Food In China

In my last blog I mentioned a bit about the food here. But I mainly hit on the fast food, and food that is delivered to your door. So I am going to dedicate this blog to some of the food here in China that I have come to love, and eat quite frequently.

One of my major concerns when coming to China was if I would be able to find food that I would like. I always heard food poisoning stories and people told me horror stories. But so far I have been fine and haven't been sick once :)

I would also like to add that it is not hard to find good food here. It is not as cheap as the street food, but its still not expensive in comparison to the USA or Europe.

** Please note that I am a very picky eater. So the things I post here are not as adventurous as what my classmates might have. **

Real Ramen! It is noodles with meat, veggies and a hard-boiled egg. This is about $4.



An Irish coffee I indulged in when we were at M50 (Textile factories that they made into several art galleries)

At Hibachi (a Japanese style restaurant where they cook all food in front of you on a flat grill.) We paid a flat rate of about $20 for all you can eat and drink. We had sushi, shrimp, fish, lamb chops, pork chops, steak, chicken and so much more.



This is at a place called Xiabu Xiabu. Basically you get a pot in the middle of the table to cook your food yourself. You pick the broth you want (we had two kinds) and then what meat and veggies you wanted to put in. About a $5 meal.



I ate street food here. It was actually very good despite my original skepticism. I liked that I was able to watch him cook my food thoroughly. I paid less that a dollar for 3 skewers.



A fried rice dish that I sometimes get at the ramen restaurant. It comes with miso soup and is great! Costs about $4.

This is basically the same meal I get every time I go to the cafeteria on campus. It costs about $1 for everything you see here. And it is what they recommend for us to eat because it is safe food.

Week 3

I have officially made it into my third week of living in China!

Everything is falling into a routine, and I am amazed at how much I am learning and progressing in everyday life. I do not feel like I am in school over here. It's a weird feeling, but I guess I don't associate living abroad with school. Even though I go to class everyday, I guess I have just categorized that as part of the living abroad experience.

This blog is hard to write, because I feel that I haven't really done much of anything. But I realize that even the most mundane of things here is something completely different and new for everyone back at home. And then I realize that since even the small things count, I should include them here in the blog. But then I have no idea how to organize my thoughts, and what to include.

But here goes, this blog is going to concentrate mainly on the day-to-day things that I noticed are completely different than back at home.

1) Traffic: This includes everything when you consider driving. I have not once seen a speed limit sign. Not that it matters because the traffic is so bad that you never can go too fast. People have no fear when it comes to driving here. I haven't yet decided if this is incredibly brave, or incredibly stupid. People constantly cut each other off on the road. There is no such thing as taking turns. It is a fend for yourself situation. I hear cars honking all the time. But it does no good to honk your horn when you do it so often. People don't even bat an eyelash at the noise. Mopeds here are a very popular form of commuting. But these guys follow even fewer rules than the cars do. At least cars will stop at red lights, mopeds just keep right on. If I ever get run over, it will be because a moped driver didn't allow me to walk EVEN THOUGH I have the right of way. I would also like to mention that I have only seen like 5 police cars while here. And not one of them were patrolling traffic or trying to stop crime.

2) Food: Food here is completely different. But of course, you all probably know that. Just thought that I should mention here in case anyone had any doubts: Chinese food in America is not the same as Chinese food in China. And of course the same goes here. The American food here is completely different, and doesn't even taste, or have the same ingredients. This is simply because both places have different recipes and food availability. Don't forget that just because the food says "American" on it means that they want to appeal to the Americans in China. Overall, they still want to sell food, and as such, the Chinese people want it to be more similar to what they like.

Almost everything here can be delivered. This is so awesome! My friends and I have had McDonald's, Pizza Hut, and sushi delivered right to our door. I have also seen Subway deliver as well. Pizza Hut can also deliver a bottle of wine if you so choose with your pizza. But, the wine here in China is not a specialty, so not only will you pay more, chances are you will also not enjoy the wine you get. Pizza Hut here is also considered a "nice" restaurant. Literally, when we went in, it was like a nice Italian place, my friends and I were genuinely confused at first. We have also tried Carl's Jr. and Burger King. Both were near misses. Not the same thing as back home.

I also pay about $5 for a meal here. And that is if I go somewhere kind of expensive, i.e. when we go to eat sushi. Most of the time we can go to local places and find full meals, with all the works, for about $2. I foresee having issues when I go back home when it comes to meals because everything here is so cheap.

3) Beauty/Fashion: So here the ideal Chinese woman has big eyes, very pale skin, and looks like a doll. Because of this I have a very hard time trying to find lotion or moisturizer that won't try to make my skin lighter than it already is. Almost everything here has something that will make you "100% White" or something along those lines. I have also seen many Chinese women with orange looking hair because they want to dye it blond, but it doesn't work out that well.

As for fashion... everything is either very cute and little girl like, or edgy with rock undertones. And the clothing here runs super tiny because most of the women don't need huge sizes. Shoes sizes for women that are bigger than an 8 are very hard to find.


4) Animals: There are a ton of stray cats running out and about in Shanghai. They are everywhere. Dogs are not seen as much. Maybe because they are not as independent as cats... maybe because they are used as meat in street dishes. I do not know, and I do not want to think about it too much. I knew this was a part of China, but it is still hard to deal with.

Hmm... That's all I can think about for the moment. There are other things too that I want to talk about, but I don't want to put them all into one blog.

Hope this was interesting for those who read!

Pictures and Updates

 

First week of classes are almost over! I have Chinese everyday except Wednesdays from 9am to 12pm. Then on Wednesdays I have a class that is called 'Managing Enterprises in China' which goes from 1:30pm to 4:20pm. And on Thursdays, along with all the other Alliance students, I have 'China as an Economic Giant.'

 

So far all of my classes have been interesting. I really think I am going to enjoy my Management class. The only downside is that the classes are sooo long. Back at home I am used to classes being an hour and half maximum. Oh well, can't have it all the way you want it.

 

Chinese is interesting. We spent the first 3 classes just going over pronunciation and forms. Writing characters and learning sounds is so difficult. It takes me back to when I was learning German. And the frustration at not being able to communicate and understand someone. It just makes me want to learn faster.

 

I have some pictures of Shanghai. I will take more and upload more of course, but for now here are a few for you to look at.

 

Downtown Pu Dong from the Bund

 

 

View of Shanghai from a museum

Museum again

View from my dorm

Other view from my dorm

 

First Week in China

Alright!

I so thought I would have a blog completed before now, but this past week has been crazy busy and hectic. We have had orientation every day this week, and today was the first day of classes.

The flight over was two hours late because the tv's on the plane weren't working. That flight was the longest flight I have ever been on, and suffice to say that I wouldn't do it if I really didn't want to go to China.

Shanghai is a huge city with people out and about all the time. The roads are insane, and I am pretty sure there is no speed limit. No one follows the rules of driving, and I haven't seen a police car patrolling through traffic yet.

We went to Walmart one day to buy odds and ends... things that we needed and/or forgot to bring with us. The walmart here was four stories tall and a mess of activity.

People always stop and stare at our group as we walk through the streets. I feel like we are circus animals on display. I am getting used to the staring. No one has yet to touch me, which is good.

I am going to upload some pictures and write out more detailed blogs about my life so far. But for right now this is all I can do. I am very tired, but I wanted everyone to know that I am here safe and sound and that life is going well for me.

Gettin' This Thing Started

OOOKKKKAAAYYY!

I have had this blog set up for a while now. I saw no point in starting to post stuff because I wasn't really doing much.

This blog is going to be my way to communicate, describe, and talk about my life as I take on studying abroad in Shanghai, China. As of right now I am still at home and tying up loose ends for my trip. (Getting shots, securing my visa, and saving money) I leave in 36 days and I know that those days will fly right on by.

This blog is about ME, as you can already tell I am not much of a writer and my grammar probably needs correcting. I am not one for eloquent words and witty metaphors. I am simply going to write my experiences in a way that will help my family and friends better understand what is going on. Got it? Good. Moving right along...

Since this blog is about me, I feel as though a little introductory and history lesson about me are in order. :)

I am currently a Junior at Texas Tech University studying International Business. I spent the first year out of high school in Germany. I loved it. I am trying to find a way back. Since I have been throughout Europe I figured I should go somewhere that isn't in the norm. Originally when I went into my study abroad adviser's office I was gonna go to Spain... and yet I ended up in Shanghai? It was all my choice of course. I am going with a program called the Alliance for Global Education. They have programs throughout China and India, and they are fabulous.

What else is there to say? I will be taking 9 hours of Chinese and 6 hours of business classes at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. I will have a Chinese roommate, I look forward to meeting her.

As of right now that is all I can really think about saying. I am super excited to go and experience a completely different culture. From the other blogs I have been reading, I can tell that I will love it!

Until next time!