IGTF

4/3/09
20:00

First of all…Happy birthday Katie!!!!  Hope it’s a good one!

Now for the rest of China.  From the window in my cabin I could see the futuristic buildings that personify Shanghai, like the Oriental Pearl TV Tower or what they call the “Bottle Opener.”  Google these buildings they are incredible.

We arrived in Shanghai relatively early yesterday, but we weren’t cleared to leave the ship until about 10am.  I got a late start on my SAS-sponsored kindergarten visit that was scheduled to leave at 9:30, which was kind of a bummer since it cut into our time with the little kids.  But this moment is inevitable and I must choose how I react to it.

Caroline got on the trip last minute, too, so we sat together on the bus brimming with the excitement of being in the presence of Chinese children in the near future.  We arrived at the kindergarten and the kids were waiting at the gate waving and smiling.  Right as I got off the bus a little girl with long black pigtails ran over to me and took my hand.  She waved and said, “Hi,” but I think that was the extent of her English.  She led me into their classroom where two rows of chairs had been set up for the members of our trip.  Everyone sat and then the twenty or so students all ages five to six began their carefully choreographed and meticulously memorized performance.

Two girls came out and said a quote in Chinese in between every dance routine about love or respect or China’s greatness and pride.  Then the students danced energetically for about two to three minutes per dance.  Along with being utterly adorable, these kids were impressive.  They probably did four or five dances and each student had a unique part in the dance and they were all perfect.  Apparently they had been practicing this routine for about a month now, and they would be performing at the Chinese Expo in 2010, but damn these kids were talented.  I don’t think I would be half as good as any of them after 6 months of practice.

Once they had finished their performance we colored and played games and blew bubbles and shared stickers.  Then we were whisked away from these cute little babies, because we had to go check out this new community center in the area.  Personally, I would have rather stayed with the kids but they had to eat lunch and stick to their usual schedule.

At the community center we had a cup of green tea, which was delicious and warmed up my freezing cold hands.  Shanghai is on the chilly side.  I’ve been spoiled with the hot weather in the past few countries.  While sipping tea, our tour guide, Lucy, translated the school/community center director’s speech on the amenities and programs offered to the people of their neighborhood.  She informed us that most people retire between 50 and 55 and many go back to “university” for senior citizens.  It sounded like a pretty sweet set up.  Cooking classes, dance classes, art classes, early retirement…sign me up.

There were all kinds of souvenirs for sale in the tea room, but they were pretty pricey.  Several panda-shaped backpacks and panda stuffed animals but they were like 180 Yuan or about $30 USD.  Too much money.  Even for baby Liv.  On our bus ride back to the ship Lucy taught us the Chinese words for ‘hello,’ ‘thank you,’ and ‘I love you,’ as well as the Chinese symbols for China. 

Once back on the ship, I ran into Hussain, Keith, and Steve and they decided to come explore Shanghai with Caroline and me.  We walked from the port to Nanjing Road which is a next to the People’s Square and has many shops and restaurants.  We went up to the top floor (45th floor) of the Radison Hotel to check out the view of the countless skyscrapers.  The city never ends. Miles and miles of buildings.

After we got our bird’s eye view, we ventured into People’s Square with no particular goal in mind.  We were walking absentmindedly through this garden-like pavilion when four Chinese girls asked us if where we were from.  We told them that we hail from America.  They giggled with excitement and asked us if they could practice their English on us.  They began asking about life in America, our studies, what brought us to China, the ship and its program, etc.  One girl began talking individually to Steve, another to Hussain, another Keith, and one to Caroline and me.  They were incredibly friendly.

We talked with our new friends for a minute or two, we got all of their names but I can’t pronounce most of them let alone try to write them out.  One said she went by Sharon though and another Ling.  Ling invited us to accompany them to tea and started leading us to their special tea place.  We followed along in good spirits.  They were all fascinated with the idea of traveling the world by ship and commented on how lucky we are.  Believe me, I know. 

The girl talking to Caroline and me, (I can’t say/spell her name so I’m just going to call her Simone…just because) asked us about our families and our interests.  She has an older sister and an older brother, which is rare for most Chinese families and apparently her parents have to pay the government because they have so many children.

They continually commented on how slim we all were.  We didn’t fit the typical “fat American” stereotype…yay! Ling said that Hussain and Steve looked like twins (probably because they both have beards and tan skin) and that Keith and I looked like siblings (both blonde).  They also commented on my blue eyes and how us Americans have big eyes and big noses and they wish they had bigger eyes and bigger noses.   In fact, one of them told me that most Chinese movie stars get plastic surgery to enlarge their eyes or noses. I thought this was an interesting and sad factoid.  It’s as if they don’t appreciate the beauty of their cultural features and I think that is a shame.

We walked and talked and laughed until we came to this mall and then they led us to a private room in a teashop.  The tea server came in and the girls told us that we could get a traditional tea ceremony performed for us, so we agreed.  The server poured ginseng tea and then jasmine tea and taught us how to drink it properly.  We all sat sipping our tea, talking and laughing.  We took pictures and exchanged e-mails.  I was so excited to have met these friendly Chinese women, who were so eager and curious to learn about our lives.  They also said and asked whatever was on their mind, which was kind of refreshing and funny.  “Are you single? How old are you? How many beers can you drink?  Do you swim?  Michael Phelps swims.  Is your hair natural?  How long have you worn glasses"…the list continued.

After the first round of tea one of the guys asked how much the tea would cost.  The server showed us a menu and the teas were expensive.  The cheapest tea was like 29 Yuan, so we stopped the ceremony right there.  The server wrapped it up and gave us our bill…108 Yuan each, or about $16 USD.  I only had about 90 Yuan on me, Keith had like 70, but we managed to scrounge together enough Yuan and then we left the tea place.  Once we left the mall, our new best friends told us they had to meet a friend for dinner so we said our goodbyes.  They hugged us and shook our hands and told to be careful on Nanjing street because there are pickpockets and told us how happy they were to meet us.  It was just so sweet.

As we went our separate ways, us in search of an ATM since we all had empty pockets, Hussain asked, “Who feels like they were just conned?”  Keith expressed his skepticism with the whole tea ordeal, but I told them to assume the positive intent of others.  People have been so kind and open in the past few countries that I just didn’t believe that these young, friendly Chinese women could have possibly scammed us.

So we withdrew some more Yuan and stopped for dinner at a traditional Chinese restaurant.  We got pan-fried Shanghai noodles, beef noodles, pork dumplings, and a sesame pancake.  Very good.  Then we walked back to the ship.  It was too early to go out for the night so we decided to rest on the ship for a while and watch a movie. 

Steve has the movie Milk, but before we started it, Steve did a little research on things to do and see in Shanghai.  Here is a direct quote from wikitravel.org:
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Various tourist-oriented scams, long practiced in Beijing, are unfortunately spreading to Shanghai as well. Be cautious if you meet a group of overly friendly students or attractive women who insist on dragging you along to an art gallery, tea shop or karaoke parlor - you're unlikely to be physically harmed, but the bill may well be more than you bargained for. Police can help to recover some part of your money. "Students" claiming to be from Beijing are also common as they will try to get you to buy art. These people are especially present around People's Square near the entrances/exits of the museums and art galleries.
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Sound familiar?  Yeah our new best friends scammed us.  I was scammed.  I’m not even angry about being scammed, I’m just kind of disappointed.  I thought I was getting this great cultural experience and I was bonding with these Chinese students…turns out they were scamming us. 

It all added up, too.  They separated us early on in the encounter so we couldn’t really discuss what was happening and they kept the conversation going so we couldn’t really process the situation logically.  The conversation was rather canned, too.  We each discussed the same topics with our Chinese BFF/scammer.  But they were so nice.  It seemed so genuine. 

I guess I let my guard down after experiencing so much hospitality in South Africa, India, Thailand, and Vietnam.  Honestly, though, it was a good learning experience.  An eye opener.  And as Hussain pointed out, “Would you rather be pickpocketed or scammed?”  I’d rather be scammed by the Tea Girls.  It’s a good story.  Who thinks to do that, though?  Honestly.  And we must have just been screaming “Take advantage of us!”  Damn it.

After Steve broke the news, Hussain, Steve and I watched Milk.  Good movie.  I was exhausted, though and told the boys I didn’t want to go out.  I called Caroline’s room to tell her I was going to bed.  Jill, who had been in Beijing for all of our time China so I hadn’t seen her for 6 days, answered the phone.  She told me that I had to go out because it was our only night in Shanghai.  Then Lia and Disha, who had also been in Beijing, burst into Steve’s room.  So we rallied the troops and decided to go to a karaoke bar.  It was midnight.

This decision was our second failure of the day.  Steve, Hussain, Jason, Jill, Lia, Disha, Disha’s roommate Carrie, and I left the ship to hail a taxi.  We had to split up and only one driver new the way to bar, so we told our driver to follow the other one.  We had been driving for ten minutes or so and our driver flashed his brights at the taxi we had been following.  There were 3 black men sitting in the back seat.  I’m pretty sure Disha doesn’t have cornrows. So we told our driver to drop us off on Nanjing Road because Steve thought the bar was close to that area. 

We paid the driver and got out.  We walked down the street for a little and then we realized that we were in a pretty hopeless situation.  We had no way of contacting the other group and no one could direct us to the location of the karaoke bar because no one spoke English.  So we hailed another cab and got back to the ship.  As we swiped our cards to enter the MV Explorer we saw Hussain’s face flashing on the screen indicated he had just returned to the ship as well.  Everyone made it back safe and sound.  And we could now say that we at least TRIED to go out on our one and only night in Shanghai. 

Day 2 in Shanghai was rather uneventful and a little bit disappointing also, but no matter.  In the morning I went to the Shanghai Museum with Steve and Lia.  The museum had some pretty interesting and beautiful bronze and jade artifacts.  The exhibits had low lighting and were nice and warm.  Perfect napping environment, and let me tell you, we all wanted to nap so so badly.  I wanted a my-size stroller.  But we pressed on to the Chinese calligraphy exhibit, where our childish creativity took over.  We played a game that is similar to the cloud-watching game where you say what object or animal or whatever you see in the clouds, except we described what we saw in the Chinese characters.  We saw a man running around with a box around his lower torso, someone riding an escalator, apartment buildings, birds, a TV set, a woman sweating profusely from her armpits…you can see a lot if you open up your mind.

After about 2 hours in the museum, we left and walked back to People’s Square, which was right around the corner.  Lia and I got some bubble tea.  Obsessed. 

I didn’t buy any souvenirs while in China.  The only thing that I actually kind of wanted was that panda backpack for Liv and this long-sleeved shirt I saw at the Nike store, but the panda backpack was like $30 USD and the shirt was $44 USD.  That is craziness.  I am also completely sick of shopping and bartering.  I don’t shop that often at home, so I’ve been shopping my heart out while on the voyage and frankly, I’m over it.  No souvenirs…no regrets.  I’ve got memories instead.

In the afternoon I had a field trip to the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) for my Money and Banking class.  Since it was a business field trip we had to dress up kind of nice.  We took a bus to the SSE in Pudong and went up to view the trading hole.  It was empty.  No one was there.  Nothing.  Our guide told us that it was Friday so people had gone home early. “IGTF,” he said. It’s God thank Friday….

He went on to say that no one really uses that trading hole anymore, because all trading is automated now.  And that’s all they had to show us.  A big empty room with a huge screen showing the stocks and the running ticker.  That is all.  We were there for about 20 minutes and then left, but we were supposed to be there for like 3 hours.  Pointless.  After that I was just super tired and went to take a much-needed nap on the ship.

Off to bed now.