I'm Here!

Hello from Shanghai!

I suppose I don't even know where to begin... There is so much to say, and what seems like so little time. Right at this moment it is 7:30am on Monday, which means that it is 7:30pm on Sunday for all of you. Due to the fact that it is a little early, and I am so incredibly jetlagged, please bare with me as I try to explain everything that I am seeing, feeling and smelling ;o)

First, I want to thank you for your prayers thus far. The flight went a lot better than I could have ever hoped for. Yes, the 14 hours was incredibly long, but God blessed me enough to put me next to the best passenger on the flight (in my opinion). This man's name was Leaf Huang and he was probably in his 50's or so. We began talking right away and I soon found out that while he was Chinese, he was in fact a US citizen. His English was incredible and our conversations flowed freely. I found out throughout the flight that he is an incredibly smart man (head of the Pharmaceutical Department at UNC), but on top of that he is a Godly man (part-time pastor in his Christian Chinese Non-denominational church). We spoke of many things throughout the flight such as school, how he travels all over the world to speak (Joe, he is going to India next month!), religion and most importantly, he taught me about China! He "lectured" on Chinese history, taught me a few words of the language, he even taught me how to use chopsticks which came in VERY handy my first night here! Together, we went through my trip itinerary and he commented on the places that we are going and gave me a few other places to take daytrips to.

One of the more interesting things that we spoke about was religion. He was explaining to me that one main reason why the Chinese government does not want Christians speaking so freely here is because the 2nd Coming of Christ scares them and they do not want this fear to cause havoc within their people. He also told me about a Christian church that is near by East China Normal University that is an International church. He explained that they have a service in English and that while Chinese may not attend, foreigners can by showing their passport. He also told me that if I could find a local connection to a house meeting that should try. So I am going to ask Professor Shang and Ni about this soon. I believe next Sunday is a free day and I would really enjoy seeing a church over here. Anyways, I feel very blessed to have sat by Leaf. It really helped the trip go faster and he was the perfect neighbor for it... chosen by God to sit next to me.

I did manage to sleep for about 4 hours of the flight, thanks to my Dramamine. I slept from Edmonton, Canada to somewhere over Russia. Yes, we did go up north, over Alaska, Russia, then down towards China. Leaf explained that this was to avoid air traffic over North Korea.

Touching down in Shanghai was not really an enjoyable thing. Keep in mind that I had hardly slept in the 14 hours and it was the middle of the afternoon on Sunday when I got here... I literally was missing a day! But while we were landing, we went through this giant cloud... which ended up being brown! The pollution here is incredible and it was very apparent from only landing. The day turned out to be rainy, hot and HUMID! The second we stepped outside with Professor Shang I was a giant ball of sweat. Disgusting I know. We then took an hour bus ride across the city. Yes, it was across the city and we were going about 65 mph the whole time AND we were going right through the middle! Does that give you at least a small impression as to how huge Shanghai is? Normally in US cities, there is one skyline and then lower buildings all around. Not in Shanghai. Everything is tall and the skylines vary. While we were in the middle of the city, we could see another skyline in all directions. There are apartment buildings all over the place, and not just 6 or 7 story apartment buildings, but 30 or 40 story apartment buildings! Professor Shang told us that they are often called International Flags buildings because people hang their laundry out the windows. (This didn’t make sense to me at all because he also told us that it rains every single day...)

The traffic was crazy as well. I really think that I would be a pretty good driver around here. All of you people from Detroit, your driving and highways do not even compare to over here. Joe, it reminds me of that video you showed me of India driving. Everyone cuts everyone off; they do not use traffic signals and who cares if it is a red light because they are going through anyway. Also, there is constant honking for who knows what reason because they really don't care about the other drivers around them so it's not going to make a difference anyway. I think I would have been a great driver on the highway, but get me onto a regular street where people go about 45mph (miles because I haven't figured out the meters thing yet) even though everyone walks in the middle of the street anyway, I think I would have died).

The people are so kind as well. They definitely like to stare. We are a very small minority here. In a city of 19million, there is an average of 10,000 foreigners here. That is not very many. So we get stared at all the time and the shop owners chase after us to try and get us to come inside.

Let me move onto the food. If last nights dinner is any indicator of what I will be eating, I will be eating very little, and drinking lots of beer. I think Professor Shang and Ni brought us to an extreme, or at least I am hoping! Our group crammed into a very large round table with a spinning wheel in the middle (Hidalgo's, it reminded me of Glen Arbor :o) Professor Shang said that for everyone else, their first night they were instructed to just point at the menu and order even though they had no idea what they were orders. Tonight though, he didn't make Kendall and I do this, rather he just ordered the most extreme of foods he could (or so I am thinking). The appetizers were brought out and we had a choice of some sort of tofu, or cucumbers, or peanuts, or these pea pod things, and I think a few others things. I ate everything but these bamboo things. The tofu was sick, but I have never likes tofu. The peapods were pretty cool and they took a lot of skill. Thanks to Leaf I was able to pick one up with my chopsticks (No other utensils are available) and while holding it, slide the pea out from the pod by sliding my teeth down the pod. Then you turn your chopsticks around and do it to the pea on the other side. They were pretty good. They tasted kind of like giant pine nuts. So I made it through the appetizers. Then the brought out the main dishes...

They set this bowl in front of me on the turn table, and I see what I thought to be liquid bubbling in front of me. Then I was told that this dish was called "drunken shrimp". Rather than the liquid bubbling, it was the shrimp jumping! They were still alive!! I honestly thought that I was going to throw up. They were just hopping around in there... hitting the top of the bowl. Professor Shang told me to open up the bowl, take a shrimp with my chopsticks and just bite off the head. Apparently this kills them quickly. I told him that I would rather throw up than eat those. Needless to say, I did not have the drunken shrimp last night. Only a few people here thus far have been able to stomach eating a live shrimp. I do not plan on doing it... ever. I'm not really sure what I ate last night... I know that I tried some frog. The consistency was too slimy for me. I had some fish but you have to be careful because they don't take out the bones. I had some pork, and also these 2 potato dishes. They were my favorite. Drew told me that she is going to take me to some good food this week. I can't wait because I'm kind of hungry. Thank goodness for granola bars.

After dinner I took a quick nap to energize, and then I decided to go out. I didn't want to go to bed early because then I would wake up early. So we went to a Canadian bar that is owned by a former GVSU student who went on this trip about 5 years ago. It was a bar full of the foreign people in Shanghai. I had some conversations with a couple of people from The Homeland :o) (The Netherlands). While they were from The Homeland, they had German last names. Needless to say I was a little disappointed. Mom, I also spoke to a German man, and apparently Shyster (I murdered that spelling) is not a very nice word to say :o)

Anyways, I am having a great time so far. I really enjoy the people on my trip and I think I am fitting in quite well. I am really glad that I went out with them last night because I was able to form some bonds that I would have been able to form if I had stayed in and slept.

I am heading to a small orientation via Professor Shang and Ni in a little bit. Then later I guess they picked out a tourist spot to take us. They rest of the group already went when they first got here, but they are going back with us today.

Oh and just a few comments. Everything is SO cheap! Last night our cab ride across the city from the bar was only 4 dollars! Also, Erin, Schulte, Sheila, Sarah, Leah, ect. THEY HAVE GREY'S ANATOMY SEASON 2 OUT OVER HERE! It made my night when Drew showed me. I will be coming home with a copy. While I may not be able to get a real coach purse, I will come out winning in the end!

Again, thank you for all of your prayers. A few more prayer requests
1. I am still feeling sick. My sinus infection has now turned into a cough and a runny nose.
2. I am WAY behind on my Chinese! I have no idea what anybody is saying and I am desperately trying to learn some key phrases. I have a few, but they are rough. Sometimes I say them right and other times I don't.
3. I will be getting homesick, I am sure of it. It seems as though during the week we have a lot of downtime. Drew told me the first weeks are the worst. Plus, it was very hard for me to leave Joe after only spending 2 weeks together. So please pray that I am able to keep myself occupied and that I will not get too homesick.

Thank you again for your prayers. I will be updating often now that I have the internet figured out over here. Keep sending me comments! Love and miss you all.