Bogged down in Shanghai

I arrived in Shanghai and got to my hotel safely. The hotel room was about the same size and price as my apartment in Kobe. It rained for most of the first 2 weeks here. It was colder than Kobe, but not cold enough to use all the warm weather clothes I brought. That will be good to note for next time.

I got to the school the 2nd day I was in town. Every day I took the subway to and from school. Only 2 stops, so it wasn't too far. Shanghai has some very interesting points, and is truly unique and fun place in many ways. That being said, I now need to vent about some things I found difficult. I hope nobody gets offended:)

There are too many people. Crowds everywhere. I would have enjoyed walking to school some times, but the walking traffic jams made it very unpleasant. People don't know how to behave in a crowd. Things are set up for everyone to stay to their right, but only about half the people follow that rule. Line cutting is completely accepted by this society. I'd get in the specified location for the subway, and 2 people would jam in front of me. People step into trains and elevators as soon as the doors open; no waiting for others to unload. There are rules and signs and announcements about all these things, but they aren't followed or enforced.

Back to the walking traffic jams. People who want to walk slow move to the position in which they can obstruct the most traffic. Three slow moving friends will attempt to span the entire sidewalk. 

Bicycles on the sidewalk. And motorcycles. Oh, and don't forget cars and trucks. If it's possible to fit a vehicle somewhere, expect to see one, and understand that they have the right of way in their own minds, which is all that matters. Again, the laws exist, the streets all have traffic lights and side walks, but the laws aren't followed or enforced. Every time I tried to cross a road, I took my life into my own hands. A red light means nothing to a car. A pedestrian means nothing to a motorcycle, bike, car or another pedestrian. If hitting people didn't do so much damage to cars, Shanghai probably wouldn't have a population problem any more. 

I've told this story several times, so sorry to repeat. I was in a hurry, transferring from one subway line to another. But a lady had stopped right in the middle of the escalator I was on, holding several bags. She was going for the max obstruction of course. I thought this was a little rude, but settled in behind her, standing to the right, not wanting to disturb her. Then another lady walked around me, shoved the first lady over to the right hard, and I mean hard, and continued on without a word.

On the one hand, this incredibly rude crowd behavior strikes me as extreme ignorance and lack of awareness of one's surroundings. On the other hand, maybe it's just another problem caused by the communist system. People see their government pay lip service to fairness and justice, then turn around and do what ever they want, eliminating opposition, proof, etc. So I'm not too surprised by the desire to establish as much dominance as possible in a crowd. Everything for me, nothing for you. This also matches their greed issue. Money is everything. Things are changing, and getting better, but money still trumps quality of life for most people there. Sure, it's a problem everywhere, but Shanghai is an extreme example.

Shanghai air quality is low, and it's pretty dirty in general. That's to be expected in a big city of course. A large percentage of the people think it's ok to litter. Rather than enforce the litter laws, the government has created thousands of jobs picking up trash. 

So I'm back to too many people again. Many times I heard about how sparsely populated the US is. It was almost always in a negative connotation. I actually heard 2 different people say they'd hate to live in the US because there aren't enough people. Huge cultural difference I guess. So I'm amazed how their government is able to enforce the one-child-per-family rule. Seems like it would cause rioting in the streets.

Like I said, there are some very good things in Shanghai. The people, once I got to meet them one-on-one, were very friendly. The food was excellent. The skyline was fabulous. I went to the top of the world's highest building, by the way. Incredible.

But I did not enjoy the over all Shanghai city experience. I'd hate to live there for an extended period. Interesting place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

I was finally able to meet my 2 language partners and 2 teachers, which was the main reason I chose Shanghai. In addition, the local university proved to be an excellent place to find additional partners. This was the busiest I've ever been with language partners. Tons of Chinese are learning english now. Further details regarding Mandarin learning will be posted in my Mandarin learning journal. 

The university where I've met most of my language partners, and my 2 mandarin teachers from last year, Gina and Rosemary. And Rosemary's baby.