Not Enough Time

One week my friends is definitely not enough time for an inexperienced Shanghai traveler, a world expo and a vacation all in one.


The minute we landed in China my brother was O.O at everything. Awesome! He was pretty amazed by all of the different sights. Not many people were speaking English, it was ridiculously humid, and he had never seen anything like it haha

HOTELS
I found my friend and we put our things at his place to find a little hotel.
(I didn't book one beforehand because I wanted to make sure of the rooms quality.)
It turned out that the one across the street from him was good. This was was slightly modern on a budget...

Bother

cute one

hall in cute one

It didn't compare to the very cute one that we'd rented the next night though. It was also cheaper. You don't want to get too cheap though. We'd decided to stay at a bum cheap hotel (business hotel) and it sucked. Only one floor 3stories above a store with no elevator. It was hot inside and the room was only big enough to fit the bed and a dresser not 1ft away! The bathroom was (thankfully) 2ft away from the bed and 3ft away from the door, but you don't want this kind of place in a Shanghai summer -.-

After that I told my bro that we'd just have to spend the money and try a western-like hotel. I had a good bath in there lol This one also came with high floors so I had a great view. We also got a free breakfast.

HAIR
It was so humid that it would have been a complete waste of money to get it done by anyone else. Sorry :(
But don't worry. I am going to Beijing to study Feb.2011 since I'm graduating on 12/14/2010!!!!! So I will get my hair done there and let you know lol (I'm also gonna do a separate blog for Beijing so I'll let you know how to find it later.)

Skipping out on Hair Care

Hey people!

I know this blog was done but apparently I have missed the most important steps!

BLACK HAIR!!!

I have not done anything on it! Someone emailed me the other day about it and I thought. Oh My Gosh!!!
I had a great time with my hair in the first semester. It was the second semester that killed me!

So. When I arrived in Chengdu I had braids :) (Cheater my foot.) Of course braids need to come out. I did my own relaxer because the weather was humid and I didn't have any hot comb. I bought one of their flat irons with comb teeth on it. I treated me well after the relaxer. It doesn't get too hot because their hair is straight already.

Of course in Shanghai I did the same, but I forgot the relaxer this time. I was pretty much natural within weeks. The weather was heating up and it sure was humid. I used the same flat iron with little effect. I suggest bringing your own stuff to do the job. I ended up braiding my own hair without extensions.

I have not tried going to the stylists there because after you have been stared at for the first 2months you feel less confident. I did walk up to a salon, but I got scared when ppl started coming to the door to see me.

I am re-visiting China in 2wks. I will go to a salon just so you know my experience. For the sake of you newbies I am sacrificing my hair!!! It shouldn't be too bad. I won't let them "perm" it, but we'll see how straightening goes.

Keep the questions comin!

The End of a Blog

I was going to try to keep this one up with stories of how I got reverse culture shock, but that phase doesn't stay forever and neither can this blog.

I hope you have enjoyed the adventure past. If you have any other questions or comments about China, Chengdu, or Shanghai just let me know  jamasian3@gmail.com

Hopefully I can study abroad in another country soon enough.

Thank you for reading!!

Moving and Economies

So we have officially moved houses here in Vegas and guess what? It's only a few streets down from the old house. I guess it's ok, but we seem to have too much stuff and no matter how much I say,"You know that thing (we don't use) is pretty old..." The parentals still keep the stuff.

I was just thinking about being in China and if everyone kept the things that were years old that they didn't use...It would be a crazy mess!! We should learn not to be pack rats! Only Keep the necessary.

Anywho, about the economy. My friend (who is Vietnamese) just got back from Vietnam and was telling me that they seem to just buy every name brand in style even though their salaries are not like American salaries. This is exactly what I felt in China (or pretty close to it). How can these countries live the high life while I struggle here jobless and without? Which country is really the third world country?

I encourage all to go out and tour a "poor" country to see what they live like. I promise that the majority of the people I came across seem to live a bit better than me! They may not make the money that Americans do, but they sure do live like Hollywood.

( I can't include myself cause I'm jobless :( and now I'm thinking of taking a break from school just to catch up financially.)
I hadn't thought I'd be jobless all summer long...

Low Down Dirty Shame

I am taking ENG 102 at the moment and the topic for one of my essays is vulgarity in the media. I must say that the young will never cease to amaze me. I know I'm young myself but I seem to be the only one my age that finds it classy or "hip" to be well mannered. I have been in my friends' households and seen with my own eyes, heard with my own ears, them cursing to or around their mothers. This is not to say that they are cursing at their mothers or calling them out of their title, but I wouldn't do this myself.

While I was working I overheard a few of my elderly coworkers complaining about the youth's disrespect and i just have to agree. It only leads me back to how much the youth is allowing the media to influence them. Although night time TV is for adults, there are many youngsters that have considered that the best time to watch TV because "none of the kiddy stuff is on."

In China there are a few choice swear words that are used without thinking much of it, but it is a very small pool. Then again i don't think they have that many to begin with. This could be my own lack in fluency, but the only time I encountered a lot of foul language I found it in a book. ( Yes I was reading novels and learned to curse from them.) It was unconscious at first because I just copied what sounded funny (Which I have always told myself is a shame and should never be done. Funny how the inappropriate words of all languages appeal to an outsider.) , but when I learned the true meanings of the words, I used them less and less. I didn't cut it all out right from the start because "it sounds funny"!

I'm glad not to have heard vulgarity 24/7 of my stay. It allowed me to seem well learned. I know that vulgarity also includes sexual nuances, but ever since China decided to try to defeat an evil, there hasn't been as outrageous of an outbreak as here. I applaud them for banning porn and whatever else just goes overboard.

***This does not mean they don't dress in any salacious ways. I have seen a majority in the mini mini department.

***I hope companies will stop subbing children's Chinese movies with foul English. We don't even have that in our own children's shows. Why mess up theirs?

Personal Sale!

I just realized that China did not participate in the past time of "garage sale" or "yard sale"! (Not like most places would have the space.)

I know that sound strange but this past weekend we had one and I was trying to get my mother to back out of the pricing part. Why? Because she made everything sand grain cheap!! I tried to persuade her to start the prices at a good price just below stores and then let people bargain, but low and behold some people in this country are so dirty they would say "how about $1."...

Are you serious? Even though we are in an economic crisis they had money to drive to our place and then the nerve to say "$5??!! Oh No!"
My mother let most people go and just sold the stuff, but the next time we have one, I will be the one calling the shots. It is not illegal to go trash digging so, those cheapos can just do that. and I will point them right into the direction of our garbage cans. (Bitter much? I just don't like people trying to make a fool of me or my family.)

***********************************************
I have been job hunting like no tomorrow up until last week. I have already landed a position, that I still don't know, for an exhibition company. We start paid training next week and should officially open during August. I am in the third stage of working with a hotel on the strip that will open in December. I applied for guest services representative and let them know that I'm fluent in Japanese and Chinese. Last but not least I feel that the interview for an attorney's office went well.

It's mainly because of the first two that I've stopped hunting. Although I want to start working today, I realize that a company will mark me unfaithful if I only work with them until August. No worries though. The plan has not gone completely wrong. I have some temporary work throughout the summer because I work in convention services. I can always wait until August and work full time for the exhibition company. School will start on Aug. 24th and then I will cut down to part-time unless they're willing to work with my schedule.

The problem lies with my December job in the casino. (I'm being positive that I'll get it.) I didn't realize that it was full time and thought, "It starts in December! That means I'll have a job during Christmas break!!" What I didn't think of is :
1. I am officially hired already for one place. How can I balance the two schedules?
2. I start school in January. That means I need to balance 3 schedules.
3. Because of my work ethic and desire to be held in high esteem, I won't want to quit from either.
4. I am not in the position to quit a job because I need to pay off school as I go. I refuse to do the loan thing. (My personal choice.)
I sure do make my life a bit more difficult each year.

I was doing good in China! I found a job/jobs with ease and I balanced school accordingly. Maybe it's because I was forced to live alone and I had paid for the year pretty much all in advance...

*******************************************************

I'll finish this post off with school. Thank the Lord I passed Accounting and now I am less tempted to switch my major.
I went on a scholarship hunt specifically for my language skills. I realize now that if I want money for speaking these languages I should switch my major to Asian studies or one of the languages. The thing is my school doesn't have Chinese or Japanese majors. Therefore I would choose to go to ASU Arizona State University. I think I'll try to talk to someone in that major that goes there and see what they think.

I need a college networking site. I want to be able to contact the people in another university even if it's in another country.

I'm not asking for anyone to hand me a silver platter, I'm just asking where I can get one.

A Stressful Summer Session

So almost as soon as I came back from China I decided that it would be a good idea to catch up in the summer. I took 4 classes people. It was too hectic. Today is the last day for my managerial accounting and political science class.

I have no intentions of becoming an accountant but low and behold I got a teacher who wants to "make a man out of" us...ok not a man, but an accountant. He is a completely harsh grader. This is my second time taking his class. When I got a 68% D last time, I figured the problem lied in my studies. This time (I don't have my grade yet) it seems like I know my stuff but there are little things here and there (like showing my calculations) that he takes big points off for. My second to last test I had my statements right and he goes but you didn't show your work. So I got a 70% on that test. He decided to make the final 25 multiple choice questions worth 12 pts each. I think this is completely unfair because when you miss one, you miss 12.

My political science exam was an essay so I was happy because it is there that I can truly show off what I've learned. After coming back to the U.S. I became interested in politics. Mostly because I learned so much about China's.

I have a research project due tomorrow for my English class and then that is over. And last but not least, Math....... will still drag on for another 2wks.

I am an international business major but I feel like giving up if I can't pass the business classes withmore than a C. So far I have only taken Business 101 and Accounting 201 for my major but I could only pass with Cs. I feel like I'm failing at life.

For one; I have no money because of study abroad and I had to scrimp and pinch for this semester.
Two; I may not take anymore school until the spring[or ever] because scholarships hate me. My parents must also hate me because they just refuse to help me out and fill out FAFSA so that I can get government grants.
Three; I refuse to be tricked into loans. I have no way to pay them back, so I just won't sign up.
Four; I have no friends in my major. I learn so much better when I can converse about a subject with someone from my class. Or someone who's taken the class...
Five; I am having serious China withdrawals. I speak in Chinese when I'm stressed and yet there's no one to listen.

Ok I'll let this go for now. I was contemplating starting a whining blog...but believe it or not, I'd rather be positive.

Goodbye Dinner

In Chengdu I didn't go to our programs goodbye dinner because my friends took me out. i was so glad to experience a last night with friends...Chinese friends haha

So this time around I actually went to the dinner and met with my teachers and other students for the last time. It was great. I was able to sit by some good people that only ate the right amount of food lol
Seriously, have you ever been to a group dinner in which you share all of the dishes, but some people act as if they've never eaten in Life!! The food was very good and I was surprised because, to be honest, I didn't like big restaurants in Shanghai. Their food is usually too sweet.

So as we were all taking pictures and talking one of my teachers said, "Is that it?" And I told him we don't really say goodbye because we all have facebook hahaha
True that we may never see each other in person again, but if we need something we finally have a stable technology that can let us keep in touch.


************************************


The morning that I was supposed to leave, I called up my friend that is studying abroad in Bristol. I gave her a video tour of my host home and she got to see my host mom and brother. (My host dad's hours changed to I couldn't even say goodbye.) I left their home with Ayi and went to school. My friends had reserved a van to take us all to the airport. It was only 50 yuan per person. It was actually quite a ride! I hadn't noticed when arriving in Shanghai but a taxi would have cost waaaaaaay to much lol

At the airport we were all scared of our bags being too heavy because we definitely shopped a lot. Not like we bought too much, more like we don't remember how much we bought because we shopped at random and on purpose so much we just lost track...O.O

My plane in particular was on time. I got to LAX that I'd been hating on, but customs went by so fast this time that I was confused. I let them transfer my luggage and then I had a full 4 hrs to kill. What did I do? I got picked up by my amazing friends and we went for pizza and as much story telling as I possibly could. Then it was time to get back to Las Vegas...boooo.

My plane was actually on time. ( I'm starting wonder if everything is ok in the airline industry. I usually wait on random delays...) The problem was my parentals forgot that I was coming into town. I waited an hour and then called. When I finally got picked up I went straight to Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and got a dozen. All mine. Don't touch.

And how did I feel? Like I was in the wrong place. I wanted to go back to China. I missed my friends the moment I said goodbye. And now I'm broke, jobless, and friendless...I think I planned my return wrong O.O






(I also have summer school. My next posts will be about my reverse culture shock. I must tell you about all of my withdrawals haha)

Next Plan In Life

Hello all of my amazing readers.

I am going to study abroad in Japan. I am hunting for jobs and scholarships everyday but I have yet to find a non-temp job and scholarships? Those all take so much time and are very tricky to win. Trust me. Thankfully I have found a way to fund raise for myself so if you can ( or you know somebody who can) Please help me get what it takes to live in Japan for 12months.

The total is $33,300 and the program I will be using is CIEE Tokyo. I'm going to take classes with local Japanese students this time around. I think that will boost my skills faster. I will upload their site so you can see exactly what I'm getting into. I will also upload the site that should direct you to my fund raiser.

Thank you so much! I will definitely blog about Japan and I will try to make sure it's better than this one. (Talking about how I still haven't adequately updated the last few days in China and the reverse culture shock of being home.) But not to worry! I have a lot more time now and I will start back up tomorrow.

Love ya!


CIEE page:

http://www.ciee.org/program_search/program_detail.aspx?program_id=55&type=part


fundraiser:

http://www.fundable.com/groupactions/groupaction.2009-06-09.6216557616/groupaction_view?portal_status_message=Your%20changes%20have%20been%20saved



P.S. I have only read 3 blogs of past participants but none have been able to network with me a little to know more about the program, so if you are a past participant, please let me know if you can answer some of my questions. Thanks again.

Leave It All Behind?

I have been talking to my security guards more and I'm really going to miss them. They are my only Chinese friends in Shanghai. We laugh and talk and one guy complains to me all the time haha. We figure the differences with china and America and I get to look into their mindset. Sometimes it seems like they are blocking me when I say anything is possible, but I'm more aware now of why they would give up some goals in life. But overall I think China is doing better.

Another note that I want every girl to remember is that : Chinese men are not afraid to get close!!! It seems like one guy claimed me and so he was the only one to be so close that our hats touched when talking sometimes. I wanted to explain to him that in America we have unconcious space!! hahaha The others would wait for him to leave to get close but they wouldn't be THAT close. Oh well, I'm more comfortable now with my bubble being popped. I think it makes me feel more welcome too. I'm gonna miss that closeness.


My program friends and I went to the tallest bar/lounge in the world called Cloud 9. It was great we all dressed professionally, or at least no jeans or sneakers, and we ate and drank and enjoyed being upper class. Of course when we left we decided that we're all too young to enjoy that place often, for now, so we'll have to do it again in our late 30's or something haha :p

Brighter X Day

This morning I got up a little late because of the slight fever. I still got up, ate breakfast,changed and then headed out to the X Games!! My throat was feeling much better considering it was morning.

i took the 812 and the 866 bus this time because I'd found out yesterday that 866 went to the back gate. Unfortunately the assistant on the bus told the driver that no one was getting off and I was too late to say, "wait I am!!" so I had to walk back to the stop. On the way I bought some snacks, because I tought they didn't sell food. Unfortunately when I got in the gate this time around 12noon I saw the BK stand...and a 7up or mountain dew stand....

Whatever! I marched happily over to watch the BMX stunts and it was pretty lame for a while then a guy from Thailand game and brought real competition! After him some Americans showed what they had haha It turned out to be a really good show towards the end.

I had been concentrated on trying to find my friends without moving spots but my phone had run out of minutes. Suddenly a really tall chinese guy (6'3?) decided to stand right in front of me...Do tall people not realize they are tall? Is it nnatural to stand directly in front of someone shorter than you? Seriously, I could reach out my hand 4in and touch him!! So I did and I asked him if he could move. He acted like I was rude...or maybe he was annoyed cause he got that a lot...but he should have stood off to my side!
After that I found my big group of friends and we watched skateboarding on the U台 (sorry I forgot the english name) Then we moved over to the In line skating to wait. While we waited I decided to watch the dirtbike stunts form our spot. (No need to get close when all the stunts are in the air.) But unfortunately about 10min into the show a biker got hurt so it was cancelled. Do you know the MC's were having to announce not to take pictures? Why do people video and shoot pain?

I decided to hold a good spot at the stage to await today's concert, but they started so late that I ended up leaving so that I could get a front spot to watch the roller blading contest. It was a great contest. So interesting! I loved how Japan brought the game but America took first lol I was excited about the way people were actually doing different tricks today! Yesterday I saw a lot of ...re-runs o.O??

Even though all events ended at 5pm, because of yesterdays rain the BMX still needed to do finals. So I was able to cheer and dance to the music and take crazy pics wth my friends haha It's so much better to be around people who are just as crazy as you are. They even wanted to go outside, after it closed, and tke pics of the winners with me.

It was a good day. I decided to go straight home and heal. I was able to eat dinner today more comfortably. I noticed that the pain was only extreme around 6pm and after until... maybe 10am. I'm pullin through though. No swine flu for me!

And Then It Rained

The X games were pretty interesting. I have never been to one before. One of my friends from the concert showed up. Everyone else bailed out on us. I don't think events starting at 11 am are too early, but that's just me...

The first thing I noticed was that even though this was the Asia X Games there were other people competing. There were also more foreigners in the crowd. I suppose I haven't seen many lately.

Unfortunately there was no re-entry and we couldn't find food. It also started to rain and we stayed as long as we could but my friends jacket was not waterproof, plus I was getting a fever. At this point we ended up going to a place to eat but since I couldn't really eat, we went to DQ and got smoothies. I found out later that my throat does not need any cold!

After eating we went home. My family was eating dinner and I tried to explain that I didn't want to eat real food, but they all said that won't do! haha They gave me some type of sweet soup and told me to drink hot water. I am so thankful of how caring they are. My host brother even warned me not to get swine flu lol (Every one here is joking about it.)

Now that it's extremely early 10:30pm, I'm going to bed.

What a Day! and Night

So besides being sick and in pain I ventured out into the world to continue with my plans.

A friend of mine wanted so bad to see Jay Chou in concert and so I tried to help her out. I went to the campus early and got a massage across the street. After my friends were ready so we made our way down to the Shanghai train station to buy a ticket to Kunshan. [It's about 25min away by bullet train.] In the purchasing area we found that there are certain lines for certain cities, so we had to stand in the line for Kunshan. While we were there, we noticed that the line wasn't really moving. Why? The girls at the front were taking money from people who had just randomly walked up and buying tickets for them. I don't mind finding ways to make money, but I don't want to be inconvenienced by it. We had to literally push them out of the way and then decided to take a long time, pretending we couldn't read chinese, to buy our tickets.

After we went to get lunch but since I was having trouble swallowing I just ordered something small. **Funny story. I ordered you tiao (a bread stick like food) and I think it tastes like funnel cake with out the sugar. Therefore I wanted sugar lol I asked the lady for tang but I was so worried that she thought I meant tang . at that time I wasn't sure of which tone to use hahaha**

Finally we got on the bullet train. It was kind of like an airplane. I think it was new. Someone was sitting in my seat so I just sat next to my friends, but a man came on complaining so I ended up asking the people to move and taking my actual seat. He wasn't able to sit with his friends so I don't know why he didn't let me sit with mine...:( Oh well.

So we arrived in Kunshan but no taxis knew where to go!! The concert started at 7 and it was about 6:45 already!!! We walked down a random street and found a taxi (it was rush hour so almost all taxis were taken). A guy was going to grab that taxi but he let us have it. I thank him and said a prayer. The driver didn't know the exact place but he knew the area but as we were driving he noticed we were talking about the concert and he knew where to go :)

when we got there (6:58) my voice was going, but I wasn't worried because I'd never lost it. ***Notice: There are many people selling fake tickets in the open!! With cops around!!***We found the ticket office and the only tickets left were the ones we wanted to buy :) 380 yuan. And it turned out to be directly facing the stage. haha no need for front row seats.

Unfortunately the last train back to Shanghai was 10:28 and we hadn't been able to pull that friend away until 10:00. and of course there were no taxis...I was a bit chilly from that concert outside and my throat was killing me, so I did the unthinkable. I had some random guy give us a ride for 20 yuan. **Notice: There are 'unofficial' taxi drivers who bargain with you to give you a ride.** I know it's not common in America but I did and I'm still here. So....we missed the train anyway and I wasn't about to trust the unofficial van/bus drivers...We bought tickets for 12yuan on a 4am train. we had no passports so we stayed in the station. I had completely lost my voice by then because in my group they depend on my Chinese...I think I should start charging for setting these things up.

It was horrible to spend the night sick and in pain there but I survived. Now that I am home at 6:40 I have to try and sleep before my next adventure.

Today

I woke up around 6:30am without a restful sleep. I kept waking up through the night because my throat hurts when I swallow. Do you know how many times you swallow in a day? Without thinking about it no. I haven't been counting because it happens every few seconds.

I remember when I had this in elementary school. I was forced t meet that horrible substance called licorice root. Being a kid I thought I had struck gold! But licorice root is in no way a member of the candy family. Right now I don't know what I'm going to do. I also don't know what caused it. It was very mild yesterday but it was getting worse through the night. I want it to stop before I have the experience that my childhood gave me.

'Stay back fifth grade!!'

Classes Beyond Due

I have been soooo busy lately it's not even funny. I was having quite some time situating things for summer school and fall semester. Then I began to worry about passing the japanese test for next year. I am going to study abroad again, but this time I want to be in class with people who speak my target language. This means I can actually integrate! But that's a whole different post.

While searching for blogs of past CIEE Tokyo participants I found exactly what I was looking for!! People who talked about the preparation and the classes they took and the school itself!
Most of the blogs are a few years old but one is for this year. The thing is while reading them and finding what I wanted, I realized that I forgot to describe those things here! I have reported too much culture and not enough info for people looking to use the USAC China programs!

So here goes:
This semester I took Advanced Chinese track 2. I liked that that class used a textbook that gave us articles to read. Real life stories or articles that real people have had published in books. It made me feel as if all of this learning was really paying off...No! I mean IS paying off haha We even started a "newspaper" textbook.
The only thing I didn't like was going over the passages line by line by the second half of the term. Then the homework was cut down because we did it in class! How do I know I improved if you do my work for me? You all know how this final went. Test and speech.

I also took Managing in a Global Economy Emphasis on China. That class was my favorite actually. Just because I was learning so much about the way things work in business. The homework was light but it was ok, we were also able to have class discussions about the real life cases that were related to the chapters we talked about. I didn't feel lost! There was one presentation, a final exam and an essay.

My second favorite class was U.S. China relations. Our teacher was very knowledgeable and most of the questions we had to ask got answered. The homework was reading different people's views on certain topics, and it was a lot of work, but wasn't graded. I feel kind of cheated by that because there is no way my teacher will ever know that I read those things!! and that I really did learn a lot while taking this class. The worst thing is the only grades we will have are 20% participation and 80% final paper that's 4-6pgs.
Most of you may think that's the easiest class ever but the problem is college professors NEVER like my papers!! I just don't understand why. Also if you were thinking I can show that I did my readings through my paper, think again. Our topics have to be unanswered questions. Something with little information on them.


I also liked taking China Phenomenon even though it was a complete lecture class. Only the teacher talked unless there was a random question. My teacher for this class was like a walking history of china book. I learned so much about china that I will never forget. I thank him.
For assignments we had 2 presentations, 2 500 word essays and a 2,000 word final essay. All on whatever topic you wanted that was covered in class.

TaiChi was a very nice class. It didn't go into the details of TaiChi but it sure was a great "fun" class. My teacher was so energetic and I just know that if a real fight broke out she would kick be-hind! haha Our final was us presenting the form and her recording it. Then we will do it one by one recorded.

I took these classes because they interested me. If you want some more details on the classes please do not hesitate to get in touch with me. Overall they weren't as bad as some people complained. They had me thinking, "If you've already taken this class or already know so much, WHY ARE YOU HERE???"

Not All Peachy Keen

I can't believe I have to write this but since it has happened lately I must.

One day as I was meeting some friends in the dorm lobby, the snack lady shouted, "Hey! You owe me 2yuan!"
I was confused because I hadn't visited her store for quite a bit.

Another day I was with some friends in a restaraunt near campus. There are quite a few around campus so I'm not a frequent at any of them. This particular day after we all had finished eating, someone was accused of not paying enough.

An other day I swiped my card on the bus and it said that there was no money on it. As I was trying to be subtle and not embarassed by that, I looked for some change to pay. As I did this the bus driver was looking at me suspiciously, so I held out the change and put it in the slot.
Then he laughed and said, "Oh you understand Chinese then haha."

Why do I write this? Because these things are happening to me! It's rare but it's happened twice this week. I felt like I was being accused because I was black. It doesn't help that I read an article that talked about an African guy and some of his friends who always tried to cut deals or skip out on paying for things. (He has frequented Shanghai for 8yrs and can't speak a lick of Chinese. It was written by a foreigner.)

So I want to say: Please black people, be trustworthy when it comes to paying for your mess.

*Note: the store people told me that it wasn't me, but a girl who looked like me. I realise that when you don't see much of a certain race, guess what...THEY ALL LOOK ALIKE! and I don't like to be blamed or called out for other people's actions...

Thank You.

Culture Fair Pictures!!!

The long awaited pictures are here~ haha
Even though there are a lot for you to view here, I still want to make you go to my photobucket and look at more! Just search for jamasianblog. I will try to use this week to completely fill it up haha (I have procrastinated long enough.)

Only us 5 Yanchang classmates did TaiChi that day but we did it with a bang!
This is an awesome man. We call him Zhang Laoshi. If it weren't for him, people in my program would never know when cultural events are taking place. For some odd reason USAC doesn't help us integrate.
She is from MADAGASCAR and she is so cute. A lovely personality.

Me heading Paddy the Green Dragon's parade lol I am going to miss the Irish. They go to my school so we are friends.
The Irish, Mexicans and a black and white girl reppin AMERICA haha We are so silly.

They go to my school. That's why I can hug them. ;p

hahaha ECUADOR

KOREAN TABLE

 

I think this is VIETNAM

These two are from mongolia. Unfortunately the girl in the queen dress is a smoker. I was thinking she was so pretty before I saw it.

I'm sorry I'm not sure of their countries.

Cultural Fair Day 2

The next day my Tai Chi teacher wanted some of us to perform with her other classes...We got nervous because we hadn't practiced together before. There were a few groups who were showing off Chinese culture that day too.

While my group was waiting a little girl came out with her adopted mother and they asked me where the bathroom was. I told and the little girl said, "Wow! Your english is veeery goood!" and off they went.
...
Offense! Didn't she recognize my American accent! I have become soooo patriotic about my background here haha. I am constantly letting everyone know I am American. Especially since one guy from Algeria kept trying to get me to speak some random language. It was then that I decided to let people know that my family is Jamaican! I just don't understand why he kept trying to talk to me!! he didn't even use Chinese!

Anywho. We went out to perform and it was pretty good. People cheered so I didn't feel too out of place. The four people who came with me; we are from the Yanchang campus, so no one at Baoshan knows us. It would have been very uncomfortable if they didn't perform with us.

Actually 4 Baoshan students know me. I met one that yesterday and 3 more called out to me while performing *Big smile!* (I was so glad they remembered me, because I had been thinking about them all.) There was one more person who might remember me but I didn't see him either day. Now that I'm typing this I must admit that seeing them gave me a sweet for sour feeling. Why? They all knew my name!!! Why for the life of me couldn't I remember theirs? I'll tell you. My name is simple! These people all come from random countries that speak random languages!! haha ok. The guy from Laos is easy to remember. Maybe that language isn't too hard.

School Culture Fairs In China!

You know, back at my home school they were doing the Carnival of Cultures. I must say that is one of the most boring events...I feel like people should enjoy their background so much that they think of everything in the book to show it off that day. At my school they are mostly interested in how much money they can make. -_-


Well we had a Foreign Culture Day on the Baoshan campus of Shanghai University and it was bomb! There were so many people representing their cultures; Mongolia, Cuba, Thailand, random countries in Africa...etc.etc.
I was so pleased by how everyone made an effort to wear their traditional clothes, sell their countries special foods, play their cultural games, and dance or sing. Never have I had so much fun at a mulit-cultural event.
Even more amazing is, we used a lot of chinese to communicate lol Now you may be thinking,"Duh, you are in CHINA!" but please believe me when I say, it seems like everyone and their foregin moms speak english. No matter what country they are from, most foreigners use english. (Freakin' punks)
I love using Chinese as much as possible. So whenever I went to a new booth, be it India, Laos, whatever, I would greet them in 你好！And they would explain whatever they were showing off in chinese to me. (Only one girl switched to english for me...I was only slightly offended, because you must realize that not everyone has the same level of chinese haha)

Something I want to point out. Everyone talks about how disgraceful black dancing is and how the women shake so much of this and that. Guess what? Cuba, Mexico, and Mongolia were shaking like no tomorrow and "getting low". It seems to me like a lot of cultures use their hips to dance which accentuates the hind quarters. Therefore I ask that everyone stop bad mouthing black dancers! (Of course there are always exceptions to each culture. Some people do too much haha)


I also finally got a good impression from some Africans! They were so kind and one guy was excited to tell me his stories of the ridiculous things some Chinese people say. Here is one joke: There was an African married couple who decided to move to China and start a business. The woman was pregnant and the day she delivered at the hospital, out came a beatuiful pale baby boy. "You have a beautiful baby son. Don't take him back to Africa or he will turn black!" Warned the doctor.
lol That cracks me up! There are still some people who think you can only turn black by being born in Africa.

All in all it was a good day. Pics will come later because my camera is full!
(I'm sorry I'm behind on the other pictures too. 太痛苦了！原谅我！)

Banking In China 2!

I feel cheated!!
It costs 20 something dollars to transfer my money to my american bank. That american bank charged me 10 dollars just to accept it!!

Why! Why does this happen!!! Money! Why do you let them use you like that?

Well I only wanted to post this to warn Wamu users. I am very satisfied with that bank, but now that they've charged me that extra 10 USD just to recieve that money...our ship of friends! It seems to have come to a halt!

Lesson: CHECK YOUR BANK POLICIES BEFORE YOU LEAVE. (haha i should have told myself that but i guess a shocking learning experience lasts longer.)