Observations and thoughts so far...

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Chinese customs shocked me at first, but you get used to them. There are about 23 million permanent residents in Shanghai, and then about 4 million transients (people like me), so there is very little regard for personal space. People push each other to get where they're going, disregard queues, and never apologize for brushing by you. I learned how to say "excuse me" in Mandarin, and used it for about a week before I just gave up.

There don't seem to be real traffic rules and every time I hop in a cab, I make sure to sit in the back because I can't handle looking at the action. Drivers disregard lanes, oncoming traffic, and just assume that if they get in your way you will move. The lights turn yellow before turning green so by the time it's green, the car is in the middle of the intersection ready to go. They don't stop before turning right on red lights and if you're a pedestrian, you never have the right of way even in a crosswalk. Walking around the city is a sport that I am not very good at yet.

The toilets here are squatters and you're very lucky if you can find a western toilet. Luckily, our hotel has western toilets. Squatters are basically urinals that were placed in the floor of the stall and you have to squat all the way down to pee. It's very awkward and I am not a fan at all. I was "hole shy" for a bit and couldn't do it, but my small bladder took over and I had to do it on my first weekend trip. Babies don't wear diapers, but rather have slits in their pants that go from their crotch to their butts. We call them the "butt pants" because walking around, you see many baby butts just toddling along. They are allowed to pee wherever they want, whenever they want--on the street, in the park, out of cars. I saw a mom hold her baby out of her drivers side window while stopped at a light and the baby was peeing on the car next to her. It was pretty ridiculous. I have yet to get a picture of butt pants, but will do it (in not a creepy way).

The pollution in Shanghai is a little intense. You can't see the sun a lot because of the layers of pollution. I hear Beijing is worse. They are shutting down the factories a month before the Olympics and seeding the clouds to make it rain for two weeks so that the pollution is reduced for the athletes. There just seems to be a constant haze over the city and I have only seen a blue sky on one morning.

Everywhere we go, we're stared at. The old people stare in disdain and I just stare back. The young people talk to us so that they can practice their English and the really young children always say hi. When we went to Suzhou last weekend, so many people took pictures with us. It's pretty funny because everywhere we go, we take pictures of the sites and the locals take pictures of us. Not even posed pictures though, just like from a distance of us talking and such. I feel like a celebrity sometimes. One of my friends is a redhead and they LOVE her. They point at her hair and then give her a thumbs up.

As I travel outside of Shanghai, I realize how spoiled we are here and how westernized it is here. It's not hard to find English in the city, and I can get by with pointing, boy language, and minimal English. My Chinese 1001 class is helping and I used what we learned in class to change a train ticket the other day! I am going to spend the latter half of July in Shanghai during the weekends so that I don't miss anything important in the city. I don't want to get too comfortable here and miss anything good.

I'm getting used to not being able to understand most of the conversations going on around me and the signs I see everywhere. I have recognized a few characters, but there are over 5,000 so I don't expect to know them anytime soon. When I first got here, I was amazed at the way the Chinese spoke to each other--it seemed they were hostile towards each other and constantly yelling or at odds with each other. I soon learned that it's just how they speak to each other and the inflection in their words are needed in order for them to be understood. The same word, can be said five different ways (in five different tones) and mean completely different things.

I have learned the art of bargaining and read somewhere that bargaining is not a competition for the Chinese, but rather a sport. The person who walks away with the better deal is respected. I love bargaining and enjoy the interaction. I have not yet spent more than $10 on a meal here and have eaten at some fairly nice restaurants. I've encountered some foods I love, and some I never want to see/smell again. Everyday is a new experience and I have no idea what will be in store.

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