Ni Hao, Shanghai!

Ok, I’m not going to lie. Over the past week – and on more than one occasion – I have wondered, “What the hell did I get myself into?” I was certainly asking myself that question yesterday when we were released into the wild as the CIEE Teach in China orientation – which had coddled us like little lambs – came to a close. But I’m getting ahead of myself...

Buffin and I landed in Shanghai at 1:45 p.m. on August 23rd, which felt like 12:45 a.m. to us. I adjusted to the time difference pretty quickly – quite a fete for my insomnia-prone self. It probably had a little something to do with the fact that I pulled my first ever all-nighter (yes, even counting slumber parties, study sessions and Fiji late nights) before the flight. Buffin, on the other hand, had a rough go of it for a while. One night, she woke up at 2:30 a.m. and didn’t go back to sleep until the following night. But, since she’s a trooper (just one of Buffin’s qualities that made me certain I could do something this crazy with her), she somehow managed to power through the next activity-packed day of orientation. And boy howdy did they ever keep us busy.

Each morning we had a “survival Chinese lesson” for an hour followed by some sort of lecture or discussion that centered on teaching English as a foreign language. After a lunch break, we were shuffled around town to a different activity. A group of thirty-three laowai (foreigners) is quite the spectacle as some Chinese have only seen a white person on TV or in the movies. The blonde, blue-eyed girls in our group were even asked to take a picture with some locals on a few occasions. Ugh, and please spare me the “Woo hoo, Team Blonde!” comments.

We actually covered a lot of the things that I would have wanted to eventually do here. Since only eight of us have our teaching placements in Shanghai, CIEE made a huge effort to ensure that everyone got a well-rounded glimpse of the city:

• The Former French Concession: One of (if not the) wealthiest districts in the city. A lot of trees were planted along the streets when the area was under French rule so it’s really quaint, actually. Kind of reminds me of the West Village in New York.

• Face Changing Performance: You’re going to have to Google this one to get a better idea of what I’m talking about. But, basically, a performer danced around the stage and would periodically move his hand over his face and his mask would change, almost as if by magic. Pretty amazing.

• The Bund: “A grandiose façade of ostentatious concession-era buildings” (as my guidebook says) along the bank of the Huangpu River. We went inside one of the very old banks established by the British to see an amazing tile mosaic on the ceiling. No pictures allowed, sadly. Also got our first glimpse of the incredible Pudong skyline across the river.

• Shanghai Acrobatic Show: This was basically Cirque du Soleil on crack. I have never seen people bend, balance or leap like these performers in my life. And they had some serious nerve, too. I had to cover my eyes a few times during some of the more dangerous stunts – never had the stomach for that kind of stuff.

• The Shanghai World Financial Center: At 492 meters, this is the tallest building in China. It also happens to be right next to the future tallest building in China (the name of which escapes me right now) that’s currently under construction. Way to rub it in The Shanghai World Financial Center’s face, geez. Although it’s only (“only,” sheesh) the third tallest in the world, it does have the world’s tallest observation deck. Quite frankly, it was terrifying. But I did get some good pictures, especially of the people who, in my opinion, have the worst job in the world – the men charged with washing the windows outside the 100th floor.

• Xin Tian Di: A very Western area of town (read: pricey) known for its shopping, restaurants and art galleries. We actually didn’t stay here long, so I hope to go back again. Maybe when we have visitors in town that make more than our lowly teacher’s salary (hint, hint)?

• Lujiazui Commercial Area: During this excursion, we were given the option of going sightseeing around the area or going shopping. Buffin and I (and most of the group) chose the latter because that meant escaping the all-consuming heat and humidity. It’s truly mind blowing – and I’m from one of the most humid places in America. Let’s just say that if Houston and Beaumont had a baby, it would be named Shanghai. Our mall adventure consisted of Toys R Us, the über-popular Crocs store (gives an entirely new meaning to the phrase, “That’s about as cool as Crocs,” huh, Phillip?), a gelato place and my first foreign Burger King experience. After several days of non-stop Chinese food, my stomach gladly welcomed some chicken nuggets (and my wallet appreciated the 10 yuan price tag – that’s roughly $1.50 in U.S. dollars).

• Huangpu River Cruise: I would gladly do this again, and probably will when family comes to visit since it’s crucial to the Shanghai experience. We got some beautiful photos of the Bund and Pudong at night, and just had to do an “I’m king of the world” reenactment from Titanic, which is (trivia time!) the all-time most popular movie in China. For real.

• Tian Zi Fang (aka Taikang Lu): This was one of my favorite afternoons. Buffin and I went with a small group to this artsy enclave of shops and cafes where we indulged in a little gelato (a fan favorite around here) and wandered through the maze of buildings. I almost forgot we were in China because it seemed so European. And then I had to use one of the public restrooms and was like, “Oh wait. Just kidding. I’m in China.”

Besides all of the amazing activities we got a chance to do, we also met some really great people during orientation. We were divided into groups for Chinese lessons and teaching simulations, and Buffin and I were both in Group 3 – along with Elliot, Helen, Ryan, Seth, Josh, Jordan, Jess and Betsy. Our group “rocked the house,” as Josh (or Joshe) would say. Sorry, too many inside jokes there. But trust me, they’re funny. Our Chinese leader was Fiona (who chose her English name because of Shrek, natch). She was absolutely precious, Buff and I loved her so much. It probably didn’t hurt that she was kind of obsessed with us, too. She usually referred to us as The Twins, because, as she put it, “You are always together, like twins!” At the end of the week, she gave us each a Chinese name – from now on please call me Ma Sha. It means tender and smart, but I have an inkling it had more to do with the fact that my first name (and therefore name on all official CIEE stuff, thanks Mom and Dad) is Martha. Although I am pretty tender, so I don’t know.

Helen, Ryan and Elliot were easily my favorite of the bunch. I’m already missing Helen’s biting, native-New-Yorker wit, scandalous stories and Mandarin language skills; Ryan’s clumsiness, under-the-radar hilarious comments and the fact he would be the only one who’s eyes were closed in the CIEE group picture; and Elliot’s easy-going personality, superb dancing skills and general adorableness. Hopefully we’ll be able to travel together at some point during our time in China. Buff and I are hoping to make it up to Beijing when we have a week off for National Day (the Chinese equivalent of The Fourth of July) at the beginning of October.

As cliché as it sounds, the week flew by much too quickly, and before we knew it we had to say goodbye to the only other people we knew in the entire country (save for Ashley, Becky, Josh, Betsy, Liz and Scott, who were also placed in Shanghai). Fiona started to cry, but we had her giggling only a few seconds later when both Buffin and I gave Kelvin (the program director) a double-hug goodbye. Physical contact like that isn’t very common here, especially between men and women. Whoops.

Although I feel like I’m in over my head at times (navigating the city, overcoming the language barrier, stomaching some of the more “interesting” food choices), I am truly loving both China and Shanghai. So, what the hell did I get myself into? I still don’t know the exact answer to that question, but from where I’m standing it sure looks like one hell of an adventure.

Because Moving Halfway Around The World Is An Appropriate Response To Post-Graduation Panic, Right?

“How do you feel about China?” I asked.

“China?” Buffin pondered aloud. "I can do China.”

And that was it. This brief phone conversation took place sometime in early May. My friend Buffin and I had been toying with the idea of moving to a foreign country after graduation before being reigned in by the thing that most twenty-somethings avoid with the kind of dread usually reserved for alcohol-free family reunions - the real world. And given the crap-tastic state of the economy, it wasn't exactly like people were handing out jobs on a silver platter, either.

It was during my manic job hunt, actually, when the concept of "alternative options" started to sound increasingly appealing. As a journalism major whose heart was set on moving to New York City, I quickly realized that I was living in some sort of alternate universe where I always got my way. Lovely place, really. But right now, entry-level positions in the magazine industry are as rare as an Olsen Twin sighting sans Starbucks cup and obnoxiously large sunglasses. When I interned in New York last summer, I befriended an editor at Town & Country whose response to my inquiries about the job market was this:

"I graduated during the last recession, when grown-ups complained we were all slackers. And you know what? I wish now I’d taken a year and traveled and had fun, because once the career ball starts rolling, it doesn’t stop. Next thing you know, you have three kids and a monster mortgage and you’re looking at 60 before you can take more than a week off at a time."

I've taken it upon myself to repeat that last sentence to anyone my age who will listen, and, let me tell you, it always elicits the same response - a facial expression that I choose to read as, "Oh, shit." That's what I said to myself, anyway. And, luckily, Buffin was on the same page. Soon our conversations about moving abroad (which, up until that point, could best be described as joint daydreaming) became more serious.

Africa topped our list of places to go. Well, truthfully, Africa was really the only place on the list. I volunteered in Kenya for two weeks the summer before college and had always wanted to go back. Why not now? It was far enough away for us to feel adventurous and exotic enough for us to feel cool. Plus - and I will try to say this in the least pedophilic way possible – it had an abundance of little black boys, who are, for inexplicable reasons, the absolute cutest children on the face of the earth. Hey, Madonna thinks so, too. So as far as Buffin and I were concerned, 'nuff said.

But we couldn't find a reliable program to go through, which ended up being the deal breaker. Besides the fact that Buffin and I weren't exactly keen ourselves with the idea of running off to a foreign country without a plan, there was certainly no way that Buffin's mom, Allison, would let us do a thing like that. After all, this is the woman who wanted to hire a bodyguard to accompany us to Puerto Vallarta on Spring Break because of the recent spike in Mexican crime. And that was only seven days.

Buffin and I weren’t the only ones intent on galavanting across the world. Three of my friends – Allison, Paige and Emily – were already set up to teach English in Spain for a year. On a whim, I text messaged Allison to see what the name of their program was, and the next thing I knew I had spent a good two hours scouring the CIEE website (which stands for Council on International Education Exchange, something I should probably memorize since everyone keeps asking me and I never know). Across the top of the Teach in China page, in bolded, red letters, it said DEADLINE EXTENDED. And that’s when I called Buffin.

Long story short, we were accepted into the five-month program. Someone upstairs must really like us, because not only were we placed together (which wasn’t guaranteed), we were placed in Shanghai, a fete that CIEE can rarely swing. And the cherry on top is that we will both be teaching preschoolers, or “muffins” as I’m sure I will be referring to them in the rest of my posts.

So, after an entire summer of fielding questions from family, friends and complete strangers (“No, I don’t speak Chinese. Nope, not an ounce. Yes, I realize that’s going to be a challenge.”) and an intense medical exam that resulted in me fainting in the doctor’s office, the big day is looming near. Twelve days to be exact. I’m not at all ready in the all-my-bags-are-packed sense of the word, but I’m ready (and have been for a while) to start this exciting chapter of my life. And I attribute that readiness to a self-diagnosed case of wanderlust:

Wan-der-lust: n. A very strong or irresistible impulse to travel.

Yep, sounds about right. So, until next time, zai jian. See, I told you I’d learn some Chinese before I left, Dad.