Kat's Krazy Adventures: Waking up on the other side of the world.

Saturday, January 5^th

....Wait, what? I’m in China!!!! That was my first thought when I woke up yesterday. Best reality check ever. Kristy and I headed out this morning to grab some breakfast at a bakery we had seen Friday night at the Xujiahui subway station. Here’s some pics:

Deliciousness!

We passed this amazing building on our way to the bakery.

It is so fun to just try new things and it’s quite a challenge sometimes to understand what people are trying to tell you. It’s just a mix of charades and my extremely limited Chinese vocab that gets me through. The simple things are such an adventure!

Kristy and I figured out that actually 2 breakfasts were necessary because we were absolutely STARVING. We then explored this glamorous mall:

Saw the same ad in Chicago just two days ago!

The view from the 5th floor!

Never seen so many police on one street corner.

And we thought Chicago traffic was bad.

After our morning excursion, we headed back to the Faculty Club (FC) to meet Jason and start figuring out the Chinese phone situation. This turned into a 5-hour ordeal. We were running back and forth between shopping centers, up and down floors of at least 2 buildings – literally all over the place. Eventually we got some bulk orders placed for 12 people and helped set up another 10 who were using their unlocked American phones (could not have done all this without Jason’s help). More work to be done, but I had to take a break…

SJTU had organized an amazing welcome dinner for our group at this fancy establishment:

Dongjun Bird's Nest Sharks Fin Seafood Restaurant

Just the beginning of our adventures together.

This place was unbelievably fancy. All the food is served family style on a lazy Susan and it's a bit of a guessing game as to what the dishes actually are. So much fun!! I'm proud to say that I tried everything except for the sea cucumber. There was just one rule... no laughing if (when) someone was riding the chopstick struggle bus.

We met our culture and language teachers (Susan, Weiqi and Katrina) along with some of the SJTU leaders including Dean Liu. Without Weiqi’s help (culture teacher) we would have been incredibly lost and confused. She is absolutely hilarious! I’m sure that her class will be enlightening and entertaining. Here’s what we ate (or tried to eat) for dinner…

Shaking hands with some goose feet.

Simply amazing. Also some green beans to rival Mom's! Who knew such a dish existed?!

Whip cream filled puff for dessert! They were so good I just had to have 2.

Last night we also got our first experience at a Chinese bar, which really wasn't so Chinese. There were about 20 of us plus some Australians in the back who were playing pool. After paying too much for some beer, several of us headed back to the FC, stopping by the FamilyMart to pick up some food. First time I ate Ramen was in China! Who could have seen that coming?!