Hey Everyone,
It seems winter is finally over, the city's getting warm & people are feeling frisky ( I know I am ). The new semester started a couple of weeks ago. The workload became a little more, but no reason not to take it easy. After staying in my room by myself for over a month, my new roommate finally moved in two weeks ago. His name's Tee, he's from Thailand, and he's pretty cool so far, and, as a plus: he doesn't speak much English, so yay for extra free Chinese practice everyday ( which he, gladly, speaks better than me ). Other than that, my mom came to visit me here in Shanghai beginning of the week. We had a great little dinner with some friends ( once again, thanks for joining! ) and spent a whole day out and about, and I finally got a chance to show off some of my China/Shanghai knowledge. While she had a mere three days here, I believe she enjoyed it and had some cool and sometimes 'interesting' experiences ( the latter being mostly food-related, I guess; I tried, but I couldn't get her to embrace the delights of Chinese cuisine ).
What else? We recently did the math - it's not even three months left in Shanghai anymore. Naturally, I'm excited to get back home and get on with my actual work, and naturally I already feel a bit uneasy about leaving this place and all the people here. My plans for the time to come include taking the HSK ( which is essentially a Chinese TOEFL ) and maybe also finally making my journey to the west, now that my original travel-mate-to-be is free to come along again ( we were thinking Sichuan, or maybe more exotic?; has anyone ever been to Gansu? Qinghai? Anything to be seen there? ). At any rate, we'll be on vacation ( again?! ) in three weeks from now.
So much for the update!
Sonntag, 25. März 2012
Donnerstag, 9. Februar 2012
New Year and all that
Hey Everybody,
Sorry to let you wait for the update, I'll start where I left off: Hainan was really nice. Warm weather, yet not overly sunny. Although we were off season the island was pretty crowded, mostly with Chinese and Russian tourists. No major drawback, though - there's some nice places to be found if you just look a little ( or go to an upscale Yalong Bay hotel right away ). It makes for a nice beach vacation ( fresh coconuts, mangoes and seafood all over the place ), while being a bit meh on the culture side; I hear you can visit some Hainan native folks in a jungle and, of course, a more or less ancient temple. We opted for the Nantian hot springs instead, really enjoyable. All in all the vacation was really relaxing and nice; what followed not so much. Suffice it to say, I broke a heart and had mine broken -_-
New Year's ( i.e. 12.31.2011 ) wasn't a big thing here. Foreigners and Shanghainese alike flocked to the Bund in anticipation of fireworks. Well, they did have a countdown... It took the Chinese about two weeks to realize what was missing, but then hell broke lose: Chinese ( i.e. the actual ) New Year, aka Spring Festival. It sounded like a war was going on outside, more or less all fifteen days long, and especially on days no. 1, 15 and, to please the god of wealth, the 5th. While this doesn't get as bright and shiny as it does in Germany, it does get noisy. They sure drove away the bad spirits this year. On the downside: Shanghai was pretty deserted for two weeks. Most of my friends here went home or on vacation, stores were closed, streets empty ( okay, still more people around than on any given sunday afternoon in Heidelberg ). ' Left me with enough time to finally clean my place ( my roommate Tony went back to Korea - someone new should be coming one of these days ), watch all of the fake DVDs I bought on the streets, and, of course, brush up on my vocab ( 中三, I'm coming ). While it was kind of boring and lonely ( think: spending Christimas & New Year's alone at home; well, maybe not that bad ) I did have some real time off, some time to reflect. Could've been worse. Sure enough, people are starting to come back, and classes will be kicking in soon ( finals went smooth, btw. Nothing to be compared with 'real' [i.e. physics] exams, though ).
So, half-time summary: Shanghai's been good so far, some hitches notwithstanding. Plans for the second half include: Getting my Chinese to a level where I can have a meaningful conversation with a native speaker and completely understand Chinese television ( not that I ever really watch ). Also, cutting back a little on the whole 'expat/intern' lifestyle and do more things Chinese ( spending a sunday afternoon playing Majiang in a shady tea house/pool hall/internet bar: check! ).
So, that's my news. If we haven't been in touch for a while: Hit me up! Here, the Book, E-Mail. I'd love to hear how things are going in Germany, Europe, the Rest of the world!
Sorry to let you wait for the update, I'll start where I left off: Hainan was really nice. Warm weather, yet not overly sunny. Although we were off season the island was pretty crowded, mostly with Chinese and Russian tourists. No major drawback, though - there's some nice places to be found if you just look a little ( or go to an upscale Yalong Bay hotel right away ). It makes for a nice beach vacation ( fresh coconuts, mangoes and seafood all over the place ), while being a bit meh on the culture side; I hear you can visit some Hainan native folks in a jungle and, of course, a more or less ancient temple. We opted for the Nantian hot springs instead, really enjoyable. All in all the vacation was really relaxing and nice; what followed not so much. Suffice it to say, I broke a heart and had mine broken -_-
New Year's ( i.e. 12.31.2011 ) wasn't a big thing here. Foreigners and Shanghainese alike flocked to the Bund in anticipation of fireworks. Well, they did have a countdown... It took the Chinese about two weeks to realize what was missing, but then hell broke lose: Chinese ( i.e. the actual ) New Year, aka Spring Festival. It sounded like a war was going on outside, more or less all fifteen days long, and especially on days no. 1, 15 and, to please the god of wealth, the 5th. While this doesn't get as bright and shiny as it does in Germany, it does get noisy. They sure drove away the bad spirits this year. On the downside: Shanghai was pretty deserted for two weeks. Most of my friends here went home or on vacation, stores were closed, streets empty ( okay, still more people around than on any given sunday afternoon in Heidelberg ). ' Left me with enough time to finally clean my place ( my roommate Tony went back to Korea - someone new should be coming one of these days ), watch all of the fake DVDs I bought on the streets, and, of course, brush up on my vocab ( 中三, I'm coming ). While it was kind of boring and lonely ( think: spending Christimas & New Year's alone at home; well, maybe not that bad ) I did have some real time off, some time to reflect. Could've been worse. Sure enough, people are starting to come back, and classes will be kicking in soon ( finals went smooth, btw. Nothing to be compared with 'real' [i.e. physics] exams, though ).
So, half-time summary: Shanghai's been good so far, some hitches notwithstanding. Plans for the second half include: Getting my Chinese to a level where I can have a meaningful conversation with a native speaker and completely understand Chinese television ( not that I ever really watch ). Also, cutting back a little on the whole 'expat/intern' lifestyle and do more things Chinese ( spending a sunday afternoon playing Majiang in a shady tea house/pool hall/internet bar: check! ).
So, that's my news. If we haven't been in touch for a while: Hit me up! Here, the Book, E-Mail. I'd love to hear how things are going in Germany, Europe, the Rest of the world!
Sonntag, 18. Dezember 2011
x-mas
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!
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!
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!
Abonnieren
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