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For three years, I have been in China teaching Swing Dancing. Now I'm wandering yet again...
2003-08-23
Shanghai, Day 2
Wowsa.
It's been 48 hours, and it feels like a different world. I have stayed one night with my hosts Rob & Ping, and one night over at my other host Kenny's place. Rob is a Westerner, working on a doctorate relating to silk trade in the 1950's, and Ping is his wife. Kenny is a guitar player in a couple of small bands, and he is a blast to hang out with. I owe so much to these people for everything I am doing right now.
Yesterday I began at Rob's and we headed out for lunch with Kenny, then I spent the afternoon with Kenny and his drummer, Bing. At Kenny's place they have a studio set up in the apartment building (very understanding neighbors) and we all jammed to songs like Your Moma Don't Dance and Your Daddy Don't Rock & Roll. I played the drums for a little bit but I can't compare to Bing, who is really good. We explored Shanghai a bit more, and then we returned back to Kenny's to watch a DVD of Band of Brothers and play games on his PlayStation 2. By 8pm I closed my eyes to take a quick nap and I was out like a light.
Today Kenny and I had breakfast at a backstreet market. They made a Chinese Egg Pancake, which is pretty much a crepe. They cooked it on an up-ended barrel with a fire burning underneath it. It cost 2.5 RMB (or about 30 cents). I realized it's really hot and humid here, so we visited an underground mall. You can bargain them down there, and I bought two pair of shorts for 90 RMB (about 11 bucks).
At about 3pm I crashed once more, and when I woke up at 9pm I went to Karaoke with Ping and Rob again. They do karaoke in a private rooms rather than in a public room like in the U.S.
It's been a very short time, but already I am growing accustomed to the environment. I am used to seeing the signs in Mandarin, seeing everyone being Chinese, and everyone looking at me for being blonde. I still know very little of the language and it is a challenge every time I separate from my friends, but so far so good.
Now I am going to get some sleep. Tomorrow I get a cell phone, definitely.
-J
Wowsa.
It's been 48 hours, and it feels like a different world. I have stayed one night with my hosts Rob & Ping, and one night over at my other host Kenny's place. Rob is a Westerner, working on a doctorate relating to silk trade in the 1950's, and Ping is his wife. Kenny is a guitar player in a couple of small bands, and he is a blast to hang out with. I owe so much to these people for everything I am doing right now.
Yesterday I began at Rob's and we headed out for lunch with Kenny, then I spent the afternoon with Kenny and his drummer, Bing. At Kenny's place they have a studio set up in the apartment building (very understanding neighbors) and we all jammed to songs like Your Moma Don't Dance and Your Daddy Don't Rock & Roll. I played the drums for a little bit but I can't compare to Bing, who is really good. We explored Shanghai a bit more, and then we returned back to Kenny's to watch a DVD of Band of Brothers and play games on his PlayStation 2. By 8pm I closed my eyes to take a quick nap and I was out like a light.
Today Kenny and I had breakfast at a backstreet market. They made a Chinese Egg Pancake, which is pretty much a crepe. They cooked it on an up-ended barrel with a fire burning underneath it. It cost 2.5 RMB (or about 30 cents). I realized it's really hot and humid here, so we visited an underground mall. You can bargain them down there, and I bought two pair of shorts for 90 RMB (about 11 bucks).
At about 3pm I crashed once more, and when I woke up at 9pm I went to Karaoke with Ping and Rob again. They do karaoke in a private rooms rather than in a public room like in the U.S.
It's been a very short time, but already I am growing accustomed to the environment. I am used to seeing the signs in Mandarin, seeing everyone being Chinese, and everyone looking at me for being blonde. I still know very little of the language and it is a challenge every time I separate from my friends, but so far so good.
Now I am going to get some sleep. Tomorrow I get a cell phone, definitely.
-J
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