Today, I was Frodo.

Indeed, I bore the ring- that is, a container of the most disgusting tofu I've ever encountered in my life. At lunch, I decided to get my own vegetarian meal instead of sharing food with others (and granted, I am kind of sick again, so it was a kind gesture), and the move totally backfired. I can't explain how awful this tofu was. Zach suggested it smelled like rotting fish sitting on top of a pile of poop. My worst fears of its taste were met, for it tasted like it smelled; apparently, most Chinese really like this taste, and even have the same reaction to our lovely American cheeses. In any case, to save my disappointment, Fred, Alan, John, and I saved the tofu and played some pranks on some of the other kids. Ben has no idea that a piece is sitting behind his toilet; Grace doesn't know a piece is sitting in her clothes drawer; and Trey couldn't even reach the pieces on top of his door. Can't wait to hear about smelly rooms! Other than this incident, however, Shanghai is awesome! I've waited until now to post about it mainly because I wanted a lot to say, and also because I've felt kind of terrible until now to take the time and energy to write about things. My post-Tibet cold has turned into bad congestion but likely not fever! I think it's the air again, but it's worth enduring. Having internet in my single has been nice but spoiling, though I am very much enjoying the privacy away from crowds and mingling. But what's important are the events I have done since my arrival from Lhasa on Sunday, so I'll start from the beginning. Aside from exploring the perimeters of Shanghai University and going to class, I have been doing lots of subway-traveling and window shopping (things are a bit more expensive here, though I've splurged here and there). Our Monday night trip to Bund Road was fabulous, although rainy, and seeing the bigger parts of the city is always a blast. People's Square is also very, very big, and very, very expensive, but both times I've been I have managed to find little interesting things to mark the memory. People's Square has a big theatre at which I hope to go see "Wushu" this weekend. I considered going to Shanghai Zoo as well, but I've heard questionable information about the living conditions of the animals there. Poor little things. Tuesday afternoon was by far one of the more aggravating afternoons of the entire trip (since September). Again, the group thought we were going to Tongji University to learn about the development of Shanghai, but instead we sat in a classroom full of German students from Kassel Universität and were lectured for over an hour about Expo. As in, the world fair. It's coming to Shanghai in 2010, and after a while I finally realized what the heck it is! I'll admit without embarrassment that I had no idea what Expo was, considering America has stopped such activity since the 1920's. A certain German boy was being very arrogant and accusing our group of being typical, ignorant Americans! As a result I couldn't be nice to him. Anyway, after enduring this surprising event, we went to the People's Square area to see the exhibition on World Expo, which was kind of interesting, but even now I have no clue why we were there in the first place. On a brighter note, dinner afterwards was delicious, and at a shop a lady was so surprised that I was able to understand and communicate with her! This was another moment when I was on the hunt for a pair of boots; this is the one item I really want very badly, but alas my feet are too big, and I am having trouble finding a pair I like in my size for a reasonable price (women's shoes, and boots in particular, are especially pricey in Shanghai. And by "pricey", I mean American prices.). At least food is relatively cheap and great. And, in accordance with Tuesday night's/Wednesday morning's big event, Richard and I went to a "Japanese" restaurant in a tourist attractive area and overate in celebration of Obama's presidential victory. I must say, I'm quite pleased! I was fortunate to have my own announcer and updater during the event (thank you, Andrew). I think the meal ended up costing me 10 American dollars, which was quite the investment, but I believe it was for a good cause. This afternoon, for Zhao's Chinese Civilization class, we went to Shanghai Museum to browse bronzes, jades, calligraphy, painting, furniture, ceramics, and sculpture. This was such a fun trip, being an art historian! It was neat to see so many ancient, famous works inches away. As always, I took over a hundred pictures. The Museum is China's best museum, and I can surely understand why. There were even Western toilets and toilet paper and an automatic hand dryer in the bathrooms! Of course, just a reminder of home was nothing like stepping into one of the Starbuck's here- it was too scary to buy anything. The culture is quite different here in the southern part of China, in addition to the accent. I've had one street seller already mock me when I rebuffed his advances, and have encountered many circumstances where communicating is a little difficult due to pronunciation. In general, the people here are very nice, but I have not been here long enough to decide if it's "better" or more personally preferable to the northern areas (like Tianjin). I apologize for the lack of structure to this post, but it's late, and I must sleep a little before my quiz in the morning. I promise to write more frequently for the next...8 days. Oh my god it's almost over!

On Each Block Stand Chinese soldiers with AK-47s

Thursday (10/30) was mostly spent in the van driving (8 hour trip total). We left bright and early to see Yam Drak Tso Lake, stopping first to view and take pictures of Brahmaputra River. The latter is really pretty, but does not compare to Yam Drak Tso Lake. The Lake surrounds an island of mountains, and when the weather is sunny and bright, it's easy to see its crisp turquoise hue (and the reflection of the towering mountains). It is no surprise, then, that it has the nickname "The Turquoise Lake". I didn't think that after Tuesday, I would see more scenery that I would deem the most beautiful, but Yam Drak Tso Lake ties with the snowy Himalayas. I stole some rocks from the "shoreline" to bring home, which are all different and interesting. The scenery in Tibet is almost too beautiful to fathom; when a day was over, I would look through and edit the pictures I had taken, and could hardly believe I had actually been there. Being present felt unworldly yet natural. It's hard to explain-just believe me, Tibet is gorgeous. Of course, I cannot forget our second stop on our last day in Tibet, which was Kharola Glacier, which soared at an altitude of 5560m. This was the first glacier I had ever seen, and it was so neat. The families living around the area were hard to watch; their poor lifestyles and shivering (and some sick) children were difficult things to accept, especially when I was walking around with a camera, nice jacket, new shoes, new bag, and a wallet holding a few 100 kuai bills. It just blows my mind that such people are and have been able to survive just hard conditions. They have more courage than I. Between the two sites was lunch, and we ate in the town where the 5th Dalai Lama's mother was born. I believe it stands at about 4000m. The meal was delicious, and we met some French tourists who looked unbelievably French. The evening was spent buying last minute souvenirs, eating a quick dinner, and trying my best to use the internet, which was quite unsuccessful. I let my aggravation escalate, then eventually calmed down, so that I could enjoy my last night (possibly ever) in Tibet. For the 51 hour train ride to Shanghai, I bought lots of fruit, and had a lovely conversation with the seller about my having an American boyfriend, not having a Chinese boyfriend, and that 他可能是我的 (he maybe could be my Chinese boyfriend). His wife sat to the side, just laughing and laughing. It made me realize how many wonderful people here I had spoken to, and that hopefully, even if just through buying their goods, I had helped them out.

Peeing In A Holy Hole

Wednesday (10/29) was more laid back; we toured Potala Palace and NorbulingKa (the Dalai Lama's Summer Palace), followed by more Tibetan food and shopping. Potala Palace was a bit expensive to tour, but it is HUGE and absolutely stupefying. We only toured a little of it since most of it was not publicly open, but we got to see parts of both its Red and White palaces. The inside was just beautiful. Amongst the neat things we got to see were: the 5th-13th Dalai Lamas' tombs, which are giant golden stupas. The 5th Dalai Lama's was by far the largest, and is in fact the biggest golden stupa in the entire world! Interestingly, the 5th Dalai Lama's tomb is the only one to contain his actual bodily remains; the 6th-13th Dalai Lamas were all cremated, so their ashes sit in mandorla-shaped crevices atop the stupas. In addition, the 5th Dalai Lama's tomb has a very, very precious white stone (even more so than the others) that is believed to have been removed from an elephant's brain-how this is possible, I am not sure. We saw many study rooms, bed rooms, libraries, holy bathrooms, etc. and many, many, many precious relics. A statue of Tsongkapa and four mandalas were also a huge highlights for me. I just love the smell of incense and the yak butter candle tubs. I am so lucky to have gotten to see it! After lunch, we headed to NorbulinKa, a trip which happened to fall on the sunniest, warmest (as in 40 degrees) part of the day. Though we didn't see much of the inside of the buildings, we got to see the woody and lake areas. There is not much to say about it except it is beautiful, and in my opinion it is the prettiest of the Summer Palaces we have toured on this trip. I saw some ducks, a strange deer, and again more interesting relics, architecture, and artwork. The architecture differed from all other palaces, monasteries, nunneries, or temples that we have seen in that there was a clear fusion of Western motifs with that of Tibetan, including some radios and stereos that we gifts of Russian and Indian leaders, respectively. Other room set-ups included Western style beds and mirrors. One story I recall vividly from NorbulingKa is Doorjee's explanation of the Tibetan creation story-that basically Tibetans believe that they are descendants of monkeys, and eventually humans came about from a meditative monkey that wed, after time, a deity. The rest of the story involves details about their six children that I can't quite recall. I spent the evening buying some trinkets, which was fun and difficult, because bargaining is not the easiest thing to do. However, I consider myself to have been successful, and I got to practice speaking more. One lady complimented me on how nice I am. While everyone I meet is wonderful and sweet, the prices are higher than expected (especially for food and touring tickets), so I've spent more money in Tibet already than I ever imagined. But, what the hell-when will I ever be back here? And, no, peeing in the Potala WC's ("bathrooms" dating from 17th century) is not fun. It's disgusting, but at least I can say I did it.