I went to my first mall as well in Shanghai on Saturday. The malls here are ridiculous; they are huge and have almost every store imaginable. To get to the mall I took my first subway in China. This was an experience, but it is a great way to get around the city. At first I was very confused on how the system worked but now I know it pretty well.
At the mall i brought my sim card for my phone, it is costing me $8 dollars for about 2 months of phone use! The name of the electronic star was Yolo its kind of like a best buy, but really crowded and there are about 4 million people that work in this store (over exaggerated but you get the point). Then at night we went to this international club which was a lot of fun!
On Sunday we went shopping in the Bun which is the New shanghai. This mall is even bigger than the other one!
On Monday we had our first of three Chinese intensive classes. We studied Mandarin for four hours. I learned to count up to 1000 and basic bargaining sayings. Learning the language at first took me on a roller coaster, I had words I could get and others that I could not say for the life of me. But after just 4 hours I feel (much) more comfortable than I did before. We received 10 Yuan which is around 1.50 in US Dollars and we were sent out to test what we had learned. I was capable of saying "that is too expensive" and "how much money for this". I could also say the amount of money of course.I brought two hand painted paintings with the money I brought it down from 100 Yuan to 10, I am getting the hang of it!
I also had my first massage on Monday night for about 7 US dollars, thats a FULL BODY MASSAGE for SEVEN US DOLLARS, so cheap! It was a good massage too, even though I could not really communicate with the workers which made it interesting.
On Tuesday we learned how to order food and such. We went out to a food market to practice. But instead of practicing I went and brought things from a nearby market I got shoes and belts!
Today, Tuesday, we learned about Transportation and how to communicate to taxi drivers. We are going on a scavenger hunt this afternoon to practice our Chinese.
Today I also booked my first trip! I am traveling to Yangshuo. It is in the country side and its very beautiful! Google search images for yangshuo and you can see where I will be going!
One thing that is interesting is that I am a student at Fudan University here in Shanghai and everyone in Shanghai knows the university. When I tell them I go there they are very impressed, what they do not know is that I did not even apply there, but I do go there. The university has a partnership with Pepperdine. I have my first class there this Thursday. Fudan is the Harvard or Yale of the US.
Ill try to post pictures soon.
-peace
1 comment:
Hi Bobby,
I can tell you are having the time of your life digging into a whole new culture. It is great that PU provides such a thorough orientation. After only 4 hours of training I know I could not handle myself at a restaurant or at a store. Man, I'd get a massage every week for $7! Keep these blogs comin because we love'em.
xxxo Mom
PS So what kind of soda are you drinking at these bars? hmmmmm.....Always a mom!!!
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