East China Normal University... one day

For those of you who do not think I go to school, 

here is a normal day at ECNU....

I wake up and look out my window, today was a beautiful day in Shanghai, we had BLUE SKY!!!

I get on my bike and ride to school, it takes about 15 minutes to get there, once inside the campus there are streams such as this picture below

the Chinese students hang their sheets and blankets to dry outside

this is where I take my classes each day

after class I get back on my bike, that is,

 if I can actually find it...

I ride by Mao and say hello! (thats right we have a larger than life Mao statue dead smack in the center of campus, hurray for communism, just kidding)

My friends and I play a game. See how many Chinese students we can hit, again I'm JUST KIDDING, but seriously riding a bike in China is like playing a real life frogger game.

Almost everyday my friends and I eat lunch at the "back gate" at one of our favorite restaurants. 

All this food cost Helena and I $3.00 today. Below is a plate with a sweet corn thing, it's kind of  hard to explain. It's pretty good, but I would like it much better if they didn't have to squirt mayo all over it.

The Usual Suspects....

I thought a brief introduction to some of the people I spend my time with was in order...

Dalton aka Dalty, Pierre, Amanda, my watch

The two j's: Jake and Jon, among other 

things they enjoy serenading me

Chris (far right) loves cooking and striped clothes.

Amanda my roommate and partner in crime (center). Although, I only just met her in Shanghai she is in studio art with me too.

You may wonder why I have a smirk on my face, these two kids help me get around the city (they speak chinese). (Left) Helena, my other roommie who enjoys taking pictures of every dish we are served when at restaurants and raps snoop dogg lyrics with me. It also helps that we've been friends since freshmen year and are both in studio art together. (Right) Dalton

California Love

The awesome girl waving, is Carla, the first person who talked to me when arriving in Shanghai, to the right is Darcy, this is her second semester in China, she's in studio art with me. Oh yeah, and they are both from Cali, probably... why we get along so well.

Food of the Day

One of my favorite things about living in Shanghai is the food. It is so different from what we "americans" are use to, but that's the best part... never knowing what your ordering, the unique flavors, and lack of chocolate. Which leads me to what this post is about, when I have a chance I'm going to highlight a different food I think is worth sharing with everyone. 

Today.... the wonderful GLUTINOUS RICE BALL! I know what your thinking Mom... is that chocolate oozing out!!!? I'm sorry to say that its the furthest thing from chocolate, in fact its Red Bean, which is about the closest thing you'll find to a sweet dessert here in China. 

 

Mom I'm sorry, but I love these things! I usually only order them in restaurants... each rice ball being unique, filled with different things, and coated with different seeds or nuts. So during my trip to the market today I noticed they were selling them in the bakery, a HUGE one, the size of a baseball! I was pretty excited... and the other great thing, it cost me 21 cents.

Mom here is more info and the recipe on how to make them, I would be okay with you starting to practice making them so by the time I get back they will be as good as your bread pudding.(Lynda can help too)

http://chinesefood.about.com/od/desserts/r/sesameseedballs.htm

Yu Garden... Oh Rats

During orientation one of the class tours was to Yu Garden, Shanghai's famous traditional Chinese garden, located with in the urban Shanghai high city scape,once inside the walls of the garden, you forget your in a rapidly changing urban city.  

this picture is for you Dad, notice the large rat in the background? no not me, the one behind me! I thought you would enjoy it.
Outside the walls of the garden are many shops and restaurants, filled at the time of my visit with various decorations for the year of the rat.

A Bit of Home

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Shanghai Hongkong United

Its a Wednesday night, yes I know I should be studying my Chinese, but who can resist going to a futbol game when your home team and a brit named Beckham are playing? I had no other option... 

Since I am a complete and utter dork I made a sign out of my shopping bag, simple yet straight forward, it got the job done.

We froze, but it was well worth it, its not everyday you get to watch Beckham not really bend it, more like Carlos Ruiz who had a hat trick for the Galaxy.

I was the only true fan in my group, leaving me with the other ex-pats screaming and attempting to do the wave amongst a sea of Chinese fans, I kept yelling "cross it" and the chinese men behind me kept mocking me in their best attempts at speaking english.... brother you would have been proud.

Treasure to Trash

This week in my projects course, my teacher JJ took us on a trip to the "old traditional living spaces" in Shanghai, only a few families are living in this area, apparently they can live there up until the day the government tears them down. So the few families live amongst the rubble and trash left, which will soon be cleared for the new, ugly, giant, apartment complexes that are springing up everywhere.

In the U.S. we would consider these old buildings landmarks (think old town orange) yet here most people consider them ugly and unpractical. Soon, they will be gone, I'm glad I was able to see some of them before they are all destroyed.

THE ADVENTURES OF MAYO BABY

Recently my roommate bought a Japanese mayonnaise brand called Kewpie, granted I am not a mayo enthusiast the mayo itself I have yet to taste, but I have become obsessed with the little "kewpie baby" you receive when buying a bottle.

so as a result, I am documenting the on-going adventures of mayo baby, stay tuned...

For more info about Kewpie visit: 

http://www.kewpie.co.jp/english/mayonnaise.html

My New Family

Finally, after a week of silly lectures that were attempts at helping each of us adjust to life abroad, we were given a choice of activities to go on... shopping, a massage, see a movie, karaoke, etc... a few of us brave souls opted for the "family dinner". I think the pictures speak for themselves... it was awesome!

before we had dinner, we went through a local and traditional Chinese market... it has taken some getting used to, but now I find them really interesting,

 you never know what your going to see

the lady... is the one who invited us into her home, the child, I'm not sure who's child it was.... but I let someone else hold him... for reasons I think are quite clear...

who could possibly not be starving after all the great things we just experienced (I mean how cute is it that diapers are not really necessary), we all helped make the dumplings... some ate them, others stuck to the fruit and veggies

after dinner, some music, games, and cigarettes were in order, most popular game in china is mah jong, I did not win, but dont worry (Nana, Damien, Yuta, and Ashlyn) im going to be ready to teach and beat you when I get back

Here we all are, my new family