.

Small World

My past year of living abroad and moving from country to country has shown me that as large as the world is, and with all its people, we are all still connected to each other in some form or another. The contacts we make with people, even if just briefly, are somehow maintained and preserved for time. It is when you least expect it that you find yourself drawn back to each other in the most unlikely places and in the most unlikely situations. But when you think about it, it all makes sense. Read on if it will entertain you to do so ...

On more than one occasion I would bump into friends from my cohort around Shanghai. It’s one thing to run into someone you know if you live close to each other. I would bump into Karol and Darleen because they lived in the apartment building across from us. But when you are living on the opposite side of the river? More than once I would be on the metro on my way somewhere and would randomly bump into my friend Daniella.

During February 2009 when we were all traveling around the world (mostly Asia) a few of us ended up in Singapore on the first leg of our trip through Southeast Asia. We all knew that we would be in the same country and had made plans to meet up a few times. One day, Lisa and I are doing our own thing (Hippo Tour!) and had made a stop to walk through Singapore’s Chinatown. As we’re walking down a street we hear a familiar voice ask someone to take a photo for them. We look up and who do we see? We see Daniella, Nicolle and Brandy. This happened a few times during our time in Singapore. Another time, Lisa and I were late catching a bus to get somewhere and so we went to the food court to grab some lunch. Who do we see walk through the doors as we’re eating? Daniella and Brandy. Granted Singapore is a small country, but really? We kept bumping into our friends throughout the trip. Eventually we just traveled the rest of the way more or less together.

Another incident during February 2009, but this time when we’re in Thailand. Lisa and I are walking back to our hostel from the beach when we notice a familiar looking guy walking towards us. Turns out it was John, Karol’s boyfriend. Karol is my current roommate. He and his friends happened to be staying at the same beach as well. Did not expect that.

Just recently, I was in my kindergarten’s cafeteria when one of the school nurses turned to Rosa (my TA) and asked her to ask me whether I remembered her. I looked at her but had no idea where I would know her from. And she said that she was a nurse at another kindergarten previously and she remembered me from that school. I told her the name of my past kindergarten I worked at and she nodded her head. So apparently I was teaching English at her old kindergarten and then we both somehow ended up at our current kindergarten. No way.

I would also consider the times when friends of mine would be making a trip to China or were in Asia and we would make the time to meet up. With the exception of Michi’s upcoming December trip, none of my friends made the trip with the sole intention of visiting me. But because they happened to be in China or Asia for other reasons, we’d take the opportunity to touch bases. Such as when I was in Taiwan and met up with Gladys, who was studying for a year at 台大. Or when Tiff and Song were in China with family. Winston is currently in HK/Macau and Irene is in Taiwan. I’m going to try to see what kind of arrangements I can make with this!

It is easy to always picture a certain person in a certain setting. Maybe you knew them from when you were attending school in Los Angeles. So forever that will be how you “see” that person ... with a LA backdrop. Or maybe you’ve always pictured someone with a Shanghai background. It is when you remove that person’s familiar background that you start to see a person in a different way. I noticed that these were the same people I’ve always known but now there was something special. It was like discovering something new about a good friend.

So what can we take from this? As humans and in this grand thing we call “life” we are all connected. People will cross paths when they don’t expect to. While the world is physically big, our own little worlds are smaller. Remember that you are being remembered by someone or that you are doing something that will effect someone. You may not think it is of importance at the moment, but somewhere down the road you’ll bump into someone and realize something pulled you together again. And to end this with a total cliche: It’s a small world after all.

First Chill

Remember when a few posts ago I was raving about the nice weather we’ve been having in Shanghai? Up until today (Monday) we’ve had glorious fall weather; just cool enough for a light jacket over a t-shirt. This all came to an abrupt end overnight. We woke up to see cold winds blowing through the trees. The sun was shining still, but as we took our first steps out the doors we knew that this was the first signs of winter. I pulled out a thick jacket and scarf. Time to also bring out the sweaters and turtlenecks and extra blankets and extra layers of everything.

It dropped to the mid 40s today and averaged 57F. And for Shanghai winters, this is considered warm! During the dead of winter it is not unusual for it to drop a few degrees below freezing for a few days at a time. Yes, call me a weather weakling. But hey, that first shock of cold is always surprising and a little unwanted.

It’s still hard to remember back to last winter in Shanghai. I remember it being cold, but it’s been so long of it not being cold that it will be like experiencing it all anew again. For now in the first few days of winter, even though it’s cold, as long as I layer up I can become warm. Later when it gets really cold, no matter how I layer up my clothes I will never feel warm. Even if I take a shower with the water turned to the hottest setting I will never feel warm.

Oh, and here’s the kicker. Most China buildings/houses aren’t insulated. The walls are just pure cement. My apartment included, and it’s considered a newer building.

Pretty October Weather in Shanghai

The weather in Shanghai right now is pretty much awesome. It’s sunny without being too hot. It’s cool without being too cold. And there’s a breeze without it being windy. Those of you who know me well know that I am not a big fan of wind, particularly strong winds that throw dust into the air and whip my hair around too much. This, of course, is all before the biting cold, wet winters set into chilling our bones in a few weeks time.

So I should be out and about enjoying this amazing weather. I should be taking a walk through the city, or perhaps maybe even sitting at one of the (few) public parks. I could even be hanging my clothes out to dry if not for the lack of an adequate balcony for me to do so.

Alas, I am doing none of the mentioned above. I really want to get my thesis approved and submitted before the December deadline and I am making myself stay in this weekend to get more and more editing done on it. I am not too fond of the idea of having to pay tuition for another term to extend my writing time. I’ve been looking at and thinking about this thesis paper for over a year now so to be frank, I’m sick of it already. I’m sure that when I’m done with it, I’ll want to do nothing but talk about all the “important graduate research I did” during my time in China. But for now, I really just want to be playing outside.


note: I realize this photo doesn't make the Shanghai "outdoors" look too exciting, but it was the best I could do from my living room window using photobooth. Look how brightly that sun is shining!

10 Thesis Procrastinating Things

10 things that are keeping me from being extra productive on my thesis writing

1. Staring at a sentence forever to find the perfect words to get my point across. Usually results in epic_fail.
2. Thinking about the freedom I will have once my thesis is approved and I officially graduate.
3. Checking my email. Every 5 minutes. Even though I know there are no new emails to read.
4. Wikipedia. Need I say more?
5. I recently caved in and purchased a personal VPN so that I can have easier/freer access to the Internet across the Great Firewall. What does this mean? I am able to use Facebook again.
6. Nostalgia. Reminiscing. Again. Nothing new there.
7. Trying to remember how cold Shanghai can get during the winter. Cold weather is almost here, but the last few days have been nothing but abundant sunshine. The false sense of security before winter hits us.
8. Eating peanut butter and jelly. But in Chinese steamed buns, mantou 馒头
9. Organizing my iTunes.
10. Writing this list.

Update

Ni hao! 你好！

So I finally caved in and purchased a private/personal VPN so that I could access the Internet a little more ... easily ... I kept hoping that once the PRC's 60th had passed things would start to lighten up. Guess not. I had been posting in livejournal for awhile in the mean time and I will see about getting some of those entries posted here as well. Seeing how this is my "China" blog.

What has been going on in the mean time? Basically, I left China. I spent about 6 weeks in the fabulousness that is Southern California. Then I came back to China. Same city, Shanghai. Same job, teaching English. Still working on getting that thesis finished as well. Left China (again) for the National holiday (8 days off from work!) to visit South Korea. Still working on that thesis.

10 Happy Things

1. God
2. Korean pop music. Purchased directly from South Korea during my trip. Saucy hips? Sorry, Sorry? Again and again? Heartbreak? This stuff is legit!
3. Finding out that Michelle (Michi!) will be visiting Shanghai for a few days during her winter Asia trip. I am so excited to see her!!!
4. Nice weather. The sun has been shining and the breeze has been light.
5. Calling home to California and hearing my parents’ voices.
6. Getting comments from my advisor about my first thesis draft. Not a whole lot of positive news, but at least I’ve passed one major step on the road to completing my thesis.
7. Having a quiet weekend to myself. I have the whole apartment to myself for a few days so it has been nice to have no noise and not much talking. Nice break from my kindergartners.
8. Making my kindergartners laugh over the simplest and silliest things.
9. Thinking about Southern California and Los Angeles.
10. Thinking about international travel and reflecting on my time abroad this last year and a half.

What are the 10 things that made you happy this past week?

South Korea, "It's So Cute!"

A whole week spent away from the hustle and bustle of Shanghai. Nice~

I spent China’s National Holiday with Michelle and Brian in South Korea. We were mainly in two cities, Seoul and Busan. Michelle and I were mostly overwhelmed by how “cute” everything was.

“Look at that sign. It’s so cute”
“Look at that building. It’s so cute.”
“Look at that Korean baby. It’s so cute.”
“Look at that hanbok [traditional Korean outfits]. It’s so cute.”
“Look at the food. It’s so cute.”
etc. etc.

Until Brian pointed at a poster of a wild boar nursing its babies and asked me ...
“Look at that poster of the pig. Is that cute?”

Seoul was amazing. It’s always nice to get away from Shanghai’s crowds and pollution and see a completely Westernized and developed big city, but with a bunch of Asian people. The streets were clean, people followed the traffic laws, people weren’t rude and pushy, we didn’t have to worry too much about being cheated with cheap goods. It was good. We were there during the Korean Thanksgiving holiday so there would be Koreans wearing Hanboks (the traditional Korean outfit). Palaces were even offering free admission for those who entered wearing hanboks! Promoting cultural pride! Michelle and I also went to visit JYP Entertainment. haha, one of the Korean pop star companies. There were also so many Christian churches all over the place. Most of them had a cross lit up with red lights so they were very easy to find, especially at night.

We took a close to 3 hour KTX (Korean Express Rail) train from Seoul to Busan/Pusan to see more of South Korea. Busan is the second largest city in South Korea and also a seaside port on the Eastern coast of the peninsula. We arrived a few days too early for the Pusan film festival which is apparently a pretty big deal in Asian cinema. We did see all the festival setups when we went to Haeundae Beach on our last morning in Pusan. The highlight of our Pusan trip was probably what I shall term the “Hike of Death” when we went searching for Seokbulsa Temple in the hills of Geumjeongsan Mt. Lonely Planet describe it as difficult and hard to find, and a strenuous hike. Oh, all of that was very true. Michelle and I were really working hard at this hike that had us walking down hills using rocks and tree roots as our steps, as Brian kept a fast pace ahead of us. We finally found the temple a few hours into our hike (we stopped for a lunch break, and subsequently also finished our hike that day with a foil package of cooked duck meat). The hike back up to the South Gate was pretty tough since everything was so steep. We now wanted to head to Beomeosa Temple on the other side of the hill. We kept climbing up, passed South Gate and then started following a group of ajummas (Korean aunties) because we were assuming they were headed the same way. Even if they weren’t, they at least knew where they were going so we figured we would end up somewhere. We walk for awhile (a much better trail this time) and ended up at a crossroads and no idea which direction to now head. Michelle and I went to the guard station and using our broken Korean asked which was to Beomeosa Temple. One of them started speaking to us in English and told us that it was getting late and we’d never be able to make it before night fall. Too bad. So we took a bus back down the hill and went to the Busan tower instead. And then caught a Korean movie (no subtitles!) that night as well.

We had 1.5 days back in Seoul, after Pusan, before our flight back to Shanghai. We went to watch a show at the B-boy Theatre near Hongik University. That was pretty cool. The next day, our last full day, was spent shopping. Rather, Michelle and I shopped and Brian went to visit Seoul National University’s admissions office to get information on their language classes. He liked South Korea so much, he’s now making plans to move and live there for awhile after China. All three of us met up at Myeongdong for a final dinner of Korean BBQ. And we left the next morning, bright and early.

South Korea is pretty. I would definitely like to visit it again in the future. The food was delicious, the culture was vibrant (shops close late! these people like their night life, even older people), the colors were beautiful and yes, the people are good-looking too.

South Korea, Here I Come!

I have put in my dues to China. I worked the random extra "make up" days so that I can get my whole week off. I have seen all the red and yellow national flags of China waving from every single lamppost, tree, rail, pole, anything that they can hang a flag from. I appreciate all the red lanterns as well.

Happy 60th bday PRC. Turning 60 is important in many Asian cultures, Chinese culture included. And when you are the PRC, it's a HUGE deal.

2008 - Beijing Olympics
2009 - PRC turns 60
2010 - Shanghai World Expo
2011 - Time to take over the world???

And so what am I doing for the PRC's big 6-0? I am actually leaving the country to visit South Korea (will be in Seoul and Busan, and whatever is in between!) for about a week.

passport - check
suitcase - check
itinerary - check
draft of thesis sent to advisor - SUPER CHECK!

Pre-National Holiday Logistics

I will define “weekend” as consisting of the traditional non-work days of Saturday and Sunday.

Most weeks, if not EVERY SINGLE WEEK, has a weekend. [see above]

That means that most weeks, if not EVERY SINGLE WEEK, gives us two non-work days (Saturday and Sunday). [see above + above]

That also means that most weeks, if not EVERY SINGLE WEEK, I get two non-work days (Saturday and Sunday) to ... well ... not work.

Now ... China will on occasion, when it feels like its citizens have been good and obedient and productive workers, give long national holidays that last a week long. Golden Weeks. Yes, a whole week off from work. Mandated by the government (unless you are one of the unfortunate few who run a mom and pop shop or some other privately run business), schools, and state enterprises, most foreigners, most companies will take a week off. The theory behind this is that when allowed such a long break from work, people will want to open up their wallets and spend, spend, spend those RMBs on shopping or trips and by extension boost the economy. Imagine if it was required by law for all Americans to take a week off from work during Christmas or Thanksgiving. Culture-wise Americans spend those holidays with family, but no doubt it would also encourage some tourism and shopping when given all that free time.

Here’s the kicker. The weeklong holiday does not come without its own terms and conditions. Because by law, the government is giving us these holidays, by law most schools, state enterprises, companies will have its workers work on the weekend to “make up” for the future days off. Yes, you read that correctly. The general idea is we shift our “work days” around so that we are not taking -too- many days off. Because -too- many days off would actually be “bad” for the economy when factories aren’t running and making “Made in China”s and little Maos aren’t learning in schools. These “make up” work days typically come right before or right after the Golden Weeks so that the “weekend” days will be tacked onto the “holiday” days to make the holiday “longer”. Following? You can’t have cake and eat it too. In this case, we have to bake our own cake before we can have and eat it.

National Holiday/October Holiday (Fall Golden Week) celebrates the founding of the People’s Republic of China. The PRC’s 4th of July. This year, it will last from October 1-8 (extra day for Autumn Festival, joy). What does this mean? It means that this weekend has been made into a one day weekend. I get Saturday off, but I will be working from Sunday - Wednesday. Thursday is the first day of the Golden Week. China has the power to not only declare one official time zone across a landmass that requires closer to three separate time zones (Beijing Time = China Standard Time), but it can also declare one day or no-day weekends. Yes, I’ve once worked 7 days straights when China shifted the “weekend” to the following week.

Hooray for Communism!

"And it's going to be totally awesome!"

Here is the link to the website for "A Very Potter Musical." They have finally put the soundtrack to the musical online for free download! Check it out!

www.teamstarkid.com/verypottermusical.html

Sirens in Shanghai

Imagine an ambulance parked outside underneath your bedroom window. On a Saturday morning. With the siren blasting. And not stopping.

We experienced just that this Saturday morning in Shanghai. Except it wasn’t an ambulance with a broken siren outside the bedroom window. Rather, they were air raid sirens. To warn the Chinese of an oncoming aerial attack.

Of course there was no actual attack coming. But after some googling for information, it turned out that the sirens were partly a memorial and partly a drill. It was a memorial for when the Japanese attacked in 1949. It was also “educational” so that citizens could familiarize themselves with the different alarms, in case there was an invasion on Chinese soil --

- an attack is on the way!
- the attack has begun!
- danger has passed!

One problem, all the alarms sounded the same to me. Another problem, there was no broadcast of what we are supposed to do or where we are supposed to go if there was a real attack. A flaw in the plan?

Friday Nights

Most young people my age like to go out on Friday nights, especially in such a big, international and exciting city as Shanghai. It is a bit like the reward for working hard and surviving another week in this place. You have managed to dodge the crazy taxi drivers and old Chinese men on their motor-scooters to live another week. You have put up with the second hand smoke and gross loogies (“the nasal form of mucus“ says Wikipedia).

I, on the other hand, usually prefer to stay in on Friday nights to recuperate from all the mentioned above. I like to grab dinner with friends, perhaps. Have little hang outs. But I’m not usually the type to stay out all night. Just my style. I don’t mind. Some people will call me boring that I’m not out having fun and savoring the moments, but meh ... Friday nights are my time to rest up from the long week of having had to teach and play with hundreds of kindergartners.

Of course every once in awhile I’ll feel in the mood to do something and if that is the case than okay, it will happen.

Unfortunately, the deadlines on my thesis are coming up fast. Faster than I had anticipated. It’s amazing how fast time will fly when you are trying to live life, go to work all day and try to squeeze in some research and writing time. My original plan had been to use the 3 hour lunch break that I have everyday to do some thesis work here and there, but for the past 2 weeks that 3 hour lunch break had been taken up by me covering a grade 3 (kindergarten) class for Ryan who is on holiday. I don’t mind covering for him because it’s just at my school and does make the ”break“ time past by faster. Supposedly once he gets back from holiday he will be taking those classes again. So besides the addition of the ”Dr. Zhu“ classes, I should be getting my long lunch break back. My goal is to have a significant portion of the draft complete before October holiday so that I can email it to my advisor for his feedback while I go off to South Korea for some cultural fun!!

October Holiday

I will be going to South Korea for China's October Golden Week holiday (Oct. 1-Oct. 8)!!

Back to Shanghai

*deep breath* hold it *exhale*

My time back home has went by way too fast. In a blink of an eye it was all over and I was once again heading to LAX. Being gone for such an extended time truly made me realize how much I love California, particularly Southern California. I know I am biased, being born and raised here, but I’m proud to be a California girl! I must say, I really love California.

[note: yes I haven’t lived in any other state, but ... oh whatever. I don’t have to explain myself. I am open to living in and “trying out” other states. But until then, California will be #1 for me. haha]

Well, here I am again. Back on the plane on a flight back to Shanghai for another 6 months. It will be great and it will be another unforgettable experience. The only difference this time is that I know more of what to expect once I’m there. There is not much of that excitement about the unknown there was this time last year when I was arriving for the first time. Time for a trip down memory lane!

August 2008 I was on the plane for my first trip to Mainland China. It was also the first time I was going to be flying alone internationally. There was much to be anticipated. How will I like China? How will they like me? Would be drastically different from Taiwan, would it be just like how I saw it on TV? And this was also Shanghai. Shang-freakin’-hai. In my mind, Shanghai was a place where East meets West in a sort of rough and glamorous make believe land. The Shanghai that I saw on TV was ruled by the mafia and qipaos, gentlemen and ladies. The buildings were very European. This was a big international city where people from all over the world would be.

August 2009, the image of Shanghai that I have now is not the one mentioned above. Shanghai is still a very international city, and a sort of rough and glamorous make believe land. But there are no mafias or qipaos running around. Sure there are the touristy areas where they really play it up, but walk down the streets and you see regular people. Everyone seems to be in a hurry to be somewhere. There are people everywhere. You think Los Angeles is crowded? It’s nothing compared to what it’s like in Shanghai. There is always someone around you. In terms of how Shanghai looks, there are the parts where you can clearly see the influences of colonialism, there are the parts that are old school Chinese and more often than not there are the parts where you can see the modern and new Shanghai bursting to want to break away from the past. It is a bit unfortunate with how they are willing to tear down very old and historical parts in order to raise a new, modern building in its place.

Just taking a walk is an adventure in itself. Shanghai is big. It is vibrant. It is crowded and dirty. It is wide and calm. It is a world where all opposites co-exist side by side. It is insane. It is one of a kind. And that’s why I am returning.

See you in 6 months!

I Don't Know

i don’t know. i don’t know. i don’t know. i don’t know. i don’t know.

I know, but I don’t know. It’s clear, yet vague all at the same time. Let me know! Let me know!

Ling & Lee Come Home

The news of Laura Ling and Euna Lee’s pardon and homecoming was good news today. Very good news indeed. I can’t help but wonder why North Korea requested Former President Bill Clinton to go. Washington D.C. says he went as a private citizen on a private humanitarian mission, no messages from Obama, but I am pretty sure that private diplomatic talks probably came up while he was in North Korea. It would be so tempting; to finally have the chance for direct talks with the leaders of North Korea. And with Asians, it’s all about keeping “face.” No doubt the request for Former Clinton was also in a way to make it into a show of North Korea doing a favor to the USA by pardoning the journalists.

Maybe we’ll find out in a few days time what really happened in North Korea. But until then, the photos that I have seen of the happy reunion of the journalists with their families have brought tears to my eyes. I would never wish their situation upon others. To be separated from your loved ones and be completely clueless on what your future would hold ... all in a foreign and hostile place.

I Just Want to Slow Dance to Music

La~ La~ La~ sappy love songs filled with sadness, anger, angst, and lovelovelove are fun.

Hopes & Dreams

When you take an inventory of your life, what is it that you hope for for the future? Some may look at their education and hope one thing. Some may look at their work experience and hope for another. Whether it be for wealth, fame, love or even immortality, every person looks at the footsteps of their past to form the hopes they have for the future.

I have wondered what it is that I crave for my future. As like many people, my hopes and dreams have grown as I have grown. When I was a kid, I wanted to move into a castle and live happily ever after. I was silly because we all know that castles are expensive pieces of real estate and in today’s housing market ... bleh. So I started growing up and channeling my hopes and dreams for higher education. Higher education meant better opportunities right? No child left behind! Working towards more education is a very self-rewarding process. You start to learn stuff and to show the marks of an educated (wo)man not gullible to false teachings. It’s a good feeling when you gain a little more knowledge that adds to your market value. So you get that degree and you get that job. You go about your life making sure that all the loose ends are all tucked in. You are comfortable and you are content. Physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially, [___-ally], you are all okay. What else is there left to hope and dream for? You have enough.

Close your eyes and revert back again to that young child you once were. Play make believe in your backyard with whatever random trinkets you found around the house. Believe that by putting your arms through plastic grocery bags you could fly off the bench. Look up to your parents and see superheroes. Slide down the stairway in a laundry basket, or if one couldn’t be found, on a piece of cardboard. Build a fort out of the sofa cushions. Imagine once more that you were going to live happily ever after.

That’s my goal, hope and dream for my future. That I may live happily ever after. For me, it does not mean that I have to make millions or be a movie star. I do not need a castle or fairy godmother. Just take it as it is. Live a happy, comfortable and full life ... in whatever method that works best for me. This is what I now want to achieve.

Q: What’s your goal for your future?
A: To live happily ever after.

Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? I hope that you can also live happily ever after.

Explanation for the Lack of Posts

So China had blocked blogspot for a long time which meant that I could not update this blog. Ironically, livejournal's ban was uplifted a few weeks after blogspot went down. Unfortunately, while I did put some updates on LJ, I have been behind in my posting on everywhere. But, now I'm back in the USA so I will probably stick with LJ (as this is my "China" one).

:)

Back Home

It has been a little over a week since I’ve been back home.

Home, as in “permanent address” home.
As in FTW home.
As in I <3 USA home.
As in no place like home.
As in home sweet home.

I’ve done absolutely nothing. Except to unpack and futile attempts at re-organizing my new bedroom. I got the bookcase and books set up today. Next task is the desk area. I’ve been to eat with cousins, family and family friends. Unfortunately, most of my friends are either busy or not in town so there hasn’t been much contact via Internet or in person. And my China friends are now in a different time zone. I did, however, beat the Nintendo DS game “Professor Layton and the Curious Village”, a charming little game where you have to solve puzzles/brainteasers to collect clues and the like. It’s like a mystery/puzzle/adventure game all in one! I also finished re-reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (book 7) because I just watched Half-Blood Prince in China before I left and am now anticipating the final movie.

Even though nothing big has happened, I quite like this easy pace of life. It’s a nice break. And while I have errands and chores to take care of, I am going at them one by one without having to worry about multitasking them in a hurry. Which might be a little bad because my room should have been ready by now, haha. I am just enjoying the time that I am back home. There are changes, but a lot of that “family-feeling” is still there. We still laugh, bicker and hang out like the old days. In many ways, being back in Cali feels like I’ve never been gone. It is true that it is always good to go back home.

Leaving 中国 (China) on a Jet Plane

In an hour and a half, my taxi will be picking me up from my apartment to take me to the Shanghai Pudong airport.

My flight then is scheduled to leave at 14:55. Hopefully no delays. And then in about 11-12 hours, I will be stepping onto the beautiful American soil again.

oh my gosh. This is all real. I can't believe that this particular chapter of my life is officially coming to a close. What an experience. What a life.

Nervous? Yeah. Excited? Yeah. Happy? Yeah. Gonna miss China? Yeah. Gonna love being home? Yeah!

Half-Blood Prince Movie

**No spoilers**

HP&the Half-Blood Prince was ... AWESOME!!!!! Maybe I was just super excited to be watching a new HP movie, but this one might have been the best transfer from book to movie to date. The pacing was good, the important parts were highlighted and the people were gorgeous. Of course, being that it is a movie, some details were left out and some character development was missing. But for fans of the books who have read the books and know what is supposed to be happening and going on, you are able to fill it in yourself and see the results on the big screen.

It was a very dark movie, but it was perfectly balanced with its moments of humor and comedy. Very good. Very good.

And I guess one thing with being on the other side of the world, is that I am living a few hours ahead of when the movie premiers in America. So it's almost like I am getting a special sneak peek at the movie, but not really.

Happy. Happy.

A not too spoilery quote that I thought was funny:

Professor McGonagall: Why is it that whenever there is trouble, the three of you are involved?
Ron: We've been asking ourselves that same question for the last 6 years.

Yay HP!

I will be going to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in Shanghai!!!!

Ouch!

My body is falling apart.

Day 2 of arriving in Shanghai: I sprain my left ankle in a very serious way. As I walked down a set of non-moving escalators, I misstep and hear a loud pop! sound. Pain! Pain! Pain! I have to hold onto Ryan’s arm as I hobble down the rest of the stairs. Later that night, I wake up in the middle of my nap, feel my ankle throbbing and look down to see that it has swollen up. It is difficult to walk. I never get it checked out by a professional and to this day I do not know if it is permanently damaged or not. It doesn’t hurt anymore and rarely do I feel an ache. But I know it's probably still there.

China’s National Holiday (Golden Week): I am fine until the last few days of the Golden Week. Luckily I was on holiday and did not have to work. But, on the last few days of the Golden Week I suddenly fall ill. As in, seriously ill. I had come home early from a dinner with a slight headache. The next morning, it was a chore to walk the few steps over to Darleen’s apt for a homemade breakfast. I had to decline an invitation to the Science and Technology Museum because my whole body just felt sore and horrible. My body later rejected the breakfast and any other foods I would attempt to eat for the next few days. I could barely keep water down and managed to eat a few slices of bread. I lay in bed with a fever, chills and pounding headache for about 3 days. I had a big homework assignment due so I would alternate: write a paragraph and nap for an hour, repeat. No roommate Sina was still in America. I had no way of leaving my apt if I needed anything, but thankfully Darleen would check up on me when she could. I had never, in my life, been that sick before. To add to this, the hacking cough that I caught because of my low immunity would remain with me for about 2 months until I left winter in Shanghai for warmer temperatures in Southeast Asia during Spring Festival.

Sometime in March/April: I am teaching in class and bending down to write something on the lower half of the whiteboard. I stand up and all of a sudden something pops loudly behind my right knee. I cannot straighten out my right leg because the pain is so intense. But, the show must go on so I am kinda hopping and putting all my weight on my left leg as I continue to finish up the lesson. Luckily I was about to start bookwork which meant independent work for the students. I tenderly put some weight onto my right leg and it hurts to support it. For the next two weeks, I cannot kneel or bend the knee, but I would accidently re-pop whatever it was 3 more separate times, all while squatting or kneeling for something. It really hurt. From then on, I am cautious whenever I have to bend my right knee and actually try to avoid doing so.

Today: I am packing up my luggage when all of a sudden as I am on my knees and moving around, I hear and feel that grossly familiar pop behind my right knee again. I thought it had healed, but apparently not. I struggle and hop to stand up and sit on my bed. Ouch!

What else is going to break down? Not to mention the mysterious bruises that I sometimes find on my body.

China's Net Nanny

I must document this or at least leave my mark somehow before the spread gets to this site soon!

China's Internet Nanny has gotten censorship and block happy recently and have blocked more websites. Youtube is still blocked. Google Gmail was blocked for a few days as well. LJ was blocked for a long time and recently in the past few weeks has been unblocked. Twitter was blocked and unblocked. Now, they have reblocked Twitter and get this, they have even blocked Facebook. As far as I know, this is the first time Facebook has ever been blocked (at least in my experience with the Great Firewall of China). I give it a few more days and then LJ might be blocked again~~

Supposedly the reason behind the recent blockings has to do with the ethnic uprisings in China's Xinjiang Province, home to the Uyghur people. I am sure you can google and wiki the information so that I do not have to get into a discussion here.

FACEBOOK!! With it blocked, what else am I supposed to do online? Work on my thesis?

Overheard in New York Website

Overheard in New York website:

Young woman to friend: And I was getting so fucking mad at my boss, so I reached into my bag and pulled out the emergency extra strength maxi-pad I always carry, and walked into his office and threw it at his face. And he looks at me calmly, picks it up, opens it up and sticks it to his desk, and then takes his bottle of water and starts pouring it onto the pad. So I scream, "what the fuck are you doing?" and he looks at me and says, "I want to see if the commercials are true."

--Downtown 1 Train

"Amen" by Tank

I had my iTunes set on random today and this song started to play. I was attracted to the tune of it and then started to really listen to the lyrics. Because it's a Chinese song, I needed to look up the lyrics online so that I could follow along with it easier. I translated the lyrics and decided that I did indeed liked this song. So I wanted to share it with you guys. I apologize that a bit of the meaning has been lost in translation (as it usually happens with me, sorry). But the general gist of the song is about wanting life to be perfect, but realizing that life cannot be perfect. The trials and uncertainties in life are given to us to overcome, so that we can become stronger in our beliefs. Or at least that is how I'm interpreting the song. I'm not exactly 100% fluent in Mandarin. Regardless it is still a nice song.

阿門
作詞：藍小邪 作曲：TANK

請賜給我一顆不會 熄滅的星
請賜給我一朵不被 淋濕的雲
請告訴我的眼睛 再等一下就是黎明
請別笑我 每天都要 跟你談心

請賜給我一顆不會 受傷的心
請賜給我永遠用不完的勇氣
如果還能說下去 請讓我在這黑夜裡
相信明天 一覺醒來 是個好天氣

Chorus:
**我不要飛來的運氣 也不用比別人榮幸
只求當我在谷底 還有力氣 疼痛和哭泣
荊棘中還能辨認來時的腳印

我不求變成個奇跡 也不用開創天或地
只求我最迷茫時 還能找到 最初的自己
如果我痛到必須要閉上眼睛 就看見你**

原來每一顆星熄滅 才會再亮
原來每一朵雲濕透 天才放晴
原來一顆心受傷 是爲了要更有勇氣
原來勇氣 因為失去 才有了意義

Repeat Chorus
流過的淚留下運氣 受過的傷都很榮幸
下一次跌落谷底 就該知道 躺下看山頂
何不替眼睛謝謝所有的風景

我存在就是個奇跡 你為我創造天與地
你讓我不斷迷路 直到找到 真正的自己
原來只要我能看見我的真心
就看見你

English Translation: Amen
Composer: Tank

Please bestow upon me a star that can’t be extinguished
Please bestow upon me a cloud that will not rain
Please tell my eyes to wait just awhile more for daybreak
Please don’t laugh at me because I want to speak with you everyday

Please bestow upon me a heart that won’t be wounded
Please bestow upon me never-ending courage
If I could also say, please leave me in this dark night
So that I can trust that I will awaken tomorrow to a good day

Chorus:
**I don’t need to be given luck and I don’t need to be compared to others for honor
I only ask that when I am in the valley, I still have strength, aches and tears
So that from behind the thorns I can still identify your timely footprints

I don’t seek to become a miracle, or to create the sky or earth
I only ask that when I am most confused, I can still find who I really am
So that if pain causes me to close my eyes, I can clearly see you**

But,
It turns out that every star needs to be extinguished to be bright again
It turns out that every cloud needs to rain so that the sky can be clear
It turns out that a heart needs to be wounded in order to gain courage
It turns out that courage has to be lost for courage to have meaning

Repeat Chorus
Tears flow and leave behind luck, the wounds that were suffered are all honorable
The next time I fall into the valley, I should know to lay down and watch the hilltop
Why not close my eyes and give thanks to the scenery

My existence is a miracle. You created the sky and earth for me.
You let me lose my way, so that I can find my true self
As long as I can see my own sincerity and self
That is when I can see you.

MS & QY Grade 3 Graduation

These little Chinese kids are amazing. Granted the routines are not rocket science, but to have a 7 year old with the patience to pay attention and understand what it means to get the steps right, well I can’t say that I am not impressed.

MS and QY Kindergarten’s grade 3 students had their graduation ceremony at the Noble Center in Minhang District of Shanghai. They will be starting primary school in the fall. The ceremony had each grade 3 class performing a class routine, involving dancing and props. The kids had to remember formations and the beat of the music. In addition, there were also performances from various groups of kids, like the “dance class” kids, the deaf kids, and my grade 3 class even did a special Wushu performance. The teachers performed as well, ranging from singing to a military/artsy dance about war (?) and drumming. All in all, it was a nice ceremony to send those little grade 3 rascals off to primary school.

I’ll miss them.

Sproul 521 Reunited in China

Song and her family were in China for a visit and we were able to meet up one weekend to hangout. Rather than stay in Shanghai, we all made the train trip out to Hangzhou. We left Shanghai on Saturday morning and came back early Sunday afternoon. A quick trip out to West Lake.

First off, it was so hot Saturday. Like majorly hot. Like unbelievable-my face is melting off-hot. We arrived at about 9am and we were already sweating like crazy. And the plan was to visit West Lake and be outdoors all day long. After dropping off our luggage at the hotel we made our way to Lingyin Temple. There we visited one of the large temples as well as make a climb up to Fei Lai Feng 飞来峰. Because it was just a stone stairs path up the side of a hill, we would ask people how much further up was the location. People just told us that “it is a few more minutes up” and thus we kept climbing. Little did we know that a lot of “few more minutes” add up to a longer than anticipated hike up. Add hot and humidity to this and you can imagine how wet we were by the time we got to the top.

Our reward? There was a rock with the words “Fei Lai Feng” (in Chinese) painted on it. And a guy selling cold drinks. There wasn’t even an impressive view since trees blocked any view that might have been achieved. So we started the climb back down the hill. Every once in awhile I would stumble and slip a little. I apparently have lost all sense of balance since arriving in China.

At the base we found a cave that felt like it had A/C blasting through it, but it was all natural. We also saw some of the buddhas carved into the side of the hill. Then the freak storm arrived and we all ran for cover. But it cooled down the rest of the day so that we were able to continue our trip without dying of heat. Relief!

We took a boat ride into the middle of the lake to view some of the little islands and walk around. More walking ensued and then we decided that it was the right time to grab dinner. We ate a place and ordered all the Hangzhou “delicacies”. SO GOOD!! Everything was delicious! Yum! After dinner we took a stroll down a pedestrian street to take a look at more little items to buy. Exhausted, we headed back to our hotel to shower and fall asleep quickly.

On Sunday, we made another trip out to West Lake to walk around another section. We stopped for a rest at the water show area and ate ice cream as we took in the show. Walked some more until it was about time to head back to the train station. Grabbed a quick lunch, got on the train and all fell asleep until we arrived in Shanghai. Home sweet home.

We rested in the afternoon, grabbed an early dinner and then Song and I went to get a Chinese haircut. Afterwards she came to spend the night at my apartment (which was super close to their hotel. They were staying right next to the Xujiahui Cathedral which is like a short 15 minutes walk from my apartment). We just spend the rest of the night chatting and reminiscing. She wanted to try to play AOE but I knew that the attempt would be an epic_fail. It was so good to see Song again. The last time was when we were all busy moving out of Apt 304 after UCLA graduation. It was all just a quick goodbye and then that was it. To be able to hang out with her again felt like only a short vacation had passed between the time. Of course things had changed but some of the same behaviors, habits and other little things that come from knowing and living with each other for 4 years returned as if second nature. When you see someone everyday of your life for years you really get used to and learn a lot about that person. You all know what I mean.

Song, thanks for making time out of your trip to visit me! It was definitely great to see you again. Our friendship has made it from the hills of Westwood to the hills of China.

Chinese Glasses

Last weekend, Michelle (W.) and I ventured out to find the Eyeglass Wholesale Market of Shanghai. Our sources from Chinese people and the Internet told us that it would be located “at the Shanghai Railway Station.” That’s it. We were told to take the metro to the railway station (not the south station!) and look for it.

We got out, asked some people and eventually found it. Apparently they had relocated to a new location. Indoors and with air conditioning. It was legit.

So we first did a walk through and had people ask us whether we wanted to buy eyeglasses and to please take a look at their inventory. Eventually, I just walked into a random store and started looking through their glasses. The saleslady pulled out various pairs saying to me, “When I saw you, I already had an idea of what style you would like.”

After picking out a pair that I liked enough to buy, I had my eyes rechecked in a small back room. It was all the usual machines you would see at any other eyeglass place. Put your chin and forehead against the bracket and look at the tree/house in the distance. They rip out a printout and then you put on sample prescriptions and look at an eye chart to confirm your prescription. Best part? It’s basically a free (or included) eye check up. Back home, you pay extra for that!

After the prescription is good, you pick out a pair of glasses, bargain the price down they send the order to be made. The glasses are made rather quickly. I didn’t even know they had gone to make the lenses when the guy comes back and says “take a look to confirm that we used the high-index lenses.” I confirmed. They set another guy to shape the lenses to fit the selected frames. You test them out when they are done, you pay and you are ready to leave.

The whole process of selecting eyewear, eye check up, making the glasses and testing them out took about 2.5 hours. It probably would have been faster if I wasn’t so picky about picking out a pair either. The process is so fast! Back home it would take about a week for them to send the order to a factory or something to make it. In China, there is no need for that since everything is ready already.

I have been wearing my new glasses for a few days now and have had no problems with them. New glasses within a few hours for 180RMB (US $26.33) for frames, lenses and eye checkup. I think that I can try to bargain that price down a little more if I go back for another pair!

One Year Ago...

This weekend marks UCLA’s graduation ceremonies for the class of 2009. First of all, congratulations to all my friends from all universities who are walking this weekend (or already just walked)!!! Yay! You guys did it!

Second of all, has it seriously been a year already?! A year since I walked, smiled for the camera, hugged the last hugs, said the final goodbyes and then left the place I had lived the last 4 years of my life? Yeah, it seems that it all really did happen. Time passes by so quickly. It is hard to believe that that life was all just a mere 365ish days ago. Plus, I’m a sap.

So much has happened during the year in between that in all honesty, it feels like a lifetime ago. My life as a Bruin was great, it was fantastic and amazing. But the growth and emotions of the past year has in a way turned my UCLA memories into something that just happened ... but a long time ago. If that makes sense. Kinda. Life is marked by stages and phases. You chop it all up and mix it in a giant bowl to create who you are at any given moment.

I replay those final few days of Westwood. In the span of about a week, final exams were taken, final course grader work was completed, final work things were tidied up, final dinners/lunches/hang outs were had, final hugs were hugged, final boxes were packed up to be moved out of the apartment, a lot of final things going on. Somehow it was squeezed in, I even remember that Calvin had to drive me somewhere to drop off Murphy’s graded exams so that the next proctor could grade his portion of it. I remember hanging out at Calvin and Lydia’s the night before and then saying that I should probably go home (like at 4am or something) so that I can finish grading. But I had such a hard time staying awake, but graded some, walked at the college commencement, taking pictures and going to K-town for dinner, and more grading throughout the night and then econ graduation the day after. Maybe I didn’t get much sleep those final days. Seriously, all a blur.

In the end, time flies. And it flies by really quickly. We always say that we’ll see each other soon and we’ll keep in touch. But somehow, time flying by makes it hard to do so. We all become consumed with our own lives and before we know it, holidays are the times we try to reclaim fragments of those promises. I would love to be able to say that I have a good track record of maintaining contact with all those that have had a significant impact on my life. But I would be lying. I could only wish for a better record of maintaining contact. I really wish that I have at least kept up with emails but the reality is that they have been sporadic. There are so many people I wish that I had been able to keep in touch with but one thing leads to another, one excuse leads to another and before I knew it, all attempts to catch up somehow always start with the words “what’s up? how are things?” Because the sad truth is that I don’t know “what’s up” and how things have been with you. Sorry for being a lame friend.

But the fact that I can pick up conversations with old friends as if little time has passed since the last time, well that is pretty amazing as well. We all lead different lives now, and that is a part of growing up, but it is a beautiful thing when we all just come back to each other and fall back into the dance of life together. Maybe I’m not such a lame friend after all.

As one of my precious students greets me at the beginning of every lesson: Amy! Happy face!

Hair Dye

This past Saturday, i went to a “Chinese” hair place. This was an in-between of the “foreigner” hair stylists and the street alley super-Chinese hair cutters. As a Westerner in a foreign country, the language barrier can be the obstacle you must overcome for a hair cut. You either don’t get your hair cut, get your hair cut at a place that obviously caters to foreigners and English speakers at a higher cost, or you put a smile on and go with the flow at a more local place.

Now, getting a hair cut at a local place does not automatically equal disaster. If you and the stylist are patient enough and with an excellent game of charades, the desired or near desired style can be achieved. Go with a Chinese speaker (fluent or limited) and your chances of success are even greater. So Sina and I decided to check out a place that was recommended by one of her Chinese co-teachers. I did my best to translate and the people were really patient and nice. Even going to the local convenience store to buy us coffee. I wanted my hair to be dyed a lighter color, a sort of brown ... I just wanted to lighten my hair color. At least, that was the goal.

On Monday, I go back to teach Chinese kindergartners. Some of my kids notice and the responses I got were super cute:

“Amy Laoshi .... her hair is YELLOW!”
“Amy ... *pulls his own hair* ... brown!” - my favorite 5 year old Korean kid, Alex

“What color is my hair?”
“Black and .... green.”
“uh ... are you sure?”
“Black and ... brown?”

“Amy is orange”
“It looks red”
“It is black”

and the sweetest one ...
“Amy, you are pretty.” Okay everyone, collective “awww....”

I am going to argue that these kids are so young and English is a foreign language to them. So half of them don’t know what they are saying. haha =P My hair is for sure not yellow, green, red or orange. It is because of the way the light hits the top of my head that makes it appear a lot lighter than the rest of my hair. I am going to give it a few days to “settle down.” Put on a smile and go with the flow. =)

Almost Going Home

Quick update: We just had the Dragon Boat Festival, which to a foreigner means 3 days off (Thursday, Friday and Saturday). It also means that we have to work on Sunday to "make up" for the day off that we got on Friday. Yes, China's government holidays make you work for your holiday. Thursday was really the only holiday we got, Saturday is the (my) usual day off and so because I got Friday off (to make it a straight 3 days) I have to work on Sunday. They just shift my "weekend" around. And now I am about to embark on a fabulous 6 day work week. Great plan right? Oh PRC, the things you think of to tickle my ABC bones.

Mark your calendars. Thursday, July 16 11:30am. China Eastern from PVG (Shanghai Pudong) --> LAX (Los Angeles). I will set foot back onto American soil, take a deep breath of American air and smile. It will be good to be back.

Leehom -- almost (again)

I meant to blog about this event a few days ago but got a little busy (... with life and with general procrastination), so here I am to make up for lost time.

If you recall from a previous post, March 22, 2009 I posted about a missed opportunity at a Leehom event. Well guess what? Make that now TWO missed opportunities! Yes, dear reader that is correct. Twice I have missed out at a Leehom event. Obviously many things in my life are out of my hands, but I still have to admit there is a certain pang of disappointment when I discovered this.

Again, here are the facts of his China visit ... please notice how everything was so ... convenient.

Leehom was in Shanghai (again...) in the month of April. (so was I)

Leehom was in the XuHui District in the month of April. (I live in the XuHui District)

Leehom was at the Metro City shopping mall doing a promotion. (I wasn’t, but I could have been because it is only a max 30 minutes walk from my apartment)

This was a Saturday event. (the significance being that Saturday is my day off from work)

However, it happened to be on the exact day that I was to leave Shanghai for Taiwan. How ironic is that? Leehom was in China doing a promotional event when I was wondering whether I would have the opportunity to be a fan_girl at one of his promotional events in Taiwan.

You know what’s the best part? My roommate, Sina, was actually at the Metro City shopping mall on the day of the event. She was making a quick stop over there to find some “Shanghai” souvenirs to bring with her to Taiwan for my family. She bought the souvenirs and she says that she remembered seeing a large crowd at the entrance of the mall. But she didn’t think anything of it and went along her merry way to meet me at the metro station to go to the airport. Sina is also a huge Leehom fan.

We found out about the Shanghai Metro City Leehom event a week later, when we had returned to Shanghai from Taiwan.

C’est la vie. :)

H1N1

So.... I guess the swine flu finally made it into Mainland China. Mainland China has just confirmed its first case of H1N1 (Swine flu). With a country with such a large population, I guess it was only a matter of a few days before the first case was confirmed. The infected person had traveled from St. Louis to Tokyo to Beijing and then to Chengdu.

I guess I will have to cancel my ideas of visiting Chengdu during the upcoming Dragon Boat Festival. Call me paranoid, but this is the same girl who wore a face mask all through Taiwan to Hong Kong to Shanghai. From the Hello Kitty boarding gate in Taipei to the Pudong Quarantine and Inspection area. I am also thinking that all this H1N1 talk is proof that I should probably be staying home that holiday weekend so that I can take inventory of my life and organize for leaving China.

Here is a link if you’re interested:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8043189.stm

Video Nostalgia

I just randomly found some videos on my laptop that were made a few years back. These videos were shot when we were hanging out or playing some game or whatever. Seemed like such a simple thing to make back then, but who knew they could trigger such memories. I recalled events, I recalled people. I could hear your voices. I could see your smiles. The feelings that can be evoked by just seeing images is beyond description and one of the most beautiful things about life and about being human.

I only wish that we had recorded more of our times together.

I really miss people. Everyone.

我愛台灣 Wo Ai Taiwan I Love Taiwan

** More photos to be uploaded onto facebook

[no, I did not go to Alishan. It's not the only place to visit in Taiwan by the way]

The recent trip I took to Taiwan (Formosa - beautiful) with Daniella and Sina was fantastic. We only had a week but we somehow managed to visit both the southern and northern sides of Taiwan. It was a jam packed week that left us exhausted, but a good kind of exhausted. The kind where you knew that you accomplished a lot and would leave with priceless memories. Most of the places we went to were places that I had already been to, but it was fun to go again to experience it with Daniella and Sina. We basically spent an entire week seeing beautiful sights, eating delicious food non-stop, and laughing everyday.

We flew from Shanghai to Hong Kong to Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Kaohsiung is a port city that is located on the south western coast of the island of Taiwan. This is where my mother is from and so I have the majority of her side of the family still in Kaohsiung. My 2nd Uncle picked us up at the airport Saturday night. After visiting the neighborhood night market, we settled in and went to sleep ASAP because the next day was a trip down to Kenting, located on the southern tip of Taiwan.

On Sunday: The Kenting National Park area is a beach area that is tropical, sunny, beachy and scenic. Unfortunately, the day that we went, it was windy -- windy beyond description. Our hair was flying all over the place and we felt a little chilly. Nevertheless, we managed to have a grand old time taking pictures all over the place. My cousin Annie recommended that we visit the National Museum of Marine Biology & Aquarium, which we later figured out was probably due to her really wanting to see the penguins again. We also visited some scenic sights such as Maobitou (貓鼻頭) and the rock that is supposed to look like Nixon’s head. Then, a day in Taiwan would not be completed without the visit to a night market. This time we went to Liouhe Night Market in Kaohsiung, which is a tourist night market. We ate some stinky tofu and fried ice cream.

National Museum of Marine Biology & AquariumMaobitou (貓鼻頭)

Liouhe Night Market @ Kaohsiung

On Monday, we did some exploring closer to home. My grandparents took us to Cijin Beach located on Cijin Island. We took the subway and then the ferry. This is only a short (very short, haha) ferry ride from the main island. Here, Daniella and Sina grabbed some tea drinks. By far the most amazing was probably Daniella’s drink which was black tea with boba pearls and vanilla ice cream ... in a large cup. Which she finished drinking really quickly. And then was too full for practically the rest of the day. At Cijin, we walked along the beach and down some of the streets, just taking in the local life. We took the ferry back and then a bus to Lotus Lake. It is a lake that has many temples and pagodas around the lake. We climbed to the top of the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas and took in the fabulous view. We walked over to the Spring and Autumn Pavilion and took a lot of photos as well.

@ Cijin

Dragon and Tiger Pagodas @ Lotus Lake

On Tuesday, we made plans to leave Kaohsiung in the afternoon to head up to YingGe (a suburb in the Taipei area) where my 4th aunt lives. My 2nd uncle’s wife (my aunt) drove us into Kaohsiung city on her way to work and dropped us off at Kaohsiung’s central park. We walked around a bit and took the subway back home. Along the way, we stopped at the “Dome of Light” which was a colorful photo op. We got on the Aloha bus that would take us straight up to the Taipei area where my 4th aunt would pick us up. The bus seats were basically over stuffed lazy boy recliners with mini-TVs attached to them. Roughing it in Taiwan.

Kaohsiung Central Park
Dome of Light in Kaohsiung subway -- the most colorful subway experience you will ever have

On Wednesday, we went into Taipei City to visit the Chiang Kai-shek memorial hall, the National Palace Museum, Taipei 101 and Shilin Night Market. The day was certainly as busy and packed as it sounds like. It was great to wander around the city on their subway system. Oh! And unlike the Shanghai subway system, the people in Taiwan actually line up to take the escalators! The right side is for standing and the left side is for through traffic ... something that the Shanghainese can’t seem to get right. In Taiwan, they will actually line up to be on the right side and kindly leave the left side for people who are walking through. And they line up to get onto the subway cars and wait for people to get off before they get on. In Shanghai, everyone just pushes as one giant crowd so that nothing really gets resolved. I love Taiwan’s subway system! At Taipei 101, we arrived in the late afternoon and stayed for the sunset. We were able to walk up to the outdoor observatory deck as well! It was super windy and it was amazing to be at the top of the tallest building (in operation) in the world.

Quote of the day from Wednesday:
[Sina sees that the security guard is tall]
Sina: He’s the perfect height for me. He’s not bad looking either.
Daniella: He just walked away smiling. I think he understood you.
Amy: I’m pretty sure he knows English. He pointed at my backpack and told me in English that I couldn’t bring it up the 101.
Sina: AHHH!!! He knows English! And he knows what I just said about him!!
Daniella: That’s why he was smiling.

Chiang Kai-shek memorial hall

National Palace Museum
Taipei 101
Taipei @ night

On Thursday, my 4th aunt and uncle drove us out to Yehliu Geopark. Here we saw natural rock formations in the shape of mushrooms, ginger, tofu and the most famous one -- the Queen’s Head. The geopark is located right next to the ocean and is an impressive area that shows you the power and beauty of nature. We got dropped off at Danshui on the way home (my relatives went home first). No problems with the public transportation around Taiwan; we knew exactly how to get ourselves home from the city (subway, train, walk about a block). We wandered around Danshui, which is sort of a like a calm water front area, and went to Ximending to meet up with Gladys, a friend of mine from UCLA who is studying abroad in Taiwan for a year. Ximending is a pedestrian shopping and hanging out area where a lot of young people like to go to. It is also common to spot celebrities (though we didn’t when we were there). There are either a lot of good looking young people in Taiwan or we have been way too deprived for too long in Shanghai.

Yehliou Geopark
@ Danshui

@Ximending with Gladys

*** Great amazing crazy story from Thursday night. On our way home, we had to run to catch the train that was leaving Taipei on its way to YingGe. We are running up the escalators and we can hear the warning bell ringing. Sina and I jump in, turn around and see the doors close on Daniella. The cell phone my aunt had given me to carry had a dying battery. We pressed the emergency button but it didn’t seem to do anything. The train that Sina and I were on was pulling away from the platform. Daniella can barely speak Mandarin. She did not know my aunt’s contact info. And the train we were on was possibly the last train out of Taipei to YingGe. The last thing I see Daniella motioning was that she would stay at the train station. Sina and I had to go into crisis_mode quickly to decide what we should do. We asked someone about the train schedule (Taiwanese people are so nice and helpful!) and found out there were a few more trains leaving that night. We get off at the next stop and our plan was that Sina would get on the next train to Ying Ge in case Daniella had decided to grab the next train. She took down my aunt’s contact info and address and I made her repeat the correct train stop to me a few times in Mandarin so that I could make sure that she wouldn’t accidently get off at the incorrect stop. I would go back to the Taipei station to try to find her and bring her with me. We had to ask some people for information on how to take the train back to Taipei. When I got back to the Taipei station, I found her sitting on one of the chairs. We now had to somehow figure out which train would take us back to YingGe and someone was nice enough to let us use her cell phone so that I could call my aunt and let her know about the situation and that we would be late. For a few moments, all 3 of us were separated in Taiwan.

On Friday, we first did a mini-hike through Yangmingshan (Yang Ming Hill). We walked on paths and found a waterfall. Photo op! Then we went to the Jiufeng area to pick up my cousin Tony from his school and also to see the Jiufeng Old Street/Town area. This area is located on the top of a hill overlooking the ocean. It is an old gold mining town that has since been converted into a tourist area. The views from the top are simply beautiful. Unfortunately, since it was a holiday weekend, the place was overcrowded with tourists (many from the Mainland). My uncle used the excuse that we were there to pick up my cousin (which is the truth) so that we could bypass all the car stops and drive directly up to the top and drop us off at the entrance. From there, the 3 of us were left to walk around ourselves while they went ahead to pick up Tony. We explored a bit and then got picked up. We headed back to Taipei because we had reservations to eat at Modern Toilet. It is a restaurant that has a toilet and bathroom theme. The decor is all toilets and the food is served in small toilet sets. My relatives had a blast with the novelty of the place as well. We all laughed so hard when our desserts came because they were way larger than what we thought it would be. One of them could have fed all of us, but we had unknowingly ordered 3. It was all in great fun though.

@ Yangming Shan

@ JiuFeng

@ Modern Toilet

On Saturday, Sina left Taiwan to go back to Shanghai to work. Daniella and I spent our last day of Taiwan by first taking a walk through Ying Ge’s ceramic district with my cousin Peter. We then headed into the city again to walk around Shilin market and Ximending. That night, we went to the Ying Ge night market and then called it a night.

On Sunday, we flew back to Shanghai. And to make it the perfect ending of a fun fun trip, our boarding gate in Taipei had a Hello Kitty theme. And there was the swine flu (H1N1) to worry about at each airport. Face masks! And that was the end of my fabulous Taiwan trip. whew, this post was way too long. But as I mentioned in the previous post, the Taiwan trip was “beyond description.” This post could have been way longer.

@ Taipei Airport in the Hello Kitty gate during the H1N1 (swine flu) outbreak. It looks like we're the only ones wearing face masks but these were like the only people who were NOT wearing masks. Just about everybody else had a mask on.

我愛台灣 Wo Ai Taiwan I Love Taiwan