Snippets of Shanghai

We had the opportunity to the circus a couple of days ago. It was held in a building that looked like the ball at Epcot center on the outside, and featured some pretty amazing acrobatics, magic tricks, and 6 motorcycles in a spherical cage. Dr. Wilson commented that if they had thrown in a couple of pedestrians it would have been a lot like Shanghai traffic (which, incidentally, is not quite as crazy as Beijing traffic). The show was very interesting. Some Buddhist monks a couple of rows behind us seemed to enjoy it as well.

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We happened to be on the subway at rush hour one afternoon--quite an experience. It started out ok--we each had at least 2 sq. feet of floor space--but at each successive stop we added more people, and it didn't seem like anyone was getting off. After 3 or 4 stops, we were completely packed; I think the only way we could have fit more people was if people stood on top of people that were sitting. It was team bonding, in a literal sense. I found the situation hilarious, and drew some funny glances because I couldn't stop laughing. I'm sure the 3 people pressed against my back and side thought I was a little crazy; Adrianna and Adam, against whom I was being squeezed, found the situation funny as well. Oh, we love the subway. And we are very thankful that it's air-conditioned.

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The music that's playing in the internet cafe right now is a saxophone version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Almost as good as when I was in a department store that was playing kids' songs in English. "I love my lovely dump truck..."

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We've eaten at some very nice restaurants here in Shanghai. Dr. Wilson almost always orders for us, as he's usually the only one who can make sense of the menu (although Christina and I have gotten pretty good at identifying the fruit juices). We're all very grateful that he can do this for us, so we only laughed a little bit when he made a mistake and we ended up with chicken feet.

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Speaking of food, as I mentioned when I was in Beijing, some Chinese dishes are a little hard to eat. One night it seemed like every dish we ordered had bones--some of them really small. Adrianna asked Dr. Wilson how he knew how to eat all of these dishes, and he replied that he'd attended a lot of banquets when he'd been here before, and usually copied what the Chinese people did. He said, "Once when I'd lived here for about a year, I was taking a boat to Hong Kong, and for some reason they insisted on seating me with the other foreigners at meals, even though I was perfectly comfortable with the Chinese people. Anyway, I guess I had gone a bit native, because one night they served fish for dinner, and I was spitting bones all over the table (the way the Chinese usually do), when I looked up to catch the shocked expressions on the other people's faces--like, what planet did you come from?!"

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I have been amazed and extremely happy about the great weather we've been having. The last couple of days though have been pretty hot. I went to a noodle shop for lunch yesterday, and I really felt sorry for the people in the kitchen, which was steaming. I was pleased when I got what I had intended to order (these type of street kitchens aren't really frequented by foreigners, so no pictures and definitely no English), and I sat down by the door where there was a little breeze to eat my noodles. I watched the people in the kitchen cooking and cleaning dishes, thinking that they must just be hating life. One of the girls filled a bowl with water and bent to pour it over her plastic-sandal-clad feet, bringing a little relief I suppose. I can't imagine how miserable that job must be in late July and August.

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The music now is some kind of Bollywood pop. It's almost time for me to meet up with the group, so I need to head back to the hotel. Maybe I'll stop and grab a baozi to eat on the way; Baozi are quite yummy, and at about 9 cents each, they make a very nice breakfast.