China Adventures Pt2

ssalg31
3 hours ago
4 min read

The Bund in Shanghai during the afternoon taken by me!!

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⠀Hope you all have been enjoying your summer break!! It's been about two weeks since the start of my program and so much has happened. Genuinely feels like I've been here a month ALREADY. (ᵕ—ᴗ—) I'm gonna give a general overview on each topic and just drop sooooo many photos!!!

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School

Overall classes have been great! My teacher gave me a Chinese name the first day of class. I have to look how to spell it... I'll do it next week.... Either way, the class is pretty difficult. We learn about 15-20 new characters each day and learn how to implement them in sentences. Then we'll play games to help us retain words. It's genuinely amazing how quick I'm picking things up when it comes to oral communication and listening!! Its JOEVER when it comes to characters. I'm genuinely so cooked.... It's not even funny (╥ ᴗ ╥) When we had our first test last week, I BEGGED our teacher if we can have pinyin on the test because I genuinely cannot read more than 5 characters. We've learned 120+. At the beginning of the session, it felt like light work. It still is not the worse when it comes to speaking and listening. It really is just the volume and pace. The class is supposed to reach intermediate level by August and I'm worried about my reading and writing. ·°՞(っ-ᯅ-ς)՞°·. The worst thing about it, is that there is no HACK to read or write characters other than to just write it out. Which means that a majority of my study sessions is dedicated to writing characters. I fear I will need wrist braces by the end of this session(｡•́︿•̀｡). Regardless, I think its so worth it. I mean I'll be able to communicate in a third language and finally start a minor in Chinese.

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Food

A restaurant in the cloud nine shopping mall in the Michelin Guide taken by me!

Food wise, I'm in heaven. It's actually crazy. I LOVE MEITUAN. I NEED MEITUAN IN THE US PLS PLS PLS PLS PLS I BEG CHINA TO PUSH IT TOWARDS THE US. It's superior to every single delivery service in the US. Nothing compares to it at all. Genuinely so many coupons are given, deliveries are always smooth, restaurants treat your food with care, AND THE OPTIONS ARE ENDLESS. Genuinely, this may be the thing I miss the most when I go home. My life is changed because what do you mean my restaurant order is NOT 75% more expensive(⸝⸝๑﹏๑⸝⸝) That's another thing. I'm gonna miss how affordable food is here. I can go to a restaurant and pay $3 USD for a FULL MEAL. You can do that in the US too, but its borderline impossible. Here, you genuinely can walk into a mom-and-pop store and leave eating the best meal of your life. I fear, I can't go back. Plus the food ALWAYS HITS( ˶°ㅁ°) !! Like I've yet to try a restaurant where the food is genuinely DOOKIE. AND THE DRINKS. ARGHhh, EVERYTHING IS SO GOODDDDD

My friend and I at Baker & Spice, taken by me

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Friends & Sights

My roommate, her boyfriend and I in Suzhou taken by me!

Wowwowowowowo, I love all the new people I've met. Especially my roommate, Ximing. I don't think I would be as comfortable as I am here if it wasn't for her. She's helped me so much with learning how to navigate life in China, as well as improving my Chinese. She also just listens to my worries and is always down to clown. Guys I love her SOOOO MUCH٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و ♡ This last weekend she took me around Suzhou, a 30 min bullet train ride from Shanghai, and to go qipao shopping and look at traditional architecture. In return for all the kindness and wisdom she's bestowed upon me, I taught her: joever. It's officially her favorite word... I'm not joking. (ᵕ—ᴗ—) But no, it's been a constant culture exchange when I talk to her and it's been so fun learning more about China. On the 美国人 side I've pretty much solidified my friend group. They're so fun and down to explore during the day and night. I mean there is SOOO MUCH TO EXPLORE. 上海很大! There's always something new to see٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و ♡I mean this past Sunday, my friend and I went to Anfu road, Jing'an temple and a west Chinese cuisine restaurant. We didn't even scratch the surface of Anfu road after being there for 3 hours. Shanghai is ginormous and two months is not enough to explore even a quarter of it. Which means, I will be BACKKKK. I love SHANGHAI!!!

My friend (Abby) and I at Wiggle Wiggle taken by her

My friend (Riley) and I before we reach the motherland of all clubs in Shanghai: ISNLAND

A little more to add and maybe I make a separate post about it, but the culture shock is REAL. Genuinely I love La Fin but quite literally my friend and I were the PARTY. No one dances at the club, unless they're a foreigner. Moreover, store workers might follow you around and its lowkey so irritating because my fight or flight is constantly on guard and I can't look at items peacefully. Not only that it sucks to walk anywhere because there's' a high chance you might get hit by an electric bike. Everyday is like playing crossy roads IRL. Not only that, the stares are REAL..... other than that, tho, every experience has been unforgettable. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE SHANGHAI.₍₍⚞(˶>ᗜ<˶)⚟⁾⁾

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