Zhouzhuang Day Trip

Every now and then it is necessary to vacate the noisy, polluted environment of Shanghai (上海). Yesterday, despite the cold, cloudy, and damp day, we travelled to the nearby town of Zhouzhuang. With over 900 years of history, this town epitomizes the Chinese the canal town, with waterways weaving through and defining the town, and Buddhist temples displaying hundreds of years of religious tradition. To my surprise, about 60% of the houses were built during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, 1368-1644 and 1644-1911, respectively. Selling art, assorted candies, "pearl" necklaces, hair brushes, and Maoist memorabilia, the variety of goods sold paralleled the racial diversity of Utah.

When you see one temple or Qing dynasty home, you see them all. So, that part of the trip was a little boring because I've already been exposed to those in Suzhou and Hangzhou. However, it was good to walk about the and experience a Chinese canal town.

The Karaoke Experience

Chinese people love karaoke, or KTV as it is called here, and I felt like it was time to hit the mic again, so I arranged a group of people this past weekend to go singing. We had a great mix of Westerners and Chinese people, 21 in all, and we went to "Party World," which felt more like a luxury hotel with the marble floors and columns.

After filing into the room, we went into the buffet area for food and drinks to have before our version Chinese-Expat Idol commenced. My Chinese friends and students kicked-off the night with a number of contemporary and traditional songs. Unlike my Western friends and me who should have handed out ear plugs, my Chinese friends could all sing well. What happens is that one person stands and sings while everyone else is quiet and basically admires how well that person sings--and rightfully so because they have great voices. Once the song is complete, everyone claps and then its the next persons turn.

Westerners, as my Chinese friend commented, experience KTV a little differently. For us, it's about singing together and making it a group activity with singing and dancing. During one of the numerous Backstreet Boys songs we regrettably sang (OK, I enjoyed it), we all tried huddling around the 2 mics to join in the harmony.

A little later, I thought it was time to put my Chinese to the test, so I got two of my Chinese friends to sing a Chinese song with me that I had been practicing for the past week.

After 4 hours, 5 cases of beer, and too many BSB songs later, it was time to head home 回家. The interesting thing about that night was witnessing how each culture experienced KTV and how we express ourselves in various ways. My vocal chords were shot the next day, but I had a great time with my friends bonding over ballads such as Sweet Home Alabama.

Inspiration

We all have times of doubt and despair, but things should always be kept in perspective. 

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.