School Begins

The last couple of days have been the official beginning of school for all of us Purdue folks.  Classes have started alright there are bright spots and things that aren't looking as good.  The course on chinese culture has a very nice teacher.  Th chinese language course will likely be very difficult.  I had a 1.5 hr session this morning and it was very defeating.  Difficult to learn, difficult to say, difficult to translate.  It has left me in a very sour mood.  Classes take place everyday from about 10 am to about 4 pm with 1 hr for lunch.  This is not a typical schedule for me as I would prefer to have my long class sessions in the morning.

To start the class year off right, we went out to a bar last night.  50 RMB ($7 about) open bar list.  Choose from a long list of mixed drinks and such, it wasn't far from campus but we took a taxi to make sure we got there since it was dark.  Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and it was a pretty good time.

It is very different that here there is no cheese really.  I was at the grocery store looking for cheez-its or any cheesy type of cracker and I was very sad to find out that ... it doesn't exist.  No cheddar, no mozzarella, no parmesan, no american, no havarti, no swiss, nothing.  No cheese flavored... anything really.  This is a problem.  I bought some crackers thinking they were cheese, I got home and someone looked at the package and wondered why I would have bought peach flavored crackers.  It was quite the surprise.  Since then, I've found 1 thing in the store that is cheese - "Cheesy Cheese" Pringles.  I have since bought and eaten them without satisfying the need.  I am going to Pizza Hut tonight, it WILL cost a LOT of money and I don't mind.  I am taking donations to support my cheesy habits.

I hope the rest of this week gets better.  My class load is much heavier than I was expecting.  Please send your greetings to my phone number.

JBiber

Day 3 - The nearby stuff

Weather: low 40s and raining

This morning a much smaller group of just 3 of us hung out.  We decided it'd be good to go catch some breakfast at a mall about 2 blocks away.   The walk was miserable.  It was a steady medium rain.  The path lead us down through the subway system to try and avoid the rain as much as possible.  We were aiming for one building and found another by accident.  One of the folks didn't bring along the power adapter for her laptop on accident so while in a very large electronics store we checked to see if they had the equipment.  The electronics store had a footprint of about the same size as a applebee's restaurant only 5 stories tall.

First floor of the store was computer dealers, dell, asus, leveno, sony, toshiba, etc.  Each floor was devoted to the individual product types; this is very common it seems.  The basement level was just cameras.  Other floors, music / portable electronics, diy computers... etc.  We found the proper cable for her laptop but wanted to be sure, so decided we'd come back after breakfast with the laptop to make sure it works.  For breakfast, we went to a local mall.  Unlike home, there isn't too much in the way of bread around these parts.  The carbs from the meal usually comes from rice.  We walked past a bakery called BreadTalk and knew it was perfect for us.  I got a ham/cheese sandwich, bacon salad (roll with bacon and lettuce), and a desert bread stick totaling 18 yuan (less than $3).  I grabbed a soda from Burger King in the dining court and was kinda ripped off for one cup of coke 7.50 yuan ($1.10).  Either way, it was awesome.  Someone else got a piece of bread with an over-hard eggs in the center baked over cheese and bacon then run through a horizontal toaster - amazing.

After breakfast we returned to the rooms to drop off the unfinished bread and grab the laptop.  We got back and purchased the proper power cord with a few chinese phrases and went to a nearby super market.  After covering every isle, the items that were chosen were different than from at home.  I got 4 USA red delicious apples 45 yuan ($6), a few bags of crackers 14 yuan, and 4 L of water 6 yuan, for a total of less than $10.  We returned in the rain to the room to consider resting a bit after a long 1.5 hrs in the grocery just looking at things.

Lunch came later in the afternoon because we watched a video I had on Shanghai, Paul Merton in China; Shanghai.  I referenced this video in the past but - I really enjoy sharing it with people so the three of us watched it again.  As the afternoon ticked by and rain continued to fall we decided that adventuring too far away would be less fun than staying nearby.  We went over to a very close by Japanese noodle place.  I got a beef and bamboo soup with noodles and it was pretty good for 28 yuan ($4) served with tea.  Satisfied with dinner, we continued on to get foot massages - I've never had a professional massage it seemed like a good something to do on a Sunday afternoon.  We went to the massage parlor off campus and for 88 yuan (12.85) we had the choice of a foot massage or full body message.  We nearly went for the full body but opted for a foot message because it was the first time in China and didn't wanna get in over our heads.

It was great.  

After dinner we returned with friends to the Japanese noodle house for dessert.  It wasn't good - had loads of funny tasting beans on it and such, but I split it two ways for for 15 yuan ($2) it wasn't the end of the world.  Unsatisfied, I ran over to McD and got an ice cream cone.  Despite the rain, it was good and the price was right 2.50 yuan ($0.37).

Now I've returned to my room for the evening to document the day and it's coming up on 8pm.  Classes start tomorrow at 10:30 am not far from the building we are staying in.  None of us are excited to have classes starting soon.

I don't intend on keeping the blog in this much detail, but I think that posting details now helps people relate to whats going on.  The last couple days have been fun and easy.  There are many things that are overpriced. It just depends on where the shopping happens.  When I know more Chinese it'll be a better time of getting lower prices.

Thanks for reading

JBiber

Shanghai - Day 2

Weather: upper 40s and smoggy (no shadows)

Today was an interesting day.  After grabbing a very non-american style breakfast, including noodles and dumplings, i exchanged money at the local bank.  I tried to do this yesterday, but it didn't work out because I didn't have my passport with me.  After that, a small group of us got together to go on an adventure.  We gathered and got a few more cellphones for folks in the group.  While some people were trying to get phones, someone else was buying food off the street vendors.  I got to eat something today -- i just have no desire to eat.  Apparently it was a well seasoned heart from a medium sized bird.. about the size of a large plum.  It wasn't very good. After we got the phones, we continued to the subway.

The idea behind today was to get to the river probably 2 miles way.  We went down to the subway and tried to get a metro card.  The man didn't speak much english so it wasn't very easy.  I went up and spoke with him and got nothing.  One of my friends came up and spoke with him in limited chinese - and after a small delay of 15-20 minutes total, we were on our way.  We rode a few stops up to People's Square.  An interesting place that was captured well in the Shanghai "Paul Merton" video I talked about in November, their were plenty of folks in the park all looking for potential mates for their children.  The typical ad listed the height, weight, occupation, some build information about their children.  It was all in chinese so I couldn't figure out too much of it.  We walked around the park a bit and then decided it was time to lunch.

Lunch was a few blocks from people's square.  As we walked down the street a young man asked if we'd like to go to his restaurant - so we went.  We had a large private dinning area and got many dishes of meats and vegetables.  It was a great way to taste a lot of things on the menu.  We ended our lunch with a bill 710 yuan, divided by 13 people.  It wasn't very expensive.

We then started on foot to head towards the river because it was mid-day and had not much else to do.  We walked through a few parks, saw theaters, and underground walkways.  A women tried to sell me a kite in the park, when she deployed her large fishy kite near my head - I grabbed my head and started saying " Fish! Fish! Fish!"  We left.

After seeing the Hong Kong Shopping Center located beneath the park we had just walked through, it seemed like something interesting to go see.  It was a very warm mall underground.  We continued east and saw many shops and other things.  Walking through a more touristy area, there were folks trying to sell knockoff goods.  They'd holler and try and get the attention of the group, we pursued one man out of interest.  We were then lead down an ally (not comforting) and then into some low level stores.  Of course the shop was full of Rolex watches and fancy purses - nothing authentic.  A few blocks down the road another chinese man, speaking clear English, said hello.  A small conversation pursue and we found out he was a teacher for a local art school and there was an art gallery he'd like to show us.  The gallery was small and full of fantastic art.  The man then offered to make some calligraphy of our names for free.  At the end of the hour or so we had spent with him he showed us some pieces his students had made that were for sale, some people bought - some didn't.

We continued on our foot journey to the river; and arrived by 530pm.  The had gone down and we were all pretty sick of walking.  On our way to find something to eat, a coffee like shop was offering buy one get one on all drinks - including alcohol.  We thought it'd be a good deal.  The prices were pretty steep.  The language barrier was very harsh.  There was someone in the restaurant who spoke chinese and tried to help us with our rather simple order.  We wanted to divide the bogo drinks between two people -- against the rules.  It turned into a 1+ hr fiasco.  Another customer came over and told the first "translator" he should be fired because he wasn't helping us at all.  If we wanted to split drinks we should be able to because we're money in an essentially dead restaurant.  After our order was in and the tension lowered in the room, I thanked the man for trying to help our cause.  He was a local, a writer who'd been here for 10 years.  He recommended a bar that would be more fitting for our age group; "I Love Shanghai Lounge"  He said that on Saturdays, alcohol was all you can drink for 100 yuan (~$14).

We grabbed a few cabs and ended up there.  Had dinner at the Singapore type food restaurant below it and then headed upstairs.  While we were a bit early - it was not very busy.  A few of our folks participated in the deal - many did not.  It had a very western feel to it and I would describe it as a dorm room feel.  Silly posters, beer, pool table, espn - very american college.  Very small place, smaller than a average american hotel suite.  A few hours later and it's midnight.  I'm heading to bed.

Fact: 

Most all drinks are served warm.  The water used to make the drinks needs to be sanitized and that is done by boiling, so most things are very warm when served.

No ice for drinks because it's not treated - one american bar had ice which is pretty awesome.

Large drinks don't accompany meals.

Cats roam like squirrels on campus.

Smog is very very thick.

One person got a coke from the freezer case, it was about lukewarm; but at least it wasn't hot.

JBiber

Early Pics and Test Blog Post

Hey. this is a test blog post - let me know if it works!

http://cid-359512ac45bb5a76.skydrive.live.com/embedalbum.aspx/First%2010%20hrs%20in%20Shanghai 

<iframe title ="Preview" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" frameborder="0" style="width:122px;height:137px;padding:0;background-color:#fcfcfc;" src="http://cid-359512ac45bb5a76.skydrive.live.com/embedalbum.aspx/Traveling%20to%20Shanghai"></iframe>

http://cid-359512ac45bb5a76.skydrive.live.com/embedalbum.aspx/Traveling%20to%20Shanghai

Shanghai - arrival

The process of getting to Shanghai was a long long long day.  After 22 hrs of darkness, the group dealt with an expected 3 hr layer and another couple hours of flight after that!  The flights were thankfully all on time and no weather interfered.  The dishes on the plane were pretty good.  The first dish was a korean dinner. The next dish was pancakes / crepes.  They were quite good.  Finally, the last meal on the connection was a simple seafood and sauce kinda thing.

I've realized there are going to be quite a few challenges over the next few months.

JBiber