Greetings. So I’ve been in Shanghai almost two weeks. Studying abroad for a semester is a little weird in that I now live in Shanghai, but I’m still a tourist and like to do touristy things. Then again, it’s different from studying somewhere like Europe. If I was in Europe I’d want to try to blend in and not act too touristy. In China, however, I have now hope of blending in at all. Today is a great example. I’ve noticed that I tend to attract more attention (or at least a different type of attention) when I’m on my own than when we travel as a pack. I was walking back from breakfast this morning, and they guy passed me on his bicycle. That’s totally normal, but then he proceeded to glance back at me ever other second but still riding his bike forward. He almost ran into another pedestrian and fell off his bike! I know I’m attractive, but at least keep your eyes on the road.

I went on a couple of adventures this week. Monday, I explored the French Concession. During the mid 1800s many western countries were establishing settlements in Shanghai. The French Concession was the French settlement and seems like any small city in Europe. We had lunch at a small French bistro. While I really LOVE all the great Chinese food we have been eating off the street/ from small restaurants, the French bistro was a nice break (though it was disappointing using a plain-old fork when I’ve become such a chopsticks master!) After the bistro, we went to the Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Museum. It’s really out of the way (thank goodness for Lonely Planet), in the basement of an apartment building. Nevertheless, it was really, really cool. Its weird to see images that are so anti-American, anti-western Europe, and anti-capitalism. IT was also a really reminder of how may countries around the world genuinely experimented with socialism. Though the subjects of the posters were clearly determined by the Party, the artistic techniques are widely varied. Apparently a lot of the artists had studied in other regions of the world, and shared their new leaning with other artists through the posters. The posters depicting Chairman Mao as some sort of god were really interesting too. They gave real meaning to the term “cult of personality.” After the propaganda museum, we went and relaxed at the Garden Hotel’s sky bar on the recommendation of a cute French expat. It’s on the 33 story of the building. While has a great view of a beautiful park, it is not nearly the tallest building in the area. Seriously, the buildings here are crazy. Any building under 100 or so stories is considered just average.

The nightlife scene is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. Everywhere we go, weather it be a small café/bar or a raging nightclub, we meet people from all over the world. Most people my age have come to study language or business. There seem to be lots of masters programs for students in technical fields to study in Shanghai.

So, this is just a random musing. You know when there is a group of people talking about something or another, and a person says, “I would disagree with that,” and then proceeds to disagree, so, in fact, they are actually disagreeing. That person should really just say, “I disagree.” I guess the subjunctive tense makes the person seem less adversarial, but they are disagreeing nonetheless. That’s all.