Lisa in China 2018

After Shelley’s daughter Sophy got accepted into the dream middle school she had spent months practicing to interview for, and interviewed for, they were free to hang out with Ben and us.

Then Shelley got really busy with work and life.

Ben, Paul and I took the night boat cruise again to see the lit up buildings of Pudong.

We also finally took the hop-on, hop-off bus, but only around Pudong. They give you ear buds and every once in awhile they describe something you see, but the tape was made in 2008, so it’s funny to hear what is planned to be built which is now finished.

Ben and Paul went home, but Melissa came to visit me for 8 days! We saw lots and ate lots. I took her to the Shanghai History Museum under the Pearl TV Tower, which is a must-see. They explain that the British brought war ships in 1840 to force China to open to foreign trade.

British and French set up “concessions” where they governed and lived. Here, in this wax figure scene, they forced a dual-court system, with one British and one Chinese together hearing court cases.
By the 1900’s Shanghai was becoming a large, modern trading city. Lots of buildings and infrastructure for trolleys and vehicles. At the same time, 1 million people lived in these tents outside the city, barely surviving.

Melissa and I also saw two Buddhist temples with my friend/student Jessie. Lots of people prayed to Buddha here.

Sonny took us to lunch at the Peacock.

We went to the aquarium

And we toured Yuyuan Gardens, which you have to be Chinese to really appreciate the peace and beauty of a rock garden. Anyway, these locals were feeding the many large koi here, which looked fun.

Now Melissa is gone. I have had several shopping days and eating more rice and vegetables, which is my favorite thing here. Oh – and I was here for the 20th anniversary of the Foreign Languages School, which was a really big deal. I sat right behind the main VIPs. There were rows and rows of folks behind me, Lots of speakers and an expensive program and a gift for everyone.

I noticed my sun umbrella, which I use for rain also, is rusting and discoloring. I have worn out a pair of shoes.  I cannot fit anything else in my suitcase. Hmmm…  signs that it’s time to go. Also, the hotel staff came and took Ben’s bed today, so that’s why I have room to put all my stuff on the floor there. I have read many books I will leave behind here, and seen several fiction and documentary movies about China. I have learned a few words of Chinese, which have helped. I have eaten at the restaurants I like many times. I think I am ready to go. Also, it’s the beginning of the rainy season and insanely hot summer. Time to go.

I have walked through the red gate many times, where everyone comes to get their picture taken.

Yesterday Gavin’s wife Wang Hua took me through the beautiful botanical garden on Minhang campus.  The tree and plant varieties are posted, and there are so many beautiful pagodas with benches, flowers and trees.

 

We came upon tame ducks, swans, and rabbits, and fish in the large stream.

 

 

Then we went to lunch, then I read Foreign Affairs in the library, about how Deng Xiaopeng did so well to set up leadership and make small economy moves that improved the economy, like rewarding managers based on production.

 

Then Wang Hua took me to the museum/physics library built 5 years ago in memory of Lee Tsung-Dao who co-won the nobel prize in physics in 1957 at the age of 31. 

These are letters he sent to his students.

This is an art piece suggesting his Superstring theory. Behind it is a red piece with the timeline of his life and papers and discoveries. It’s a beautiful building.

So now it’s Thursday evening. Most of the kids are done with school, and the universities have given exams. The restaurants are more packed than usual, and guess what? I can easily get my VPN to work. Frustrating but predictable.

Sunday after 10 am I can’t get my VPN to work. I was going to get started on some Highline work, but Chinese are awake and surfing, I think. All my work is on Dropbox and I can’t open it without a VPN. Today my VPN won’t connect on my computer or my phone. And I can access One Drive but not Dropbox? Really? The stuff you can and cannot access seems random. I could not connect to the link to sign my son up for baseball camp. Whatever. The VPN was working great on Saturday evening when most of China is eating out at a restaurant. Maybe I will try again Wednesday morning.

Ok, I just paid $7.50 for an avocado coconut pineapple shake with a shot of spirulina added. I thought “39 yuan, ok. Plus 8 for the shot. Ok.” But $7.50? That’s outrageous. And my neighbors just lit up cigarettes so now I will enjoy lunch and the smell of cigarette smoke. Need to get over it. Small price to pay to enjoy the relaxed atmosphere here. Although the pop rap music is hideous.

The swordfish with green sauce is excellent. I am at Element Fresh, a chain restaurant selling western-type food. Today the couscous actually has a lot of flavor. I am starving. Hard to say how yummy it would be otherwise but I am pretty sure this one is way better. Often the couscous side for the swordfish is tasteless.

They do have an excellent sauce for their black eyed peas. Cumin something. Why am I at Element Fresh for lunch? Because it’s easy. They speak English enough and the menu is in English and has somewhat familiar western food. I love Chinese food but it takes more work to choose a place, order, and communicate. Honestly, I don’t know how everyone can afford it here. It’s $30 a person if you get a meal and a drink, and most of them do.  

I have finally begun to use some of the 25 words of Chinese I know. The Chinese merchants really get a kick out of this. If I am at the subway putting more money on my card, they just help me, but if I am shopping at a street merchant and I use some Chinese, they repeat what I said and laugh and laugh. I am so funny! I don’t know if it’s funny how bad I say it, or that I can say anything at all. They definitely get a kick out of me. Last week I shopped for fun stuff. I spent some time at a jewelry store. The lady kept saying “Hello!” to get me to look at stuff. But I could say “I don’t want that one.” She laughed and repeated it to the other merchants. Then a young woman came in shopping. She asked if she could help me ask for something. I said I just want to look around. Later I said in Chinese, “I don’t want this one.” She was shocked I could put two words together. The shop lady would repeat it, laugh, and then say “Hello!” and try to sell me something else.

If the merchants tell me slow and clearly how much the bill is, I can understand, and I really like that! I just cannot understand anything else they say. Still, last year I thought it would be impossible to speak or understand or remember even one word. This year I went with Ben to some tutoring of how to say stuff in Chinese, and it finally started to rub off on me, since so often we really did want to ask for something.

 

In China, at least at SJTU, everyone uses We Chat for everything. No one texts and no one you know will send you an email.  All attachments, files, photos, etc. will be sent to you via We Chat.

Also, all personal communication is via We Chat. Almost all of that is written rather like texts in America. We Chat has hundreds of little cartoon characters that you can use to send messages, though, which texting doesn’t have. Our emoji are small and limited compared to all that We Chat has.

You can put We Chat on your computer then scan the code on your screen using your phone. That’s how you open your We Chat account on your computer.  Then you can upload any files from your computer into We Chat, and We Chat to computer.

I have been here 2 months and finally put We Chat on my computer. The staff at SJTU can now work with me smoothly since they don’t have to email me things  anymore. They do send email to all their foreign contacts, but if they see me in a meeting, their brain automatically files me in “We Chat” so even if I ask for an email, they send me a We Chat.

I also have two bike accounts, so I can scan the bar code of Ofo bike or Hello bike when I want a bike, which I use daily now since my food has not healed. You can pay per month, or 15 cents per ride for these.  There are constant ads on them.  I am learning the ways of Chinese advertising: every time you scan a bike to rent, that is when it sends you to another ad. I am getting faster at closing the ads and going back again to scan the bike. So scan twice, after seeing at least 3 ads. Nevertheless, I love riding a bike in China. Well, the bikes are comfortable. The rules for  who goes where are non-existent. Maybe that is why the speed to drive here is slower than in the U.S.?

It’s finally June. Ben and Paul flew home on June 3. Shelley and Sophy came to say goodbye, which was nice. I rode with them to the airport, then rode back home. They are now safely at home and getting ready to return to work and school.

The apartment here is now quiet and clean except for the ever-present mosquitos. I feel there are holes around the windows. How do they get in? I have a Raid plug-in emitting smelly toxic fumes to kill them. I guess I am glad it stinks so I unplug it as often as I dare.

I taught class today. Took me 5 hours yesterday to prepare what I hoped would be two class periods. It worked! Today we learned how to put a “frame” around a generic speech about SJTU’s achievements — a frequent speech/ power point here.  We practiced engaging different audiences, then starting with a story to gain interest, then planting some resistance in the speech (to make the audience more receptive to the claims of SJTU’s status) then ending by connecting again to the audience, since the speech does not. At the end we all wrote an engaging start for an imaginary conference of librarians hosted by SJTU. Everyone wrote very good stuff.  Class is on Thursday again, and I prepared a powerpoint (ppt) explaining Amy Cuddy’s work on non-verbal body language and communication.  We will all practice with that ppt, then practice taking questions to which we do not know the answers, then practice powerful non-verbal posturing. Fun! See her Ted Talk from 2012.

I will pick up Melissa at the airport at 7:15 pm. I am ridiculously happy that she could come visit me as part of her birthday present to herself!