Lisa in China 2018

Hi,

On Saturday I went to a great dinner party with about 15 Americans, mostly older than me, who were working in China as teachers or business people.  It was very enjoyable and I got to eat lots of American food.

On Sunday Shelley and her daughter Sophie met me and took me to lunch at the Cloud 9 mall.  We went to the 8th floor and ate at a great Hong Kong restaurant. This is on the ceiling of the passage between the subway and the mall.  Pretty flowers.

They worry many places have all meat, so they chose this.  All the food was good. Shrimp, bean seedlings, steamed buns in the shapes of pigs and mushrooms, and swans filled with duck or something. White pigeons were also on the menu.

 

That was Sunday. I probably watched movies the rest of the day.

Monday I worked out, then met Yaping for lunch. She took me to a nearby mall and we ate at Jack Birmingham’s favorite restaurant. Din something. Small dishes, great service, kind of pricey. The dumplings are probably great, but all pork. There is one veggie dumpling. You dip it in ginger, vinegar and soy sauce and then it’s good. We had some Chinese veggies, shrimp fried rice and eggplant.

Then we walked around the mall looking at expensive things including the new Tesla car for $80,000.  Then we tried to get a Starbucks drip coffee. Yaping thinks they try not to sell drip because it doesn’t cost as much. They had to start a new pot when we asked for it.  Still, it’s 19RMB for a tall drip, which is $2.80!  Geez!  And I still could not get cream for my coffee.  They tried to give me milk, then two kinds of whipped cream. But Yaping reached over the barista’s counter to get something and I noticed that was where they were keeping the cream in small packets.  Geez people!  I have to carry that thing around so I can ask for it next time. I guess they mostly sell green tea Frappuccinos and Grande lattes and such. And Starbucks seems busy, like they are probably doing well here, even though there is a coffee bar every 3 blocks here.

I got back to my room just in time to meet Guanyu. We were going to go to Pizza Hut for dinner. So we walked right back to the mall where Yaping and I had been, about 1/2 mile from my hotel, and went to Pizza Hut. It has lots of big panda bears decorating it, and it sells all kinds of food. Some Chinese-style chicken and soup, pasta, escargot, salads, and pizza. They actually had a veggie pizza. Yeah! Normal except it has corn on it. I ordered it sans corn. I cannot tell you how great it tasted. Just perfect. Deep dish pizza with cheese. That grease was so good. Sadly, not even as greasy as the street buns here. I savored every bite.

Went home and worked that evening.

Got up at 6:30 to get ready to catch the 7:30 bus that leaves at 7:20. Took about an hour to get to school. I listened to a Ted Talk Radio Hour. These are often somewhat inspirational but also guilt-inducing. I am not doing enough with my life to make other peoples’ lives better. Oh, but this morning it was about choice.  Too much choice not only paralyzes people but leaves them unsatisfied with what they did choose.  Moral: keep your expectations fairly moderate. Then you will be happy with what you choose.

I hang out in the Foreign Languages building coffee room and library until my 10 am class. I run into lots of people and chat. Taught my class 10-11:40 with a 10 minute break.  Only had 20 students today. Guess the others had something else today…

They chatter through a lot of what I say, but seem to be interested in the content. Today I had asked them to come with a summary of the article from last time. Only a few had done it, I think. One guy read his summary to us and I typed it for us to see. It was phenomenal. Then I showed my summary and discussed how they were similar, different, and both correct.  We then discussed American references to quarterbacking, gambling, the rust belt, populism, and angry American voters.  Then we discussed the meanings of a title like “Winter comes for the Dakota Pipeline protesters.” They were really on the side of the protesters. I thought someone might think the government had a point, but no.

Then I talked about American style essay writing which counts for academic and article writing. We looked at introduction, thesis, topic sentences and conclusion in an article. For homework I asked them to find those in an academic article. We’ll see if they do it.

I also showed them some books I got from their library. Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of an Part-Time Indian, They Say/I Say by Graff and Birkenstein (Lonny must have given it to them), How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, Factory Girls by Leslie T Chang (just listened to her on Ted Talks this morning!) and a collection of Mark Twain’s writings The Bible According to Mark Twain. Some is for me, some is to share with my students. It was all I could carry since I walk everywhere.

Lydia (Wang Yu) picked me up after class and drove me to Marco Polo, an on-campus buffet run by the on-campus hotel. If you pay $35-50RMB, you can get good, healthy food.  We ate and caught up. She asked me when my family is going to come. Everyone says I will be busy once my family comes. They don’t want to plan anything with me after Paul and Ben come. It was great to see Lydia.  We will meet next week and she will show me old town of Minhang area. We will see if her husband can join us.

 

You can shop all day every day here if you like. I had been saving my money until my stipend came in. Checked my account every day.  Well, it came in two days ago.  Lookout!  Coincidentally, my neighbors Marsha and Frank were going to the pearl market and asked if I wanted to come along.

Six metro stops from my hotel and a 1 mile walk is the pearl market. It is about 60 shops on the second floor of a mall with a dirty front. The first floor is bags, scarves, t-shirts, electronics, and other cute things.

They got a call and needed to head back, so I stayed another 2 hours and looked around. I have to follow them back to the metro first so I was sure I could find my way back. Took pictures so I could find the streets.

Along the way to the pearl market is a large doorway I would never think to go in. If you walk in there are about 8 foreign restaurants: Thai, Indian, New Zealand, etc.  I will take Paul and Ben here 🙂

Back at my neighborhood, I went to my Chinese shops and bought a grocery cart for myself and a hot plate.

 

Shelley took me to a really nice lunch not far from my hotel. It’s hot pot, and you choose the things you want to cook and eat. There is a bar where you can choose your own sauces and spices for your bowl so you can dip each cooked bite into your own sauce.

Also below are photos of Xuhui campus, my quaint old campus which is only about 3 times the size of our Highline campus.

 

Hi,

Many of you wrote to me today and that was just fabulous.  Thank you!  I actually worked a lot today doing translation work and sending class notes to my current students and following up on work from Highline.  I am making the translations easy to read for Americans.  I did about 400 today.  I think SJTU is helping the local government with this project.  Hospitals, museums, malls, amusement parks all seem to be part of it.  So there is one translation, then a student offers a second, another student offers a third, then there is a space for Lisa’s translation. Example:

1. Smoke suppression 2. Extinguish Cigarettes here. 3. Extinguish cigarettes here! Lisa: extinguish cigarettes here
2. Do not pop out the head or other part of the body. 2. Danger: keep body parts inside the car. 3. Do not stretch head or other body parts out of the platform. Lisa: Danger: keep all body parts inside the car.

English is much more difficult than we realize!

In the afternoon I visited with my neighbors to ask how to get to city mart grocery store. They said “Just walk out the back gate, turn right, cross the street, go to blocks and it’s right there.”  Well, after I turned right there were two ways to cross the street leading to two different streets. I took the wrong street for about 10 minutes.  The Shanghai natives were watching me, so this was obviously more for locals.  I backtracked and found the other street, walked 2 long blocks and found the little city mart part of the huge mall.  You go up the stairs to go in the mall/movie theater, but go back down some stairs to the grocery store. They had the perfect cream for my coffee. I bought that and some peanut butter and things. I check out and the woman holds up one of the cream boxes (not refrigerated, a liter, I think) and says something about it and points to where they are kept. I do not know what she is saying. Is this a bad one, or ..?  Finally she gets someone to go get me another one but does not take one away: it’s buy 2 get one free.  They are all very nice about giving you what you are supposed to get, including correct change.

I was determined to eat dinner tonight, but could not find somewhere that looked like they would speak English.  I decided eating on campus counts. There are a few restaurants open until 10 pm. I went to one and looked around. You could get a ham and egg sandwich on a roll, or they would cook you something to order. They were frying 2 eggs and bean sprouts on a wok for someone. I thought that seemed good.  Then I saw they were cooking pots of fresh greens in water with maybe tofu. I asked a student if she spoke English (Shelley told me they all can, but they are shy.)  She looked pretty nervous, but finally she helped me.

You have to go to another counter and tell the guy what you want and pay for it, then take your ticket to the cooks who make it for you. No way I could have done that alone. She asked me what I wanted. I pointed to the greens and tofu pots.  Then she showed me a list of 8 kinds, in Chinese, and I had to pick! I showed her my note “I do not eat pork/beef/lamb.” Then she picked one for me — only 8Yuan! ($1. 17) I paid and she gave the cook my ticket.  So nice! The cook was boiling the greens, tofu and other things in an iron pot on a stove with 6 burners each with an iron pot. It took about 5 minutes.

I put my things down at a table, then came back. The cook gives you a very burned red tray, a plastic bowl, then takes the boiling iron pot and puts it right on the tray. Grab chopsticks and spoon and have at it!

It was great! Mushrooms, bok choy, cabbage, tofu, great noodles, and this tofu that is like paper strips, and a bit of seaweed. And the sauce was spicy but I could just manage it.  It seems like a TON of food. Takes awhile to eat it all.

The woman who does the dishes there was chatty with me. She had a lot to say — in Chinese.  Wonder what she thought? She seemed to be having a good time.  Maybe westerners do not come to this place too often? I see a handful of western students on campus every day.

Lunch today was the usual greasy veggies at the student cafeteria. They taste good This is tofu with peppers, then bok choy, cabbage and mushrooms. I tried the shrimp but no — too much trouble to take the shells off and they don’t taste good. (This is 12 Yuan — $1.80)

The student cafeterias are… very relaxed. The servers grab a prison tray with rice on it, then you tell them what you want. They use one big spoon for everything, so you want greenbeans? The big spoon slops some out and onto your plate. You want the pork? Same spoon. The fish? Same spoon.  Slop. Slop. Yum Yum. Don’t look too close. (See the piece of pork on the edge of my plate?)

It is a very organized procedure. Students stand in line for the food. About 3-4 stations offer the same 8 dishes. One or two might have something different. Slowly from 11-12 the lines shrink down as the food runs out and they consolidate. The food staff are cleaning and pairing down as they go, so by 12:30 lunch service is about over and they are done. They are feeding an army every day: one cafeteria on Xuhui campus plus 5 restaurants; 5 cafeterias on Minhang campus, each with 2-5 sub cafeterias, plus restaurants.

Yesterday I got the veggie noodles at the Japanese restaurant. They are also good.  Everyone here really knows how to serve things that are hot and stay hot. The noodle dish is the size of your head — bigger, actually, so I took the rest home. But it wasn’t very good later at room temp. This was $27 Yuan ($4.00)

My next post will show you the beautiful restaurant Shelley took me to last Monday.

Hugs,

Lisa

Been here 10 days! Yesterday it was 90% and today it was also hot.

Shelley has been amazing. She met me for lunch while her daughter was at basketball, then found a student to tour me around for 2 hours on Saturday afternoon. Guanyu took me to get a subway card and showed me a nearby grocery store which we shopped (I) shopped at, helped me buy some fruit and helped me ask how much a pedicure was (198 Yuan! about the same cost as in America — about $26.00.

Guanyu is in her second year as an economics student. She shares a room with 3 roommates. They have a desk under a bed, each. She comes from the north west of China, so Shanghai is very different for her. It is the first time away from her family, too, of course.  Now she has friends she can hand out with. But it must be hard that first year, as it is for many new college students. They are not allowed to use anything that plugs in (for fire safety, maybe). But, you know, sometimes…

Friday night I walked around a bit. Lots of big video ads near the malls.

This morning I was telling Paul that I did not find a place for dinner that night. So today I decided to walk to the Japanese noodle shop. It was closed with a sign on the door.  I walked back toward the Chinese markets, looking for a restaurant to try. Found one next door to 85 degrees the bakery. Line out the door of young people. I went in and showed my sign (I don’t eat pork/beef). The guy pointed to one picture. I ordered and paid 21rmb. He found someone to translate “for here or to go?” I said “for here,” Then he pointed to the long line of people waiting to eat here. So I said, “Ok, to go.” I was at the to-go counter ordering, apparently. Why ask me if it was for here?  When I got it home later, found it was a lovely curry sauce on rice, with fried chicken pieces on top.  A good deal, I think.

 

I also walked on the Chinese market. I used my sign to get some buns and rolls. One stand sells naan. I got one plain and one stuffed with…something green. All veggies come in this oil, so it was kind of greasy.

I also got two buns from the stand I was at a few days ago, and ate the fresh pineapple from the fruit seller. Today was a good day for eating.

I prepared a very specific lesson plan for my Tuesday class and clear homework for next week.  Shelley will meet me for lunch tomorrow and help me make a few more copies. Hope the students enjoy what I am teaching and don’t see it as torture. Probably/hopefully they will immediately see how useful it is, and like it 🙂 Found some sassy articles in Time Magazine that should challenge their knowledge of American metaphors and idioms. Hope they don’t ask me about predicates. Never did get a good grasp on that.

With my extra time I am really catching up on movies.  Saw The Shipping News and then whatever Tom Hanks latest movie is about the secret of Dante. Re-runs of Nip/Tuck are playing for at least 2 hours a day…waiting for them to move one from that show.

I cannot log into my Canvas grades, but I did get into Dictionary.com.

Hope all is well with all of you.

Ni hao,

Living in Shanghai is like living in …China.  Well, sort of.  Today I took the bus to campus because really, what else was I going to do? I need to prepare my class for students I don’t know, and find more articles, and have the librarian make copies for me.

Yesterday I ate at the Faculty Club hotel cafeteria, again. Here are a few food photos. Watermelon, pastry, poundcake, salty boiled egg, squash cooked in water, cabbage cooked in water with flat black mushrooms, cubes of plum gel.  All very good.

Yesterday I walked around my campus a bit. I met Yaping at 7:45 so she could give me a flashdrive.

 

Back to today.  The bus should take 4o minutes but it rarely does.  I went out at 8:30 to wait for the 9 am bus. The bus was already there and just about full. I got on and the driver started driving away.  I saw no seats and was going to tell him to stop, but then I spotted one seat way in the back.  I sat in a 6-seat back row between a Chinese man and a large white lady. She did not say hi.  Geez! People pick up Shanghai ways immediately. No white people say hello to me or smile. Just like the Shanghai natives.

I reached over the Chinese guy and opened the window a bit.  The Chinese are still wearing coats and sweaters, although it will be 75 degrees today.  Marsha told me they don’t take off their coats until a certain holiday. Wearing short sleeves now is weird to them.

I listened to Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me on my Ipod and was laughing so hard I had to stop for a bit.  Everyone either sleeps or looks at their phone on the bus. Well, a few just sit patiently. It’s very quiet and still. No one moves, coughs, eats, or talks.  Maybe they are respecting everyone’s space?

There was a breeze from the window for about 2 minutes, and the Chinese guy did not like it, but we spent the next hour in rush hour, almost at a stand-still, so then the open window was fine.

Got to campus, knew when to get off the bus and where to walk to, and found the computer lab where Honza showed me I could work.  I opened MS Word, and was going to open my flashdrive when I realized all the commands are in Chinese.

I went down the hall to get Honza.  He said “Oh, I did not know  you would come in today.” Which I think maybe meant, “You should have told me you were going to come in today.”  Oh well.  I asked him to open my document and save it.  He said he does not know if these computers have English. He called the IT tech guy who said no, they would have to buy MS Word in English.  He said “I can start that process if you like.”  I was thinking, “Why did you show me this computer lab on Monday and tell me I could use it if it’s all in Chinese?”  I said, “So, when Lonny was here, what did he do?” He said Lonny just brought his lap top.  (Lonny has been here 3 times recently, so SJTU is not used to anyone else.)  I asked how I could use the internet, since they will not give me an internet account while I am here. He showed me a plug under the table.  So I guess he meant I could use the computer desk just to plug in my lap top. Kind of a waste of the computer, sitting there but I guess foreigners are few here, or maybe “everyone” just brings their own laptop.  The PhD candidate who also uses this room was using his laptop, too.

Again, why did Honza tell me to bring a flashdrive if I am going to use my laptop?  Hmm…  Oh, to give to the librarians so they can print my stuff for me.  I guess I will have to go to campus Monday to print out my assignments.

I created my lesson plan for the first two weeks, then went to the library to make copies of magazine articles.  There I ran into Helen Yan.  She was at Highline 10 years ago and recognized me right away.  We talked for awhile and she said she would call me soon.

I read more articles and got more copies made, then Julai Ma came to take me to lunch. She is good friends with Shelley, so Shelley asked her to take me to lunch.  Julai showed me the 6 cafeteria areas at Canteen 2, then we ate at the faculty cafeteria.  I asked who she teaches and what, and she asked what I am supposed to teach. I told her what I was told and she said, “Oh, they are just trying to find something for you to do.” Geez, I feel so patronized!

(I am supposed to teach a 10 week course to English graduate students majoring in translation.  I should help them understand the American Culture behind readings on our economy, and help them write some essays, and learn more American culture.  It sounds like fun, but I have to find some articles that are not too boring and that use some American cultural references.  I am also asked to help another instructor, Wenjie, to translate road signs into English.  Obviously he will translate and I will double check.  I told my boss here that I would help fix the translation here at my hotel. He said, “Great! I will tell the manager!”  We will see if anything comes of it.)

After lunch Yulai Ma walked me over to a great coffee place and bought me a tall latte. She told me her passion about rhetorical anlaysis, which she has studied in depth. It is almost exactly what we teach now with genre, purpose, audience.  We were happy to talk shop. I also asked her what teachers know and do here, so Wendy and I can pitch our symposium presentations appropriately to the audience of university teachers.

I took the bus home at 1:50 and got home at 3:15. Traffic is really bad here! I am getting familiar with the landscape. I pass Ikea every day on the bus. Took this photo of just a few of the apartment buildings we passed on the bus. Have to put 24 million people somewhere.

Yesterday Marsha took me with her on a walk to the Train Ticket Station, then on the metro on an errand. It was great to tag along and have social company. Here are some pictures.

Ok, I am going to try to go out to dinner. I saw a restaurant in a mall window. I will bring my sign Shelley made me: “I don’t eat pork, beef, or lamb.”  Last night I had cup-o-noodles, which was not a very good one, but got the job done.

Bye For Now!

 

FINALLY, got my blog working. I think trying to start it in China made it more difficult for them to create my IP address and validate it, then a few of their emails went to my junk mail.

Pictures are important to see while you are reading, so here it is.  The internet here is so slow. Maybe I will generate some patience?

Yesterday I had the day off and no one was free to play and the laundry is not open on Tuesdays, so what to do with myself?

I walked about 6 miles today, which is good, but it doesn’t really seem like that much since I spread it out over 3 trips.

I walked through campus trying to find the main gate, but found a side exit and a Starbucks. I got a drip and asked for cream in it, but the guy dumped in lots of clotty cream stuff.  Once I got him to dump that and give me coffee with just a little cream, it was good.  Although Starbucks opened at 7 am, they had not yet brewed the coffee or put out most of the food.  Weird.  It gets light at 5:30 am and people are in the streets by 5 am.  So I had a chocolate muffin since that is what they had out.

Later I went for another walk to see if I could find the grocery store and market that Marsha and Frank showed me, where the Chinese shop for fruit, veggies, fish, fresh noodles, etc.

I found the main gate, then it was easy to see the Taiwanese bakery 85 degrees, then the building with the blue keyboard on it where you turn left.

Then the park you walk through where older people gather to talk and play cards.

Then turn left and there is the market.

 

I don’t have much Yuan left so I need to not do shopping right now, but of course I saw a place with cute things right away.  Bought a bag for Laura and some hangers for me.  Saw lots of stuff I could buy.  I will come back after the money is in my bank account – a day or two. 

There are a few shops that sew pillow cases – want to get them made for my house. 

I found a small Chinese storefront selling buns.  2 Yuan each! I pointed and asked for one but he pointed to signs: which kind? I looked at all the Chinese and said “I don’t know. One.” He pointed at the signs, reading each one to me. Nope, sorry… I shrugged and waved across them all and said “Any one.”  I would take the one closest to me.  He looked at them all and chose one for me. I thought “He probably chose the pork because he thought I would love it. It was a deep fried light bread the size of a big donut, but whole. The first 3 bites were so good. Then I got into the insides.  It was… bean sprouts in a light veggie gravy!  How did he know?  It tasted great because I found it on my own and it was only 2 Yuan.

I found the grocery store the Lovells had showed me and bought water and some lemons. I looked at everything. Could not find the yogurt I love that they have here at the buffet breakfast.

Oh – and I found this little shop that seems to just sell whatever comes in that day. It was crowded, almost no room to walk. Some dishes, shoes, socks, a comforter, little plastic shelving units, paper clips, etc.  I will come back here later.

On my way back I took more pictures of my campus.

I got some nice students to take a picture of me. Apparently, everything I own is blue. And my hair will be frizzy and curly in this wet humid place.

Went back home and rested and talked to the boys on We Chat. Watched TV. Every day there are 2-3 American movies on, and 2-3 American re-run TV shows. Nip Tick and Once are playing.  Also, reality shows like Cupcake Wars.  This in addition to the 25 channels with various Chinese TV shows.  And somewhere between noon and 3 they played a Superman cartoon. It seemed even more violent than the Batman I’ve seen. Superman was hitting the bad guy repeatedly with a street lamp. 

Went back out a third time, the opposite direction, to get more familiar with that part of town.  Found the Starbucks I was at the other day. It’s called “Starbucks Reserve.” Then I went a different way and found a street with expensive shops and another Christine’s (French bakery.) Got a roll for 85 cents then walked around. Found another very hip neighborhood with 4 coffee bars and outdoor seating.  Made my way back home and stopped by the Chinese grocery in this end of town. Maybe they would have my yogurt?  Yep!  And they cost 1 Yuan each. I got 8. Then I bought 4 eggs. I am going to try to boil them at home. Stuffed it all in my purse except 4 yogurts. 

At the corner waiting for the light, a Chinese woman smiled at me and looked at my yogurt and smiled and said something. I smiled back. She said some more and laughed. Her sister looked at us and smiled. The lady said some more and smiled. Either she was saying something nice or she thought it was really funny I was buying that. Then the older man said something to her in response to whatever she was saying. She could not get over me with my yogurt. I said “It’s yummy!” and smiled. Whatever. I noticed their shoe size was about a 4 and they were thin, like all Chinese.  Maybe she was saying, “Wow, you’re so big! Will you eat all that yogurt?” My shoes look huge compared to hers.

Now it’s 6:30 am. I will try to drop off my laundry at 8am, then take the bus to the Minhang campus, put $ on my card, get lunch, then meet Dean Tao at 2pm, then meet Shelley after.

 

Day 4, Shanghai

Today has been fantastic. I got up at 5:30 and did We Chat with my boys and made Starbucks coffee.  Took a shower and got ready, then We Chatted with my dad & Fawn, Laura & Bryan and Ben & Paul who were doing a family BBQ in Seattle.  Then I went to the Faculty Club at 8am for breakfast. It was very good today and after my dad’ comment “You must be eating lots of vegetables there in China,” and my response “No,” mostly bread and pastries… I ate squash, green beans, and this plum gel which was very good.  I also had a fried egg and a barley and black bean sweet hot cereal. 

I went back to my room and was going to write to you all, but my neighbor Marsha knocked and said we needed to get to the bus right now!

She helped me find the ticket seller and the line for the bus. We ended up getting on a different bus and the ticket seller became the bus driver.  Here’s how the line works: faculty and students line up. When it’s time to get on, all faculty get on. Then students get whatever seats are left.  Once the bus is full, off we go. We pulled out at 8:50 am so I set my timer for 30 minutes so I would pay attention to where to get off (it’s a 40 minute bus ride.) Well, 9:20 came and went, and we were in terrible traffic. I kept looking for a university. At 9:45 I thought I had taken the wrong bus. Finally at 9:55 we pulled into campus. The bus stopped 3 times and I did not see the University of Michigan sign that Marsha told me to look for. I asked the driver to look at my map which had the Foreign Languages building marked on it. He showed it to some teachers who told him when to kick me off.  He did that, so I thought I was at my building. (This campus is about the size of the University of Washington – 30,000 students, but 20,000 live on campus.) I called Honza and he had no idea where I was. He said to find someone to put on the phone. I found some nice cleaning ladies and gave them the phone.  They told Honza where we were and he came and got me in his car.

We went to China Mobile and got me a Chinese sim card so I can call and text for free here. 

Then we went to the Bank of China to open an account where SJTU can give me money every month — $1,000 a month for eating and living.  That sounds great!  I haven’t spent much money in these three days… wait… it’s only been 3 days and I have spent at least 300RMB (Yuan). Hmmm… it’s cheaper here, but only if you buy Chinese food and drink. Better watch it a little.  I left with a Chinese bank account card. It’s very pretty. I must use it to withdraw cash from my account – not like a Visa I could use at the store. 

At the bank and cell phone store they studied my passport, scanned it, studied it, took my picture. At the bank, Honza pulled out my work contract to have me sign.  He assured me I did not need to read it. I read it anyway. It looked the same as Laura’s from 9 years ago. Her binder of materials from her China trip was so helpful!  The bank copied the signed contract and my passport and made me sign every page, next to my signatures, too.  Guess that’s contract stuff.  Then Honza took me to the Foreign Languages building. 

Funny details Highliner’s should know when visiting:

Bring your passport and lots of Yuan with you.  Honza did not tell me to bring my passport, I just figured. Then he would say “They need 100 Yuan now.” “They need 20 Yuan now.” I was like, “What?” He had to loan me the hundred!  And he said he had made plans with his friends for lunch. Shelley took me and had to pay because you cannot use cash on campus – only the ID card.  Learning curve!

Shelley came to meet me for lunch. She was at Highline College for 7 months in 2015 with her 8 year old daughter Sophie.  She brought her boss Dr. Ma and we walked to Cafeteria #5. It’s university style so get your tray, chopsticks and spoon, then move through the cook line and grab whatever dishes you want. Shelley helped me steer clear of meat.  I loved all the choices! Cauliflower and broccoli, green beans with tofu, bean sprouts, eggplant and potatoes in a typical sauce and brown rice. Everything was good. Cost: 12.5 Yuan ($1.83).

We relaxed and ate for an hour, then they helped me with my new phone number and We Chat with them and Wi-Fi on campus.  I practiced writing their names in Chinese.  

 

You will see Ma in red and Shelley in white in the pictures I took.

 

Shelley and Honza are English names and I told them I want to say everyone’s Chinese names, including my Chinese students, but they want to give me English names. Shelley said they do it to respect us because it is too hard to say and remember Chinese names. I said we feel it is culturally respectful to learn to say their Chinese names. So we understood where we were each coming from.

But really, I have to learn their Chinese names because when I asked Shelley and Honza if they knew each other each said “I don’t know their English name, so I don’t know who that is.”

Shelley showed me a seemingly nonsense message her student got from an international student friend that said something like “You must be really in me your hip is on my Brian.” She asked me what it meant. I said I think “Brian” was supposed to be “brain” and the rest is a mystery.  I told them I just was listening to a Ted Talk by a linguist saying that texting has changed our use of language faster than has happened before, and texting is influencing how we speak. So this message could be a new expression or something from texting… who knows? 

After lunch I met back with Honza who took me to get my faculty ID card which I can put money on. I use it to buy lunch on campus and pay for the bus ride. Again with the passport and my picture.  Then I walked back to the Foreign Languages building, had a much-needed coffee that Ja-ling (call me Carrie) offered to me. She works in Honza’s office but I ran into her in the faculty lounge.  Shelley rented a car so she could give me a tour of the campus.  Ma helped her figure out how to use it since it is fully electric and electronic, so you use your cell phone to unlock the door.

I am so impressed with how much Shelley has reached out to me and welcomed me. I guess she knows what it’s like to visit another country and school. 

She showed me several of the gates and buildings, lakes and canals and gardens and student housing.  One gate is made to show an 8 and a 7 for 1987 when it was built, but everyone calls it the sandal/flip-flop gate because it looks like one.  Another gate is made to resemble the Arc de Triumph and another is made to replicate the beautiful gate here at my campus.  You will see the photos I took while out with Shelley.

After the tour I now feel I understand where things are and how to get from the bus to the Foreign Languages building to Cafeteria #2 where I put money on my card.  She dropped me at the bus stop at 3:48 so I would be in time for the 4:10 bus. Well, it loaded at 3:48 and left at 3:52. Let that be a lesson… be at least 15 minutes early for your bus.

 

April 8, 2017, 10:05 am, Shanghai

The 120^th anniversary of Jiao Tong University is a big deal here. This morning there were bus loads of older folks here visiting the campus and each other.  Women were dressed in elegant clothing, men in Mao style suits. Ages ranged from 60-95.  Cushy travel busses lined the university roads. Lots of college kids in red “volunteer” coats showing people around.

I woke at 6:15 am, showered, made my green tea provided by the hotel, found a hairdryer in the drawer (yeah!) and somehow it was 7:45 when I went to check out the breakfast buffet here.  The hostess smiled and said something.  I saw there were tickets.  “Do I need a ticket? I don’t have a ticket.” She nodded. I showed her cash. She pointed to the front desk. I asked them “Can I get a ticket for breakfast?” They say, “Yes, you could…get that here.”  “Okaaay…”  “Thirty eight RMB,” she said. I thought it was going to be 102 RMB, since I think Laura said it was around $15 when she was here 9 years ago. (So much has changed here). I paid and got a ticket and went back and gave it to the smiling woman.  A waiter next to her said “Morning.” I said “Morning… How does this work here?”  His mistake!  Now he was trapped with me. He looked flustered since he had used his only English word.  But he followed me and showed me where some stuff was…chopsticks, and bowls, fried eggs, then he showed me the Westerner’s section: white toast, butter, jam, coffee. (No knives or forks that I saw.)

I got myself some seaweed egg drop soup, chop sticks and a spoon, and set them on a free table.  I went to get something else, and when I went back, the efficient waitress had cleaned it all away.  Time to mark my territory with my purse and start over!

 

Breakfast was great, but the coffee was bad: weak with only sugary coffee mate in those little plastic containers.  I tried as much of the foods as I could, so I could report back:

Bread and butter, fried egg, sesame croissant, small dumpling in water with black peanut butter inside; orange wedges, squash, a plain white rice bun (thought it would have something in it, but no). Hot rice cereal, and the seaweed egg drop soup. Tried a very salty boiled egg. I heard other people slurping away, and saw they had yogurt containers with tiny straws.  Got one and tried it.  YEAH! It was the fil mjӧlk I used to have in Sweden, which you cannot get in Seattle. So awesome! At 8:15 I had taken the last one and they did not seem like they were going to put out more.  Oh well, I was stuffed anyway. You jab the straw into the top of the metal lid that we would usually peel back, then slurp to get every last drop.

I live right by a side gate, but decided to go out into the campus for a walk.  I passed all the older (alumni?) and volunteer tour guides, then continued on. Then there were 100 people in their 20s and 30s seemingly heading to work. Some walked, some biked. Many had plastic bags with buns or dumplings in them, a few had coffee.  As I wandered on, lots of people seemed to be strolling the campus. Then I saw college age people playing tennis, and found the track. All ages were jogging or walking the track. Some were doing warm up exercises. Very athletic of them at 8:30 Saturday morning.  These were not the loud people outside my window at 2:30 am last night.

From 2 am to 3:30, there were regular loud noises: people opening the large metal gate, people talking loudly entering the Faculty Club, someone seemingly repairing an iron gate with a hammer… Then around 3am, cats making that awful caterwauling…I thought they would fight, but instead just kept it up for 15 minutes. Healthy lungs.

When I woke at 6:15 this morning, I heard an owl, and saw people driving, walking, bicycling.  By 7:15, there were more people, and the busses had plenty of people, too.  Busy city.

The sun is shining today. Yeah! I plan to walk to Starbucks, but maybe I will check out a mall, too.

The beautiful traditional entrance to the university is impressive. I enter by the side gate, usually, but it was locked. They seem to feel it is secure to keep that door locked; it opens around 10 am.

1:20 pm April 8

I made myself go out walking, and ran into the wonderful neighbors! Frank and Marsha have been here almost 3 years. They invited me in and shared what they know and will take me to dinner soon, yeah! They are also happy to have an English speaking neighbor.  They have been teaching English writing and speaking here for 3 years, both to Chinese and to international Korean and Japanese students.  They know everything. Yeah! They have a fridge, microwave, oven, and pantry full. They bought it all.

I left them and walked to the mall.  That was a let down. Very sterile and white with all the Western name brands and all that stuff is really expensive.  A pair of Clarks were $205 dollars.  I left and tried to walk to the Ichi Bakery, but took the wrong road where I could not cross over the 4 lane road.

On my way back I saw the Metro entrance again. I have been avoiding it since I can’t see what is down there and did not want to get stuck where I could not come right back out.  But I found an entrance where  you could see it was mall-like and went in.

I found two dangerous things down there:                           

 

1. A French bakery named “Christine” with every yummy pastry you can think of
2. The entrance to the Orient Shopping Centre, with every Western food you can think of: candy, cookies, pasta, milk, mayonnaise, cheese, chocolate, etc., etc. Geez! I thought I would eat Chinese food for 3 months and lose 5 lbs while here! I need to forget that place exists.

As I walked the streets here in Shanghai, it was nice to see that everyone was out enjoying life: families, friends, everyone.  Families with young kids frequently were carrying the kid’s scooter.  I live close to McDonald’s and on the weekends they have a walk-up window where they sell ice cream cones. Everyone in the area had one. People seemed relaxed and happy.  It’s good to see, since the Chinese work so hard, and the kids are pushed to study so hard. My neighbors are tutoring a 10 year old girl at 8pm one night a week because it is her only unscheduled time that she can make it. Typical.

On my way home I took a photo of the place I think Laura and Bryan recommend to eat at, a Japanese noodle house. It’s on the corner. We’ll see if they recognize it.

I am reluctant to eat out since I don’t know how to say “no beef or pork, please.” Need to get that written in Chinese.

April 9, 2017 6:20 am Shanghai (3:21 pm April 8 in Seattle)

Hello Jetlag! Yesterday I stayed  up until 6pm then decided to go to bed.  At 4pm I was soooo tired. I made myself go eat my first meal in Shanghai. I tried to find the Japanese restaurant Laura said was one of her and Bryan’s favorites, almost across the street from my apartment.  The menus are all in Ipads on the tables, but you have to know how to get into them.  I pushed a couple buttons and nothing happened. A waitress came by and gave me a plastic menu with pictures and prices.  (She could have taught me how to use the Ipad, but nope.)

Almost everything is pork and beef here, but I found a crawfish noodle soup.

I really wanted noodle soup. I saw a girl, about Ben’s age, eating across from me, so I copied her. You get a long wooden spoon and use it to get some broth and noodles. You hold that and then eat the noodles from the spoon with your chopsticks. I wonder what I would do if I could not use chopsticks? Paul and Ben will want to start practicing now, and bring some forks with them when we eat out. I wonder if they keep forks in the back for westerners who can’t use chopsticks?  The food was was very good. While eating, I figured out how to use the Ipad. I enjoyed watching families, moms and daughters, and couples coming in to eat, hanging out, and really enjoying the food. 

It was sunny and beautiful all day, then got cloudy around 4:30 pm.

I then took a different side road and walked a ways to try to get in my 10,000 steps (5 miles) for the day. As soon as you turn off the main road, things get dirty and broken and dingy. Lots of broken windows and old, forgotten trash sitting on the window ledge above you.  Then there will be a bit nicer housing. It’s all apartments, and laundry drying on the lines everywhere.  This is the China I remember. The sidewalks are very high off the street here, as in most Asian countries and places in Mexico. I think it’s’ because when it rains it’s no problem to keep the water away.  Once when we were at Isla Mujeres, Mexico, it rained so much the waters were rushing down the street 4-6 inches high. It was clear they needed those high sidewalks.

I have walked past at least 30 westerners now, and none have greeted me. After the first 20, I guess I did not try to greet the either.  I guess it’s a bit like being in New York City, but really, there are very few white people. I think I will start saying hi. I did see one family, though, then heard them speaking something that was not English.  But almost everyone else I could hear speaking English. And several of them were younger men who had found Chinese girlfriends, and were speaking English. I saw many more westerners in this side-road area.  I kept going and stumbled into Starbucks, finally! My Google map says there are 4 nearby but I never found any.  I went in. It is the place to be! Cannot find a seat. They have a bathroom with toilet paper. Very nice.  I asked the guy in front of me “Is there a line?” and he said, “Yes, it’s a line.” I said “Wow, you speak English!” We talked a bit and he is a tourist from Taiwan, just visiting for two weeks.  Figures.  I did order a latte and the girl at the counter spoke English just fine, but no more than necessary. You’re not in Seattle anymore, Toto.

Starbucks is selling an origami pour-over with coffee in it that you put on top of your cup each time. So cute! I bought some. 

It’s very fashionable to walk around with a small bag from some cool place you just shopped, so here I am with my Starbucks bag now.  I turned left, hoping I would find my way back to the main street.  I did, then found the side-street from the other day with all the hair salons. Decided to walk it again. I went 2 long blocks further this time and found a whole hip area with more westerners, pizza, Chinese small noodle shops, a gyro place (Paul will love it), and about 6 more coffee shops (lattes, etc.) Oh, and I found 3 more French bakeries, including another Christine’s.  Many shops are the size of a restroom in an American house, selling clothes and shoes.  I think shopping here would be much more affordable than the fancy mall – but would anything fit me?  I will try some day.

I headed back home and it was easy to find. Yeah!  This is a good little vacation for me this weekend with nothing to do but explore and unpack.  I looked up my area on Google maps and found more restaurants to try.  They are not obvious from the street so I need to go find some I saw on the map.

Relaxed, then went to bed.  Woke up several times, and got up at 1:45 am. It was pouring, so you could easily hear the traffic sloshing through the rain. But no cat fights!  Man is it noisy outside my window all the time! I think someone was dragging out the recycling at 2:30 am.  I listened to several Ted Talks, learned a lot, then tried to sleep another hour, but couldn’t.  Just laid around until 5:15. It gets light at 5:30, so I got up and got to work. I am almost done building my blog. 

The internet is very spotty here.  It works much better from midnight to 7 am when people here are sleeping. 

Things I will try if I get brave: the subway and renting a bike. Everyone seems to use rented bikes. You pay for them like you pay for a parking meter. I bet you can leave it at any station.

I am on We Chat, so if you join, you can call me.

I ate at the Faculty Club again. Pretty good food. They had these deep friend potato fries.

 

3:30 pm Sunday April 9. The American neighbors Marsha and Frank Lovell invited me over today.  We talked for a bit then they offered to show me where to shop for groceries. It was fabulous. After 3 years here, they found the cheapest, best local places near campus to shop.  They walked me through campus and showed me the laundry lady (you cannot do your own laundry). Then they showed me “City Market” where you can buy any foreign goods. Then they took me to the little grocery store where they get everything cheap. I bought some stuff. Then they took me to the “wet market” where the floors are hosed down often – Chinese selling fresh fruit, veggies, meat, beans, noodles, fish tanks with live fish, of course, chicken feet, and some daily needs like floor mats, etc.  I have to go back and take some pictures.  They taught me how to remember to go back. We walked through a park where the older crowd had lounge chairs gathered around under cover tables playing cards and smoking non-stop.

I was out of food and feeling too tired to walk so far again, so it was perfect timing. It was enjoyable listening to them, and they were very nice and helpful. These are their last 3 months here. They have travelled all over Southeast Asia and lived in Europe, but learning to live in Shanghai took time, and they are passing that knowledge on to me. Yeah!  We ended by shopping at “85 degrees” a Taiwanese bakery that is as good as any French bakery.

 

Frank came over and taught me how to work the TV and the heater/air conditioner.

I got blisters from all the walking, so felt fine about watching TV when I got back. Season 5 or 6 of Once was playing on the TV.  Yeah! It’s 3:30. I will take a nap so I can stay up until 9 pm tonight.