Hi! From Shang-Hai

I would like to thank those of you that emailed me while I'm here in China.  My dear friend Teekay has been kind enough to post my blogs for me, because the Chinese government apparently doesn't believe in Google.


For those of you interested in flight info, I flew from SLC to LAX 1.5 hours, then to Seoul, Korea 14 hours; then to Shang-Hai 1.5, then a three hour bus ride.  There were layovers between each flight ranging from 2-3 hours each.  My travel time totaled to 28 hours.

Just know that it is the most bizarre thing to know that you fell asleep on the night of Wednesday February 9, and wake up on Friday, February 11. So weird.  So weird.

But, after arriving in Shang-Hai in the morning, we drove 3 hours to our little school in Chang-zhou (Chawng-Jow.)

I remember very little of this event, as I tried to sleep some on the bus, except that the city kept going and going and going.  In Star Wars episodes I, II and III they hold 'congress' in this place where the whole planet is a city.

That is what this Shang-Hai reminds me of.  Huge buildings just keep passing by.  You keep expecting it to end, but they just keep coming for hours and hours. I was looking out of the window of our bus and was so amazed by the sheer expanse of Shang-Hai.  I'm used to looking out the window and seeing the Rocky Mountains framing the sky---even in Virginia, the Blue Ridge hills would breach the seam between earth and heaven. But here, the mountains seem to  be man-made. It's so strange to not be able to see some sort of wild, even without mountains towering over you, in places like Phoenix Nevada, at least you can see the untouchable desert.

Here, there are sky scrapers and apartment buildings.  The only way you can tell the difference from the outside is by the clothes hanging out to dry.  Apparently, clothes dryers are an absurd waste, and so the Chinese do not see the beauty of them.

People really do stare at Americans.  I went to the grocery store yesterday. There were these four teenage boys, probably ages 12-14, and they stared at us for quite a while at the grocery store, and followed our group around a bit.  We are apparently quite the novelty.

There were these two little tiny chubby asian brothers at the grocery store too. They were staring at us with their mouths were absolutely hanging open.  They looked even chubbier because they were all bundled up in winter coats that made them look like mini, red Michelin tire men. They were so cute!

Some of the surprises that greeted me were as follows: There are no traffic rules---honk if you plan on doing something crazy. Squatters really aren't that bad. So far. THE BUILDINGS ARE NOT HEATED.  Luckily, our room has a heater (that sucks.) The beds are shorter, I'm pretty sure.  They are also wider.  Top sheets are unheard of.  Mattresses don't exist---we sleep on foam pads about two inches thick, which are surprisingly comfortable.

We are rooming in twos. My roommate's name is Emily, and My next door neighbors are named Monica and Claire.

Well, the first night, Monica and Claire were testing adapters and blew their fuse.  This means that they do not have a heater anymore.  So, Emily and I put our beds together, and all four of us shared two beds, and 5 blankets.  We were the warmest people the first night.  Pretty sure.

We woke up on Saturday morning to the sound of fireworks.  We are here for Chinese New year.  This year is Year of the Rabbit.  All the buildings are decked out in red and gold on the inside.  I'm not sure whether that is just the way it is, or if they do that especially for New years. 

We went to a Chinese grocery store, which was really cool, they have ramp escalators inside.  Oh, and the grocery store is not heated on the inside.  Neither is the shopping mall.  All the buildings are cold.  Oh, and they have a huge meat section.  They sell poultry with the heads still on, and in the seafood section, they have squid, octupi, live eels, and the biggest surprise: live bullfrogs.

Another funny adventure in the Chinese mall.  I had a bunch of Asian teenagers ask to take pictures with me.  One of them was so excited to meet an American, I was worried she was going to pass out.

It was a lovely adventure, and I've been pretty daring with the food, I've tried several things that I had no idea what they were.

My water heater does not work, and I have not showered since Wednesday. I type this on Sunday, so I have not showered for four days.  (Yes, 4, I didn't live on Thursday.)

For church, our group met together and since all of us happen to be LDS, we had our own mini-sacrament meeting.

The power keeps going out, which is annoying---especially since I was surprised to find out that I am among the few people who knows how to flip a breaker.

I am supposed to start teaching classes, not tomorrow Monday, but Monday next.  I'm super excited to meet the cute little Chinese kids. :D

I am going to go back to my very cold room---where there is no internet.