Blogs from Shanghai, China, Asia - page 274

Greetings! Well, I'm going to start off with some good news. I've been accepted into the education program at a new teachers college opening up in Burlington. So this means I'll be around for at least a full year. I am looking forward to coming home. The last month, I've gone on a few long weekend trips. First I was in Shanghai. Its a cool city with an interesting mix of European and Chinese architecture. When I was in Shanghai, it was the start of a week long holiday for the Chinese. Many people in the city were visiting from the countryside, and I am guessing that they hadn't seen many white people before (or they think I am some sort of mutant!). I was stared and pointed at and 4 different people came and stood ... read more

Finally, after a week and a half I can access my travel blog. The internet connections in China are SO BAD that for days the speed is 10MBPS AWFUL! there is no way I can open my hotmail account!! Anyways, we are back and this time we have pictures of the Peach Festival. I expected it to be a "big deal" like the cherry blossom festivals in Japan (or Georgia :)) However, in Shanghai, you not only have to drive 1.5 hours, you also have to pay around $3 per person (pretty expensive here), since you can eat lunch for that amount of money) and once you go inside the field, there are thousands of peach trees (with flowers, of course) and little or none entertainment. The flowers were beautiful but the entertainmet was dreadful. I ... read more

Reading one of the magazines for foreigners, I found some of the questions you need to answer in the written test for getting a driver's licence. The exam for foreigners is in English. A form of English quite unintelligible, (the journalist specifically says it appears to be an unscripted speecb by George Bush, translated into Swahili and then back again by a rabid dog with a taste for martinis). The test is multiple choice. The following are some of the actual questions from the test and imaginary answers: Q. If you get in or out of an alley, cross a level crossing of a railway, make a sharp turn, or pass through a narrow road, a narrow bridge or a tunnel at the speed of 20km/hr, you: A: ...ARE LUCKY TO BE ALIVE Q: What causes ... read more

Omar and I went yesterday to have dinner at "Banana Leaf" a Thai restaurant with a comprehensive menu of fish entrees; which made Omar's choice very easy. He had the only entree that included rice and chicken "Steamed chicken with fried sticky rice". The interesting thing is that this restaurant has every night of the week entertainment provided by a group of young kids (I think from the Phillipines) that dance, play and sing a mix of Chinese and American songs. It was very lively, the entertainers were dressed like cooks and even one was dressed as a policeman! (I guess this was the chinese version of the "Village People") and they were singing and dancing the chinese version of the "Macarena". Of course Omar and I were laughing until they came to us and invited ... read more

Shanghai felt like we were in Europe. The architecture and the feel of the city were very European. If it wasn’t for the droves of bicycles you would forget that you were in China. We really only had one day in Shanghai and we decided to stray from the tour group (finally!) and go on our own. We started the morning at the Bund which is the walkway by the river. We were able to watch the ballroom dancers and people doing their morning Tai Chi. We then went to the Chinese Gardens which we were so thankful to see; very classic, very beautiful! We had the hotel write down the name of a local antique market and took a taxi. The taxi driver just dropped us off on a street and pointed. We didn’t see ... read more