Chinese National Holiday

Well here we are, 2 days away from the Chinese National holiday. Talk about CHAOS around Shanghai! The Chinese National holiday is celebrated every year on October 1st. The People's Republic of China was founded on October 1, 1949. The Chinese await this day and flee everywhere around China for one of the few vacations they are allowed to take. As for me, I am heading on a 26 hour train ride with five friends to center China. We reserved a cabin for 6 "hardsleepers" (6 beds) all the way to Lanzhou. We plan to spend a few days in Lanzhou, then head to Qinghai, where China's largest salt water lake is found. Apparently once we reach Qinghai lake, the most reliable form of transportation is either by horse, yack or camel. After a few days there, we will head to Xining, and perhaps a little farther North where the restoration of the Great Wall ends. I really don't know what to expect on this trip, but I do await a few things. 1) Not being able to shower more than once every few days considering we only booked four hostels for the 11 days we will be there 2) Eating foods 10x more bizarre than I find in Shanghai (apparently Yack is pretty common there) and 3) Coming back with countless photos and stories to share. I come back October 11, so until then, goodbye!

Xin Tian Di "The French Concession"

上海法租界 referred to as Xin Tian Di by the Chinese, or "The French Concession" by the Westerners, has everything I need to stay sane here in China. Our Shanghai Studies class brought us on a field trip to Xin Tian Di- I had no idea I was about to discover a gold mine. This district filled with Expats is loaded with practically any type of Western food you could want. Starbucks, Papa Johns, Cold Stone Creamery, Dunkin Donuts, Irish Pubs (where you can actually find a cheeseburger!!). The only downside is that it is extremely overpriced as far as Shanghai standards go, and its pretty rare to actually see the Shanghainese walking around Xin Tian Di. With the amount of Western businessmen and tourists walking around, its easy to forget that its still part of Shanghai! The funny part is that a casual pizzeria like Papa John's turns into a high class restaurant here. For the Chinese, it appears that it is only for special occasions that they eat their. I was pretty disappointed when Dunkin Donuts was out of bagels the one time i went there, but ill keep my hunt going for American food.

Bargaining

I mentioned this in my first post, but it is definitely something worth talking about. China is filled with bargaining, bargaining, and more bargaining. Unless you’re going to designer stores, it is practically impossible to find something that actually has a fixed price. Scattered around Shanghai are underground shopping centers that are commonly referred to as “cheap streets”. Shop owners stand outside their store trying to convince you to come in speaking broken street English. A pretty standard phrase that is said over and over by the shop owners is “hello you want shirt, ties, watch, dvd, come into my store ok hello”. They will give you a starting price that is about 8 times the actual price. The bargaining begins, and they immediately give you the “student discount”, “best friend discount” and, of course, the “friendly tourist discount”. So far, I have purchased three pairs of fake jeans, two belts, four shirts, and two watches. Nothing has fallen apart…yet.
I am two days away from completing my first month here in Shanghai, and I wonder how much of my wardrobe will be from Cheap Street by December. I must say though, through all of the bargaining and walking around Cheap Streets, my main accomplishment so far is meeting a shop owner who’s actual name is Yao Ming.

Week 1 of classes - Finished

I am one class away from finishing my first week of courses here at Fudan. I knew that the Chinese always saw Westerners as loud, confident, and occasionally lazy people…One week of classes easily showed me why they see us that way. My Monday morning class is called Shanghai Studies. A group of 6 of us from the IES program entered the classroom about 10 minutes early. We were immediately pointed at and laughed at by three rows of Chinese students. They all considered us “late”. Every Western student moved as far as they could to the back of the classroom, whereas the Chinese students were fighting for spots in the front row. When the teacher (laoshi) stepped in briefly after us, every student in the front 3 rows sat up straight and stopped talking. We were all confused…we thought we had 10 minutes left of free time before class started.

The Chinese students on average take 4 classes a day from what I have gathered. They work around 16 hours a day purely for school. Meals are not excuses for taking a break – they eat while they study. Interestingly enough, the amount they study directly leads to a decrease in social skills. They even admit that they’re taking these English classes with us to increase their ability to comfortably talk and interact with strangers “like Americans do”.

My goal for tomorrow will be to find the Chinese equivalent for “T.G.I.F” although the chances of that expression existing are VERY slim.

Getting Settled

September 2, 2009 –

Today marks my 10th day as an abroad student at Fudan University, found in Shanghai, China. Fudan University is ranked 3rd in China for it’s undergraduate program, ranked below two schools found in Beijing. The University was established over 100 years ago, and has around 43,000 students.

I was warned numerous times prior to my departure about the vast differences between the Western Culture that I am used to living in and the Eastern Culture, especially China. No amount of warning could have sufficiently prepared me for the cultural shock that I was to undergo. Every aspect and routine that I was used to in America has been tossed out the window, and I am now living a totally different life.

For example, the Chinese do not stop for pedestrians, and pay little attention to red lights. It is the pedestrian’s responsibility to not be hit by cars. Drivers use their horns constantly while driving, using it as a warning that they are going fast and will not be slowing down for much. The Shanghainese speak very little English, yet have a strong desire to learn about Westerners. It has become a regular occurrence for me to be stopped in the street by someone with a camera so that they can take a picture of the “white person." There is practically no such thing as a fixed price when trying to purchase something. Although the Chinese are less flexible regarding price-bargaining for some products, they are always ready to find a way to come to an agreement!

I have only been abroad for a week and a half as I mentioned, yet it has already come to be a wonderful learning experience. Orientation is almost over, and all classes officially start on Monday, September 7th, at which point the campus will be flooded with students from all over the world. Classes will certainly be different, yet for now I am simply going to focus on not accidentally eating jellyfish again.

Zaijian,
Ben