Shanghai State of Mind

Hello

 It has been awhile since I've written and plan doing it more frequently now that I have this blog set up.  Thanks Ashley for the inspiration ha.  Things have been great since the last time I wrote.  Lots of things have happened and many new experiences.

 My mom came over the first week in April and we had a great time together minus the ill periods.  When she arrived from Thailand she suffered from severe chest pains so we went to the hospital to ensure a heart attack wasn't on the way.  What an experience this was.  Her Ormco friend Kirby who is Shanghainese thankfully aided us to a local Chinese hospital.  They were as helpful as they could be and explained everything in English the best they could.  The hallways were filled with beds so I asked our friend Kirby if the hospital was over occupied and he said not even close, it wasn't even crowded.  They had people 80+ years old basically dying in the hallways for everyone to see.  It was very disturbing and I felt like I was staring death in the eyes, these people were basically skin and bones and all had their eyes shut with their eyes closed.  No one was moving and family members sat next to them holding hands and changing their bed pans.  I couldn't believe it but this was all out in the open.  On another note, she checked out fine and had x-rays taken and got an EKG test taken.  All this only cost $100 without insurance which wasn't too bad.  I think she set a record because later in the week she had to go back to the hospital for we both came down with a bad case of food poisoning.  Street gyoza may taste and look good but always make sure it's cooked.  I woke up at 5:30 in the morning running to the bathroom in a cold sweat.  There was about 20 trips that followed this but I won't get into that.  I made it to work taught and then started feeling even worse.  While I was at school my mom went to the hospital and had two bags of IV put in and topped t off with a prescription to Cipro.  I too was subscribed to Cipro which basically killed everything in a matter of 24 hours.  The next day we were ready to go. 

 We visited the Yu garden which is always a treat.  They still have a sector of Shanghai marked off where the traditional Chinese architecture still stands and within the gates there are beautiful gardens filled with flowers, ponds, fish and a bridge with almost 90 corners (to keep the ghosts out of course ha).  It is somewhat ruined by the presence of Starbucks and McDonalds nearby but the gardens themselves are preserved. 

 One of the days we were able to go to the top of the Chinese financial center which has the highest observatory tower in the whole world.  Its about 492 meters tall and is the third tallest building in the world next to ones in Taipei and Dubai.  It also looks down upon the Jiang Mao tower which is in the top 10 largest buildings in the world.  I wish I could say that I was able to see all of Shanghai from above, but I would be lying.  The smog is so bad that it hinders you from seeing much.  You can see everything in Pudong and overlook in the main part of Shanghai but not too far.  It was still cool to look out onto the city and down on the river.  The floors on the 100th floor had clear glass so you could look down and see the little micro machine cars driving.

 That weekend I was also able to experience two new things, one was the fabric market and one was KTV.  I will start with he KTV because that is a little more interesting.

 KTV is place where Chinese people go to perform, interact for business or just for a good time.  Basically it is a karaoke parlor.  When I walked in I was astonished because it looked like some sort of upscale brothel or hotel.  There were just hallways filled with rooms and they have escorts bring you to your room when you arrived.  The rooms are all private and they have waiters bring you whatever you want.  We stuck with beer and a bottle of Johnny Walker red label (we toasted to you Charlie).  They have a side kiosk, which is almost like a laptop, and you can select all your songs from there.  Then there are two microphones that extend all over the room so you can sing a duet if you choose.  We sang everything from, "Take me home country roads" to "Gloria" to "Sweet Caroline."  The highlight of my night was when two of our Italian friends sang Backstreet boys, it was quite humorous.  As we were having a good time laughing, singing freely, and yelling into microphones, I walked into other rooms filled with Chinese people who were doing the exact opposite.  They take it very serious and take it as a time to perform.  Nobody talks and one person has the mic, very boring if you ask me.  My friend who works at a hotel says his boss will sometimes go there on his lunch break and practice, pretty ridiculous.  The first time we went there were about 8 of us but than a week later we went with about 20 people which was a lot of fun.

 Now for the fabric market.  This is basically a four floor open office building filled with hundreds of different stalls.  Each stall has a number above it with an English name below.  For instance it will say "2030 Jason, best fabric in town."  My favorite line which everyone says is, "I only sell the best quality fabrics."  No matter what you will hear that line constantly.  They will also put their competitors down constantly.  I bought a shirt from one place and then went to pick up two from another stall and they asked me to show them my shirts.  They said it was poor quality stitching, bashed on the measuring job and told me the collar was too small.  They warned me to never buy from him again and to stick with them.  The shirts are incredibly cheap and completely customized.  They show you about 10 different collars, 8 different cuffs, pleats or no pleats, slim fit, wear tucked in or not, I started to forget what I wanted because there were so many options.  They turned out nicely and are only $10 a piece, you can probably get for cheaper if you bargained a lot or bought in bulk but as long as I get a quality product for $10 I don't mind paying.  My friend bought a suit, cashmere/wool blend for 400 RMB which is about $60.  I'll buy one before I leave but don't need one at the moment.  My mom was able to score cashmere overcoats for $100 apiece and some other Chinese garb. 

 Schools still going great, except I've a little trouble with my hours.  For three weeks they cut my hours in half.  They were preparing for a Chinese standardized test and also an inspection by the government.  They're a private school so they have to check to make sure they're teaching the proper subject matter.  The day they came for the inspection they covered up all the English posters on the wall with Chinese script, they only taught Chinese for the day and we were asked not to come into work that day, pretty sketchy.  They're not legal allowed to hire us or teach English.  The government thinks the kids are too young to even learn Chinese so there is no reason for them to practice English.  Pretty crazy but we passed and are now back on our regular schedule.

 This Friday we have another holiday and so I may head to Beijing.  My roommate from Spain (Ben Fox) has been there a year studying so I'm going to try and connect with him, also our old friend Matt Shernitt studies there.  I want to try and connect with them before they leave so this is the best time.  We'll see if it works out, probably just take the train.

 Over this past weekend my friend Simon had a BBQ on his rooftop which was incredible.  There were about 60 people there.  His mom and her boyfriend bought a half of a pig and butchered it themselves.  They also bought huge hunks of beef for steaks and fresh burgers.  I was in heaven.  They did all the leg work and just let us enjoy the kegs on the rooftop.  There was a good mix of Chinese, Americans, Danish, Italians, Canadians, Australians, and a couple Israelis.  We lasted pretty long there together than all went out together it was quite fun.  Simon is from Hong Kong just to clarify.

 I've also picked up 6 hours a week doing some private tutoring.  I have enjoyed this a lot, mostly for the payoff.  I get 200RMB an hour which is basically $30.  This has helped me a ton in my finances.  The tutoring is also really easy.  On student who I tutor twice a week is a 10 year old that speaks English very well.  His parents actually asked me where I lived in the US and when I told them they replied "Fairfax County, we used to live in Reston for a year."  Small world, it really is.  I mostly just do work out of this workbook that they had purchased back in the states.  The other boy Oscar is in 8th grade and speaks perfect English.  I have him for 4 hours a week and help him mostly with his vocab.  He goes to an international school with mostly Ausies, Canadians and Americans.  He had lived in Vancouver for 6 years so his English is great.  After we’re finish we just converse for an hour or so.  His dad wants him to become "perfect" in American conversational English so he's not looked at as a Chinese.

 I’ve been sick with a mild sinus infection for the past 4 days but have been able to survive off of the Nyquil I brought.  Luckily movies are cheap so I had plenty of company when I was home all Friday.  My Ayi (maid) came by to work on Friday and saw that I was sick.  She came back over Sunday with 4 boxes of medicine for me.  I was astonished and it showed how much she cares about us.  I’ve noticed one thing about her that is very interesting.  She will not take any extra money from us.  We always try and give her a little extra and she never wants to accept.  Anyway, I thought it was very kind and caring of her.

Well, I’m off to dinner with some people, one of our friends has someone and town so we are going to a big group dinner.  I hope everyone is doing well! You can start checking this blog; I’ll try and update it once a week.

Love  - Will