China

We set out this afternoon to visit the Urban Planning Museum. A taxi to the metro and 15 minutes later we were trying to figure out which of the 12 different exits from People’s Square station would get us closest to the museum. Exit number two looked like the best bet, but we couldn’t figure out where it was so we took number six instead. Emerging from the air conditioned station and into daylight and humidity we did the tourist turnabout that screams “where the hell am I”, guessed a direction and started off across the plaza.

A few steps later and we were hailed down in English by a young Chinese couple sitting in the shade. Getting attention as a foreigner is nothing new. Around our apartment we get smiles and a ni hao (hello). Out and about we are often followed with blank, unapologetic stares. Near the metro stations we are often approached to buy watches or other contraband being hawked in the local markets or by street vendors – though such instances less frequent than say Cusco, Peru where one might be trailed across the Plaza de Armas by a half dozen small children imploring you to buy their post cards.

But these two seemed different. For one, their English was much better than the average street vendor who learns the few phrases needed to make a sale, but ask him what time it is and you would be out of luck. They had clearly had many years of English and learned from native speakers. As with many Chinese studying English, they had taken on English names. Yesterday it was James (after LeBron James) and Elephant (I didn’t get a chance to ask about that one). Today it was Cathy and Stephen.

Both were chatty and interested in our activities and background. They claimed to be taking a break from sight seeing but on their way to a see a traditional tea ceremony near the square. That sounded more interesting to me than the museum so I was quick to accept their invitation to join them.

Cathy took Stacy under her sun umbrella exhorting us for not having one of our own to keep Stacy's skin white and beautiful. Stephen seemed to know more about NBA basketball than me. He knew all of Houston Rocket players (Yao Ming's teammates) and how Kobe will likely be traded from the Lakers. Supposedly in China, LeBron James is called the little emperor because he is small but powerful.

Shortly we arrived at the tea ceremony...or... restaurant. Like most Chinese restaurants there were a gaggle of servers near the entrance, but few patrons. We were guided to a small room with six chairs around three sides of a table. Stacy and I sat across from the hostess serving the tea. Cathy and Stephen sat on the end and translated for us. Six different teas were lined up in front of us in small glass jars. We sampled the first four.

The first was a ginseng tea. The dry tea leaves were wonderfully fragrant. The hostess brewed a small batch, filled five tiny cups – not much taller or wider than a quarter – and proceeded to empty the cups over a small frog like statue on the tray. The first batch of every tea sample was sacrificed to the tea god for luck. Upon closer inspection the tea god was not a frog but a three legged beast – two in the front and one protruding from the back like a tail – with a coin in its mouth and two rows of coins on its back. The second round was for us. Each of us had a small wooden tray on the table in front of us. Once the tea was poured the hostess used tongs to place a cup on each of our trays.

Together the five of us savored our first cup. We were given specific instructions on how to hold the cup. Thumb and index finger grip the cup, and the middle finger supports the bottom of the cup. Women straighten their ring finger and pinky in a display of elegance. Men clinch the same fingers in a partial fist as a show of strength. The tea is first smelled, like a glass of wine and then consumed in three sips.

The ginseng tea had a smooth full flavor with a subtle sweet aftertaste that lingered beneath the sides of my tongue. We were given a second cup before moving on to tea number two.

This time the tea was served with two cups. One similar to the first round and the other a taller and narrower version. The teas was first poured into the tall cup with the shorter cup placed on top. The hostess indicated that one represented heaven and the other earth. She turned heaven and earth upside down a few times and then placed the tea in front of us with the tall cup upside down in the short cup. We were then instructed to hold the empty tall cup up to our eyes and roll it along out temple. The tea warmed cup, among other things, is supposed to help alleviate wrinkles around the eyes.

The second tea, jasmine, had a more delicate flavor than the ginseng, but was equally delightful.

The third round was served in clear cups to showcase the rich color of a fruit infused tea. I did not catch the nature of the tea leaves used, but it appeared that there were small chunks of fruit amongst the leaves. No need to add sugar to this tea – it is a treat by itself.

Finally the hostess served us green tea. I must admit, green tea has never been my favorite. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised. While there was still the subtle bitterness that is distinctive of green teas, that aspect did not linger beyond the swallow. The gentle flavor made me look forward to the second cup and gave me new faith in the merit of green teas.

Not surprisingly, the tasting ceremony ended with an offer to purchase more the teas we had sampled. Stacy and I came away with two canisters, as did Cathy and Stephen. The bill was not pretty, but the experience felt the most authentically Chinese of any of my adventures so far.

Cathy and Stephen walked us back to People’s Square. They had been to the Urban Planning Museum earlier in the day and were not interested in a return trip. We swapped email addresses and I snapped a picture. Then we went our separate ways.

Hello everyone! I am excited to write today with four days of classes under my belt and excited to put off homework for a little longer

My commute has proven to be a great time to observe Shanghai. It is at least an hour but includes a 20 minute walk each way through the enchanting Zhongshan Park in the middle of Shanghai. It’s delicately manicured with a multitude of winding stone pathways under a canopy of cool palms. I’m not sure I’ve ever taken the same way through even though I always start from A and end up at B (nor sure I could if I tried).

Even though my first pass-through occurs at about 7 am, the park is crowded with people of all ages flying kites and exercising in many forms from badminton and tai chi to hacky-sack and dancing. Tai chi is a form of slow moving shadow boxing which seems to be done almost exclusively by those over 60. There are so many practitioners, I find myself winding my way in-between to get past. Everyone seems to know the value of movement.

The subway rides are still novel, too. Each stop sports about 8 entrances and the underground portion is at least two large city blocks long (Chicago blocks, not Portland blocks). Shops line the walkways, making a whole underground mall at each subway stop. It gives me something to look at while I walk –the pastries in particular are so beautiful Pix Patisserie in Portland could learn some things (sorry, Tom) ...but I’ve yet to try any to compare the content. Most desserts here contain red beans which I enjoy, but they’re not quite the Queen of Sheeba (a wonderful chocolate dessert from Pix). For coffee fans, there’s even a red bean frappucino.

Traffic - cars, bicycles and pedestrian - seems to have a philosophy rather than rules. Everyone seems to go where there is space to go and toot their horn to let you know they are there. The number of bikes on the road would put the critical mass movements in San Francisco or Portland to shame, though about half are motorized. The refreshing part is that no one seems to feel entitled to a right of way and therefore no one seems to get upset about anything like getting cut off, passed or bumped (pedestrian for the last one). I doubt road rage is a phrase here. The downside, for lack of a better word, is a statistic a professor noted - the reported 370,000 accidents and 89,000 traffic deaths in a recent year. Maybe the system is best suited for pedestrians.

The construction happening is amazing. Erin and Nick told us builders often work 2 – 12 hour shifts so you can literally see significant changes overnight. If you left for five years, you may not recognize the city when you return. I pass the construction of what rumors say will be the new world’s tallest building on my way to school and have already seen notable progress.

I still get frequent stares everywhere I go. They are hard to define – not threatening, nor flattering, nor even do they really seem curious. It seems perhaps a bit as if I’m an animal in a zoo and maybe an uninteresting one at that. This surprised me a lot in such a large metropolitan area but looking around Puxi there are not many Caucasians. Today I laughed because I realized I was surprised to still be getting stares – as if I expected the city to get used to me as I was getting used to it.

Classes are very interesting, though perhaps a bit more lecture than I would like (entirely, that is). I know I should count my blessings - I remember praying for lecture at times during the past year of Socratic method. The lectures are more interesting than most as we have different professors coming each day to discuss their expertises. Also the daily change in topics to differing aspects of Chinese Law helps shake things up. I already have a short exam Monday morning for part of my grade and then in the afternoon we will observe a trial. Joe will hopefully be able to tag along for the field trip.

That is about all for now... I hope everyone is well! Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Our first weekend in Shanghai happened to coincide with the Shanghai Ultimate Frisbee Tournament. Shanghai’s expat community has built a strong Ultimate community that hosts pick-up & league games and an annual tournament that draws teams from around SE Asia. The Shanghai fielded three of the 16 teams in the tournament. I played for the third string Shanghai Pirates. Seven one-hour games in two days was the most intense workout I have had in a long time. We went three and four for the tournament, which was enough to win one of the consolation brackets. More importantly we had a great time.

Ultimate prides itself on simplicity and sportsmanship. There are no referees. Fouls and rule violations are called by players on the field. If the call is contested the disc is brought back and the throw is replayed.

Despite its overall simplicity, competitive Ultimate involves a tremendous amount of strategy, athleticism, and teamwork. There are positions (handler, mid, deep, wing), zone and man to man defenses, spread and stack offenses, and plenty of specialized terms, most of them intuitive, like: huck, break, flick, backhand, hammer, kick-block, hot, and cup.

Diving catches and blocks are frequent and spectacular. The success of a team is very much dependent on its ability to utilize all of its players and match up well with the opposing team.

In the end though, it is the spirit of the game that is most enjoyable. The idea that everyone should have fun reigns supreme. After each of our tournament games each team would devise a rousing cheer to honor the opposing side. Usually our cheers involved some creative usage of Chinese and references to Pirates drinking rum in the end-zone – AARRRRR.

Luckily, we had very uneventful flights from Minneapolis to Chicago and then on to Shanghai. With plenty of homework to do and movies to watch, the 14 hour flight passed quickly. Our friend Nick met us at the airport and we jumped onto the Maglev train which took us speeding 431 km/hr past houses surrounded by water to the city (if I'm correct with a .6 conversion, that's over 250 mph). The only heart-stopping moment was when a train passed going the other direction and created quite a clamor.
We've settled in to Erin and Nick's fantastic apartment and I'm actually staying home and doing homework this morning while the others are playing in an international ultimate frisbee tournament. I will go do some yoga then head over later to cheer ... after four games yesterday the pace around the apartment was slow this morning but I imagine it's picked up on the field.
It seems we have mostly eased into the time difference, though I keep waking up at 5 am. Given the 13 hour difference, that doesn't make much sense but I'm liking the morning anyway and the Ryan genes allow me to fall back asleep. It has been uncharacteristically cool here since we arrived - with maybe 80 as the high and lots of rain and clouds. Joe and I are enjoying it while we can because we know the heat will be oppressive when it gets here. Yet another reason to enjoy the cooler mornings...
My first class is Tuesday, but Joe and I will attend an orientation and welcome session tomorrow. We found my school Friday and it will take a cab then subway ride to get there, but will only cost about $2.50 each direction and take about 45 minutes. If I go early enough I can catch a seat on the train and get some reading in. I will have 6 hours of class a day studying different aspects of Chinese law, which means quite a significant amount of homework.
The school's in a busy part of downtown Shanghai called Puxi (pu-shee), whereas my friends live in an ex-patriot community in a neighborhood called Pudong that in places is more Caucasian than Chinese. It is very nice to be able to communicate, but not quite what I expected of China! That part will come in Puxi and our field trips with the University. We definitely got a lot of stares wandering around the University neighborhood.
Joe is really practicing his Mandarin and I am very impressed. I wish I had studied more before I came but I guess necessity is the best motivator. The only things I know for sure now are hello, excuse me, please, thank you, check, I don't know, I don't understand, wife, husband and subway. Hopefully this will expand soon!
I will have Joe upload some more pictures when he gets back - I have not spent the time to figure out how to make them small enough.
I hope everyone is enjoying to beginning of their summer (or whatever season it is where you are).