Welcome dinner and a cool guest house.
Isn't Lauren cute in her red dress?
Hi all, we are at Shanghai Normal University now. We got here around 3:30 p.m., unpacked, discovered that they have to register us as staying with them to the government and dressed for dinner.
I am like out of clean clothes, so I wore my new Chinese dress. Ashlin did my hair and make-up for me. Then we headed to dinner. Met up with our new Chinese buddies whose's names I don't think I was ever told, but I'll figure them out eventually.
It was an interesting dinner conversation. We were told we were being too quiet when I didn't think we were being quiet. One lady said I looked pretty, then this dude said, "like a Halloween costume." Ashlin and I don't get if that was a compliment or him being rude. I doubt the later as when he left he said, "Hey!" instead of bye. So maybe his English isn't that great? Who knows, it was an odd night conversationally. Oh and one of our buddies sounds like she came from England. It was playing with our heads all night as she has such a clear brittish accent and is clearly not a Brit! Dinner was good though. Okay, dinner was awesome. It had no bones in the meat! As always, too much food. It was very nicely decorated though and looked super fancy. We were given wine. That was a nice change. It was a red wine and it seemed to be a pretty decent quality.
After dinner, they brought us back to the guest house and I told one of the girls that I want to go the aquarium and explained why. She said that the schedule is really tight but they want to make us happy, I said, "Fish make me happy. I am willing to pay for me and one of you to go with me. That's how badly I want to go." It's true too. I'm desperate to go. I really want to go to the aquarium. I miss my fish! She said that she would talk to the lady in charge in for me. So hopefully, I can go. Then I headed back to my room, talked to my parents, talked to my Uncle Charlie, talked to Mr. Jeff (who I know is reading this, so Hi Mr. Jeff!) and finally worked on this blog.
The room here is really nice. Jessica and I quite like it. The shower was nice and hot. The internet here is super fast, so I'm happy about that. It makes picture uploads easy. :)
I am like out of clean clothes, so I wore my new Chinese dress. Ashlin did my hair and make-up for me. Then we headed to dinner. Met up with our new Chinese buddies whose's names I don't think I was ever told, but I'll figure them out eventually.
It was an interesting dinner conversation. We were told we were being too quiet when I didn't think we were being quiet. One lady said I looked pretty, then this dude said, "like a Halloween costume." Ashlin and I don't get if that was a compliment or him being rude. I doubt the later as when he left he said, "Hey!" instead of bye. So maybe his English isn't that great? Who knows, it was an odd night conversationally. Oh and one of our buddies sounds like she came from England. It was playing with our heads all night as she has such a clear brittish accent and is clearly not a Brit! Dinner was good though. Okay, dinner was awesome. It had no bones in the meat! As always, too much food. It was very nicely decorated though and looked super fancy. We were given wine. That was a nice change. It was a red wine and it seemed to be a pretty decent quality.
After dinner, they brought us back to the guest house and I told one of the girls that I want to go the aquarium and explained why. She said that the schedule is really tight but they want to make us happy, I said, "Fish make me happy. I am willing to pay for me and one of you to go with me. That's how badly I want to go." It's true too. I'm desperate to go. I really want to go to the aquarium. I miss my fish! She said that she would talk to the lady in charge in for me. So hopefully, I can go. Then I headed back to my room, talked to my parents, talked to my Uncle Charlie, talked to Mr. Jeff (who I know is reading this, so Hi Mr. Jeff!) and finally worked on this blog.
The room here is really nice. Jessica and I quite like it. The shower was nice and hot. The internet here is super fast, so I'm happy about that. It makes picture uploads easy. :)
Welcome ceremony and lectures.
So this morning I woke up and checked my iPod. It said it was like 9 and we were supposed to meet at 8:20. So I jumped up and found out from Jessica that it was almost 8, I had still not changed the time on my iPod. So I finally got that fixed while she headed to breakfast. Then we went to University's History Museum. It was interesting to find out about the university's history and even cooler that they had a museum for it.
Then we went to the welcome ceremony. Everything is so formal over here, I miss relaxed welcome parties. They gave us a really nice paper weight from the local opera house. Then we went to lunch. It was much smaller than normal and we had no complaints there! I really liked that pork though. It was awesome. Currently we are having a scheduled "rest" time. Which I find it strange that we have scheduled rest times, but okay.
After our rest time, we headed into a couple of lectures. They were quite interesting. One was on the Chinese family system and the roles of the family members and the other was an overview of Chinese history. I enjoyed both and took far too many notes. We are currently having another break and I will be doing laundry tonight. Jessica gets the internet tonight, so I will update about the flute concert and dinner tomorrow.
Then we went to the welcome ceremony. Everything is so formal over here, I miss relaxed welcome parties. They gave us a really nice paper weight from the local opera house. Then we went to lunch. It was much smaller than normal and we had no complaints there! I really liked that pork though. It was awesome. Currently we are having a scheduled "rest" time. Which I find it strange that we have scheduled rest times, but okay.
After our rest time, we headed into a couple of lectures. They were quite interesting. One was on the Chinese family system and the roles of the family members and the other was an overview of Chinese history. I enjoyed both and took far too many notes. We are currently having another break and I will be doing laundry tonight. Jessica gets the internet tonight, so I will update about the flute concert and dinner tomorrow.
Okay, so the flute concert was awesome. Dinner was good. I'm loving this boneless meat! Though they have been giving us a lot of potatoes. These potatoes taste strange and they are purple. So I keep trying to avoid them.
As for the flute concert. They were amazing! I have some videos but again, no youtube to upload them. :( Something else to upload when I get back to the states.
As for the flute concert. They were amazing! I have some videos but again, no youtube to upload them. :( Something else to upload when I get back to the states.
Greatest day ever!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, so today we were told that we were going to be shopping all day. Well, I had previously been told by Claire that I should talk to our tour guide about getting to the aquarium. So after talking to Boyoung, Dr. Vartanian, our guide and our leader. They said that they would let me go to the aquarium instead of the tv tower. They gave me two hours to get in, get my pics and get out. Well, after two hours, I was still in line. Ivy had gone with me and she went back to meet the group while I stayed in line. Eventually, they decided to leave Rebecca with me and we would meet up with them later. I had no objections. It was a shopping day and I was literally standing in front of the aquarium. So Rebecca and I stayed in line to the ticket booth. Once there we found out it was half off day! Which explained the three hours in line.
So finally, making it inside, we headed up to the fish. There, we discovered so many amazing things! I was super excited to see some of the more common fish species along side some of the more rare and they had such large numbers of things! It was an amazing experience! I'm SO happy I got to go! It was even more awesome because Rebecca hadn't been to that aquarium before, so neither of us knew exactly what to expect.
Of course with it being half price, there was a mob of people. They were everywhere! I learned to push through the mob while exploring this aquarium. I was often tossed about like a sardine in a can though. There was no room and I was completely at the mercy of the crowd. There were actually a couple of times, I thought I was going to fall into the tank! Oh yeah, these were open top tanks with the water open to the people. It was so cool! And of course, I about died when I saw my catfish. That was my #1 thing to see while I was there and that crowd had to move out of my way. Those were related to my kitten-fish, so I wanted pictures and even the small children better just get out of the way. Thankfully, they were more interested in the cichlids, so I had plenty of time for my picture before the mob crammed into the Nile river system tank.
Finally finishing the tour of the aquarium we went to lunch (now 3.5 hours after entering the aquarium). We decided to eat there and I bought Rebecca's lunch. I had wanted a burger, but somehow ordered some sort of meat and rice dish. I don't know how that happened, but it was still good! Then she led me off to the subway station and we finally met back up with the group. Or technically, met up with Boyoung at Starbucks. It was all good. I quite liked those rice cake things.
Then we headed to dinner. Which, as always, was huge. After just eating, I have no idea how I managed to eat as much as I did. Oh well. It was an awesome day and there will be no more deviation from the schedule on my part. That was my one thing for the trip that I had to do and I got to go. SHNU literally made my trip that much more awesome today!
So finally, making it inside, we headed up to the fish. There, we discovered so many amazing things! I was super excited to see some of the more common fish species along side some of the more rare and they had such large numbers of things! It was an amazing experience! I'm SO happy I got to go! It was even more awesome because Rebecca hadn't been to that aquarium before, so neither of us knew exactly what to expect.
Of course with it being half price, there was a mob of people. They were everywhere! I learned to push through the mob while exploring this aquarium. I was often tossed about like a sardine in a can though. There was no room and I was completely at the mercy of the crowd. There were actually a couple of times, I thought I was going to fall into the tank! Oh yeah, these were open top tanks with the water open to the people. It was so cool! And of course, I about died when I saw my catfish. That was my #1 thing to see while I was there and that crowd had to move out of my way. Those were related to my kitten-fish, so I wanted pictures and even the small children better just get out of the way. Thankfully, they were more interested in the cichlids, so I had plenty of time for my picture before the mob crammed into the Nile river system tank.
Finally finishing the tour of the aquarium we went to lunch (now 3.5 hours after entering the aquarium). We decided to eat there and I bought Rebecca's lunch. I had wanted a burger, but somehow ordered some sort of meat and rice dish. I don't know how that happened, but it was still good! Then she led me off to the subway station and we finally met back up with the group. Or technically, met up with Boyoung at Starbucks. It was all good. I quite liked those rice cake things.
Then we headed to dinner. Which, as always, was huge. After just eating, I have no idea how I managed to eat as much as I did. Oh well. It was an awesome day and there will be no more deviation from the schedule on my part. That was my one thing for the trip that I had to do and I got to go. SHNU literally made my trip that much more awesome today!
One Awesome Museum and the Tourist Zone
Today, as usual, I ended up with like 5 mins to change and get down stairs. I really need to start setting alarms. So, we went to the Shanghai Museum. This was an AMAZING place. They gave us two hours to explore the four floors of awesomeness and after the first hour, I had just finished the third floor which just so happened to be the floor I started on. They had so much stuff there, you will just have to go though these pictures. I spent my second hour power housing through the other three floors to at least get a feel of what else was there. We need like four or five hours there. It was awesome and they had fliers of each exhibit in English. :D
Then we headed to Yuyuan Garden. This is a 400 year old Chinese garden built by the rich for the rich. Now, it is tourist zone for visitors of China. There was so much to see there. Again, they gave us two hours and our guide took us through it then stopped just before the exit gate and told us to meet her at 3:30 (15:30) to head to dinner, this equates to like 2 hours of shopping. Well, pretty much everyone else wanted to go shop in the tourist zone. I was much more interested in exploring the caves and whatever was behind the "Be Careful" sign we had passed. I asked Grace if she wanted to join me for another pass through of the garden. So back through we went. We found some really cool stuff, I was quite excited about it. This was more what I wanted to see of China. Yes, modern China is fascinating too, but they have over 5,000 years of history. I want to know more about that. Well, after our picture taking, we headed out shopping.
Our guide had told us that bargaining was expected out here. Well, we're not used to bargaining, so we started out a bit rough. I got a custom stamp seal for 90 yuan (around $14). It's really cool. I did find out later that the other shopping group found them for 40 yuan (around $6). Oh well, live and learn. Regardless it was really cool and I got a box that I can keep mine in. Then I bought these two wooden dolls for my friend Ellen. They wanted two for 30 yuan (~ $4.75), but I got them 25 yuan (~ $4). I didn't want to haggle too much because they were reasonably priced anyway. Then we saw a T-shirt with a panda face that said China. Well, everything runs super small over here and Ellen had asked for a shirt, but there was no way this would fit her. If I'm an XL over here, I don't have much faith in sizing. Well the lady started out at 180 yuan (~ $29). Well, I shook my head and said expensive. Grace jumped in with 25 yuan and the lady dropped down to 100, then 50, then 40, then 35. Again, there was no way this thing would fit and we were walking off already, but it was an interesting experience.
Finally, we headed into this shop that had some cool looking journals covered in silk. Well the two I wanted would have been 140 yuan, the guy immediately dropped to 110 yuan and I dropped him down to 100 yuan (~ $8/each). I really wanted them and that seemed fair to me. I'm not comfortable going with prices that basically steal them from the shop owners. This is probably due to my parents having owned a business, so I try to keep things fair. Although Grace and I were able to get her two pearl necklaces, a bracelet and earrings for 200 yuan (~ $30). That was definitely our best haggling job.
Finally we headed back to the guest house. We had dinner here. It was good.
Then we headed to Yuyuan Garden. This is a 400 year old Chinese garden built by the rich for the rich. Now, it is tourist zone for visitors of China. There was so much to see there. Again, they gave us two hours and our guide took us through it then stopped just before the exit gate and told us to meet her at 3:30 (15:30) to head to dinner, this equates to like 2 hours of shopping. Well, pretty much everyone else wanted to go shop in the tourist zone. I was much more interested in exploring the caves and whatever was behind the "Be Careful" sign we had passed. I asked Grace if she wanted to join me for another pass through of the garden. So back through we went. We found some really cool stuff, I was quite excited about it. This was more what I wanted to see of China. Yes, modern China is fascinating too, but they have over 5,000 years of history. I want to know more about that. Well, after our picture taking, we headed out shopping.
Our guide had told us that bargaining was expected out here. Well, we're not used to bargaining, so we started out a bit rough. I got a custom stamp seal for 90 yuan (around $14). It's really cool. I did find out later that the other shopping group found them for 40 yuan (around $6). Oh well, live and learn. Regardless it was really cool and I got a box that I can keep mine in. Then I bought these two wooden dolls for my friend Ellen. They wanted two for 30 yuan (~ $4.75), but I got them 25 yuan (~ $4). I didn't want to haggle too much because they were reasonably priced anyway. Then we saw a T-shirt with a panda face that said China. Well, everything runs super small over here and Ellen had asked for a shirt, but there was no way this would fit her. If I'm an XL over here, I don't have much faith in sizing. Well the lady started out at 180 yuan (~ $29). Well, I shook my head and said expensive. Grace jumped in with 25 yuan and the lady dropped down to 100, then 50, then 40, then 35. Again, there was no way this thing would fit and we were walking off already, but it was an interesting experience.
Finally, we headed into this shop that had some cool looking journals covered in silk. Well the two I wanted would have been 140 yuan, the guy immediately dropped to 110 yuan and I dropped him down to 100 yuan (~ $8/each). I really wanted them and that seemed fair to me. I'm not comfortable going with prices that basically steal them from the shop owners. This is probably due to my parents having owned a business, so I try to keep things fair. Although Grace and I were able to get her two pearl necklaces, a bracelet and earrings for 200 yuan (~ $30). That was definitely our best haggling job.
Finally we headed back to the guest house. We had dinner here. It was good.
The teeth of the Dragon
Inside the Shanghai Museum
They had everything here. They were showing all the different types of script (running, cursive, official, scroll, etc.) They also showed the evolution of the Chinese calligraphy and script. Of course it started with the oracle bones, then they started moving towards putting the script on pottery, scrolls, etc. I spent way too much time in there.
The second section I visited was full of Chinese Seals. These were like the wax seals that the English used, only they did theirs with red ink. There were so many different designs of both the seals and the decorative finishes of the stamps. It was amazing! And I spent way too much time here.
Next I went through the section on Chinese paintings. This was awesome! It was all really pretty and I was taking way too many pictures, then I realized that I only had an hour left for the rest of the museum since these three rooms at taken me an hour alone.
I realized when I went to the next floor, that they had an entire room on currencies. I could have spent the entire two hours just in here. Sadly, I had no time, so I raced through it, took pictures of pretty much everything and ran to the next room.
The next room was full of clothing of the ethnic minorities of China. This was really cool. They have 56 ethnic minorities and they all have unique designs.
Of course you can't visit asia without seeing Jade. So I raced through the Jade exhibit. I didn't take as many pictures because Jade doesn't vary that much.
Next, there was an exhibit on Ming and Qing Furniture. That was interesting, but not that interesting to me. And then there was a section on ceramics. Which again, doesn't vary much, so I didn't take many pictures here either. What I figured would be the last section I would see was on sculptures. Of course, it was mostly Buddhist, so not many pictures there, except of the headless dharma, because that was interesting to me.
It was time to go and I had really wanted to see the section on the Chinese Bronzes. Thankfully, I wasn't the last one and none of us knew where exactly Lauren was in the museum, so I slid off into the room right next to where we were meeting that was on Chinese Bronzes and took a couple of pictures. I really wanted to spend some more time in there.
The second section I visited was full of Chinese Seals. These were like the wax seals that the English used, only they did theirs with red ink. There were so many different designs of both the seals and the decorative finishes of the stamps. It was amazing! And I spent way too much time here.
Next I went through the section on Chinese paintings. This was awesome! It was all really pretty and I was taking way too many pictures, then I realized that I only had an hour left for the rest of the museum since these three rooms at taken me an hour alone.
I realized when I went to the next floor, that they had an entire room on currencies. I could have spent the entire two hours just in here. Sadly, I had no time, so I raced through it, took pictures of pretty much everything and ran to the next room.
The next room was full of clothing of the ethnic minorities of China. This was really cool. They have 56 ethnic minorities and they all have unique designs.
Of course you can't visit asia without seeing Jade. So I raced through the Jade exhibit. I didn't take as many pictures because Jade doesn't vary that much.
Next, there was an exhibit on Ming and Qing Furniture. That was interesting, but not that interesting to me. And then there was a section on ceramics. Which again, doesn't vary much, so I didn't take many pictures here either. What I figured would be the last section I would see was on sculptures. Of course, it was mostly Buddhist, so not many pictures there, except of the headless dharma, because that was interesting to me.
It was time to go and I had really wanted to see the section on the Chinese Bronzes. Thankfully, I wasn't the last one and none of us knew where exactly Lauren was in the museum, so I slid off into the room right next to where we were meeting that was on Chinese Bronzes and took a couple of pictures. I really wanted to spend some more time in there.
Yuyuan Garden.
Culture Days with students - Part 1.
Shu-yu - my Martial arts teacher. :)
Today was fun. We were joined by Qing-qing (pronounced Ching-ching) and Fish (yes, I did type that correctly. I think it’s awesome.) It started out with a campus tour of the tourism school of Shanghai Normal. This was the school of all the skills used in the tourism industry (golf course management, cooking, hotel management, etc.) Then, we had lunch. I miss bulgogi. Lunch consisted of fish, shrimp, a meatball, soup and bread. The soup was good, the meatball was good, and the bread was good. I could have done without the rest. There were bones in it and it tasted bad.
Then we did Chinese calligraphy. I apparently did well with the copying of the characters but not so much with the calligraphy. It was legible though. Next, we went to martial arts class. It was awesome! First, they showed off and it was really impressive. Then, they showed us some basics which we got to try. I had Shu-yu as my teacher. He was by far the most fun guy in the group and had gravity defying hair. He helped me a lot. Initially he said I was like leaf and needed to be like stone. I eventually got it figured out.
It was cool finally meeting Chinese guys who weren’t so stand-offish. They were all awesome and of course there were girls there too. Their instructor was a girl and one look at her and I knew I didn’t want to get on her bad side. They taught us a game called five friends. It’s like tag, but more entertaining. We taught them red rover. So at the end, my team was losing and I was between Shu-yu and another guy. Josh had this “brilliant” idea that we should all storm his line at once. Well, Shu-yu yelled, “We fight for freedom!” and then we charged. Unsurprisingly, they were faster than me so they started dragging me (because they wanted to storm as a line) and I was on a collision course with Lauren. We both had one of those “I’m going to die” moments. The two guys let go and Josh stuck his arm out to grab me instead of having me run into Lauren. We were both thrilled by this, so THANK YOU JOSH! You saved us from a very unfortunate meeting with the floor or the wall, whichever we hit first.
I honestly hope I get to see them all again because they were really cool. Before I left, Shu-yu said that he would always be my teacher and I would always be his student. Such a nice guy, it was an awesome day!
Then we headed off to Karaoke. Karaoke was fun, but it was also interesting. We couldn’t get a full list of songs so we had to search for songs individually instead of scanning for a song and they started out by giving us some random songs that we didn’t know. So we finally figured out that we could skip songs and that helped us get to the songs we actually liked. We finally got it all figured out. But the room was awesome. It was the VIP room and it was super fancy.
Then we did Chinese calligraphy. I apparently did well with the copying of the characters but not so much with the calligraphy. It was legible though. Next, we went to martial arts class. It was awesome! First, they showed off and it was really impressive. Then, they showed us some basics which we got to try. I had Shu-yu as my teacher. He was by far the most fun guy in the group and had gravity defying hair. He helped me a lot. Initially he said I was like leaf and needed to be like stone. I eventually got it figured out.
It was cool finally meeting Chinese guys who weren’t so stand-offish. They were all awesome and of course there were girls there too. Their instructor was a girl and one look at her and I knew I didn’t want to get on her bad side. They taught us a game called five friends. It’s like tag, but more entertaining. We taught them red rover. So at the end, my team was losing and I was between Shu-yu and another guy. Josh had this “brilliant” idea that we should all storm his line at once. Well, Shu-yu yelled, “We fight for freedom!” and then we charged. Unsurprisingly, they were faster than me so they started dragging me (because they wanted to storm as a line) and I was on a collision course with Lauren. We both had one of those “I’m going to die” moments. The two guys let go and Josh stuck his arm out to grab me instead of having me run into Lauren. We were both thrilled by this, so THANK YOU JOSH! You saved us from a very unfortunate meeting with the floor or the wall, whichever we hit first.
I honestly hope I get to see them all again because they were really cool. Before I left, Shu-yu said that he would always be my teacher and I would always be his student. Such a nice guy, it was an awesome day!
Then we headed off to Karaoke. Karaoke was fun, but it was also interesting. We couldn’t get a full list of songs so we had to search for songs individually instead of scanning for a song and they started out by giving us some random songs that we didn’t know. So we finally figured out that we could skip songs and that helped us get to the songs we actually liked. We finally got it all figured out. But the room was awesome. It was the VIP room and it was super fancy.
Last day at SHNU.
Well today was our last day in Shanghai, we leave for Xian bright and early tomorrow. We stayed on campus today and started out by visiting the University Museums. The first museum was of taxidermy. It was interesting, but kinda creepy too. They did have a Bearcat though so we took a picture of it. Then we went to the history museum. I enjoyed seeing all the artifacts from prior eras at the university.
Next we headed off to listen to presentations about the student activities programs at SHNU. It was cool discussing the differences between our schools with the students. They don't have competitions between groups like we do at homecoming. Most of their events and organizations are separated by college.
Then we headed to lunch at the guest house. It was good as usual. But they gave us the shrimp then decided that wasn't what was ordered for our group and took them back to replace them with this chicken dish which I had eaten most of before I realized I need a picture of it. It was awesome.
Finally, we headed off to meet up with the seal cutting club. I really enjoyed that. We got to make our own seals and I made one for the A.C.S. I'm quite excited to use it next year. They also made us seals of our first names in seal script so those were really cool. Then we were joined by the puppet club and they gave us a production. They were trying to translate this Chinese play into English for us and did a very good job of it. I was quite impressed. Then, they had us do a couple shows for them and it was hilarious. We all had fun with everyone.
Eventually, we headed back to the guest house for dinner. Dinner was Awesome! We had pork that tasted like country fried steak, rice, tofu and bean soup, chicken and a spring roll. I loved dinner. We enjoyed spending our last meal with the students. We will miss them terribly and hope they get to come to Lander sometime. The next morning would consist of us leaving far too early and eating breakfast on the bus. Knowing this, we eventually had to set our friends go and we went to bed.
Next we headed off to listen to presentations about the student activities programs at SHNU. It was cool discussing the differences between our schools with the students. They don't have competitions between groups like we do at homecoming. Most of their events and organizations are separated by college.
Then we headed to lunch at the guest house. It was good as usual. But they gave us the shrimp then decided that wasn't what was ordered for our group and took them back to replace them with this chicken dish which I had eaten most of before I realized I need a picture of it. It was awesome.
Finally, we headed off to meet up with the seal cutting club. I really enjoyed that. We got to make our own seals and I made one for the A.C.S. I'm quite excited to use it next year. They also made us seals of our first names in seal script so those were really cool. Then we were joined by the puppet club and they gave us a production. They were trying to translate this Chinese play into English for us and did a very good job of it. I was quite impressed. Then, they had us do a couple shows for them and it was hilarious. We all had fun with everyone.
Eventually, we headed back to the guest house for dinner. Dinner was Awesome! We had pork that tasted like country fried steak, rice, tofu and bean soup, chicken and a spring roll. I loved dinner. We enjoyed spending our last meal with the students. We will miss them terribly and hope they get to come to Lander sometime. The next morning would consist of us leaving far too early and eating breakfast on the bus. Knowing this, we eventually had to set our friends go and we went to bed.