A Shanghai haircut

I have been in Shanghai for four weeks today. I can't really believe how quickly the time has gone. That said, I desperately needed a haircut. My cut when I left Chicago needed to get touched up every 5 to 6 weeks and I was pushing six weeks now. With this goal, I decided to get my hair cut here in Shanghai.

Getting my haircut has always been a sensory experience. In my opinion when someone washes your hair and cuts and styles it, it is one of the most pampering experiences possible. I have had my hair long and had my hair short and short hair allows many more visits to the salon. My stylist in Chicago, Sam, is phenomenal and as my hair was getting longer I kept thinking about her and how easy it is to pick up the phone and make an appointment. Here, it's not so easy.

When I met other female teachers I would inevitably ask them where they got their hair cut. Two of the teachers who actually live in my building recommended the salon where they have been getting their haircut for the last 8 months. They have made friends with the stylists and said that it was a great experience as well as being very affordable. With that in mind, Liz, one of them, said that she would go with me to the salon on Wednesday to help me out and translate for me.

I have never gotten my hair cut where I haven't been able to talk to the stylist at all. When I was in Spain I spoke enough Spanish to keep up with the customary gossip - the weather, celebrities, etc. Here - nothing. I'm starting intensive Chinese classes on Monday, but that didn't help yesterday at all. Liz was kind enough to translate - I told her as long as I didn't have bangs and no color, I was fine.

The stylists and staff at the salon was great. It started with washing my hair, but they did it in the chair, not over a sink. I got a great scalp and temple massage at the same time. Then they rinsed my hair over the sink as I laid down on what looked like a recliner. Next the head stylist and a special friend of Liz's approached me. Liz passed on my instructions and then had to head to work, so I was on my own. Allong (I'm not sure how to spell his name) was very methodical, working over each section of my hair. I had told him I wanted it shorter, so he carefully shaped it. I watched, silent as he went through each section.

It was a very long haircut. I sat down in the chair initially at about 1:15 and I didn't finish until 2:40. There was only one skirmish - after Allong had finished the cut, he wanted to permanently straighten my hair (I think), but I refused. I haven't washed my hair myself yet, so maybe that was a mistake, but he blew it straight and I am very happy with the results. The cost for this haircut? 30RMB, about $4. Judge the results for yourself:

Question - Where have you gotten your best or worst haircut? Was color involved? How much did it cost?

Keep your comments coming. Hope all of you are having a happy holiday season. I think I'm going to need to download some Christmas music from itunes soon.

Cheers!

You want to buy a bag? Handbag? Gucci - Prada....

In honor of Black Friday, I thought I would comment on shopping here.

Anywhere I walk in Shanghai I am approached by men (and a few women) carrying plastic cards about the size of an envelope. "Lady - You want to buy a bag? Come, take a look, cheap! Gucci, Prada. Come, take a look. My shop, come over here." They point to an alleyway or other dimly lighted corner and show me pictures of their merchandise on the card. Some are aggressive, others will step aside if I shake my head. There is not a single word that means "No" in Chinese, so I am left nodding and saying, "No, no" or sometimes "Xie, xie (thank you)" as I hurry by. There are people everywhere here.

Last Thursday I went to a market at Chi Pu Lu, which one of my fellow teachers has christened "Cheap Lou's." It is five stories of endless booths that are maybe 8'x10'. The three of us were the only foreigners in sight and every single booth owner seemed to have something that we needed to buy. There were some great sweaters and coats (all in dollhouse sizes) and an endless parade of handbags, sunglasses, scarves, shoes and other things. If you show interest they will open a fake wall in the back of the shop and lead you in where the "real" merchandise is kept. I made a great purchase - a blue leather handbag that says Tod's that I can throw over my shoulder for 100 RMB (about $14). After I purchased it I realized that my normal fall coat is bright red which doesn't really go with the blue purse, but I don't care. It's a yummy bag.

Friday night I went to one of the outdoor markets with Robyn, a teacher trainer at the Wuyi school where I have been spending my weekends. The goal was to find a wallet and purse for her. We did not succeed, but the people were very nice there and I am getting much better at understanding numbers. In fact, I was talking to one of the Chinese teachers at work and she said that my numbers are very good, but they sound Taiwanese. Paul - if you're reading this, you did a good job!

On Saturday after work I went to Super Brand mall, one of the many malls in Lujiazui which is in the Pudong new area close to the school. The malls here are incredible. There are restaurants and stores that are two stories inside a single store. This store had a huge Christmas tree at the entrance and there were families taking pictures as children squirmed. My mission was to purchase some warmer clothes. In my packing list I had not included a sweatshirt and only two sweaters. Even though it was in the 60s today, within a week or two, highs should be in the 40s which merits warmer clothes.

I was nervous as I approached the mall because I wasn't sure if anything would fit. Well - I did find some clothes that fit at two stores H&M and UNIQLO. I have shopped at H&M in the States and discovered that I am an XL in China. At UNIQLO, which is a Japanese chain, the same deal. I purchased a sweatshirt and a turtleneck respectively. I haven't been an XL at home for quite some time due to the changing sizes but that is fine.

Buying clothes in another country is one way to truly feel part of the culture even if it's just a sweater or sweatshirt. I still remember purchasing my ZARA coat when I lived in Spain and how stylish I felt. I hope to feel that way before I leave Shanghai. Fashion here is something else. Very short skirts and hot pants with leggings are popular. On the subway I might see girls in heels in skinny jeans with tunic topics and multiple layers or laborers wearing their blue uniforms and heavy shoes. One day I saw a woman who was wearing flannel pajamas and two girls wearing rubber rain boots even though it wasn't raining. There is always a parade of men in suits or blazers and people in uniforms for work. The colors are much brighter here, you can buy basic black for sure but there are reds and yellows and greens and blues and pinks and grays.

This is a culture on the move. Retail therapy is practiced here, whether you are bargaining in a street market or shopping at an upscale mall. You are expected to touch and try and ask questions and learn about your purchase.

Q5 - What has been your favorite purchase in another country? Clothing, souvenirs or something else?

Please post your comments. I really enjoy hearing from you and don't forget to keep in touch.

Cheers!

A Little Tourism

The last week has been very busy, but a different kind of busy than my first week. I have started teaching and teaching and planning lessons have taken up a lot of my time. I work all day Saturday and Sunday and then teach a couple of evenings during the week. It is definitely a challenge, but very enjoyable as the students are highly motivated to improve their English and really seem to like attending classes.

In my free time, I have started exploring Shanghai - bit by bit getting more familiar with it's neighborhoods and attractions. On Monday I went to explore Yu Garden which is an example of classic architecture in Shanghai. My idea of a garden has been expanded by the visit because there were no bedding plants or orderly collections of flowers. Instead, it was a walled garden with various buildings on different hills and a collection of lakes and paths that went up and down over the terrain. After I went there I walked through a couple of the huge markets and just looked at different merchandise. I still do not feel prepared to bargain, although I'm sure that will happen soon.

On Tuesday I headed south to Huai Hai Road which is the ritzy shopping street - the Michigan Ave of Shanghai. I wandered through the boutiques trying to find a park labeled on my map. When I finally found it, it wasn't that impressive, but on my way back to the apartment I stumbled upon a beautiful park that was very near one of the elevated roads. It was calm and peaceful, with a waterfall and grassy bank where people were eating lunch and enjoying themselves.

Another day I spent exploring an area of People's Square in downtown Shanghai. I walked through the park and then approached the Shanghai museum. Instead of trying to absorb the entire museum I focused on three of the collections - the history of chinese money, ancient seals that were used by powerful individuals through the dynasties and the calligraphy gallery. I think the money exhibit was the most interesting, but there are many other galleries to see. Since we live within walking distance, I will most likely return.

Thursday was a great day. Chris had the morning off and the two of us explored another area of People's Square park and then went to the Shanghai Urban Planning Museum. The museum was one of the best museums I have ever been to. They had a huge display of the entire city that you could approach from a catwalk overhead. It was truly massive. There were also exhibits on how Shanghai has changed in the last twenty years. I think someone who knew the city in the 1980s would most likely not recognize it now. The amount of change is almost inconceivable. Then, they have an exhibit on the planned changes to Shanghai over the next 10 years. The Expo in Shanghai in 2010 is serving as the catalyst for much of the change. For instance, they plan to add 6 metro lines in the next two years. I will be interested to see how the city changes over my stay.

They also had a special exhibit called "Nuestras Ciudades" which was an exhibit from Spain on women's voices in shaping urban planning in Spain. It was phenomenal - there were 100 booths, each about the size of a door and you walked up to each with special headphones and could hear the spanish. English and Chinese translations flashed across the bottom of the screen. I could have spent all day there, but had to teach in the evening, but probably listened to about a quarter of the voices. There were architects, gallery owners, shopkeepers, children, students, interior designers - everyone talking about the space in a city, how it is used, why it is important. There were women from Bilbao, from Sevilla, from Barcelona, from Madrid - the entire country. As I wandered through that exhibit I forgot (for a while) that I was in China. If the exhibit is coming to a city near you, I would highly recommend it.

The Apartment in Puxi

Exploring Shanghai

I have attempted to include a link to my google pictures so you can see our apartment, some shots of Yu Garden, some shots of the People's Park and some that Chris took in the Urban planning museum. Hopefully the post works and you can see the links. If not, please let me know and I will attempt to load the pictures in another way.

Q4 - I was highly impressed by the Urban Planning Museum. What has been your favorite museum or favorite museum exhibit? Where was it? Why? Share your thoughts!

Your comments are great, please keep them coming. Also, if you want my mailing address, shoot me an email and I will send it to you.

Cheers!

On Food

Despite the food on a stick incident that I wrote about last time, I have had some excellent meals over the last week. I would be willing to bet that the Chinese invented fast food. There are so many stands selling all kinds of things - peanuts and crackers, meat on a stick, noodles, fruit drinks, dumplings, fruit, .... A culture that snacks. I hope I don't come home 20 pounds heavier. One thing I've tried is a dish that Shanghai is famous for - pork dumplings with broth inside. They are tricky to eat with chopsticks but really really good. My grandma is always saying that pork tastes different from when she was a little girl and now that I've had these dumplings I agree. They are savory and moist, a meatball wrapped in a dumpling with broth. Super good.

Another thing that I've had that was kind of by accident was a fish soup with a ginger broth. Last night I felt like soup, so I saw some people through a window eating soup and went in and pointed at it. It was excellent and I brought leftovers home. The fish was a white fish and there were pieces of ginger and mushrooms and seaweed in the broth. It hit the spot.

Spain girls - it is the season of mandarinas [clementines for the non-Spain folk] here - there are street vendors selling them everywhere, today I even saw a small truck with the entire payload full of mandarinas. Great citrus boost and so fresh and it reminds me of Spain.

One other thing I've had a lot of is a drink that they call "Milk Tea," it's a room temperature mixture of tea and milk with tapioca balls inside that you drink through a fat straw. I was addicted to Starbucks chai in the US and I think I may have found a new addiction here. It's the perfect midafternoon snack.

So, question #3 - what has been the best food that you've eaten while on a trip? Tell me about the perfect bistro in Paris, or the roadside stand where you had barbecue in the south. Share your food story!

Cheers!

Getting settled

The last three days have been incredibly busy. It feels like I have been here for a very long time and it's really been only 96 hours since I landed. I'll try to hit the highlights thus far.

Friday - I took a walk in the morning away from the hotel and found the location of the school where I will be teaching at. It is in Pudong which is the new area of the city. Then, I went back to the hotel to wait to hear from Lilian who is in charge of new teachers. She called right around lunch time and then we went and looked at apartments for the rest of the day. The initial location we looked at was in Puxi, close to the school that Chris is going to be located at, but it was a little shady - the beds didn't have mattresses, the table was missing, the windows were dirty - not the first impression I was hoping for. The next five places were in the Pudong area, three or four metro stops away from where I will be. The apartments got progressively nicer, but it felt like living in the suburbs and I didn't think that was the vibe that I was looking for. We had gotten on the metro and bought our tickets to head home when the real estate agent got a call saying there was another 2 bedroom in Puxi to look at and asked if I wanted to go. At this point it was about 5pm and I almost turned him down because my jet lag was really kicking in, but I decided to give it a go. The last apartment was great. Good location, two bedrooms, there's a couch - mattresses on all beds, etc. I decided that it would be perfect. Location map is below.


Then the negotiations began. Since we're not staying a year, it required a lease with different terms. The price went up, the price went down. Then the agent's commission was discussed. My chinese is so minimal I had absolutely no idea what was going on. Negotiations, contracts, etc. lasted until 8:30. But, at the end of it, I had keys to the apartment, a promise that the hot water heater would be fixed and an appointment with my landlords on Sunday evening at 7pm to give them the remaining $47 that I owed them. It was quite a day.

Saturday was my first day of training. I had to be there at 10:30, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to move my stuff from the hotel because I had woken up at 4am (more jet lag). I ate breakfast at the hotel and they called me a cab. I had my address and the hotel communicated with the cab driver and I thought we were good. Wrong.

For some reason the cab driver thought I was going to the airport (probably because I had all my luggage with me). He kept saying "Airport, airport." When I realized it, I started saying "Puxi, Puxi" (the area where I'm living) but he kept driving the wrong direction. Eventually I said "Feng Yang Lu, Feng Yang Lu" ("Lu" is street - Feng Yang is the street where I live) and he finally turned around. With that adventure, I just made it to training on time.

Training was fine, Saturday is a very busy day at this location, but Erica (my teacher trainer) helped me purchase a cell phone at lunch. It is very tech savvy - a skinny little Nokia that probably could do everything. Unfortunately I haven't figured out the voicemail yet, but I can make and receive calls and text messages. I'm not sure that I can receive international calls though.

Saturday night I met Mike Chiang who's an ND grad and in charge of ND relations in Asia. He took me out for a great dinner and then I met his wife Lily and the two of them took me shopping so I could purchase a comforter, a pillow, some towel and a hair dryer. They were so welcoming and warm and have already come to my rescue again (more to come). I rode the subway home with my purchases and using an international phone card, was able to talk briefly with my folks before falling into bed.

Sunday - more training, this time at a different branch, People's Square. Yup - I got lost. Was almost late, again, but walked in the door right at 9:30. People's Square is the biggest branch that they have here and it is very nice and because it was Sunday, much calmer. Training lasted until 4:30, so it was a full day. Food here is so cheap - for lunch I had beef and peppers with rice and it was 10 RMB which is about $1.30. Tons of food and really good. When I got out of training I decided to walk down this food street close to the apartment. It was teeming with people, all kinds lined up snacking on different things. I chose one booth that was selling some type of (I thought) meat on a stick. I purchased one and took a bite. Not exactly my taste. I don't think it was meat, but if it was, it was certainly like nothing else I have tasted. Didn't finish it.

Then I met my landlords at 7, as we planned. Well, of course it couldn't be that simple - they came and I paid my remaining 500RMB (TV and the $47) and then they started pointing at the hot water heater. I had absolutely no idea what was going on. I could tell the hot water wasn't working, but I thought I had to turn something or press something differently. I finally, after almost 15 minutes called Mike and had him translate for me. The hot water heater is supposed to be fixed today (Monday) now, but he arranged for me to take a shower at my landlady's house. I got off the phone and they stood up and were like - let's go and I was kind of startled, but grabbed my towel and shampoo and followed them to their house, about 5 minutes away, across a freeway.

Today, Monday I had to register at the police station, pay the commission to the real estate agent, come back, get the internet set up and I had to go to the bank too. It was crazy and it's only 2 pm here. Tonight I'm going to observe another class at People's Square. Tomorrow is my demo teaching set up and then I'll find out my schedule going forward.

I don't have a question this time - but any comments you have on my crazy experience or examples of your own culture shock in another country would be much appreciated. Hope all is well.

http://www.smartshanghai.com

The adventure begins...

Well - I've made it in one piece and with all of my luggage. Last night I successfully purchased dinner and am looking forward to seeing the city in daylight. For the next week I'm staying in a hotel in Pudong, near where I will be teaching. Today on the agenda is purchasing a cell phone and starting to look for an apartment - tomorrow my training begins. I will post more once I am settled in. The question this time is:



Q2 - What is your most memorable (good or bad) hotel experience? [The one I'm at now is in the middle - stayed at better and worse, but I certainly have a couple of interesting stories.] Share your comments!



Cheers!