Shanghai and My First College Fair!

6/20

So another eventful day here in China, as I feel every day is going to be. I had the option to sleep in until 9 this morning, but of course I woke up early yet again (this time only at 8 tho instead of 6), and

Shanghai

the social networked a bit with everyone in the midst of orientation session #4. After my fill of Instagram and WeChat I dragged my butt out of bed and attempted to make my ever so broken straightener work. It's was a task in and of itself because even though the hotels do have American plug outlet options, because one prong is slightly bigger than the other it didn't fit, so I had to try to fandangle it into my converter which just failed miserably. I attempted to take some of the tape that was lodging my straightener off to tape it to the wall but that just resulted in my straighter falling apart completely. So RIP strainer, it's been real, thanks for all the hard work and fabulous hair days, I owe ya.

After I mourned the death of my beloved straightener for a moment I went to plan B, a little poof and

Soup

ponytail; it's always a reliable back up plan. Luckily I had my outfit mentally picked out the night before so that was a stress free affair. Cilla was awake at home so we WeChatted a bit which was nice, and then I put on some Beyonce radio and went to work on my makeup. After my morning routine I went to meet Kevin so we could go over the presentation I was doing at the college fair later that afternoon. It was pretty basic, a lot like the stuff I blab about while on tour every day back at home. I sent him a few photos to include at the end of me in all my UMaine gear and around campus and whatnot and then we parted ways until we checked out at noon.

We (sadly) bid the Marriott adieu and heard cover to the hotel that was hosting the college fair. We sat down for a quick lunch of wonton and prawn (whole prawn with their legs and heads and everything) and then headed into the fair. Turns out that we were the only American universities which was ok, except no one wanted to come talk to us because we don't speak mandarin. Luckily though a couple showed interest so we weren't too too bored. At about three thirty it was my turn to go on stage and talk about UMaine. There were quite a few people there and luckily I am not a shy person so I hopped right up there and started blabbing away in English, stopping after every slide so Kevin could translate. Pretty sure he left out most of my pointless stories, but I think the audience was entertained by me at least.

My First College Fair!

Most were snapping photos of the weird white girl laughing and pointing at the slides up on stage. A least they weren't bored!! So after I returned to the other room where we were just waiting for people to come talk to us about our universities and we decided to leave. We headed out front and much to my surprise there was an Indian man as the bell hop!!! Of course I went right up to him and started chatting away. He went to school in Delhi and was a hospitality student, hence why he was working at a hotel. I had to get my picture taken with him, feeling a kinship, and then in turn he of course took one with me, which just felt so right because I basically spent an entire semester getting my picture taken with strange Indian men. Anyways, apparently Kevin was having trouble hailing a legit taxi because a rickshaw looking thing pulled up to take us to the train station. It was just too perfect for the situation and I couldn't help but be in a fantastic mood. The driver even acted Indian, being like a maniac and almost getting us killed in the opposite lane of traffic and everything!! I was loving life and the ride to the train station was way too short for my liking.

We were early for our train, we were supposed to take an even earlier one but the fair ran over, so we

"University of Maine" 

headed into McDonald's to try it out. I got a Big Mac, fries, and of course a milk tea with pearls, my absolute favorite thing. Per usual, it was a mistake to eat Micky D's, I feel like absolute crap now, but I had to at least try it. We headed into the actual train station to sit and eat, there was no seating in McDonalds, and finally found some after getting our bags checked and wandering around for a bit. Propping my feet up on my carry on I went to work on the Big Mac and it tasted just like it should. The fries were nasty and stale, but of course I ate almost half of them anyways, don't ask me why, I have no idea. I nursed the milk tea, well tried to, in reality I inhaled it because it was so good. We just killed time by sitting and talking and then finally got to head to our train. We had to all pile up an escalator and then back down a flight of stairs, which was quite a feat with all of our luggage, but we finally made it to our platform. After a few failed attempts to get jumping pictures we clambered into the train and after a slight argument with an old man

Located the Only Indian in Shanghai

about him stealing our seats (where we were actually in the wrong car and he was actually in his seat) here we sit in our too-comfy seats, on our way to Shanghai. 

So on a different note, apparently I don't have to work tomorrow at all, which is sweet because I get to go on a city tour with Kevin instead... can't complain about that! But yes, we should be getting to Shanghai at around 9:30 or 10, and I'm sure I am just going to crash when we get there, but who knows, we might head out to explore for all I know. I guess I will just have to wait and see!

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All settled in and showered at yet another incredible hotel. I gotta say, StudyGroup really is pulling out all the stops for its interns. Tomorrow I have a free day and Kevin and I are taking a city tour while Janet heads to a college fair, I'm assuming that on Monday we will be switching places and she will go out on tour while I go to work, but we will see if it pans out like that. Shanghai is beautiful, or at least in the dark it is. All of the buildings are lit up from the outside with colorful lights and designs, even under all the bridges and underpasses are lit up with blue lights. This certainly won't be a boring city, that's for sure. This hotel, called Renaissance, is really nice, although not as fancy as the Marriott in Ningbo. The lobby, which is on the fourth floor, is incredible, so obviously I was shameless in snapping photos of it while Kevin checked us in. We also have to pay for Internet which is a bummer, but it is what it is I guess. I have another rain shower so I put that to good use, checked in with WeChat, and although I am still not really tired I am going to attempt to hit the hay because I'm up pretty early tomorrow to catch a 9am train from all the way across town. Hopefully Shanghai lives up to my expectations! I'm sure it will :)

Today, my life is just Shelby.

Welcome to China

6/18-6/19

Of course I was running late to the airport, typical Shelby, but said goodbye to my mama and I made

Beijing From the Sky

my flight no problem. On the flight from Newark to Beijing I got an isle seat, which is my favorite, but then the girl who was next to me asked if I would switch with her husband. Initially I didn't want to, but then I found out he was three rows up and since I was in the second to last row and I didn't want to be a jerk I agreed. He had a window seat, which is not too bad, but the two people next to me were a couple and they were all over each other. All. Over. Each. Other. It was repulsive. They were nice enough, but I got really sick of them smooching and touching and cuddling realllllll fast. Luckily it was only a twelve hour flight though, so it could have been a lot worse. It was a pretty uneventful flight, a bit of turbulence here an there but all in all it went smoothly. I got the noodle dish for breakfast and decided to test out my chopstick skills. Apparently I did pretty well because the couple next to me was watching, smiling, and nodding at me eating, so I think that was a good sign. Plus I actually got the food in my mouth, so that's always a plus.

Arriving in Beijing it was not nearly as hard to get in as I trout it would be. I breezed through customs in five minutes, not that I thought I would get stopped but there were barely any lines which was

surprising. Once through I saw the dreaded hoard of people waiting to taxi, pick up, or greet people. Literally a wall of people. Fortunately, though, my pick up, Kevin, was standing directly in front of the door with a sign that read "UMaine Shelby," so that was a huge plus!! I waved and then met him at the exit and we proceeded into Beijing. I really came on this trip completely unprepared; I had no idea what to expect because of course I didn't do my homework or do any research whatsoever before I came here. Classic. Anyways, I had heard that Beijing was so smoggy you could barely see a half mile, and that it is so crowded that you would have trouble crossing the street, and it might be like that in some places, but from what I have seen so far it is nothing of the sort.

My initial reaction to the city was absolute awe; everything here is massive. The buildings are so tall,

Janet, Kevin, and Me

but unlike many other cities I have been to there are no short buildings at all, they are all just super, super tall. As far as the smog goes it isn't really all that noticeable. It looks like a cloudy day, but its not actually clouds, it's the smog. It's super weird too because it looks like the sun is going to break through the "clouds" at any minute, but it wont because it's the smog. I thought it would smell bad too because of all the pollution but it basically just smells like any other city I've been to. As for the hoards of people I expected to see, there aren't any. I think it might be because we are quite a ways away from the center of Beijing, but regardless I thought it was going to be way more crowded.

When I first arrived and Kevin picked me up we headed straight to the office that I will be mainly working in for the next three weeks. It took almost an hour to get there because the airport isn't that

First Real Meal

close and also because of the traffic. The traffic isn't as bad as I thought it would be either. I expected it to be more like India; horns blaring, people being run off the road, etc etc. It is much more like driving in the US though. Yes, there is the occasional honk, as expected in a city setting, and people don't follow the lines on the road as much as Americans do, but other than that it is pretty similar. They even drive on the same side of the road as we do.

So we headed to the StudyGroup office and I was introduced to Janet, who I had been in contact with before via email mostly. I'm glad to have a travel buddy who is also foreign, it makes me less hesitant to ask dumb questions, not that I would have been hesitant anyways, but still. So we met up at the office and were going to hang around there for a bit but decided to go check in at the hotel and get ready for dinner. The hotel was really nice, better than most I've stayed in, some would even say it was ritzy. Anyways, I checked

Creepy Camel Dragon in my Hotel

in, turns out I even got my own room, and headed upstairs to change. Having been traveling for almost twenty four hours I was pretty grody, to say the least. I hopped right into the shower, which was amazing. It turned the shower head to the rain setting and just stood ere and let it wash my day of travel away. Of course after that I had about a half an hour before dinner so I laid down on the bed which was a mistake. It was kind of hard but the pillows were like heaven. It was so comfy and I was so tired that I actually considered calling Janet and Kevin and telling them I wouldn't be able to make dinner, but I decided to be a trooper and go out, which was a good decision. Sleep is for the weak anyways. We headed right down the street from our hotel and ordered a plethora of food. We ordered things from fatty, delicious steamed pork with sweet dates, to duck liver and greens, to fried eel, to an egg stir fry, and way more. We of course got some of the local beer too, which was not too shabby. It was all too delicious (except the duck liver, I was not a fan), but I was so tired that I could only try a bit of each. After we had our fill we headed back to the hotel where I went and crashed into bed. I was dead asleep by 7pm. I did

Delicious Seaweed Soup

wake up after what I thought was almost a full night of sleep, but apparently I can't shake American time because I actually woke up at 10pm, I think my body thought I was just taking a nap. It tossed and turned for most of the night but did end up getting a bit more sleep. I was wide awake by 6am, though, and decided that it was pointless to try to go back to sleep. I ended up going out into the lounge and figuring out the WiFi situation and to attempt to be in contact with people back at home. My iPhone was pretty good at connecting, and the iPad as well, but I could not, and still cannot, figure out how to really use my Chinese android. Oh well.

After fiddling with the electronics for a couple hours I still had about three left until we had to head out to the airport. Janet texted me and we headed downstairs to get a bite to eat at the buffet. They had coffee there, thank god, so I had my favorite steamed greens (bok choy I think it was, yummmmmmm), some potato slices, and a few interesting things that I didn't like as well. After sitting and talking about our campuses for a bit we headed back upstairs to repack and kill some more time. We finally headed out to the airport and after stopping at a noodle restaurant (where I had the most delicious seaweed noodle dish of my life), we are on our way to Ningbo, where we will spend until Monday afternoon. The rest of today is free time, so I think I am going to try to get my nails done somewhere because they look like crap right now, and then we are just going to explore the city a bit. Our flight is delayed at the moment with no estimated departure time. Gotta love Air China. Anyways, it's a bit toasty in here so I hope we take off soon. Hopefully this weekend goes smoothly, it's my first time running through my UMaine presentation, I feel like maybe I should practice before I get out there, but you know that isn't going to happen. Good thing I'm wicked good at winging it! We will see how it goes!

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Well! That was an eventful afternoon! At least it felt like it. So our flight finally took off and it was an

Bub Tea!!!!

uneventful trip, which isn't a bad thing. We landed in Ningbo at about 4pm and made it to our hotel a bit before 5. Still being full from the noodles, and also being fed again in the plane, we weren't hungry quite yet so we took twenty to freshen up in our rooms. We are staying in a Marriott and let me tell you, this place is faaaaaaaaaancy. I thought the other hotel was nice, but it's got nothin on this one. I don't even know how much it costs to stay here and I don't really want to. It has everything, even a spa, a gift shop, a full bar in the lobby, a special members lounge, a pool, and way more. When we walked in there was a girl sitting in the lobby area (which was massive by the way), playing an instrument that produces the classic Chinese sound. Beats the heck out of me what it's called, I'll have to google it when I am less tired. Anyways, she was playing beautifully, I got some on video, but I couldn't stay long to listen because I had to get all the way up to the 31st floor, which is only about half way up the building.

After freshening up and applying liberal amounts of deodorant (it's really hot here by the way, the humidity is terrible and the smog thrown in there is just the cherry on top) and headed down to meet back up with Janet and Kevin. We headed pretty aimlessly down the street and came across a huge shopping plaza, which turned out to be the beginning of blocks and blocks of shopping plazas. I didn't buy anything (I know, super uncharacteristic of me, right?), but I got a good idea of what is way too expensive for a bunch of things. Shoes and clothes are definitely on the top of my list of things to buy. Tea cups are a close second. So we walked around a bit and then actually started to get pretty hungry around 7 so we headed into this big mall type thing, but the restaurant there on the top floor had too big of a line so we headed down the street and settled down

View of the City from my Room

into a nice restaurant. We ordered so many dishes, ranging from fried pork (which tasted exactly like Panda Express's orange chicken) to jellyfish (which was so repulsive I had to spit it out). I tried everything and only didn't really like the jellyfish and the dessert (which was this poppyseed filled pastry type thing, it was gross). After divulging in way too much food we headed back out to the streets when I saw one of my favorite things in the whole world: bubble tea. Oh man oh man it is LEGIT here!! They put so many more tapioca balls in it to I was so content. I'm hoping it doesn't kick back tonight, I'm sure it won't, and I am going to have a hard time resisting getting one every day. Well I'm only here for 20 days, so I guess it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if I did do that...

After that we just walked around and took some pictures, classic tourist moves right there. So as I was walking around and taking photos of everything that caught my eye I realized that I looked exactly like the Chinese tourists to when they come to America. I had a good chuckle to myself about that. I'm really happy that I have a travel buddy (Janet) and she's pretty cool, she majored in international studies and also Hispanic studies, so clearly it was meant to be; we are totally kindred spirits. Also she loves to take weird and funny photos and I do too so it works out nicely. Neither of us can wait until the Great Wall this week!!!

But yes, once I got back to the hotel I headed upstairs and thought about just crashing, but I was

Janet and Me at a Fountain

beyond disgusting. Then two amazing things happened. So as I was about to shower I remembered that pandora doesn't work outside of the US, which is a total bummer because I live off of that and have to listen to some sort of Beyonce or Rihanna playlist when I shower. Then a thought crossed my mind, what if spotify worked? And guess what? I did!!!! So I hopped into the shower jamming to some B and figured out how to turn it on and got the water all nice and hot and then looked at the handle and realized that there was a button that seemed like it didn't go to anything. Well, I pressed it and it turned the shower into a rain shower. Yes, a rain shower. And. It. Was. Amazing. So after taking one of the best showers of my life I sit here typing and chatting with my peeps back at home via WeChat, my eyes drifting closed. Suppose I should get some sleep I have my first day of actual work tomorrow!!!

Today, my life is just Shelby.

Farewell India: Concluding Thoughts

Entrance to the Red Fort

So the last leg of my adventures went by in a blur, almost literally. I spent a significant amount of time in the van/bus we rented for the twelve of us who went on the Northern Indian tour. We packed in all our luggage and ourselves and headed across the country. We saw many things, mostly forts, which were really cool. The first one we saw was the Red Fort. This was pretty cool, especially since we headed there right at the end of the day so there really weren't a lot of people there. I also got my first glimpses of the Taj Mahal, something I had waited me entire life to see in person!

Me and Ryan on the Roof of a Fort

We got to see a few other really cool things right off the bat, like another arch that looked a lot like the Indian arch. We went on this trip as a group which was actually a nice change because we had been so independent all semester. Jacob, our program director, literally just toted us from one place to another and showed us a bunch of cool things and places.

One of my other favorite places in Northern India was this complex we went to. It used to belong to

At One of the Complexes 

someone really important, beats me if I remember who, and he kept all four wives in it, but they each had their own house. It was really neat because he put each of their houses is separate corners of the complex but let them design it. They all had a budget, so a couple of them were really big but pretty empty and the others were so elaborate but very small. We went to a few more places, although writing this entry nearly seven months later is not good for the old memory. I do, though, remember so vividly some of the shenanigans we got ourselves into on these adventures. Two of my friends and I were trying to get home form this

Being a Five Year Old

market one night and we decided to take a bike rickshaw. Well, the man literally had no idea where the hotel was so he just guessed and then we stopped for directions and it was over ten miles away! Needless to say we got off and into a real rickshaw. I also pretended to drive the bus while most everyne was in a restaurant peeing and grabbing a snack. I got impatient so I started to honk the horn and hide so no one could see me. A total five year old move, but it was too hilarious to pass up! Also we had a hellofa time trying to find it, literally it took all afternoon and we STILL couldn't find it. We just went back and waited for jacob to come and tell us. When we did get there it was the wrong market and we couldn't even go shopping! AHH! Oh well, I guess it's the adventure we had trying to get there that was the real fun.

So as I mentioned I am writing this over seven months after the end of my trip, so a lot of things have faded away. One thing, though, that I vividly remember was riding an elephant up  to a palace. It. Was. Awesome. It wasn't my first elephant ride, but it certainly as the best by far. Not only was it long, but it brought up this beautiful pathway were we could look out over the land and see for miles.

Elephant Time!

The guy who was driving (driving? is that the right word for this situation?) was friendly enough, and some guys even tried to sell us some tapestries on our way up which was hilarious! I went on with my friend Lauren and we had a grand old time; we even got some of it on video! I did feel so bad for the elephants, though. They looked pretty well kept, but how happy can a herd of elephants really be carting tourists up a huge hill every day? Regardless, our elephant was great and I enjoyed every minute of the ride! We also got to go visit Gandhi's memorial sight, which was amazing as well. It was so decorated and clearly it was a very sacred spot.

The Taj!

I have to say, though, that my favorite part of my entire trip to India was seeing the Taj Mahal. Pictures cannot do this place justice. It. Was. Incredible. I was absolutely speechless almost the entire time I was there. You know how in photos or on TV it looks kind of like a backdrop? Well that's what it looks like in real life too. It's the most eerie thing ever. I not only got to see it and take the classic snapshots with it, but I got to go inside and see the actual tombs! This place was seriously so enormous I can't even describe how big it was. We went right when the gates opened as well, so it was not as crowded as I have heard it can be. So the gates are supposed to open at seven, but of course it was closer to eight by the time we got in. Even though we missed the sun rise it was amazing, and also not too hot which was wonderful! We spent a good portion of the morning there, just walking around, taking in the sights, snapping as many photos as we can, and trying to dodge the other tourists. It was a successful day overall!

So on a slightly different note, I just wanted to give the scholarship that allowed me to go on this

fabulous trip a shout out. The Benjamin A. Gilman International scholarship gave me a huge amount of money to fulfill this dream I had of studying abroad. It covered every aspect of the trip minus the ticket, so clearly that was an enormous help. This trip really did change my life and I owe a significant portion of that to this scholarship program. It is pretty cool too that because I received this I am now an advisor for other potential Gilman Scholarship applicants!

All in all this trip was wild, crazy, filled with new experiences, homesickness, real sickness, stressful times, lack of internet, misunderstandings, great friends, amazing food, and was just a whirlwind in general. I couldn't have asked for a more amazing time abroad and I hope everyone gets the chance to travel at some point in their lives. I'm sure I have many adventures awaiting me down the road; stay tuned and I will tell you all about them!!

Today, my life is just Shelby.

Turkey Day Abroad

Preppin the Veggies with Marley

So Turkey Day this year was QUITE the experience! Thankfully it turned out amazing! So three of my friends and I volunteered to make dinner for around 30 people. Yeah, don’t ask me why we did that, but we did so there was no backing out. We made the list of what we needed and divided it between us four and the hospitality department people who had volunteered to help us. We went on quite an eventful shopping excursion, which included us having to find replacements for American things that weren’t carried her; for example, we had to get veggie soup instead of veggie stalk. No matter though, we were still pretty optimistic.

20lbs of Potatoes Apparently Wasn't Enough

We arrived at the kitchen on campus at 11am to find out that we were still missing half the items we needed, and there was no turkey there yet. We sent someone out four or five times to get the items we needed throughout the day and nearly didn’t have enough potatoes for mashed potatoes. We had to make a call to a higher power, aka our program director, to pressure them to get us more potatoes. So anyways, two o’clock came 

Tom TurkeyStill Intact and Frozen Solid

around and we were still prepping all the veggies and we had no turkey yet. Two thirty came around and we finally got our turkeys, but they were both frozen SOLID and with their heads and feet still attached. That was an experience thawing and beheading and defooting them. I took the feet and legs off, all the while pretending to be a dinosaur. Surprised? No, me neither. We popped them in the oven and prayed they would thaw in an hour or two (they didn’t).

Velociraptor RAWRRRR!

We continued to make EVERYTHING from scratch: the stuffing, the green bean casserole, the pumpkin pie, everything. And I mean from SCRATCH, as in, cutting and peeling raw pumpkins, baking bread to make the stuffing, boiling and cutting the green beans and adding onions and mushrooms to the casserole, everything. It was an experience and we thought for sure that we wouldn’t be able to pull it off.

Well, for those for you who know me, you know I am a complete control freak, so it was hard for me to control myself 

Ew

and be a normal human being to my friends, but I did a pretty good job I think! Towards the end though, I started to freak out a little. Our friend Hiral showed up (thank god) ad helped out sooo much doing this and that and helping out just wherever she could; I don’t think we would have finished if she hadn’t come help! Ruskin also came in and dealt with my crazy like a champ. By the time he got there I was a maniac and just shouting directions here and there and freaking out about the turkey and everything being done on time (the turkey was not cooking fast enough, plus we didn’t have a cover for it for almost three hours, so it was a little dry at that point).

The Cinnamon and Nutmeg They Gave Us For The Pies...

We managed to pull it off, though! And I honestly can’t believe it! Here is a list of everything we made: 

Two turkeys (which ended up being delicious, somehow), stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, rolls, a full salad, scalloped potatoes, five pumpkin pies, four apple pies, sweet potatoes, normal turkey gravy, and veg gravy. And it was all SO GOOD. As in, might be some of the best Thanksgiving food 

I’ve ever had, if I do say so myself. The stuffing was freakishly on par, there were enough mashed potatoes for everyone to get their fill, and they 

Hiral Coming to Save the Day

were SO delicious, and we even managed to find dinner rolls to top it all off. On top of all the 

American food we also had some Indian barbecue, which included chicken kebabs and a few veggie ones too. I stuck to American food, though, and as you can imagine, ate until I literally couldn’t eat any more.

Fireworks!

So after we were all done eating, our resident direction Jacob told us all to come outside, so we obediently followed and his mini van had been 

backed up to the soccer field on campus and it was just LOADED with fireworks! Apparently that is the new Thanksgiving tradition! So with 

our bellies full we went crazy; it was a pyro’s dream. We set off so many and had a grand old time. Afterwards we headed back in for dessert (the pies were FANTASTIC) and just to hang out. We all headed home around 11pm full of delicious food and smiles on our faces. I can honestly say this was the most fun I’ve ever had on Thanksgiving. I mean, I love and 

The Spread (The Turkey Was On Its Way)

My Plate

look forward to Thanksgiving with my family each year and I did miss them bunches, but there is always family drama, or your sisters or cousins just get annoying, you know, the normal family holiday stuff. Here though, it was just plain fun… well, after we finished cooking and actually relaxed!

All in all Turkey Day this year was a complete success! I only wish that we had been able to take the leftovers home!!

The Group!

Today, my life is just Shelby.

So Full!