Thursday
April 5th
We arrived in Shanghai around 3:00 PM, but by the time the
cattle (as in all of us) were herded to the hotel it was around 4:30ish… The
airport was about 30 minutes from the hotel and was the perfect amount of time
to take in the bustling city of Shanghai. The buildings in Shanghai are
incredible as it is high rise after high rise, yet it doesn’t give
that same crowded/ claustrophobic feel that New York City gives off, instead it’s much
more spacious.
When we reached the hotel, I rallied up the troops to begin
a little adventure of exploring the area. The hotel was in a great location as
it was located on the Bund… an area in the city that is definitely accustomed to
tourists and pedestrian friendly. We walked about for around an hour, until we
all got cranky/ hungry, but not to worry we snapped a picture with the
beautiful Shanghai skyline behind us…
Dinner on Thursday is the last noteworthy part to our day.
Until this point, I successfully communicated with locals in the previous
countries… even
thought I didn’t speak
their language, our alphabets were the same and therefore I could point on a
map or piece of paper show my destination. China on the other hand was an
entirely different animal. In Beijing it wasn’t as much of a problem because we
stayed with the tour group so we didn’t need navigate around the city on our own. Why was
this night different than all other nights (sorry had to do a Passover joke in
the spirit of the holiday), well that’s because the Klein’s were on a solo mission to take
on Shanghai and get a traditional meal.
We ended up at a delicious restaurant recommended to us by
the hotel, however the one small detail they failed to mention was that we were
going to be doing a lot of pointing and acting in order to get our dinner as no
one spoke English in the restaurant! Never fear when the Klein’s are here
as the entire menu had pictures so we simply pointed to the dishes--- might I
add that we stuck to very basic dishes… none of that “domesticated animal” meat product (aka dog). For the
fan club, I caught Andy and Jill on camera ordering our dinner ;)
Friday
April 6th
We decided to venture on our own on Friday instead of doing
the group tour as I think my parents were ready to spread their wings as world
travelers. That being said, I agreed to opt-out of the group tour so long as we
made the most of our day. We agreed that a biking tour of Shanghai with a tour
guide (not to worry, they promised us she would speak fluent English) would be
the ideal way to see the city.
We were greeted by our adorable tour guide named Stella who
lead us through the city like a native as opposed to a tourist. Like any major
city, it is rare for people to own a car, instead people bike, walk or use the
subway system, thus we fit right in as we biked the roads of Shanghai… and when
I say biked the roads I mean literally biked along with traffic (the first half
hour was minorly terrifying, but after the initial shock, we were all good to go).
You will notice in some of the pictures
that there is another family with us; this is another Semester at Sea family
who chose to join us on the bike tour!
Our first stop on the tour of Shanghai was to a pet market… it may
seem strange to visit a pet market, however this is what I am referring to when
I say this tour was much more of a tour in the eyes of a “Shanghai-ian” rather
than a tourist, for we learned so much about what it would be like to live in
Shanghai just by visiting the pet shop.
For example, did you know that men in Shanghai own pet
crickets. They buy these crickets from a pet market and hold matches with their
friends to see whose cricket can kill the other cricket… this
sport includes gambling too! The owner of the living cricket gets to keep him
and probably wins some money as well. Can you believe that these crickets are
sold for about $200 in the pet market? The 3 of us were SHOCKED!
Additionally, people in Shanghai love their pet birds and
will take them on walks to the park. They do this by carrying them in a cage
with a cloth on top (keeps the bird calm), once they arrive at the park, they
remove the cloth and then sit in the park with their bird in the cage!
A few other facts we learned from exploring the pet market:
- All turtles have 13 sections on their shells
- By using chop sticks, the Chinese people are a lot better with their hand eye coordination
After the pet market, it was time for some biking along the
streets of Shanghai. The next major stop/ noteworthy to blog about point in our
adventure was to a typical ally way in Shanghai, in which one building holds
about 300 people. As we rode by, we were able to peer into the 1 room homes for a multi-generational family of
6… this one
room serves the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, etc.
It is at this point that I mark as the “Aha Moment” (an Oprah
phrase) in which I saw growth in my parent’s outlook. As we biked through the ally way, I saw my
parent’s eye’s opening
up and coming to the realization that wow, the rest of the world is not nearly
as excessive as Americans. Growing up we are taught that the rest of the world
doesn’t live
like us (big houses, fancy cars, excess, excess, excess), but I’m not so
sure we actually believe this to be true. Seeing the way in which the Chinese
people live provided first hand evidence that the American way of life is in
abnormal. Of course, we must keep in mind that this doesn’t make one
lifestyle better or worse than the other, but just different.
On a more uplifting note, there were tons of Wedding
pictures being shot around the city. Evidently, it is customary for a couple have
thier wedding pictures taken a few months prior to their wedding day… it’s funny that the Chinese have so many superstitions,
yet this doesn’t bother
them--- what if someone gets cold feet? We ended up stopping to admire a bride
and groom, while doing so, Stella spoke to the couple and all of the sudden Stella
told us to go over and stand with the couple because they wanted us in their
pictures! I guess we really are celebrities ;)
Next, Stella took us to an old animal slaughterhouse that is
now an indoor shopping area. The shopping area still has the authenticity of
the slaughterhouse including the brick/ rock floor and the dark gloomy look all
around. It is one of those areas that within 5 years will be a hopping center,
but right now is still in the works being built up... We quickly realized that had
we not been with Stella, we never would have thought to go to a place like an
old slaughterhouse and let me tell you it was amazing!
One of the coolest features of the slaughterhouse is that they
have built a glass ceiling so that you can see all the way down to the ground
floor… although
it is a bit terrifying when you look below, it makes the best pictures--- don’t we look
like we’re flying?
After our fun at the slaughterhouse, we were off to a
delicious street of authentic food. Once again, we were grateful that we had
Stella guiding us as made us try her personal favorites. In this picture we are
eating a dumpling sort of food with a crispy breaded outside and then the inside
is a hot soup…
delicious!
Sadly, by 3:00 PM it was time to say goodbye to Stella and
head back to the hotel. All three of us loved our biking tour of Shanghai and felt
that we got a lot out of the day (not just learning wise, but also fitness wise… boy did
we cover some territory)
On Saturday evening, we were in for a real treat as we were
off to a Passover seder at a Chabad in Shanghai. In the months leading up to
the trip, I contacted the Rabbi from the UGA Chabad, Michoel Refson to ask him
if he knew of a Chabad in Shanghai and he proceeded to give me the necessary
information. It just so happened that the Semester at Sea coordinator for the
Parent’s Trip
also got in touch with the Chabad in Shanghai so there ended up being about 35
people from Semester at Sea at the seder (this number includes both parents
that were participating on the parents trip along with students whose parents
weren’t in
Shanghai).
The seder took place at a hotel and let me just tell you it
was MUCH BIGGER than I had anticipated… there were about 125 people at the seder who came
from all around the world! It was interesting because no one at the seder was
actually a Chinese--- some of the families were from Israel and had moved to
Shanghai for work, while there were also families who were on Spring Break and
wanted to make sure to attend a Passover seder. It was equally as exciting to
celebrate Passover with Tali Shalom. Way back in Brad’s prime,
he was in playgroup with Tali… although
we haven’t seen
Tali in years, our moms have stayed in touch so that’s how we
knew she is living in Shanghai. Tali is studying Mandarin with the intent to
become FLUENT (holy smokes ladies and gentleman, that’s pretty
difficult) and my mom emailed her to see if she wanted to come to the seder
with us. It was wonderful to be able to share the holiday with Tali and learn
from an American what it is like to live in Shanghai!
Now
flash forward to Friday, April 6th, the first night of Passover, in
which I have chosen to attend a Passover seder in Shanghai. Passover
commemorates the Jewish people’s
freedom from slavery in Egypt. Throughout the seder, we recite the main
question of, Why is this Night Different from all other Nights? The purpose of
the question is to evoke the response that tonight we the Jewish people are
free from being slaves to Pharaoh. In my family’s
seder we typically recite this line in both English and Hebrew, however due to
the diverse languages spoken at the Shanghai seder, Rabbi Greenberg urged us
all to recite the question in our native tongue. Members stood up, and posed
the question in languages such as: Russian, Mandarin, Italian, Spanish, and
American Sign Language. We concluded by uniting as one Jewish people to recite
the line together in Hebrew. As everyone came together to recite the questions
in unison it occurred to me that Hebrew was a uniting factor in the room. We
all speak entirely different languages, have entirely different nationalities,
and live on entirely different continents, yet our Hebrew language fuses us
into one Jewish people.
As
I sat at the table, I pondered to myself, Why is this Night Different from All
Other Nights? Aside from the fact that my people are no longer slaves, this
night was different because tonight I realized Jewish people come in many
different shapes and sizes and have a wide range of home countries, but
together we share one common bond and that is our unique heritage to the land
of Israel.
Saturday
April 7th (Final day with Mom and Dad)
Jilly and I felt that we had LOTS of territory to cover on
Saturday as far as shopping so we made Andy rise and shine early… the
picture below shows that the Klein’s were up and out of the hotel by 9:30. We are not
sure if this is because…
A. We LOVED
the city of Shanghai, thus wanted to make the most of our day
B. We were
missing the one family member who tends to hold us up…
Your thoughts?
Our first stop was to the market that Stella had recommended
us to shop in to find random souveniors. As I made my way through this market I
wondered what would happen if Marisa and Hilary traveled to China as they would
buy every single item they saw because they love all those random toys which
are of course sold in these markets!
This was the first time that Andy saw my bargaining in
action, and let me just say I think he was more than impressed… Andy is
ready to pay $50 for items that we ended up ONLY paying $20 (and yet I still
feel that was too high!)
The next stop was to the Fakes Market! Much like the Beijing
Pearl Market, the Fakes Market in Shanghai has just about anything and
everything you can imagine. We ended up buying just a few clutch purses,
scarves and a pair of shoes, yet somehow we managed to tick away a good 2 hours
in the market! Additionally, in this market, Jilly found the newest member of
the Knitting Group--- watch out Brenda, this lady was pretty darn good at
knitting ;) By the time we got out of there it was around 2:00… we were
all hungry!
Just by luck, we came to an area that was having an outdoor
BBQ Bike fundraiser, which was exactly what we were craving--- a good ol’ taste of
AMERICA! We had our quick snack and before we knew it, it was time to head back
to the hotel, collect my belongings and then make our way to the ship…
Once again the parent’s were allowed back on the ship for one last hurrah!
They had a concluding party for the parents and families from 5:00- 6:00 PM and
then wisked all the parents off the ship at 6:00 PM on the dot ;/ ;/ ;/ In
typical CK fashion, I cried when saying goodbye to Mom and Dad as the trip was
magical and I wasn’t ready
for this chapter of my fairytale to end. Additionally, reality was starting to
really sink in as I ONLY had ONE REMAINING COUNTRY to visit until the United
States ;/ How could time move so quickly?
 |
| Saying goodbye to our Shanghai tour guides |
Shanghai
vs. Beijing:
We felt that Shanghai was much more vibrant and full of life
compared to Beijing… My parents claim to have “really felt the Communism” in
Beijing, I beg to differ on that one, although I do agree that the general way
of life felt much more serious. When you travel to China (as I hope to inspire
everyone to be like CK and TRAVEL the WORLD) I would still HIGHLY recommend
making time for both Shanghai and Beijing--- additionally, Jenna spent time in
Guilin, which is all rice paddy/ rural area and LOVED it!
Concluding
Thoughts:
A major reason I wanted my parents to come to China is to
experience a culture and country so unlike the American way of life or really
any way of life in which they have encountered. In my mind this trip could help
to open their eyes and begin to understand that there is a VERY big world out
there and perhaps the American way isn’t the end all be all. As I hear my parent’s tell family and friends about
the trip, I am happy to report that I am witnessing, the first signs a them
transforming into global citizens. My hope is that they continue to spread
their newfound outlook on the world to family and friends and of course I pray
that I have sparked their desire to continue to travel the world!
The funny thing about life is you never know where it is
going to take you. I remember summer vacations at Bethany Beach where Brad and
I would spend our day digging, digging, and digging our hole in the sand… as people
walked by us they asked, “you digging to China?” As I scooped more sand out of the hole, I never
imagined actually visiting China and here I am 15 years later, having made it
not only to China, but around the world. And with that I conclude my blog on
China, look for my next post about my travels in Japan!
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