Finally

Friends are slowly trickling into Shanghai.

My friend McDaniel arrived three days ago and has settled in.

And I went and picked up a luggage-laden Jennings from the train station last night.


The three of us are going to eat good Southern cookin' tonight at the Southern Belle, a really good restaurant owned by a man who is originally from Boston.

Too much luggage :(

So yesterday, I said "Goodbye!" to Dad. Sad day, but we had a great time! Anyone else who wants to come to Shanghai, take me out to dinner and have a free translator and tour guide, just let me know. I'm serious...

This is us on the Mag-Lev to the airport. Max speed: 430 km/h (267.2 mph). We only got up to 300 km/h (186.4), but that's still pretty fast.


After wishing Walter bon voyage (一路顺风), I changed rooms at the Donghu Hotel (from a double room to a single room). Today, I moved to Blue Mountain International Youth Hostel. It's nice, minus the construction ten feet from the head of my bed...

One thing I've learned from this: Don't pack so much. Parents, expect a big package within the next few weeks with some clothes. :)

Anyway, the day before Dad left, we went to Nanjing Road (China's most famous and lucrative shopping district) and to Chenghuangmiao Shopping District to buy souvenirs...


...and a hat.


The next week will probably be pretty uneventful. I'll be preparing for class to start, which means reviewing what I learned in Qingdao and last semester. I'm also going to try and contact some people about my thesis on environmental politics. So I'll keep you guys posted on my progress!

Until then,
Matthew

Shanghai by night

Today, we met my friend Valerie from Ohio State for lunch at Nanjing Road, China's most popular shopping district. We didn't shop...only ate at a really good (expensive) salad and sandwich restaurant near the Ritz-Carlton.

Afterward, Dad went back to the hotel for a nap, and Valerie and I went walking around People's Square and the Citizen's Park. Of course, the bottom fell out as we were walking up the stairs of the subway station. People's Square is really nice, though.


Afterward, we went back to the hotel and picked up Dad. Then we went to Yunnan Road's "night market." It was actually a road that had a lot of good little restaurants on it.





After that, we went to the Bund so we could see the Lujiahui Financial District from across the river at night. Unfortunately, the city government is carrying out a massive overhaul of Shanghai's most popular destinations, which means for us, there was no good view from the Bund.

So, we took the ferry across the Huangpu River.



After that, we took a short bus tour and walked around near the Oriental Pearl Tower.








Shanghai has one of the best skylines I've ever seen, especially at night!

You've got friends in high places

At least, I hope we're friends! :)

Yesterday and today, Dad and I have been visiting Shanghai's tallest observatories. First we went to the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, which is Asia's tallest tower and the world's third tallest.


There are three "pearls" - the big one one, the second one and the "space walk." We saw Shanghai from all three levels.





This is me sitting on the glass floor.


Of course, it started raining when we got around 400 meters up in the air. Also, the building was struck by lightening three or four times. We lived, though. Obviously.

After that, we went to an antiques market.


I bought this painting of Confucius chatting it up with a turtle. The turtle represents longevity in Chinese culture.


Afterward, we went to my favorite Japanese fast food restaurant, Ajisen. Learning to use chopsticks was an adventure.





This morning, we went to the Shanghai Exhibition Center. The building was built as a friendship gesture between Soviet Russia and Communist China. It's immaculate on the inside and out. The Chinese upkeep, or lack thereof, is starting to show, though.



After that, we went to the Shanghai World finance Center's 100th story observatory. It was awesome, despite the fog.




Tomorrow, we're going to try and do a night tour of the Bund and Lujiahui district.

Until then,
Matthew

Boat Cruise

Well, Dad is enjoying China.


Today, we went on a boat tour of the Huangpu River, which cuts through Shanghai and divides the old district (The Bund) from the new district (Lujiahui Business District).






It's raining outside now, so we came back to the hotel for a nap. This afternoon, we're going to the Shanghai Museum, which most people say is the best in China.

Until then,

Matthew

Birthdays and Exams :: Endings and Beginnings

So, last week was really busy.

Last weekend, we celebrated Richard and Jennings' birthdays. I've already talked about Richard's, so you don't need to hear about it again. We had a surprise party for Jennings at Le Bang, and he was surprised. After that, we went to karaoke (our new favorite pastime, apparently).



This next picture is from karaoke. We sang "Happy Birthday" to Jennings in Chinese. Then in English. Your eyes aren't lying to you; that says "Happy birsday to you."


We started our exam preparation on Monday and had two finals on Tuesday. Wednesday, we took the hardest test I've ever taken - the HSK (Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi, or Chinese Proficiency Test). Thursday, all the students had to present for 15-20 minutes on a topic dealing with the differences between American and Chinese culture. After that, we went to Golden Hahn's barbeque and beer restaurant. An appropriate way to end this summer, minus the fact that it was awful. It was really fun, though and a good way to hang out with our roommates and friends before saying goodbye.


After that, I went back to the dorm and took a nap. That night, my host family from last year took me out to eat at Hong Kong 97, which was really amazing. I like them a lot.

After that, they took me to Qingdao's internationally well-known Qingdao Beerfest. Sadly - really really sadly - Beerfest started tonight in Qingdao. I am no longer in Qingdao. Unlucky.

However, my host dad was awesome and got us in on Thursday night. Although the grounds were empty except for a few workers, I can imagine what it will look like when the 700,000 people come to participate in the festival.

My host brother Meng-qi has really shiny shoes.


Friday night was the last night we had together in Qingdao with each other and with our roommates, so we celebrated.


Eugene is so awesome!



We went to a good dumpling restaurant, and had fun. After that, we went out to Old Jack's, then to Le Bang, and then back early so we wouldn't miss our planes, trains, and automobiles.


This is a really good picture that my friend Armstrong took and gave me. If you click on, it's a lot bigger, duh.


I got to Shanghai today around 8 PM and my friend Chen Jing met me at the train station and helped me get to my hotel. The hotel, by the way, is really nice. And there are more foreigners in this district of Shanghai than Chinese people.

I'm happy and sad about being in Shanghai. I'm sad because I'm going to miss my friends a lot this semester. I'm going to miss my family a lot, too, and I worry that everyone's always okay, as if I could do anything about anyway. The internet makes it a lot easier, though, so at least a few times a week, I can be in my friends' houses and I can see pictures of the Grove as football games are happening. Still, I'm going to miss you guys A LOT and I can't wait to be back in December!

I'm happy for a lot more reasons that why I'm sad. One, my dad is going to be in Shanghai in about 20 hours, and we're going to have so much fun! Second, I'm excited about the new people I'll meet in Shanghai this semester. Even in the past two months, I've met some people that I would like to keep in touch with for a long time - people I can see myself meeting back up with in Beijing or Shanghai or Hong Kong in 30 years. Third, I'm really looking forward to all the new experiences that Shanghai's going to offer. It's definitely "the new Paris," and I can't wait to explore the city.

Pictures of Walter tomorrow!!

Until then,
Matthew

Finals!

Sorry there hasn't been a post yet about this weekend. I've been busy studying for finals WHICH START TODAY.

I'll try to post pictures from Jennings' surprise birthday party and karaoke tonight.

Wish me luck!

Oh China.

China China China.

Yesterday, we visited a "fishing village" that was supposed to illustrate the differences between the developed and developing areas of China. Little did we know that the directors of our Flagship Chinese program were actually brainwashing us with their Chinese propaganda. Thursday (see previous post), we went to a REAL Chinese fishing village. Yesterday, however, we went to a developed tourist city/tourist trap that they called a fishing village. We stayed in a hotel, ate a nice restaurant (that served awful food), and went on a boat tour of Rongcheng City, which happens to be one of the most polluted stretches of ocean on the Chinese coast.


The first night (Thursday), we had a "party" where we danced around a bonfire, sang karaoke and played some games. It was pretty fun.


The next morning, we ate a less-than-delicious (read: awful) breakfast that consisted of flavorless bread, white rice and flower roots (among other non-breakfast foods). Later, we took a boat tour around the city.




On the boat tour, we got the chance to pull mussels off of the anchor rope, which we ate. I ate two, just to be polite. I'm scared to death that I'm going to die of mercury poison now (Interesting sidenote: "mercury" in Chinese is 水银 or water silver).



The mussels weren't too bad, but like I said earlier, this is one of the most seriously polluted stretches of beach in China (and likewise, the world). The upside: they were the freshest seafood you can get.



Speaking of pollution, it was horrible. There were plastic bags and other debris floating around everywhere in the ocean, and most of the water was covered with a thin film of gasoline. There are some serious environmental issues that China needs to take care of, and their oceans should be one of the first priorities.


After the boat tour, we were bureaucratically forced to go to this smelly meat market and ask Chinese people how difficult their lives are. As if that wasn't awkward enough, we also had to walk around for an hour - we could easily have been the only foreigners most of these people had ever seen. It was gross, and I didn't take any pictures because I was nauseous the whole time, but imagine fish guts and pork tongues every way you turned.

When we got back today, we celebrated our classmate Richard's 22nd birthday. We went to a pretty good Japanese restaurant and then, of course, to our favorite late night spot Le Bang. It's been a good day, overall.

Tomorrow, we are celebrating the end of the program by taking our roommates out to dinner and then to karaoke. It should be a fun night!

Until then,

Matthew