6/3 - 6/6: Shanghai

Sitting here and thinking about trying to account for my time in Shanghai, I'm kind of at a loss as to what I can write about. I spent most of my time being fairly ill, barely able to get up off the toilet or out of bed.

We woke up fairly early in Nanjing to catch the next available train to Shanghai. Since we were on the Beijing-Shanghai line, we were lucky enough to be able to take a Z-class train to Shanghai, which is pretty comfy. I didn't really notice, however, because at this point, whatever I ate in Guangzhou was beginning to really settle in. I was glad we did the last leg by train, because traveling China by train is my favorite way to see the country, sitting with the common people, seeing the countryside pass by, it's something I'll miss.

We rustled ourselves into a nice hostel near the Bund. This time, we had four beds in a six bed hostel room. The hostel's a nice place but full of hostel people, who I have little time for. Once settled, we went to meet my friend Kaity, who's in Shanghai for the summer, by the Bund, which took way too long. Even though she had been there a week, Kaity was more disoriented in the city than I was. The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, we got coffee, and then beer, and then Kaity and another friend of mine, Julia, who's native Shanghainese, took us to the "Duck King". There, we had turtle (pretty good even though the shell was still there, reminded me of a Louisiana dish I couldn't quite pinpoint) and goose. It was a great meal, but my stomach was so bad that I couldn't really enjoy it. We were supposed to go out that night, but we were all kind of tired and my stomach was killing me, so we fell asleep at 11.

I can't even clearly recollect what I did the next two days, besides wake up late and eat very little, and sit on Kaity's couch and read gossip blogs. I bought a bunch of Chinese medicine for diarrhea (of course, I whispered it to the pharmacist and she yelled it across the store). They smelled bad, looked like bird droppings and tasted like metal, but seemed to work in the short term. We also chilled for a while in a park in the French Concession. It was a hell of a denouement for my China experience, but at that point, when you feel that bad, it doesn't really matter. It was also a good easy transition back into American life. It was fun seeing Kaity and Julia's apartment, and generally fun to see what it's like for Chinese people to live in China. Granted, both are Americans, and actually, I had a leg up on them in certain situations because I can read and they can't; a sort of strange scenario. But the bottom line is that Chinese people are treated differently by the natives, and there was a realization on my part of how far I had to go with my Chinese and how, even if my Chinese became fluent, how there were certain barriers I'd never be able to break through. One thing that I realized from taking cabs with them that I didn't realize last time (probably more because I just didn't take cabs last time in Shanghai than any language difficulties) is the insanity of taking a cab in Shanghai. Most of the drivers are from the sticks, which means when you give them an address, they have no idea where it is. Sometimes they will lie and say that they do, and really have no goddamn clue. And you have to watch them like a hawk to make sure they don't scam you. At one point, Kaity asked, you're not giving us the runaround because we're in a cab with whitey? And the cab driver responded, no, for me the Chinese and whitey are alike. Great.

I clubbed a lot my last days in Shanghai, and though I had a fun time, also realized why I never club in the States, and why I don't particularly want to club ever again. Shanghai has all of those usual club features, the greasy white guys, but with the added creep-out factor that all those club greasers are chasing after Chinese girls - and are generally successful with them, no matter how greasy and ugly they are. Some clubs were quite nice though. One place we went to (against Julia's warning, it should be said), was a total nightmare. There was literally no room to dance, and even when we found a little corner, old, poorly dressed Chinese guys shoved us guys out of the way to dance up on our girlfriends. Ecch.

Honestly, not a lot of build up or excitement to my exit from China. I'm not the type who has grand ceremonies about leaving one place or another, and this was no exception. The morning of the sixth, I got up, checked out, had a leisurely breakfast, and caught a cab. I originally wanted to take the bullet train to the airport, but in a great last China moment, the driver pretended he couldn't here me, and then argued me out of it. I was too tired to give a shit, and also knew he was right: it was more convenient for me to take the cab, I just wanted to take the bullet train for the novelty. A long, sweaty, sleepless (when the plane leaves at 3:45, you can't really recalibrate your body) flight later, and I'm back in the States, still suffering headaches and GI pain. Woo hoo.

So far, it's just been sort of weird and tiring to be back in the States. I think I've finally shaken whatever bug I had, which is a relief, but it took a while. I've generally kind of been laid out with jet lag, which hit me pretty hard (a lot of naps, eleven hour sleep sessions). It was very strange the first time I paid for something with dollars again. It's just sort of a weird sensation of the uncanny: everything is strangely familiar and doesn't quite feel weird. I'll wait a week or so to reflect on it, and then give a final post and close up shop here.