Hey Everybody,
Christmas is near, Shanghai is pretty cold but not really cozy. It get darks around 4:30 in the afternoon, and too cold to go out, at least for my taste ( my Chinese friends tell me I ought to be used to the cold, being German and all; nope, I'm really not a fan ). Staying at the dorm isn't a good option either, as excessive heating using the aircon causes unacceptable electricity bills, as I recently found out when we had an involuntary power cut at six in the morning.
I really miss the whole christmassy atmosphere; While there's quite a few christmas trees to be found in and around the malls, I yet have to see one that's, well, actually a tree and not a shiny mess of metal and plastic. Also, no christmas markets. They had one two weeks ago at the Paulaner's, but I missed out on it. At least they sell cheap Glühwein at the IKEA.
On the brighter side of things: The semester is also coming to an end, only one more week, and we're on break. And after the finals in the beginning of January we have Spring Festival ( 春节 ) vacation, all the way till mid-February. Much more important, though, for those who don't know yet: My girlfriend is coming to visit from Germany. She's already in China, and she'll come down to Shanghai next tuesday. After a couple of days in Shanghai, we'll fly down to Hainan ( 海南 ) and we're gonna have an awesome beach vacation ( 20º+ ! ).
Since I ( probably ) won't be posting again till after the exams, I now hereby wish everybody a merry Kwanzaa and a happy new year!
Sonntag, 18. Dezember 2011
Samstag, 19. November 2011
Zhengjiang & Yangzhou, 镇江 & 扬州
Hey everybody,
Exams are over and I got a whopping 96% average, yeah! After celebrating a little on the weekend, we had our class trip to Zhenjiang and Yangzhou.
Unfortunately, as the trip was also organized by our department, I turned out to be pretty Chinese in character, that is, spending most of the time on the bus and being marched through as many historic sites as possible in the given time frame. We didn't see anything of Zhenjiang city, but we spent a night out in Yangzhou. Being the only white person in the whole city ( presumably ), has its advantages ( free drinks, courtesy of the club's customer relations manager ) and disadvantages ( said manager expecting you to dance for the Chinese crowd's amusement ). If you're ever in town, try to catch the Stepping Stones at The Old Brewery ( 老啤酒厂 ), a Filipino band, nice bunch ( hey, Casey! )
Here are some pictures: ( I actually don't quite remember, which ones are from where - we went to three temples and two parks. You'll get the idea, though )
Exams are over and I got a whopping 96% average, yeah! After celebrating a little on the weekend, we had our class trip to Zhenjiang and Yangzhou.
Unfortunately, as the trip was also organized by our department, I turned out to be pretty Chinese in character, that is, spending most of the time on the bus and being marched through as many historic sites as possible in the given time frame. We didn't see anything of Zhenjiang city, but we spent a night out in Yangzhou. Being the only white person in the whole city ( presumably ), has its advantages ( free drinks, courtesy of the club's customer relations manager ) and disadvantages ( said manager expecting you to dance for the Chinese crowd's amusement ). If you're ever in town, try to catch the Stepping Stones at The Old Brewery ( 老啤酒厂 ), a Filipino band, nice bunch ( hey, Casey! )
Here are some pictures: ( I actually don't quite remember, which ones are from where - we went to three temples and two parks. You'll get the idea, though )
Sonntag, 6. November 2011
Midterms
Hey,
There's not much new to tell these days. The weather has shifted from mercilessly hot to a mix of warm-wet and cold-rainy. I've also been kinda sick these last couple of days, which ( perhaps unwisely ) hasn't kept me from going out and, especially, staying out late ( at least on the weekends ). Other than that, we do have our midterm exams next week, from Wednesday to Friday. I've been studying quite a bit ( trying to memorize all those characters is a bitch ), but I hear they're fairly easy to pass. The week after, we have our two-day field trip to Yangzhou. I'll make sure to dish out a big update after that. If anybody misses my face, you can check some crazy party pictures of me and my super-duper multicultural friends on the Book ( just go to the ones I've recently been linked on ).
Yours truly.
There's not much new to tell these days. The weather has shifted from mercilessly hot to a mix of warm-wet and cold-rainy. I've also been kinda sick these last couple of days, which ( perhaps unwisely ) hasn't kept me from going out and, especially, staying out late ( at least on the weekends ). Other than that, we do have our midterm exams next week, from Wednesday to Friday. I've been studying quite a bit ( trying to memorize all those characters is a bitch ), but I hear they're fairly easy to pass. The week after, we have our two-day field trip to Yangzhou. I'll make sure to dish out a big update after that. If anybody misses my face, you can check some crazy party pictures of me and my super-duper multicultural friends on the Book ( just go to the ones I've recently been linked on ).
Yours truly.
Mittwoch, 19. Oktober 2011
Some Impressions
Here are the long promised pictures:
This one's my room. My bed is the one by the window.
My dorm, front view.
Our university library, never been in there myself. It's pretty big, but I hear they don't have any books (?).
The quad.
The old library; the most prominent of the turn-of-the-century buildings in the old part of Xuhui Campus.
Credits: Ricky Qi, http://flickr.com/photos/27499687@N00/5144482260
This one I didn't take myself. It's a picture of central Xujiahui, about a five minutes walk from where I live, just to give you an idea.
That's it for now. If anybody wants to see more: I'm taking requests.
Freitag, 7. Oktober 2011
Still alive
Hey,
I just wanted to check in and let everybody know that things are still going smooth in Shanghai. We just had a one-week-break for the Chinese national holiday, although they really only gave us five days off - I have to go to school tomorrow & sunday -_- . I didn't leave the city because traveling at this time of the year is a real hassle, from what I hear. Instead I explored the city's nightlife. Clubbing in China is really different from clubbing in Germany. The Chinese don't really dance, but have a style called "bottles'n'tables" instead. This comprises booking a table at a fancy club ( this usually starts at around 1000 RMB = 120€ but, of course, is open-ended ) and spending at least the same amount on drinks and food. Then you get hammered and play dice with your friends. I guess this is mostly meant to impress the people around you ( last night I spotted a table with about 50 unopened bottles of champagne on it, and a select few of Shanghai's Jeunesse dorée sitting around, looking damn smart ). The upside to all this is that most clubs don't charge any entrance fee. A poor foreigner such as myself will obviously get some beers at the convenience store around the corner, go to the club to have fun, and just move on to the next one if things gets boring.
I'm aware I haven't uploaded any pictures yet, but I'll try and see if I can borrow a friends camera to take some pictures of campus, so you can at least get an impression of where and how I live.
So much for now!
I just wanted to check in and let everybody know that things are still going smooth in Shanghai. We just had a one-week-break for the Chinese national holiday, although they really only gave us five days off - I have to go to school tomorrow & sunday -_- . I didn't leave the city because traveling at this time of the year is a real hassle, from what I hear. Instead I explored the city's nightlife. Clubbing in China is really different from clubbing in Germany. The Chinese don't really dance, but have a style called "bottles'n'tables" instead. This comprises booking a table at a fancy club ( this usually starts at around 1000 RMB = 120€ but, of course, is open-ended ) and spending at least the same amount on drinks and food. Then you get hammered and play dice with your friends. I guess this is mostly meant to impress the people around you ( last night I spotted a table with about 50 unopened bottles of champagne on it, and a select few of Shanghai's Jeunesse dorée sitting around, looking damn smart ). The upside to all this is that most clubs don't charge any entrance fee. A poor foreigner such as myself will obviously get some beers at the convenience store around the corner, go to the club to have fun, and just move on to the next one if things gets boring.
I'm aware I haven't uploaded any pictures yet, but I'll try and see if I can borrow a friends camera to take some pictures of campus, so you can at least get an impression of where and how I live.
So much for now!
Sonntag, 18. September 2011
Settling in
Hey Everyone,
Today we had a beautiful day in Shanghai - the first since I arrived that was neither ridiculously hot nor stiflingly humid, instead: bearable temperature and a nice breeze ( mind you: every building here has air-conditioning, including my dorm and the class rooms; however, just a walk across campus or from the subway station to the store will get the average European sweating like a dog on a hot day ).
I was going to spend my afternoon relaxing in the People's Park ( 人民广场 ), which is located pretty much in the city center, directly adjacent to the most important museums and the city's main shopping area, but it was obviously totally overrun and it didn't take five minutes after I sat down, till some Chinese dude sat down next to me trying to practice his English. Well, At least I got a free Starbucks out of it ( which, btw, is one of the few places one can get coffee around here; most venues try to sell you a lukewarm sludge premixed with milk and lots of sugar ).
Other than that, things are good. Class started this week. I have three hours everyday, either reading, listening or speaking. Except for all the vocab I have to catch up on, this ( fortunately ) leaves me enough time for other adventures ( well, no real adventures so far, but we have vague plans for a trip to Hangzhou ( 杭州 ) during our little break in the beginning of October ).
Since I promised some pictures, I'd like to refer you to my friend Michelle's site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/malmaeus5000
Note, however, I look either kinda gay of pretty grim on all the pictures I'm on. I'll try to make some less unflattering pictures of myself in the near future.
Today we had a beautiful day in Shanghai - the first since I arrived that was neither ridiculously hot nor stiflingly humid, instead: bearable temperature and a nice breeze ( mind you: every building here has air-conditioning, including my dorm and the class rooms; however, just a walk across campus or from the subway station to the store will get the average European sweating like a dog on a hot day ).
I was going to spend my afternoon relaxing in the People's Park ( 人民广场 ), which is located pretty much in the city center, directly adjacent to the most important museums and the city's main shopping area, but it was obviously totally overrun and it didn't take five minutes after I sat down, till some Chinese dude sat down next to me trying to practice his English. Well, At least I got a free Starbucks out of it ( which, btw, is one of the few places one can get coffee around here; most venues try to sell you a lukewarm sludge premixed with milk and lots of sugar ).
Other than that, things are good. Class started this week. I have three hours everyday, either reading, listening or speaking. Except for all the vocab I have to catch up on, this ( fortunately ) leaves me enough time for other adventures ( well, no real adventures so far, but we have vague plans for a trip to Hangzhou ( 杭州 ) during our little break in the beginning of October ).
Since I promised some pictures, I'd like to refer you to my friend Michelle's site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/malmaeus5000
Note, however, I look either kinda gay of pretty grim on all the pictures I'm on. I'll try to make some less unflattering pictures of myself in the near future.
Montag, 12. September 2011
The first week
Hey Everyone,
I've been in Shanghai for a little over a week now and things look pretty good.
My trip started at Frankfurt Airport, to which my mom took me. Out of the blue my best friend Roman showed up to bid me farewell, which was pretty cool. Also, he gave me a pair of pants ^^
Other than that my trip was fairly uneventful. I had a layover at Dubai airport, which seems to be one very long terminal crammed with places to spend your money. Can't recommend it! About sixteen hours after leaving Germany I arrived at Shanghai Pudong Airport and actually managed to make my way to the metro station where I took a train downtown, or more precisely, to Xujiahui ( 徐家汇 ）, which is where my campus is located. A friend from Germany, who's also here on an exchange, picked me up there and escorted me to our dormitory. It's quite different from what we have in Heidelberg ( pictures soon to come ); I share a room with a Korean dude named Tony. Fortunately his English is a little better than my Chinese, so we manage to get by quite well. We don't have our own bathroom, but instead the whole floor shares one. Also: no kitchen and no community room, which is really a bummer ( I miss the Bar! ). Our campus itself is located close to the city center, about 6 metro stations from the Bund ( 外滩 ), which is Shanghai's prominent landmark / tourist spot. The area around our campus is famous for shopping and you really can get everything, although at highly inflated prices at times - 4€ for a pack of butter or 10€ for a box of imported cereal at the local fine foods store; I generally try to stick to Chinese cuisine and they do sell Baozi ( 包子 ) ( the Chinese equivalent to, let's say, a McDonald's burger, just healthier and more tasty ) around the corner for 1 RMB apiece - about 10 cents. With Shanghai being the most expensive city in China these days, going out can easily cost you more than in Germany, at least if you don't know what places to go to!
So far we've seen the major tourist spots, i.e. the Bund, the World Financial Center ( 环球金融中心 ), the French Concession area ( 法租界 ), temples, streets and many many shopping malls ( it's insane - they sell you Gucci and LV at about every corner here, be it fake or the real thing ).
For those who wonder: Classes don't start till to tomorrow, so we had a whole week to explore the city - it already feels like a month! My school schedule consists of 3 and a half hours of class a day, which will surely leave me some time to do cool things on the side.
Today was Mid-Autumn Festival ( 中秋節 ) in China. Although we asked around everywhere, we couldn't really figure out what people do on this holiday, other than going out and eating mooncakes, which are very sweet, kinda nasty tasting pastries, traditionally filled with curdled egg yolks and lotus seed or red bean paste. You get the idea... Anyways, we went to the city center, walked up and down Nanjing Road ( 南京东路 ) and had some Milk Tea ( 珍珠奶茶 ), which is the beverage of choice around here.
This was my first update on how I'm doing. I'll keep you posted the coming weeks and maybe do a little series on special topics ( food, people, traffic - yes, street traffic is life-threatening here ), suggestions are welcome!
I've been in Shanghai for a little over a week now and things look pretty good.
My trip started at Frankfurt Airport, to which my mom took me. Out of the blue my best friend Roman showed up to bid me farewell, which was pretty cool. Also, he gave me a pair of pants ^^
Other than that my trip was fairly uneventful. I had a layover at Dubai airport, which seems to be one very long terminal crammed with places to spend your money. Can't recommend it! About sixteen hours after leaving Germany I arrived at Shanghai Pudong Airport and actually managed to make my way to the metro station where I took a train downtown, or more precisely, to Xujiahui ( 徐家汇 ）, which is where my campus is located. A friend from Germany, who's also here on an exchange, picked me up there and escorted me to our dormitory. It's quite different from what we have in Heidelberg ( pictures soon to come ); I share a room with a Korean dude named Tony. Fortunately his English is a little better than my Chinese, so we manage to get by quite well. We don't have our own bathroom, but instead the whole floor shares one. Also: no kitchen and no community room, which is really a bummer ( I miss the Bar! ). Our campus itself is located close to the city center, about 6 metro stations from the Bund ( 外滩 ), which is Shanghai's prominent landmark / tourist spot. The area around our campus is famous for shopping and you really can get everything, although at highly inflated prices at times - 4€ for a pack of butter or 10€ for a box of imported cereal at the local fine foods store; I generally try to stick to Chinese cuisine and they do sell Baozi ( 包子 ) ( the Chinese equivalent to, let's say, a McDonald's burger, just healthier and more tasty ) around the corner for 1 RMB apiece - about 10 cents. With Shanghai being the most expensive city in China these days, going out can easily cost you more than in Germany, at least if you don't know what places to go to!
So far we've seen the major tourist spots, i.e. the Bund, the World Financial Center ( 环球金融中心 ), the French Concession area ( 法租界 ), temples, streets and many many shopping malls ( it's insane - they sell you Gucci and LV at about every corner here, be it fake or the real thing ).
For those who wonder: Classes don't start till to tomorrow, so we had a whole week to explore the city - it already feels like a month! My school schedule consists of 3 and a half hours of class a day, which will surely leave me some time to do cool things on the side.
Today was Mid-Autumn Festival ( 中秋節 ) in China. Although we asked around everywhere, we couldn't really figure out what people do on this holiday, other than going out and eating mooncakes, which are very sweet, kinda nasty tasting pastries, traditionally filled with curdled egg yolks and lotus seed or red bean paste. You get the idea... Anyways, we went to the city center, walked up and down Nanjing Road ( 南京东路 ) and had some Milk Tea ( 珍珠奶茶 ), which is the beverage of choice around here.
This was my first update on how I'm doing. I'll keep you posted the coming weeks and maybe do a little series on special topics ( food, people, traffic - yes, street traffic is life-threatening here ), suggestions are welcome!
Welcome
Hi,
My name's Dennis and this is my blog about my exchange year at Shanghai Jiaotong University where I'll stay from September 2011 till June 2012 to have fun, do stuff, and, hopefully, pick up some Chinese along the way.
I'll try to keep you updated every now and then, including pics & vids from my adventures.
If you have questions, comments, whatever, drop me a message or hit me up on facebook!
My name's Dennis and this is my blog about my exchange year at Shanghai Jiaotong University where I'll stay from September 2011 till June 2012 to have fun, do stuff, and, hopefully, pick up some Chinese along the way.
I'll try to keep you updated every now and then, including pics & vids from my adventures.
If you have questions, comments, whatever, drop me a message or hit me up on facebook!
Abonnieren
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