On vacation

Karen will be on a break from blogging because she is limited to internet access and she is writing papers!!! Pray for her and she will get back to blogging when she's back in Canada! =) YAY! 

- Adoria

Things that I miss....

After being in Shanghai for 3 weeks, asides from my family and friends that I miss the most, there are certain things that I miss a lot. 

I miss...

... speaking English... even though I have been blogging everyday, not speaking it makes me worry that when I come back, I will have a Chinese accent....

... eating plain and simple... the food here is tasty, but everything is soooo greasy... (which is why it's tasty, right?)

... eating fruits and veggies regularly.... for some weird reason, fruits in China makes my stomach go crazy, so I don't risk eating fruits.... 

... wearing flip flops wherever I go... the streets in China are toooooooooooo dirty to wear flip flops... I did that the first few days in China... my feet were black by the time I got back to the hotel... sickkkkkk.

... driving... even though it's nice to be driven, I miss driving... being in China and it's traffic system and so many dangerous drivers... it makes me want to die... and... there are wayyyyy too many people in Shanghai, which makes me don't want to go anywhere too far.... 

Last weekend in Shanghai

We all slept in today (except for my roommate...... I have no comments about that), and the feeling of sleeping in felt great! Veronika slept in til 1pm.... originally we wanted to go to Jin Shan (金山) to go to the beach but it was too far, so we decided to stay within the city and went to the famous Tian Zi Fang (田子坊). Tian Zi Fang is an arts and crafts place developed from an old residential area. It's known for small and specialty craft stores, coffee shops (expensive...), art studios and narrow alleys. There were a lot of foreigners who went... toooooo many people.

 We didn't get a chance to try this place, but we went to take pictures because it was picture worthy. LOL. It's a toilet-themed place! All the dishes are served in toilet bowls, and of course dumps of poop here and there. One day.. when I go back to Shanghai, I will go! 

Last but not least, here's a picture of me taking a dump, enjoy!! 

Well folks, one more week upon my return..... technically, less than a week. Time definitely flies! 

Learning how to say no is still so hard...

..... I have always had issues saying no..... and of course, I faced the same dilemma this weekend.... but as a result, it was somewhat rewarding.

Earlier this week, I was asked if I wanted to go to Nanjing this weekend... I guess I wasn't really thinking and said "sure, why not"... throughout the week, as I was lacking sleep, starting to get sick.. I didn't really want to go and I wanted rest.... I wanted to say no. I tried to get away with it, but I wasn't able to say no... so I ended up caving in and went with the Korean teacher and a travel agency. I woke up at 5:30am to get ready for the trip and we didn't get back til 10:30pm... oh my... 

It was tiring, a lot of walking but it was definitely rewarding as I have never been to Nanjing before. The most memorable place in Nanjing is Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum (中山陵), it was established in memory of the Chinese revolutionist Sun Yat-sen. It was a lot of climbing.... an excellent workout as I was sweating like crazy. Everyone who mounted up the stairs were all drenched in sweat... 

 My roommate has been sleeping super early... like 10ish, 11ish... definitely wayyyyyy too early for me.... so I have been spending a lot of time with my same-aged friends (Veronika and Xiaoyu) who also like to sleep late I actually spend more time in their room than in my own room....haha. Xiaoyu went out to her friend's that night, so I ended up reading for more than 2 hours in their room with Veronika... which was definitely needed, since the TV in my room is always on when my roommate is there... not a lot of silence and quiet time. Xiaoyu came back around 12ish, we all had a sudden craving for wings (I was especially hungry since I didn't eat dinner).... thanks to the McDonald's nearby... we got some. We were the only ones in the restaurant... I am pretty sure the people who worked there judged us... We didn't get back to the hotel til 2ish.... yay night owls!!

Farewell, friends!

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, our class started off with only 18 people, and then it suddenly increased in size because other teachers from other classes joined us. Today marks the last day of their stay in Shanghai and it was sad to see them go. Even though we don't know each other very well, but it was a pleasure to meet them and be able to share our knowledge and experiences with one another. 

Some of us went out to eat lunch together: 

This is a picture that was taken last week when we went to Oriental Pearl Tower.... photobomb!!! 

 In the evening, we went to this shopping centre called iAPM (International am & pm)... it's hugeeeeee and very luxurious. We did a little bit of shopping and watched a movie because my same-aged friends really wanted to take me to a theatre. They originally wanted to an English movie so I can translate to them.... LOL, but they weren't interested in Pacific Rim since it was too sci-fi. So we ended up watching a Chinese movie with a little bit of humor and of course, love story. Ahahah. This is what we do on a Friday night... in a sea of people...

Field tripppppppp!!!

Gotta love field trips! I love exploring different places! 

Yesterday we had the opportunity to go to Shanghai Museum! The museum only takes 8000 person a day, and the security is quite intense... I'm not a museum type of person, but I really like the idea of placing different cultural-related things within a building! There were sculptures, paintings, potteries, calligraphies, coins, etc from different dynasties!

 After visiting the museum, we went to City God Temple. I wasn't very interested, so me and my same-aged friend just went to eat food AHAHA. Asians.

Also, my calligraphy skills... I can't even speak of how awesome I am. Even the teacher said I did great ;) 

 Ohhhh and my roommate came back from her hometown... peaceful life is now over.. I miss alone time already :(

Well, last post before the weekend! Here's a few pictures for you to enjoy...have a great one!! 

I love China, but...

.... there are wayyyyyyy too many people in Shanghai (pretty much anywhere in China... but Shanghai is more packed).... everywhere I go, there are A LOT of people.... think about Boxing Day at WEM, but 10 times the amount of people... sickkkkk... level of claustrophobia increased.

.... people here walk reallllllly slow and they block their road.... think about the last time you were in HUB and trying to pass by people... it's worse here. 

.... the traffic here really sucks... no matter how careful you are, you still risk getting run over by a car/truck/bus... no big deal, right?

.... the food here is wayyyyyy too greasy.... it's cheap and yummy, but a lot of times my stomach can't handle it... 

I miss home, I am also surprised at how fast time is going by here in Shanghai. 

Countdown: 9 days.