Chinese Culture Shock

Its been a good week overall. I feel like I'm settling in more and more and my apartment is actually starting to feel like home. I'm definitely happy to be here. Yesterday however, was not a great day. Unfortunately, I had plans to do some exploring and walking around in downtown Shanghai (and to eventually end up at the Shanghai Museum) that resulted in a very very loooooong walk in the wrong direction.

So far my encounters with Chinese culture have been pretty positive. I knew (for the most part) what to expect before I got here and I braced myself for somethings that have actually turned out to not be as bad as I thought. Yesterday after my loooooong and hot walk in the wrong direction however, I was not a happy camper. Shanghai is SO busy. There is never really a moment when you aren't surrounded by tons of people andit can be exhausting. Also, there is something about getting cut off constantly by cars (who by the way, will honk angrily at you if you happen to get in their way while they are trying to make a turn on a red light) that sets me on edge. Its AMAZING that there aren't more incidents of road rage in this country. Quite honestly, I'm having a hard time keeping my pedestrian rage under control. But then someone did point out to me that the idea that pedestrians should have the right of way is not a Chinese one. Technically apparently, the rule goes that the bigger vehicle always has right of way with large trucks and buses at the top and bikes and pedestrians at the bottom. Pedestrians at the veeeeeeeeeeeeery bottom I would say. Add this to the fact that Chinese people on the whole are naturally pushy and competitive and you have Shanghai traffic.

On a different note, here are some new pictures of my Shanghai life. I have discovered that I LOVE mooncakes...I'm eating them all over the place. Also, the one good outcome of my unfortunate walk in the wrong direction down Nanjing Lu was that I made it a place called Jian'an Temple which is quite the ornate sight. The picture of the pond comes from a park that was near the temple. It was rather charming...lots of people hanging out, shady places to read a book and TONS of old people playing mahjong.



mmmmmm....this one was kind of crunchy. Its always a bit of a surprise to find out what is actually IN them since I can't read the Chinese. My guess on this one is walnuts and lotus seeds.