Globalization is eating mashed potatoes with chopsticks

My life is nothing if not varied-this experience in Shanghai could not be any more different from my summer in Northfield. I have now been in Shanghai for over four days, and I have to say the word I have used the most so far is 多(many/a lot of/more/in excess). Shanghai is an assault on the senses: so many people, so many escalators, so much honking, so many tall buildings, so much pollution, so many fashionable outfits, so much money! 17 million people is something that has to be experienced to be understood. As I am more of a wide-open-spaces kind of a girl, the big city life has taken a little getting used to. Luckily, I have a fabulous guide who has helped me navigate the city and get set up to live here for a month. Cathy, as she calls herself, has been absolutely indispensable as a source of information about the city and also is really interesting to talk to. Our conversations (conducted in Chinese!) range from the influence of Western standards of beauty on Chinese women, to the debt ceiling debate in the U.S., to China/Japan relations, to young people's attitudes toward money, and more. Yesterday Cathy took me on a tour of the city, hitting all the tourist spots. While the museums we went to were interesting by themselves, they were all the more interesting because I was able to hear Cathy's perspective on them as a local.

Cathy and I at Yu Yuan 

One of the things that I can not help but notice is the omnipresence of advertising (广告). Consumption really seems to have consumed the Chinese people-it's like America on steroids. Entire buildings are turned into flashing billboards, every bus and train is equipped with TVs constantly streaming ads, and everybody you meet wants to sell you something. The only place you can find communism is on the signs everywhere celebrating the 90th anniversary of the first meeting of the CCP. What's amazing to me is how straight forward the ads are-there are ads that literally say (in Chinese of course) "You must have this product to be cool" and "Love is buying diamonds." Most places I go I seem to be the only foreign person (外国人) around, except for the ads. Probably around 75% of the ads feature Caucasian women. No wonder so many Chinese women think that the way they were born isn't beautiful and elect to have eye surgery! In addition to surgery, women carry umbrellas at all times to keep their skin as white as possible. What's encouraging to me is that not all women buy into this; Cathy is quite secure in her appearance and self-confident (自信). 

Shanghai at night

High fashion at Xintiandi

Today I managed to work up the confidence to venture out into the world's biggest city alone. In an attempt to escape the honking (喇叭) and exhaust fumes, I decided to try and find what is reportedly Shanghai's best park, Fuxing Park. After navigating the subway system relatively easily and then wandering around holding my map upside down for a good half an hour, I managed to find the park, which was really beautiful. Having not spoken with another person for some time, I decided to try and see if people would say hello to me if I smiled at them (I miss Minnesota Nice!). Sometimes Shanghai seems to thwart my every attempt at being sociable-I was just starting to smile at the next stranger I passed on the street when a gigantic black bug/bird hybrid came out of nowhere and hit me right in the mouth! Feeling defeated and more than a little grossed out, I trudged toward a small store to buy lunch (Dried kiwi and crackers). Sitting on a park bench alone, I popped a handful of crackers in my mouth, only to shortly discover that I had bought the Wasabi flavor. With mouth burning and eyes watering, I wondered whether I had just better call it a day-and then the sky started pouring rain. I ran towards the shelter along with the forty or so elderly people hanging out at the park. That's when my day began to turn around. Huddled under the shelter, I quickly made friends with an old man holding a Minnie Mouse fan who was excited to practice his English with me and hear about America. Once the rain let up, the old people turned on music and began to ballroom dance, right there in the middle of the park. 

My new friend insisted that I come and dance (跳舞) with them. Who could have predicted that I would spend all afternoon listening to songs from the Sound of Music turned techno/Latin and learning how to jitterbug, tango, waltz, rumba, and cha-cha with seventy-plus year old Chinese men? Once the one man started talking with me, everybody else in the park became interested and came over to talk and dance with me as well! We must have been quite the sight, as tourists actually came up and started taking pictures of me dancing with the Chinese men.  I can now confirm my long-held suspicion that nobody knows how to have a good time like the elderly Chinese. They come to the park every day to listen to music, dance, play games, exercise, and hang out with each other. We all had a great time getting to know each other, and I definitely intend to come back!

Me (holding the Minnie Mouse fan) and my new friend

Favorite place in Shanghai so far!

I start my internship tomorrow-should be a very interesting experience. Hope to talk to you all soon!

Maria