Shanghai, Shanghai

You might have noticed that Simon and I went dark on the blog during the majority of May.  After such an amazing April, full of travel to rural Hunan province, Tokyo, Thailand, and Laos, we didn’t have any travel planned for May and being in Shanghai didn’t feel quite as manageable as it had when we were away every weekend.  I think being in Shanghai has been a challenge for both Simon and I, but in different ways.

For me, I’ve never liked living in cities.  Shanghai is home to at least 20 million people, no matter how you count it, and we live in the busiest part of the whole city.  We are close to “Xintandi”, which is the most Western upscale tourist area, full of brands you would recognize like Cartier and Burberry and many Western-style restaurants.  But there isn’t a sense of community or “culture” here, whatever that may mean.  And while Shanghai has done a good job of maintaining green space (probably by knocking down people’s homes), it is easy to forget the sky exists when I am surrounded by so many tall buildings.

Not speaking the language is also a bigger challenge than I expected it would be.  It’s weird being surrounded by 20 million other people but feeling isolated and alone because I don’t understand what anyone else is saying.  The street signs have both Chinese and English characters on them, so I can read those and navigate OK, but asking for directions or even saying “excuse me” when I accidentally bump into someone takes additional skill.  I’ve picked up a few phrases such as “hello – ni hao”, “good morning – zao shang hao”, and “see you tomorrow – ming tian jian”, and I get a kick out of saying the slang “zao” (aka “morning”) to people when I get into the office.  And while I expected all of my office conversations – even group lunches – would be 100% in English, that hasn’t been the case.  Depending on the group and the day, the conversations can range from 90% Mandarin to 99% English.  It’s frustrating to be trying to understand and connect and build relationships but not being able to understand.

The view from dinner at a hot pot place.  The waitress is auctioning off the giant, live crab in front of her by yelling through the microphone in Mandarin

As you may remember, Simon was planning on coming to stay in Shanghai during the middle of my rotation but ended up coming at the beginning to help me get settled.  When we got back from Laos, Simon hit his two-month mark and it was clear he needed a chance to recharge and that he should head back to NYC to see his family.  It was really hard saying goodbye two weeks ago, but I knew it was important for him to spend some time in New York and I trusted that I could make Shanghai work by myself.  The past two weeks have been pretty low key.  I get home from work after 7p every day and am in bed reading every night by 10p, so there isn’t that much free time during the week.  During the weekends, I’ve tried to stay busy and meet up with friends for brunch or shopping or go explore a new part of Shanghai.  This week I even went to an a cappella concert put on by a Minnesotan group and it was nice to feel like I was part of a group again.

During one of these excursions, I found my new favorite part of the city.  It’s called the “West Bund” and there is a bike path along the river that is the closest Shanghai can come to the Charles in Boston.  There was a cool contemporary/ancient art museum (thanks Clara for the recommendation) and also an alternative scene.  I found people slack lining and dancing in a drum circle, things I never knew were possible in Shanghai.  It was nice to be along the river, seeing all the dogs and their owners, and get a little bit of fresh air.  It’s kind of a pain to get to from my apartment, but I’ll definitely be back there again soon.

Who knew slack lining had made it to Shanghai?

Partner yoga in the park

A nice walking track along the river

I also found kombucha!  In Boston, Simon and I were making our own kombucha and it is definitely a sign of home for me.  I bought it from an online grocery store built for expats and am so thankful for Lizzie's All Natural!

In the meantime, I’ve been looking forward to another trip.  This one will be different from all the others.  I’m headed to meet my sister in Brisbane, Australia and spend a week touring around the Great Barrier Reef.  Neither of us have ever been to Australia and we’ve also never done a vacation just the two of us (that I can remember) so I am sure it will be a blast.  It will be really great seeing her, and being in a place where I can (mostly) understand what people are talking about around me.  I’m hoping being with family in a more familiar place doing activities I love (snorkeling, hiking, rafting) will help me refresh and come back ready to embrace everything Shanghai has to offer.  And Simon gets back to Shanghai two days after I get back, so I have a lot to look forward to in the next few weeks!