(Surprising) Things Shanghai People Must Love:

I knew two things about Shanghai before going there-- the kids tested really well on math and language arts on the PISA, & it's the epicenter of bird flu. I spent almost my entire time in Shanghai in bed with the flu (luckily the non-fowl variety.) But, during my few days alive and well I witnessed a man almost get killed with a metro car and found Three (Surprising) Things Shanghai People Seem to Love.

Girlmances- India was the land of the bromance. China is the land of the girlmance. It takes spending a bit of time in a foreign country to realize just how "hands off" Americans are. I am greatly looking forward to my future of handshakes and the occasional hug. Girlmances, and to a lesser extent young couples (of all types) are incredibly lovey-dovey with tons of PDA. Arms around each other, giggling and the thing I can not quite get used to-- matching outfits seem to be all the rage. Girls seem to never be out alone and it seems they never have to be. With a population 1.36 billion, this is probably for the best.

The Bund (& epicenter of the girlmance in its natural habitat)

Dancing- What better thing to do with your girlmance than go dancing? But, who needs a dance studio, or a club when you have the street? I came back from my first of many unfortunate dinners of corn and chicken feet to hear lovely swing music outside my hostel. With about 30 couples and many more viewers, the entire street corner was packed. I also saw (mainly elderly women) do choreographed aerobics, tai chi, and my personal favorite, a boppy musical theater number straight faced outside a subway. In one day I counted 45 of these "dance troupes" all with at least 15 participants, the largest I saw had well over 70 people. And, of course, Martha came to mind every time.

Take it away.

KFC- What is with China and KFC? Say you're at the Shanghai Train Station and fancy some fried chicken. You walked past one on the right part of the building but don't want to turn around. Don't worry there's another on the left side. But, there aren't just one or two KFCs in the area. Oh no...

Count 'em up. You're set.

You can also pick up some rice congee and tree fungus salad while you're at it-- Finger Lickin' Good.

Traveling Transitions

I was a bit sad to leave Thailand-- in part because going to China was a bit of a tough transition... quite literally. I received an email the night before that my first flight was cancelled. I was rescheduled but on a flight that would make me miss my second flight. After quite a few phone calls I finally got a new flight, but, it would still be very close. When I learned my bag wouldn't go straight through I was sure I wouldn't make it.

Thai Airlines came through. Upon arrival in Bangkok I was met with a sign and a small army of Thai airlines workers... about 8 of them. We walked briskly through the airport, got my bag, was met by another Thai Airways person for my ticket, went through priority immigration and security and made it with five minutes to spare.

Source: Wikipedia.comRun Run Run

Big Bird & I had something in common:

I made it to Shanghai-- "in China!"

Chinese culture feels quite foreign to me. But unlike in India, at least everyone isn't staring... at least not as much. Since I've yet to find anyone that speaks any english-- I can make my mistakes in peace.

I do have a confession though. I don't particularly like Chinese food. Everything is eatable here, which makes the old "blindly pointing to Chinese menu" a rather dangerous sport. You don't know the animal or the part of the animal until it arrives. But even then, I frequently didn't know what I was eating even after I had finished it.

The most frustrating part of it, though, is that I can tell it was dreadfully unhealthy and it then had the audacity to not be delicious.