too much school...blah

As promised here is a picture of my perm. Its not a very good picture. I took it with the Mac in the student lounge on campus. Its more permy (and pubic-y) in person. I swear, I'm ten times more self conscious about  my hair falling out now because whenever it lands somewhere it just looks like hair from somewhere else on the body. echhh. Maybe I'll take a legitimate picture one of these days. 

Anyways, Thursdays are by far the worst days here in Shanghai. For me, classes start at 10 am and go until 8pm, with just about an hour break in between each class (there are three classes). Ugh. Right now, I'm in between Cultural Currencies (a philosophy-esque class comparing western and chinese thought) and Law & Society. 

This coming week is our first study break and it couldn't come sooner! NYU has arranged trips to several places. I am going to Guanxi and then when we come back I'll be going to Nanjing with some other people. 

LALALALALALalalalALLAalalaLAlALAlALaala SO excited! 

It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if Thursdays stopped existing...

I had too much homework last night so Tiffany and I decided to go to the nearest Starbucks (there are probably at least five within a ten minute walking distance from my apartment) to do it. Something about that place just gets the brain waves flowing. Maybe its the familiarity of the smell. Or the green aprons. I don't know, but I just can't get enough of it. Anyways, right outside of the Starbucks is this courtyard type place and usually there are just people hanging out but last night there was a whole pack of old people doing tai-cheeeee to Gwen Stefani. "This shit is bananas B A N A N A S!..." Hilarious, no? And while doing my homework a couple came in. The man was white and the woman was Chinese. They had this cute little kid and he spoke PERFECT chinese. 

I guess this place really is becoming an international city....

On another note, I need to start planning my summer. Things like that stress me out. They probably have some sort of herb for that here. 

Exodus

One exodus after another. That is pretty much my life in Shanghai.

So life has been going back down to a more normal (whatever that is) pace now that my family is gone. It was nice seeing them though. I will definitely start to miss everyone back home pretty soon. One month down, three to go.

Anyways, even though today is a Friday I had Chinese class because of the weird scheduling that NYU does to accommodate our extra week long study break. Basically, we have class on some Fridays to make up for the extra week they give us off to travel. Once class was over I decided to get away from school work and do some shopping. Sometimes I just like doing things by myself because it allows me to think and also to do everything at my own pace. 

Being wildly wise beyond my years I decided to take a trip to the Superbrand Mall in Pudong (that's the part of Shanghai where people wouldn't look twice if I pulled out a light saber and drove around in a space ship). When I first got there it actually wasn't too crowded. Good start. But after a quick in and out of Uniqlo, the masses had arrived. I was able to look down from one of the top floors at one of the entrances. Never in my life have I seen so many people rushing into a mall before! CRAZINESS! Being a foreigner, you would have thought the cultural revolution had come back and was chasing after them but in top notch Shanghai fashion, they were there to shop. Like all malls in Shanghai (who am I kidding, ALL OF SHANGHAI is a mall) Superbrand has about 10 floors, with escalators snaking in and out of openings, kind of like Hogwarts. There were lines...LINES, just to ride the elevators. 

Oh China. I don't think even in 100 years I will get used to your crowds. 

Speaking of crowds, I guarantee that 1 in 3 people in all crowds owns a PSP. For example, there was this cute little old woman sitting on a bench with her grandson who was playing with his PSP. Continuing with my creepy people watching, the thermos toting, Bengay rubbing grandma whips out her own PSP and the two proceed to battle, or at least I assume because it got quite heated between the two. 

Summary...

Pros:

1) Old people with thermoses who own PSPs

2) My new H&M striped shirt. 

3) My new Uniqlo jacket.

4) Hogwarts

Cons:

1) Crowds. Crowds. CROWDS.

2) The smell of steamed vegetables that seems to be pervasive in Shanghai.

3) Classes on Fridays.

Oh! and there was a Subway (as in the sandwich shop) in the Superbrand Mall!!! HANDS DOWN THE BEST MEAL I'VE HAD SINCE LANDING IN SHANGHAI, "STEAMED VEGETABLES" CHINA. Actually not really, but just goes to show how tasty an American sandwich can be after eating nothing but Chinese food. And don't worry, I upheld the oh so glamorous image of the overeating American by ordering a foot long, a bag of chips, and a large Snapple and inhaling the entire thing before I even sat down. yummy! :)

And another thing... I'm pretty sure everyone in Shanghai, as in the natives, secretly speaks English. Everywhere I go they allow me to speak my Chinese (which I had previously thought was passable but apparently isn't) for a good five minutes just so they can have a good laugh. And then after they puke out their lunch of STEAMED VEGETABLES from laughing at me they respond in perfect English. UGH. FML. 

Communists in Beijing, Family in Shanghai, Perm in my Head. Oh and PICTURES!

So, its been awhile I know. But here is another update. Since my last post NYU took us all to Beijing for a weekend trip and then when we came back to Shanghai, my mom and brother, Jonathan were in town to visit. So much busyness! There, that's my excuse for my lack of new blog entries. Anyways, on with the show!

Beijing was pretty awesome. This was my third time there and like they say, third times a charm. It was a lot cleaner and well CLEANER than I remember it being. Maybe because both of the last two times I was there they were getting ready for the olympics. Speaking of which, there were still many remnants of the event around town. Giant billboards, advertisements, and that little thing you might've seen on TV called the Bird's Nest. SO MUCH was done in preparation for the Olympics. The subways system doubled more than twice in size, a new airport terminal (now the world's largest) was built, streets were repaved, unsightly areas were made into parks, you get the idea... The Olympics helped Beijing become a beautiful city. One downside to the mass renovation is how they redid all the ancient sites. All the ancient temples and relics were redone almost a little too much. Vicki went to the Ming Tombs and said that they put up marble slabs on the walls and overall it just looked too new. Same can be said to the Temple of Heaven. The entire area surrounding the Temple was redone. Oh well, you win some you lose some. 

My mom and brother flew in from Arizona the last night while we were in Beijing so when I got back to Shanghai they were there waiting for me. My mom also had my grandma's sister (great aunt?) flown in from Tianjin to stay with us. As far as I know, she is the only close relative I have left in China so it was neat to meet with her on her side of the world. They stayed for about a week and flew back yesterday morning. 

Everything following my mom and brothers trip here has been an epic failure. And by everything I mean the perm I accidentally got. So, I went to the place that everyone here has been going to get haircuts and because of that I thought I was pretty safe. Thus, I had my *Don't take me for a damn fool* deflector down and they definitely fooled me. 

Me: Hi I need a haircut.

Man: Okay, do you want me to style it too?

Me: umm....sure

*POOOOF* PERMPERMPERMPERM!!!!! &!^@%&#$**&^%$#@!@#$%

Me: But I just wanted a haircut

Man: But you look better!

Me: :( 

So now I have a head full of pubes and an empty wallet. Moral of the story, DONT GET A HAIRCUT IN CHINA.

This was our hotel room. We stayed at the same hotel that some of the Congressman were staying in. Oh yea, we were in Beijing while their congress was in session. People's Congress? or People's Congress of the People? People People People? I don't remember... (my bed is the one to the left. it is a lot cleaner than Carlos')

Tea? $13824875138 please. Thanks. 

"One World. One Dream." Olympic slogan still plastered all over the city. 

Getting ready to go see Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City!

Parents in China tend to wrap up their children into cute little packages like this. Waddle. Waddle. 

Eggplant!

She had two more pigtails in the back!

hey mao! whats new?

To the Forbidden City!

This is where Mulan was filmed. 

My throne. 

The Forbidden City. Brought to you by American Express. 


The Birds Nest and the Water Cube! Kind of sad knowing that these two brand new and AMAZING venues have already seen the highlight of their lives. 

Practicing for the next olympics. Hello London!

Michael Phelps?! Oh no, just Carlos. Guess he couldn't hear the conversation behind him. 

They sold ramen and these little boxes of joy at the food stand. You poke a hole wave your hands around and it starts cooking! MAGIC!

This is 100% pure, unposed excitement. CHOO CHOO

It looked better when it was cooking. :o/ 

Vivian the tourist. She speaks perfect Chinese and also likes to drink her family.

I'm a bird. In front of the Birds Nest. GET IT?! 

Even the lights surrounding the Birds Nest looked like nests. ingenious! 

IT IS HUGE! There are no words to describe how big the Birds Nest actually is. Impressive too!

Oh hi. 

Guess they really don't want you to smoke... They should put some of these in Shanghai

The seats were microscopic. Definitely not designed for Americans.

Wish I were here for the opening ceremony. 

This was their olympics mascot. 

Apparently what men look like in the Birds Nest

Sanitized and shrink wrapped. Just how I like it. This is how some restaurants greet us at the table. 

Carlos catching flies.

lingering = jump rope?

See the GIGANTIC jumbotron in front of the temple. Thats what I mean when I say they over-renovated certain things. 

Temple of Heaven.

Holding on to the mother ship.

Cultural relics or trash cans?

Outside the Temple of Heaven. Vicki wasn't very good at ribbon twirling.

Eh....So So.

Born Master!

Eureka!

"...When will my reflection show who I am inside..." 

Chinese people like to pose for pictures. 

Pizza in Beijing. Oy Vey! It actually wasn't half bad. 

Sporting our new Ray Bans. Mine are actually as dark as blindfolds. 

All of China is a construction site. 

Success!

Mao would be proud. 

Communist.

Beijing International Airport. So Nice and SO hUge!

It just wouldn't be Shanghai without buildings like this. This one has a giant ball on top. 

Mother and son in People's Square.

A line in China? What?

My new obsession. Kumquats are so last week. 

EEEEDiot

Living proof of why Americans are obese. This is the small size at McDonalds. In America we call this invisible. 

Didn't Michael Jackson wear gloves like that? 

Finally! A Subway! Maybe they have Five dollar foot longs. I will have to go back and check. 

In a country of over a billion, best recycle!

Brother, Mom and Great Aunt on Nanjing Road

Just like a frame!

Playing with my camera

We decided to buy these overpriced buns because they had straws in them. "This is too high tech for me!!!" -Mom

mMMMMMmmMMMmMmmMMMmMMm

at Xintiandi where we bought really good French pastries! Also where rich Shanghai locals go to show off that they are rich and young gold diggers go with their sixty year old white men. 

People's Park of the People's People and People

Ooooo. so pretty

Fanciest Restroom thus far. It had TWO floors and clocks to tell us the different times of the world

Shanghai Urban Planning Museum. I swear everytime it sees me coming it closes. I will have to try again some other time. :(

Coco. A bubble tea chain in China. SO GOOD. This was taken in a subway station. In shanghai subway stations double as malls. 

At a toy store in a subway station.

Chinese people like to hang little toys like this from their cell phones. REAL CHinese people have more than one. 

Much cleaner and more high-tech than New York's subway.

On the Maglev (the only magnetic levitation train in the world) from the airport to pudong. It reaches 300 km/hr!

Bye Mom and Jonathan!