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Hallway
in Faculty Club Hotel So the first night (5/15) we arrived, Ted, Sean, Ethan, one other SSP'er (Shanghai Study Abroad student, forgot his name), and I decided just to walk down a few streets to check out a few restaurants and try to get a general layout of the streets. It was about 11pm when we left and there were still a substantial number of locals walking around, a few mopeders/bikers, and still several cars when we came back around 1:30am. We quickly learned how to cross the street in non-life endangering manner. We walked past, what I know now as, Metro Station and saw plenty of restaurants and shops down Guangyuan and Huahai Roads. There are an unbelievable number of different restaurants, small shops, and street vendors...it's insane.
I didn't experience much jetlag, considering it is exactly a 12-hour time difference from America and I was used to staying up all night, haha. I woke up promptly at 5:37am, because we didn't close the curtains in our hotel room and the sun rises at friggin 5:30am - I love it, finally able to wake up early again! I couldn't unpack until the next day when our rooms were confirmed. I am
Room 417
Our room in Faculty Club Hotel rooming in 417 with Scott (a Comp Eng. from GT). He's pretty chill, almost too chill - it's a bit hard to determine if he is excited or depressed sometimes - but we don't get on each other's nerves at all, yet. We have to share internet, which may be the only thing that'll be a problem later on and me staying up late while he sleeps. We both don't watch TV at all and plan to never turn ours on! I rearranged the room after the first day (not sure if I could but whatever, I'm going to be here for 2 months), above and below are some pics.
Today at 10am, we had an orientation presented by the SJTU volunteers Jing and "Sherry". They showed us around the graduate campus, pointing out the three entrances (red door entrance is cool), convenience stores, the dining hall, the track, etc. Then they took us to the district 10 shopping area within Metro City (an enormous mall) where we could and did buy cellphones, though we had to buy sim cards back on campus because they wanted to charge too much. The SJTU volunteers did some good haggling, we
would have been pretty helpless. Brandon had to pay for 2 other student's phone cause they didn't have the money on them 180 RMB each (only about $26)!
Afterwards, Brandon, I, and Sherry volunteered to look for power converters/adapters for everyone. We should have just brought something electronic with us to test because what we bought didn't work and we ended up walking the 30 minutes there and back again to return them (without a receipt!). It was very hot, had to wear an undershirt to keep the sweat from drenching my shirt, around 90 degrees Fahrenheit. I wonder how such small stores/vendors/groups within stores acquire their goods to sell and haggle? So, we failed in finding everyone converters. However, the travel kit I got from Best Buy worked in some of the plugs (only one worked for my laptop), and after I randomly found a US multiple outlet plugin in my suitcase (!!!) I and my roommate, could hook up whatever we needed. I gave the rest of my converters to Sean and Sam.
I tried the track out around 6pm. It was still smoggy, but not as hot and had a nice breeze. I
did a few laps, sprint and jog, and watched a group of people play some intense soccer. There were several random people that used the track for a free outdoor space. They had dip/pull-up bars to use which a few people were on, old people running backwards, one guy booking it the whole time, one guy doing tricks with a soccer ball. Also, another old guy that tried to talk to me because he saw how fast I ran a 400, but all we could explain to each other (limited communication) was that I was a third year at SJTU for now and that I was doing Engineering, he was very amiable! The effect of the smog hit me when I tried to relax back in my room.
I took a shower and then went out to eat with Scott Belden and Sean. We walked in the rain (wearing horribly uncomfortable flip-flops) for a long time until we reached sit-down restaurant we hadn't been to before (although we passed 10-20 on the way there, ha). However, the menu had no pictures and I forgot my dictionary and couldn't recall enough Chinese yet to read it.....so I just pointed
The Metro
You can see all the traffic in this pic too, ha to something random on the menu! Ended up being tofu covered in a very rich orange mandarin flavored sauce - it was way too sweet. Scott and Sean read from the small English menu they provided and got a bean sprout noodles thing and a very spicy beef dish, both tasty but not breathtaking. The meal was supposed to be 50 RMB, but they added in 31 RMB for some random reason - possibly because we were foreigners and wouldn't know any better. I tried to inquire, but couldn't make out his answer in Chinese, so we just paid the extra and left. It may have been the cost for the appetizer or the green tea that was already on the table. I need to buy an umbrella...
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damom24
charmaine
Shoes
Love all the shoes parked under the bed. I'm sure you and Scot will get along fine, never really met anyone you couldn't get along with. Sounds like Brandon and Sean are pretty neat.