These days I'm very busy attending the language school and exploring the city with my friends during the afternoons and nights. Here's so much to do and see, awesome shopping districts, so many great and cheap restaurants, cozy bars and exciting clubs (the design is just like whoa!). I'm busy all day long, heading from one place to another and always meeting new people. Of course I practise Putonghua every day and I really feel that improved a lot since I arrived. The people here are very friendly and helpful. I experienced that some days ago: I live in a small compound in a shared apartment. Last Monday night, after spending a funny evening at KTV (Karaoke, but much better than in Switzerland, cause you have your own luxury room!), I couldn't open the door to my bedroom. I tried everything, woke up my room mate (a guy from Venezuela), went down the the "guards" at the gate and talked to them, one came upstairs and tried to open the door - but without any success. So I asked him to call some specialist, which he did. The guy who came broke up the lock and changed it. All this happened in the middle of the night and I was really surprised that my Putonghua was good enough to explain them everything!
During my first week it was very hot and humid in SH, like 30 degrees in the morning and 36 in the afternoon. So it wasn't that comfortable to do sightseeing and walk around. But this week the weather changed, now it's more like european summer. Chilly nights and warm days.
Last weekend I went to Zhujiajiao, which is a so called "water village" half an hour drive away from SH. Of course the place was very touristic, but still I experienced a more traditional China, a China that you don't necessarily encounter here in SH. SH is very modern, but still there are areas like the old town, that have stayed pretty chinese. But hey, also SH is real China, it's just not like many foreigners expect China to be like. It's very impressive to see how the city is developing. Everything is happening so fast, I just wonder how long it continues like this. Hopefully for very long, since this is a great place to be!
Food plays a very important role in China. Traditionally people don't go out to bars (except the rich, hip or young people in the big cities), but rather gather for dinner. Chinese eat earlier than the Swiss, usually in the late afternoon, around 5-6pm and order many dishes for the whole table. This is very nice, cause you get to taste different dishes and experience the rich chinese cuisine.
Wo feichang xihuan Shanghai - I like Shanghai very much!
