Shanghai International (Half) Marathon

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This week wasn’t too eventful. Miss Li got me a job a couple weeks ago on campus. The Chinese students taking English classes take listening tests just like our Chinese listening tests, and they needed someone to record the passages and questions. I’ve gone four times and it’s pretty cool. Another guy and I sit in a recording studio and read the test for two or three hours at a time, and the best part is that we get paid! I’m making about 250 yuan each time which is awesome because now I have extra spending money!



My friend Jenny invited some of us to KTV on Friday, so after our internship, we met her there. She had invited a bunch of her friends, but they all ended up having things to do, so it was just Jenny, Carey, Brittany, and me. A guy Jenny knew from English Corner showed up the last hour, but for the first three hours, it was just us girls. It was the most fun I’ve had at a KTV so far. We were singing at the top of our lungs and dancing around like fools. I lost my voice by the end of the night. And we even sang some Chinese songs that we had heard in listening class; Jenny of course sang with us for those. We left for a movie night at the apartment for Brittany’s birthday.



Over a month ago, Balazs told me about a half marathon in Shanghai in December, and we decided to do it. I’ve been training since then for the race today. It’s the first time I’ve run a half marathon, so I figured, why not do it in Shanghai? We left for Shanghai early Saturday morning. Carey and Becky came with me; they weren’t going to pass up a trip to Shanghai. We had to register by noon at the East Asia Exhibition Center. I hadn’t done as much planning as I usually do for trips, so we had no idea which subway to take to get there, but we used our geography and Chinese skills to read the maps and buy the tickets. We made it there and went in. As I waited in line, I started getting a little nervous because everyone around me had papers that they brought with them and were giving to the workers to get their information. I didn’t have those papers. The website had said they would send us a registration card, but they never did. Balazs had called to ask about it and they said it was fine, but I was still worried. When it was my turn I gave the guy my passport because that was the only identification number they would have and he looked for my stuff. It was taking way to long, and he finally came back and said he had my number, but couldn’t find my envelope. I went to the pick-up desk to see if they could give me my timing chip and number, but they needed whatever was in the envelope first. The lady at that desk came back with me to the registration desk, and we tried to figure it out. (Balazs and his friend couldn’t find their envelopes either). None of the workers spoke good English, so I had to try to explain in Chinese that I had sent in my registration by mail, had not received anything back, and they didn’t have my envelope. Finally, she pointed me to another desk, which apparently handled posted registration because they had our envelopes. We got the rest of our stuff and headed to the hostel we were staying at.

This was my first time staying at a hostel, and I was a little nervous. I mean, I knew about the movie Hostel, but everyone says they’re fine. Ours was called Captain Hostel on Yan’an Road, and it was the cutest place! Our room had four bunk beds, but Becky, Carey, and I were the only ones there. We locked our stuff up and headed to lunch. The hostel was right off the Bund, one of the coolest spots in the city. We had seen it on our first trip to Shanghai (read my blog Shanghai Nights if you want to learn more about it!) and it was just as cool now. After lunch the boys went back to take naps, and us girls went to see the Pearl Tower. We didn’t get to go up in the Pearl Tower the last time we were in Shanghai because it would have been a three hour wait, and boy am I glad we didn’t try. We only had to wait about 30 minutes and that was trying enough. The view was cool, but it was kind of hazy. To go back down, we had to wait in line, and people were being very pushy. I’ve said it several times, but Chinese do not know how to line up! People kept trying to cut around us as we were standing there, so the line turned into a big clump of people who were trying to get down before us even though we had been waiting longer. I kept giving dirty looks to the guy behind me who kept pushing into me. Then when the elevator came, everyone was shoving to get on.



To cheer ourselves up after that ordeal, we went to the mall nearby. When we came out again, it had gotten dark, and we saw the little garden outside the mall was all lit up with Christmas lights. I was so excited because I haven’t seen any Christmas decorations here in Hangzhou, and I’ve really missed them. We walked through the garden enjoying the lights and went to dinner. Since the race was the next day, we went to this Italian restaurant so I could eat some carbs. It was a really nice restaurant, and I felt very underdressed in my sweatshirt and tennis shoes, but we were starving and it was close. The pasta was delicious; it tasted just like at home. We went back to the hostel after dinner and all went to sleep by 8:30. I know that’s ridiculously early, but we were exhausted, and I had to be at the starting line at 6:30 the next morning.

As I was getting my stuff ready the next morning, a girl came into our room. She had been out all night and was just coming in. We talked for a while and I found out she was from Puerto Rico. I told her I was running the half marathon, and it was really funny because she was drunk and so excited about it. She gave me a high five and cheered me out the door as I left. Our hostel was really close to the starting line, so Balazs, Mark, and I only had to walk a couple blocks to get there. I was going to put on my number bibs there, but my bobby pins must have fallen out of my pocket on the way, so Balazs and Mark had to give me some of theirs. I lost them somewhere amid the crowd of people, so I just warmed up and stretched by myself. The runners were all pushing trying to get close to the front, so I had to stand on the curb against the fence next to another girl. We started talking and I found out she was from the US but she was living in Shanghai teaching at an American school. It was really comforting to have someone else there to talk to because I had no idea what to expect. We stood there chatting until 7:30 when the race started. There were so many people, it took me seven minutes just to cross the starting line and actually start running. I ended up finishing in 2 hours 26 minutes, and boy was I in pain. But it was so exhilarating to cross that finish line that I think I’m going to start running half marathons from now on.



Carey and Becky found me outside and we had to rush back to the hostel because check out was at 12. We didn’t get back until 11:40, so even though I showered really fast, I had to throw all my stuff randomly in my bag and finish getting ready in the hall. It was also difficult because the hostel didn’t provide towels, and I hadn’t brought one, so I had to use the small sweat towel that I had received in my goody bag from the race. Don’t worry, I hadn’t used it for the race so it was clean, but it’s really hard to dry off with that small of a towel, especially when you’re in a rush. I finally finished and we headed to lunch. We were all starving and Becky and Carey hadn’t even had breakfast yet, so we stopped at the first place we found—McDonalds. We had to sit on the second floor, and as I was going up with my tray of food, I tripped on a step, spilled my drink, and hurt my toe. After getting another drink and carefully climbing the steps again, I took off my shoe to see the damage, and my whole toenail was blue. It felt like it was going to fall off. So now not only could I barely walk because of my sore legs, but also because of my toe. We looked around at some shops on Nanjing Road, but I just wanted to rest, so we decided to head back to the train station and Hangzhou.



This trip made me realize that I love Shanghai. It’s my favorite city in China and one of my favorite overall. It reminds me a lot of Chicago. The Bund is so pretty with all the different architectures, and there are great restaurants and shopping areas. It just seems like a really interesting city, and I plan on coming back someday to explore more of it.

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Photos

Photo 17
We saw this huge tour group coming out of the bathroom together, thought it was funny

Comments

[Jas]

Half Marathon
Congrats, hunny! I'm so proud of you!