Going Global, Baby! Shanghai, China 2012

Hello everyone! I am currently in the Philippines on vacation and visiting relatives, but I figured that I would post just one last time, for old time’s sake, lol. So, my semester abroad in Shanghai, China has sadly come to an end. As I have said time and time again, I still cannot believe the crazy, amazing things that I have done and gone through that I never thought would happen. By the time I go back home to New Jersey, I would have ridden more planes, trains, ferries, taxis, buses, boats, metros, and probably any other form of public transportation you can think of in this semester alone than in my entire life! I have made friends with people who I probably would have never met had I not studied abroad with this program. I hope to continue these friendships even back to the states. And my eyes have definitely been opened to so many new things being in China. Seriously though, if you’re considering studying abroad in any country, not only China, DO IT! You won’t regret it!

It’s also crazy how far I’ve come, language-wise. I came to Shanghai knowing honestly little to no Chinese; numbers, a few key phrases, a fair amount of words and written characters… I had 1 semester of Chinese beforehand, but it absolutely was not enough to prepare me, to say the least! Seeing that the Chinese language is comprised of over 80,000 characters… I think I can say that I have made tremendous progress throughout these past 4 months seeing that I came here not knowing much, lol. Let’s be real, I am FAR from fluent still, but am definitely more confident in the language. I can order food, bargain, ask for directions, and get by in other basic conversational Chinese situations like that and am hoping not to lose what I have learned this semester and to just grow even more from here. They say the best way to learn a language is to actually be in the country and speak with its people and have those daily interactions that force you to speak it. And I couldn’t agree more. Thank goodness my mom is fluent in the language, hopefully I can practice with her at home!

I will miss so many things. I couldn’t possibly list them them all, but here are a few:

1. The friends I have made, teachers, the 4th graders I taught (no matter how rambunctious or out of hand they got), and the people I have met, of course.
2. My roommate, Eline, and her little quirks, our night time ritual of turning off the light and leaving our desk lamps on when one of us would go to bed, and how I could always depend on her to save me when I needed help with Chinese homework, lol.
3. EVERYTHING BEING SO DARN CHEAP! (minus all of those high end luxury brand name or imported goods of course, lol) No.. but really… EVERYTHING is for the most part cheap:  public transportation, food, manicures, facials, movies/tv series and other basic things like that.
4. BARGAINING and shopping, in general… especially at Qipu Lu and Shanghai Tech. After 4 months of bargaining and getting things down to such low prices, it will be a hard shift to go back to fixed prices, lol.
5. THE BACK STREET, with all of the mom and pop shoppes and it being so close and convenient, the cute little boy who’s parents own that shop near the Coco, skewer lady, malatang, the nail lady, the fruit lady who is kinda expensive but gives you a good price depending on the day, Mr. Noodle, the new juice people and more. 
6. The amazing public transportation! and how incredibly cheap it is! LOVE the metro. and the crazy taxi drivers. Buses… not so much, but let’s be real, I try to avoid those at all costs. Shanghai has spoiled me so much with its great transportation system, I will truly miss it when I go back home.
7. STREET FOOD. and how cheap it is. Not the most healthy, but hey, it’s so good!
8. Family style dinners all the time.
9. Having endless things to do and see!

But… I will also NOT miss a few things:

1. Though I love Shanghai’s transportation system, I will definitely not miss its crowded metros during the morning and from 5-7 pm when people are going to and from work and SUPER overcrowded buses.
2. Squatting toilets. Enough said.
3. The polluted air. My eczema and skin (my face, especially) has literally HATED me all semester because of it.
4. People spitting and hacking loogies all the time and everywhere… gross.

It’s hard to believe how fast these past 4 months have gone.  I hope to come back to this amazing city at some point in my life. I don’t exactly know when, maybe for work, maybe for vacation, maybe in a year, maybe in 10 years… but I do hope to come back… one day. The only thing that I wish I had gotten to do was to go to Beijing and see the Great Wall, Forbidden City, etc. I just couldn’t find the time to fit it in with school, internship, other trips to places, and everything else going on throughout the semester. Hoping to do that some time in the future, but for now, I can say that I am happy to finish this chapter in my life and move on to what is in stored for me next. Til next time, zaijian!