Today was my last class ever at Jazz du Funk. It was happily an amazing end to the experience with my favorite teacher, Allen, teaching lyrical jazz. Yet again, I will state that Allen is an amazing teacher, and I'm also starting to think, after watching millions of reruns of "So You Think You Can Dance" that he's kind of Brian Friedman-esque in his choreography, only more modern. Great guy (that phrase is a gross understatement of how much I respect him).
Anyhoo, I ended up spending an extra half hour after class talking to the people that were Jazz du Funk regulars gossip and plan future classes. I found out from a lady named Debbie that there's more dance schools in Shanghai, and she's taking me to a ballet class on Tuesday (yay!). I should've started making friends sooner, stupid me.
Allen was also regaling us with tales of how he'd be dancing on the way to some elevator and end up smashing into something. Apparently he bumps into things very often. That started off another conversation about how everyone in the room always seems to walk into things when they're just walking. I'm glad they mentioned that because walking always seems like such an akward thing to me, too. I can't seem to avoid people or objects and just end up glancing off of them into something else, and it seems to be the case for the others. A girl (I don't know her name, but she's from Sweden - cool, no?) hypothesized that since dancers are constantly keeping their entire bodies controlled while dancing, it seems like such an odd thing to be relaxed when just walking, and being particularly limber, dancers end up just wobbling into everything. I decided that that makes sense. I do feel very akward walking, like I'm too fast, or too slow, off the beat that everyone else seems to be following, constantly trying to and failing to avoid bumping into other people. It's ironic that mom enrolled me in ballet so that I would be more graceful.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Monday, July 24, 2006
Countdown: 9 days
With only nine days left till I go back to the US, I thought I would list a few things I've come to realize during my stay in China.
I. Things I will not be missing about China
a) Not being able to drink tapwater - It's like being stranded in the ocean with water all around you when you're dying of thirst and not a speck of it is good for drinking. Except that in this case, I haven't even had the chance to step on said offending soon-to-be-sunk boat and am instead, surrounded by working faucets dispensing all rust-scented water I could ever hope to dream of when the water cooler is empty.
b) Traffic - I miss being able to cross the street in an orderly fashion, meaning when the little walking man lights up and the music blares, it's my turn. No, truck driver, not your turn. And don't you dare honk your horn and glare at me like it's my fault. For that matter, I find it incredibly annoying when people have no reason at all to honk at me because I'm out of the way, on the sidewalk, and Still, they have to honk. I keep having this urge to flick people off and yell obscenities except I don't know enough bad Chinese to hold my own in an argument.
c) Being identified and therefore villified for being a foreigner. It isn't so bad if you're American, white and male. They LOVE that here adn for all the worng reasons. However, if you look asian, don't speak very good Chinese (or at least have a detectable accent) then you are a possible victim, whether it be for making a shirt cost triple price or being marked by shady cab drivers as possible rape victims. I thought I was doing okay with being at least generally Chinese, but just three days ago, I was accused of being Japanese, Korean and some odd Chinese-Russian mix. Yeah, as if I would ever pass for Russian.
d) Dumplings - good lord, I don't think I could eat another one of those horrid things ever again. Supposedly hand made is always better, but in this case, it's much worse. The dumplings here are all the dough-like stuff on the outside, with just the teeniest smidgen of meat on the inside. It's like biting into a cabbage flavored mochi. I miss mommy's cooking...
II.Things I will miss about China:
a) Haggling - I love to haggle. LOVE. Especially when I can do it without being too rude. My crowning achievement was haggling two dresses from a total of 200RMB down to 70RMB. That's pretty good, I think. Particularly since the maid told me the shirt she was wearing this morning was 50RMB. I think I enjoy the bargaining aspect much more than the actual acquiring of things. It's so sad to go back to the US where a $70 pair of jeans will always be $70 and therefore forever out of my reach.
b) Air Conditioning - O, ozone depletion, how I delight in thee. You can bet almost none of the air conditioners in this country are environmentally friendly. And yet they make hot and humid weather so much more tolerable.
c) Bizarre Popsicles - here's a treat. What's chocolate on the outside, pudding in the middle and red beans in the center? The popsicle Shelly ate yesterday. The red bean was an unexpected surprise, but she claims it was still quite tasty. Mine was a delightful confection of vanilla and coffee which lasted almost all the way back to the office. O and let's not forget myh favorite, vanilla with raisins! Add a little rum and it's my favorite ice cream flavor. Add a little imagination and teenage boys would by dying to watch. Horrible, no?
III. Things I miss about the States:
a) STEAK - yah, I'm a carnivore. I tried the vegetarian thing once, but it didn't really work out. I'm getting tired of every single piece of meat int eh country being cut into little bite sized pieces or smothered in sauce so that it's no longer distinguishable meat so much as an added bi to ftexturre in an eggplant dish. I miss meat, as in a juicy steak seasoned with only salt and pepper and cooked on a charcoal grill. Yes, I know, my food fantasies are quite vivid. As Marlen once said, "I may be thin on the outside, but on the inside, I'm obese."
I'm sure more things will come to me as the week goes on. But for now, back to work and dreams of steak.
I. Things I will not be missing about China
a) Not being able to drink tapwater - It's like being stranded in the ocean with water all around you when you're dying of thirst and not a speck of it is good for drinking. Except that in this case, I haven't even had the chance to step on said offending soon-to-be-sunk boat and am instead, surrounded by working faucets dispensing all rust-scented water I could ever hope to dream of when the water cooler is empty.
b) Traffic - I miss being able to cross the street in an orderly fashion, meaning when the little walking man lights up and the music blares, it's my turn. No, truck driver, not your turn. And don't you dare honk your horn and glare at me like it's my fault. For that matter, I find it incredibly annoying when people have no reason at all to honk at me because I'm out of the way, on the sidewalk, and Still, they have to honk. I keep having this urge to flick people off and yell obscenities except I don't know enough bad Chinese to hold my own in an argument.
c) Being identified and therefore villified for being a foreigner. It isn't so bad if you're American, white and male. They LOVE that here adn for all the worng reasons. However, if you look asian, don't speak very good Chinese (or at least have a detectable accent) then you are a possible victim, whether it be for making a shirt cost triple price or being marked by shady cab drivers as possible rape victims. I thought I was doing okay with being at least generally Chinese, but just three days ago, I was accused of being Japanese, Korean and some odd Chinese-Russian mix. Yeah, as if I would ever pass for Russian.
d) Dumplings - good lord, I don't think I could eat another one of those horrid things ever again. Supposedly hand made is always better, but in this case, it's much worse. The dumplings here are all the dough-like stuff on the outside, with just the teeniest smidgen of meat on the inside. It's like biting into a cabbage flavored mochi. I miss mommy's cooking...
II.Things I will miss about China:
a) Haggling - I love to haggle. LOVE. Especially when I can do it without being too rude. My crowning achievement was haggling two dresses from a total of 200RMB down to 70RMB. That's pretty good, I think. Particularly since the maid told me the shirt she was wearing this morning was 50RMB. I think I enjoy the bargaining aspect much more than the actual acquiring of things. It's so sad to go back to the US where a $70 pair of jeans will always be $70 and therefore forever out of my reach.
b) Air Conditioning - O, ozone depletion, how I delight in thee. You can bet almost none of the air conditioners in this country are environmentally friendly. And yet they make hot and humid weather so much more tolerable.
c) Bizarre Popsicles - here's a treat. What's chocolate on the outside, pudding in the middle and red beans in the center? The popsicle Shelly ate yesterday. The red bean was an unexpected surprise, but she claims it was still quite tasty. Mine was a delightful confection of vanilla and coffee which lasted almost all the way back to the office. O and let's not forget myh favorite, vanilla with raisins! Add a little rum and it's my favorite ice cream flavor. Add a little imagination and teenage boys would by dying to watch. Horrible, no?
III. Things I miss about the States:
a) STEAK - yah, I'm a carnivore. I tried the vegetarian thing once, but it didn't really work out. I'm getting tired of every single piece of meat int eh country being cut into little bite sized pieces or smothered in sauce so that it's no longer distinguishable meat so much as an added bi to ftexturre in an eggplant dish. I miss meat, as in a juicy steak seasoned with only salt and pepper and cooked on a charcoal grill. Yes, I know, my food fantasies are quite vivid. As Marlen once said, "I may be thin on the outside, but on the inside, I'm obese."
I'm sure more things will come to me as the week goes on. But for now, back to work and dreams of steak.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Big Brother
So, after last weekend's horrible all-nighter experience, it was really nice to just sit back and relax this weekend. I was lazing around Saturday morning when Gege (pronounced "Guh-guh", means big brother in Chinese) walked in and thumped me on the head saying, "Hey, long time no see." Yah...thanks for drinking all my milk the other day and not telling me...
Little aside: He's not actually my big brother. He's actually my cousin, but I call him big brother because he lived with my family for two years way back in my elementary school days.
Still, it's nice to see him after not seeing him for about two weeks despite the fact that we live next door to each other. Yesterday I was telling him how much I missed having American food like Pizza and Fries and STEAK, so he decided to take me out later for some good old American cuisine. We went to a mall near his office where there was not only Pizza Hut and Papa John's, there was also a Dairy Queen, a KFC and a McDonalds. American Food Paradise! So first we went to the video arcade and spent an hour playing car racing games and Taiko drums. Fun fun. And then we went to Papa Johns and got a teeny tiny pizza that was half pepperoni and half "Mexican." Then we realized it was getting late and we had to pick up my uncle from the airport, so Gege bothered the waitresses into 1)hurrying up our order, 2) changing the onion rings in our pre-arranged meal package deal into potato wedges and 3) changing things at the last minute from eating-in to to-go. I told him at one point they probably hate us now, and he said, "Well then they'll probably be extra eager to put everything in a bag and get us out the door." With the bill came a lotto-ticket-like thing where you can win whatever the prize is if your gamepiece has a certain flag or something. Gege won an apple pie which they refused to give saying that the earliest we could get it is tomorrow (or rather, today). Stupid rules.
But anyhoo, when we finally got all the food, we had 10 minutes to get to the airport, so Gege used his speed driving arcade skills and drove us to the airport in 7 all the while eating pizza with one hand. Pretty impressive. Then we just sat, ate pizza and complained about our smoothies until my uncle walked out of the airport.
So that was my fun evening with Gege. I think that for all that he picked on me when I was seven, it's still kind of cool to have a big brother that takes me out for arcade games and pizza.
Little aside: He's not actually my big brother. He's actually my cousin, but I call him big brother because he lived with my family for two years way back in my elementary school days.
Still, it's nice to see him after not seeing him for about two weeks despite the fact that we live next door to each other. Yesterday I was telling him how much I missed having American food like Pizza and Fries and STEAK, so he decided to take me out later for some good old American cuisine. We went to a mall near his office where there was not only Pizza Hut and Papa John's, there was also a Dairy Queen, a KFC and a McDonalds. American Food Paradise! So first we went to the video arcade and spent an hour playing car racing games and Taiko drums. Fun fun. And then we went to Papa Johns and got a teeny tiny pizza that was half pepperoni and half "Mexican." Then we realized it was getting late and we had to pick up my uncle from the airport, so Gege bothered the waitresses into 1)hurrying up our order, 2) changing the onion rings in our pre-arranged meal package deal into potato wedges and 3) changing things at the last minute from eating-in to to-go. I told him at one point they probably hate us now, and he said, "Well then they'll probably be extra eager to put everything in a bag and get us out the door." With the bill came a lotto-ticket-like thing where you can win whatever the prize is if your gamepiece has a certain flag or something. Gege won an apple pie which they refused to give saying that the earliest we could get it is tomorrow (or rather, today). Stupid rules.
But anyhoo, when we finally got all the food, we had 10 minutes to get to the airport, so Gege used his speed driving arcade skills and drove us to the airport in 7 all the while eating pizza with one hand. Pretty impressive. Then we just sat, ate pizza and complained about our smoothies until my uncle walked out of the airport.
So that was my fun evening with Gege. I think that for all that he picked on me when I was seven, it's still kind of cool to have a big brother that takes me out for arcade games and pizza.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Nausea
Nauseating things:
Today on the bus, I experienced serious motion sickness. The reason being that 1) I was reading a book, 2) The bus ride was particularly bouncy, and 3) a guy sitting next to me smelled like salt and vinegar potato chips in a bad bad way. My tummy is currently doing backflips and I am not liking the feeling at all.
Also, I just read that "Michael" of Project Runway is making things that look suspiciously like fashion designs out of Elle magazine. So now we have someone plagiarizing things on national television. What I can't figure out is why on earth someone would do that. Why would someone risk his integrity on national television. I suppose he doesn't remember how Vanessa flipped out on television in the first season and had her sales drop a LOT. Stupid people. If people are watching, you really want to be on your best behavior and not let all the dirty laundry hang out for everyone to see.
Today on the bus, I experienced serious motion sickness. The reason being that 1) I was reading a book, 2) The bus ride was particularly bouncy, and 3) a guy sitting next to me smelled like salt and vinegar potato chips in a bad bad way. My tummy is currently doing backflips and I am not liking the feeling at all.
Also, I just read that "Michael" of Project Runway is making things that look suspiciously like fashion designs out of Elle magazine. So now we have someone plagiarizing things on national television. What I can't figure out is why on earth someone would do that. Why would someone risk his integrity on national television. I suppose he doesn't remember how Vanessa flipped out on television in the first season and had her sales drop a LOT. Stupid people. If people are watching, you really want to be on your best behavior and not let all the dirty laundry hang out for everyone to see.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
More Random Musings
It's odd that amongst all the yummy food available in Shanghai (Soup Dumplings, regular dumplings, korean barbecue, etc.) I still find myself craving pizza. Good pizza. Really really good pizza with only a little bit of cheese and a lot of sauce and a lot of crust. Mmmmm, Pizza Hut...
On another note, I am currently the only English speaker left in the office. Shelly is on vacation with her boyfriend, Scott. Kathleen has moved on to a new internship, a hopefully more productive internship, at a bank somewhere. That leaves little old me, studious and ever-hard working (boy would my professors be surprised to hear that) all alone and o so sad. No, not really. It's not so bad. I get a little peace and quiet, except that WangYue keeps bothering me. I think I might murder him soon. He keeps dragging me away from what I'm doing so I can translate stupid games he's downloaded. And when did this annoyance start? Well, it definitely gave me a big nudge when he woke me up when he decided to take my picture while I was sleeping on the couch. There's nothing more horrid than knowing that someone might be watching you while you sleep. It's stalkerish...
O, and somehow, even though I'm eating all this food, I seem to be looking thinner, or so people tell me. I guess it's because I don't really like any of the candy or pastries they have in this country, so I simply indulge in fruit instead. The apples, I have found, are incredibly yummy. I suppose when I get back to the US, I should just continue not eating cake and cookies, but oh boy are they yummy.
On another note, I am currently the only English speaker left in the office. Shelly is on vacation with her boyfriend, Scott. Kathleen has moved on to a new internship, a hopefully more productive internship, at a bank somewhere. That leaves little old me, studious and ever-hard working (boy would my professors be surprised to hear that) all alone and o so sad. No, not really. It's not so bad. I get a little peace and quiet, except that WangYue keeps bothering me. I think I might murder him soon. He keeps dragging me away from what I'm doing so I can translate stupid games he's downloaded. And when did this annoyance start? Well, it definitely gave me a big nudge when he woke me up when he decided to take my picture while I was sleeping on the couch. There's nothing more horrid than knowing that someone might be watching you while you sleep. It's stalkerish...
O, and somehow, even though I'm eating all this food, I seem to be looking thinner, or so people tell me. I guess it's because I don't really like any of the candy or pastries they have in this country, so I simply indulge in fruit instead. The apples, I have found, are incredibly yummy. I suppose when I get back to the US, I should just continue not eating cake and cookies, but oh boy are they yummy.
Monday, July 17, 2006
All-Nighter Aftermath
Yesterday was the most boring, horrible day of work ever. I mean that in that after pulling an all-nighter, we still weren't allowed to not go in to work (since that would be considered a vacation day). Nor could we sleep during work. Nor did we actually have any work to do. So what started out as a hectic morning, turned into a horribly long, drawn out afternoon spent in front of my computer watching movies over and over again that I had no interest in watching. At one point, I passed out on my table for five minutes and woke up with a big red spot where my collar bone met the table. At 6:30 I whisked myself out of the office as quickly as possible and took a horrifically long busride home, finally entering the door at 8:00 pm.
So I found out my uncle is back in town. And he arrived at 6:00 am to find that I wasn't around. My cousin knew I was at the office, but the maids didn't know where I was. I told the maid this morning that I was working all night at the office, but I have a feeling she didn't quite believe me. Wangyue suggested I show her the photos of me sleeping first on the lobby couch and then on the kitchen table. Boy, that should be fun. Kind of annoys me though. Why else would I stay out all night? I doubt I'd like Karaoke enough to spend an entire night (a school night, no less) singing in a frumpy disco-like bar. Whatever. If mom calls to yell at me, I'll just tell her I was being annoyed at the office by my coworkers who have absolutely no model-building skills.
So I found out my uncle is back in town. And he arrived at 6:00 am to find that I wasn't around. My cousin knew I was at the office, but the maids didn't know where I was. I told the maid this morning that I was working all night at the office, but I have a feeling she didn't quite believe me. Wangyue suggested I show her the photos of me sleeping first on the lobby couch and then on the kitchen table. Boy, that should be fun. Kind of annoys me though. Why else would I stay out all night? I doubt I'd like Karaoke enough to spend an entire night (a school night, no less) singing in a frumpy disco-like bar. Whatever. If mom calls to yell at me, I'll just tell her I was being annoyed at the office by my coworkers who have absolutely no model-building skills.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
All-Nighter
Let it be known that I find it tremendously unfair that I'm the only intern in the firm that has to pull an all-nighter. But then again, it's 4:15am over here and I'm feeling might crabby. I went in to work at 11am and started off working on model building. Then I did some photoshopping and then back to model building. I've been working on the stupid model for over 10 hours. I hate brillo trees.
So yes, my first professional all-nighter. Nice to have such a head start on what looks to be my future career. All-nighters twice a month. Sweet...
o yes, and I found out today that the model building skills of people in this firm are atrocious. WangYue makes boxes that don't even come together on the edges. Simple decency, man! And boy did he really annoy me when he dragged up from my desk all the way over to his and I find that the all important reason is that he wants me to translate the English on some stupid Hot Wheels video game he downloaded off the internet. I wonder if he realizes that a large reason why I'm still here at this horrible hour is because he's wasting time downloading stupid video games off the net instead of trying to make a credible box. I think I've remade nearly every one of the buildings he started.
And the dumplings! God, if I have to eat another dumpling, I'm going to hurl. I almost feel like the only strong thing I've gained in China is a strong aversion to dumplings, particularly chive dumplings. Those things make me feel like I just ate a rock.
O yes, and I don't think I get to go home after this o so joyous all nighter either. If I want to get paid for the day (Monday, that is) I have to be there for a full nine hours in a row. That means that if I go home at 6, sleep and come in at noon, I have to stay till 9 pm. And it takes me an hour to get home. It seems that it's not worth it at all, so I'm just going to sleep at the office. And I'm going to buy a toothbrush in the morning when the stores open. And Shelly's bringing her boyfriend in to visit tomorrow. I can just imagine it. "Hello, Scott. So nice to meet you. Why yes, I do have raccoon eyes, thank you for noticing." And then when I get home, my cousin will lecture me yet again for not informing him that I'd been out late. Though I didn't really think I'd still be here at 4:30am (yah, that's what time it is now). And then when I get home tomorrow, I'm sure GuanAh-Yi will be following me around asking me questions in her in-distinguishable dialect and not understanding a thing I say in response.
I'm in a very bad mood. Can you tell?
So yes, my first professional all-nighter. Nice to have such a head start on what looks to be my future career. All-nighters twice a month. Sweet...
o yes, and I found out today that the model building skills of people in this firm are atrocious. WangYue makes boxes that don't even come together on the edges. Simple decency, man! And boy did he really annoy me when he dragged up from my desk all the way over to his and I find that the all important reason is that he wants me to translate the English on some stupid Hot Wheels video game he downloaded off the internet. I wonder if he realizes that a large reason why I'm still here at this horrible hour is because he's wasting time downloading stupid video games off the net instead of trying to make a credible box. I think I've remade nearly every one of the buildings he started.
And the dumplings! God, if I have to eat another dumpling, I'm going to hurl. I almost feel like the only strong thing I've gained in China is a strong aversion to dumplings, particularly chive dumplings. Those things make me feel like I just ate a rock.
O yes, and I don't think I get to go home after this o so joyous all nighter either. If I want to get paid for the day (Monday, that is) I have to be there for a full nine hours in a row. That means that if I go home at 6, sleep and come in at noon, I have to stay till 9 pm. And it takes me an hour to get home. It seems that it's not worth it at all, so I'm just going to sleep at the office. And I'm going to buy a toothbrush in the morning when the stores open. And Shelly's bringing her boyfriend in to visit tomorrow. I can just imagine it. "Hello, Scott. So nice to meet you. Why yes, I do have raccoon eyes, thank you for noticing." And then when I get home, my cousin will lecture me yet again for not informing him that I'd been out late. Though I didn't really think I'd still be here at 4:30am (yah, that's what time it is now). And then when I get home tomorrow, I'm sure GuanAh-Yi will be following me around asking me questions in her in-distinguishable dialect and not understanding a thing I say in response.
I'm in a very bad mood. Can you tell?
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Paranoia
So, as you all know, I had my cell phone - actually, my aunt's really-really-super-duper-expensive-and-not-at-all-worth-the-money cell phone - stolen by a pick pocket the other day. Today, on the bus back from dance class, I started thinking about the evening when it went missing and I realized when it happened, who did it and how he did it. That bastard.
So the events went like this. I keep the cell phone with my bus pass in a pocket on the front of my purse. I get on the bus and open the pocket to pull out my pass and as I'm doing so, a man gets off the bus and jostles me in the process. I'm pretty positive that in that moment, he reached in the open pocket, grabbed the phone and then got off the bus. That bastard.
I got home last night really late because Anita (my supervisor) is leaving the office. We had a big farewell dinner at a Korean barbecue place and then went Karaoke-ing at a tacky place somewhere nearby. It was fun - our coworkers and bosses are super scary and not at all what I expected when they are singing. LiQiang in particular creeped me out. He's normally such a nice boy...
After we finished singing at around 1:30, the office secretary, WangJing, drives me part of the way home and drops me off somewhere nearby where I live. I was standing on the corner hailing for a cab when a red cab approaches with two men in it. It looks like the meter is running so I take a glance inside. Upon looking in I see there's two middle aged men. One's in the cab seat and the other one is in the passanger seat. They both ask me where I'm going and I was polite saying that I'm fine, I'll catch my own cab, but thanks all the same.
Some things wrong with this scenario:
1) Obviously I'm slightly paranoid because there aren't that many good samaritans in the city of Shanghai.
2) From my experience, cab drivers are completely disinterested in their passangers. This one seemed a little too buddy buddy with the passanger, even offering a bit to the conversation (aka Get in the cab, lady).
3) If a cab driver had a passanger who wanted to be nice and help a stranded lady in the middle of the night, he'd probably say no, because that would mean less money for him or one of his fellow coworkers.
Looking back on it, I also noticed a couple of things:
1) A similar thing happened on Wednesday night when I was hailing a cab. Except the taxi didn't stop on the corner, rather the passanger rolled down the window while the car was passing and put his arm out in a follow-me gesture. Yah, like hell I'll follow you.
2) I really wished I bothered to copy down the cab driver's ID number so I could report a possible hobby rapist who spends gas money entertaining his friend and trying to pick up daft foreign girls for god knows what reason instead of doing his job.
So yes, I'm feeling very paranoid in this city right now. I start to wonder if everyone who takes a second glance at me is a pickpocket sizing up my worth or a horny guy thinking about luring me into a back ally. My coworkers told me not to discount children for thieves, so now even little girls in pretty pretty princess dressed are treated with suspicion. Every middle-of-the-night-cab driver is now a possible mugger who might drive me out of the city and put a bag over my head before beating me and taking all my stuff. Bastards, all of them. I wish I had something like pepper-spray or a knife, or something. I get horrible images in my mind about all sorts of things. What if I had gotten close to the car and they had chloroform? What if they had just jumped out and grabbed me? Sometimes I wish mom had let me take those martial art classes in Chinese school...
So the events went like this. I keep the cell phone with my bus pass in a pocket on the front of my purse. I get on the bus and open the pocket to pull out my pass and as I'm doing so, a man gets off the bus and jostles me in the process. I'm pretty positive that in that moment, he reached in the open pocket, grabbed the phone and then got off the bus. That bastard.
I got home last night really late because Anita (my supervisor) is leaving the office. We had a big farewell dinner at a Korean barbecue place and then went Karaoke-ing at a tacky place somewhere nearby. It was fun - our coworkers and bosses are super scary and not at all what I expected when they are singing. LiQiang in particular creeped me out. He's normally such a nice boy...
After we finished singing at around 1:30, the office secretary, WangJing, drives me part of the way home and drops me off somewhere nearby where I live. I was standing on the corner hailing for a cab when a red cab approaches with two men in it. It looks like the meter is running so I take a glance inside. Upon looking in I see there's two middle aged men. One's in the cab seat and the other one is in the passanger seat. They both ask me where I'm going and I was polite saying that I'm fine, I'll catch my own cab, but thanks all the same.
Some things wrong with this scenario:
1) Obviously I'm slightly paranoid because there aren't that many good samaritans in the city of Shanghai.
2) From my experience, cab drivers are completely disinterested in their passangers. This one seemed a little too buddy buddy with the passanger, even offering a bit to the conversation (aka Get in the cab, lady).
3) If a cab driver had a passanger who wanted to be nice and help a stranded lady in the middle of the night, he'd probably say no, because that would mean less money for him or one of his fellow coworkers.
Looking back on it, I also noticed a couple of things:
1) A similar thing happened on Wednesday night when I was hailing a cab. Except the taxi didn't stop on the corner, rather the passanger rolled down the window while the car was passing and put his arm out in a follow-me gesture. Yah, like hell I'll follow you.
2) I really wished I bothered to copy down the cab driver's ID number so I could report a possible hobby rapist who spends gas money entertaining his friend and trying to pick up daft foreign girls for god knows what reason instead of doing his job.
So yes, I'm feeling very paranoid in this city right now. I start to wonder if everyone who takes a second glance at me is a pickpocket sizing up my worth or a horny guy thinking about luring me into a back ally. My coworkers told me not to discount children for thieves, so now even little girls in pretty pretty princess dressed are treated with suspicion. Every middle-of-the-night-cab driver is now a possible mugger who might drive me out of the city and put a bag over my head before beating me and taking all my stuff. Bastards, all of them. I wish I had something like pepper-spray or a knife, or something. I get horrible images in my mind about all sorts of things. What if I had gotten close to the car and they had chloroform? What if they had just jumped out and grabbed me? Sometimes I wish mom had let me take those martial art classes in Chinese school...
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Picked
So you know how when you go abroad, people always warn you to watch your bags, keep them in front of you and things like that? Well, I followed the advice. I had my bag in front of me, kept a hand, if not at least an eye on it, and still, it wasn't enough.
Yes, everyone. I, Angela, have had my purse picked. The nice new, shiny Motorola Razor (or Razr if you have to be "cool" like that) that once belonged to my aunt is now probably somewhere on the Chinese cell phone black market. I can just imagine someone turning the thing on and thinking, "Why the heck are there so many baby pictures on here?"
So I emailed my sister and told her to tell mom, and have mom tell my aunt. Yes, I am, as always, being very indirect so as to avoid as much heat as possible. Though I get to see my uncle in a few days. I hope he isn't going to be too mad with me...
It also wouldn't have been so bad if something else had been taken as well. Then I could have said, "Yes, your phone and my [insert precious and treasured belonging of Angela's here] have both been stolen" instead of saying, "Well all of my stuff is here, thank god for that. Your phone, on the other hand..." Yahhhh, so, crap...
Yes, everyone. I, Angela, have had my purse picked. The nice new, shiny Motorola Razor (or Razr if you have to be "cool" like that) that once belonged to my aunt is now probably somewhere on the Chinese cell phone black market. I can just imagine someone turning the thing on and thinking, "Why the heck are there so many baby pictures on here?"
So I emailed my sister and told her to tell mom, and have mom tell my aunt. Yes, I am, as always, being very indirect so as to avoid as much heat as possible. Though I get to see my uncle in a few days. I hope he isn't going to be too mad with me...
It also wouldn't have been so bad if something else had been taken as well. Then I could have said, "Yes, your phone and my [insert precious and treasured belonging of Angela's here] have both been stolen" instead of saying, "Well all of my stuff is here, thank god for that. Your phone, on the other hand..." Yahhhh, so, crap...
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
PMS
I don't know if it's PMS, but I was feeling most annoyed with everyone. One woman in the office I find particularly annoying because she's very loud and crass. LOUD. and CRASS. Right now she's shouting in the kitchen which is on the otherside of our not so small office, and I can hear everything clearly. I think I might murder her soon, it's getting so annoying.
On a brighter note, I went to a Jazz class last night, taught by none other than a Mr. Strever look-a-like. Except whereas I remember Mr. Strever being cadaverously thin (no offense Strevie), this guy, as Jamie the contemporary dancer from LA says, is CUT. So if you want to imagine my dance teacher, imagine Strevie with wiry muscles and a flamboyant flounce to his movement. O yes, and imagine him a little shorter too. Jamie also told me I ought to go to his hip hop class on Tuesdays. If they're anything like the Jazz class, I think I will. I think I'm getting fat. Actually, no. I am getting fat. Stupid dumplings. I think I should go on that watermelon lunch diet everyone here seems to love so much.
Jamie is a premed student at Berkeley who is currently sitting in on surgeries at some reknowned hospital in Shanghai. Yesterday, right before dance class, she was busy probing a live human being's brain. Just the thought of probing a person's brain already grosses me out, but then adding that it's a live human being...ick... Poor brain. I asked her if the person is ok now. I also think that it would be a bad idea to get sick in this country because I might have a 19 year old premed student performing surgery on me.
On another note, my hip doesn't feel right. I think I must have sprained it or something. Is it possible to sprain a hip?
On a brighter note, I went to a Jazz class last night, taught by none other than a Mr. Strever look-a-like. Except whereas I remember Mr. Strever being cadaverously thin (no offense Strevie), this guy, as Jamie the contemporary dancer from LA says, is CUT. So if you want to imagine my dance teacher, imagine Strevie with wiry muscles and a flamboyant flounce to his movement. O yes, and imagine him a little shorter too. Jamie also told me I ought to go to his hip hop class on Tuesdays. If they're anything like the Jazz class, I think I will. I think I'm getting fat. Actually, no. I am getting fat. Stupid dumplings. I think I should go on that watermelon lunch diet everyone here seems to love so much.
Jamie is a premed student at Berkeley who is currently sitting in on surgeries at some reknowned hospital in Shanghai. Yesterday, right before dance class, she was busy probing a live human being's brain. Just the thought of probing a person's brain already grosses me out, but then adding that it's a live human being...ick... Poor brain. I asked her if the person is ok now. I also think that it would be a bad idea to get sick in this country because I might have a 19 year old premed student performing surgery on me.
On another note, my hip doesn't feel right. I think I must have sprained it or something. Is it possible to sprain a hip?
Monday, July 03, 2006
Not So Bad After All?
It's fascinating. During the school year, I always feel like the dunce in studio. I always feel like teachers look at my work and think, "This is exactly what I teach students not to do." I feel like most people in studio think that in general my architectural design skills are poor to Wal-mart quality. And yet, here I find at LWMA that the architect and my supervisor actually seem to like my work. My coworkers actually seem to like it too. Not my school work, mind you. I'll just continue hiding that trash I do during the school year.
Right now the office is working on a new project in QingDao where we are revamping some old factory buildings for office and retail. I chose to do a geometric analyzation a la first year. For once, the person in charge liked what I did, and assigned two people to work with me on my idea. Not that I'm in charge. XiaoGuan and ZhangYu spent the better part of an hour interrogating me in a language I find I barely understand, trying to understand how I came up with what I did, so we can all figure it out and make something nice. I do think I'll keep this project for my portfolio. It's slightly Koolhaas like.
So maybe I'm actually not a bad architect. Maybe I just need to take less classes so I can focus more on studio... I think I just have to restructure my priority list during the year.
Right now the office is working on a new project in QingDao where we are revamping some old factory buildings for office and retail. I chose to do a geometric analyzation a la first year. For once, the person in charge liked what I did, and assigned two people to work with me on my idea. Not that I'm in charge. XiaoGuan and ZhangYu spent the better part of an hour interrogating me in a language I find I barely understand, trying to understand how I came up with what I did, so we can all figure it out and make something nice. I do think I'll keep this project for my portfolio. It's slightly Koolhaas like.
So maybe I'm actually not a bad architect. Maybe I just need to take less classes so I can focus more on studio... I think I just have to restructure my priority list during the year.
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Dance!
I found a dance school in Shanghai, finally. Well, I knew about it for a while, but never had the time to go take any classes until now. It's only been a month of not taking any classes, but I am completely out of shape now. Right now, I feel as if I've been run over by a truck.
The nice thing is that I haven't lost too much of my flexibility and I did a triple priouette that could have gone into a quadruple if it hadn't surprised me so much I dropped out of the turn. I surprise myself too much.
I took a contemporary dance class on Saturday. It involved a lot of contractions and push/sit-ups the like I've never done before, and boy were they tiring. I had trouble doing the dances that the teacher made up mostly because I was so sweaty I stuck to the floor. Sunday I took a lyrical class taught by exactly the kind of girl I avoid in normal everyday life. Still, it was fun. I've never taken a lyrical class before and it wasn't what I expected. I also tried to start off the class in jazz sneakers. Bad idea. Foot cramps. I think maybe the teacher started to hate me because I stopped in the middle of class to take off my shoes. I think Ken Leigh's class has ruined me for non-barefoot warmups.
O and I made a new friend, though I don't remember her name. Little Chinese girl who's going to be a sophomore premed student at UCBerkeley. I told her I was an archie and got the usual response. "O I have a bunch of archie friends. You guys are always in studio!" Yes, yes, we know, our lives revolve around studio. I think I'm starting to get tired of hearing that...
The nice thing is that I haven't lost too much of my flexibility and I did a triple priouette that could have gone into a quadruple if it hadn't surprised me so much I dropped out of the turn. I surprise myself too much.
I took a contemporary dance class on Saturday. It involved a lot of contractions and push/sit-ups the like I've never done before, and boy were they tiring. I had trouble doing the dances that the teacher made up mostly because I was so sweaty I stuck to the floor. Sunday I took a lyrical class taught by exactly the kind of girl I avoid in normal everyday life. Still, it was fun. I've never taken a lyrical class before and it wasn't what I expected. I also tried to start off the class in jazz sneakers. Bad idea. Foot cramps. I think maybe the teacher started to hate me because I stopped in the middle of class to take off my shoes. I think Ken Leigh's class has ruined me for non-barefoot warmups.
O and I made a new friend, though I don't remember her name. Little Chinese girl who's going to be a sophomore premed student at UCBerkeley. I told her I was an archie and got the usual response. "O I have a bunch of archie friends. You guys are always in studio!" Yes, yes, we know, our lives revolve around studio. I think I'm starting to get tired of hearing that...
