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.