Showing posts with label remarkably true adventures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label remarkably true adventures. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

11:00 AM - No comments

Royal Straight Flush?

For some reason, here in China I've ended up with a lot of cards in my hand. And no, I'm not talking about gambling.

 It seems that every facet of daily life requires some kind of card. So far, I've accumulated:
  • Dorm room key
  • Consumption card (for hot water and canteen food)
  • Student ID card
  • Bank of China card
  • Student hospital card
  • Subway card
  • Library card

Add this to all the cards I still have left over from Sweden, and I've basically got the whole deck. I'm not sure why they're so big on cards here, but I suppose there are worse systems one could use.

Time to devise a fortune-telling method and rake in the only thing better than cards: cold hard cash.


pick a card, any card

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

5:00 AM - , No comments

Ducking awesome

Living in Sweden, you kind of get used to the fact that the rest of the world doesn't really care what people are getting up to in your little corner of the universe. Not so in Shanghai, a full-fledged world metropolis, and the global giving-a-shit-o-meter most recently went off with the arrival of...
IT'S HERE.
...the Big Yellow Duck.

 It is currently stationed in Shanghai's Century Park (to quote the advert, 大黄鸭真来世纪公园啦!), and will remain there until November 23.

 This was one of those "whoa what the duck" moments for me, since I have seen countless pictures of the Big Yellow Duck on the internet without ever believing I would witness it with my own myopic eyes. But sometimes fun surprises are in store.
I usually don't like taking pictures of myself,
but some opportunities you just don't pass up

Monday, October 13, 2014

5:24 AM - No comments

I get to stay!

So after much ado, I finally got my residence permit!!

This little sticker is my key not only for living in China, but also for traveling in and out as much as I want to. I don't know if that will be often, but I've actually booked a trip already...

 That's the good news. The bad news is that my cold has gotten worse, with the added bonus of pinkeye. This did, however, let me locate the school hospital and manage an entire doctor's appointment in Chinese. We only had to use a phone to translate two words ("allergy" and "conjunctivitis" so who can blame me). Suddenly those boring textbook passages don't seem as pointless anymore.

Friday, October 10, 2014

1:50 PM - , 1 comment

What's been up

I haven't been around in realtime for a while, and of course everyone is dying to know exactly what has been going on, down to what I've been having for breakfast.

The past week was a holiday, courtesy of the Chinese National Day. Hence Sunday school last week, and Saturday school this week, because nothing comes for free. Because so many people are off during this holiday, touristy locations are absolutely packed, making travel pretty pointless unless you're really cool with sharing your space. Along with a lot of others, I stayed in Shanghai for the duration of the week, exempting one day trip to the nearby city of Suzhou. More pictures will come in another post!


I have also gone swimming, for which I had to buy a Chinese swimsuit. Made the mistake of trusting the lady who said the cute cherry-patterned one would fit me, only to realize later that the chest is about 3 sizes too small. It was a fight against gravity, hard-won.

The Shanghai swimming pool was an experience in itself. To get in, you first have to sign a form confirming that you do not suffer from an array of ailments, including diarrhea, AIDS, and hemorrhaging conjunctivitis. In the pool, you are required to wear a cap to avoid getting hair in the water. There were about 6 lifeguards on duty at once. The sign marking the deep end of the pool was charmingly translated as "profundity zone." A perfect example of what China is like: the same, but always different.

Briefly visited Xintiandi, and an exhibit about the Communist Party of China, where a Chinese guy in a knockoff t-shirt sporting the Republican elephant and the word "EVERYONE" was seen having his picture taken in front of a patriotic Chinese display. A guy in our group found this so hilarious that he chased the pseudo-Republican down and made him pose for another picture.

xintiandi

The exhibit itself was, of course, extremely biased. But it made me wonder how biased the information in textbooks and museums in the West really is. My guess is: probably not as much as here, but a hell of a lot. Source criticism and awareness, guys.

I've also been exploring some of the restaurants available in the area and appreciating the amazing joy of late opening hours. I can come home from school, nap all afternoon, and when I wake up around six or seven I can cruise down to the malls and window shop until after 9 PM. Being able to hang out in the bookstore pretty much around the clock is a privilege everyone should have.

Finally, and most disappointingly, I've gotten sick. I am now juggling classes with a cough and a bit of headachiness. Today I bought myself a rescue kit in the shape of chamomile tea, honey, and an herbal Chinese cough syrup recommended by a friend. We'll see how well it works, but the first verdict is that it's extremely delicious and I could probably just drink it straight out of the bottle if I didn't know better.

Monday, September 29, 2014

12:50 PM - 1 comment

¥⌣¥

Sooooo something finally came through today, and for once in life I was lucky.

Because the scholarship people have been too slow in opening my bank account, my allowance for September and October was to be given to me in cash. I am now 5200 RMB richer and all I had to do for it was stand in line.

 can't hear my past self being emo over all these cash register noises


PA-CHING
PA-CHING
PA-CHING

don't need my panda fan no more

Thursday, September 25, 2014

5:37 AM - No comments

Water you waiting for???

Word-of-mouth really is the best. Thanks to some other people in my dorm, I found out about the most amazingly convenient service.

 As you may know, the tap water in China is undrinkable. (Some people claim you can drink it once it's been boiled, but the funky aftertaste kind of puts me off that, not to mention whatever's in there that can't be boiled away...) Thus, bottled water is your life's blood. At first, I figured this meant lugging home 4-liter water bottles (about 8 RMB apiece) several times a week. Not fun, but necessary.

 But if you call a number, you can order water and have it delivered straight to your door! You just tell them where you live (even if it's a dorm room) and what brand of water you want, and they bring you a 19-liter jug within half an hour. The first time, you have to pay 20 RMB for the dispenser and 20 RMB as a deposit in addition to the water, but from now on I only need to spend around 20 RMB on water a few times per month - all from the comfort of my room. No more raw palms or small, unwieldy bottles!

 These are the kinds of things that make me excited about living in the middle of a big city, instead of in a little suburb. Convenience and effectiveness are always close on hand. I've heard rumors of door-to-door food delivery as well. Options that require exploration...
my water jug, ft. minifridge and fruit bowl.
basically everything keeping me alive.

(If someone is still wondering about the hot water, that's resolved! The office was open, and it was smooth sailing from there on out. I can shower comfortably. For now.)

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

12:37 PM - , No comments

(Mis)adventure

So my hot water ran out this morning.

 I think this is an optimal time to tell you all about the sort of thing that one has to deal with on a near-daily basis here in China.

 When I registered at my dorm, I was given an envelope containing sundry items: keycard, air-con remote, desk key, and hot-water card. You stick the hot-water card into a machine in the bathroom, an ominous countdown begins, and you've got to take your shower before it reaches zero or the sun explodes. (OK, I lied about the sun, but not about the countdown.) But this morning, there was no countdown, and my shower was as cold as if the sun really had blown into a million pieces, never to warm my water-supply again.

 I figured fixing this would be a simple process of finding the right desk, giving them some money, and returning home to enjoy the warmth. I figured I could get all of this done before lunch. But no. Beware, ye who enter here, for the road is long and fraught with peril.

  • Dumped books in dorm, adventure commenced.
  • Went to Building 3, which turned out to be the wrong building. Was told by the rude attendant in very fast Chinese that I was in the wrong place; all I really understood was that I was supposed to go "over there."
  • Had a look "over there"; came up blank; saw another girl approaching the office and ran up to see if she had the same problem. She did; the man told her to go away as well, and this time I heard that he was saying "Building 1". Repeated Building 1 to confirm, was met by a snappy "That's what I told you."
  • Other girl and I joined forces and went to Building 1; lady at Building 1 said we were in the wrong place and should be at Building 3.
  • What the fuck.
  • We went back to the dorm to ask the help desk. Woman behind the counter made phone calls, figured out that the water cards we had been given were actually temporary ones (this was not mentioned when we were given them). International student she was helping informed us that the hot-water card is actually a different card, the "campus card."
  • Other girl already had this card, was told to get it when she asked how to pay for food at the canteen. She helped me get my own. Required a phone call to be made to the other campus to get a new student number, since the student number printed on the admission letter and student ID card was not applicable for this other card.
  • Got 20 RMB back from the front desk in exchange for the temporary water card.
  • Other girl showed me the building where she got her campus card. Handed passport, new student number, and registration form to lady behind counter, got picture taken (once again looked like unwashed criminal, or someone who had a cold shower that morning), received campus card.
  • Paid 20 RMB for campus card.
  • Other girl said that office for recharging card is closed according to info she's been given. I finally got lunch while waiting for it to re-open. It was almost 3 PM.
  • We asked two people and finally found office. Information was incorrect, office is open only from 10:00-13:00.
  • "At least we know where the office is."
  • Returned to dorm, still hot-water-less as of now.

I'm going to go back tomorrow, and then we'll see.

But what about electricity?????


12:03 PM - No comments

Bureaucracy, Bullshit, Bonding

So, I haven't been making myself known in real-time for a while. Sorry about that, there's been a lot going on with school starting and all.

 I have been going through some really awful bureaucratic/psychologically murderous stuff over these past few days. That is part of the reason I haven't been updating. Because everyone on the internet has a perfect life and I intend to uphold that facade. Nah, but I don't want this blog to turn into whining central (all my poor friends and family will have to bear with that part, sorry you guys!), so I'll talk about rough patches only once they've been cleared. Basically, just think a million forms, rude people, residual jetlag with a spoonful of loneliness and you're getting the picture.

 For example, my form from the Swedish board for students' financial support is supposed to be filled in by the school. The people at the school told me to fill it in myself because they "didn't have time". (Me: ???????? >:(((((( ) I refused to leave and told them I didn't have all the required information, they should because they're the school, and guess who made some time? Persistence, grasshopper.

 I was really, really upset the night everything seemed to be going wrong, but that rage gave me the steely motivation to get shit done the next day, and to some degree I actually managed. My advice to you all basically boils down to this:

Listen to Captain Shang, guys.

 Later the same day I went questing for a stationery store on the lovely street Fuzhou Lu. The Foreign Language Bookstore is also located here, along with a gazillion shops selling paintings and calligraphy tools. I goggled like a fascinated tourist (who am I kidding?) as savvy Shanghainese hurried by.

 Suddenly a Chinese girl came up to me and asked me where I was going, and if she could walk with me. Since I'm now slightly less stupid than before, I was wary of a scam, but if this girl is pulling a con on me, it's a real long one. We ended up walking together for a long time, talking in mixed English and Chinese about what it's like to be a student who's come alone to a new place with no family or friends -- she came to Shanghai a month ago from Dalian. Turns out we both like culture and reading (I guess those are the kind of people you get on Fuzhou Lu), and she showed me the location of Shanghai Grand Theatre. We exchanged phone numbers and decided we are going to go see a performance there at some point. 

 How cool is that???

 I consider myself a pretty introverted person. I'm not shy, but very careful about the people I choose to approach or deepen my relationships with. And all of a sudden I spontaneously made a friend.

 Oh, and she went with me back to the stationery store so I could do my shopping. (Shout-out to Nico who wanted to see!)

Friday, September 12, 2014

5:54 AM - , 1 comment

chillin'

Taking the chance to just relax in my room now that registration is over with and classes haven't started yet.

 Registration was basically a process of being shunted from counter to counter, room to room, floor to floor in one of the lecture buildings, passing a form along for each clerk to OK. I didn't have to pay any tuition fees because of the scholarship, meaning I've saved 24,800 RMB on tuition alone. WOOP.

 I also had a 2-minute interview in Chinese where a man asked me how long I had studied and if I had done the HSK. When I told him I had passed HSK3, he estimated my level and sent me off to the testing room... where I did an impossible digital placement test on a completely empty stomach. By the reading part, I gave up even trying to concentrate and just guessed the answer to every question, but somehow I still managed to get 50/100 points. This put me at level 中二, or Intermediate level 2.

 I got to take a look at the books for this level and read a little bit out loud, to see whether or not the course was too hard or too easy, and magically it does seem like that bizarrely difficult test was somewhat accurate. I've been looking through my books (a total of 9!), and I'm hoping that the course level will be fine: challenging, but not impossibru.

 I'm supposed to have 10 classes a week, meaning 2 periods per day. The preliminary schedule looks awesome: classes from 8:30-12:00 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and from 13:10-16:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It takes me about 2 minutes to walk from the lecture building to my dorm. After 3 years of more or less terrible high school schedules with one-hour-door-to-door commuting, this is a huuuge deal for me.

 Also came home with some loot: a tourist map, useless student handbook telling me to study hard and not gamble in 4 different languages, and my official school tote bag and hoodie (in the lovely color "sweatpants grey").
me scratching the unsightly boil on the back of my neck being extremely adorable

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

4:10 PM - , No comments

Update #2

Double post today, because two good things don't necessarily make an even better thing (think chocolate + ketchup). In addition to IKEA, we ventured out of the hotel and onto the super-efficient subway to see half the reason I came to Shanghai. Enter the Bund, enter skyline.

Sweden doesn't have massive buildings like this, not to mention a whole cluster of them smack-dab across the river. I am fascinated by absurd, excessive man-made things, and the Shanghai skyline about takes the cake.

 Already decided I'm going to come back to Nanjing Lu (the shopping street that leads up to the Bund) for some solo exploration. Googling has told me that there is a street nearby with multiple bookstores. Anyway, the small part of the road I saw yielded a shit-ton of shops I'm probably never going to shop at, and one that I definitely am.


Etude House is a Korean chain that sells reasonably priced makeup of reasonable quality. They shamelessly indulge in all things pink and princess-y. I am of the firm opinion that an über-girly place like Etude is something everyone deserves to treat themselves to occasionally and give a fat finger to anyone who claims you shouldn't. Absorb the pink. Be the princess.

 We returned along Nanjing Lu towards the Bund as it started getting dark (around 6 pm, extremely early for someone still used to the fading Swedish summer). The viewing deck by the Huangpu River was already filling up with people admiring the partly-lit buildings. And as the clock-bells on the Bund chimed seven o' clock exactly, the moment came. All the lights went on.




Bucket list: Check.

 The next step is getting on one of those boats...

3:46 PM - 3 comments

Update #1

So, a couple of days later and already a lot has happened.

 Firstly, I managed to get into my dorm! There was staff there even though it was the Mid-Autumn Festival.

 The dorm is absolutely amazing - I have no idea why someone's decided I deserve such luck and am just waiting for the catch to show itself. The building I'll be living in is completely new, so I'm the first person to ever stay in room 532. I was expecting to share a small space with another person and go down the hall to shower and do all business in a moldy P.E-flashback bathroom. Instead, I have a large bed, a private toilet and shower, a desk, a TV, closets, air conditioning, and a fridge. You can't tell by looking at me but I am crying tears of purest gratitude.



I'm moving in officially tomorrow, once we get the rest of my stuff over from the hotel. Also stopped by IKEA to get some necessities, a little piece of home in China. They had a Swedish food section (Norrlands Guld, knäckebröd, pepparkakor, Absolut, lösgodis 13 kr/hg...), but not the most iconic Swedish chocolate, made in my home suburb :c I'll have to rely on care packages from abroad once my stock runs out.

 I found my new pickup line. They even translated it into Chinese for me.

Sunday, September 7, 2014

3:05 PM - , No comments

Day Two

Today was mostly spent exploring the Xuhui area. First and most importantly, we found Jiao Tong! I still haven't gotten any information regarding which dorm I'm supposed to stay in, or where to go to get access to it. And of course, I still need to get the residence permit out of the way. But because it's Sunday, there wasn't really any staff around who could answer questions. We won't be able to get anything done tomorrow either, because September 8 is a Chinese public holiday, the Mid-Autumn Festival (as evidenced by the glorious full moon). But now I know where the campus is, and have had my first glimpse of where I'll be living...
 

Also discovered a mall district in the Xuhui area. It's just a stone's throw away from Jiao Tong, so I'm hoping to spend a lot of time here! Whenever someone goes "China is a Communist country blah blah blah" I laugh and laugh and laugh. Because in practice, it's the antithesis of everything Communist. The commercialism/materialism/capitalist devil-worship here is absolutely amazing, 20 times anything you'll find in Sweden and with better stuff (imo) than what's offered in America. Malls are usually around 10 stories tall and propped full of shops and restaurants. Even though the stuff at genuine stores is expensive, it's worth going into a mall just to hang out, people-watch, and get juice or bubble tea.




Saturday, September 6, 2014

12:26 PM - 2 comments

Touchdown

I am typing this post from Shanghai, China.

 Hooooly shit.

 I don't think I'll really be able to accept this is real until I have my dorm room furnished, my health status cleared and my residence permit in hand. (This has to happen within 30 days, or it's the boot for me.) But facts are facts, and the fact remains: I am in Shanghai.

 And thus, this blog can finally level up from half-assed, dubiously empirical tourist thoughts to the Remarkably True Adventures of a Clueless Child in Shanghai.

 Flight, baggage claim, and taxi were no problem, praise be to the gods of the open roads. And to my dad, for going with me. I'd have had considerably less space to pack my stuff, only a fraction of the carrying-things power, and hardly any independent travel experience if he hadn't been here.

 Allegedly, I will be able to get into my dorm on September 8, which is when we will start working to get me settled in earnest. Right now, though, there isn't that much that has to be done. So far, I've taken a blessed shower, struggled to keep up with the subtitles on Chinese soaps ("I'm pregnant... with your son's child" *ELECTRIC GUITAR*), and snoozed in the hotel bed. And test-run my VPN connection, of course! I'm happy to say it runs like clockwork. This post is brought to you courtesy of a server in Japan. Kono bangumi wa goran no suponsaa no teikyou de okurishimasu.

 Right now, my dad is off somewhere in the hotel (probably sampling Chinese beer) and I am sitting by the window, looking up at the moon and contemplating the fact that I am going to live here for the next ten months. Sky is a melancholy bluish-grey (bluer than what my phone camera can capture, fear not for mine lungs). A reminder that I will be living in the midst of heavy pollution, but also in a world megapolis. I am (somewhat naively) nursing high hopes for the cyberpunk aspects of this city.

 This is the first day. Join me for all the rest.

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)