Marking the halfway point
In the hostel, sitting on a bit comfy sofa with my first cup of tea in two months, I realised the time I am spending in Yunnan only shows me a fraction of China and it’s vast culture. In Shanghai, I could have easily been in a different (almost Western) country compared to where I am now…
Having been slightly nervous about the hostel and the words “shared dormitory” I was pleasantly surprised as soon as I got to Le Tour Traveller’ s Rest. When I saw the other volunteers (my friends) playing pool, sitting on the baggy sofas and watching TV in the sitting area, I knew I would be comfortable there despite still not feeling all that well. We had come to Shanghai as a group of twenty three to ‘reunite’ at the half way point in our teaching placements. Seeing everyone was just like being back in Kunming and it was great to hear stories from everyone else’s schools.
The first night was slightly disruptive… as there was an odd number of volunteers we couldn’t all have a dorm sharing with each other. As my and my room mate here arrived last we decided we would just dump our bags in the last room and sleep. I don’t know why I thought we would have the luxury of a room with three bunk beds in all to ourselves. I was first woken by an abrupt American moving my things in order to get to a locker; she was closely followed by an Israeli man trying to climb into a top bunk in the dark. The last to arrive was a Canadian man trying to unpack while, leaving, and then returning from the shower at 2am. Around this time I decided to move my things, duvet and pillow included, into my friend Emily’s room. I squeezed myself onto half a bed on the top bunk to the sound of two other volunteers who I think had just about had enough of each other. This will seem funny in the morning, I thought.
And luckily it was, I started the day feeling refreshed and ready to explore Shanghai. I even recruited my friend Dale to move my things back into the shared dorm, and upon seeing how it was considerably cleaner and there was no essence of that “people squashed into a room” smell he moved in with me for moral support. (For those of you who know me, choosing a room shared with strangers but having my own space and bed had to beat sharing with my friends who had literally thrown their clothes every where.) This time, we were greeted by two friendly French men who had also just arrived in Shanghai to work at a French company in the city. They were very chatty and even knocked on the door before letting themselves in.
That day, we went to the Shanghai Expo Centre to look at lots of cars. I must say, when China does something it does it very well and even if you aren’t interested in cars it was really something to see. Every 20 minutes music starts to play and models and reps start the cheesiest performance I have ever seen, but there was something great about it.
The next I went in search of something other than Chinese medicine, but instead I ended up in the most expensive shopping district in Shanghai with my friend Billy. Only in China would two foreign travellers be able to walk into Gucci and try on as many sunglasses as we liked, without a shop assistant losing patience. We then went to the French Concession; streets full of coffee shops, boutiques and restaurants and here I really felt I could be anywhere in Europe. This is what surprised me the most about Shanghai; the streets are very pretty and clean and not as built up or industrial as I expected.
The next morning I started the day with toast and jam and a cup of tea, I could even watch the BBC news and thought it probably wouldn’t be too much of a culture shock for a Westener to live in Shanghai. As it was the last day, it was time for shopping! We found the four floor wholesale market (fake products) and managed to barter in Chinese. That night we all said goodbye and it was odd to think think that this would be the last time we were together as a group, after starting the whole journey together.
My overall view of Shanghai is that it is a city everyone should see. It was amazing and exciting to see how far China is moving forward and it makes me wonder if or when this will begin to spread to the type of town and city I live in. The people in Shanghai were so different to what I am used to, but I loved the buzz of the city mixed with the quiet side streets. I wonder if I lived there, how long the novelty of seeing cheese, pasta sauces, salad and fajitas would last!
I’m now back at school with a few days off while students have mid term exams. It’s been two months already and I now have seven weeks to go!
