Hello everyone!

---

I've been here in Shanghai for a little over 2 weeks now!!! I still can't believe I'm here!
Well, I've decided to start a blog so that it's easier to update you about what's going on with me. I feel like I'm in a bubble here. Since I only got internet recently and since I have no access to North American tv news (or at least I've been too busy & lazy to check...hhaha).

There are many familiar stores and brands (Dairy Queen, Best Buy, Burger King, Sephora, Starbucks, IKEA....to name a few.); on the other hand, the way of life and people's values are so different here! I see and experience things that surprise/shock me every day. For a lack of a better word...it's been a very interesting experience so far.

I'll start with one story during my first weekend in Shanghai.
So I had a fun trip to IKEA. Yes, there's IKEA here! Well, it started POURING (a torrential downpour) as we walked from the subway to IKEA. It's funny because from out of no where, there are people who spread out umbrellas to sell at the exit of the subway station. Anyway, back to IKEA. Seems like people, young and old, go there to sleep and some even go there to hang out with friends (I was told some people go on dates there too). They just lounge about and fall asleep as if they were in their own bedroom at home. Literally all the beds and chairs were occupied by sleeping people. And then after....when we were walking out of IKEA I saw an old lady holding a string of little cages with tiny bunnies to sell. They were so cute, but I was wondering where she got them all from. Maybe it's better not to know....

At the end of the day, we got out of the subway station by my house and there was a crowd of carts and people on motorcycles offering rides. We were thinking what's going on? We kept saying no to their offer for a ride...THEN...we realized what was really going on. Two taxi lanes were completely flooded on both sides of the road (probably due to the crazy storm we had earlier which backed up the sewage...eww)--wide canals of water. There were people left and right and some who were walking through the dirty water with their shoes off and pant legs hiked up. I looked at the water in horror...it was so gross! We were now quite desperate for a way to get across...so we (aggressively) stopped this guy with a cart---and I think it was garbage cart that had been emptied out to make some extra business that day to transport people instead of garbage---my mom, roommate and I climbed up into this rusty garbage cart and sat on the edge. It was quite a comical ordeal! (My roommate took a picture of a garbage cart the next day so we could save it as a memory..haha...so I'll try to upload it next time)

Oh and nice thing to know (which I was kindly informed about right when I got here) is that pedestrians have no right-of-way here. Cars, trucks, motor bikes, buses...come from every which way not caring that the little green man signal is flashing for pedestrians to cross. To make things worse...the streets/roads are exceptionally wide here so it's takes more time to cross. I'm just thankful that the traffic in my area is not too busy. My area is actually quiet and relatively new (even taxi drivers don't know how to get to my area!)....anyway, I wouldn't know how to cross the street if I lived right in downtown Shanghai or the Pudong area (which is in the more eastern part of Shanghai) which is a lot busier. Actually one of the new English teachers from the Pudong campus was in an accident on his first day here! A bus ran over his leg! He told me that the driver kept going after he was hit and it was only thanks to a foreigner who was passing by that helped call for an ambulance. scarryyyy....so far I've just tried to cross the road when other people are crossing so I can kinda walk with them like they're my guide...eheh

I've been going out with t-shirts and plain pants/skirt....which makes me stick out. Women wear fancy dresses and high-heels all the time...even to the grocery store; and on the other end, some people like to stroll about wearing their pyjamas or no shirt at all (well men at least). And there's a new mall near my apartment and each night, middle-aged to older men and women congregate to dance together in sync to some pop-sounding chinese music with this one lady leading them. It's fascinating. It's the first time I've ever seen something like this. In a way, it's a really cool thing that they come together as a community to exercise and dance...and the children don't miss out on the fun because meanwhile they are rollerblading around colourful lights that are in the ground....

So my experience has been interesting and quite eventful so far!

anyway, I think I'll end off here. I wanted to post some pictures of my apartment, but I'll save that for next time! So make sure to check my blog again soon 😊

---

Comments

[Angel]

wow......
Nothing beats sitting on a garbage cart... you must be DESPERATE!

[Sophie]

wow!
Wow, Rebecca, sounds like a huge change! If someone asked me to go on a date to IKEA I don't think I would believe it. Sounds like the law is loosely established there... people sleeping indoors? No right-of-way? I really learned a lot from your blog entry. Well, I hope that "interesting" is good-interesting. I am really glad your kids are cute! I miss you lots. Keep us updated. :) Sophie

[qc]

hey laibaka!
glad you started this blog! haha, reading some of the stuff, I can identify. like sticking out cuz i'm wearing plains clothes. Crossing the street here is different though. I just need to walk out calmly on the street, and cars will avoid you. They won't stop, they'll just swerve around on the wide, wide roads here. and HONK at you. To let you know not to do anything sudden.