And then I took a little time off

No posts for three weeks? Oops. I think I’ve gotten to the AND THEN period of this school year. Lots of things are happening really fast. I’m finishing my thesis, applying for jobs, turning 26, going on spring break, going on a second spring break, hosting friends from around the country, and very possibly moving in three months. So my AND THEN story can start like this: First, Rachel came in town, and then I applied to a job I really want, and then Rachel came in town again, and then I worked a big event at school, and then we drove to St. Louis, and then we drove back to Pittsburgh, and then it was my birthday, and then Jon gave me a mandolin for my birthday. Photo highlights below! More AND THEN coming soon…

jon and rachel, extremely bored in the cathedral of learning at pitt

dad can't keep his eyes open, but clancy finally learned how to sit and stay (in downtown st louis)

the lovely grand hall in st louis union station

Shanghai on a whirl

My last couple days in China were filled with intense activity followed by lulls of loneliness. Qing and I took the fast train from Hangzhou to Shanghai, arriving just after the subway closed at Shanghainanzhan. That meant waiting in a long taxi line and experiencing a big difference between Shanghai and Beijing: English speakers. It’s not that Shanghai taxi drivers speak good English; they just make much more frequent attempts. Drivers wearing flip flops and beach shorts tried to convince us to take a ride in their illegitimate cars for “very cheap.” I showed Qing how well I have learned to ignore people when they are bothering me. It’s a great benefit of being a foreigner: I can always play dumb.

view from hotel in Shanghai

Qing booked us an amazing hotel in the center of Shanghai, within walking distance to pretty much every fancy pants brand in the Western world. Another big difference between Shanghai and Beijing: there are parts of Shanghai where you could be convinced you were in an American city. In Beijing, there are aspects that look very Western, but then you see a man selling melons from the back of a horse-drawn carriage and you get snapped back into Chinese reality.

people waiting to go into the aussie pavilion

My only full day in Shanghai was spent partly at the World Expo. Seventeen months prior, Jon and I learned about the expo at the Shanghai urban planning museum. Oh, cool. An expo, we thought. What’s an expo? Turns out the expo is kind of like Shanghai’s bid to host an Olympic-sized event like Beijing did in 2008. Although there are a lot of differences: Shanghai’s World Expo lasts for months, all through the summer and fall, plus it is attended by almost exclusively Chinese. I was there for an hour before I saw any foreigners. The point of the expo was to bring all the countries of the world together to talk about green technology. Each country was represented by a building or a booth, and other global interests like NGOs and corporations had presentations as well. Inside each pavilion was supposed to be cool stuff, but Qing and I didn’t have time to stand in line for all that. We went into Slovakia and Cyprus because their lines took less than 4 minutes. But countries like Australia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom had waits of up to 4 hours!

one of the most colorful pavilions, Serbia

Qing and I at the Chinese pavilion, the biggest one of course

We couldn’t spend much time at the expo because we had someone else to meet: Natalie, our good friend from school who had just the day before moved to Shanghai. Qing’s train left before we could find Natalie and her boyfriend Kenny in the train station, but I got to spend a nice evening with them. First mission: find Natalie shoes. Natalie and Kenny’s luggage had not made it with them on the journey from Pittsburgh to Shanghai, and her sandals were already giving her blisters. I took her to the only place I knew: Nanjing Lu, Shanghai’s famous shopping street. If only I were in Beijing, I could have taken her to great markets with cheap and comfy shoes. Instead we had to settle for a $7 pair of flip flops. How are those flippy floppies doing, Nat?

Shanghai's newest residents

The three of us ventured to the Huangpu River where I remembered last time seeing a psychedelic tunnel ride that was a bit out of my budget. This time, the temptation was just too much for budget concerns: crazy train, here we come! Just google Bund Tourist Tunnel and you can see youtube videos and reviews of this thing. The ride lasts only a few minutes, but it’s full of lights and colors and voices shouting out random words at you like “paradise” and “molten lava.” It’s totally trippy and absolutely worth the absurdly high price.

not really a vegetarian anymore

I was really happy I got to spend my last night in China with two awesome people. Natalie and Kenny had been in the city for less than 24 hours, but they were eager to learn a bunch of phrases in Mandarin and try my favorite Chinese dinner: hot pot! We found a seafood hot pot restaurant near my hotel where we got to sizzle some live shrimp in boiling water. After dinner, they went back to their apartment. After days of touring Hangzhou, taking a Chinese train, joining millions of people at the expo, dashing down Nanjing Lu in search of shoes, and teaching my friends as much survival Chinese as I could in one night…I was alone.

Back in my plush hotel room, watching (bad) English-language movies for the first time in months, eating a snack I can only find in China (xiang yu pi!), trying not to use the internet that cost a dollar a minute, all I wanted was to be back in my apartment in Beijing. I knew I was getting on a plane in a matter of hours to fly to San Francisco and see Jon and family and friends. But for that night, I was in China, and I wished so badly that it were my China. I was never and could never be ready to leave Beijing.

Hangzhou with a local

And not just any local! The lovely Qing, my classmate at Pitt. Hangzhou is her hometown, and it used to be part of her job to show people her city. So I knew I was in good hands. I had visited Hangzhou for a couple days in March 2009, but it was rainy and difficult to get around. Hangzhou is a big city, but it’s not as tourist-friendly with public transportation or pedestrian options as other Chinese cities. This time, with Qing as my guide, I had an air-conditioned car to protect me from the 95 degree heat and blazing sun. For me, the second time in Hangzhou was a charm.

classmates at the Hangzhou Wetlands Park

I felt welcome as soon as I got to Hangzhou. When I got to the baggage claim area, I noticed a lot of people pointing and whispering. But this time, they weren’t pointing at me! I weren’t sure who they were looking at, so I just forgot about it. But as we approached the public area of the airport, I saw even more commotion. Hundreds of people with posters, flowers and flashing cameras were chanting something. The closer I got to the door, the louder they got. Eventually I noticed that the girl walking directly next to me was wearing huge sunglasses and surrounded by body guards (body guards in China are not the same size as body guards in America). I was standing next to one of the most famous female singers in the country. The cameras flashed and the crowd moved in as we walked through the door, so I’m hoping I am on some Chinese gossip blogs as the sleepy, sloppy looking American walking next to their pop princess.

the escalator: a modern twist on a Chinese temple

From the airport we went straight to the main attraction of the city. Hangzhou is famous for its West Lake (Xi Hu) which has been the setting of many paintings, poems, stories and songs. Qing first took me to the huge pagoda at the lake, site of a famous love story featuring a snake, her man husband, and a battle of sea creatures. Chinese literature never lets me down! Neither does the level of familiarity the average Chinese has with these stories. They heard them as children, read about them in school, and now they see them depicted on television. The amount of poems and stories Chinese kids have to memorize is mind-blowing, and it may explain why the Chinese have so much love and pride for their history.

green, green Hangzhou

happy buddha in a magical rock

Another perk of having a Hangzhou native as my guide was learning about local cuisine. Chinese food is extremely diverse from province to province, city to city, so Qing made sure to give me a taste of Hangzhou seafood, dumplings, and dessert. Without Qing, I would have never known that Hangzhou cuisine is much sweeter and less spicy than the rest of China. I ate shrimp dumplings that felt like silk, homemade breakfast at her grandmother’s home, and eel, jellyfish and frog eggs with her extended family. If you ever find yourself in Hangzhou, order the steamed papaya with frog eggs and honey. Trust me.

lotus growing in West Lake

My second day in Hangzhou was spent at the Wetlands Park, an area where non-Chinese rarely visit. All of the tours are in Chinese, and the main attraction of the place is that it was the site of a well-known romantic comedy. I’ll try to get the comedy with English subtitles; Qing promises me that it really is a good flick. Anyway, the wetlands were really cool because it’s basically a group of islands where people lived as fishermen and silk producers. As the area modernized, most of the people left their island homes for the urban space. But some people still live there, completely isolated from the rest of Hangzhou. The only way to get around the wetlands is by boat. Tourists go there to take a boat ride and learn about what life was like 200 years ago in the wetlands. I was particularly impressed with the boats turned into dining room tables and the pygmy ducks, which I unfortunately did not get a proper photo of.

view of the wetlands from the temple

old, almost-forgotten Mao painting in a photo gallery in the wetlands

With my limited Chinese and the challenge of the Hangzhou dialect, I didn’t get to really converse with all of Qing’s family that I met. But nonetheless, they made me feel extremely welcome and encouraged me to return as soon as I can. Even though my visit to Hangzhou was so short, it reminded me how valuable it is to spend time with people in their homes, with their families, seeing what it is that keeps them coming back.

at the train station. next stop: Shanghai!

London: the newest budget destination

Jon studied abroad in London four years ago, and this was his first return back to the city since.  Anyone who talks to Jon for more than ten minutes realizes pretty quickly that London is his heaven, so waiting four years to return to the city was torture.  But he made it, and the reunion was beautiful.  We visited his old flat, sandwich shop, grocery store, pub, and piano bar.  Since I did not want to come between Jon and his true love (London), we spent a day apart (something we haven’t done in a long time) for him to wander the city and for me to shop.  Yes, I said shop.  Gone are the days where the dollar is worth half of the pound!!!  Not only could we afford food and lodging in London, but I actually bought shoes AND jeans.  (After wearing the same shoes and jeans for four months, they looked pretty shabby.) 

Jon and the lion at Trafalgar Square

London felt very familiar to me.  I have been to the city three times in less than four years, making it the place in the world where I have been most frequently outside of the states.  That’s kind of surprising to me, actually, because I never had any interest in London; I thought it would be just like America.  But I was totally wrong, and ever since my first visit in 2005 I have been in awe of the place.  It really is the world’s city, the most diverse and comprehensive place I can think of.  And I don’t mean from a touristy point of view, visiting royal palaces and historic monuments.  I mean the feeling of the city is so progressive, so expansive, that you know the next time you come to London there will be something new.  We spent an afternoon at the Transport Museum, learning mostly about the Underground (subway) and how the history of the city can be seen through the expansion of the system. 

Baker Street, one of the oldest tube stations

 We got to meet up with some American friends in London, as well.  Our friend Melissa was visiting friends in England and spent a day in the city with us.  Plus we got to see my friend Inti who goes to LSE for her master’s (and is counting down the days until it is over.)  I got to see Romeo and Juliet performed at Shakespeare’s Globe Theater.  I got to eat tons of Ben’s Cookies.  And while it was sad to leave, I know I will be in London again.

Meet me in Regensburg

One of my favorite things about this trip is that we didn’t have it planned out.  So when we met two German dudes in Halong Bay, Vietnam, and they invited us to visit them in Regensburg in April, we said sure.  We hopped a train from Munich to Regensburg and spent two great days exploring the beautiful city with our new friends, Murray and Franziskus.  It’s as picturesque as it can get, with narrow cobblestone streets and colorful towers spread over the city.  But it also has a lively student population, and they claim they have the most bars per capita in Germany.  (Or was it Europe?)  Whatever the statistic, it’s a really fun town and I absolutely recommend it to people who are interested in Germany.

Danube River and Regensburg

We arrived on Franziskus’s father’s birthday, so we got to attend his birthday dinner with the whole family.  His parents live outside the city in a village in a cute house with a brand new swimming pool.  Being the random Americans thrown into a situation like this is one of my favorite experiences in the world.  Everyone had such good humor about the attempts to speak each others language, the constant translating, and the comprehension of things that don’t need words.  Franziskus’s mother is learning English right now, and I was so excited to help her practice.  At one point I told her that her English was wonderful, and she turned to her son and said in German, “Americans are great liars.”

Franziskus, Murray and I after a mean game of foosball

Murray and Franziskus were awesome hosts, showing us all the oldest things in Regensburg and rattling off dates and names from its history.  The city was extremely important for trade and business centuries ago and was wealthy for that, so many buildings are the result of competition among rich residents for who could build the highest tower.  We went on a boat ride to the world’s oldest brewery in a monastery, where I’m sure you can guess what we had (beer and sausage.)  We went on a tour of the city hall, where the highlight was seeing all the instruments in the torture chamber (I’ve always been a fan of the stretching machine…I used to believe it would make me taller.)  We spent a long time in an old Protestant church listening to a German version of John Cleese tell us all about the differences between that church and a Catholic one.  He even let us ring the old bell in the tower, but only very quietly.  By the end of our time in Regensburg I was really sad that we’d only spent two days there…and I wasn’t going to hear German anymore!