Luck!

My Middle School English class begins with The Pearl. For those of you who haven't read The Pearl, it is the story written by John Steinbeck about a poor indigenous Mexican pearl diver who finds the greatest pearl the world has ever known. But his joy quickly fades as his lucky break soon turns against him and he finds himself hunted and life shattered. It is less than 100 pages and I highly recommend it as a case study in lingering effects of colonialism and a riveting story.

My first assignment related to the book was for students to write for 5 minutes about something lucky that has happened to them or something lucky that could happen. I participated as well and wrote about my experience 2 days ago. Here it is:

"You must get the photos by tomorrow!" I'm getting used to this. Everything is urgent here. But don't expect an early notification. Just know that it had better be done by tomorrow.

So it is after work, we had a meeting and it is around 6 PM. The bus drops me off at a mall that is pedestrian by Chinese standards but dwarfs the puny likes of a Pioneer Courthouse Square. I have two things on my mind: I must buy passport photos and floss. Floss is near impossible to find in China. Large supermarkets have an entire isle of toothpaste selection but, bafflingly, floss is no where to be found and I've had a piece of meat between my back teeth for 3 days now. If you come to China bring floss!

It is not easy to find a photo booth when you don't speak the native language. Shanghai is very international, still, English often fails me hear and leaves me wishing I would have studied a little before moving here. So to make a long adventure short I finally gather that there used to a photo booth in the subway station under the mall. Unfortunately they removed it for the Olympics. Hmmmm... Apparently there is some latent danger in Photo booths that I don't understand. It is now 8:30. Yes, it took me two hours of trekking around the 9 floors of this mall and the subway station underneath to finally uncover that photo booths are contrary to the spirit of the Olympics. The good news, I see on the elevator that there is a dental clinic on level 6! I drop by and immediately go the restroom and remove the offending bit of food from between my molars.

Then I ponder a bit. Are the photos really that important? I'll call the Fanny, the young woman in charge of my visa and see how urgent this is. Her response, "You need photos NOW!" Well, that clears that up. She's going to call me back. When she does, it is to tell me that Tina, her colleague is coming by to pick me up. At 8:30 on a tuesday? I'm imagining and American leaving the house to help a Chinese person from their work get photos at 8:30 and laughing to myself. Sure enough, Tina and her boyfriend come pick me up, pulling over to block the busiest bike line at the busiest intersection I've ever seen.

By now the photo shops have closed but Tina and her boyfriend are both furiously dialing their phones. Somehow they get a closed Kodak shop to reopen. We park on the sidewalk, blocking all pedestrians (this is legal I'm told.) I get my photo taken and it is decided: we are all going out to dinner together, we are going to eat hot pot, where each person gets their own bowl of boiling broth into which they can drop whatever food they wish. We meet three friends of Tina's and the food starts arriving, normal at first, chunks of beef, vegetables and it is all quite yummy. Then come spoons that are covered with some sort of seafood pate. Well alright, I'm in a strange land, pass the pate. Plus my companions keep assuring me, "very delicious." They assure me yet again when the bowl of bone marrow arrives and they drop it in my soup. And again as the drop live shrimp from a bowl in the middle of our table into my soup. Quite surprisingly it is all "very delicious," it helps that we were in a very fancy restaurant. Besides the thought of flossing afterward is already bringing me joy. We finish off dinner with the always entertaining game of teach me how to swear in your language. Sonofbitch is always funny!

As we get up to leave and I ask about the bill. Somehow through the miracle of not knowing the language my new friends have managed to pay without me witnessing a bill or cash or a credit card of some nature. I'm very confused but I try to pay the bill and they all insist that I'm their guest. I'm blown away again. I think again of someone in America being asked to take someone from their work out to get photos long after office hours ended and instead of being angry taking that person out to dinner and paying the bill! It is hard to imagine.

When I get home I reflect upon my Tuesday night and I feel pretty darn lucky. I cap it off with a nice long tooth brushing and a thorough floss!

Downtown!

I'm moving downtown to an AMAZING apartment that I love! It is central, yet quiet and surrounded by trees. I plan on writing a whole blog about it soon. I will be off line a few days as I will have to set up internet when I move (which is sure to be an adventure.) Until then here are two interesting tidbits. In order to move in China I have to visit a police department and register at my new place or I face a hefty fine. I'm doing this tomorrow with my landlord.

Also I nabbed tickets to the bronze soccer game this Friday in Shanghai, so I will certainly write about that soon. Until then I will leave you with the most amusing olympic picture I've seen so far. Truly worth a thousand words!

Baby Steps with Mandarin

When deciding upon Shanghai as a destination I reached a comfortable ambivalence when it came to learning the Chinese language; or to be specific, learning Mandarin. Universally one thing is known about Mandarin, that it is hard to learn. People who know nothing about China somehow know the language is akin to some form of verbal calculus. Additionally, China has about 5 main languages and they don't mesh smoothly. A country the size of the US with many diverse cultural histories and 1.5 billion people is bound to have some differences. The government has decided that language heritage is not a high priority and that everyone in China needs to speak Mandarin. Still a language know as Shanghaiese dominates in Shanghai (not surprisingly) and Mandarin is seen as a business, work and otherwise kind of uncool language. Knowing these things made the thought of learning Mandarin, or any Chinese language, simultaneously daunting and uninspiring.

About 5 minutes after getting off the plane my ambivalence faded into the hazy sky. My ride was late and the thought of hailing a taxi and traveling over an hour with my non existent communication skills made me hungry for the convenience of speech. For all it's internationalism, Shanghai is still China, and China is confusing. Especially if you can't understand anyone. So I sat and waited and wondered and felt helpless. I hate feeling helpless.

So I set about learning. I can now count to 10, say good morning and tell a cab driver I want to go somewhere. They are humble beginnings but I'm quite proud of them.

There is one wild card helping me quite a bit. I don't mind making a fool of myself. Actually, I quite enjoy taking actions that others might find embarrassing, bold, silly or unorthodox. They don't make me feel like a fool, they amuse me. Without this trait I wouldn't survive my chosen career as a middle school teacher. So to defeat my helplessness I have begun parroting people incessantly. When I hear Chinese I parrot it. Never mind that I'm clueless as to whether I'm hearing Mandarin or Shanghaiese, I find this a fun way to pass the time. It is not hard to overhear the language. The Chinese are loud talkers, and the volume quadruples if there is a cell phone involved. It makes wonder about hearing loss and if it is common problem in China. When the volume soars to a near scream I listen and I quietly repeat it. When I talk with a local and they say something that leaves me clueless, like anything that isn't the numbers 1-10 or good morning, I repeat it like an five year old oscillating between cute and annoying.

Amazingly this parroting is highly entertaining to people. I'm really trying to sound accurate and not patronize but my mouth is not used to these funny sounds and the resulting noises amuses travelers, expats and Chinese locals equally. This is especially true with the tones, which I am determined to master and which are also baffling at this point. It seems logical that the descending tone would descend but I just don't hear it. So I give my best effort at repetition and I get laughs like I'm Jerry Sienfeld. I love it! Maybe someday the I'll get used to the volume and then start hearing the tones and people will stop laughing. And then I will be sad.

First Day in Shanghai

Before leaving for Shanghai I stopped into Powell’s Book Store with a friend. I was extolling her on the wisdom of Siddhartha: when I finished raving and rambling she decided to buy the book. So here I was in Powell’s, a place that is near impossible to leave without buying a book, and I see the brand new, shiny and bright, Lost on Planet China sitting in the best-seller rack. Being rather bored of travel books (ie lonely planet) this book fit my criteria of being about China and also engagingly written. Powell’s worked its magic and we both left with new reading material.

This book was my plane flight reading and between my long naps I would eagerly flip the pages looking for glimpses of what might await. By chapter two the author had expounded thoroughly upon the difficulty of the Chinese language, the horrific pollution, the deadly traffic laws, the frequency of phlegm filled spit flying through the air, public defecation, line cutting, disease, and a host of other concerns. These came in no particular order and each page held a new critique that left wondering what exactly I was doing on a plane to China.

My first evening was a hazy, jet-lagged and uneventful. The school I’m working for is owned by a luxury golf resort (weird huh) and for my first two months I can stay at room at the course for free. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your perspective) the resort is more than a hour outside of town . After reading about the horrors of Chinese cities for the past 18 hours I considered staying in my air-conditioned, green and lush, golf course resort. I don’t even golf but, I admit, I was tempted to stay inside and read about how bad China is as opposed to actually experiencing it myself.

Instead I threw the book in my bag, as if I hadn’t had enough, hailed a Taxi and off I went. I arrived in downtown Shanghai and to see a lightly clouded, almost pollution free, blue sky on a comfortable day. I found myself in the old French Concession and it was pleasantly populated, with wide streets that were clean and nice. I met a German friend and a German restaurant and settled down to a Rueben Sandwich and a German beer served by a Chinese waitress wearing a traditional German dress(See pics.) Where is this China I’d been reading about?

We decided to take the Metro the one stop to the very heart of the city, the People’s square. Here I thought for sure I would experience the craziness of overpopulation, the subway to the center of a thriving metropolis of more than 18 million. Yet again, I was surprised. Yes, the car was full, but I’ve been on way crazier crowded trains on Mexico City.

Maybe it was a good day. Maybe the Olympics are cleaning all large Chinese cities for a few weeks. Maybe in 3 weeks it’ll all be over. But I hope not! I’m hoping the China I’ve been reading about is a place I can explore on the weekend and gather a handful crazy tales of eating sheep’s brain and dodging spit. Until then I’m happy to live the Shanghai I found on my first day.

Goodnight US

I watched the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympic. And it hit me. Tomorrow I will be in China! The thousands of dancers and the sheer magnitude of the event gave me the goosebumps. China is so damn big! How exactly will I swim in this ocean of people. The goosebumps come back whenever I think about it.

Now I'm packing at 2:30 AM, leaving in less then 5 hours. I've spent all week partying with my amazing friends and family (I'll miss you guys) and pushing with a mad rush to finish my CD. I'm calm and alert. I usually this way before I travel. I'm ready to experience the new and unknown.

Shanghai here I come!