Upon landing in Shanghai, the group re-joined and then headed off to the customs and immigration battle. Much to my surprise and relief, the battle was not too difficult. I was most surprised when my two suitcases were among the first to come around the conveyor belt. I picked them up, and stood to the side, taking on the role of mother goose for everyone’s suitcases as they trickled in. Here is Hillary and her ridiculous amounts of stuff.
After exiting customs, we eagerly looked for the person who would take us to Shanghai High. All the way down a long line of people waiting for arrivals, I saw a little white piece of paper that said, “Shanghai High School International Division.” This is when we met “Dan.” Many of the people here, most especially those working with English speaking foreigners, morph their given Chinese name into a more memorable and pronounceable English name. For example, the man in charge of our apartment building is named “Larry” and I can guarantee that was not the name given him at birth.
Dan showed us, with a little trepidation, the way to the van, and we loaded up the luggage, and then crammed our bodies in the space left over. By the time we got on the road it was about 4pm Friday, so Shanghai traffic was at its best (read worst). It took who knows how long to get to the school, but we made it.
From the time that we began to approach land in the plane to the time we exited the highway for SHSID, I felt like we could have been in any western city. The traffic, the roads, the billboards, the landscape. In fact, I really felt like we had not left Atlanta at all. Once we exited the highway however, this feeling changed drastically. At one point I said, “Ok, now I don’t feel like I am in Atlanta anymore, in fact, I don’t even feel like I am in Chinatown.”
The area around our school seems to be laden with authenticity. Much to my surprise, almost no one within a square mile of the school speaks English, and if they do it is extremely limited. All signs are in Chinese. The vendors lining the streets do not sell souvenirs, but rather day to day supplies; magazines, sunglasses, socks, combs. The restaurants only have Chinese menus, and the waitresses only speak Chinese. There is a McDonalds and a Pizza Hut in the TrustMart (read Wal-Mart), but no one speaks English in there either, and McDonald’s serves chicken feet. This is the real deal, which will certainly enrich my experience here in China.
Dan and our driver dropped us off in front of our building, helped unload our luggage, told us our room numbers, and then left. It was the most simple “check in” process I have ever encountered. When I walked in, there was someone else from the program offering to help me with my bag. From all of my facebook work this summer, I recognized him and said, “Brian?” He nodded and said, “And you’re Rebecca.” “That I am.”
We walked up to the fourth floor (the building is five floors high, and Dennis lives directly above me) and found my room. I took a deep breath before opening the door. What I found behind was a little rough on the eyes at first, especially the weary eyes of a recently released Delta captive. The room was sparse and dusty, and much smaller than I had imagined it would be. I knew however, that with my dorm experience and Ikea at my fingertips, I would manage to turn the room into something really wonderful.
The group, which now includes two Devons and a Brian, headed out to find a bank to exchange money. The result of this quick transition was little preparation on the navigation front and a lot of unnecessary walking complimented by head scratching (the universal sign for confusion). I just went with the flow, and took in as much as I could of our new surroundings. We managed to find the bank . . . five minutes after they closed. After than unfortunate timing, it was on to TrustMart where we would (attempt to) find the first of our “necessary” items. At the very top of that list for me was a hair dryer.
TrustMart is the Chinese Wal-Mart. It is actually owned by Wal-Mart, but is only roughly similar. Standing three floors high, the first floor has a few places to eat, and then a bunch of boutique-like shops. The second floor is basically a condensed Wal-Mart, and has home good, electronics, clothing, etc. The third floor, and the very hidden location of the cash registers, is a supermarket. TrustMart has become our new friend as we continually find things that we need to make our stay here feel a little more like home.
We got lost for a second time on the way back to the school from TrustMart, and even (unknowingly) attempted to trespass on a neighboring gated school, which we mistook for our own. The guard at the gate was none too pleased as we attempted to explain to him in our incomprehensible Mandarin that we were teachers trying to get to our apartments. “Laoshi. Wo shi Laoshi.” (Teacher. I am teacher). We gave him identification, showed him a print out of the school address (but looking back, what did we think that would accomplish?) and then we finally threw our hands up and began walking in. This reasonably angered the guard, and so we retreated and took the long walk back to the main gate of the school, which was the only gate we really knew. On the way, we looked for places to have dinner after dropping off our TrustMart treasures. We settled on a place right outside of the front gate that had a picture of beer in the window. From that, one can clearly see the direction of our priorities.
After struggling to order food from a Chinese menu to a waitress speaking Chinese, we all waited in great anticipation to see what we actually ordered. We ended up with salty, cold tofu (not as bad as it sounds), peanut chicken, some sort of vegetable, and a beef dish. My favorite was the beef dish. The entire meal (which fed five people with food to spare) cost 101 yuan, or about $13. This included three huge beers. Not bad at all.
We returned to the dorms, almost too exhausted to make it up the stairs, and made tentative plans for the following day. Once alone in my room, my first priority was to arrange the furniture in a way suitable to my tastes, and to unpack both of my bags. I was also very excited to take a shower. Here are some pictures of the fruits of my labor.
Around 11:30, I called it quits and went to sleep in what will be my bed for the next year. I slept almost the whole night through, and awoke refreshed and ready to go at 6:00am. I didn’t quite know what to do, as I was sure that the others were not yet awake. I looked at my area map and the larger Shanghai map, packed up my bag, and walked out the door ready to follow wherever the wind might take me. I found a back gate the provided an excellent short cut in the pilgrimage to Trustmart. Once I got to TrustMart, I took a left and headed down the road. I walked for about two hours, from 7-9.
It was really amazing to see everyone beginning their day. Shops were in the process of opening, people stood waiting for the bus, children walked in uniform to school. I followed my map as best I could so I would not get lost on my first outing. I bought some orange juice (Minute Maid) at a little supermarket, which was wonderfully refreshing to have on my walk.
People here really like to stare. Especially in the area around the school, as it does not attract tourists. It is very rare to see a Westerner. In fact, in the two hours I spent roaming the streets, I never saw another expatriate. Perhaps, the others were simply not jacked up on jetlag, and were still happily asleep in their beds at 7am, but even on other excursions throughout the day the only Western faces I saw were other people from the group or my own reflection in a storefront window.
I ate my first street food today, and it was awesome. I played with the idea of getting some for the first hour of my walk, and then by the second hour I had gained enough courage to attempt the interaction. I found a place that had bread similar to the bread I loved in India (parrota), and I pointed and then held out one finger. In response, the woman working the booth held out one finger. Into her hand I placed one yuan, and she gave me the hot bread. This success of this interaction built my confidence, and the delicious food filled my stomach as I continued on my way.
It began to rain, and so instead of continuing on to find the metro station, I opted to head back in the direction of the school. I found a place called “The Wine Shop for Champions” at a major intersection, and I assume that this will become a pretty good landmark. I stopped at an open-air market on the way back, one that Dennis and I had seen the night before but were too exhausted to explore. There was much more in the market than I could ever describe, and the crowds of people were pretty amazing. The walk-way in the market was no wider than the hallway in Bentley Dorm, or the main hallway in my house, but people were stacked four, sometimes five across, attemping to get to the goods they desired. As I was walking I noticed a booth selling knitting supplies, but in the rush of the crowd, I was forced to pass it by. On the way back however, running on the confidence of my first street food interaction, I decided that I would try to buy some yarn and needles.
Of course, the man spoke no English. However, this is much easier when you can point and then work with numbers. I carry my own calculator for easy conversions, and it turns out that it is really great for easy market communication. I handed the man the calculator, and then pointed to the things I wanted, and then he added it all up and showed it to me. I got six skeins of yarn and two sets of bamboo needles for 52 yuan, or about seven dollars. I am not sure if he was expecting me to barter, but there was no way I was about to open that can of worms. 52 was just fine for me!
The rest of the walk back to the front gate, I bathed in the pride I had for myself. In just couple hours I woke up, went out on my own, managed to navigate myself (more or less safely) in early morning traffic, got breakfast, found and bought knitting supplies, and did it all before I would usually get out of bed at home. I felt pretty awesome.
I came back to my room, met up with some people, and planned to go to the bank and TrustMart at noon. It rained pretty hard for about an hour from 10-11, and I worked to get my internet up and running. Much to my disappointment, each and every attempt has been a no-go.
We missed the bank again, but went to a bank next door that was still open. After that, another trip to TrustMart (I got some chopsticks, noodle cups, laundry detergent, a dress, and crackers.) By the end of that trip, I was ready to go back to the apartment and totally crash out, which I have been doing ever since. I think a group of us are going to attempt eating out again tonight, and certainly the place we choose will have beer.
I am a little concerned that I am in the “honeymoon” phase of culture shock. I absolutely love it here. I don’t find it too difficult to do anything (other than setting up my internet) and really love the challenge of going out and getting what I need. Everything seems to be within reach, minus the slight hindrance of the language barrier. I absolutely love my apartment, and I really enjoy getting to know everyone from the program. It might be the case that all of this happiness and excitement could fade into terror and frustration in a few weeks, once the novelty of the culture has worn off and the reality of the duration of my stay has set in. We will just have to see, and I will deal with it when it comes.
That’s all for now. Here are some more relatively random pictures from the past few days!
1 comment:
I don't think you'll have a honeymoon phase because strong first impressions tend to be long lasting.
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