I'm back from a stressful week and long weekends. In my International Relations class I had my midterm, which consisted of an 8-page paper, my first in 6 months or something. It was surprisingly difficult and therefore highly irritating. But I think I did well.
Last weekend, I went with my friends Phoebe and Fiona to a small canal town called Qibao (Chee bawe). It is a touristy destination but small enough to retain some charm. We were the only white people there and we did some wandering into very, very Chinese areas.
It was good to take some time wandering the greater area of Shanghai because it has some incredible things to offer. It was truly an adventure because we took public transportation the whole time, meaning we of course had a lot of trouble finding anything and most Chinese people pretend not to understand us when we ask for directions. Also, you are definitely not guaranteed to get correct directions.
Just this past weekend, CIEE took a group of us to Suzhou, the "Venice of the East," which is about 40 minutes out of Shanghai. After not sleeping the night before, our 7am departure was somewhat devastating to my brain. However, they took us many neat places including a garden, a silk factory, and a shopping street. We also got to go on a nice river cruise to our lunch destination.
Instead of returning with the bus to ECNU, a group of us decided to stay the night in Suzhou at a hostel. After much ado about something, we finally found an adorable place called the Suzhou Watertown Hostel. We were split up into many different rooms but we ended up taking off for dinner right away. We ate dinner at a delicious fusion restaurant and celebrated Anna's 21st birthday by walking about million miles to an Australian bar.
Suzhou is a pretty town, especially along the canal at night. There were even fireflies!
My night would have been complete when I went to bed early, until my stranger roommates burst in at 1am and turned on the light to make their beds. It was a complete breach of hostel etiquette and I was so incensed that I just curled up in a ball silently. I was too tired to do anything else. They were very quiet the next morning, especially the strange Chinese person that wrapped themselves up like a mummy on the bunk next to me.
The next day we decided to go to Hangzhou via bus. Buying bus tickets may have been the most irritating experience of my life. Many Chinese have an interesting method of dealing with foreigners. Instead of listening to my fairly intelligible Chinese, he stared blankly at me as I explained we needed 11 tickets.
Me: "We want the bus to Hangzhou at 1:20pm."
Him: "Okay." (pulls it up on the computer screen)
Me: "Okay we need 11 tickets."
Him: "What?"
Me: "11 tickets."
Him: "What?"
Meghan: "11 tickets."
Him: "What?"
Chinese guy behind us: "11 TICKETS!"
Him: "Oh, okay."
Because I'm not a wizard, I can't read minds, so I have no idea what is going through people's heads when they refuse to hear what I'm saying. I am aware that I don't speak the best in the world, but I also know that if it is simple enough, I am saying it correctly. I think most people are lazy and just don't want to try. That said, we got on the bus to Hangzhou.
Once there, we popped over to West Lake and saw about one hundred billion police and army cadets. Nina overheard someone say "fireworks" so I asked a policeman when the fireworks were. He told us and I got super excited because I LOVE FIREWORKS. ESPECIALLY CHINESE ONES! We decided to find a hostel and then eat and watch the show.
Little did we know that the Hangzhou Expo was going on that night so there were absolutely no rooms available. We pick one night to hang out in Hangzhou unplanned, and of course it is the "Hangzhou Expo," whatever that is. We spent the next 2 hours calling for cheap hotels. Just as I brandished my large sword to kill some of our group members, we found a hotel outside of the city center.
From the 21st floor of the hotel, I could see about 10 different fireworks displays: one on the West Lake, one on the river right in front of the hotel, one to the left of the hotel in a park, and about 5 others down the river to the right. It was probably the most incredible thing I've ever seen. The show lasted for 45 minutes.
You know how in the States we say "Oh it's the finale now!" when it gets very loud and colorful? That's how a Chinese fireworks show is THE ENTIRE TIME. I was completely overstimulated but it truly made my night.
Scooter alarms set off: 5
Chinese proficiency: I talked to a Chinese cab driver on the phone to give him an address and it worked! Crazy!
love,
ellen
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