Around the World in 330 Days: Brian's Fulbright Journey in China and Elsewhere: Days 88-90: Shanghai Cultural Excursion

Friday was the first day of our Fulbright Shanghai Cultural Excursion, sponsored by the Shanghai Embassy. We had a pretty good time. We were a little bit late getting there, but only by about 7 minutes, and others were late as well. It was so good to see Mark and Connie and her family again, especially Meara. She's hysterical. The events begin with a Chinese tea ceremony, which smelled wonderful, and we tasted some good teas as well: black, jasmine, etc. My favorite was the fruit. The tea shop had many very expensive teapots, some worth $20,000. I was joking with Mark and Kerry and we should play catch. The gentleman running the event showed us how he creates a froth on the top of the tea and then a design (such as Chinese characters) on top. Mark did one of a gift with a bow; I took video which I will try to post here. After this, we ended up at the Sun Yat-Sen museum, which I think was just an impulse. They still let us all in for free. We saw many different cultural artifacts from his years and those of his wife as well. We also had the privilege of visiting the home they lived in--next door. We had to put on plastic shoe covers to travel through it; apparently, it's temperature-controlled. After this visit, we strolled around the city a bit. Kerry found a meowing cat (huge surprise there). And then we gathered back in the bus to go back to the Peace Hotel. We were given a tour of their Museum. It used to be called the Cathay Hotel, apparently, and they also have the oldest jazz band in the world that performs nightly. We saw a lot of elegant dishes and figurines from the 30s, 40s, 50s, and so forth. Charlie Chaplin stayed there awhile, as did the Prime Minister of Canada. Once this visit was done, we were treated to a nice dinner with a great late-night view of the Bund. The menu included a "celeriac" salad, kale soup with onion and cheddar (which tasted like potato), turkey with some vegetables, and then the best: a beef tenderloin with onion gravy and mashed potatoes. So good! Their pumpkin pie was interesting, too. Very non-traditional. It was a fun evening! I liked getting to talk to Brooks and his wife (who was visiting), and a young man named Samuel, who just graduated Duke and is a student Fulbrighter.

Saturday had its good moments, but it wasn't as pleasant. To begin with, Kerry woke up not feeling well--he had complained of hurting knees with previous day, and now his hips and legs hurt him, too. So he decided to skip the excursion for Saturday. Once I got to the Peace Hotel via cab, we all took a bus to the old town area of Shanghai. We strolled around a bit, and I got some toy swords and a couple hilarious Engrish change purses. The weather was a bit nippy, but fairly nice. From there we went to a lunch, which, again, was more of a banquet-style event: lots of fish this time, including a fried fish that was so good I asked to take some home, and they obliged. During the event, we went two by two in the cooking area to learn how to make steamed buns. I went with Tracy, and she told me how to make one, and I filled it up with a pork stuffing. Quite good! Again, the meal ended with a duck soup, although by the time the end came, everyone was quite full. (I still don't understand why soup is served at the end of the meal here.) Once the meal was done, we went to a pottery shop to learn how to make a clay teapot. I was having a good time until I got stuck on the spout. I solicited help from the master potter, but he proceeded to basically finish the entire thing for me. I was kind of upset about this; I really wanted to finish it myself. It sort of destroyed the purpose of the event for me. I mentioned this to Tracy from the Embassy, and she said that when Chinese people do things for you, it's their way of showing that they care. They are much less individualistic than Americans. Lesson learned, I supposed, but it's still frustrating to me. I don't fully feel the teapot is mine now, and I like having artistic creative control (and, no, I'm not being facetious about this). Mark picked up on my mood and found me on WeChat later and tried to cheer me up. He's awesome! Fortunately, Kerry felt better in the evening, so we felt well enough to end the day by making pork chops and potatoes for dinner.

Sunday was mostly prep. I didn't feel great Sunday--woke up feeling all sinusy. Mostly just did Gatsby reading and grading. Monday is the last day with Gatsby, and I'm kind of glad. It's a depressing book, especially in this political climate. I'm not sure I'd assign it again. Maybe.

I hope I feel better tomorrow. School tomorrow, and then we leave for Suzhou Tueday morning.

Here are some pics from the excursion: