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Published: September 27th 2007
We left for Shanghai right after my last class on Friday and in a total rush to leave...i forgot my passport :-/ (that's an annoyed face).
I wasn't even gonna mention it here since I still can't believe I did that..but there are so many stories to tell as a result of that (only good ones), that I have to. So, anyway...we took a cab to the bus station about 2min from school and got tickets for a bus that was leaving in about 10 sec. lol..so we ran on the bus, which was pretty nice (like a tour bus) and were in Shanghai in about 2 hours. The bus ride wasn't very interesting until we arrived and suddenly Mmmbop began playing, LOL...we were all dying and singing, lol..the weirdest thing was that music hadn't been playing the whole time..only when we got there and only that one song..very strange, lol.
So we first went to the hotel that we stayed at for our orientation but they were booked, and then to 2 more but they were also booked..and then to another one which said that they only had a suite available, but that we could all stay there. So
being that we had just walked around forever with our bags, and were starving, we took it. It was a $200 a night room, so $50 per person...and it was crazy! lol. as you can see from the pictures, there was a living room with an exercise bike, an office, bedroom, bathroom, sauna with a shower, 2 tvs, and amazing panaramic views of Shanghai..so crazy, lol..we were in shock. After enjoying the room a bit we ate dinner at local hole-in-the wall type place that Steve went to a lot when he studied abroad in Shanghai. We had bunch of different things..fish, chicken, a cucumber salad dish and some other things which were really good, and a nice change from our pretty repetative meals here (since we know what we like, we basically always order the same things, lol). After we ate, Steve wanted to show us a bar that he liked..but didn't know how to get to. So we took a cab and eventually got there just before 12am..when it was officially Candice's birthday! It was pretty cool, lots of murals and stuff on the walls..kind of empty but they played American music which was fun...so we hung out
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living roomthere for awhile before going back to our suite, lol. Since we stayed in such a nice hotel the first night, everyone wanted to stay in a hostel the second night..but I couldn't since I didn't have my passport..so i took a bus back after we walked around and shopped and stuff all day. Candice, Steve, and Drew needed to know the schedule anyway..so we all went to bus station together.
The bus ride back was hilarious. First of all, the guy selling the tickets was standing on the corner of the street in front of the waiting area for people waiting to get on a bus. I got a ticket and waited in the waiting area for about 20 min. Then, when the bus was boarding the guy I had bought the ticket from, came up to me said hello about 10 times and led me to a van. I gave my ticket to a lady standing by the door, and climbed in a cramped 12 person van with seats upulstored in fabric with cartoon ducks and the word "duck" in english all over it, haha. We had been on the road for about 15 min when we
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tv, cot and door to the sauna pulled over a few people got out of the van. Then, a guy who I guess works for the bus company or something, start saying "hello, hello, hello, hello" and motioning for me to get off the van, lol. I have no idea how I was supposed to know to get off, as he didn't even make an announcement of nams of cities or anything..but whatever, i got off and then onto a big bus like the one we had come to Shanghai on. We then drove around to 2 more bus stations..and then finally got on the highway. They played three movies on the way. The first was a Jackie Chang movie in Chinese. Next was Chinese strippers or pole dancers dancing to techno music (not really a movie, lol). And then last was karaoke..music videos with the words. And omg, the guy sitting behind me sang the whole last hour of the ride, lol. they really do like to sing here.
ha. soo everything up until now i wrote on sunday night. i didn't get to finish and it was pretty lae so i just decided to finish later and then post it. then, however..on monday we
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crazy view, at night totally lost the internet in our apt. and therefore i haven't been able to add to, or post what i had written so far.
ok, so now that you're all caught up..
After about 3 1/2 hours on the bus I began getting a little bit worried that it was dark out and I had no idea where we were, so I showed the guy behind me my ticket hoping that he'd make sure i got off at the right place, or that the bus was even going there. He took the ticketb and went up to the driver and then gave it back to me. I tried to say "hao?" which is like "ok?", but he said something back that of course i couldn't understand. Then, around 20 min later the bus stopped and he told me to get off, so i did. We weren't at thebus station which was I expected to get dropped off, but I did at least recognize where we were..thank go for this huge sign that says "coffee" lol. It had been raining most of the day..and of course when I got off the bus it started to pour. A guy asked
me if I needed a cab and pointed to his car with 2 kids and his wife in it, lol. Normally i wouldn't have gone..and definitely if I were at home I wouldn't..but people in China overall are actually just nice..and you don't have to worry about things as much here..and the whole family was in the car..so i got in. My school was only a few blocks away, and in a regular cab it would have cost 11rmb ..but of course he charged me 20..its only $3 though so i didn't mind too much, lol.
When I got back to the room i was starving, so i went across the street to the noodle shop. I usually go there on the days that I have to eat lunch by myself..so the husband and wife know me. I got there and asked for a bowl of noodle soup, but they were eating dinner and gestured for me to sit with them...so i did. They gave a bowl of rice and then asked me to taste the random stuff in each little bowl on the table. Still not sure what any of it was except for the peanuts, lol. It
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the view, in the morning was pretty funny cause I had a million questions I wanted to ask them, as I'm sure they also did, but we really couldn't communicate at all. I did figure out that they were asking me how old I am, and where I'm from..and was able to answer at least. Then, I pulled out my phrasebook, and the lady was reading good morning, goodnight, etc. and laughing. it was pretty funny, and definitely a cool experience except that the food was so weird, and I had to eat it cause they had invited me to eat with them, lol. I left kind of hungry, lol, but they wouldn't let me pay which was nice.
Sunday, I slept late and then rode my bike down the street around 1 to eat lunch. On my way however, I noticed that there were tons of people standing in the rain with ponchos on, watching some sort of show. So, I parked my bike and went over to see what was going on. I stood there for the next 3 hours watching this random event of dance groups in cool costumes, bands, and a few singers. On top of the stage it said
CCTV, which is the tv channel here (well there's cctv1, cctv2, cctv3, etc.) and there were lots of cameras and stuff. I found out later that it was a tv program based in Beijing that broadcasts concerts from different cities, and it just happened to be in Zhangjiagang on Sunday. It was very cool, and I felt i bad that everyone else was still on their way back from Shanghai and missed it...but I took some pics and a bunch of videos that hopefully you'll be able to see!
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