Shanghai Day 2-3

Yesterday was a busy and fun filled day in Shanghai. We are staying at the faculty club/hotel building of a university (Jiao Tong University) and the facilities are very nice and the meals are buffet style, which is awesome. Yesterday we started off the day with our first Chinese lesson, and had another one today. It's difficult, but I am trying hard to learn, and I am making pretty good progress. Out teacher is Jerry, one of the two student volunteers, and she does a great job (and yes, she knows her English name is a guy's name, but it is a homonym to her Chinese name, so she sticks with it). All of the Chinese people working for CIEE are wonderful, engaging, have spectacular English and have really made us feel welcome. We went to a modern art center, called "Red Town" yesterday, which was very cool. It was a big yard with galleries lining the streets surrounding it, and you can walk in and out of all of the different galleries. Afterward we went to dinner at a delightful vegetarian restaurant, with every type of imitation soy meat imaginable. We walked along most of historic Nanjing Road and headed to the Shanghai Centre Theatre for an acrobatic show, which was amazing and entertaining.
Like many other non-English speaking countries, novelty tees with English phrases are popular here in Shanghai. Two of my favorites so far have been a red white and blue shirt with "Richard Petty for President" worn by a teenage Chinese boy and "I (heart) Naked" in the I (heart) NY design, worn by a Chinese teenager. Today is another beautiful day like yesterday, so hopefully this good weather will continue. The two photos are of the business district, one from atop the JinMao tower and one from the street.

Shanghai, Day 1

Well, we arrived safely (if not eight hours delayed) to Pudong National Airport in Shanghai, China. We were met by cheery CIEE student assistants Karry and Jerry (their English names). They spoke great English and helped us to a bus and to the hotel. They even gave us some delightful pastry treats because of our long journey. That was midnight on Sunday, and now it's eight am on Tuesday. David and I just enjoyed a delightful jog around the campus of the college where we are staying. Let me tell you, the Chinese elderly love doing some tai chi in public parks about as much as US elderly love to vote and complain about their local preacher. Yesterday was full of English teaching training sessions, unbelievably good food at the all you can eat cafeteria (just like the one at TU, except no soft serve). First time in my life I had beef and noodles for breakfast, but it was great. We also took a trek to the Shanghai Museum with our group and skedaddled up to the top of Jin Mao Tower, the fourth tallest building in the world. It was unreal, Shanghai is unlike any other city I have ever seen. There are so, so, so many skyscrapers. They are incredibly tall and quite modern looking. The Huang Pu river, which cuts through the city, is full of raw materials barges, not just tourist boats like other major cities. With over 20 million residents if migrant workers are included, it is just plain giant. It was cloudy, but the views were still mesmerizing. After this, we headed to a Uighur restaurant. The Uighurs (weegurs) are the Turkic/Chinese Muslim ethic group which lives in NW China, in the Xinjiang province. The food was delicious and plentiful, and the dancing and music was very enjoyable. I'll try to post again soon.

Leaving on a jet plane

Well, I guess tomorrow is the day when I supposedly start off my journey into the "real world." I leave tomorrow for Shanghai, where I will be for a week of training before I head to Changzhou, (just up the Yangtze River from Shanghai) to teach at Jiangsu Teacher's University of Technology. I am in Chicago now with a friend I met studying in Spain and just got back from my first major league baseball game (at none other than Wrigley Field). I am not sure when I will next be able to post, but will do so as soon as I can.