A trip around the world...expo.

My last few days in China flew by! Shanghai is so very different from Beijing. While Beijing has an endless number of historical sites to see, Shanghai has more modern and financial sites, meaning a lot more shopping and recently built attractions.
We learned in lecture that before 1990, no building existed in Shanghai that was taller than 5 stories. Just two decades ago, the airport had a 2 lane bumpy road as the connection to Shanghai and there was no metro. Shanghai has grown immensly, and at such a quick pace it's mind-boggling. I think their chance to host the world expo advanced their city even more, as it allowed funding for renovation of major roads and entirely new construction of numerous hotels and building associated with hosting such a high number of visitors.
We spent both the beginning and end of the two week study abroad trip in Shanghai, with the Beijing trip in the middle. Besides seeing the expo, we toured various organizations and spent time downtown exploring places like People's Square and Nanjing Road.
Our group was priviledged to be hosted by the U.S. Ambassador and Commissioner General, José Villarreal, as special guests to the U.S. pavillion. Not only did we get to save a few hours of waiting in line, but we also had the chance to hear his first hand perspective on representing the U.S. by taking on the challenge of managing and finding sponsors for the 2010 U.S.A. Pavillion. Hearing José Villarreal speak gave our group the inside edge as we had the opportunity to better understand how a country can present themselves to others. It helped me understand what it takes to do something as big as create a representation of an entire nation.
During the remaining first day we had at the expo, a couple friends and I went through Iran and North Korea's Pavillions. Since it was their first year making an appearance at the expo, we wanted to see what it was like inside their pavillions. We also spent a few hours seeing the African pavillions and I was able to talk to a guy from Botswana who knew exactly where I went when I went on a missions trip a few years ago to Africa. Overall, every exibit we saw seemed to be a great representation of the country. The only negative part of the experience was the long lines; some countries had up to four hour wait times!
To start off our second day at the world expo, the creative director of the Shanghai Municipal exibit of the China Pavillion, Pearl Wong, gave us a tour of what she designed within the pavillion. Pearl has been a long time friend of Stacey and Howard. She is so personable and I loved hearing what she had to say about the various providence representations and what each meant to China as a whole. After seeing the Shanghai exhibit, we went to see the Hong Kong exhibit, which was impressive, especially the huge greenhouse they placed at the top of their building. Afterwords, we headed over to the Europe area, but each line was four hours long and we had to meet for a group dinner. I wanted to see Spain's pavillion so badly, but it would have been impossible in such a short period of time.
Seeing the World Expo was a great experience, especially because I was lucky enough to just happen to be in the same city that it was taking place in and with some professors with great connections to the country's representatives. In reality, the expo is a way for each nation to brand themselves. I heard that all of Italy's workers were wearing thousands of dollars of Prada clothes, while Belgium's exhibit had free chocolate samples. Switzerland's looked high tech and South Africa's had a huge soccer ball outside of it to represent the upcoming world cup. Each country has the opportunity to make a lasting impression on the visitors to their pavillion.
The U.S. did a great job of incorporating their corporate sponsors into their pavillion. The U.S. is the only country who does not receive funding from their government to create their pavillion; therefore José Villarreal had to come up with 61 million dollars worth of funding! The U.S. exhibit showcased how we are working towards sustainability, creativity and innovation while working together with diverse groups of people. It was interesting to be in China with thousands of Chinese going through the U.S. exhibit, I was proud.

The Great FireWall of China

I did not expect these sorts of technology problems in China! I have learned quickly that China has this thing called the “Great Firewall,” nicknamed after their “great wall” of protection the government has on the internet, blocking sites like facebook, twitter and of course, sperrott.blogspot.com. So, I have only been able to get on if I can get the Purdue VPN to work...

This whole trip has been quite a learning experience. So far, I’ve dodged the traffic coming at me from all directions as well as the bird poop falling from above. We spent the first couple days in Shanghai, which is more of a financial and economic city than the historical Beijing. We were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Pearl Tower while it wasn't too smoggy, and walk along the Bund. We also spent a lot of time inside the classroom learning about Chinese culture from various professors of Chinese Universities. 

Last Thursday evening, we took an overnight train to Beijing. I had never been on an overnight train before, and communicating with people on the train was quite a task. We arrived in Beijing and spent the next few days going non-stop, trying to see everything in Beijing in four days. I absolutely loved every minute in Beijing, probably because there were so many things to do and the city is always busy people my age since there are so many universities downtown. 

We started by touring the Forbidden City, with the classic Chinese architecture featured on building after building.  Our group walked through Tiananmen Square, famous for being the location of the student protests against the Chinese government in 1989. Our tour guide, Eddy (obviously his "American" name), did a great job of giving us a historical background for each part of the Forbidden City. 

We then went to see the 2008 Olympic Sites. We figured out how to register to be able to actually go on the track. They let us try the high jump and long jump and I of course ran on the track as much as possible. We saw the "birds nest" and the "watercube," where Michael Phelps set the world record.

After our long day of walking, a few girlfriends and I decided to get massages from some people in our hotel! I had heard so much about how I just had to get a Chinese massage, and it sure was an experience. Instead of massaging normally, they throw in hitting you and "chopping" your muscles, free of charge. In the middle of the massage the lady grabbed my leg and pulled it over my head, I guess she was "stretching" me. I was just thankful I hadn't pulled any muscles by the time the massage was over!

The next day we climbed the Great Wall of China, which has been the highlight of the trip for me so far. Johnna, my roommate, and I decided to go as far as we could during the time we had. We ended up climbing up to where the wall broke and ended; there are a few spots along the wall that break up and join again with the remaining sections of the wall.  I was surprised how steep the climb was. The view from the top was spetacular. I was amazed the wall was built by hand, especially because the builders would have had to climb through uncleared paths to drag the pieces up the side of the mountain.

After exploring the Great Wall, we headed to an area of Beijing known as "798," after the address of the factory building its located at. While it used to be a factory, it has since been replaced with modern art galleries. We were joined for the day by former ABC Vice President Harvey, and he actually introduced us to one of the art gallery owners, an American with a crazy relocation story and a passion for art and life in general.

For dinner some friends and I headed to Hard Rock Cafe, in need of some protein and meat that we could recognize. After dinner we went into a little shop to look at purses, and the lady helping us insisted we followed her to see more "designer" purses. Since there were four of us, we decided to live on the edge and follow her. She took us to this underground store full of imitation purses and bags. It was one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen, and very very illegal I'm sure. 

We spent the next day visiting a Peking University and hearing from a few professors. We are now back in Shanghai, and heading to see the World Expo tomorrow!

The Only City I'm Afraid to Run In

CHINA!

14-18, 2010

China is different from anything I’ve ever experienced- the people, their culture, the food, the traffic. I have travelled before, but never without the ability to communicate or at least read signs. Yet, some things are the same,probably as a result of globalization, like the many “American” restaurants including Pizza Hut, Dunkin Donuts, KFC, Starbucks, Coldstone Creamery and dozens of others.

When I stepped off the plane into China for the first time, the first thing I noticed was the lack of normal letters of the alphabet and their replacement,symbols that I didn’t even begin to try to define with my dictionary. One of the next things that stuck out to me was the cleanliness of the airport and the streets. I took a taxi from the airport to my hotel, the only Marriot in Shanghai. I think the taxi company assumed I was rich because of how nice the hotel is, and I ended up paying 300 RMB for the tax ride when I came to find out I shouldn’t have paid half as much. I concluded that Chinese are like most other people I’ve ran into in foreign countries-they’ll tell a tourist anything they want to hear to make more money.

I checked into the high-end, skyscraper hotel with no problems, thankful for my Dad’s hotel points. I ran a few miles on a treadmill overlooking the city and noticed how dreary and smoggy Shanghai is. I met my friend Dan in the lobby of the hotel at 3:00 p.m. and we spent the next few hours walking the streets of Shanghai. Some of the things he told me helped to confirm my preconceived notions and first impressions: The city is so clean, especially considering it’s one of the largest cities inthe world, second to Mexico City I believe. Dan informed me of how much they were cleaning up the country to present themselves to visitors of the World Expo. There were street sweepers with huge grass and twig brooms everywhere, bringing back memories of playing Roller-Coaster Tycoon as a kid and purchasing“street sweepers.” Of course I also noticed the ridiculous driving. Dan told me how much the people rely on public transportation, especially considering the high fees placed on owning and operating a vehicle in Shanghai.

I quickly observed the smog that created a haze over the entire city and felt my asthma flare up. Dan told me he hadn’t seen the sun since he moved to Shanghai, which broke my heart for the millions of Shanghai residents. Of course I noticed how big the city is as people seemed to be everywhere, emerging like ants out of the cracks of the sidewalks. The smells are awful. The Tofu smells exactly like if someone were to not clean their fish tank for two years and then throw it in a dumpster. The smell that would emerge would remind me exactly of “stinky tofu,” a Chinese staple. While I appeared in awe of Shanghai, Dan seemed sad he was leaving in only a couple days.

We took it easy the first day because I was exhausted from the 12hr. time difference and extreme jet lag. The following day, Saturday, Dan and his friend Ryan and I spent the day wandering around the city, exploring by foot and subway. We headed first to a Chinese market known for their copycat products, including fake Ugg boots, Converse All-Stars, Northface jackets, and hundreds of other products appearing almost exactly the same as their originals. We walked around Yu Garden and into “Old Town” China. I loved seeing Old Town because it was literally like I expected all of China to be, with the red and blackbuildings, curvy architecture and all. We also spent some time in one University Dan and his friend had stayed for a few weeks. One of the highlights of the day for me was our time spent in a Chinese supermarket where we found milk flavored Cheetos and green tea flavored everything. Afterward, Dan, Ryan and I went out for traditional China tea and we sampled a variety of different teas and sat in a booth in a teahouse, obviously not a place for tourists, since it took us nearly 15 minutes to communicate what we wanted to order.

The entire time we were sightseeing, I never felt like I was in danger like I sometimes have in other countries, even in Spain. It never felt as though I was going to get pick-pocketed or kidnapped. The day I had to meet my group I accidentally mixed up the location (typical Sarah) and ended up having to get directions in very broken English. With all of the people wanting so badly to help me even though we didn’t speak the same language, I was pointed in the right direction and able to find my way to the subway and make the hour long trip to the correct location, which was conveniently the same University Dan was staying at.

After getting a tour of the campus from Dan and a few of his Chinese friends, I met the group of students I’ll be studying with during these next few days. We went out for dinner and had a brief orientation; I was just glad I had 16 others to speak English with!

These past two days we’ve had various lectures and talks given by the Shanghai Jiatong University Dean, Purdue University Professor, Dr. Stacey Connaughton and PU Dean of Communication, Howard Sypher. We also had the opportunity to meet University students and get to know them and their ways of life a bit. We also did some sightseeing, but this post is becoming a book so it looks like I’ll have to post again soon!

HONG KONG

Today marks the first day (or was it yesterday, these time changes confuse me) of my newest adventure: CHINA! When I figured out this 3 week trip abroad could fulfill a requirement I needed to graduate from Purdue, I eagerly persuaded my parents that this was the best option for finishing up my education. I am so happy they graciously agreed that I should make the trip to China, because I can already tell this is pushing me out of my comfort zone and will be an experience like I've never had before.
I landed in Hong Kong about 2 hours ago, on my way to Shanghai, China. Although I'm not technically in China yet, I am in Asia, and I've already experienced a first impression of the people, language, and culture I will be exploring during the next three weeks. I hope to get more and more in depth with what really interests me: how people communicate, what make them do the things they do, what sorts of ways are they different from Americans. So far, I've seen evidence of globalization (I say that as I sip my Starbucks, my travelling "must have"). Starbucks was serving up quite a different variety of foods, however. Although I stuck with an Americano (mainly because I only exchanged three USD for Hong Kong dollars), I could have chosen from the green tea and sesame seed frappe, or a hazelnut soy milk steamed drink, or "iced dumplings," which I never quite figured out what those actually were.
I can already sense that the people are nice and have more of a "community" outlook. So far, I've been helped, asked if I need help, and treated with respect. I OBVIOUSLY look like a tourist. In fact, with the color of my hair I can't really avoid looking like a tourist, except if I were to go to Sweden or Ireland.
I'm looking forward to meeting up with my friend Dan tonight. He has been studying in Shanghai this semester and the timing worked out perfectly for us to meet up. It will be good to have someone showing me the non-touristy things. Well, I will be blogging lots more coming up, keeping you updated on my China travels!

Time is Money So I'm buying coffee.

I just came up with my own theory, and I'm sure it's not original. Perhaps I am soley justifying my $2.00/day purchase, but even then, my theory makes sense.
If time is money, and drinking coffee allows me to get approximately 3 times as many things done per hour, than buying coffee is actually a monetary investment.
I am sitting in Panera, studying for finals. Time seems to be flying by as I cram as much information into my head as humanly possible. It's not like I haven't been paying attention all semester-- it's just that this particular class has dozens of statistics and theories that I need to remember. So, I chose Panera Bread for their unlimited refills on coffee, and the $1.89 I just spent for the "for here" mug was well worth it. Because, as I sip my coffee, I am flying through my notes.
This was my reasoning behind my theory. Sometimes I stress about how much money I spend on coffee. But, what if I did not drink coffee? Would I honestly get anything done? Everyone knows you cannot buy time, but I think buying coffee is equivalent to buying time. And, at times like these when I'm frantically memorizing theories and their statistical effects on random people surveyed, I'm willing to buy a little extra time.