Shanghai Adventures

So right now in Hangzhou nobody can get facebook, blogger or youtube. Nobody at all. Before all those with macs could use Hot Spot Shield, a ridiculously reliable proxy, until last Sunday afternoon. So sorry for the delay and sorry to those of you who I have not been able to send facebook messages to. For now either skype (elise.w.cohen) or e-mail me (ecohen@middlebury.edu) if you want to reach me - seeing as I can't even read your comments. Aah!

But anyway, here I am, a week later, reminiscing and blogging about my solo trip to Shanghai. I would say my trip last weekend was probably one of the events I am most proud of, in my entire life. There were quite a few times when I thought it would just be easier to head back to Hangzhou, but I didn't, and that is, as you all well know, a big step for me.

This trip all started because our Residential Director "set up" last weekend to be "Independent Travel" weekend. The point, as she put it, was to be able to use our language to meet all kinds of people that we otherwise might not meet if we were with our roommates or other friends. I think I was one of the few people who actually wound up independently going. I know a lot of other people went in small groups to different places around Hangzhou, but I am actually REALLY happy I went by myself.

It started out kind of stressfully, however. I was told by our academic director's assistant that the Hangzhou Rail Station wouldn't be that busy - so it wouldn't be a problem to get a train ticket to Shanghai. I keep forgetting that I am in a city of many, many, people, so even though it wasn't very crowded, I still found myself waiting over 45 minutes to get to the ticket line to buy my ticket. The first two trains that I wanted to get on were full, so I just agreed to whatever ticket that she gave me, as I was desperate to have proof that this trip would actually happen. As I paid the price of my ticket, I realized it was 9 kuai more than what I had been told I would have to pay. For a few moments I got excited, thinking that I had bought a ticket for a faster train. Not quite. Turns out I wound up spending 9 kuai more to spend another 30 minutes on the train to a railway station that wasn't what I had originally wanted.

At this point I just wanted to get to Shanghai, especially because several times I considered just heading back to Hangzhou and saving myself the trouble. This proved useless, however, as I reminded myself I had already bought my hotel ticket. I was in it for the "long haul!" Upon finally arriving in Shanghai and finally figuring out how to take the subway to People's Square (since the line for the taxi was RIDICULOUS) I realized that the train station I had accidentally gone to was actually a lot closer than the Shanghai North station would have been. Good to know! After 20ish minutes of walking and asking clueless police officers who had never heard of my hotel - I finally found it! Oh Charms Hotel, how nice it was to see you! From what the internet told me - this was the cheapest hotel within walking distance to People's Square, Nanjing Road, and other very touristy areas. So I was happy. My room was very comfortable, and even better IT HAD ENGLISH TV!! Sure it was Hong Kong CNN and Bloomberg Television, but it was English! I even watched an hour or so of World Business Today, as I was so entranced by my ability to understand the language on TV. It was very relaxing.

This was the first time I had stayed in a hotel by myself, and I have to admit it was more than a little weird. I found I associate hotels with Cohen (and a Carney) family vacations. I laughed to myself as I thought of how much Fred would enjoy getting to know all the waiters, and missed sitting down for a big breakfast. I also ate by myself at dinner, and kept thinking how nice it would be to have Marsh around to escape upstairs to watch TV (even though Marsh, you would have been bored to tears by the TV they showed). So yeah, the first night made me a little homesick. But I figured that was the point of this trip. It was about trying to overcome challenges that you wouldn't normally choose to take on otherwise. Which is kind of what this trip turned into. I really just let myself do whatever I felt like I wanted to do. I had had a really difficult week - so I saw Shanghai as my spa. And it really did turn out to be so.

Before I started exploring Shanghai, however, I wanted to make sure I had a train ticket back. So in my business savvy mood (must have been the business atmosphere of the hotel), I decided I didn't want to waste another 30 minutes and 9 kuai to get back, so I decided to go to Shanghai North Station to buy my train ticket. I also decided I would take a taxi, so that I could better see Shanghai. Mistake, mistake, mistake. The taxi ride did not offer me pretty views of Shanghai, but instead charged me over 40 kuai to see what Shanghai's freeways were like. I spent 40 kuai + to save 9 kuai. I also hadn't eaten anything so I was not exactly in the mood. After spending so long waiting in 2 different lines (since the ticket agents have a really thick accent, don't care that you don't know what they're saying, and aren't willing to help you) I finally bought myself a 5 o'clock ticket and subwayed off back to People's Square.

Nanjing Road, from what I've heard, is a very large touristy shopping area. It was REALLY hot on Saturday and already full of people at 10 am, so I decided to do some Elise pampering instead, and headed on over to the "cinema" to buy myself movie tickets. Coming up this week is the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (and I JUST found out my roommate is a member of the Communist party!! I want to know more about it and will definitely let you guys know what I come up with) so the government had sponsored a movie "Founding of a Republic" celebrating this event. It was only opening up in China, and it was a HUGE deal. Basically it follows Chiang Kai-Shek and Mao's power struggle and features pretty much every famous Chinese actor there was. The problem was, however, that I didn't know who half the actors were, or get half of the jokes the movie presented. I made the decision, though, to laugh whenever everyone else did, as I didn't want to appear even more out of place than I already did. Although I wish I had had more time to analyze what part of the movie might have differed from history, etc. it was a BEAUTIFULLY shot movie. On the plus side, it also had English subtitles, which made my life about eight times better. It was also interesting, though, in how the Americans were portrayed. There wasn't much, but at one point a female Chinese businesswoman came to China to talk to Truman. They kept a scene in where one of the American soldiers/guards goes "Damn, she's hot." Is this really how Americans are viewed in Chinese society? I found it very interesting that they kept it in.

The rest of the trip was just spent mostly walking around a mall, absorbing the more Western part of Shanghai. And truthfully, I really needed it. I miss home and all you guys a lot, and hanging around a mall, listening to Western music (particularly Akon) in stores, brought me a little closer to home, in some weird way or another. I also spent a few minutes in the (free!) Shanghai Museum - where I got to see some original calligraphy as well as old school Chinese currency - which was very interesting. Let's just say I'm glad I don't have to carry around the gigantic coins they used to have in my purse anymore.

So to sum up: Shanghai was great, and very necessary. I'm growing up! I really miss you all and hope everyone's year/semester is starting off well. More posts (thanks to Mom/Dad) will be posted soon!

Love and miss you all.

Some Things I Learned On My Trip to Shengzhou/Baizhang Waterfall

The List:

1. It is impressive if you look like me and can speak Chinese. Even more impressive if you can play majiang (mahjong).

2. Speaking of majiang, it seems to be an unspoken rule every house must have a set, if not a room just for majiang. Some of these tables automatically set everything up for you - making the game even more exciting. (see movie below - due to technical difficulties this will not be shown - nor will my pictures. But Matt Sunderland's roommate (one of the coolest people ever) is working on a new way to get around the blockage so hopefully more pictures will be up and running soon!)

3. It does not matter if you are male or female, old or young, or how far away you are from the edge of the road - the bus driver WILL honk at you. Loud, continuous honking. For over an hour. He will also honk to alert people when driving around sharp corners. That is okay. Yelling at the old woman in the bike who looks to be having trouble pedalling, seems a bit unnecessary.

4. When you ask your roommate if you are going to be going to 爬山 (hiking - or more literally climbing a mountain) do not listen. Prepare for everything. Otherwise you might find yourself wearing flip flops and a dress while climbing up steep steps to get to the top of the waterfall. When you ask your roommate why she didn't tell you you were going hiking, she will say we didn't go 爬山, we went 爬瀑布 (hiking a waterfall).

5. More or less every region of China has their own dilaect, apart from Mandarin. These dialects aren't taught but instead spoken at home. This makes understanding Chinese even more difficult, although provides a fascinating insight into Chinese culture.

6. I apparently look Russian!

This list should not make you think I did not have a good time - because I did. It was nice to return to Hangzhou though, even if it had to be a little early due to lots of homework. I'm also planning on going to Shanghai this weekend for our "independent travel weekend." It seems like most people are making a trip to Shanghai, though, so maybe we'll "randomly" run into one another. I've heard some really great things about Shanghai so I'm really looking forward to seeing what all the fuss is about - and it's only an hour or so by train. In other news I am "leading" a majiang class tonight -- they only bought one set so I don't know how much learning will go on - but I can't wait to get back to playing again. This weekend made me miss it that much more. Love/miss you all!

Thank you Michelle for the ability to post this blog. My computer has been unable to load the proxy and I am therefore recently without this blog and maybe even more importantly facebook. It's amazing how reliant I've become on facebook! This is also the paragraph where I write everything I'm thinking - so I'd just also like to point out some real proof that our English is leaving us. Ariel was trying to spell photobooth the other day and she spelled it "f-h-o...". Maybe it doesn't sound so funny anymore - but I haven't laughed that hard in a while.

I'm still in my adjustment stage, but things are going good. This was our second week of classes - and we just finished "Test Friday." Luckily my Classical Chinese test was one of the easiest tests I've taken so I was able to finish pretty early and can now relax for a bit. Classes have been the most frustrating aspect for most of us right now - simply because it seems like the amount of homework has reached a point where we are really unable to go out and see China, because we're stuck inside writing essays, studying ridiculous amounts of characters, and reading lots of articles. We all agree that being in China is sort of like a fifth class, and so our homework load is REALLY large. I'm making some adjustments too - as I am pretty much used to only working - Middlebury (while a really love place) doesn't offer you the excitement Hangzhou does on a daily basis. So right now we're all trying to figure out where the balance is and how if we decide there is too much going on how we should deal with it.

I changed around my classes and now have a final four:

1. Classical Chinese

2. Hangzhou Research

3. Reading Newspaper

4. One-on-one: Psychotherapy and Psychological Disorders in China.

2 and 4 are mandatory courses. Hangzhou Research has so far turned out to be my least favorite course - but it does offer us a chance every Wednesday to take trips to all kinds of different places in Hangzhou. It might get better - so far we've just talked about Hangzhou food, which actualy turned out to be useful - as now we know the "famous Hangzhou dishes" and impress all the waiters when we go out.

My one-on-one so far is turning out very well. (Michelle just yelled at me for asking her a grammar question!) It's almost like I'm relearning psych - but in a good way. There are different names (obviously) for every psychologist and type of psychotherapy theory - so I'm relearning it all. I like one-on-one because it is very oriented on me (as it should be) - but I'm just not used to being asked what I want to study, when I want to study it, and what direction I want to take the class in. Studying psych, even in this foreign language, continues to remind me how much I love it.

Classical and newspaper are my two electives, although Midd requires us to take Classical if we want to be a Chinese major. So far Classical Chinese has just been going over different forms of grammar (some of which I barely knew in English) but we start on stories next week! Newspaper I just moved into last week (from literature - which was by far wayyy too much work) and I'm so far enjoying it because it really does give me a chance to understand parts of Chinese society that I might otherwise not be privy too. For example, this week is all about agricultural farmers trying to take a test that would allow them to work jobs with more stability and better pay. In China the amount of people taking these tests are record breaking, but only .02% of people will pass and get one of these "worker" jobs. It's articles like those that remind me how large China really is.

Other than that I'm just still working on settling in. I had my first trip to the doctor this week after much insistence from my roommate - turns out it was nothing serious, have been taking the pills they gave me, and am much better. CET is in contact with an "international department" of a much larger hospital - so they all spoke English and I was treated it seemed much better than some of the other people were. Best of all they took my credit card, because it seems that in China very few banks actually accept Mastercard. Have they not seen the commercials?! In other health news the school has started implementing H1N1 precautions, meaning we have to take our temperature twice a day. If it rises above 37 degrees celsius we have to let our resident director know. While a little scary, it's nice that they're taking precautions - and I guess H1N1 is just something we're all going to have to get used to, no matter where we are.

This weekend I'm off to my roommate's house for a few days for our "small group travel weekend" after which I'm back early Sunday to keep on slaving away with the homework.

Love and miss you all.

Give me anything that has chicken in it ...

A view from Baochu Mountain, our Friday morning hike, of West Lake. West Lake is stunning, I can't get enough.

Me and my roommate (Qiu Qiu) at a "baozi" restaurant "rockin' it Asian style"

Well hello again. I figured now would be a good time to write this blog seeing as I just stuffed a whole bunch of stuff in my brian and need to wait a bit to guarantee that I actually have properly remembered it. Hangzhou is good, although still very hot. I've also had a pretty consistent cold due to our inconsistent use of the air conditioning - which has posed even more problems. It's all good though, I'm being well taken care of. Today was the first time I ever heard my roommate get even a little mad, as she "yelled" at me to take my cold medicine (I already had). Then she said I should take everything I had (which I already had) and then only then did she back down. Our Chinese roommates really, really want to make our lives easier. Which can be sometimes be a little disgruntling since I think we are all used to a little more independence - but I've also found it to be very helpful. It's nice to feel like somebody really cares for you - and has continued to help my transition "into" (? - aah my English is leaving mee!) China.

I also just wanted to say to anyone Midd reading this - I miss you guys so much and hope you have a great first start to the semester. Especially to the crew team - kick some butt this semester. :) You guys are wicked talented and I know it's going to be a great season. Also - I am 12 hours ahead so when you guys have come back from practice at like 6-7ish I will be on skype (elise.w.cohen) so you can skype me!!! Love and miss you all.

Speaking before about roommates being a little overly protective - one way in which that has been the most helpful has been in ordering food. I honestly have no idea what any of the food is most of the time, and the pictures for the most part are very unlike the food we wind up actually ordering. I have found out one thing though, I am not picky -- as long as I have no idea what I'm putting into my mouth. The other day I was eating what I thought pork and curiously asked one of my friend's roommates what I was actually eating - she told me tongue. Yeah, I unfortunately didn't eat any more of the meal after that. That's why I have found to really love going out to eat with a large group of people - especially with some Chinese students thrown in there. We basically get a big group together and then ask a roommate or two to order (since there is usually only one menu given to a table, no matter how large the group). We went out Thursday night with about 8 people and we ordered 8-9 dishes, completely different from one another. That's the other great thing - I love not being tied down to what I ordered. AS many know, I am usually more intrigued at meals by what everyone else ordered than with my own food. IT's like China knew that and invented the lazy susan for my own benefit. It's freeing to pick and choose - and allows me to try lots of different things without wasting a whole bunch of money. Meals are actually really enjoyable. :) There are also enough small and large restaurants for us to eat out at for a long time. (thanks Mom for the food funding!)

The one thing that I, and I know most of my classmates miss the most, is American breakfast. I basically now have a daily breakfast of a like pumpkin steamed thing with a steamed pork bun. It's fulfilled my sweet tooth and protein part, but is nothing compared to a bowl of Captain Crunch/Life or some tasty pancakes with bacon on the side. That's the only meal I've been having the most trouble with. But I'm figuring it out - and I also (while stalking trying to prepare for my own trip) read on someone's blog that they had found a restuarant that serves American brunch - so I will be on the hot pursuit for that restaurant. It's still a steady adjustment period.

I'll talk about classes later - probably when I'm not procrastinating on the actual work. As always love and miss you all.

Lao Wai! Lao Wai!

I haven't yet figured out how to adjust pictures on this new browser - but these are today's pictures of West Lake. BEAUTIFUL!

So as my last excited blog stated - I can now access this blog, facebook, youtube, and anything else that I am not supposed to. It's a great thing. A lot has happened this week - including the start of classes, my roommate going on a "school trip" leaving me to actually try to figure things out by myself, being eaten alive by bugs and my first trip to a bar. Have I really only been here a week?

So to fill you all in on things I listed last time...

1. During language school, one of the first texts we studied was about the Chinese 夜市or night market. "Not only can you get delicious small treats, but you can also see animals and watch live performances!," our book promised us. The night market we went to was not quite like that, but I sure wasn't important. The night market kind of reminds me of a flea market, except instead of handmade things it's just lots and lots and lots of "fang mao pin" or counterfeit things. As my parents know one of the things I was most looking forward to was buying counterfeit dvd's, and I was not dissapointed. I am now the proud owner of ALL TEN SEASONS of Friends for a whoppinly expensive $5, the newest season of House (that I was unable to get because I left the day it came out at home) for $1.50 and a Coach bag (I like pretending and telling people it's real) for $8ish. It was great. I do find that I am kind of becoming a little more acclimated to the range of prices in China. Even though in dollars none of that stuff is that much, the Friends was 30 Yuan, which is starting to sound alike. I'm still adjusting to what kind of mindset I'm in. I also found out that I do not, it turns out, have any form of bartering ability. My roommate was with me and did all the bargaining, but I at first was willing to buy the purse for 100 yuan, simply because the store owner looked angry and I didn't want to upset her. I don't think I'm exactly made for bargaining... Thank goodness our rooomates are around, I would really be lost without her.

2/3. Speaking of my roommates - they are also lifesavers in many more events that using English I take for granted. Last week we all went to buy our SIM cards and open a bank account. I never realized that was so complicated! I really just sat there and stared at the representative while my roommate hashed out how much I was to pay a month, how many texts I can send, etc. It's times like those that make me realize how far I have to go in the language. It sometimes seems overwhelming how many more characters I would have to learn to be close to superbly proficient, but I think that continues to remind me of why I love the language so much, I love the challenge. Also just a quick note to let you guys know where I am living. We do have a bathroom with a shower, a mini balcony, and air conditioning. We live a pretty legit life, but it is really only because we are in the "foreigners dorm." The rest of the students have four bunkbeds per room with no air conditioning and no bathroom in their room. I think our roommates are thankful to have this room - and it also makes me realize some of the differences in what we're used to. But I love my room. It's ridiculously comfortable, and will be even more so once I ever get around to putting up my pictures of all of you.

4. Being constantly "called out" for the whiteness of my skin has been the hardest thing (besides the food) to adjust to. Last week we went to Tesco, a huge supermarket (the supermarkets in China are HUGE - it makes Harris Teeter look like a small magazine street stand - sorry Dad) and people continuously made comments about how either my skin was "TOO" white or how it was so great. From what I've heard from friend's roommates - most of the Chinese girls wish their skin was a little whiter, although I think most people wouldn't to go "as white" as I am. I am putting on a little tan though, we'll see how I look when I get back. ;) People talking to me or telling me how white my skin is or people calling me 老外，(lao wai - basically foreigner) doesn't bother me so much. I can take a "Hallo" and "Baibai." What I still have found kind of hard to adjust to is just being stared at, and stared at, and stared at. Michelle and I went to the West Lake today (a very touristy spot) and it seemed as if no one had ever seen an American before. I also find that days when I'm exhausted (like today) that gets to me more than other days, but I'm still finding it hard to get used to. It's also made me think about how glad I am to have had Key School, Midd, and other experiences that have really opened me up to all kinds of diversity. Today the boat "driver" asked us what we do when we see foreigners at home. I didn't have an answer, because it's just so second nature to have (at least some) diversity. Another difference I've been realizing.

Another quick note, I realized I never explained the meaning of my blog name: Kong Wenli 孔文莉。孔(Kong) is from 孔子 or Confucius, so it has a very philosphical and intelligent meaning. 莉is from 莉花 or jasmine flower. Together the name doesn't mean anything, but I'm told my name has a very "Chinese sound" to it. Middlebury's Chinese teachers really know what they're doing.

Up next: Classes, Food, what else? We'll see what happens. Love and miss you all very much.

Working Proxy!

West Lake

Art around campus

That was ridiculously challenging to find a proxy that would work. But it was found and I am ecstatic. This is a precursor to more blogging to come... after I memorize a whole bunch of stuff I should've done earlier today...

Hello from Hangzhou, China! I made it! I have been here for only a few days but it feels like I've been here for a lifetime, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

The trip here was filled with lots of, excitement? suspense? Not sure quite what the right word is. My parents and I were finally able to, the night before, fit all my stuff into the suitcases. But then, at 5 in the morning at Reagan National Airport, it turns out each of my suitcases was five pounds over. I thought they'd make us pay maybe $50 dollars or something. No... turns out the price for ten pounds overweight is... $700!! Which I still don't understand, at all. So then while Mom and I figured out what to take out (turns out my toiletry bag was ridiculously heavy) my Dad ran around the airport trying to find another suitcase so that I wouldn't have to pay such a ridiculous fee. Luckily we came to the airport early enough that none of that was a problem and I thought I was home free. But then, my airplane wound up having some sort of mechanical problem, the gas was at a weird level or something, we had to go back to the gate and wait around for a while. I only had one and a half or so hours of a connection in Chicago so my time was short. Finally it was deemed the flight would be canceled. OH NO! Talk about the worst possible timing for a cancelled flight. Luckily there happened to be another flight leaving at 8:40 (which gave me exactly 10 minutes to find my Shanghai flight) which had nobody on it -- and my bags all made it. All I can say is that what a stressful first 6 hours of travel.

The flight to Shanghai itself was actually pretty okay. There were a lots of other Midd kids and CET students on the flight so it was entertaining and made the time by go quicker than it might have otherwise. Landing in China was the most confusing period -- because we were exhausted, and very disoriented. But a bunch of roommates were there waiting for us (not mine - she was in class) and then we took the bus back and we sang some and I slept a bunch and it was very entertaining.

Hangzhou is said to be the most beautiful city in China and also the hottest. IT IS SO HOT!!!! I think the heat index is over 100 degrees. I have never sweat so much in my life (T.M.I.) Luckily our roommates all also think it's ridiculously hot so I dont' feel so wimpy complaining about it. I'm still trying to figure out how to use chopsticks. I make a fool out of myself at almost every meal (including today's breakfast when I dropped my baozi and gave up on eating it- Ariel woudl like me to add the bowl also turned over due to the force at which I dropped my baozi) They do also have spoons at every meal - and I first thought my roommate was only using them to be nice to me - but actually they use it to help them eat all sorts of food. So maybe I'm getting the hang of it. I haven't starved yet though, which I take to be a good sign.

I will write more on the next post but wanted to let you all know I am doing well, miss you all a lot, and am trying to live up as much as I can every day. Classes start Monday which I'm kind of excited about - because I miss my routines. Once I figure out how to get blogspot and facebook things will be updated more often - since I won't have to rely on friends (thanks, Ariel!) to use their computers.

Love you all and please add me to your skype: elise.w.cohen.

Elise/ 孔文莉／ Kong Wenli

TOP 6 THINGS TO TALK ABOUT NEXT BLOG:
1. Yeshi! (Night market!) = 30 yuan = $5 = all 10 seasons of Friends
2. Room! Shower in the room! Air conditioning! Balcony!
3. Trying to talk to cell phone representatives! Bank representatives!
4. How white my skin is! How that's pretty! How I am REALLY white!
5. Trials and tribulations to get facebook! Blogspot!
6. Chinese name! Kong Wenli! Meaning!