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This past week has been very busy with class and orientations. I also had my first Chinese cooking class where we made a very spicy beef tofu dish. It was delicious but the first cooking class was crowded and the kitchen was small so we cooked in groups of 4. Next week I should have a better chance for some hands on cooking since a large number of people decided to drop out of the cooking class. On Thursday one of the SJTU volunteers called Scott in our group and offered to take us to the Xuijiahui park, the public park for the area. When she invited us she asked, “You want to go the party and get a snake.” She meant go to the park and get a snack. Shanghai has many well maintained parks spread through out the city instead of one big park like Piedmont in Atlanta.
The park was well maintained and was more comparable to a garden. Locals use the parks to rest, socialize, and practice tai chi. After that we went along a street for street stall food. Most of the food stands have now been moved into small wall shops to improve sanitation
after SARS and Avian flu. As usual the food was great and cheap and I washed mine down with some Jasmine Tapioca Milk Tea. Tea is very popular in China and while there is no 'southern' sweet tea there are plenty of green teas, milk teas, ice lemon teas, etc. Also I have noticed most people do not order their drinks with their meal at all. Napkins are also a very western thing and I usually buy a pack to carry them around since most restaurants do not give you any and I still drop at least one food item on my shorts when eating with chopsticks.
On Friday we did a trip to the French Concession. While the British created an international concession for self-rule for foreign powers in Shanghai, France, in typical French fashion, decided to do things their own way. They made a separate deal with China. The old buildings in this area resemble a typical french town. Since we did not leave until 4:30, we plan on going back again to see some other parts but we enjoyed the walk through Fuxing Park.
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Walking with group
