The Place To Be

I really could not have dreamed up a better place to be for the 2010 World Cup. This may be surprising, after all some people may assume it’s preferable to be on-site in South Africa or in the heart of the soccer world somewhere in Europe. However, there are many reasons why Shanghai trumps such places. First of all, China is in an fairly ideal time zone for World Cup viewing. The games are all at night: 7pm, 10pm, or 2:30am. One or more of these kickoff times would be too early or too late in all other time zones. In Shanghai, though, it’s perfect: the workday is over and the bars are crowded. (Oh, and also… the dollar is still fairly strong, making gameday food and drinks a bearable expense.) Moreover, Shanghai’s international nature assures that there will never be a game that some portion of the city isn’t excited about. Most importantly, though, in Shanghai there are lots of American ex-pats, among whom national pride runs high. Although the US doesn’t typically get excited about ‘football,’ in Shanghai even those who aren’t big soccer fans get swept up in the excitement.
Although the USA team’s World Cup campaign was cut short through a devastating turn of events, each USA game bore a very memorable night. One of the first games I watched with friends at The Spot (yes… that is the bar’s real name!). The Spot was particularly memorable for one of its American patrons: an effusive and burly man wearing a flag as a cape. This was a special flag: it was a REVERSIBLE American/Chinese flag! And he had a demure Chinese girlfriend to further complement his overall image. He played his part of the Arrogant American perfectly… drunkenly buying food and drinks for our whole corner of the bar, and getting up on the table when the US scored. Yeah… he was quite a character.
The next big game I watched was the night that the US played Algeria while England simultaneously played Slovenia. An Australian bar down the street from my apartment, Park Tavern, was showing both games outdoors on two huge projector screens, one on each side of the garden. The weather cooperated and was surprisingly cool and not humid. Most of the bar’s patrons were Englishman, so when the England game finished in a win for the English a few minutes before the USA game was over, they all erupted with cheers, thinking that the USA would be eliminated, as the score was still 0-0 for the Americans. As the Brits were all celebrating, USA’s Landon Donovan dramatically scored a goal in the final minutes of the game, meaning that the USA actually won our group, in addition to securing a place in the round of 16! At this point, the ENTIRE place was in a (jubilant) uproar, and it was probably one of my most exciting soccer-viewing experiences.



Unfortunately, the next game didn’t end quite so well. The night leading up to the game was fun. While we waited for The Camel to clear out after the South Korea game, we visited an authentic Irish pub around the corner. When I say authentic, I mean REALLY authentic. Albeit, I’ve never been to Ireland, but this place was right out of a movie – complete with an old Irish guy downing pints of Guiness and singing Irish folk songs. It was amusing, but luckily we didn’t have to wait there too long, and headed over to The Camel for the USA game against Ghana.



This time, Americans filled the bar – 98% of the patrons were cheering for the USA, and many were dressed and face-painted the part! The energy of the place was truly great. Even though the game didn’t even START until 2:30am, everyone was buzzing with excitement. Unfortunately, the USA team’s energy didn’t match that of its fans, and around 5am, the entire bar deflated in disappointment after the USA lost. To add insult to injury, there were a major shortage of cabs as the crowds poured out of all of the bars, leaving many of us wandering down the roads in the wee morning hours trying in vein to get a taxi.
As disappointed as I am that the USA made an early exit from the World Cup, I'm definitely glad that I'll no longer be obligated by patriotic loyalty to stay up for any of the 2:30am games!

Glee from Gleevec

Earlier this week I was feeling very apprehensive about the prospect of spending week after week doing a 9-5 job in something like HR. Only two weeks into my internship and I was already feeling a bit stifled by the lack of room for creativity in human resources. Everything just seemed laid out already- very cut and dried. Over the past few days, though, things have definitely improved, starting from when I was browsing the company’s Intranet and came upon an article about a cancer-fighting drug called Gleevec.

To most people, Gleevec may not seem all that noteworthy—it may not even so much as ring a bell. However, for those of us who sloughed through Life Sciences 1a during the fall semester of our freshman year, Gleevec is incredibly significant. It was one of our professor’s favorite drugs, and it followed that we sat through many a lecture about the revolutionary binding mechanism. As it turns out, Novartis is the producer of Gleevec! Learning this illuminated the amazing and cutting-edge work that the researchers here at Novartis are doing. (Wikipedia goes so far as to cite Gleevec as “an example of pharmaceutical industry innovation that justifies the high cost of drugs”!) It is very, VERY cool to think that the researchers searching for medicine’s next magic bullet are right down the street at Building 8, and all of the work we do in support functions such as HR enable the company to function, and the scientists to discover and create.

The next day, after making dozens of copies of packets for a managers’ workshop, I was invited to go to said workshop and to get a glimpse of another HR function. Needless to say, the change of pace was more than welcome, and it was really interesting to hear the advice being given to managers, as well as see the cultural differences between Chinese managers and American managers. (There weren’t any American managers at the workshop, but I have an idea or two about what American managers are like.) What struck me the most, was when one of the workshop’s participants brought up his concern that the mid-year performance review style being taught didn’t “put it on the table.” He thought that the Westernized-style of review was a bit too circuitous and wanted to be more blunt with his associates. No sugar-coating here!

This week I also went to my first Toastmasters’ Club meeting. TC originates from the USA with the goal of improving members’ communication and public speaking skills. There is a club based at Novartis Shanghai so Chinese associates have the opportunity to practice giving presentations in English. As one of the few native speakers here, I was asked to go participate. I was struck by what an encouraging environment they foster. Seeing them step outside their comfort zones and pour so much effort into mastering the English language was very inspiring, and the way all of the other members support them was touching. Every meeting has a work of the day, which members as supposed to incorporate into their talks as much as possible, and this time it was ENTHUSIASM (“in honor of the new visitors here to support the club,” aka me). All of the members embodied the word, even if they may have neglected to use it often.

As I coach others in the finer points of English (including proper usage or idioms and nitty-gritty grammar corrections), I’m still striving to master my own foreign language: Mandarin. It can be difficult in a city that is so international, in that I am very infrequently pushed to use Mandarin, and spend a good deal of time with non-Chinese speakers. I finally got thrown into a situation where I was finally forced to rely on whatever Mandarin I could muster. Since the smog here isn’t QUITE strong enough to kill all of the bugs, I’ve gotten a number of very itchy bug bites, one of which got infected. I made appointment with the company’s on-site doctor, and managed to communicate my problem and what I thought the cause was to her, and then also understand her replies. It was a short appointment, but I came away with two small vials of medicine and one huge feeling of satisfaction.

New Apartment

Sunday afternoon I finally moved into the apartment I’m sharing with Panpan. Although our place isn’t as nice as the apartment I was staying in for the first couple of weeks, it is definitely nice to have her for company. I’m hoping that the change of scenery will energize me. At the very least it will get me out of bed more – my mattress is so hard I don’t anticipate lounging around too much. Some of you may remember seeing photos of my sleeping arrangements at the orphanage last year… well, now I’m back to the comforts of a hard surface barely softened by a pile of comforters. I like firm mattresses, but this is a bit much even by my standards!

The rest of our apartment is pretty nice. I’d say that the interior décor is inspired by the minimalist style, but if I posted photos you’d all realize that was just a major euphemism for “small and sparsely furnished.” However, I won’t complain much, because the simplicity (and rock hard beds) is offset by the desirable location. We’re located on the edge of the French Concession, and only a short walk away from a metro stop and a small park.

(By the way, sorry for the lack of photos... Since blogger is technically blocked in China, it's a real headache to upload these posts, let alone add photos... I'll be sure to add the best of the best, though.)

The Harvard Connection

I never would have guessed that I would be spending so much time with other Harvardians during my stay in Shanghai. In addition to my friends who are also living and working here, I’ve been meeting other classmates and recent alumnae and making plenty of new friends.

Last week, all of the undergraduate interns in Shanghai went out to dinner at a local Thai restaurant. (As my mother knows only too well, I’m a huge fan of pad thai and this restaurant definitely did not disappoint! The pad thai was served in a bowl made of crepe. Points for creativity.)

After dinner we went to a bar called Windows. (Every time I think of the name I think of the desktop PC I struggle to use at work and remember how much I miss my trusty Apple Macbook!) A few hours and, for some of the patrons, more than a few drinks later, Windows morphed from a dive bar to a dive club. Although the crowd was composed of mostly local Chinese, there were a few ex-pats (mostly men) sprinkled in. My favorite was a middle-aged German guy visiting for the week on business. He had to be close to 50, but he was dancing like a wild man. It was possibly one of the funniest things I witnessed all week (especially since China blocks Youtube…). His dancing was even more hilarious than the videos my parents sent me of people dancing at their 25th wedding anniversary party!


This past Tuesday was yet another Harvard-filled day, as I was fortunate enough to join some alums for dinner. I was invited by an ex-President of HAPA, and when he said he was inviting some of his friends, I got a bit intimidated by the thought of being the lone 21- in what was sure to be a group in their mid-20s and up, so I invited my friend Henry to come along with me.

First, Henry and I went to the Hyatt on the Bund to see a Cirque de Solei performance (the one that the lady tipped us off about earlier in the month, as I’d mentioned last week). There were some impressive performances, but we were overall disappointed that it seemed to be Cirque de Solei: the Cocktail Edition, and was considerably less dynamic and captivating than the original.

Afterward, we set off to meet the alums at The Strip on the 6th floor of the Ascott Hotel. It was a newly minted restaurant/lounge—dimly lit with glossy black bar tops and well-mixed cocktails, it was clearly ultra-chic. It was an open-air space that merged into a large patio with sleek candle-lit tables that had a fantastic view of Shanghai’s brightly lit skyscrapers.

It turned out that our host was a share-holder in the restaurant, and he generously treated us to the best The Strip had to offer. After delicious US-imported steaks (which are somewhat contraband and can only be obtained through Hong Kong), truffle macaroni, and many bottles of red wine from Napa Valley, the age gap seemed to disappear. We all ended up having a fabulous time! Not only did I get a great meal and some new friends, but also some very sage advice from the (somewhat) recent graduates of classes ’03 and ’05.

Oh, and the fun continued after dinner, as Henry and shared a good laugh during the cab ride home, having realized that all of the alums and their friends and co-workers thought that we were dating. (Henry is gay, so we obviously are not.)

The Race Issue: Shanghai Edition

It seems like every day, we're confronted with the issue of Race. If I wear my sociologist's hat, I would tell you that Race is a social construct -- it only exists because we have created it. It's intriguing that, although racial differences have very little biological underpinnings, they confront us as an opaque and objective reality. Before I digress into my fascination with the study of social interaction, let me relate this back to my blog.

I proudly consider myself to be a hapa: half-Chinese, half-Caucasian. However, no matter what I do, almost everyone that I meet tucks me away in their mental files under the "white" category. Nothing I do seems to change this phenomenon. I study Mandarin; I am spending two consecutive summers living in China; I have grown up closely with my Chinese relatives; I have thrown myself headfirst into the Asian cultural groups' scene at Harvard... but none of that makes a difference.

Over the past year, I learned more and more about race and how it effects us. As the President of Harvard's Half-Asian People's Association, I was specifically interested in issues of mixed-race issues, which is inextricably entangled with racial identity. Although I've spent countless hours over the past two years helping to prepare for HAPA's "So... What Are You, Anyway?" Conference, I thought I was immune to mixed-race "ISSUES." Yes, I acknowledged that other people may feel some sort of identity crisis, but not me! With my stable, loving family... my comfortable upbringing... my future with limitless opportunities... how could such a thing ever touch me?

Well, living here in Shanghai seems to have done it.

I'm not sure what exactly was the final straw. Maybe it was being told for the billionth time that I "just don't look Chinese AT ALL!" with a look of incredulity that the person doesn't even so much as attempt to hide. Maybe it was another ex-pat who was surprised that I spoke Mandarin and after I explained I was half Chinese, thought I was lying to him! Maybe it is going about my business surrounded by Chinese people, and being painfully aware that they think I'm just another white American girl.

I remember feeling upset after finding out that Obama checked the "black" box and ignored the others when filling out his census form, even though he is multiracial. Yesterday, though, without thinking I called myself white. Now I realize why Obama and so many other multiracial individuals pick one race. Maybe they can't even help it. Call my cynical, but it seems that the cold, hard truth is that people are going to categorize you based on what you look like. They aren't going to ask about your family or give you a chance to self-identify. Instead, if you look white... you're white. If not, well then... you're not.

An Asian girl once told me that I should be thankful I don't look Chinese, because this way I don't get discriminated against. While it may be true that white privilege may be an advantage that comes with being perceived as white, it doesn't erase the sting of feeling like such an outsider in a racial group or a place that you feel you belong to. My family came to America from Shanghai, but for the most part, I am denied this connection with the city. Instead, I am left to feel self-conscious of how I appear to others, and left with the choice of dejectedly accepting their categorization of me, or exhausting myself trying to assert my Chinese-ness and most times still come up short.


**Note: after writing this I pulled myself together and met a few of my classmates for dinner. When one of them made a comment about me being Chinese, one of the girls exhibited the typical combination of incredulity and the need to express this to me. It was all I could do not to chew her out, and I'm proud to say even my curtness was curtailed (for the most part).

A Working Weekend

It’s a Saturday, but guess where I am! Yep... I’m in the office. Apparently in China, when there is a holiday on a Wednesday they will give you a three day vacation. However, the vacation falls Monday through Wednesday, and the proceeding Saturday and Sunday become working days. Personally, I find it quite strange. This also makes this week the longest work week ever!

I’ve received requests to answer some questions about my job, so here goes. First of all, I’m working at an international biotech and pharmaceutical company. The Shanghai location is mostly research-based. In the labs, they’re doing all sorts of really cool R&D. (It’s the sort of stuff that I was interested in BEFORE taking Life Sci 1a.) I’m working in the Human Resources department, and although the working language is officially English, it quickly became obvious that the working language is effectively Chinese. Consequently, there are constantly conversations going on around me that I understand little to none of. Luckily there are other foreigners working here as well (but most are Chinese), and everyone has some degree of mastery over the English language, albeit with some quirky turns of phrase.

Now that I have my own desk furnished with a computer (a PC! AH!) and telephone, I’ve been given “real” work. (By “real” work I basically mean I’m not doing filing anymore.) The bulk of my work is comprised of two projects: designing and launching an employee health and wellness program, and working on an employer branding campaign for recruiting. Then there’s still some editing and reformatting, and other secretarial duties to round things out quite nicely.

Culture Shock

“WHOA!” That’s what the look on my co-worker’s face said, and it’s definitely what I was screaming inside my mind. What was the cause for our shock? Well… our boss called her fat. The co-worker in question is a woman visiting Shanghai as a temporary liaison from another location of the company. She is by no means fat. In fact, she is a very normal, healthy weight; she just doesn’t have a petite Asian frame.

It was quite brisk today, and while walking to lunch, one of the ladies was complaining that it was too cold. When another countered this and said she wasn’t all that chilly, our boss laughed and said, “That’s because of your fat!” Granted, she did continue to say how she used to always get cold but now she has fat too (and she is very thin), so it is clear that she didn’t have any malicious intentions. However, as my co-worker gave me a look of shock (and I had to suppress my own reaction!), it just made me realize that there really is a major culture difference. Sometimes it seems like other countries have assimilated to Western culture, but other times it is crystal clear that only some aspects of Western culture are adopted, and there are still major cultural differences. It is really important to remember this, and be tolerant. As her shock faded, I’m sure my co-worker realized that the commenter was not in fact rude and uncouth, but rather just simply didn’t see any harm in her comment.

So anyway, that was the major take-away from my second day of work. I’ve survived my first two days (and without being called fat, at that!). After my first day, I must admit that I was feeling sort of down about my internship. I spent the whole day doing, (excuse my language, but for lack of a better phrase…) bitchwork – filing things, and whatnot. At least I didn’t have to sharpen any pencils!

Today I finally got a computer setup for me, and now I’m in business! (It’s quite interesting… these days, if you are computer-less, you’re basically paralyzed in many jobs.) I was suddenly given projects to work on, and I instantly felt gratified. It seems as though I’ll get the chance to do ACTUAL work, and hopefully make some contributions. So far I’ve done some editing and policy-writing, but what I’m most excited for is the project that I am in charge of: formulating a plan for the launch of an employee health and wellness program! Enough about work for now; I’m sure I’ll have plenty to say about it soon.

Since rainy season has just begun, I had to go back to the apartment after work and change my clothes. Then I met some other Harvard students for dinner in XinTianDi. I had a nice chat with my cab driver, who was impressed with my Chinese (luckily our conversation topic was within my vocabulary!) and commended my parents bright idea to marry Meiguoren and Zhongguoren (American and Chinese). After eating some Xiaolongbao (my favorite Shanghainese/Chinese food!!!), we went down the street to a jazz club. There was a live band, and their renditions of Stevie Wonder, the BeeGees, and such were great! (Most likely made even better by the free champagne…)

I really should get to bed now, though. Wednesday is a holiday (Dragon Boat Festival), so we have to work Saturday and Sunday because M-W is our three day “weekend.” That’s another strange Chinese corporate concept… work the weekend so you can take Monday and Tuesday off. That just wouldn’t fly in the US of A!

Negativity

This entry is for a close friend - you know who you are

If you’re at home, jealous that your friends are abroad working, studying, and playing, just know that they probably aren’t telling you the whole story because sometimes travels aren’t really all they’re cracked up to be. Yes, I will admit that I’m having a better time here in Shanghai than if I had stayed at home, but it isn’t ALWAYS all “fun!” and “amazing!” and “wish you were here!” Some of it is dirty, crowded, and confusing.

Although we love complaining about some things, like parents and class assignments (I love both of my parents and enjoy my classes for the most part, but let’s be honest here… we don’t usually sit around talking about how perfect our family is or how much fun we have doing our problem sets), there are certain things that are out-of-bounds when it comes to complaints.
One such topic is traveling. How often have you received a postcard that says, “I’m bored. The weather sucks. You’re so lucky you aren’t here!”? I’m going to guess your answer is: Never. The reality is that we romanticize our travels. Who knows why we do it. I think it has something to do with our need for justifying spending the money, the vacation time, and effort planning our trips; after all that, it had better be worth it!

Well, I’ll let you all in on some secrets… some things that I’ve already neglected to mention when regaling you with how wonderful Shanghai is. Here goes:

*I wish people didn’t stare at me so much because I look foreign. It makes me feel self-conscious.
*The internet is slow and disconnects too often. Plus, lots of websites are blocked in China.
*I didn’t pack some clothes I now wish I had, and they’re currently sitting in a room on the other side of the world.
*It’s humid. Ew.
*Sometimes I can’t understand people when talking to them, partially because of my limited vocabulary, and partially because of the Shanghai accent. It’s frustrating.
*The water pressure in my shower isn’t exactly ideal.
*I’m nervous that my internship won’t be challenging or stimulating and that instead of learning, I’ll be bored.
*Oh… and I never hear news about how the Celtics are doing!

I guess that’s it for my complaints so far, but then again it hasn’t even been a week! I don’t mean to be Miss Negativity, or sound like I don’t like it here. Rather, this post is to get the message out that everything is NOT as glamorous as our stories may lead you to believe. Sometimes it’s a struggle to adjust. Sometimes we miss the conveniences and familiarities of home, family, and friends.

Work Starts! ... Or Not

YES!!!!!!! I’m FINALLY back on a regular sleep schedule. This morning I got up and got dressed for work, but after calling the office, I found out that they prefer my first day to be tomorrow instead.

For whatever reason, I just didn’t feel like venturing out of the apartment, so I curled up in bed again and watched a chick flick. For the duration of the movie, though, I felt a tinge of guilt that I was cooped up in an apartment instead of exploring and enjoying the vibrant and foreign city of Shanghai. It was just one of those days, and it took quite a bit of resolve to force myself out.

Luckily Henry was taking the day off from work, so I walked to the Shanghai Art Museum and met him. Not expecting much, I was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable the main exhibit was! In honor of the World Expo, which is in Shanghai this year, Chinese artists painted depictions of each country. The exhibit was outstanding; the infusion of traditional Chinese artistry into portrayals of other countries was startling and beautiful. It was also very interesting to see how the artists chose images they felt embodied the country. Oftentimes it was famous landmarks, like the Eiffel Tower or Machu Picchu, but other times it was people, a dance or an animal.

"Madagascar" (Notice the style - very reminiscent of traditional Chinese paintings.)

I was incredibly eager to see the United States’ painting… What would the artist choose to symbolize America? I told Henry, “They definitely won’t paint people because Americans all look so different.” WRONG! The painting was a montage of faces – white, black, Asian, and vaguely brown – with the Statue of Liberty and generic skyscrapers in the background. Oh, there was also a fire-y dust cloud filling in the spaces. (We couldn’t wrap our heads around that!)

"The United States"

This painting reminded me that the US is fairly unique in its tremendous racial and ethnic diversity. I think that many Americans forget how special it is that our country is such a melting pot, and we really don’t celebrate it much.

Ah… I digress…

Anyway, after the museum, Henry and I parted ways and I met Nancy, a friend from the Seneca, for dinner. (She’s working at the art museum!) We wandered down Nanjinglu and its side streets, and feeling adventurous, got our food from street-food vendors. Later on we met up with Henry and some other Harvard students back in Jing’an Park. (I’m so amazed at how many of my classmates are in the city for the summer!) It was really nice to sit at the pond-side tables!

Jing'an Park at Night

I'm so glad that I ended up pulling myself out of my funk and getting out into the city. The weather right now is perfect – not too hot. Now it’s time to get some rest; tomorrow is my first day of work!

Exhausted!

Well, not much time has passed since the last time I wrote, but today’s objective was to set myself up for a reasonable daily routine. Once work starts, I’ll be toast without one! To that end, I forced myself to stay awake all day – no naps! – and I’m continuing my nightly ritual of writing for the day.

Staying awake wasn’t as hard as I imagined it would be. I thought I’d be ready to take a snooze around noon, but I was much more chipper than I expected to be. Henry, Casra, and Ryan (another friend from school), were visiting the French Concession, and I ambitiously decided to forgo a cab and take the 45-minute walk (according to googlemaps, but ended up being much faster!). After meeting at Sun Yat-Sen’s former residence (by the way, it is so confusing that in Chinese he is called Zhong Shan-Ling) and showing them Grammy’s old house right next door, we went for a nice lunch at a local French café. Casra isn’t a fan of Chinese food, so while I was sad to see him leave today, I’m looking forward to eating with people more enthusiastic about Shanghai cuisine.

Later we went up to the roof of the Grant Hyatt on the Bund. It was so pleasant! There was a hot tub to dangle your feet into, as well as big square beds for lounging on. It was still sunny and warm out, so that’s as probably as close to a beach as I’m going to get any time soon! While here, we met the Marketing Director for the hotel. She seemed to be a real mover and shaker, and if that wasn’t enough, she totally won us over by giving us the heads up about some secret upcoming events. I can’t say what they are now, but we intend on going, so stay tuned ;-)

Ryan, Casra, me, and Henry on the rooftop overlooking the Bund.

Now I’m back at the apartment and finally getting drowsy. I’m going to try to hang on a bit longer so I don’t wake up in the middle of the night. Wish me luck!

Sleepless in Shanghai

It’s 5:19am, and clearly I’m still wide-awake. Ugh!

Oddly enough, Twitter has been on my mind all day. I used to find Twitter’s concept foolish, self-indulgent, and pointless. This year, though, a friend who is a Twitter enthusiast convinced me to give it a chance. Now, I still think it may be self-indulgent, but sometimes self-indulgent is what you want, and I’ve found myself to enjoy tweeting! All of the random thoughts that pop into my mind? Tweet them! Twitter is the perfect outlet for miscellaneous ideas, observations, and opinions that I want to just get out there. Since I don’t have many followers, it’s a good thing I don’t really care if people pay them much mind.

Anyway, how does Twitter relate to Shanghai and my travels? Well… today as I roamed the city alone, I was bombarded by many of these little thoughts. I wanted so badly to tell someone, but I was alone, so my instinct was to reach for my Blackberry and tweet them. However, as I’m Blackberry-less in Shanghai, I couldn’t even tweet them, I cemented some of them in my mind. If you don’t want to read the long version, here’s what I would have tweeted if I could tweet. Basically, it’s my day in 140-character bursts.

3pm – Finally woke up… I guess I was tired J

6pm – Mission obtain Chinese cell phone accomplished! (I wish I could use SIM cards with Verizon phones.)

6:22pm – Alone. With nobody to talk to I’ve found myself narrating in my head. Like Carrie from Sex and the City or J.D. from Scrubs.

7:30pm – Dusk has fallen. In Shanghai, you cannot see a SINGLE star!

7:45pm – The Beijing “er” that I picked up from my Chinese teachers is confusing the Shanghai ren! Ai-ya

8:00pm – I forgot how cosmopolitan Shanghai is…and how many waiguoren there are.

8:01pm – My tweets are already turning into Chinglish. I’ll translate for my dad and other non-Chinese speakers: waiguoren = foreigners

8:45pm – check it out: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/06/04/pew.interracial.marriage/index.html?hpt=C1 (Shanghai is chock-full of interracial couples)

10:30pm – Late night dinner. Delicious “Welcome to Shanghai” meal at Mr. and Mrs. Bund… a fancy French restaurant.

12am – cocktails on the balcony overlooking the Bund with a couple of Harvard friends. Fabulous!

1:15am – Shanghai this summer is the perfect mix of adventure and familiarity.

3:02am – Shanghai, not New York, is truly the City That Never Sleeps.

3:58am – Whoops! I just drank tap water while brushing my teeth. Let’s hope its filtered… or else it might be “Hello, Cipro!”

3:59am – actually I think I drank the water when I brushed yesterday too, and I haven’t gotten sick so far. Fingers crossed.

4:54am – Light is streaming through my window. Why can’t I fall asleep? Sleepless in Shanghai.

5:20am – I may as well get started on my journal/blog.

To elaborate on my tweets:

Even though I spent much of both flights sleeping, I still slept for a good 13 hours Friday night. After waking up at 3pm, I showered and set off on my first Shanghai adventure. Armed with mental snapshots of GoogleMaps, I managed to achieve my three objectives: 1) Find a China Construction Bank ATM; 2) Get a metro card; 3) Buy a cell phone and Chinese SIM card.

Unable to find the ATM for quite a while, my day was off to a late and an inauspicious start. However, as I wandered down Nanjingxi Lu, I was struck by déjà vu as my surroundings suddenly started to look familiar. I soon realized that I was walking down the same street of the hotel I stayed at with my family years ago during my first trip to Shanghai. Passing the imposing Ritz-Carlton was oddly comforting, I suppose because it is ironically the piece of Shanghai I am best acquainted with. How ironic, seeing as how this time I’ll be on my own, without my family, and certainly not in such luxurious accommodations.

After encountering the familiar, everything began to fall into place. I found an ATM, took the subway, and got my phone! By the time I headed back to my apartment, dusk had fallen.

Now that I have a phone, I can get in touch with my friends who are already here! Harvard students have been flocking to China in droves over the past couple of years. I suppose you could say it’s in vogue. A friend who lived across the hall from my freshman year was actually on my flight from San Francisco! And he’s living quite nearby.

After activating my phone, my first phone call was to my friend Henry. (We took Chinese together, so I know him best as Hangfei.) I haven’t seen him in awhile, since he’s been studying abroad in Shanghai. Luckily this means he can give me the lowdown on the city J (And show me his apartment… complete with an adorable two-week year old kitten!)

To celebrate my arrival in Shanghai, we had a late-night dinner at Mr. & Mrs. Pudong (and I’m talking LATE-night… our reservation was for 10:30pm!). Actually, I’m flattering myself… the dinner was initially to show another Harvard friend, Casra, Pudong during his weekend visit to the city. Once I was invited to tag along, though, it turned into a mini-reunion of sorts.

The restaurant was an incredibly chic French-owned place, right on the side of the river. After enjoying our delicious meals, Casra treated us to espressos so that we wouldn’t fall asleep on him! (He wanted to make the most of his short time here, but Henry and I were waning.) Getting our second wind, we went out onto the balcony overlooking Pudong and shared some cocktails. While the maitais were the most delicious, the “Diva on the Bund” was certainly the most amusing. We had the balcony all to ourselves, and sitting in the cool breeze in such a foreign and exciting place, yet with familiar friends was the perfect mix.

Henry, Casra, and I on the balcony overlooking the Bund. (It was late enough that the lights had been turned off for the most part.)

The cab dropped me off around 3am, but I still haven’t been able to fall asleep. I tried to fall asleep to my audio book. The voice is usually soothing enough to put me right to sleep, but no such luck this time! Before I knew it, light was sneaking in through the gap in my curtains. The silver lining? I got a few nice photos of daybreak and mustered up enough grit to start writing (the first sentence is the hardest for me). It’s now 6:31am and I’m still Sleepless in Shanghai!

View of daybreak from my window on the 19th floor.

Oh well… I’m just going to stay up so I crash early tomorrow and get back on a human sleep schedule.

Arrival!

Welcome to my blog about my summer in Shanghai. After a long long LONG day of flying, I finally arrived around dinner time.

For now I'm staying with some friends of a friend in an extra room of their apartment. I'm very fortunate that they're so hospitable! The section of the city that I'm living in isn't one of the really flashy or eye-catching areas... it just seems 'regular' (whatever that even means!).

Tonight I biked with one of my temporary roommates, a 25 year-old Chinese woman, to a local ex-pat restaurant/bar. A few quick observations before I fall asleep:
1) Shanghai seems WAY more international than any other part of China I've been to (even Beijing!). We ran into her friends, who were Australian, Filipino, British, Irish, and French! Last summer I would go entire weeks without seeing another foreigner in Luoyang. What a difference.
2) Biking in China is dangerous. You have to be really careful. On the way home we opted to ride on the sidewalk. Much safer!