I am in China for 2 months, so I decided to do some blogging and take some photos to share my experience. Unfortunately, the internet is so slow that I can only post pictures on Facebook and not within the contents of this blog.
I have been in Shanghai since May14th but was not able to post blogs or have stable internet schedule until today(May20th), so back posting some blogs I have been writing. I hope you enjoy~
Last
night I arrived to Shanghai, my flight had been delayed by almost an hour but
luckily the student that Fudan University sent to pick me up was still waiting
for me. We got back to the University at close to Midnight. My room is like a
dorm, it does have a private bathroom- but the facilities are interesting to
say the least. There is no internet and I have not been able to place a call
back to the US since I arrived in Korea. This was NOT planned. I took a
‘shower’ and used a washcloth as a towel and went to bed.
This
morning I woke up at various hours but finally decided to get up and explore
around7:30am. Its very cloudy and grey and I'm thankful I packed my light rain
jacket, as its also in the 70’s and muggy. I walked along the road that runs
parallel to the university I was searching for anything recognizable, anything
in English….. Truthfully, I was hungry and on a mission to find breakfast.
Previously, when I was in Shanghai I was staying on Nanjing West Rd. which is a
main artery for hotels, and there were lots of bakeries and street vendors.
HERE..NOTHING! There were only two restaurants that were open, and no one was
inside. Everyone was running all over the streets and sidewalks hurrying to
work. Crossing the street is so dangerous, even when the sign with the walk man
turns green this doesn’t mean you wont get hit, it just means that there are
less cars swerving at you than usual. I kept seeing milk teas in hand and
decided to try and follow the pack. I was so relieved to see Café 85 C!! This
was good luck, this meant that there was going to be pastries and English
descriptions underneath, phew! This is a place that Paul and I had been to 2
years ago. I ducked inside and ordered a Jasmine Tea, by holding up my hand
showing the number 5—it was the only drink that was 5 yuen so luckily they got
it. My sad attempt at speaking Chinese was looked at with much confusion. I
also got a multigrain, raisin bread slice. Both were delicious and now I was
ready to try and find a store that sold toilet paper… yes there is none in the
dorm. I am planning to meet with TongHuan, my assigned Fudan University student
11. I Hope to be able to get a SIM card for the phone and establish an internet
connection.
Back at
the room, its been a long day- even without work. I was taken to a back alley
place and purchased a SIM card. Although I still cannot call to the United
States I called Caroline Chang, (a friend of Julia and Paul from Tufts) and we
found out that we are not living far from each other. So we walked and she
showed me around some and then we got drinks during Happy Hour at the Blue
Frog. Afterwards, we met with her friend Victoria at the Bellagio restaurant,
and ate some wonderful Taiwanese food. The beef noodle was excellent and so
were the chicken nuggets with salt, pepper and basil.
Back at
the room and so frustrated that I still cannot get internet. Tomorrow going to
meet with Fudan U. faculty.
Below is
the front entrance to the Fudan International House
May 15, 2012
Tricia the other University of Hawaii (UH) student who has
come to work at Fudan has arrived. This morning some assigned students from
Fudan University helped us get our phones set up. We now have a working china
number!! After buying a SIM card previously the thing stopped working after one
afternoon, but at least I got this problem fixed. Still cannot call out to the
USA though. We also still have no internet in our dorm rooms, and hope that a
medical student who says he can fix this problem will come to our building.
This morning I walked to a bar that was closed and hung outside stealing their
wifi to call Paul. It was rather funny.
Also we met with some faculty that we
will be working with today. Everyone seems very nice and happy that we are here
to help them, especially with their English. I am back at the dorm now and
resting a bit, I have walked around Shanghai for abut 3-4 hours now and my feet
are tired and my Achilles is sore. I hope that soon I can go get a foot
massage!
May 16, 2012-May17, 2012
Yesterday we started work. I met with
my faculty adviser Dr. Xu Biao. WOW! She is an impressive, travelling lady. Her
hours when she is working is from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm at night. The other times
she is travelling to Beijing, USA (Georgetown U :)), and Thailand. I will primarily be working on a
paper in English designated for publication. I am working on a cross-sectional
study that focuses on Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) self-management, economic cost,
differences between insurance coverage, and differences between primary/
secondary/ tertiary hospital care. ( There is a three tiered system here)
Primary is community based, secondary is a medical training/ teaching hospital
and tertiary is medical training and high government grade research (i.e. WHO,
CDC) I have also been told that I will be travelling occasionally to other
small villages to work on the TB outbreak that has been occurring in China. TB
is very deadly in China and it is not managed well. Dr. Xu Biao has made some
excellent advances in increasing survival for TB positive persons in China. She
is well known in this country, as Fudan University is one of the most
prestigious medical college in China. At lunchtime there was a faculty luncheon
held for us, as a welcome to the university. I have to say the food was unique
and very traditional! Some items served included: Goose, Mandarin Fish, lots of
different types of mushrooms, pumpkin, braised beef, jelly fish, and a few
other unrecognizable dishes K
I was tricked into trying the goose, and after that it was all vegetables and
recognizable items for me!!! In the evening Tricia and I went to a bar called
Blue Frog. Its more western and their happy hour special is buy one drink get
one free :)
So we ate, drank a bit, and then walked home- desperately hoping we would be
able to get internet in the dorm tonight.
A router box arrived to the dorm last
night, but there are silly restrictions such as only being allowed to get on
the internet for 6 hours a day. I also have no control over when the router is
turned on and when its turned off. So Tricia, Dr. Dongemei Li and Prof. Nancy
Partika and I ventured onto the Metro this am and went to briefly visit
People’s Square/Park. My legs and feet are so sore, I have been walking close
to 5 hours a day/ every day now. I pushed my way through the throng of people.
There were hundreds of people running underground, dashing to this line and
that on the metro to get to work. It took us close to an hour to get to Peoples
Square, but should have only taken us roughly 30- ugh. There were close to 400 people waiting in
line to get into the Shanghai Museum. We have to bypass this as we don’t have
enough time to wait in line and get to work on time. We walked around a bit and
then I order everyone some Xialong Bao. My hopes were up that these ‘soup buns’
are going to be really good as the restaurant is hand making them to order.
Once they arrive about 30 min after ordering, I am disappointed. The soup
inside is mostly grease. I am thinking about how I miss the Xialong Bao in
Kalihi. It’s a good cultural experience for Tricia and Nancy who have never
been to China though. And yes as you may have noticed in the earlier lines
above, I said I ordered! I am so impressed with myself, I have been trying to
speak in Chinese as much as I can. I am trying everyday to learn new words and
phrases that I can use. People are even understanding me, and not laughing at
me ( even though lots of people still stare at me on the streets), it’s
AMAZING! While walking around I took some pictures of the surrounding buildings
in the park, and some city shots from above on the overpass bridge, as well as
a picture of the Shanghai museum. Afterwards, I went to work, but its Friday
night here, so Tricia and I are going to go find a bar and a place to eat :)
May 18-19, 2012
Took pictures around the Fudan Campus. See Facebook...
May20, 2012
Tricia and I ventured into the Bund, see Facebook for picts :)
