And the fireworks continue...

Last night seemed to be a futile attempt to speak with my mother over Skype. No, there were no technical problems; there was a small fireworks display outside my apartment. No, actually, Shanghai was lighting up once again with fireworks. The whole city skyline was covered with flashes and bangs. I couldn't even hear my mom through the computer without headphones and I had to turn the volume up on the TV to hear the movie--it was ridiculous.

Chinese New Year's Eve

War zone. Last night was the closest thing to what I can imagine a war zone sounding like. Although they were sporadically being set off throughout the day, the firework frequency really picked up around 6:30. Because I was having friends over to celebrate Chinese New Year, I had to walk to a nearby restaurant to pick up food. Every street that I walked on had people setting off fireworks. You could really feel the festive spirit when walking into the local fruit store, for example.

As the night worked it's way towards midnight, the war zone started heating up. The flashes and bangs outside became so loud that our conversation at the dinner table was interrupted, so we went upstairs to the room that had a great panoramic view. For about 30 minutes, our eyes were glued to the window as the Shanghai skyline lighted up with fireworks. I've never seen anything like it--4th of July celebrations can't hold a firework to how the Chinese celebrate New Year. The moment was truly amazing to witness!

Now, one would think the city's firework supplies would be thoroughly depleted after the display we saw at midnight, yet people continued to set them off all morning. Seriously, I awoke at 7 am to the sound of fireworks going off. Throughout the day on Monday, you could hear fireworks and firecrackers randomly going off, and this is supposed to continue all week! The story behind the celebrations is basically that the smoke and loud noise is supposed to scare away evil spirits. So, people, especially businesses, will use lots of fireworks so that they will have good luck in the new year.

Chinese New Year Celebrations

This Thursday I had the honor of joining my friend's family for dinner to celebrate Chinese New Year, which based on the Lunar calendar. After sitting down at the table, the family started to file into the room that had two, large, circular tables. Aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, cousins, grandparents, and parents (20 in all) gathered together today for the Chinese equivalent of Christmas. Initially, the tables were segregated by generations. Almost all of the men and elders sat at a table, while the women and children sat at another table (I was at this one).

We began dinner with cold dishes, then moved onto the hot dishes. The room was filled with babies crying, mothers soothing them, and family members talking. Surprisingly, there were three people who spoke quite good English, of which one was an elder uncle who wanted to talk with me about politics and business. It could have been because of the baijo he drank, but he was quite emphatic and passionate when describing his opinion on the Chinese political system. After our discussion, he pulled me over to the elders table because he wanted me to opine about Obama becoming President, which made for interesting conversation.

I feel lucky to be invited to join my friend's family for dinner on such a family occasion, and it was great to experience how they celebrate their most important national holiday.

Praying at a Buddhist Temple before dinner.

Out with Friends (a.k.a. expat family)

One of my favorite things to do is organizing groups to meet for drinks and socializing. Over the past 7 months, meeting with friends at a bar on a Friday or Saturday night has led to some of the most interesting conversations, and it has been a good way to bond with the other expats who usually come out for drinks. We've gone dancing together, had Thanksgiving dinner, and consumed copious amounts of inebriating substances. Sometimes we share in the occasional miseries of living abroad in China, while sometimes we have in-depth conversations about politics and business. Most fascinating, however, has been to witness the networking effect. One friend will bring another friend, who brings another friend to the next meet up, and the effect continues to compound. The relationships between expats, moreover, seem to be catalyzed by our shared expat status. Of the many shared experiences and emotions we expats have, one of the most common threads is the sense of uncertainty and unpredictability about our futures, in terms of careers, relationships, homes, etc. All in all, these meet-ups over the previous months have been truly fulfilling to me and I am glad that "the group" continues to grow in size and in the strength of friendships.

Spring Festival Concert & Random Factoids

Spring Festival Concert

Today I was lucky to receive a random invite to a concert in Shanghai's premier concert hall and auditorium to see a government-sponsored concert celebrating foreign experts in China (of which I am oddly enough considered as an English teacher). It was a variety show for the performing arts, with performances from a classical orchestra, dancers, acrobats, a pop singer, opera singers, a Peking opera group,  and many others. Aside from the astounding acrobatic performance, in particular, I simply liked getting the exposure to the various traditional forms of music and dance.

Random Factoids

-University students are uber-controlled and treated like children: When nighttime rolls around on campus, uni students must be in their dorms (around 11 PM) or else they'll find themselves sleeping outside for the night. At some universities, they even take roll of the dorm residents and shut off the electricity to force the students to stay inside and sleep.

-Trash on the streets: Whether it is a taxi driver, a child, or a random pedestrian, people tend to litter here and the streets show it.

-Marriage traditions: I'll preface this by saying that traditions vary by city and province, but I learned the other day about a marriage tradition here in China. On the night before a wedding, the bride and groom each sleep at their respective parents homes. When wedding day arrives, the husband-to-be drives over to the bride's parents' home. He knocks on the door, waits a while, then must knock again until a child (usually) opens the door, after which the groom must pay money to the little extortionist before allowing him to pass. Then the bride and groom eat together at the table, before heading to the hotel for the wedding party (there usually aren't Christian-style wedding ceremonies), and at the party, friends bring red envelopes stuffed with money to help pay for the wedding costs and buy things for their new home.

Suzhou Day Trip

It may come as a surprise considering that I've been in China for almost 7 months, but today was the second time that I have ventured outside of Shanghai to see the country. Today's jaunt took us to the nearby city of Suzhou (Jiangsu province), which has about 2.7 million people. One of the things Suzhou is famous for is "The Humble Administrator's Garden," which epitomizes a Southern Chinese Garden. The garden is huge, with bridges connecting little houses that were built throughout the pond area, and we walked around the paths seeing various rock art and garden designs. Afterwards, Alison and I went into the city where the main shopping street is so that we could sample local food, see temples, and pay a visit to the local KFC for coffee.

To end our day trip, we took at taxi over to Tiger Hill to see the water canals and the Pagoda. This was my favorite part of the excursion to Suzhou. Making our way to the hilltop, we wandered the multitude of pathways that led to ancient tea houses,  courtyards, and huts overlooking the valley below. Upon reaching the summit of Tiger Hill (as if it was a grueling hike), the "Leaning Tower of Tiger Hill" awaited us in all its Buddhist-Pagoda glory.

Taking a day to travel to another nearby city was well worth the time and 200 RMB. On the short train ride over there, additionally, I learned more about Chinese culture from Alison--my co-worker （同事）, Chinese teacher, tour-guide extraordinaire, and friend （朋友）。It was a great time and I look forward to taking my longer trips throughout China this March and April.