manners and meals

feeling at a loss, I’ve read up a (very) little about recent chinese history. I know the country has the capability to be a superpower, but now that I have a glimmer of understanding about its political past, I wonder if they’ll ever get there. I wonder if the leadership here will ever be stable enough, or humble enough to really achieve world domination. not that I think humility is what got the US where it is today... well, today I think the US is declining, but that’s another conversation altogether.

insight from mom:

Did you ever read "Wild Swans"? It gave a very vivid picture of what went on in China during and after their revolution. What wasn't destroyed during the fighting, was pretty much dismantled during the years that Mao was in power. The Old ways were considered subversive and anything old was either destroyed, cannibalized and recycled into something else or disappeared who knows where. Not too many old things survived and those that did were not maintained so are now being demolished to make way for something usable. Space is limited in Shanghai and millions of people live there so utility is the benchmark.

this just goes to prove it: moms know everything. (but who knew that mine knew stuff about CHINA???)

the other day a friend here pointed out a curious chinese manner. he has noticed that the chinese use the word “maybe” to console or diffuse situations that could otherwise be volatile. here was his story: his friend (no really, it was actually a friend) had gotten in a fight with a chinese man who was pushing him on an airplane. to the chinese man, he was just doing what is customary, pushing past someone who was blocking his way. no big deal. to the american, his personal space was being invaded and he was being given a clear—and rude—message. so in american custom, he punched him. and of course things devolved from there: the chinese man was taken completely off-guard and was knocked flat on his back. he was completely shocked and offended. they were both removed from the airplane and seated next to one another in an interrogation room in the basement of pudong airport. the chinese officials acted as interpreters:

“maybe he didn’t mean to make you angry.”

“maybe you overreacted and you are sorry.”

“maybe you will forgive each other and we can all go home.”

and so on.


__________


the past few days have been fairly mellow in terms of work. I keep waiting for the big one(s) to hit. but still nothing too involved. so far.

there’s sad news, however; my manager's father died suddenly sunday night. heart attack. so she's out for at least a week, maybe more, as she probably has to deal with the government and being able to get him home (he was visiting a relative, I think outside guangzhou, and it's my impression that he doesn't live in mainland china). I feel awful for her. she was just telling lis that she was hoping to get her father to come stay with her for a month after he visited his other relative.

last night we got out of work fairly early, but not early enough to make it to the museum or the famous yu gardens. we were a bit indecisive on what to do, and after a ridiculously expensive dinner monday night (40 RMB, or 5.14$ US for a HALF bottle of evian), we decided that we didn’t feel like manicures or pedicures. plus, our fancy meal habit needed to stop. so we ventured out to a street vendor, and after 5 minutes of needless talk between ourselves (the lady just patiently waited for us to give her the money), got some pork dumplings for all of 3 RMB (39 cents). (yes, I am sure they were pork). we topped off the meal with some warm wine and cookies from the convenience store. as we waited to pay, the tall westerner in front of us said “okay, you guys have to say something; I haven’t heard english in two weeks!” the poor guy! we realized when we got back to our hotel that he’s actually staying there too, so I have vowed to speak to him whenever I see him. he’s there for a good while.

as it turns out, the pork dumplings were great. they probably aren’t the best in town, but for being a random street find, I am very pleased. you have to understand how just ordering food from a meal cart—or anywhere here—is intimidating and well, a little scary, as you never know quite what you are getting. even if you think you know, you don’t know. and, you never know what kind of health standards you could be facing. so far, neither beth or I have gotten sick, so this one looks like a winner. maybe not so much on the cookies: they seemed to be unsalted ritz crackers with cookie filling sandwiched in between. oh well.

we had another great find with lunch today: we asked our chinese officemates what they had ordered for lunch the other day. it looked like noodles and broth and since quite a few of them were eating it, I figured it must be good. turns out it’s a local place and they speak only chinese, so we had to have one of our office-mates order for us. I was a little concerned, as the one ordering on our behalf speaks no english, but in the end it was really quite good, and came packaged with tiny plastic baggies filled with hot sauce and tied in clever little knots at the end. lis tried it first, and eventually added all of hers. I added about 4 drops and it was perfect. just a the right amount of heat on the end. at one point I looked over at lis and her eyes were watering and she was sniffling. she claims something went down the wrong pipe, but I suspect that *maybe* there was actually a blazing inferno in her mouth.

i’m not even close to being hungry yet, but I might just be up for dumplings again tonight. it’ll make me feel better about my incessant desire to go to spin, the pottery store.

the water village

yesterday, lis and I went to a water village called zhujiajiao just outside the city. lis asked the hotel concierge about going on a tour, and he arranged for it to pick us up at the hotel. we had an english speaking guide (vicky), a driver, and only two other tourists, an italian couple on holiday.

I could tell from the beginning that it was a bit of a tourist trap, as the first thing we saw when we pulled up was this:
this was also the site where we witnessed a scuffle in which an old woman slapped another one. additionally, we were bothered by beggars pushing their bowls onto us, and I was actually concerned about the amount of harassment our guide endured there by not hiring a bicycle-rickshaw for us. we found much calmer streets, alleys and quaint museums beyond the ticketing office which was both welcome and disappointing at the same time. the place was lined with tourist bait, but they mostly left us alone.
the "complaining reception" at the ticket office.
heh.

the first museum was a fishing museum, in which we saw some miniature models of boats pulling tiny nets in different ways, displaying how they used to fish. it showed some clothes, a few carvings and there was an old boat outside. not incredibly impressive, but cute. the best part was the pixelated poster on the wall that showed the original character for “fish” and how it has transformed into today’s symbol (魚), which looks little like a fish if you ask me.

the next museum housed the 6,000-year old pottery I spoke about:

I can't believe I used my flash. idiot!

there wasn’t much else in there besides a fake well, some wooden carvings and a narrative with a disturbingly obtuse mention of animal and human sacrifice. lis asked vicky, “so the wall mentioned sacrifice. what’s that all about?” and vicky told us that when a noble who owned slaves died, his slaves were buried with him, so that he could have them in the afterlife. I’m not sure that really answered the question entirely, but gave us enough to think about to stop asking questions. talk about a raw deal...

we eventually went to the old post office, visited the temple (?) of the city god, walked a few bridges, took a boat ride along the river, and saw a lovely chinese garden. it took hours, mostly because was a GAZILLION degrees out and we were too hot to walk at normal speed.

here are the photos:


many of the houses here date back to the ming dynasty (1368-1644). but they've all been rebuilt. I'm not sure if it was fire, or quest for new-ness that did it, but that seems to be the way it goes here.

welcome to the home of the city god.

a wishing tree. maybe i'd like my rhododendrons more if they were covered in ribbons.

roar.


pictured, left to right: god of longevity, god of wealth, and god of luck.

I miss my cat.

an old boat used for mail delivery. I'm pretty sure that even as part of the exhibit, it gets no mercy from the banging of other boats that pass by.


this is a sign amongst postcards in the old post office that reads "it's surprising to remember the old dreams again." I have no idea why it says that.

what's the chinese equivalent of a gondolier?



our gondolier's buddy who rowed up alongside.






this is a private home and collection of wooden plaques. I'm not sure why we got to walk through it, but it was attached to a famous tea house.


entry to the garden. it was once a privately owned estate, but since the death of the owner, control has been assumed by the government. only important guests were allowed in the back of the house.


and the actual garden:



back outside:


hot dog (no pun intended). he is afraid of tall italian men.

lis is actually walking up stairs, only about an inch high each. I kind of wondered what the point was. maybe carts?

chefs in training? or waiters?

this was the end of the water village portion of our tour when we all piled back into the van and obsessed with the cold air vents until we arrived at our next destination, a silk factory. there vicky passed us off to one of the factory guides who was actually part saleswoman. after the short educational tour where we saw the single silk pods being boiled and de-threaded (the single strand is so thin, they actually use 8-10 pods for one thread), we headed into the room which showed how they handled the double pods (de-insecting them and stretching them by hand). I was one of the first through that door and the ladies all were lounging and chatting and had to get up to look busy for our lesson. (at this point I was lagging in the photo department, but I really wish I would have gotten a picture of that.) we all emerged having resisted the temptation to have an all silk comforter air mailed back to the states, and headed back to the hotel exhausted and sticky.

solid tourist-y day.

missing something

the past few days have been tourist-y fun shanghai. lis and I have seen a real chinese mall, a real chinese underground mall, and a real chinese fabric mall. actually, the regular mall was somewhat intriguing, as it was PACKED. picture the kind of packed-ness that makes you say "oh, I don't want to go to the mall; it's always so crowded." then triple that. or, maybe just think of visiting ikea on a weekend day.

the underground mall was actually attached to the regular mall, and was fairly fascinating since it seemed to be a labyrinth of mostly privately run stores. the clothes mostly reminded me of vegas, but with more lace.

after we wandered around the underground for a couple of hours, we went to the fabric market. lis and I each brought clothes we'd like to have remade, and I tried on at least 8 heavy winter coats. (the fabric market also boasts a large number of booths that sell cashmere and wool.) alas, I didn’t fall in love with any of them—perhaps it was the 90 degree weather—but settled on the place I thought did the nicest job. now I just need to find the pattern for them to copy. hm.

after the fabric market, beth and I went over to a co-worker’s apartment and drank some wine. he was having a problem with his fuse box, however. it’s tough to get things fixed properly when most of your half of the conversation amounts to “wo ting bu dong” (“I don’t understand”) over and over. we took that as sign to head out to dinner.

he took us to this BEAUTIFUL japanese restaurant. funny enough, it reminded me of w+k portland: large concrete walls, giant open spaces. the food was much better here though. and it also strangely made me miss japan. like I’ve spent a lot of time there or something.

anyway, it got me thinking and wondering why I felt that way. one of the shanghainese girls here mentioned how she’d like to go to japan and how they are very good at making nice small, detailed things. I realized that’s why I “missed” japan. china lacks the finesse that japan has. while progressive in many ways, japan is steeped in tradition. china seems to have abandoned theirs. there is traditional food, and styles, but it seems more like china is more preoccupied with the pursuit of style itself than anything else. that, and massive consumption and mass production. they can make anything. they can do it more efficiently and cheaply than most places on earth. and they take great pride in that. but what seems to be lacking is an eye for quality. buildings are torn down and put back together in a matter of days. anything old is tossed out in the name of progress. pudong? that part of town I talked about which is the center for big business? the earliest building dates back to the early 90’s.

NINETEEN NINETIES.

that is absolutely baffling for a civilization as old as china. I saw some pottery yesterday dating back six thousand years. stop for a second and think about that. SIX THOUSAND YEARS. and it was in a small museum an hour outside the city. not in the national museum. not even in the brand new shanghai museum. a little podunk museum tucked away in a small tourist town, where it’s not even a main attraction.

I’m trying to give the benefit of the doubt and think that there has to be more that I’m not seeing. and I don’t doubt that the cosmopolitan nature of shanghai has hidden some things from me, as has my western eye. but wow, this place is in a hurry to get somewhere. and get somewhere fast.

week one photos

finally, I have downloaded some pictures.
enjoy.

I thought at first this was a child's chair. it's not. grown men sit here. it's at the gate where we enter the alley to get to the office when the steel gate blocks the way. (it's sometimes open now, sometimes not.) there are a handful of men who hang out here during the day and watch traffic. I assume they are taking breaks from working because of the heat, but I honestly can't be sure.

this is the steel gate. the rubble behind it is the construction site we cut through. it changes daily, but most recently looks like this:

(the opening in the wall is where the gate hangs. also, that wall wasn't there 2 weeks ago.)

more of the construction site.

the office door, and more of the office, below:



I sit just inside the door on the left. the blue things on the door are post-it notes, so that birds and dumbasses don't run into them.

traffic, on the way home from work. note: any and all of the items/people in the photo are likely to come directly at you at any moment.

i really feel like this doesn't do the traffic justice. i'll have to work on that, but until then, assume that it all looks more like this in real time:

this was actually a policeman attending to what looked to be the site of a wreck, so that's why they look like they're standing still. heh.

my temporary home, the regal international hotel.
more photos soon.

the other side of things

I'm impressed with how cosmopolitan shanghai is. perhaps it's because I frequent places that foreign people frequent, but I have encountered a lot of people who speak english, and quite a good number of non-chinese people as well. but I suppose I really can't gauge the city itself upon the clientele of element fresh.

http://www.smartshanghai.com/venue/1957/Element_Fresh_Huai_Hai_Lu_(Kwah_Centre)

it's one of the few restaurants in shanghai where you can find fresh salads, vegetables and sandwiches. I have deemed it a necessary concession: when your diet consists of food that will most likely cause you stomach upset at one point or another, you have to balance, right?

anyway, being here is like being in a bubble. an illiterate, ignorant bubble. which is isolating, but can also be nice. you can observe, wonder things that you would never wonder about (like why no one wears helmets and if that kitten you saw on the way to work was for sale as a pet or some other purpose), and probably draw completely false conclusions. it's kind of fun (except when applied to the possible fate of kittens).

thus far, I really, really like shanghai. most of all, I think, I like riding in cabs. I seriously cannot stop marvelling at how ordered the chaos is. if that makes any sense. today, however, was an interesting cab day.

backstory: lis went to notre dame, and feeling a little "what-the-hell," she contacted the shangahi alumni chapter. "just to see if she could catch any football games on tv or anything." well, the chapter head called her and invited her to lunch. he said "you can bring your colleague."
lis: "thank you."
Notre Dame Shanghai Alumni Chapter Head: "you're welcome."

he works in pudong, across the river from our office. we took a cab ride there, which was fairly uneventful, though the drive is about 20-30 minutes through a long tunnel under the river and boasts far different scenery than our side of the water. it appears to be where big business resides, and houses about a gazillion highrises. the Notre Dame Shanghai Alumni Chapter Head (NDSACH, or SACH, for short) works in the tallest building, which has 88 floors. anyway, lunch was great; SACH —and HIS colleague— were so nice, hospitible (ordering more "western style chinese dishes" for us like "bif" and "cucumber") and all around delightful, which was a nice surprise since we were first guided to meet him in the conference room of his law firm, offered cold water by the receptionist and were given piping HOT water to drink instead.

but I digress... when we waited in line for a taxi to come BACK from lunch, we were greeted by the first female cab driver I have seen the whole time I have been here (I know I have only been here for like 5 days, but there are a LOT of cabs). anyway, we got in, lis showed the driver the address of the office, and the driver? well, she threw us out of the cab. but not without looking completely disgusted and waving her hands frantically in front of her face first like WE were the cause of the ungodly stench that plagues most of shanghai.

seriously, I love this place.

mmm. O I L.

my first day at work was fairly boring. which was surprising, as all the reports I have heard prepared me for non-stop work in a crazy-busy office. not so much.

yet.

the walk TO work was more exciting. the reports of personal endangerment while crossing the road were not exaggerated. traffic laws here do not seem to exist. they are really more like guidelines than anything else. what is cool about that though, is that with the chaos comes a lot of trust in other people. you pretty much just go, and trust that the guy on the scooter with the two kids and no helmets will adapt to your route. and so far that I have seen, he has.

what I did not expect on the walk was the man hastily stowing his two chickens in the basket on his bike and pedaling away before I even noticed the cops who had pulled up on the curb behind us. (apparently, you can turn across traffic in whatever direction you wish, violate every copyright law known to man, and smoke in every public space, but you can’t sell chickens on the street.) nor did I expect the construction site we had to walk through to get to the office.

so last night after the quiet workday lis and I headed to the local mexican restaurant. as wrong as that sounds, it's got a pretty courtyard and well, it was ladies' night, which meant free margaritas. when we got there, the waiter informed us that free margaritas were only served indoors (and I thought he said that the courtyard actually belonged to the neighboring restaurant), and escorted us into one of the emptiest restaurants ever. after two rounds of drinks and food, we still only spent 50RMB (which is the equivalent of about $6). I think the bartender and the waiter were bored, and the "pure 90's classics" became louder and louder until lis and I were forced to leave, for lack of being able to hear each other. we decided to switch restaurants and sit in the courtyard, and found a nice low table. when we sat, a waitress handed us menus... for the mexican restaurant. maybe just no free drinks outside? whatever. after we ordered, the waitress from the neighboring restaurant came by and gave us menus. I saw her wave off some other mexican restaurant customers trying to sit at the table next to us, so lis asked our waitress if we were sitting at an appropriate table. she said we were, but the Great Server-Off endured the rest of the night. we continued to order drinks from the mexican restaurant, and the other waitress kept dropping off or picking up menus for her restaurant and generally looking displeased. it was totally bizarre.

the morning walk today was less eventful, though mildly surprising in what I understand is a classic china moment: the way to work has been permanently blocked by a steel gate that none of us have access to. no more construction site off-roading, but now the walk is an extra block.

this afternoon lis and I were treated to lunch by two gals from the office who took us to a “famous restaurant” for real shanghainese food. it was a little scary, as the menu featured at least 3 fish heads on on the first page alone. and I am pretty sure I ingested at least two vats of oil with my meal, but it was really delicious. and slightly embarrassing; the waiter stood directly beside the table and stared at me for the entire meal. and when I experienced some chopstick difficulty, he brought me a knife. unsolicited. (go ahead and TRY to pick up a hard boiled egg with chopsticks, I DARE you.) but it’s a meal I’d like to repeat at some point. lis is all hyped up to go to the restaurant a few doors down: a szechuan place that promises to be “classic, fashionable” and “tastable.” I hear if you drink a lot of tea, it helps you digest oil. I hope.

shanghai shopping

so far, I feel like I have been sent to shanghai to shop.

sunday being my first real day, and the almost-last-day of two gals who have been here for a while, we did some shopping. DVDs. then clothes. (I got none, but did get the business cards of a couple of places to return to.)

then we went to lunch, the hotel "spa" (hot tub, sauna, pool) and then went out for foot massages. we went to a no-frills local place and got an adidas-clad team of massagers: two young pretty girls and a blind man in his forties. they chatted with each other the entire time we were there (they do it for an HOUR, although some places do it for even longer). the man was occasionally very animated when he spoke and I like to think he was telling some good stories or that they were gossiping about a co-worker. they were nothing but pleasant, even when one of them was clearly talking about me for god-knows whatever reason. I think it was something like this:
young pretty girl #1: "this girl has some seriously crazy calouses. like has she ever heard of a file?"
young pretty girl #2, giggling and looking at me: "funny. where's she from do you think?"
young pretty girl #1 (in english): "where you from?"
me: "united states"
young pretty girl #1 (in english): "uh? where?"
my two companions and myself, simultaneously: "america"
young pretty girl #1: "ah"
she switches back to chinese: "ya, she should know what a foot file is. poor thing."

I have decided that china will be nothing but good for my mutant grandma feet. if I can manage to get a foot massage at least three times a week while I am here, I should be plantar faciitis free by the time I leave. of course, I may have an ulcer by then... one of the gals I was with asked what part of her foot signified her stomach health (she's been having some stomach issues), and the massage girl told her she had felt problems with her small intestines and told her she had trouble sleeping (which she had told me earlier in that day she had). the other gal had stomach problems according to her massage-ist, and I had problems with my duodenum. whatever that is. I looked it up online and found a site talking about duodenal ulcers which I decided I should avoid reading, but has nevertheless convinced me I have one.

I am also convinced I need to find chris's magic red trumpet stomach pills PRONTO; I am bound to get a stomach bug of some sort eventually. (everyone's doing it. )

china_01

SO. I made it. I had some worries there for a while, as one of my favorite zip-ups had a major zipper malfunction, I couldn't withdraw any money in canada to exchange, I started to have an upset stomach even before I got there, the lumbar support in my business class chair would mysteriously move of its own accord, and every movie I tried to watch was already 30 minutes into the viewing. but despite all of that, everything has really worked out fine so far.
the driver who was supposed to meet me at the airport did so, albeit 15-20 minutes late. I hung in there; kept the faith. and sure enough, eventually found the sign with my name being held by a tall chinese man in perfectly matching gray, with what can only be called a "coke pinky nail" and whose english vocabulary spanned all of "thank you". (which I could hardly begrudge him, as he was one up on me...).
made it to the hotel which is actually pretty nice. it has fluffy white towels and complimentary wine, fruit and cookies, but apparently thinks I am mr. zancanaro. at least that's what the card says. it also has free internet. so I hooked up my isight camera so chris and I can talk (the same goes for any of you, if you get yourselves on ichat, AIM or the like any time soon...). it's awesome. it's like having a phone conversation, but with video and a few extra chins.
after I bathed and discovered the reason I was told to use the bottled water for brushing my teeth, I went to dinner with the w+k gals here. nice thai. no mystery meat, but we ordered mostly vegetarian and wisely avoided the "liquid cocaine" cocktail.
afterward, I headed to bed to mourn my forgotten items: the camera cord. my favorite watch. oh, and my WEDDING RING.


FUCK.