The month-long unending rain has finally begun to peter out, and every now and then Shanghai enjoys a day or two of blue skies and sunlight. Unfortunately, as spring flowers start to blossom and the streets begin to fill up with vendors and activity, I have come down with some sort of sore throat, cough, aches combination (as have several other international students). Because of this, I have been prolifically lazy recently as I try to weather the storm.
Before I started feeling sick, I was maintaining a respectable running regimen, jogging three to six miles in a different direction from my campus every day. I found that to be a great way to explore the city—to experience it as a local and not a tourist destination. Of course, I could run 15 miles a day and never fully see all that Shanghai has to offer. This place is truly massive. I have yet to fully establish a sense of what’s what and where’s where, as every boulevard, every subway station, leads to a new expanse of housing towers and shopping malls and twisting alleys. I imagine this is the best place in the world to be an architect, as it seems like you cannot go a block without coming across some sort of new, monumental construction project that will probably become a shopping mall.
One of the nicest things about China is the prices. Everything here is priced, generally, the same amount of yuan as a comparable item might be in dollars. This is ideal for the thrift American, as the yuan is worth one sixth of the U.S. dollar. So, a pleasant meal at a local restaurant might cost about 18 yuan, or $3. This rule does not always hold true—some things are much more expensive than in the U.S.—but I often have to remind myself just how good of a bargain things are for me here. A vending machine ate my five yuan note the other day, and I was quite miffed about it until I realized that this is the equivalent of losing three quarters—still annoying, but hey.
Since I transformed into an infirm sickly shut-in this past weekend, I have spent a little more time observing the local cats. Cats are everywhere here. They roam around my campus like pigeons do back home. What sounds like three or four of them live outside my window—as I am reminded every night at 9:30 p.m. like clockwork. I am including a fuzzy picture I took of one roaming cat gang that seems to be in charge around here.
There are exactly two things from the U.S. I have found myself missing deeply: peanut butter and cold water. Luckily, I have been able to track down an imported foods store that keeps my peanut butter supply flowing—probably my only major expense, but I feel it’s justifiable. However, no such luck with cold water. By my observation, most Chinese people do not take any sort of drink with their meals—especially not water. The only water dispensers in my dorm exclusively spit out boiling water—and drinking from the sink is not advisable. This is convenient for tea and oatmeal and whatnot, but not for a refreshing glass of water. Of course, there is a very strong belief here in the healthy properties of hot water (喝多热水－drink more hot water! is a constant reminder). Who knows? Maybe if I drank my water a little warmer, I wouldn’t be going to bed at 8 p.m. next to a trashcan full of Kleenex and cough drop wrappers.
