Busy, Busy, Busy!

The last couple weeks have been such a whirlwind! My parents have been here since April 15th and we have been going non-stop. I have LOTS to blog about but have no time! I will try to get updated in the next few days. I leave for Germany for a friend's wedding on Saturday so will hopefully have a lot of time on the plane to write. Here are some highlights though:

Group lunch with my Ayi (housekeeper)- menu features include Chicken feet (!), some sort of crunchy, mini lake-shrimp and questionable tofu. Nonetheless it was wonderful and I served as interpreter for our group of 5. Hmm....

Hangzhou- beautiful lakes outside of Shanghai but sadly interrupted when our minivan driver hit a woman in the street (she ended up just having minor injuries). That brings my car accident total while in China to 3 in less than 3 months!

Xishuangbanna (Yunnan Province, Southern China)- Quite possibly one of the most diverse and interesting places I have ever been. Xishuangbanna (she-shwang-ban-Na) is in the southern province of Yunnan near the Thai, Laos and Burmese borders. The region is home to many minority people of China and, like Tibet, is an Autonomous region but that is where the similarities end.

Much more to come!!

-Nicole

Back from Spring Break

I never thought I'd ever see another Spring Break again but so goes my life as a born-again student. For the holiday last week, a few friends and I went to Sanya on Hainan Island off the coast of Southern China. This may be the most beautiful place you've never heard of. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Resort in the pristine Yalong Bay (The Ritz isn't completed yet otherwise I would have been there ;) and had the place almost to ourselves. It actually was a really nice resort right on the water with beautifully landscaped grounds and a fantastic pool. I was immensely satisfied.

Many call Sanya the Hawaii of China and while it is just as beautiful it still lacks the development and amenities of Hawaii. I'd equate it more to Cabo although surprisingly it doesn't seem to be inundated with development. I guess that's a good thing and quite unusual for China but basically there is NOTHING to do besides lay out on the beach during the day and eat at night. Which suited me juuuust fine for the first 3 days but after that I started to get island fever. There was a street of clubs that we tried out as the only non-Chinese patrons. It was interesting but definitely a different scene than we are used to and we weren't in the mood for a loud club nor the clown in the corner behind us constantly blowing a whistle and making balloon animals (I kid you not!). So each night we ended up at Rainbow Bar (a rainbow apparently has no significance here); a nice enough bar w/ a pool table as its saving grace but nonetheless a knock off of TGIFridays. The owner, American of course, even went so far as to copy the menu verbatim complete with a Jack Daniel's Grill section. I love that I couldn't even tell you where a Fridays is in LA or SF but I've now been to 3 in China (NOT by my choice). So anyway, Sanya was nice but I recommend 3 days max. My parents (who arrive today!!) want to go so I am going to strategically plan a quick trip right before I go to Germany in early May for the wedding to maximize my tan :)

I was able to catch CNN while in Sanya which happened to be the same time the Olympic torch was going through Europe and on its way to San Francisco. I don't get CNN at home in Shanghai so I was an eager viewer at all hours. What was interesting was the contrast in CNN's reporting to The China Daily, China's national English language paper and supported by the government. All CNN reported was the turmoil the protesters were causing for the torch procession while the China Daily's headline read, "Olympic Torch Receives Warm Reception in Chilly London" (London had near zero temps that week). There was one line about protesters trying to disrupt the relay but it was handled swiftly by Olympic organizers. CNN even did a clip about The China Daily trying to sugarcoat the protests. It was quite humorous to read. I will write a separate post about the Olympics, Tibet, etc and the sentiment here in China since quite a few people have been asking me about it.

So that was my Spring Break. I'm really embracing this student life and think I may try to make a career out of it :)

A girl can dream can't she??

Assimilation Day

I've been living a good life here in Shanghai and not missing too many of the conveniences from home besides maybe breathable air. This status quo lifestyle has been enabled by good (Western) restaurants, good (Western) shopping and good (Western) friends. I even managed to meet a couple former Bruins -one of whom lives 2 blocks from where I used to live in SF!- in my quest to find the UCLA game live of which I was successful (much like UCLA :). So life is good. Great actually. But after a 60 Yuan ($8.50) sub-par latte and a disappointing shopping trip to H&M I decided it was time to shed my Western dependencies and get down and dirty with the Chinese way (to a certain degree of course). It didn't help that my former, not old, boss (he doesn't like the word "old" and I know he reads this) was in Shanghai this week and berated me for not hanging out with more Chinese friends and practicing mandarin with them.

"I didn't learn English by hanging out with German friends when I went to college in the in the US"
-Tom

So today became ASSIMILATION DAY!
After class I took public transportation, well a cab to get to the metro first but beside the point, to the fabric market (LA's fashion district- in one building- on crack) to get a dress I have been eying in Vogue for some time made. After picking out the most gorgeous deep purple silk I bartered with my tailor to get the dress down to just under $50 by telling her I live in Shanghai and will tell all my friends to come to her if she gives me a fair price. AND I did everything in Chinese. Even when they tried speaking English I responded in Chinese. Yay me! Unfortunately, by the time you read this it will probably be just over $50 with the way the dollar is sinking.

I then headed back to my 'hood for some lunch. On the way I realized I should probably get my shoes re-heeled. Why not just buy new shoes?? Well any rational person would have brought comfortable walking shoes when moving to a foreign country right? Being the often irrational person that I am I only brought heels, running shoes and flip-flops and this particular pair are my absolute favorite b/c they are just the right amount of broken in and comfy. And I think sneakers make me look like a man. Anyway, I digress. So where do you got to get your heels re-heeled? On the street of course. Many quick services are performed on the street here such as key cutting, bike repair, shoe repair, etc. So I sat down, gave the man my shoe and he was off. My friend Steven walked by with a look of concern and asked what I was doing. When I explained he asked if they were any good. They're the best. I figured these are basically the same guys I went to in SF without the overhead costs of Embarcadero Center or Union Street rent. All in all it took about 7 minutes and $1.50 and my heels are as good as new.

Feeling pretty hungry by now I headed to a fantastic wonton place my language partner Fang Fang had taken me to the week earlier. The place is about the size of a walk-in closet with only 12 seats and is the Chinese version of "fast-food" sans trans fat, sugar and super-size options. There is, however, a dish of MSG on the table should you be so inclined. Not necessary. The woman remembered me from last time (for obvious reasons) and immediately started my order only because last time Fang Fang told her I am a vegetarian and they only have one vegetarian dumpling filled with 3 different kinds of mushrooms and something green on the menu out of about 40 options. They came out a few minutes later in a delicious broth and I sat in the shop by myself happily slurping away the yumminess. That's right slurping. The thing about China is that they are free from the confinements of tact and manners. So slurp away I did and chatted , kind of , with the shop owners (I really was the only one in there). I'm pretty proud of myself today I must say :)



BTW: in honor of Assimilation Day I was also in my first Chinese car accident. More of a fender bender really. I'm actually surprised it's taken this long to happen since it's rare that I drive on the highway and not see an accident. I'm not sure what happened b/c I was reading my magazine in the backseat when my head surged into the back of the front seat. Naturally there was a tv in the back of the seat, to NOT cushion the impact, (the Chinese never miss an opportunity for advertisements) and my forehead got intimate with it. But again it was just a little bump. I couldn't help but think, "Where's Larry H. Parker when you need him?" JK :) (I hope those outside of LA know who I'm talking about). My driver got out and, clearly being the one at fault, tried to assure the other taxi driver we hit that there was no damage and all was ok. He kept patting him on the back and smiling and after about 2 mins we were back on our way. No exchange of numbers or insurance info just in case. He, I believe, is the Chinese version of a Smooth Talker.