The week before Thanksgiving, I was a mess. I was plagued with schoolwork and feeling extremely homesick. I honestly didn’t know how I was going to survive my first Thanksgiving without my family. It’s very traditional of us to all get together with our extended family members who I usually only see once per year. Not going through that typical …
Stranger (Not So Much) Danger
When looking at the prompt initially, I was a little stumped. I honestly could not think of a person who was from Shanghai that I have grown to trust. There’s so many people here that I almost never see the same people twice. This initial feeling also made me sad because of the fact that I have lived here for …
There was no Stuffing or Turkey.. But there was Pie!
This year was the first Thanksgiving that I did not have a traditional Thanksgiving feast. This was partly due to the fact that I did not realize that Thanksgiving was on Thursday until Wednesday morning. Therefore, by the time I googled ‘Thanksgiving Dinner in Shanghai 2017’, most of the venues said ‘reserve at least 72 hours in advance’. The few …
The Usual, Please
Drinking coffee is a large part of my morning ritual. When I first arrived in Shanghai, I knew that it would be important to find a place near school to grab a quick cup. Luckily, the NYU Shanghai campus has both a 7/11 and a Family Mart(a popular Chinese convenience store chain) that offer super cheap Americanos. I don’t remember …
Double Check and Lock Your Bike!!
In Shanghai and a bunch of other cities in China, there is what is known as “Gong-Xiang dan che” (shared bike system) which is a part of the many forms of China’s shared economy. Unlike community bikes which you must register for a “bike card” at the local office and you can only rent and return bikes at designated stations, …
Mr. Zheng and Cookie
There are approximately six security guards that are in charge of who is allowed to come and go, which cars are allowed to enter and leave, and to overall protect my apartment compound. They take their shifts at the two posts, two shacks’ made of glass and steel, located in front of the driveways to my apartment building. Although all …
The Climb of My Life
My trip to Huangshan Mountain last weekend was amazing- full of nature and short on mishaps- until I got food poisoning. Our journey to the scenic park was planned in a blur. Realizing that few free weekends remained, my boyfriend and I decided last Tuesday to book our train tickets. Our tickets were for Thursday evening and we would leave …
They Weren’t Kidding When They Said Don’t Drink The Water
There are a certain set of rules that are ubiquitous for every traveler, no matter where the location. Some of these include: make sure you always have your passport with you, look out for pickpockets and scammers on the street, and, but of course, don’t drink the water. I did not follow one of these rules. The sheer amount of …
The Road Less Traveled
China Road by Rob Gifford details one man’s quest on Chinese Route 66, which is 3,000 miles east to west. Going through an umpteenth amount of cities starting with Shanghai and including, Kunshan, Suzhou, Zhenjiang, Nanjing, Anhui, Lanzhou, Zhangye, and the Gobi Desert. Each interaction he has with people along the way is contextualized by an in depth history of …
Fried Eggs With Chopsticks
Polly Evans’ Fried Eggs with Chopsticks is a hilariously relatable account of her trials and travels in China. Her ambitious itinerary starts in Beijing, goes through several smaller rural towns to arrive in Xi An, then continues to more cities to get to Shanghai, and many more after that to arrive in Hong Kong, her final destination. It is a …
The Bronze Vessels of Ancient China
As a part of my ‘5000 years of Chinese History’ class we were asked to independently visit the Shanghai Museum to view its ‘Gallery of China’s Ancient Bronze ’. The Shanghai Museum is located in one of the more central districts near People’s Square at Puxi which on the complete opposite side of where NYU Shanghai is. The museum can …
Flies & Fields at the Power Station of Art
Upon entering the Power Station of Art, I was greeted by a huge swarm of insects. These insects were large sculptures, hung from museum’s high ceilings. However, upon closer inspection, I realized that they were actually half-human, half-insect. These hybridized creatures were grotesque- they had the torso and legs of a human but the head and wings of a dragonfly …
My Girl, Guanyin
I am currently in a class called Religion and Society in China where, every other week, we collectively hop on a bus and go to a location that has religious significance. Our most recent trip was to the Buddhist Longhua temple. This is also the the trip that I found to be the most beautiful as every room of the …
The NYU Shanghai Bubble
I have come to realize that as much as I enjoy trying new things, I am both excited yet hesitant when I need to step outside my comfort zone or bubble. I think this stems partially from moving around a lot while growing up, however, I have always enjoyed the sensation of being both “foreign” and not “foreign” to places. …
Just Keep Swimming
In Pixar’s Finding Nemo, all of the sea creatures live happily on the coral reef, never daring to swim into open waters. Nemo is the only one brave enough to swim up to the boat and thus wins a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Sydney, Australia. I feel that NYU Shanghai has become like the coral reef for me- a safety net …