Shanghai: The End

The Walking Tour, the Bund, and a Magical Dinner


After morning classes, we essentially had the afternoon off. The official event was a self-guided walking tour through the Art District. I joined a break-off group to explore the Bund. I had my first bit of street food in Shanghai (a fried pancake-like thing), wandered around a lot, encountered a modeling shoot thingy, and watched the sun rise over Mao Zedong.







The strangest part about this trip?
People kept on staring at us.
Well... not quite at me. People were staring at the white Americans around me and, specifically, at one of the CIEEers who happened to have red hair.

After witnessing this a couple of times, I decided to step away from the group, blend into the crowd, and ready my camera. Watch this:

*whistle whistle* I'm walking along...


DUDE! Look at the laowai (aka white foreigners)! I wanna take a picture with them!



CHEEZE!!



I've gotten a lot more used to this kind of attention by now. And, unlike the other foreigners, I can actually blend in to a certain degree. When I'm out alone or with non-foreigners, I can relax into comfortable anonymity (as long as I'm not on the street that I live on). But... that's a story for another time.

Right now, let's finish up orientation in Shanghai.

After that tour, we grabbed a cab back to the Faculty Club, rested up, then met for dinner at the hotel. There was some magic at dinner. Then I packed and prepared to wake up early in the morning for the flight from Shanghai to Shijiazhuang....

And THERE! Orientation done!
Next to come: The Flight Experience.
Then, at last: Life in Baoding.