Day 2...better food, more fun

---

Today we had such a better day. We got some solid sleep, which helped. I woke up at 4:30am and spent some time figuring out my blog issues, but later in the day we got a nice, big nap (and I'm not usually a napper!). We started the day walking to Yuyuan Gardens which is really close to our hotel. The doorman told us to walk there via a sketchy alley, but we figured he would not send us into danger, so we went down this alley with little homes, laundry hanging, people sitting outside and eating, and we just meandered by. The thing about being white in China--there's just no way to blend into a crowd. We are like a flashing neon sign. Street peddlers are all over us all the time, and we just have to keep walking and Mark says no in Chinese. The peddlers can be quite aggressive and some have followed us for blocks, but they eventually give up and leave us alone.

We wandered by this famous Tea House and went inside, but could not figure out the system of ordering--didn't see any waiters and it was 100% Chinese men in there, so we gave up and went to Starbucks for Mark's caffeine fix. I waited for my Chinese tea, since Starbucks only sells English tea.

Another thing I've noticed about China, versus say Mexico or parts of Europe--you can't assume people speak English. A lot of people don't, and you have to be ready to show an address to a cab driver (in Chinese) and should not expect that anyone will understand you. We have a card from the hotel with our hotel name and address in Chinese, and we also have a few random places in Chinese (the Starbuck's worker wrote down a park we were trying to get to, which was great. We showed that to the cab driver and poof, we were in that very garden.

The park is called Fu Xing Park. Sunday is a big day for Tai Chi in this park (maybe all parks?). The video I posted is not that great, but it shows my covert attempt to film people without being obnoxious--hence the awkward panning. There were lots of people (all older) doing individual and group Tai Chi. It seemed very intense--for example some people were standing in front of a tree, doing just hand exercises. This involved hitting their hands against the tree over and over. Very focused and repetitive. Others were doing more of a class, with a leader. Some women had fans with scarves, which was pretty to watch. Others had sticks. Then there were other groups dancing in the park. Ballroom dancing. It was really sweet to see these older couples dancing around together. They seemed very happy and again very focused on the steps and being coordinated and synchronized.

We were the only white people in the park. I note this because it made me feel like we weren't supposed to be there. I asked Ting (a friend we met up with later today), and she said we didn't violate any rules, but the older Chinese just don't talk to strangers, and most don't speak English. One woman finally said "good morning" to us, and gave us a big smile. It was nice. Ting also said that the younger generation is much more open and friendly to Westerners. They often speak English, having gone to school in the US or Europe.

Ting is a woman Mark met on one of his previous trips, through another friend. She works in Shanghai, is from Beijing, and went to school in Minneapolis. She works for an American company based on Minneapolis (she worked there before being transferred back to China). She was super fun and nice. Took us to a great dim sum place and ordered some good food. I am trying to be low maintenance and flexible--so my vegan diet is on hold. I am feeling fine, but having not eating meat or pork for almost a year--it's a bit of a change. Most things are small bits of meat in with a bunch of other ingredients like noodles, or rice, with vegetables. So there was one dish that was river eel. Mark said it was great, he'd had it before. I had to try it. Can't be the lame American that won't try new things. So I bit into this eel, and the sauce was good, the flavor was fine, but it was crunchy. Apparently, there were bones in it, and the appropriate thing to do is spit those out--put them on your plate. I didn't know this, and didn't ask and I swallowed the bones. Gulp. I didn't have a second piece of eel. Later, Mark told me that this dish was not what he'd had before. Oh well. New experiences!

The reason I loved Ting so much, besides her warm personality, was that she was hilarious! Sarcastic and funny (like me!). She gave me a lot of insight into different aspects of the Chinese culture. Things to watch out for, like using extreme care when crossing streets and sales people trying to take advantage of Westerners with higher prices. She also explained that babysitters are not as easy to find here. Most people have 2 sets of grandparents to help with kids in the evenings. There are lots of nannies, but those are for the daytime hours. We asked Ting if she liked kids--and thankfully, she does! So we have 1 babysitter lined up already.

After dim sum, Mark and I went by subway to People's Square and walked around Nanjing Road. It's a famous road with shopping, and you can walk in the street (no cars). This area reminded us of Time Square in NYC. Lots of people, lots of street vendors.

Then, we went back to the hotel for our power nap and got ready for dinner with Ray and his family. Ray is a friend of Mark's from high school. They met up again when Mark started going to Shanghai last year. Ray has been here for 10 years. He is married and his daughter is 5. She's super cute. Speaks English and Chinese...and loves Uncle Mark and warmed to Uncle Mark's friend (that's me) by the end of the night. Dinner was fantastic. The best meal yet. Dumplings and all sorts of really fresh dim sum-like dishes. We will be back to that place before I come home. It was so good. Dessert was great too. Chinese desserts are not like American. We had this shaved ice thing with all sorts of sweet beans, a root vegetable, and tapioca-like bubbles (those ones you see in Asian drinks), and a sweet bread not the brains kind, but a spongy, layered cake-like bread you eat a layer at a time. Both sound odd, but were really good.

Side note on meals: it's chopsticks and soup spoons all the way. The dessert came with small silver spoons (yay). It's all family style--sharing everything. My favorite kind of eating.

After dinner, we walked back to the hotel and did some quick shopping. We bargained so hard to save about 50% of the original price. You have to bargain for everything. I got some practice in Mexico but I speak more Spanish than Chinese. Ray and his wife, Alex told us about some great shopping areas.

Tomorrow we will go see 3 schools and move to a hotel in the area where we plan to live/have the kids go to school (Hongqiao).

---

Photos

Starbucks
We could have been in Evanston--totally the same stuff.

Chinese Gondola
This guy was really cleaning the water...I don't think he offers rides.

Health Clinic
Interesting to see these medical people set up with a card table, a stethoscope.

Suze and Mark
finally, a pic taken by someone besides us :)

Comments

[Linda]

Love hearing your insights about Chinese culture and about your interactions with "strangers". I am getting a feel-good feeling about your future home town. Linda