Man, I forgot how hard blog posts are. I've been not posting for so long, where do I start?
Well, maybe with China.
Unless you've been living under a rock, you probably know where I am. For the past month I've been living in Shanghai, a block away from East China Normal University, where I take classes every day of the work week. I start with breakfast-- usually a red bean roll and scrambled eggs. I pack a lunch (PBJ sandwich. The food isn't super great on campus, and makes me take more than one trip to the bathroom) and a banana as a snack. Then I walk twenty minutes to class. It's a five minute walk to campus, but the campus is rather larger. From 8:30 to 12:00, I take either a reading, listening, or speaking course, taught entirely in Chinese. I am the only American in my class, which is filled with Italians, Koreans, a few Japanese, a French guy, an English guy, and me!
At 10AM we get a break, which is when I eat the banana, and I talk to Nina, who is not only my roommate, but taking the same level as me. It makes studying a lot easier.
Then, it's back to class until 12. Nina eats lunch on campus, so I join her with my packed lunch and sometimes get some tea. Plum is my favorite. Ice is in short supply, but the tea is sweet, iced, and has little chunks of plum in it. Very refreshing in the summer.
Then we walk home together, figuring out our plans for the day. Sometimes we'll stay home and study in the living room, with the TV blubbing Chinese in the background. Sometimes we'll go to a cafe, hoping that the wifi is good enough to use. I'll usually stay home though-- cafe coffee can get expensive and isn't quite as good as the instant stuff I make at home.
Grocery shopping has been an adventure. The food is so weird here-- not bad, but different. Most things I'm used to making at home I have no idea how to recreate here. The cooking style and flavors are so different. Last night, however, I made curry, and it was delicious. The vegetables at the grocery are really cheap, too. So is the rice-- you just have to get someone else to help you carry it home.
In the late afternoon or evening I'll study, read on my kindle, do laundry, or watch some of the TV or movies I brought with me. I've been reading a lot more since I've been here, since it doesn't require wifi like most things.
I've been to most of the big places to see in Shanghai: the Pearl, the bund, the French Concession, the financial district. I've stopped to look in designer malls filled with beautiful art, I've traveled through a metro station decorated solely with glowing, fluttering butterflies. I've bought masks for the pollution, then found cute ones that are made to match your outfit. I've become accustomed to the hard beds; every time I lay down, my back pops. I hang my clothes outside to dry, push my way through crowded streets, and wander the streets exploring with my roommates.
So far, it's been an adventure. For so long, China has almost been such a distant thing to me. It's always just been a concept in my college career. China. Just a word.
Being here is a different world.
