Nutmeg's Guestbook

VBall
I played on the campus of ECNU, but that doesn't mean its only for students. Pretty much all the games that take place are pick up games--Literally, businessmen in suits would hope in without so much as a greeting. The courts are located right outside the International student's dorm #2.

Hahaha, yeah, place names tend to have a lot of nouns mixed in. Depending on where you travel determines whether or not you hire a tour guide, and also whether you can speak Chinese. Myself, if I'm in a city, then I don't need a tour guide. But generally, out in the countryside/anywhere away from the city, having a guide is a good idea for anyone! Thanks for reading Chrissy! I can't wait til I get to see you again!

Perhaps...
...Or perhaps not. I read your comment a week ago and I've spent the last week thinking about it. For the last week, I've tried to see every such-occurrence as just a misunderstanding...but sadly, the language barrier does not explain away all these occurrences. It can cover a lot, but not everything, like the story I told about my friend. The fact is, one traveling abroad must also deal stereotypes and misconceptions (especially Americans). Shanghai is a big, crowded city, and many people here just don't care about foreigners learning Chinese. Now you trust me, I know that Chinese people can be the most courteous, but that's a huge generalization. There are also Chinese who are not that courteous toward foreigners. Now, my most positive experience with courteous Chinese people was in Taiwan, where Taiwanese will literally invite you over to eat at their house or drive you to a destination when you get lost. And don't get me wrong, I've met some really fantastic Shanghai residents here! Shanghai is great and I refuse to let a couple of bad experiences ruin my time here. But I'm also not naive enough to think that the language barrier is completely to blame.