Shanghai Shenanigans

6/23-6/25

So me being me, I completely misunderstood what the game plan for yesterday was. Thinking I was

going on a city tour, like I thought I heard Kevin say, I dressed in a UMaine tee, purple shorts, and

Outdoor Market

sneakers. I didn't grab the iPad or even headphones, wanting to pack light for a day of walking around. So I got downstairs and went to go meet Kevin outside. As soon as I went outside I knew I had made a grave mistake. Kevin was in his full event outfit: nice black pants and a pressed shirt. He also had the UMaine banner in one hand. I went over and asked if what I was wearing was ok and he kind of looked at me funny, but then was like yah, it's fine. Well, it most certainly was not and I knew it. I had no time to change, though, so I hopped in the cab and tried to figure out how I was going to fix this mess. Luckily I'm a quick thinker, one of my better traits I like to think, and and asked Kevin if we were going to have any spare time when we got to Nanjing. He said it was a two hour train ride, then all he had to do was stop by his wife's apartment for five minutes and then we would have about an hour and a half to kill before the event started. Relived, I asked if we could stop somewhere so I could buy a dress or two,

Kevin Being Goofy

because I had been meaning to anyways and this was the perfect time to do it. He agreed and we hopped onto the train to Nanjing.

After a quick pit stop at his wife's apartment, where I stayed in the taxi cause it was pouring, we headed to H&M to do a little light shopping. In absolute heaven to be shopping in the first place only turned into elation when I saw the amazing sales that were happening. I hit the jackpot for professional clothes, raking in two new jackets, a lacy dress, and two pairs of flats. We headed to get a bite to eat before heading to the hotel where the event would take place. Kevin had bought a new shirt as well and we both changed once we got to the event location. We looked killer, to say the least. We also nailed yet another UMaine presentation. We definitely convinced all of those kids to go there. Some guy came to our table and was asking all sorts of questions about our school, come to find out his son is still in middle school. Don't ask me why he is

already starting to look at colleges, he should be more concerned if his kid is getting beat up on the playground and not what scores he needs on his English entrance exam.

So after the event we rushed to catch the metro back to the train station. We made it just in time and took our seats on the super fast train (yes, they call it that, mainly because it really does go super fast). I konked out until we got back to Shanghai and we caught a cab back to the hotel. I was feeling super sick after eating really strange train station pork stir fry, so I called it a night, showered, and crashed.

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This morning I got up at a reasonable time, around 8:30, and was pretty excited because I had slept through the night! I got my butt into action, though, because I had to pack everything up as well as make myself look presentable because today we actually did have a free day to explore the city. I managed to finish up right at 10 when we were all meeting in the lobby to check out and store our bags for the day. We headed out and went to the other side of the river, the newer part of the city, and we took a quick look at the river before heading out on our first actual shopping excursion.

I was so excited because I love love love to bargain with people, and I got to do just that! We started

The Smog

out on a pretty touristy street, but that is always the best place to start because sometimes the storekeepers can speak a bit of English!! The first lady was hilarious and definitely had an attitude. I got some chopsticks, a couple little wallets, and definitely got overcharged, which is to expected on the first purchase. After getting a solid warm up I was on my A game as we moved from market to market. I got a significant portion of my souvenir shopping done, or at least put a dent in it, as well as get two more dresses at H&M!

We stopped about half way through the day and when we were supposed to eat some lunch we stopped at this waffle stand, owned by a German, and got a waffle with bananas, strawberries, Nutella, and wiped cream instead. Yummmm. We did end up stopping for actual lunch about an hour later and ate until we literally couldn't eat any more, per usual. About an hour after that we stopped for some Starbucks.

We headed into this three story market, mostly for clothes, and it reminded me a lot of a market we went to in India, actually, it was almost identical, with lots of the stores offering to taylor make your clothes for you. Of course I was leaving in only a few short hours so I opted to wait and just get a pre made one later on. We didn't buy much there, just a few fans. After we made our final stop at therapies behind our hotel where there were a lot more traditional buildings, which was really neat, and I went ham on the fan

The "Pants" Building in Beijing

stalls. I also bought a traditional Chinese dress and it is gorgeous!! Tall collared, all white with black flowers embroidered on it, it's lovely. The lady who sold it to me was originally asking 600RMB, which is a hundred USD, which of course is way way way too much. I offered her 100, which was as high as I was willing to go, and she laughed in my face. I would have too if I were her but I have a process. She was actually really nice and even was fanning me with my fan as I was changing. Yes, I basically was naked in the middle of the store with a few ladies holding up a sheet so no one in the street could see me changing, but there were like five others walking around behind the sheet and definitely got a few flashes of my sweaty butt. Oh well, sucks for them. So anyways, even though she was really nice and funny, I wasn't willing to pay more than 150RMB max, so I walked away. Se offered me the dress for 250RMB, and I declined again, this time not sure if I would be going back. A I was walking away thought for the final time, she offered me 125, and I agreed on 120. I paid and got shortchanged so I actually paid 130, but whatever, she could probably use the extra dollar fifty more than I could. We had to rush back to the hotel because we had spent way too much time shopping and made it to the airport with literally just enough time to run to get to our gate for boarding time. W indie see a celebrity at the ticket counter though, a female singer who reminded me of an Asian Justin Bieber with a gaggle of fans following her everywhere she went. So we literally ran to

Outside the Market

get our bags scanned and they made me open my bag so they could search it. Apparently they thought my barrette was a shank or something, but once they saw it was harmless they let me through. Janet and I were both so hungry and almost hangry, so we took the chance and stopped to get some noodles to go, only to find out that our flight was delayed. It currently is still delayed, three hours after it was originally supposed to take off. Te weather is bad in Beijing and apparently we are boarding in twenty minutes, but who knows if we actually will. As much as I don't want to stay longer at the airport, I'd rather be here than flying through crappy weather. I'm not sure what tomorrow holds for us, I went a little cray cray deleting emails and deleted my itinerary, oops! Well, we are actually boarding now so I guess I will update when we get back to the hotel and then hit the hay because I'm sure we will have yet another busy day tomorrow because we have the entire day Wednesday off because we are going to the Great Wall!!

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So that was a super uneventful flight, with the exception of lots of turbulence and the guy next to me completely hogging my personal bubble. I don't like flying in general, so I was having a hard time not panicking during the really turbulent parts, but luckily we were on a big plane so that made it a little 

better, plus it was only a two hour flight. I really wish we were traveling by train more, I'd much rather do that and even take a bit longer to get there rather than taking a plane. Oh well.

It's Tuesday now and I'm sitting at the office waiting for people to come talk to me about UMaine. It's on the fifth floor of a building about a block away from the first hotel we stayed at. It is set up so right when you walk in there are all of flags of the countries represented by the agency and then it's a bit open room, about the size of a small gymnasium, filled with small round tables where agents are sitting waiting to talk with student who might be interested in their programs. Janet and I got there a bit late, so we are sort of in the back by the offices, and she has run to Starbucks because we are dying here with no WiFi or book to read. There are actually two floors here now that I

Where the First Communist Meeting was Held

am looking around; the top enter is kind of what you see in a food court, with it just rifling the second floor so you can see the tables above and look down to see the tables below. I'm not exactly sure what we are even supposed to be doing here, I'm assuming it is just waiting for people to come talk to us, which no one does because we don't speak Mandarin. I'm super happy to be here, but I feel like it might be more productive if they had hired someone who spoke the native language. I mean, I think I'm a great UMaine rep and I can sell the university to even the most staunch UMaine hater, but no one is going to come talk with us if we can't understand each other! Oh well, I really can't complain, I really do love being in China.

So I guess to kill time I will just blab on and on about what China is like. I am constantly comparing it to India, which I really shouldn't be, but when you spend so much time in a place and not that long ago it is hard not to compare everything to it. I try to not voice a lot of it, because I know how annoying that is when someone just goes on and on about their time abroad, but some of the things I just can't help. It's nice, though, that Janet has studied abroad too, in Nicaragua, so she talks about her time abroad a bit as well so it's not too bad when I bring up India once in a while.

The first thing is the lack of face masks present. I think I've seen about three the entire time I've been here. Everyone who has been back from Maine told me I neeeeeeded to get them and is neeeeeded to wear them all the time. Lies. I haven't even felt the need to wear one once. I guess that's a good thing,

but those pesky masks are takin up valuable Souvenir space in my suitcase!!! I will be rid of them soon, though.

Another thing I find fascinating here is the smell, or lack thereof. With so many people living in one place you would thing there would at least be a faint hint of something nasty in the air, but I haven't smelled anything of the sorts so far. Inside is also nice and I am not complaining, it just seems so strange for me, especially since at least five times a day in India I would be gagging while walking somewhere because the stench was so brutal.

There is also no garbage anywhere to be seen. Yet another difference between India and the cities in China. I'm not sure where they are putting it all, but it is being taken care of. All of it too, there really aren't even wrappers in the streets, it's amazing.

There are no stray animals anywhere, either. I have seen one, yes one, stray dog. No one walks their animals outside of their apartment complex, either. I don't really understand this, though. I would test tilt if there were a bunch of strays that might be rabid, but there are none. I think people just don't want to wander very far so they stay close to home.

All the women here are super models. I'm not even kidding. I have seen maybe three overweight women, and they are all older. Every single girl is up to date with the fashion trends and at least ninety percent of them wear heels, as in three inch or higher heels, everywhere they go. It is unbelievable. I mean, I like to wear heels too, don't get me wrong, but to commute to work? On the subway? A airplane? It's a bit much. They do always look fabulous, though, and although I don't think my fashion sense is bad, I certainly do have a lot to learn. Going shopping here has helped a bit, at least for my professional wardrobe, although I am having a hard time ditching my super comfy TOMS for a pair of not so comfy flats for work. I'll have to work on that. So not only do they all wear heels and are super fashionable, but they are all super pretty too. I mean, come onnnnnnn people. Like, they are all

Dress Shopping

freakishly pretty. Is excellent people watching here, though, I do admit. Even times like this where I have no WiFi or book to read there is something to look at. I have a lot of time to think, too, which is kind of nice, but kind of not if you are trying not to think about things and then they just pop up in your head because there's nothing else to do.

One of the things I've been thinking about is what I really want to do with my future. I know that I don't want to live in Orono forever, but if I could work for UMaine forever I would not hate that. I want to see if the university is going to create a sort of international admissions counselor to be a sort of a liaison between the Blue Sky Project and the admissions department on campus. That would be the perfect position for me especially because, especially now, I am super qualified for it! We will see, though, I am going to see if I can get a minute of the president's time to talk with him about it, or about what I should do. I'm hoping they do keep me in the loop once I get back though, because I am the first intern that has gone with StudyGroup, so I think I have a pretty unique perspective!

Ok so back to China. The food is unbelievable. Absolutely beyond delicious. And I love using chopsticks! Everything is so savory or sweet and just so, so, so, sooooo good. I've only tried maybe two things that I didn't care for, which is nice because then I'm not so afraid to just point to random things to order on the menu. One thing I just couldn't do, though, was jellyfish. It didn't taste bad, but the texture was awefulllllllllll. It was so bad I couldn't even swallow it, I had to spit it into my napkin. I was what I would imagine eating a slimy, hard cartilage octopus tentacle. It. Was. Repulsive.

On the Metro

Everything else, though, has been delicious. I am especially in love with the bubble tea here, or milk tea, they call it. Actually, I am completely obsessed. Everyone here is a really noisy eater too, slurping and shoveling food into their mouthes. Actually, I really like this too because then I don't feel so bad being a bit sloppy. And when I say shoveling, I literally mean holding the bowl to their lips and shoveling the food in with chopsticks. Can't complain about that! It's also ok to be mean and yell at your waiter, which of course I don't do because I would feel super awkward. I mostly smile and nod, especially when people are talking to me in Mandarin. I usually end up laughing at myself because I know how stupid I look. Oh well, it is what it is I guess.

Aaaaaaand we are back to eastern toilets, aka, a hole. It's really not that bad, in public bathrooms it is way better because they are infinitely cleaner, and at the hotels we have western toilets so its really win win all around. I learned my lesson the hard way in India and now bring toilet paper with me everywhere so just in case there is none I don't have to worry about it. There is also soap and running water nearly everywhere we go too, which is amazing.

Not speaking Mandarin, though, is quite a hassle, because literally no one on the street speaks any

Dumpling

English and when people can it is extremely hard to understand. I don't blame anyone here, it's completely my fault for not learning the language before coming. Is actually funny how helpless I feel, if we didn't have Kevin around to help translate it would be super difficult to get around. Janet and I are on our own for lunch today, so we will see how that goes!

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Lunch went swimmingly! We met this woman, her English name is Emily, who asked us if we had lunch plans and we said no so she offered to take us out, so of course we said yes because we had no idea where else to go. We were skeptical, though, because of the tea scams going on in Beijing right now, where people offer to go out with you and then overcharge you so they can keep the change, but it turns out that she wanted to treat us to lunch! Being taken aback by our offer to pay, or rather, StudyGroup paid (because they

Airport Dinner, Still Super Delicious

pay for all of our food anyways), and she was very surprised. We ordered a few dishes but my favorite was the beef stew, it had mushrooms in it and was so delicious, and just a bit spicy. We talked about all sorts of things, mostly about our lives, our universities, and our families. She said her English was poor but it was actually really good, I was impressed! I stuffed my face and then we tried to learn a few Mandarin words, to which Janet and I both did not really pick up, and we headed out. We made a quick pit stop so Emily could show us the great shopping market down the street and then we headed back to the office to get back to "work." We noticed another non-Asian sitting a few tables down so we went over to introduce ourselves, and it turns out she works for StudyGroup as well! She's from England, got to Beijing a week ago, and is leaving in two weeks, just like me! We exchanged contact info so hopefully when Janet leaves I'll still have someone to hang out with.

Today, my life is just Shelby.

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.