Tuesday, July 31, 2007 -
First Days at Shanghai University
Meeting up with Christina was a great transition into this crazy new country. We found my school on Sunday and then went to the Bund (the old financial district) that evening and took lots of pictures. The city just stretches out in all directions, it's really unfathomable!
On Monday, I left the hostel at about 8 am and took a cab to my school. I went to the Foreign Student place that we found on Sunday and as I walked in the building, Jon was coming down the stairs! Jon is the other person from OU who got invited to this program and was in my class the last few semesters. He helped me check in and take my bags to my room which is on the second floor... good thing too, since there's no elevator and my bags are heavy!!! My room is great, it's a one person one (no roommate!) and I have my own shower/bathroom which, in China, makes this deluxe living quarters!
Jon and I went to registration and had to wait 2 hours until they registered us and gave us 800 yuan each for food. I then called Christina and the three of us went for some Hot Pot lunch. The English menu was beyond ridiculous so I took some pictures:
(more in the photo album)
Christina then set up the internet in my room while Jon and I went to orientation and then on a tour of their New Campus (yes, that's it's official name) and then ate dinner there with some other people that I met at school. It's funny having a table full of Americans, Japanese, Indians, French, and Spaniards and all of them speaking Chinese!
Tuesday I went to class for the first time, and there's a lot of yelling. haha! We always yell things out, and we yell counted to 100 and then back down to 0 and everyone, including the teacher, was cracking up by the end. It's really easy, I think I should be in a higher level, but I'd rather take it easy in a lower one than have to work harder in a higher one... I'm in China, it's not like I'm not gonna learn any Chinese! Jon and I went to a hole-in-the-wall place for lunch and I splurged and got 2 dishes for a total of 11 RMB ($1.45)! hahaha.. I love China. Then we went and bought some amenities at the supermarket and then got a large papaya milk tea for 5 RMB (66 cents)! ...I pretty much slept for the rest of the day.
Well, it's Wednesday morning now and I'm feeling a lot less jet lagged! Since I slept through dinner, I went to the bakery across from school this morning and got a baguette (5 RMB) a pastry (4 RMB/53 cents) and an "integrated coffee" (15 RMB/$2). The coffee was EXCELLENT which is a major relief since I haven't had coffee here yet. I can tell I'll be there a lot! So in case you didn't notice the photo album links above, here it is again!
http://picasaweb.google.com/sictransitvelouria/ShanghaiWithChristina/
Okay! Go look and have fun, I have to go to class!
I love and miss you all!
eLabels: Christina, School, Shanghai
