Sep 24 - Tiffany got a great cardio workout on this odd side to side machine... Although mostly from laughing!
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Sep 24 - I was too slow pulling out my camera , but here's a lady strolling down the street on Saturday afternoon decked out in her pink PJ's! No big deal... Unfortunately I didn't have my camera that night, when we passed a construction site and almost fell over laughing to see a man naked except for his tightie-whitie underwear and what looked to be a face cloth. I guess he was sleeping at the site and getting ready for bed!! Again, just strolling along like it was no big deal...
Sep. 24 - Tiffany and her Abroad China coworker, Brian. Brian is 22 and had just graduated Tulane University and moved out of New Orleans to Shanghai when Katrina hit. Close one! Tiffany and Brian's Chinese coworkers have nicknamed him "Xiao baozi", or Little Steamed Bun, because he's round (like a bao) and white! Luckily, he's very good humored :)
Foodie's Corner - Sep. 25 (Zach)
Shanghai has exposed us to an endless bounty of gastronomic variety. And after three weeks, I can tell you definitively that my taste buds have determined that 95% of the food tastes great (for me at least, for Tiffany see related story "How I lived in Shanghai on rice and water"). However, my stomach/digestive system has decided that 95% of the food is completely disagreeable.
The upshot is that I can tell you that our bathroom has 146 tiles (and don't worry, I've had time to double and triple check), and I've lost about 7 pounds so far. Now it's true, I do walk 4-6 miles a day in 103% humidity as well, but I also walked a fair amount in D.C. without seeing similar results. So I can honestly say that the "Shanghai diet" puts most American programs to shame. And while it'll cost you in extra toilet paper, you'll save a bundle on those prepacked Jenny Craig meals.
Fortunately or not, I have a very short term memory, so that I tend to forget the discomfort and only remember the thrill and excitement of eating a half chicken purchased from the local street market. It is a beautiful sight to have a half chicken cut up and packaged for you with fresh ginger, cilantro and some light, delicious sauce -- and all for under $3. We've sampled 4 or 5 different types of apple/pear varieties, melons that I've never seen in the US, and countless steamed buns filled with god knows what. The native Chinese also display an impressive dedication to the old rule of "waste not, want not". I've never seen a fish head gnawed at with such ferocity, or plates cleaned so completely. Of course, they have the advantage of knowledge, as in, they have some idea of what they're eating. Most of our meals fall under the "mystery meat" or "squishy maybe-its-a-vegetable thing". Our saving grace is that there are a large number of expat-marketed restaurants. So every once in a while when we absolutely can't stand Chinese food for another meal, we'll go get a burger or plate of pasta and a side salad. Which is not to say that my stomach is fooled for even a second, it generates pretty much the same reaction regardless of food ethnicity. But at least for one, blessed meal, we can eat a sandwich which looks like a sandwich, and eat french fries that taste like french fries.
All in all, our epicurean adventure so far has resembled more of a death-defying extreme sport than anything else, but I hope (read: pray) that our bodies will adjust eventually. And if not, hey look, my old pants fit again!
The upshot is that I can tell you that our bathroom has 146 tiles (and don't worry, I've had time to double and triple check), and I've lost about 7 pounds so far. Now it's true, I do walk 4-6 miles a day in 103% humidity as well, but I also walked a fair amount in D.C. without seeing similar results. So I can honestly say that the "Shanghai diet" puts most American programs to shame. And while it'll cost you in extra toilet paper, you'll save a bundle on those prepacked Jenny Craig meals.
Fortunately or not, I have a very short term memory, so that I tend to forget the discomfort and only remember the thrill and excitement of eating a half chicken purchased from the local street market. It is a beautiful sight to have a half chicken cut up and packaged for you with fresh ginger, cilantro and some light, delicious sauce -- and all for under $3. We've sampled 4 or 5 different types of apple/pear varieties, melons that I've never seen in the US, and countless steamed buns filled with god knows what. The native Chinese also display an impressive dedication to the old rule of "waste not, want not". I've never seen a fish head gnawed at with such ferocity, or plates cleaned so completely. Of course, they have the advantage of knowledge, as in, they have some idea of what they're eating. Most of our meals fall under the "mystery meat" or "squishy maybe-its-a-vegetable thing". Our saving grace is that there are a large number of expat-marketed restaurants. So every once in a while when we absolutely can't stand Chinese food for another meal, we'll go get a burger or plate of pasta and a side salad. Which is not to say that my stomach is fooled for even a second, it generates pretty much the same reaction regardless of food ethnicity. But at least for one, blessed meal, we can eat a sandwich which looks like a sandwich, and eat french fries that taste like french fries.
All in all, our epicurean adventure so far has resembled more of a death-defying extreme sport than anything else, but I hope (read: pray) that our bodies will adjust eventually. And if not, hey look, my old pants fit again!
Thursday, September 22, 2005
FYI
We just figured out how to route comments to our email, so even though we can't see our blog from China, we can at least see the comments. We also changed the requirement that limits comments to only registered users, so you should be able to post comments without actually having to set up an account. Comments are now hidden (due to all the spamming) so only Zach and I are able to see them. Enjoy!
Tiffany Takes a Tumble
Sept. 22, 2005 -Tiffany
Rush hour on the Shanghai subway is not what you would call pleasant, as it seems the entire city attempts to cram itself onto the 2 lines that serve the entire city. People are packed into subway cars like sardines, and to successfully get on and off, you need to be aggressive. I found out just how much you have to stand your ground yesterday. At one of the stops that did not happen to be mine, the crowd pushed me toward the door. In the midst of trying to brace myself and stay on the train, my heel got caught in the gap and I literally fell out of the car onto the ground face first. When I looked up, I was surrounded by a sea of Chinese people half my size asking me what I assume was ‘are you ok’ in Mandarin (but what could have easily been ‘stupid tall American girl, why are you on the ground?’). I managed to brush off my knees and dignity fast enough to push myself back onto the train before it left, but I did leave a group of shocked commuters still staring at me from the platform. So now I know, when you’re on the Shanghai subway and it’s not your stop, grab on to the pole for dear life and don’t get near the door!
Rush hour on the Shanghai subway is not what you would call pleasant, as it seems the entire city attempts to cram itself onto the 2 lines that serve the entire city. People are packed into subway cars like sardines, and to successfully get on and off, you need to be aggressive. I found out just how much you have to stand your ground yesterday. At one of the stops that did not happen to be mine, the crowd pushed me toward the door. In the midst of trying to brace myself and stay on the train, my heel got caught in the gap and I literally fell out of the car onto the ground face first. When I looked up, I was surrounded by a sea of Chinese people half my size asking me what I assume was ‘are you ok’ in Mandarin (but what could have easily been ‘stupid tall American girl, why are you on the ground?’). I managed to brush off my knees and dignity fast enough to push myself back onto the train before it left, but I did leave a group of shocked commuters still staring at me from the platform. So now I know, when you’re on the Shanghai subway and it’s not your stop, grab on to the pole for dear life and don’t get near the door!
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
From the bow of the ship. Our Abroad China group went out that night and I (Zach) taught the guys a dice game called Liar's Dice. My game, so of course, I won their money. Now they're out to get me! I'm not sure how excited I should be to win a game called Liar's Dice? Oh well, as long as I keep taking their money, I'll take my time figuring that out!
Nighttime along the Bund. The Huangpu River divides the city into Puxi ("Pu" as in Huangpu and "xi" means "west") and Pudong ("dong" means "east"). You are looking across the river at Pudong, which is mostly new buildings and business focused. I believe it was marsh land even 10-15 years ago. And look at it now...
Flower Market Fun
Sep 21 - We found a flower market near our house and last weekend picked up these 20 roses for about $3. Of course it's was so hot the last few days that they're about dead now. Oh well, for that price we can get some more!
Embarrassing English Lessons
Sept. 21, 2005- Tiffany
A benefit of having friendly bilingual co-workers is they act as great on-the-spot Mandarin tutors. Over the past few weeks, they have had no problem answering my simple questions of how to say basic items like phone, computer, apple, etc. They display much patience with my pronunciation, and are very excited when I say the word just right. In return, I often act as their English thesaurus as well as teach them English slang (the word of the day yesterday was ‘mooch’, as in she never pays for lunch, she’s a ‘mooch’).
Today, I got into a bit more uncomfortable situation. The other intern was unable to come in to work due to a bad reaction to something he ate. This prompted an awkward discussion about English terms for bodily reactions/functions. They each wanted to be able to not only say these words with perfect pronunciation, but spell them as well. I not only (uncomfortably) helped them with the words, but also gave them an etiquette lesson on when it is appropriate to use these words when dealing with Americans, as we (or at least I) seem to be a bit more modest. Needless to say, our term of the day was ‘too much information’!
A benefit of having friendly bilingual co-workers is they act as great on-the-spot Mandarin tutors. Over the past few weeks, they have had no problem answering my simple questions of how to say basic items like phone, computer, apple, etc. They display much patience with my pronunciation, and are very excited when I say the word just right. In return, I often act as their English thesaurus as well as teach them English slang (the word of the day yesterday was ‘mooch’, as in she never pays for lunch, she’s a ‘mooch’).
Today, I got into a bit more uncomfortable situation. The other intern was unable to come in to work due to a bad reaction to something he ate. This prompted an awkward discussion about English terms for bodily reactions/functions. They each wanted to be able to not only say these words with perfect pronunciation, but spell them as well. I not only (uncomfortably) helped them with the words, but also gave them an etiquette lesson on when it is appropriate to use these words when dealing with Americans, as we (or at least I) seem to be a bit more modest. Needless to say, our term of the day was ‘too much information’!
Monday, September 19, 2005
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Starbucks enters the Mooncake industry
Always privy to new marketing opportunities, Starbucks also offers it's own 'mocha' and 'leche' mooncakes. These taste much sweeter and 'more american'. They are the same size as the Chinese version (both 2" in diameter) and cost $3USD each. My office was kind enough to give me a big box of the Starbucks kind for my first 'Moon Cake' festival!
This weekend marked the 'Moon Festival' in China. It's a time where friends and family get together to celebrate and eat moon cakes. Here are pictures of the traditional Chinese moon cakes, which are filled with flavors like red bean paste, coconut, egg yolk, and lotus root. These cost about .12 USD each.
sep 17 (1 of 2) - This was from last weekend, when we saw a Chinese rock band at this bar. They were pretty good, but really picked it up when some British expats started calling for western music. The band proceeded to play a whole set of Beatles tunes!! They were actually quite good, though I wonder if they know what they were singing?
Please check your Street Smarts at the door.
Sept. 17- Zach
So I'm always wandering the streets of Shanghai in a bit of a daze, with my camera, iPod, map, Chinese/English dictionary and cell phone at the ready. The other day I got a rude reminder that all big cities have a few universal rules. One of them is Don't Be Stupid. Basically, I was jammed onto a subway train and left my iPod and cell phone hanging out of the sidepocket, uncovered on my backpack. I've been doing this the entire time we've been in Shanghai. The people here have just been so darn friendly that my guard has been let down. Sure enough, I got smacked upside the head for it. Both my iPod and phone were stolen; I didn't even realize it for another few hours. Luckily it wasn't my wallet, so while it was a costly mistake, it wasn't devastating. I did feel very let down by the Shanghainese for the rest of the day, though. On an interesting side note, my chinese teacher blamed it on rural Chinese hicks, or Thai immigrants, who she claims are all a bunch of criminals. So discrimination is alive and well even over in this part of the world!
So I'm always wandering the streets of Shanghai in a bit of a daze, with my camera, iPod, map, Chinese/English dictionary and cell phone at the ready. The other day I got a rude reminder that all big cities have a few universal rules. One of them is Don't Be Stupid. Basically, I was jammed onto a subway train and left my iPod and cell phone hanging out of the sidepocket, uncovered on my backpack. I've been doing this the entire time we've been in Shanghai. The people here have just been so darn friendly that my guard has been let down. Sure enough, I got smacked upside the head for it. Both my iPod and phone were stolen; I didn't even realize it for another few hours. Luckily it wasn't my wallet, so while it was a costly mistake, it wasn't devastating. I did feel very let down by the Shanghainese for the rest of the day, though. On an interesting side note, my chinese teacher blamed it on rural Chinese hicks, or Thai immigrants, who she claims are all a bunch of criminals. So discrimination is alive and well even over in this part of the world!
Friday, September 16, 2005
anti-Dryer but pro-Pajamas
It's Tiffany again, I thought I'd share a few observations about the cultural differences between China and America I've noticed over the past few weeks:
It seems to be very common to wear pajamas out in the open at any time of day. It's quite entertaining to see people at any time of day on the subway or walking down the street going about their business in full on PJ attire. You've got to give it to them, at least they're ready for a nap at a moment's notice! Pictures of this to follow.........
Clothes dryers don't seem to be 'the Chinese way'. Even though the city air leaves quite a bit to be desired in terms of cleanliness, Chinese people feel the sun 'sanitizes' clothes. As we are in quite a crowded city and few people have yards or balconies to hang their clothes on, you often have to duck when walking down streets to avoid getting hit in the head with a melange of boxers and bras. I haven't gotten the guts to hang our personal items on our balcony yet, as I have nightmares about my underwear being blown about the city. Needless to say, I think we'll choose the 'less sanitizing' option and dry clothes by hanging them inside our apartment.
Considering the lack of modesty displayed by their laundry habits, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that their bathroom habits are also quite 'open'. But I was still surprised when I walked into the ladies' bathroom today and found an older woman sitting on the toilet with the door wide open. I immediately apologized (for what I'm not quite sure) but she just started talking normally and continued to speak to me while I used the other stall (my door closed of course, hers still wide open even while I was washing my hands). My co-workers told me that this is quite normal with the older generations, as they see no real need for privacy and rarely close the door even in public restrooms.
Other things that seem to be different in normal daily life include a lack of ovens, microwaves, and dishwashers. Apparently, they're not big into reheating food unless it's on the stove!
So that's it for now, Happy Moon Festival and have a great weekend!
It seems to be very common to wear pajamas out in the open at any time of day. It's quite entertaining to see people at any time of day on the subway or walking down the street going about their business in full on PJ attire. You've got to give it to them, at least they're ready for a nap at a moment's notice! Pictures of this to follow.........
Clothes dryers don't seem to be 'the Chinese way'. Even though the city air leaves quite a bit to be desired in terms of cleanliness, Chinese people feel the sun 'sanitizes' clothes. As we are in quite a crowded city and few people have yards or balconies to hang their clothes on, you often have to duck when walking down streets to avoid getting hit in the head with a melange of boxers and bras. I haven't gotten the guts to hang our personal items on our balcony yet, as I have nightmares about my underwear being blown about the city. Needless to say, I think we'll choose the 'less sanitizing' option and dry clothes by hanging them inside our apartment.
Considering the lack of modesty displayed by their laundry habits, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that their bathroom habits are also quite 'open'. But I was still surprised when I walked into the ladies' bathroom today and found an older woman sitting on the toilet with the door wide open. I immediately apologized (for what I'm not quite sure) but she just started talking normally and continued to speak to me while I used the other stall (my door closed of course, hers still wide open even while I was washing my hands). My co-workers told me that this is quite normal with the older generations, as they see no real need for privacy and rarely close the door even in public restrooms.
Other things that seem to be different in normal daily life include a lack of ovens, microwaves, and dishwashers. Apparently, they're not big into reheating food unless it's on the stove!
So that's it for now, Happy Moon Festival and have a great weekend!
This is Belinda, another friend from my office. She's native Chinese but studied in Australia so has the coolest Australian/Chinese accent when she speaks english! She refers to herself as the 'office drama queen' and loves picking up english slang from me and Brian (the other American in my office).
Here are a few of my (Tiffany's) friends from work. These are the girls that are fully responsible for navigating me through life in Shanghai. They provide me with lots of mandarin vocabulary, shopping tips and do the majority of my ordering in restaurants. They're great, except for the first 'hazing' day where my lunch included jellyfish and pork blood cubes! Since then, the meals have gotten A LOT better!
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Monday, September 12, 2005
sep 12 - so here's an argument for language study: Today, as usual, I got lost. Unfortunately, as I was trying to meet Tiffany at 6pm (it was 5:57pm), I was in kind of a hurry. Lesson 1: ALWAYS bring a map. I, of course, had left mine at home, confident in my heretofore 7 day crash course on Shanghai navigation. So a very nice Chinese lady gave me the "look", as in "you poor chinese boy who can't speak chinese what is wrong with you boy are you pitiful" look and was trying to help me. It was going nowhere, so I grabbed a random white person walking by and asked if he could help me. The only English he knew was, "I'm sorry, I don't speak English." Lesson 2: All language study is GOOD. He then asked if I spoke French, or how about Spanish? "Yo hablo espanol!" I replied excitedly. Anyhoo, he gave me perfect directions in a jumbled combination of Chinese, Spanish and broken English, and it turns out I was only about 3 blocks away from Tiffany's work. Chalk one up for Piedmont High's Spanish Department!
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Sep 10 (5 of 5) - As well, the locals have been nothing short of saintly in the patience they exhibit with our feeble language abilities. They are always happy and eager to try and help us, and though they might be laughing at us, hey, at least they're laughing. So eventually we always end up getting (sort of) what we were trying for. We might not get the exact food we thought, but we're not starving either. And each little daily task we accomplish becomes cause for celebration! So today when we figured out our hot water heater (ok, so our landlord had to show us), we danced the Dance of Joy for at least 10 minutes! Our level of appreciation for previously-taken-for-granted tasks is at all time highs! The first steps are always the hardest, but we constantly remind ourselves that they are also ultimately the most rewarding. We didn't expect the move to be easy, so now it's just a matter of putting in the hard time. While daunting, our life here improves every day and we are encouraged. I look forward to documenting increasing victories over the next many months, and decreasing frustrations!
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