China, you make me sweat.

So Let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start)- the flight. LONGGGGGGGG=19 hours from the beginning of the first flight to landing in Shanghai, not including the airport waiting time or transportation at either end. But not terrible. Watched some movies and slept. Talked to a random korean man sitting next to me who told me "You must be very smart, Fudan University very good". I thanked him and promptly fell asleep.

Day one in Shanghai was very overwhelming and exhausting. We did orientation stuff in the morning and then went to Walmart (pronounced Wa-mar in chinese, haha). I have to admit, I was more than slightly horrified when it was suggested that we go to Walmart to do our inital shop because Walmart= the horrors/glories of American Capitalist society, and I'm in CHINA. Anyways, it was terribly overwhelming but my roommate's chinese language partner was there to help us and to tell me that "Chinese people do not use body lotion" and that because chinese women do not shave, finding a women's razor was going to be a hard. She almost died when I talked about buying a men's razor. (Don't worry, I found a women's razor, but I'm going to smell like aftershave because I had to get Gillette for Men shaving cream, yippee) We also bought some frozen dumplings and Jenny, the language partner, came home with us to make them. yummmm. In case you haven't heard, dumplings (and steamed buns) are my absolute favorite chinese dish ever. close behind are rice and noodles. I obviously really hate carbs.

By the way, I guess I'll tell you about my apartment. AWESOME!!!!!! Vassar needs to take a lesson from Fudan University about their dorms. I live on the 13th floor, so I have a kinda ok view, in a huge apartment with a fully functioning kitchen and living room, two bathrooms, and three single (quite large) bedrooms. We have a nice TV and couches and a dining room table provided for us, plus normal bedroom furniture. There's just so much space. It's wonderful. I live with two other girls and we all have our own bedrooms. I share a bathroom with one other person, big (but welcome) change from sharing two showers and two toilets with 20 girls AND boys.

Yesterday was particularly wonderful (Despite the first activity, I am actually not being sarcastic). We began our day with a chinese language placement exam, which was pretty fair actually. The test itself was a good balance of wtf?! and duh. The essay was killer though "Write about World Issues You're Interested In". Mine turned out something like this "In some countries, people die because they do not have food to eat...This is bad." But the oral was great. The teachers are these super cute young chinese women that think you're adorable too so it's just a great big love fest. They asked me what I like to do and I said play soccer (first thing to come to my head) and they looked at me aghast and said, "WHY?!" so I said "So...I don't get fat?" They loved it. I later found out that was weird because in China, since women are supposed to be delicate and fragile, they don't really play sports or workout. I guess that explains why they're all so fat here. duh. Then we had some delicious muslim noodles. As in, the best hand pulled noodle restaurants (and cheapest and fastest) are muslim in china, from the western/northwestern regions of china. they were delicious. Then I got a bubble tea. I don't care what you might have heard about this delightful and refreshing beverage, but it is really really really really a palate pleaser. as long as the "bubbles" (tapioca pearls) don't scare you away. Then we had some more orientation. Then another break and Magnolia and I found an illegal DVD store. After pointing at twilight, making fangs with our fingers, and pretending to bite each other, we found "True Blood" (a wonderful vampire show on HBO), seasons 1 & 2, for 20 kuai= approx. $3 USD. but then the police started patrolling and they put everything away so we decided that was a good time to peace out. But we'll be back for true blood. that is, if they're still in business. Then more orientation. Then I bought a bike! how awesome is that! except that terrified to ride it. General traffic laws are only obeyed by cars (usually) which leaves the bikes and mopeds to do whatever they want, including going the wrong way down the road or running through pedestrian-filled crosswalks. Overall, the bigger your vehicle is, the more "right of way" you have. me on a bike= small right of way. and because i'm a foreigner, pretty much no matter what kind of accident happens, it will be my fault. (although if you've ever seen me on a bike, you'll know that it probably will be my fault) Then they all stare and crowd around you and yell/laugh. That's what I've heard at least. I give myself one week until I crash. But my 218 RMB= approx $31USD bike will probably fall apart before then anyways. Then more orientation. Then the typhoon (chinese hurricane) finally hit. We waded in ankle deep water (great drainage systems in china) to a dinner of dumplings and beer (Qingdao of course). Then the rain stopped and we walked home. I finally discovered last night how to get on facebook and how to blog (aka proxy server). yay!

Today, more orientation=boring. Then some of us got on a random bus and got off randomly a few stops later, had some lunch, went to walmart again. Magnolia, Alex (new friend), and I stopped for a massage on the way home. 60 minutes for 30 RMB= approx $4.30 USD. They talked about us a lot and it was funny, good language practice. Really good massage. Then we chilled for bit at my apartment, then we went to Nanjing Lu, a major shopping street/tourist destination and saw the lights on the Bund (the area around the Huangpu river that runs through Shanghai)- pictures coming soon. Now sleep....

ps, probably should offer some context for the title of this post. It's hot. really hot. and so humid. the air simply deposits moisture on you, in case your body didn't produce enough already.