Getting Acclimated

I'm up at the crack of dawn...6:30...guess I'm not really used to this new time zone 12 hours different from before. I'm thinking about what is on the agenda for today. Our first stop is going to be the Police Station to register with them and then a visit to Fudan University to check out where Rebecca studied last fall...As I wait for Rebecca to get ready I look out the window and see a couple of women doing their morning exercises on the lawn. We left the apartment later in the morning and went back to the bustling area on Feihong Road to pick up breakfast. We passed hundreds of cyclists, walkers,mopeds, scooters, motorcycles, cars, buses and taxis as well as what looks like motorized rickshaws. This section of town comes alive early. It is practically humming with activity and despite the rainy morning, people are out and about. Construction is going on everywhere around us and you see scaffolding made of bamboo going up story after story...yes bamboo! Brakes squealing, cars honking, jack hammers and the sounds of cicadas make up the percussion section as the city symphony comes to life. We check out several food stalls and Rebecca decides on a Shandong jianmian, a flat crepe like looking dish cooked over a 12 in diameter circular cast iron griddle fueled by a coal fired grill. As it cooks our vendor scrambles an eggs on top of it adds cilantro and scallions and hoisin sauce. Once it is cooked she rolls it up, but not before adding some fried noodle to give it some crunch. We also pick up veggie filled baozi (bow tsuh) translated "little bags" which are steamed white bread rolls filled with chopped greens and spices cooked in large bamboo steamers. We grab some warm soy milk drinks and head back to the lobby of our building to eat our less than a dollar (about 75 cents acutually( breakfast out of the rain before heading out again. First stop is a little shop about as big as a bathroom to have our passports and visas copied then off to the police station to register were we are living. Rebecca does this too as she has just moved. If we were staying in a hotel, they wold have taken care of this, but since we are in an apartment, it is up to us to figure that out. As we enter the stations 2 men who are just hanging out in the lobby and chatting announces in Chinese, "look foreigners" and so my cheeky daughter turns around and responds in Chinese, "And you are Chinese" giggling as she says it. A cute exchange ensues as they seem to be delighted that she is able to manage the language. Shortly thereafter, we get our turn at the window, forms are filled out, passports and visas are copied, and in short shrift, we are handed our temporary resident permits and are good to go. It's now raining really hard and umbrellas of every hue bob up and down as their custodians make their way about the city. Even those on bicycles and scooters get into the act managing to multitask pedaling while holding their umbrellas upright. More power to them...I usually cannot even manage one of those tasks without falling down. We detour through a plant and flower nursery along the way. The rains make for lush vegetation and I see plants that are unusual and exotic to my Maine eyes. Also there are live crickets in little bamboo cages for sale as well as birds of all sizes and breeds and small dogs and bunnies. The birds chirp away and the crickets hum, the rains fall as we wind through the narrow sidewalks. Then it's off to the subway...one transfer and it's a short walk to the university. Rebecca did not have the luxury of this subway stop when she was here in the fall. The stop has been added since then, a mere 7 months and she's frustrated that it was not here when she was. Of course a lot of construction must have been expedited because the World Expo is here now and it was an incentive to get things done. As we are waiting, I read the signs. They are in both Chinese (Mandarin) and English....among other admonitions are "no explosives, no littering and no spitting". Rebecca laughs because with the exception of the explosives, inhabitants here are prone to disregard the others. Despite this, the city is pretty clean as there are legions of people hired to sweep the streets and tidy up after others. We get to our stop and walk about a 1/4 mile to the university. Here the boulevards are wide and not quite as congested and crossing the street requires athletic skill as there is little regard for the "walk signal". En route, Rebecca points out the hotel where she lived as we browse through this shopping area close to the school. We manage to buy several dvds and check out a fresh market filled with stall after stall of fresh fruits and vegetables as well as meat, chicken and items from the sea...a feast for the eyes and for this foodie, great entertainment...foot long Chinese green beans and exotic produce that I've never even seen before. We try to find the stall that Rebecca frequented while student there run by two sisters that she really liked, but it seems that they've moved...she's disappointed, so we keep walking. Up ahead of us is another cluster of makeshift "kitchens" and the 2nd or 3rd one in, she realizes that it is their stall. When they see each other, the reaction is the same on both sides; they all giggle and exchange hearty greetings. Rebecca introduces me and as they are chatting orders lunch for us. It is a veritable Chinese Subway sandwich shop; except that it is a stir fry station with all the ingredients precut so that you point to what you want and they prepare it to order. In about 3 minutes you are handed a bowl of steaming vegetables and meat with rice or noodles if you want again for about 3/4 of a dollar. We really should carry our own dishes because you are given your food in all of these stalls in styrofoam or plastic bags or both. Well that's another conversation...We walk over to the university to find a dry place to sit and eat. Fudan University is massive. There are over 50,00 students there and the focal point of the campus is a massive edifice with large columns and wide stone steps overlooking beautifully manicured grounds and landscaped gardens. I have to take a quick pit stop and thank goodness I brought my own toilet paper...next we procure a sim card for the phone Rebecca procured for me. She balks when the vendor quotes her a $10 price tag and starts to walk away before he relents, they bargain, and she pays $8 instead. Of course the next customer is Chinese and gets it for $7...Then we hit the stationery store for supplies and Rebecca sends me on my way. She has a lecture to attend and I have instructions to get to the subway home. En route I only am unsure once as I'n not positive which side of the tracks to wait on, but with the assistance of kind lady and hand signals, I figure it out. Rebecca texts me 2 times...I think that I make her nervous...good preparation for if she ever has kids of her own...I plan on taking a rest when I get back and imagine my surprise when I am awakened by Rebecca nearly 3 hours later at 6 p.m. to let me know that she is on her way home. I freshened up and chatted with Kevin and Pierre while I waited for Rebecca's return. They're both interesting fellows. Pierre is working for a start-up company while Kevin is taking a gap years trying to intern before he resumes his studies for his last year. Rebecca arrives a little later armed with the Chines equivalent of a roast beef poboy without the lettuce, tomato and mayo on a toasted pita like bread...delish...okay, okay...so i'll start my diet tomorrow...Pierre heads out to dinner and the rest of the evening is spent (despite Kevin's offer to come out with him) reading relaxing, and watching the KIte Runner. I stayed up late until about 1:30. I'm on day three...Wenesday, the 14th and I'm up early. I'll finish this up before Rebecca wakes up and then we'll see what is in store for us. I know it will be interesting..

So I made it! It was a long day! After staying up until 1 am the night before my trip...last minute details like baking cookies to take to Rebecca, we woke up at 3:30 to get to my 6 am flight. A quick shower and out the door. Thank you Joanne for my new haircut. It's pretty easy to get ready now. John, God love him, drove me to Bangor and I must admit we both got a little misty eyed when I went through security, but there was no turning back. The flights were fine except for one glitch. On the first flight, the flight was full and the flight attendant was trying to get everyone on and settled so that we could leave. I was in the front row and had to put my bag in the overhead compartment, but the flight attendant took it and stowed it for me. Unbeknownst to me, she had to remove several things to get it to fit. So when I left the plane at Laguardia I got my bad down and saw that my containers of cookies ad been taken out, but, as I am a bit vertically challenged, didn't not see that she had also taken out Rebecca's old laptop that she had given me. I didn't realize it until I was about an hour before getting ready to get on the Detroit to Shanghai leg of my journey. Needless to say a flurry of calls and running from counter to counter ensued as well as getting John involved, but so far without much help from Delta or Pinnacle airlines. As inauspicious a beginning as that was, the rest of the traveling was pretty uneventful and long. International travel is a bit nicer than domestic as they serve you drinks for free ( John would be so proud; I got a Corona.) and there are tons of games/movies/stuff to entertain you. Still, it's hard to sleep and while I dozed off and on, it was not entirely restful. If you count the drive to the airport from Monson, the whole trip took 26 hours. I arrived an hour early Shanghai's Pudong Airport, a huge modern sprawling complex...very clean, neat, and efficient. My luggage made it and I went to see about getting money at an atm. While in line I was waiting behind another waiguoren (pronounced why gwa ren) meaning foreigner, obviously an American businessman, and I asked if he would be so kind as to let me use his phone to call my daughter. (Like Blanche Dubois, this Southern Belle needed to rely on the kindness of strangers.) He was very kind and let me call Rebecca to let her know that I had gotten in an hour early. She was already en route and told me to wait for her after I when through immigration. Immigration was easy except for the part where I had to fill in the address of where I would be staying...oops, I didn't know Rebecca's address, but I fortunately had had the presence of mind to say that she had just moved and so all I had was her telephone number. That seemed to be good enough and I sailed through to wait for Rivvie's arrival. The reception area was teeming with people coming to meet flights and those arriving. The sheer number of people going through was amazing, and this Monsonite was fascinated by the variety in appearances. Rivvie arrived shortly after and we headed out to the subway with all of my gear. My clever and organized daughter had already gotten me a transportation pass and met me with a goody bag with essentials...umbrella, map, Shanghai guide book, wet wipes and, most importantly, toilet paper to carry in my purse for public bathrooms. the subway ride was unevernful...2 changes...about an hour ride on the cleanest and most efficient subway I've ever been on and we arrive at Linping station with Rebecca's admonition to familiarize myself with names, landmarks, signs etc. Her apartment is on the 30th floor of a cluster of high rise buildings called "Rainbow City". It's on the corner of LInping Road and Ruihong Road (pronounced Rayhong). We're in building number 6, apartment 3001. I say this because I'm trying to learn these things to be able to find my way back when I go out. It's a fabulous apartment...3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths living/dining combination and kitchen as well as a washing machine and balcony and 2 French roommates, Pierre and Kevin. We unpack and I give Rebecca the suitcase full of requested items items that I brought her...peanut butter, maple syrup, nutella, spices, olive oil and balsamic vinegar as well as other things that are expensive here. We call John to leave a message about my arrival safe and sound and head out to grab dinner. It was about 8:30 or so and the streets near here were teaming with activity. Street vendors abound as well as small shops with everything from fresh produce to car repairs crowded together getting use out of every square inch of space. Prepared food vendors making fried dough or skewered meats and vegetables and stir fry are marketing their wares by the pungent smells that waft our way and tease our appreciative nostrils. There is a cacophony of sounds from the little motorized rickshaws to scooter to bicycles and mopeds, cars and busses. The use of horns is prevalent and just let's say that just because you have a green light at a crosswalk...yeah watch out. It is HUMID and hot. The buildings are crammed together and there is a pace to this area that I just love. We stroll past shops with plumbing fixtures, dry cleaners, ironing shops and even pass the ubiquitous MacDonald's, a KFC and a Dairy Queen as well as a Century 21 office. People are out funning errands, walking their dogs, lots of little dogs, or just out getting fresh, I use the term loosely, air. Rebecca takes me to a little hole in the wall where they make La Mian ( pronounced la mee en) noodle soup. The place is run by immigrants from Xin Jiang (Sheen Jang), one of the most western provinces in China. They are Chinese Muslims and their dress reflects that with their special head coverings. They are very friendly and fascinated with us as we are of them. The noodles are made in from of us and I take photos of the process. The dough is kneaded in from of us. It's an elastic wheat noodle dough and the long spaghetti strands are made by pulling and twisting the dough over and over until it becomes thinner and thinner. Then they are paced in a vat of broth and cooked for several minutes with whatever you want in it. We have beef and cilantro. Soon we are rewarded with steaming bowls of delicious soup and chopsticks. While we eat, Rebecca chatters away in Chinese, pausing only to translate for me, and they take some photos and videos of us eating. We are after all a novelty. We eat until we're so full and Rebecca pays 10 kuai, a/k/a yuan about 75 cents apiece for out meals and we stroll back to the apartment picking up fresh lychees and watermelon along the route. It's pretty cool to see Rebecca chatting with these street vendors. They are always surprised to realize that she can speak their language. She downplays this, but I too am impressed. They get a kick out of speaking with this blonde "lao wai" or "waiguoren" the Chinese version of Maine's "from away". On the way back I try to absorb every detail from the laundry lines strung in front of shops and building displaying your skivvies for all to see to the bricked sidewalks and interesting people, but my brain is exploding with stimulus. We close the evening with a visit from Rebecca's friends from Ireland who are leaving shortly to go back home after a year's study in Shanghai, Niamh (neeve) and Ciara (keera). Of course I can't help regaling them with stories of my daughter while she shoots me dirty looks, but we plan to meet them on Wednesday as it will be "Ladies Night " at a favorite watering hole of theirs. When we finally go to bed, its past one and I've been up forever, but what a great start to my adventure...more to follow.