我们都是老悍妇

We are all dragons. Or at least I like to think so. The disappointment of leaving China on Saturday is beginning to set in, and my mood today, as a result, has been down and edgy. On the bright side, it was another beautiful day in Shanghai, and the past couple of days have been filled with adventure. // Our field trip to Shanghai Pudong on Tuesday was met with strange feelings- the place is so modern, so new, and seemingly so fake, that it felt entirely phony. I felt very peculiar driving through one of the living districts and seeing the segregated school communities (based on nationality). However, the buildings are big and all contain very cool, very interesting architectural motifs. Amongst our stops were: Pudong development headquarters; performance arts building; drive by Pearl Tower; and a brief outside view of the Pudong Museum of Science and Technology. The latter was so cool that a big group of us skipped Tai Chi class yesterday to visit it, and it was absolutely fucking cool. // The tickets were a mere 60 kuai, and frankly the Museum was cooler than any I've seen in the US. Although the Museum is clearly targeted to middle and high school students (obvious from exhibit information matter and the dozens of students in matching tracksuits we saw roaming around), some information was thorough and rather advanced. There were many separate exhibits, my favorites including: space, robots, insects, spiders, and the rain forest. The Museum is huge, and as Zach and Richard put it, "makes Epcot look sad." Anyway, the Museum was awesome and informative. A certain cute robot drew my picture from a photo I had taken, though somehow I lost this on my way back to my room. Maybe it slipped out of my bag once I had my hands full with bubble tea and rice cakes. I also had to practically yell at a man trying to sell me watches on the street in front of the Museum entrance! He just wouldn't listen to my polite refusals, and when I rose my voice, he said, "What? Don't want? I will love you much!" Strange. And incidentally this did not change my mind. // Later last night, David, Richard, and I witnessed a lot of old people dancing to really bad 90's pop in a little square. I wanted to participate, but my presence was already winning me awkward glances. There's one aspect of difference I am tired of- as Noah eloquently stated it: "In Tianjin, I felt like I was just something interesting to look at, but here in Shanghai, I feel like people keep trying to take advantage of me." This is, of course, an over-generalized statement, but it holds true. // I have been wanting to see a movie in theatres here, but I'm waiting for home to see Quantum of Solace (though it was out here earlier), so my choices are rather limited. Maybe I'll go later tonight before I review for our "final" tomorrow. // Tomorrow we will celebrate the end of the program with a mid-day banquet, so I plan to wear one of my qipaos (旗袍) in honor of the trip and all that I've gotten to experience and learn. I'm collecting pictures tonight from everyone, and likely I'll be obligated to give another speech (in Chinese, of course) tomorrow. I'm glad my class has had a serious teacher here in Shanghai- I feel prepared and have gotten to prove that I did, indeed, learn a lot in Tianjin. Tonight I plan to start packing up all of my souvenirs, which will surely be a bit of a sad yet exciting event. I think that once Saturday rolls around, I'll feel prepared to leave; until then, though, there's small disparity between wanting to stay and my eagerness to leave. No, I think I'm ready- I just can't believe it went by so fast. I knew it would. // But, being a dragon, it won't be hard to come back.

我对中国有深的感情；我已经想中国

I already miss China. Since Friday, however, a lot of neat things have happened. First of all, I finally racked up the nerve to get my hair cut here- and it was quite the success! In fact, it's the best cut I've ever had, and it only cost me 80 kuai. I went to this fancy salon inside the mall outside of Shanghai University's campus and received quite the treatment: a 20 minute shampooing/head massage; a 1 hour cut; free, unlimited hot tea; fashion magazines; and the Creative Director, who despite having to cut my unfamiliar (in comparison to Asian hair, obviously) hair, was very cool and quite charming. It was worth every yuan and frankly much more. Look look! I'll miss having this only a 10-15 minute walk away. Saturday was a very, very early day (7.30am-9.00pm). We took a field trip to Hangzhou (about 3 hours or so away) to mainly see some beautiful scenery (where the picture is from, in fact), pretty gardens, visit the China National Silk Museum, and visit a tea house. All of these destinations were very interesting, although the weather was terrible as I recall it. In fact, today was the first partly sunny day this part of Shanghai has seen in the past 5 or 6 days, and recently it has started getting pretty chilly. This has "allowed" me to spend yet more money on clothing items that were just too cool to deny myself. However, I have been rather frustrated at the fact that I cannot find any boots that fit- my feet are too big, and every time I run into a store frantically asking "有没有41号的？” ("Do you have size 41 in boots?"), I am met with apologies and sometimes laughter. Oh well- I need the space in my suitcase anyway, I guess. Anyway, the trip on Saturday endured stinky weather, but I absolutely loved the National Silk Museum. I have still been putting off seeing "Wushu" in the People's Square theatre until tomorrow night, since we have an essay due tomorrow and had an oral presentation on 《西游记》(Journey to the West) today. Yesterday (Sunday), Richard, David, and I went to the cultural market area for about four hours and managed to pick up some really neat trinkets, some souvenirs, etc. At night, the entire place is lit up by lights and is quite pretty. Today, we went to another tea house near campus and got to watch slightly interesting presentations on how to brew the main teas here in China (green, red, black, and yellow). The tea was so delicious. Our translator today had the most interesting accent- he claimed he has never traveled outside of China, yet when he spoke English, he spoke with an English accent! He must've had an English teacher while growing up, because the accent was uncanny and hilarious. Afterwards, I explored around the campus' outskirts and waited out until evening finishing up my paper. Dinner was spent with Richard, Trey, Lydia, and Zach at the very hip, very expensive "Blue Frog", but Richard was kind enough to buy me a veggie burger because I'm so damn stingy here. Then, bubble tea for dessert, which has also become an integral part of lunch and late breakfasts. I mean, I won't be getting the real stuff back home! And now it's starting to hit me- I'm leaving in five days. Five days. Should I be excited? Naturally I am, but I have grown attached here in many ways, and very much like the person I have become here. Of course I can bring this transformation home with me- but it is quite Daoist and little bit Confucian, and I'm not sure how that will fit with my American lifestyle. In any case, the return home is approaching fast, and I'm frantically trying to squeeze as much in now as possible. At least I'm well this week and have the energy to do so! Tomorrow, we take yet another field trip. We're going to Pudong, which is a big, very new portion of Shanghai that in fact has the airport from which I depart on Saturday morning. It is supposed to be quite cool; I've seen it, but only at night across the river from Bund Road, when it was rainy and foggy. I can't believe how quickly time has gone by. I knew this would happen- but at least I didn't let it pass by without doing things and seeing even more. I've seen quite a new world, and though I'm a little sad to leave, I will always live partly here. What a world- the life of variety. Poor against privileged (which is quite more evident here in Shanghai than in the northern regions in which we lived); differing dialects ranging across miles; dirty cities and breathtaking mountains...it all dwells here. I like to think of China as a patchwork throw.