Days 59-60: Taipei, Part One

So we flew to Taipei on Thursday (Oct. 26).  Kerry just made it with the visa requirement, leaving China on his 59th day in the country (he had to leave by Day 60).  The airport checked our bags all the way to Taipei, and we got good food on the flight again. However, on the first flight (Shanghai Hongqiao to Ximen) Kerry and I had to sit behind each other in aisle seats, and I'm not a fan of aisle seats. Fortunately, on the second flight (Ximen to Taipei), an older woman asked us if I'd switch seats with her, and I did gladly because she had a window seat. On this second flight, we noticed a lot of people with shaved heads--even the women-and debated as to whether they were Buddhists or Hare Krishnas.  They seemed very kind and peaceful and kept smiling at us. The cab driver dropped us off at this busy area, where it said "Lane 114," and motioned to us to walk down the alley and we'd find the hotel. We were skeptical but did find it. It was called the Via Hotel, and we had to walk upstairs, through a little shopping mall, in order to get to it. The lobby was decorated for Halloween, they had lots of free snacks for guests, and the desk clerk (Chris) spoke perfect English. Remarkable!  After we got settled, we went to forage for food. We found a chicken place, where we ordered a popcon chicken and squid combo.  I had the squid and Kerry had most of the chicken. We were in the Ximending--Ximen district--a loud, busy shopping area, with lots of food and shopping and colored lights. But it was amazing! It reminded me a bit of Times Square in NYC.  We strolled around a bit, and I bought a stuffed panda in the stuffed animal store (I think the third or fourth I've bought so far). We turned in soon after, as I had to go lecture and give the workshop the next day.

Friday, the next day, I went to National Taiwan Normal University. Initially, I caught a cab and had the cabbie drop me off at a Starbucks on Shiba Road, where I met Brena, the professor of the class with the lecture. I lectured to some MA students on "Writing and Literature: What Works? What Doesn't?" During the lecture, I mostly talked about how to write an effective literary analysis essay; I talked a lot about the essay writing process. The students were attentive, took notes, and asked some good questions. We were in a seminar room, with about 11 students, not a lecture hall, so that surprised me a bit. After the lecture, I went back to the Starbucks and ordered a pork and cheese sandwich and an iced black tea.  Then I went strolling around Shiba Road for awhile. My purchases were minimal--I really didn't see much of anything exciting to shop for.  A lot of pharmacies and restaurants. Went back to the Starbucks, and I had a couple students (Gillian and Joyce) pick me up and take me to my second event, a "workshop" for students. However, the "workshop" was more of a lecture, ironically. I went over four select papers with the class as a whole, and we discussed the merits of each, and what needed improvement.  So it was like a whole class discussion rather than the peer review groups that I'm used to at home. Still, the students talked to me after class. One--Herbert--even asked me to review something that he wrote. As we left the classroom, I left my suit jacket in there, and Iping, the professor, and to find someone to open the door. Security is uber-tight at that school: teachers and professors need to enter classrooms with cards, and the light in the hallway was completely out after my workshop.  I'm not sure why.  Brena and Iping treated me to dinner at a nice out-of-the-way cafe within walking distance of the campus. I had beer-battered chicken, greens, white radish soup, and cabbage, cooked by a buzz-haired female chef who brought the food out almost immediately.  I even imbibed coffee (black) afterwards, which I almost never do.  Iping asked me a lot of questions about the benefits of my Fulbright. When I told her what they provide, she kept exclaiming, "Lord Jesus!"  Example: "They provide your language lessons?  Lord Jesus!"  I thought this was amusing.  Iping reminds me of Xuewei a bit--older Asian woman, very kind and nice. Brena is younger, just starting at NTNU as a professor.  They told me that they want to invite me back for gender studies work, and I'd love to go.  Then they put me in a cab and sent me back to the hotel. In the evening, Kerry and I walked around the shopping district a bit more, purchasing a few things--lots of gifts for others back home! Before the evening ended, we went to our first gay bar in China: a bear bar called "Bear Junkies." We just happened to find it by chance. The food wasn't great, but it was a cozy place--tables and such--with stuffed bears all over.  Pretty much all Asians; I think one group of Englishmen/Aussies came in at one point.  We just hung out and had chicken fingers/nuggets and drinks. After that, we headed home.

Here are some Taiwan pics:

Ximending, a great shopping district.

Iping (left) and Brena (right).

Another city view!

Our first bear bar in China!

Days 53-58: Adventures with Peter, School Disappointments, and Prep for Taiwan

I know I've been slacking off in my blog entries a bit lately...I haven't written in several days.  But basically over the last six days, three major things have happened: fun with Peter Christianson, a fellow prof at SISU; some major school-related disappointments; and getting ready to go to Taiwan.

So Friday and Saturday Kerry and I spent a lot of time with Peter Christianson, who offered to take us on a couple excursions of the city. Friday he took us to Sanguantang Temple, a Buddhist temple about a 20-minute walk from us.  What an experience that was!  The temples were beautiful, the smell of incense pervaded the air, and the golden Buddha statues shimmered.  We could hear women chanting prayers and saw Buddhist monks.  Near the end, we got to eat a noodle bowl with vegetables.  ("Ask for extra vegetables," Peter advised.  We got more that way.)  The noodles also included vegetarian meatballs. Huge bowls of food that we couldn't finish and had to take home: only 10 RMB ($1.50) each!!  Saturday Peter took us to Jiashan Market, an open-air market run by many ex-pat Westerners in Shanghai. Lots of amazing food: brownies, pumpkin soup, cheesecake (for Kerry).  The highlight for me was the Lebanese food stand.  They sold shwarma platters with tabbouleh and hummus.  Plus we bought some hummus and Lebanese cheese to take home!  Amazing stuff! We took a taxi to the market--Peter shared the cost--and Kerry and I managed to get one back as well (although the first taxi wouldn't take us, for some reason).

Here are some pics of our weekend adventures:

Peter, Kerry, and me in front of the temple we visited.

The temple we visited with Peter in Shanghai.

Monks at the temple.

Jiashan Market, Shanghai.

Shwarma wrap, with hummus and tabbouleh, Jiashan Market food!

Sunday was a bit of a disappointment. I found out that Nanjang Normal University didn't want me to come this semester after all. I should have suspected as much when I didn't hear from them for over three weeks. They did give me a vague invitation for next term, but I'm still miffed.  On a weird side note: we had McDonald's delivered for the first time in Shanghai--our first "take out" meal.  They had a "double" Filet-O-Fish, which was pretty good, and a "Taro Pie," instead of the regular apple or cherry one.  Kerry liked their BLT burger (no cheese); he didn't care for the sundae, though--I think it was "yunyuang" (sp?) flavor.  When Kerry and I were looking at the English translations of menu items, one read "Chicken Chicken Box (with really big chicken)".  I thought this was amusing.

Monday, things got even more insane.  The day started weird: I forgot my lunch. While my classes were great, I was suddenly told (via WeChat, very casually) after my first class by Katherina, the Honors College coordinator, that I'm only supposed to be meeting with my Honors students--the American Literature class--once EVERY OTHER WEEK.  What in the actual hell???  I was flabbergasted.  So were the students, actually. When I talked to them about it, they had NO IDEA.  Still, we had a great class, talking about Douglass and Stowe. For some reason, I like talking about African American Literature a lot. Fortunately, it didn't rain today, and the 745 bus to take me home came reasonably fast.

 Tuesday and today, Wednesday, have been pretty uneventful.  Mostly I've been prepping for the lecture and workshop in Taiwan. Also, I revised my American Lit. syllabus--Wang Xin asked me to capitulate and teach the class every other week as asked. However, I'm hoping that I can still do the rest of the Honors class next term; maybe I can use it as leverage and get rid of one of those huge undergraduate classes scheduled for me.  That would be nice.  One highlight of the day: I talked Kerry into going for China food.  "No pizza," I said.  "I'm tired of Western food."   So we chose the Shanghai Restaurant in Hongkou Plaza.  We had a 45-minute wait, but the food was pretty good: we had mushrooms with bamboo shoots; a crab and pork dish that seemed like it was mixed in egg drop soup; beef in oyster sauce; and a "creamy chicken" dish. The chicken was pretty inedible--too many bones, too much skin.  Still, it had heart potatoes and a good cream sauce.  Tasty stuff, but not my favorite.

Days 49-52: Teaching and Errands

This is going to going to be a fairly short entry, because not all that much really happened Monday-Thursday this week.

Monday I taught--and it went pretty well.  No classroom changes, and it was nice to get off the shuttle at Teaching Building 4, because I knew where it was!  (I had to ask a student to give me some guidance going to my office, though.) Good presentation and discussion in my Short Novels class. We did Poe and Hawthorne in my Honors class: "The Raven," "Usher," and "The Minister's Black Veil."  My students, esp. my Short Novels students, seem to be a bit more concerned than they have been about their response paper marks, even though I've only been "grading" them on a minus, check, plus system, and haven't assigned official grades yet. I asked SISU to send me an "official" grading policy, but I got something that was almost more confusing than what I already knew.  Apparently, the postgraduate students and Honors students are graded differently, and I don't know how. It also rained ALL DAY today--I ended up standing at the bus stop for 30 minutes before a 745 bus showed up...then when one did, he shouted something at everyone, they shouted back, and he took off. He wouldn't let anyone on the bus! Fortunately, though, another bus came along two minutes later. I didn't get home until 9 pm.

Tuesday and Wednesday, I was mostly at home doing prep work. We're reading The Awakening next in Short Novels; I am glad because I'm tired of Charlotte Temple at this point, and I imagine the students are, too. I ran through a gamut of emotions on these days. Tuesday, I realized that both of my flash drives that I brought to school Monday were infected with a virus: I was suspicious because my yellow and white one wouldn't work in my American Literature class Monday...but my Snoopy drive worked, so I thought I'd be okay. When I discovered a virus on both, I thought ALL my folders on both drives were gone. Still, I was hopeful, because both USB drives had a lot of storage capacity when I looked at them on "Properties." Wednesday, fortunately, Kerry and I managed to fix both drives using instructions that we found online.  What a relief!

Thursday, Kerry and I went to Hongkou Plaza for dinner after dropping off our suits at a dry cleaners on Wa'nan Road--we were able to do this thanks to Grace, who wrote in Chinese for us, "Please dry clean my clothes" and sent it on WeChat.  She also sent us a photo of the place. Very cheap for two suits: only only 80 RMB (about $13) to DRY CLEAN two suits!  Pretty great. Some things here in China are amazingly cheap. Once we got to the Plaza, we opted for Western food (Mr. Pizza) for dinner.  Although I did have squid as an appetizer.  I had Hawaiian pizza; Kerry had his usual pepperoni.  We had a moment of confusion because the waitress automatically added 35 RMB for spaghetti and garlic bread before the meal (we saw others eating it), but she did ask us if we wanted it, we told her (as best we could) that we did not, and she crossed it off the bill. Pizza was good, but the didn't accept credit cards:  not a huge surprise. But...as always...no tipping.  I really like that!  We went to Carrefour after: got new storage containers (only 10 RMB), a pretty salad bowl (again, only 10 RMB), a huge pack of greens (only about 8 RMB), some apples, and some tomatoes.  Just all very cheap stuff!

Days 44-48: Journey to Beijing and Back

Wednesday, the main event of the day was obtaining my passport back. The courier arrived about 8:15 am, and OF COURSE we weren't ready: he needed 400 RMB for the passport, but Kerry had to go to the bank to go get it. He was kind enough to wait until Kerry got back; then Kerry paid him and he left. The rest of the day was spent on prep work and getting ready for the trip. We even took a nap mid-afternoon because we knew that we had to get up insanely early on Thursday.

Thursday began very early: I arose at 2:30 to eat, and Kerry arose at 3:00.  I then took a shower and we were out the door about 4:30 am. Shanghai is a very quiet place this early in the morning. I saw a few people exercising--one man running backwards, one girl (or young woman?) riding a bicycle. But we managed to find a taxi pretty quickly, and it took us to the Hongqiao airport pretty fast--not much traffic. The airport was actually a good experience--we had to go through a security after we walked in the door, and they have many security lines instead of one or two huge ones the way they do in the US, and they didn't make us remove our belts or shoes.  So things went pretty quickly. I had an egg tart at KFC, and Kerry nibbled on a sausage-and-fried egg sandwich. Boarding was very orderly, too: separate lines for A, B, and C all formed at once, instead of one at a time. We were stunned by the flight: comfortable seats, a TV screen on the seat in front of us, TWO beverage services, AND a complete breakfast.  Overall, better than a first class flight in the US in some ways, and we were flying economy!  We took a taxi to the airport, checked in, and got hooked up to the Internet (we'd been without it at home for two days and were going crazy).  I came to find out that I'd gotten another lecture invite from Jillin University!  They want me to come in late November, but we'll see about that, because that's when Nanjing initially asked me to come.  Haven't heard back from them yet, though.  Kerry and I then decided to do some exploring in the Qianmen Shopping District. We explored one store full of small items, at which I purchased some postcards. The salespeople were very high-pressure, though, and apparently you have to buy certain items in certain areas of the store. We also went to China Post, at which I purchased some international postcard stamps.  After this, we rested and then met up with Mark Mahoney, one of the Fulbrighters, for dinner at the duck restaurant we'd heard so much about: Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant. The duck was amazing, but the rest of the meal was not--we weren't impressed with the side items. It was great getting to know Mark: he seems very down-to-earth and friendly. We then explored the shopping area a bit--so much fun just to walk around!  I bought a couple stuffed pandas, and both Mark and Kerry bought jackets! Kerry managed to find a leather jacket AND nice shirt for just 140 RMB--what a deal! We came back to the hotel room and watched a documentary about the treatment of young people in Thailand, of all things--I think we were just happy to watch TV since our TV at home is pretty useless.

So the next morning, Friday, we ate at the Jingtailong Hotel Buffet--which was not very good.  When the highlight of the buffet is egg drop soup and watermelon, you know you're in trouble. Still, we had a nice conversation with Mark, and Elizabeth, another of the Fulbrighters, joined us.  We were a bit late getting to our destination. We listened to a presentation by a company named Beijing Postcards, led by a Danish man named Lars. He talked at length about the history of Tianamen Square.  We then travelled to the square and saw such things as The People's Monument, Mao's Mausoleum (from the outside only), the flag that's raised and lowered each day in the square, and the gate itself, with Mao's picture on it.  It was remarkable to be in the midst of such history. Lars mentioned that the square is a place of protest and revolution, not just a place of one event with a tank, as Americans often think of the Square.  "People would even use the space to protest Japanese tape recorders," he said. I think this is important to remember. After visiting the Square, we came back to listen to another presentation on the hutongs of Beijing, and then we visited some: they are these little alleys that are like mazes, so we walked in and out and around the city like this. We saw a couple home of people who'd lived in the hutongs for years: one of a man who's a brushmaker and had been making brushes since he was six, and the other of a woman whose family had been in that area for 21 generations.  Fascinating stuff!
The tour ended about 3:30, and then Kerry and I went back to the hotel for some rest. That evening, Mark, Elizabeth, Kerry and I explored the city some more. I went in search of bubble tea, which, thanks to Elizabeth's knowledge of Chinese, I was able to procure. I was continuing my search for a jacket, but no luck: one lady wouldn't even let me TOUCH her stuff, shaking her head and touching my belly.  In the US, this would be SUCH an insult. But I just tried to let it slide. We ended up at an expats inn and bar, where Kerry and I had pizza and Mark had an ugly burger with a way-too-huge bun.  Elizabeth ordered some fries. We had some great conversation there, and then went home.  It was so wonderful to get to know them both--the highlight of my trip, really!

Saturday we returned home: we began the day with the horrible breakfast buffet, and we chatted with Elizabeth during breakfast. She's a professor at Notre Dame and has a lot going on, it seems. She loves China and wants to stay here; right now, she's based in Chengdu. She invited us to come stay with her. We finally checked out and got a taxi; it took almost an hour to get to the airport. Security was tougher this time: the woman at security patted me down VERY thoroughly, touching everything on me but my groin, and they also ran my black bag through twice just because I had 1 oz. of hand sanitizer in it.  This didn't happen in Shanghai.  The flight home wasn't as great, but they still gave us a lunch, and I even managed to get a nap in.  Did some grading. Right before we got off the plane, the guy next to me let out a big, loud fart.  Lovely.  I guess he couldn't wait until we had gotten off.  Anyway, we took the subway home: Line 2 to Line 3--and then the 745 bus  from there.  It took about two hours, but it was much cheaper--about 12 RMB total for the two of us as opposed to about 100 RMB if we had taken a taxi.  That's pretty cheap, considering we were going from one end of the city to another, with a suitcase.  At one point we had to lug it up four flights of stairs--that was fun! For dinner, we just had hot dogs and salad.  Boring stuff. I chatted with Mark on WeChat a bit in the evening. He invited us to come with him and his family to Shanghai Disney in November.  Sounds like fun!

Sunday was pretty much all prep--reading, worked on a PowerPoint on Hawthorne and Poe, did plan sheets, graded response papers.  We had spaghetti for dinner.  Tomorrow I teach again.  Onward and upward!

Here are some pics from the Beijing trip:

Posing with the Quanjude Duck.

The food at Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant.

Mark presents Kerry's cool new jacket!

Elizabeth, Mark, and Kerry at Qianmen Gate.

Near Qianmen Gate.

Great Hall of the People.

Flowers in the Square (Yanmei told me they were for the Chinese independence day...)

Tianamen Square.

National flag.

Me at Tianamen Square.

One of the hutongs in Beijing.

A pretty painting we saw in the hutongs.

Mark and Elizabeth.

Me clowning at the Western bar.

Days 41-43: Living with "China" Problems

Raymond, who teaches at the law school here at SISU and rides the 11:30 bus with me to the Songjiang campus, asked me yesterday if I was having regular problems or "China" problems when I began telling him the stories that I'm about to relate here. When I started talking, he said, "Oh yes. China problems." And I somehow knew exactly what he was talking about.

The last two days, we have had a couple "China" problems to deal with. And they haven't been fun. One was pretty major and the other was less so, but still quite annoying. I'll start with the first one.

So Sunday night, Kerry and I went to a Japanese sushi place called Kagen for dinner. It was VERY good: I'd say it was my #3 eating experience in Shanghai thus far (#1 being the brunch, #2 being Dadong). We had all you can eat for 330 RMB each: it was a bit pricey, but SO worth it. We had foods like seaweed salad, lotus chips, an avocado rool, Hawaiian maki rolls (with crab meat!), and eel with foie gras. The price also included a teppanyaki grill, and the chef made lamb chops and filet mignon for us. We sat around the grill, just as we would at Osaka. The portion sizes tended to be pretty small, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves--another great French Concession restaurant, right around La Creperie.

Anyway, to the problem: we get to the apartment, and Kerry discovered that he's LOST HIS KEY TO THE APARTMENT. We started freaking out and went to security who, of course, couldn't speak English. They, apparently, called the police. We contacted Carol on WeChat, who, amazingly, ended up calling us and then talking to the security folks. And, of course, Boris, one of the French professors stopped by and tried to help. He contacted his girlfriend, who contacted Ms. Yang (the building manager), and he found out that Ms. Yang wasn't able to come until 8 am the next day. Therefore, Kerry and I walked to a nearby motel. When we got there, they wouldn't accept us. We were devastated and began to leave, but a young man beckoned us back. The young man behind the desk located two possible hotels for us. I called one of them, they had a room, a taxi was summoned, and we checked in. We spent quite a bad night there: the room was far too hot and we didn't have our CPAPs. Kerry couldn't sleep at all. We awoke at 6:30 the next morning and got a cab back to the complex to wait for Ms. Yang to show at 8 am. Kerry got the wise idea to go up to the building, where he ran into her.....and he FOUND THE KEY.  Apparently, he had left it in the mailbox when he went to take out a letter from his mom.

From this experience, we learned that while the language barrier can sometimes suck, I told Kerry to look at the silver linings on the many clouds. People did try to be helpful: Carol was there right away, Boris tried to help, and the young men in the motel that rejected us helped as well. When I told Raymond about the rejection at the hotel, he told me that some motels don't have permits to accept foreigners, and they want the foreigners to stay at the best motels to get a better impression of China. So I didn't take the rejection personally.

The rest of my Monday wasn't as insane--I taught my classes, and they both went fine--and the weather was nice. But one incident did irritate me. I get to my Short Novels class (which Yanis led me too, again--he volunteered), and my students tell me that there's another class in there. So we're all standing around in the hall, not knowing what to do. Fortunately, Yanis called Carol, and Carol came over and told us to go back to Teaching Building 4, Room 420. FRUSTRATING. This was the original room that I didn't want to be in; however, it least it was air-conditioned, and at least the students sat class to me to listen and didn't spread out or act rude. We got to talk about literary theory a bit in connection with Charlotte Temple--haven't done that in awhile. And in the Honors American Literature class we spent the day on Washington Irving. Fun stuff!  Fortunately, neither the ride to school or the ride from school was bad today: 50 minutes to get there and about 60 minutes back. It was frustrating not hearing from Kerry all day (I tried calling him several times), but I knew that he was sleepy. I took the bus home and didn't even have dinner....just collapsed into bed.

Today, Tuesday, I'm going to do some prep work and just hang out. We have today and Wednesday to get ready for our trip to Beijing on Thursday. Tomorrow I'm supposed to get my passport back. We'll see how that works out!

Days 38-40: French Dining and Prep Work

Thursday our major event of the day was having dinner with the Shanghai Fulbrighters, Abram and Connie (with her family: her husband and three kids). Dinner was at 5 pm at La Creperie, a French place in the French Concession area of Shanghai, which I thought was appropriate. Even though we left fairly early, we ran into all kinds of problems. First the bus to take us to Chi Feng Station was much later than usual. Then we got off at the wrong subway stop: we couldn't find the road we needed and didn't know what was going on. I accosted a white male who sounded Russian when he spoke. It turns out that we got off three stops earlier than we should have: we got off at Changshou Lu when we should have gotten off at Changshu Lu (note the ONE LETTER difference!--both were on the same subway line). By the time we finally got there, we were about 40 minutes late. Sigh.

However, from the minute I walked in, I liked the place. The greeter was French and I spoke French to her--it was nice to be able to use a language that others understood--ha!  And the food was amazing and I was in good spirits. It was fun to talk to everyone, and I liked being able to compare the experiences of the researchers to my own. Apparently, as researchers, Abram and Connie did not have to do a medical exam, and I'm sort of irked that they get just as much vacation time as I do, even though they're going to be here only one semester each.  Grrr.  Connie's little girl (age 7) was adorable: she sat there writing a story and talking about how she used to be President. She could probably do a better job than our current one. We also got to talk to Abram about Taipei Pride a bit--he has a husband back in the States--and even suggested that he meet up with us there. He seemed interested, so we'll see what happens. All in all, they seem like nice people.

Friday and Saturday nothing much happened: I just stayed in and did prep work for my classes. Late Saturday, though, I learned one remarkable thing: I was elected to the TYCA-Midwest Executive Board! Yay for me! I don't know what position I'm going to have yet, but I will find out soon.

In the meantime, here are some pictures from the night at La Creperie:

The Shanghai Fulbright crew: (clockwise) Connie's son Rory, Connie's husband Bill, Kerry, me, Abram, Connie, Connie's daughter Meara, and Connie's son Kiernan.

Abram, Connie, and Kerry.

My chicken galette at La Creperie--scrumptious!

Day 37: A Trip to Yu Gardens

In spite of the fact that one of my SISU colleagues referred to Yu Gardens as "tacky," Kerry and I decided to venture out there Wednesday as part of our holiday fun. We got up pretty early in the morning to try to avoid the crowds--but not early enough, apparently.  It was quite crowded when we got down there. We used the subway and got off at the Yuyuan Gardens stop: at this point, we are pretty much resigned to the fact that, if we want to go somewhere in Shanghai we need to consider that (a) it's going to take 90 minutes each way and (b) it's going to be pretty much an all-day trip.

At first, we couldn't find it and thought it might even be closed. We went down this long hutong and the entrance on the west side was closed. Eventually, we followed the crowd and the arrows (mercifully, in English), and went to what we thought was the entrance. I found an Austrailan gent to ask about where to go for the line, and he told us where to go to buy the ticket.  The line was long and it was crowded, but not insane. It helped that there were a lot of police around for crowd control.

When we got in the gardens, it was much more peaceful. I really enjoyed it, in spite of the crowd. The crowd just didn't seem to bother me as much there. I loved viewing the temples, the goldfish, the fountains, and just being "in nature." It seemed like I was visiting Old China for the first time, and I liked what I saw. There were also rooms to view with ancient architecture and furniture, as well as an art exhibit and a couple little shops. Kerry and I did purchase three scrolls; I also got a jade cat and he got a meditation bowl.  Yeah, we succumbed to some touristy stuff, but I enjoyed myself. And we did manage to say "no" to a very aggressive saleswoman who kept taking down her price for a jade cat from 300 RMB to 200 RMB. She seemed very disappointed that I didn't purchase it.  Still, I'd love to go back to Yu Gardens.

We thought about going to a Confucian temple, but decided against it because we were hungry. So we went to this restaurant Yanmei recommended.  "Bill Clinton ate there!," she told us.  We were given a number and told to take a seat. We waited 45 minutes for a table, but I was happy to discover that I could recognize the numbers they were calling!  Also, it was fun to socialize with a little boy, who proudly told me his name in English. :)  The meal was good, but not great: we loved the spring rolls, and the broccoli was good.  We also liked the buns with shrimp and crabmeat in them. However, I was disappointed in the duck, which smelled like cat food--it tasted okay (it had rice, shrimp, peas, and gravy in the sauce), but I wasn't overwhelmed.

On the back, we found a DQ--Kerry got an Oreo Blizzard and I got a strawberry shake. We both ordered a "large" and noticed that the Chinese "large" is the American "small" size.  :)  Interesting! After that, we went back to the subway and came home.

Later on, I did some grading, but that was a pretty full day!

Here are some pictures of Yu Gardens for your perusal:

I'm with a lion!

Kerry clowning with a statue.

Me being pensive by the water.

Days 35-36: Glasses Repaired, Papers Graded

Monday I had the day off due to the holiday. I of course slept in, and then Kerry and I ventured out to get my glasses repaired. It was pouring rain so we decided to take a taxi, which again came surprisingly fast.  He dropped us off in a garage by a mall area, which we quickly found out was connected to a subway station. After getting our bearings, we finally found the place--the signage was actually quite good and in English.  We had to take an elevator up to the store.  When we got off the elevator, we saw MANY "stores" (more like stands) with people trying to get us to stop and purchase--aggressive salesmanship.  The first people were nice, though, and directed us to go to the end.  We met Mai, the woman recommended to us, who took my glasses and went in the back room.  In the meantime, her co-worker tried to sell both me and Kerry some glasses. Happily, those, she was able to fix them, and charged us only 60 RMB ($10) to do so.

Since that ended early, and I was hungry, we decided to take the subway to Hongkou Plaza.  Samira had recommended a Middle Eastern Place there, so I contacted her on WeChat, and she provided the name of the place within 5 minutes: Yerishari.  When we got there, it was about 4:45 or so--not that crowded--so they led us to a table.  I got lamb and Kerry got beef.  I was pleased at the huge portions: the tomato soup I ordered had shrimp and squid in it, and Kerry and I were able to share it.  The leg of lamb was HUGE; Kerry shared that with me as well. It was a bit noisy in there, though, and the service wasn't exactly stellar.  It got more and more crowded by the time we left around 6 pm, and it seemed like every two minutes the waitstaff would shout, "Welcome to Yerishari!" anytime someone walked in.  This was a bit annoying. Still, it was a tasty meal.

We then ventured downstairs to Mister Donuts, where we each got a couple donuts to take home. They were all Halloween themed: mostly brown and orange colors, and Kerry got a Halloween kitty on a stick! We ate the donuts when we got home; one of mine was a coffee-cocoa flavored one, but not heavy on the frosting, which I appreciated. After the Donut place, we went to Carrefour for some sundries like water, and we bought an additional pillow.  One thing I don't understand about China is why the seafood and meat areas have very loud megaphones just placed in them. I don't know what they're saying, but the voices sound really annoying.  All over the store, we keep hearing what sounds like a child saying, "Mama nee shay!"  It's become a joke with me and Kerry. We keep repeating it over and over, I guess for our own amusement.

Because of our loot, we opted for a taxi home. It worked out well.

Today I'm just staying in and grading, for the most part.  It's kind of a sad, pensive day because we just learned about the shootings in Vegas and Tom Petty going into cardiac arrest and being taken off life support; as of this writing, there are conflicting reports of his death.  Strange times.

Days 33-34: A Weekend of Opulence

Two major grand events took place this weekend: the celebration of Chinese independence at the Shanghai Exhibition Center, and the brunch at the Westin on the Bund.

Saturday night, four international faculty (including me) were invited to attend a reception at the Shanghai Exhibition Center to celebrate Chinese independence.  Formal wear required. I took the bus, but traffic was terrible (due to the holiday) and it rained the entire time. Plus I was having INCREDIBLE pain in my feet and could barely walk, and the fancy shoes didn't help.  I ended up being about 15 minutes late. I went with Navin (from India, teaches Hindi); Samira (from Morocco, lives in Canada, and teaches French); and Tomasz (from Poland, teaches Polish). We had a lovely conversation in the car on the way there comparing our four cultures; I love having conversations like this in China!  Learning about different countries and comparing my country to theirs has been an englightening experience. The center looked like an elegant palace, with cathedral ceilings and Russian architecture. I felt like Cinderella going to the ball.  And when we walked in, the flashbulbs popped.  I felt like Madonna or Lady Gaga in front of the paparazzi.  This is probably the closest I'll ever come to being a celebrity!  We lined up behind a red velvet rope, and then got to see all the important political figures walk out, including the Secretary General of China.  The Chinese National Anthem was played. The Mayor of Shanghai made a speech, which was also translated into English as he gave it. We then got to meet the Vice Mayor of Shanghai, who spoke with us for a bit in Chinese...she had an interpreter and said very politic things, like "Shanghai is a city of diversity."  And then we all got some food: the selections were good, but I wouldn't describe them as amazing: they had beef, catfish, salmon (which went quickly), and things like vegetable soup.  The desserts were more remarkable--I had my first moon cake (red bean flavor! quite good).  I spent most of the time chatting with my colleagues, and then the car drove us all back to our apartment.  It was a lovely evening!

Sunday, Kerry and I went to brunch at the Westin on the Bund. We actually managed to get a taxi quickly--we opted for a taxi to save my feet a bit--and then arrived about twenty minutes early. We checked in and were offered sparkling wine, cider, beer, or juice.  Then they began to let people in about 11:30. We were led to our table--a map was provided of the brunch area--there were TWO FLOORS of food!  I began with some seafood: clams, mussels, salmon....and I even had some cheese. Then I went upstairs for some Italian and some meat (duck and pork): the gnocchi in salmon sauce was incredible.  Later on I also had some Indian food (chicken and lamb), and I also had some redbean ice cream and dark chocolate mousse.  All the while, they provided endless refills of Veuve Cliquot champagne.  Kerry, however, did not get the champagne brunch.  Amazingly, though, Kerry was one of about six people to win the raffle!!!  He won a lunch for two at their Italian restaurant, Prego.  So nice!  A lady at the next table gave us the "thumbs up."  We started chatting with her a bit: she was from Northern Ireland, she said.  "I am here for three weeks and my son Gavin is spoiling me," she gushed.  So friendly!  While the brunch went on an orchestra played, and then we got to hear opera singers (the woman was particularly amazing), see Chinese women doing Dutch dancing (Dutch was the theme that day), watch dancers, violinists, and acrobats.  Quite a show!  Kerry and I loved it.  We stopped in at the gift shop and bought a Westin bear, and then we took the subway and bus home (it took over 90 minutes, but I just wanted to get practice walking).  A remarkable--but exhausting--day.

Here are some pictures from the brunch:

Some food from the brunch.

Me with some Chinese women dressed like Dutch girls.

Kerry is ecstatic about winning his raffle prize!!

Day 32: A Quiet Day at SISU

Friday Kerry and I went to our Chinese lesson. I really liked it a lot better than the first class.  We learned a lot of vocabulary very quickly and even got to practice conversations and introduce ourselves to the class. So I now know some basic Chinese phrases: "My name is.....," "I am from....", etc.  And we learned more about the numbers and how they work.  Of course, if I'm going to remember any of this stuff, I will have to practice it with Kerry.  One thing that stinks is that we don't have the book that the class uses yet; the bookstore was at.  The teacher, however, told us that she'd order a copy for us that we could share!  Nice.  After the lesson, Kerry and I went to Ciao Cafe for a quick pizza, and then he went on to his first gaming club in China.  This was around 4:45 pm.  I went on to the library, where I got a brief lessons in how to use the research databases: apparently, they don't provide computers for folks to use, and you have to bring a laptop. I am not thrilled with this and will try to access the databases from home.  The reference librarian told me that they have an English reading room on the 5th floor.  It was very quiet there--only a couple people stuyding--but I perused their stacks. Lots of business and marketing books, and tons of books on English grammar--an entire row.  The literature collection is dominated by canonized selections from British and American Literature. Surprisingly, they have a good GLBT studies collection, and I found a copy of David Halperin's How to be Gay and started reading it.  I became somewhat engrossed and the next thing I knew, it was 6:30.  I took the bus home, chilled out for awhile, did some grading.  Kerry didn't arrive home until 11:30 pm--he missed the last subway and had to take a taxi.  Apparently he had a good time, though.