Living China has been definitely cultural immersion experience. With Cantonese and Mandarin (the two major Chinese dialects) being my distant second and third languages, it was a bit of a struggle and continues to be challenge in communicating with folks in Shanghai. I cannot easily walk into any café or restaurant and order off the Chinese menu. When eating out by myself, I have find places with English or picture restaurant menus. Sometimes, I take a chance and order foods that are common in all Chinese restaurants - the usual bowl of noodles, soup, or fried rice. It takes some work when shopping, buying train tickets for travel, or telling the taxi driver exactly where to go when he gets lost himself. But this is part of the experience. I guess I wouldn't have it any other way. Otherwise, life would be too easy here. It has pushed me to continue to learn new words and phrases in mandarin in order for me to communicate. With some help from Jerri, Jane, and a few other classmates, I slowly become more and more self sufficient. There are things I've done that has made me into a local just in the first month.
After spending two months here, I feel at home most days especially after returning from my traveling throughout China. Like most of folks, I tend to like find a set of routines and places to go around my neighbor. So much so, people have recognized everywhere I go at my most popular neighborhood destinations. Here's a few of them.
Pancake girl - She works down the street from my condo and probably starts her shift at 6am. Working alongside an older man (the cashier and possibly father), she sets up her shop as a street vendor renting out small store front the size of single car garage. With just a small table of ingredients such as chives, cilantro, eggs, and some sauces, round barrel size grill, a tub of batter, she whips out these Chinese pancakes/crepes in one minute. A constant long line of customers awaits her pancakes, a good sign and litmus test for all street food. At 2.20RMB (30cents USD), it's a great deal at any currency. While the older man takes in the money and wraps up the pancakes, she works at fast pace technique as she builds a sweat on her forehead and brow. So busy is her stall that she doesn't have time to wipe that sweat off. I usually buy a pancake from her weekly. With guests and friends in town, I usually buy several as well as buy a few fried egg crepes from the vendor next to hers to give some business to him as well. His fried egg crepes are not as good but worth a taste for friends.
Fruit lady-I drop by the fruit store fronts down my street several times a week to get my fresh fruit such as Satsuma, bananas, apples, and an occasionally exotic fruit. I buy what I need for that day or two and no more. It is in contrast to what I or other people do in the US. It's nice to shop for just that day because food is fresher and I don't have to haul or carry around my groceries. I usually drop by a particular fruit stand because I build a friendly rapport with this fruit lady who is probably in her late thirties. She along with her husband runs this stall. Her stall is a size of a single garage filled with her fruit. She competes with four other fruits stalls on the same street. I probably go to her because she is friendly and usually greets me with a smile. A simple customer service goes along way with me in China, since it is void in most places I go to except for restaurants.
Local café - My classmates (Jerri, Jeri, and Matt) and I found this café one day while walking to find a new lunch spot. We stumbled to this place that looked like a diner you would find in Taiwan or in the US back in the 1950s. It has a bit of a art deco theme and stood out from the typical Chinese neighborhood restaurants with dark, old, wooden furniture. With its comfy booths, white walls, clean looking plate setting, it looked promising. When they brought out the food, it was delicious. The best part was it was local neighborhood prices, cheaper than major sections of town where most locals or tourist would go. You can feed four people including beer for less than $12 USD. Unbeatable prices, food, and atmosphere. I started returning to this place weekly after my first experience to this place with my friends who were in town. With only a Chinese menu, I challenged myself to go in there and order from dishes I knew they would have. I also asked our server to recommend a few dishes for us too. She kindly helped me out by describing the dishes in Mandarin. Fortunately, I am proficient enough in understanding various Chinese dishes and ingredients to comprehend her. I only wish I had this place near my house back home. No need for me to cook or reheat stuff in the microwave.
Noodle Shop- Everyone has their favorite hangout or food place to go after a long night of partying or enjoying too much of adult sodas. My place happens to be downstairs from my condo is a noodle shop that serves a variety of simple dishes such as hand shaven noodle, hand stretched noodles, and fried rice. At only 60cents (USD) per dish and fast service, this place is constantly busy during the day. At night, they are usually sleeping on the tables after working a long day. This place is open 24hrs a day. Crazy but has a good niche market when food places close usually around 11pm in this city.
DVD Vendors- With a dozen located in a 1/4 mile radius and open up shop on the streets, DVD suppliers are everywhere. At 60cents a movie and 2 dollars for an entire season of a US TV show, need I say more.
After spending two months here, I feel at home most days especially after returning from my traveling throughout China. Like most of folks, I tend to like find a set of routines and places to go around my neighbor. So much so, people have recognized everywhere I go at my most popular neighborhood destinations. Here's a few of them.
Pancake girl - She works down the street from my condo and probably starts her shift at 6am. Working alongside an older man (the cashier and possibly father), she sets up her shop as a street vendor renting out small store front the size of single car garage. With just a small table of ingredients such as chives, cilantro, eggs, and some sauces, round barrel size grill, a tub of batter, she whips out these Chinese pancakes/crepes in one minute. A constant long line of customers awaits her pancakes, a good sign and litmus test for all street food. At 2.20RMB (30cents USD), it's a great deal at any currency. While the older man takes in the money and wraps up the pancakes, she works at fast pace technique as she builds a sweat on her forehead and brow. So busy is her stall that she doesn't have time to wipe that sweat off. I usually buy a pancake from her weekly. With guests and friends in town, I usually buy several as well as buy a few fried egg crepes from the vendor next to hers to give some business to him as well. His fried egg crepes are not as good but worth a taste for friends.
Fruit lady-I drop by the fruit store fronts down my street several times a week to get my fresh fruit such as Satsuma, bananas, apples, and an occasionally exotic fruit. I buy what I need for that day or two and no more. It is in contrast to what I or other people do in the US. It's nice to shop for just that day because food is fresher and I don't have to haul or carry around my groceries. I usually drop by a particular fruit stand because I build a friendly rapport with this fruit lady who is probably in her late thirties. She along with her husband runs this stall. Her stall is a size of a single garage filled with her fruit. She competes with four other fruits stalls on the same street. I probably go to her because she is friendly and usually greets me with a smile. A simple customer service goes along way with me in China, since it is void in most places I go to except for restaurants.
Local café - My classmates (Jerri, Jeri, and Matt) and I found this café one day while walking to find a new lunch spot. We stumbled to this place that looked like a diner you would find in Taiwan or in the US back in the 1950s. It has a bit of a art deco theme and stood out from the typical Chinese neighborhood restaurants with dark, old, wooden furniture. With its comfy booths, white walls, clean looking plate setting, it looked promising. When they brought out the food, it was delicious. The best part was it was local neighborhood prices, cheaper than major sections of town where most locals or tourist would go. You can feed four people including beer for less than $12 USD. Unbeatable prices, food, and atmosphere. I started returning to this place weekly after my first experience to this place with my friends who were in town. With only a Chinese menu, I challenged myself to go in there and order from dishes I knew they would have. I also asked our server to recommend a few dishes for us too. She kindly helped me out by describing the dishes in Mandarin. Fortunately, I am proficient enough in understanding various Chinese dishes and ingredients to comprehend her. I only wish I had this place near my house back home. No need for me to cook or reheat stuff in the microwave.
Noodle Shop- Everyone has their favorite hangout or food place to go after a long night of partying or enjoying too much of adult sodas. My place happens to be downstairs from my condo is a noodle shop that serves a variety of simple dishes such as hand shaven noodle, hand stretched noodles, and fried rice. At only 60cents (USD) per dish and fast service, this place is constantly busy during the day. At night, they are usually sleeping on the tables after working a long day. This place is open 24hrs a day. Crazy but has a good niche market when food places close usually around 11pm in this city.
DVD Vendors- With a dozen located in a 1/4 mile radius and open up shop on the streets, DVD suppliers are everywhere. At 60cents a movie and 2 dollars for an entire season of a US TV show, need I say more.
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