Journey Home. Forgot I had a few pics during my flight home on my camera. Overall, I enjoyed my flight, despite the crying babies and snoring neighbor. Korean Air really has great customer service and food. Even though I was originally booked window seats, they were really gracious in switching me around when I requested at the counter. They also had the best airplane food ever! I had bibimbap for lunch, curried chicken for dinner, and green tea porridge for breakfast. They also had unlimited drinks flowing, from soda to juice to wine. I highly recommend taking using this airline. There was a long line at customs when I arrived at SFO, however, it felt so relieving when the customs guy said “Welcome back to America” to me. I am still fighting a bit of jet lag and nostalgia for China but I really am glad to be back.
See you later, Shanghai
It’s official. I am now sitting in the Pudong Int’l Airport waiting to depart Shanghai. Four months have flown by just like that. When I arrived in August, I was excited to be in China and December seemed so far away. Who knew that in these four short months I would have explored so much of China and made a group of new wonderful friends.
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^ I wrote that whilst waiting to board my flight to Korea and then I forgot to publish it until now. 48 hours and a whole ocean later, I am officially back in California. I celebrated my longest Christmas ever, but still enjoyed finally hanging out with my family after four months.
This is only my second night home, but there are so many things that remind me of China/Shanghai already! My first meal back in California was actually dim sum at Ranch 99 (haha, gotta love Asian mothers), and I felt surprisingly sad when the waitress walked by with a basket of xiaolongbaos. My mom asked me if I wanted some and I said noooo. How can xiaolongbaos here even compare to the ones in Shanghai? I also walked into random stationary stores and wished I splurged a little more on cute stationary in China (but I am thankful for my luggage being underweight on the way home!). These little encounters were like echoes of my life that I led in Shanghai. I am so happy to be home, but I miss Shanghai very miss much—not just the city, but the whole experience itself.
My travel blog will close with this post, but I shall continue to write in my personal blog.
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time travel airplane christmas submission High Quality
Via: Tales of a Phototrotter
Traveling back in time..
Left Guam: Dec. 19
Arrived in L.A: Dec. 19
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Traveling back in time and having the longest Christmas Day ever!
Left Shanghai, China: Dec. 25 @ 11am
Arrived in San Francisco, CA: Dec. 25 @ 9:45am
My inner clock is still whacked out, but I am determined not to sleep my days away, even though I do have a few weeks of winter break left.
Hey, it’s Christmas Eve C:
BUT IT’S CHRISTMAS DAY IN SHANGHAI! =)
I will act as Santa and send myself home for Christmas! The beginning of my 48 hour Christmas has begun.
Merry Christmas to everyone (especially my fellow EAP JPIS Fudan friends), wherever you are in the world <3
Wahwahwah
In hindsight, I should have changed my Advanced Chinese class to p/np and kept Economics of Development as a letter grade cos the final was open computer / open book. -____-“
Oh well, later today I will face my judgment and see what I got in Chinese!
Gonna enjoy my last night in Shanghai while most of my friends are here (yay 202 crew), and then pack pack pack! Really hoping I can squish everything into my luggage or else it’ll be an adventure getting all my stuff to the airport on Saturday.
Christmas, California, and hoooooome…I’m almost back!!
小笼包 Xiaolongbao
It seemed like a genius idea…write about xiaolongbaos (XLBs) for my Shanghai Global City sociology class tour paper. What is more infamous in representing Shanghainese cuisine than the little XLBs? And it seemed so creative because it shall be a tour of DELICIOUSNESS. But knowing myself, I am never productive until super late at night. Therefore scouring reviews on XLB restaurants/eateries online and browsing through bloggers’ pics of XLBs at these odd hours of the day are making me HUNGRY. And I am craving some curry XLBs from the little shop that is next to Fudan East Gate. If only these cafes that I lock myself in would serve up a basket of delicious XLBs instead of underwhelming and expensive pizza, pasta, or sandwiches.
I can’t believe I’m leaving the city of XLBs in six days! :(
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stepping stones baoshan middle school shanghai volunteering teaching
Via: .Travel Diaries
My 8th grade class at Baoshan Middle School.
-They’re so naughty! This is them during break.
-Group picture of our last class meeting.
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Even though they’re a bit crazy and overwhelming, I’ll miss these guys for sure! Perhaps a teaching opportunity will await me in the future.
Snow in Shanghai (back in Jan. 2008)
(via MRP46)
It’s *SNOWINGGGG* in Shanghai!!!
What started as light snowfall has steadily increased over the course of the day. While East Coasters or northern Chinese might scoff at this small amount of snow, the CA girl in me is AMAZED by it. Freezing, but still amazing.
Let it snow, let it snow!!
Yahoo weather did not lie! There is definitely frozen precipitation falling from the sky right now.
It was fun for awhile seeing snowflakes fall as I was walking to class. However, I forgot that snow comes with COLD, and it is FREEZING outside right now. The California girl in me feels like a popsicle.
However, the snow is actually sticking, making rooftops look like they are covered in powdered sugar, so I’m hoping to take go outside and take pics soon. wheee~
Shanghai Weather Forecast: 12/12 - 12/15
Snow showers on Wednesday!?! :O
EDIT: forecast changed again on yahoo to just say “showers”…so I’ll see how the weather gods feel on Wed!
I have no more time!
It’s official. Less than 2 weeks until I place myself on a plane back to California. Despite the pangs of homesickness I’ve had, I know for sure I’ll be wanting to fly right back to China after a week of being back in the States.
What will I miss from this communist country?
- Getting a meal for less than $1 USD
- Street food—my pork pitas, veggie skewers, fried chicken, tofu soup
- 2 hour full body + foot massage for ~$12 USD
- Not paying sales tax
- Not tipping in restaurants
- Uniqlo (if only I lived in NY!)
- Xiaolongbaos—curry, taro, shrimp, honey bbq pork
- Coco milk tea with coffee jelly
- $5 USD manicures with OPI base, color, and top coat
- The ability to bargain whilst shopping
- Seeing a bunch of cats on my walk to class
- 85 Degree bakery (if only I lived in Irvine!)
- Buying hot sweet potatoes / corn on the cob off the street
- Getting gourmet-like sushi rolls for ~$2-3 each
- All-you-can eat Korean BBQ for only $6 USD/person. Eating there for 3 hours.
I feel myself missing these things already. T_T
Fudan Campus.
Fudan Univ. campus is HUGE compared to Berkeley’s campus. In the time it takes for me to get from one side of Berkeley’s campus to the other (~15-20 mins), I can only walk across approx. half of Fudan’s campus. This is a reason why a huge majority of students ride bikes on campus here.
Most of my class time is spent in the most prominent set of buildings on Fudan’s campus—the Guanghua Towers. I don’t know when they were built, but I assume they are fairly new. Guanghua seems pretty new due to its size, air conditioning and heating ability, elevator access, and sitting toilets (I will never take these for granted after being in China for 3+ months).
My favorite area of campus is the lawn in front of the Guanghua Towers. People frequently throw frisbees, play ball, or sit around and read or lounge around on the field. I spent a good hour on the lawn last week reviewing Chinese. I wish I decided to go out on the lawn to read earlier in the semester when it wasn’t so cold outside. You can either lay on the grass or sit in one of the surrounding benches. Most of my classes in Guanghua also have windows that face the lawn, giving me ample opportunities to gaze out the window daydreaming instead of paying attention in class :3. I love this area because it is reminiscent to Memorial Glade that is in front of Doe Library at Berkeley.
And since this IS one of China’s top universities, there would of course be a Mao statue overlooking all passerby near the main entrance gate.
This is just a glimpse of where I attend class in China (when I remember to go!).
#1 China Pet Peeve
SMOKING INDOORS!
Currently sitting in Chartres Cafe where patrons are puffing away on their cancer sticks as they dine on pasta and salad. Yuck yuck yuck. I don’t care if they choose to shave away years off their lives, but I prefer not to inhale their secondhand smoke. The combination of fighting phlegm in my chest due to a cold and breathing in cigarette smoke is not making my lungs happy. >_< This annoying habit of people smoking indoors occurs in cafes, restaurants, clubs, and even my own dorm building here in China. I am excited to go back to the clean, fresh air of California where you can’t smoke within 20 feet of buildings.
/end rant.
Dawn Adventures on The Bund.
Super Sunday ended with us hanging out at The Bund waiting for the sun to rise. It was slightly eerie to walk around with virtually NO cars or people in sight, a rare occurrence in Shanghai. It was empty enough for us to lay down in the crosswalk of a normally busy intersection. There were many old people doing morning exercises at The Bund—tai chi, power walking, even running! I struck up a conversation with an old man, who kept insisting that I should stay in Shanghai and find a Shanghainese boyfriend. According to him, Shanghai is where the best guys are found, haha. Thanks to China smog and pollution, we didn’t quite see the sun “rise.” The sky simply transitioned from being dark to light…similar to my sunrise experience in Huangshan. Nevertheless, it is pretty epic to say that I stayed out all night in Shanghai.
Now that December is finally here, my time in this interesting city is down to its last few weeks. What shall I do next?
