Today was Sunday. I woke up at 3AM I stayed awake until 7AM, then went back to sleep for 30 minutes. I had breakfast in Mark’s room. He didn’t have time to do anything this morning because he needed to grade some papers.
Some Chinese students stopped by and asked Mark if he would like to go to the park with them. He said no. He talked me into going with them. These students were freshmen and were going to the park to celebrate a birthday of one of the students.
I quickly got ready by brushing my teeth. Mark said to make it quick because they had a van waiting on them. I was introduced to Celine and Wally who took me to the van. I went to the second row and asked the girl sitting there if I could sit down beside her. She quickly got up and gave me her seat. I tried to explain that I didn’t want to take her seat, but apparently it wasn’t getting through. We waited a little bit until the person with the birthday cake and food showed up.
During the van ride, they offered me Lays Potato Chips and Pokey – a stick of chocolate. We drove for quite a while. I saw a different part of Shanghai – a dirtier side. We went to a place called “Forest Park.” There was an admission charge to get in which the Chinese students paid for me (another example of Chinese generosity).Forrest Park – Kite Flying
The park had a large open area for flying kites and playing badminton. The park and a underlying smell of poop. I was somewhat afraid of what I might find on the ground there. There were cigarette butts and other trash on the ground. There wasn’t a trashcan in sight. It is at this point that I began noticing that Shanghai was a very trashy city. From talking with Mark and Chris, I found that Asia in general is trashy. The funny thing was that in the park there was a big banner which had a environmental conservation message on it. At the park there was also no picnic tables. I wished someone would have spent some money to improve the park facilities.
The students played soccer and volleyball. I played a bit of volleyball with them for a few minutes before sitting down. A few of the girls who knew English well sat and talked with me.
I found out that the Chinese name for “Saving Private Ryan” is “Saving Brother Ryan.” We talked about movies, music and other things of American culture. We kept having to move the plastic blanket to avoid the sun. The students played cards….this type of game used at least 2 decks with the jokers included.
We decided to walk to the lake in the park. It was a short walk. I saw horseback riding and people fishing on the lake. There was a small tram taking people around. There was also a water ride and a swinging ship. We sorta lost our way and decided to cut through the park to get back to our blanket.
I sat and talked with the students a bit more. They got out the birthday cake and started lighting candles. They didn’t seem to have a set time to have the birthday girl to blow out the candles…rather they seemed to let the candles burn out on their own. After everyone assembled they started getting out the food. I had to prompt them to sing happy birthday…which they seemed to know. They had chicken, Pepsi, chips, and beer. I was sorta surprised to see college Freshmen drinking beer until I found out that the legal drinking age in China is 18.
After this I talked with the students more. I told them I needed to be back at school by 4PM due to a meeting with Mark.
Sometime around this time I began to notice that the Chinese families coming to the park only had one child. I had always heard that China and a one child policy, but I had never seen it firsthand.
After talking with them, we got out Mark’s kite and tried to fly it. It was a bit difficult to get started.
It was getting close to 4PM, so we rounded everyone up for the trip home. They called the van which was somewhat delayed. I sat around and talked to the Chinese students some more.
The van ride home was a bit rough. I saw a minor fender bender.
Afterwards we (Chris, Mark, Ruth, and I ) went to McDonald’s for supper. Mark told us about the “Idiot Menus.” They were the large cards with pictures of the food on them with the Chinese name below. He said these were for the English speakers who didn’t know what they were talking about or they could be for the McDonald workers who didn’t know English well.
I got a Fanta, cheeseburger, and fries. Everything seemed to taste the same. The group laughed at me for keeping some of the trash from McDonald’s (the fries holders, the nutrition information…etc.).
After this went went back to the university.