Last post in Shanghai

Final day in Shanghai and I'm up late online as usual. Might as well do the same thing that I've been doing the whole time I've been here. Did the usual last minute things: got a haircut (so cheap - only 35yuan!), had a farewell yum cha lunch with family, my cousin helped out by buying me some computer-y things that my mum wanted, and finally did some packing. All my stuff fitting into a large backpack and a small suitcase, with my laptop, handbag and small backpack for carrying on. It feels strange to leave here, I'm just so used to life here and I can't imagine going back to Australia and not coming back here.

No more long walk down the wind tunnel of the alley that leads to my building, and then the trek round the other side and finally the lift to my floor (I should use the stairs but I'm lazy and the stairs are dark and creepy) and then making a bang to turn on the noise-activated lights before turning the key and creeping silently as possible into the apartment, trying not to wake anyone.

No more fun outings with my classmates and friends from many countries (but mostly Germany and Japan), which mostly seem to involve food and alcohol. Occasionally karaoke.

No more lazy afternoons with me sitting in my room watching DVDs/surfing the net with the occasional loud, bish-bashing sounds of mah jong tile washing, loud exclamations of "pang" or "sai dong" or whatever tile my grandfather is throwing down and brief conversations about the daily lives of my grandparent's fellow mah jong players playing in the background.

I'm sad to leave, but I have to go home. Strange to say that when this kind of somewhere in the past 4 months became home.

DVD fun

I feel like posting and because there's nothing exciting about Chinese New Year that I can say outside of food! and fireworks! I figured DVDs (which occupy a huge part of my time here) is next best. Especially given I've just spent the past couple of days doing nothing but watching DVDs. Veronica Mars to be exact. And I both love it and hate it (love it because it's awesome, hate it because it's over and there are NO MORE SEASONS!). So here's a little rundown of my thoughts on TV/DVDs since I've been here, it might help you decide on your next DVD purchase (although it should be noted my TV taste is NOT everyone's, also note that this is not in any particular order, just stream of consciousness):

1. Veronica Mars
Wonderful. Veronica herself is really well done, Kristen Bell did a very good job with the character and I think she's probably a stronger female "kick ass" lead than Buffy. Plus she can actually sing, whereas Sarah Michelle Gellar? Cannot.
And I must say that Logan Echolls is exactly how I like my men to be: tormented but with just enough occasional bouts of humanity or humour shining through to make him redeemable.
Verdict: HELL YES!

2. Charmed
The entire 8 seasons. It's true this show, even at its best (which is seasons 1, 2 and 3 when Shannen Doherty was still on it) was never any good. It was just enjoyable trash with a touch of the supernatural. But Piper was the best, especially after she got over being timid and shy in the first part of season 1. Rewatching this show is really only for those who were going through puberty when it was first showing or if you really really like Julian McMahon watch seasons 3-5. He's hot and evil and sometimes shirtless, what more do you need to know?
Verdict: maybe if you're desperate or nostalgic for the 90s...

3. Weeds
I haven't seen most of this show, just about a third of season one. This got good reviews, but having actually seen Mary Louise Parker (main character) in West Village is the real reason why I started watching (yes I have very pathetic reasons for picking TV shows). Bit of this show are pretty good, but I have to admit I don't like the main character. That's not always a show killer, and I think the idea of the show is great and executed pretty well, it's just hard to take this show in more than teeny tiny doses.
Verdict: only if you like pasty looking middle aged white ladies looking pensive. A lot.


4. Project Runway
I've now seen all 5 seasons (except the finale for season 3 because the stupid DVD cut out, although I know who won and I you tubed the final runways) and really, what was going on with season 5? The seasons got better, but season 5? SO not better than season 4. But would it have been possible to beat snarky Christian Siriano and his dramatic couture? Probably not. And I think I actually learned stuff from this show! The British and Australian versions did not hold a candle to this because: Kelly Osbourne sucks and the Australian designers on the show also mostly sucked.
Verdict: FIERCE! Watch it, love it, and, like me, wish you could sew.


5. Gilmore Girls
I've already watched the entire series before, and fairly recently, so I only started rewatching a few episodes before deciding I'd rather try to make it through Charmed instead. I do love this show, but rewatching season 1 reminded me that mostly I didn't love season 1. Except for Michel and his Frenchiness and Tristan and his hot jerkiness. Rory doesn't have much of a personality yet, and is just not that believable as being all that smart. And Lorelai is fun and amusing until she totally screws Max over for no reason when hello? She should not have been dating him anyway cos he's her daughter's English teacher. Also thinking about it, they made some really poor casting choices for Rory's boyfriends. Dean? Jess? Ugh. I think the only one I liked was Logan. However the only reason why it's believable that so many guys like the Rory character is because Alexis Bleidel is pretty. Rory herself is kind of bleh.
Verdict: love 'em or hate 'em, this show still sucks you in with all its drama and perkiness.


6. Friends
I started rewatching season 1 and I'd forgotten how fun this show was in a brainless kind of way. This was before it got way too convoluted and incestuous with all the inter-friendly hook ups and it was just Ross and Rachel. It's funny because I think I bonded with some girls because of this show, and I could barely remember the show at all, just had a vague impression that when I was 11-13 years old I like it. That pre-teen is still there and still likes it.
Verdict: still has a few chuckles in it.


7. Gossip Girl
This is still ongoing, one of the few current shows I'm watching right now. In fact, perhaps the only one? What can I say about a show that has me gripped each week, even though I don't find any of the male characters particularly attractive? That's okay because Blair and Serena and Lily are pretty enough and Eric and Chuck are awesome and the other characters are not so annoying that I would stop watching.
Verdict: watch it now while it's still hot because the OC really started sucking after they all went to university...


8. Heroes
I almost don't want to write about this because honestly I've barely seen any of this show this season because it is just TOO MUCH OF A MESS. They don't have time to deal with storylines and way too much Peter Petrelli and Hiro isn't awesome anymore and even though there's more Sylar and he's weirdly hot it's just not ok. Even with Kristen Bell (totally underused and possibly she died on the show but I don't actually know because I stopped watching, she is so much better than Hayden Panettiere who is cute but has nothing else going for her besides that) this show is diving down, down, down. How could this show stay on air when Veronica Mars got ditched when IT WAS STILL AWESOME? The mind boggles.
Verdict: watch season 1. It was good. Then stop. Nothing else is good.

And because 8 is a lucky number in China, that's it for me and my lame-o tv show reviews (aka my own biased view combined with some of the thoughts from recaps I read on http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com).

Recording my life in Shanghai for posterity - AM

I've been uploading photos today and a few photos have inspired me to blog about them. Usually I'm pretty wordy and not as much a photo + writing person, but I realised that I like reading posts with pictures so I should try it out myself.
The picture below is a group shot of my 初二班一 (chu er ban yi) class, specifically comprehensive reading/grammar.



In the middle in the beige knit and glasses is my (and everyone else's) favourite teacher, Anna. It would be tough teaching such a boring topic (Chinese grammar) from a pretty mediocre textbook, but you could really tell she enjoyed teaching and she prepared in depth for her classes (which our speaking teacher CLEARLY did not). As a result you get students who actually want to come to class and who engage in the materials. I'm lucky I had her as my teacher because grammar, reading and writing are tougher to learn on your own. Speaking and listening can be learnt more easily and probably more efficiently just by watching TV, listening to music and going out and talking to Chinese people.

[Can you tell that I'm finding it tough writing from a photograph? It's a bit restrictive and making me overly descriptive as opposed to analytical (or critical) which I suppose I am. I think I keep switching points of view/tense too...]

A lot of my classmates are from Asian countries, with the exceptions being myself, Michelle (one of the girls directly behind me is also an Aussie) and the two non-Asians in the picture (German). Koreans and Japanese make up most of the international student population at Jiaotong University, which makes sense because of the proximity of both countries to China (Shanghai in particular being on the coastline) and the business between the countries.

It ends up being fairly important which class you end up in, because unless you have a lot of extracurricular activities or you're extremely outgoing I think that these are the people that you end up being friends with. Luckily for me, I liked most of the people in my class (besides a few that never spoke - possibly because they didn't speak English and very little Chinese) and made a few friends too. I know some people in other classes weren't as lucky to have such a sociable bunch of classmates.



I'm especially lucky because I had classmates who liked to go to lunch with me after class so I had lunch buddies! Most days at least one of these two lovely ladies ate with me (plus others) and ate a lot of food around the Xujiahui and Fanyu road area. My favourite has to be the Japanese place on Xinhua road that does tasty and filling "business lunch boxes" during the day (with yummo chawanmushi - steamed egg) and all you can eat and drink at night. You can't go wrong with a recommendation for Japanese FROM a Japanese right?

And that's my daytime life. Classes and food. Exciting huh?

Tailoring a cheap but wearable suit

Inspired by a friend who asked me about getting a suit tailored here in Shanghai, here are my recommendations for getting a tailor made suit. Note that I'm not an expert, just someone who has tried tailoring in Hoi An, Vietnam (the place to go for cheap tailoring, but also the place where you learn that cheap tailoring is exactly that... cheap!) and here in Shanghai. Plus someone who loves Project Runway. So what I know could fit into a matchbox. But I do have a (perhaps overly) critical eye/pen/keyboard when it comes to describing pretty much anything, which I believe is helpful in not getting too ripped off.

General points
1. Pick a fairly plain pattern. They cannot make anything too far away from the stock jacket/pants/skirt pattern that they use, so it's better to get a plain cut which they are less likely to stuff up.
2. Note that the samples shown are usually better versions that they got made by someone who actually is a real tailor and knows what they are doing, it is likely what you get will be LOWER QUALITY than what is shown. That makes it difficult to choose a tailor based on the materials in store. I don't feel I've ever been particularly successful in finding great tailors, as even the usual rule of "if there's a long line, it's good" doesn't really hold up. Recommendations from friends who know what they're talking about are VERY useful. Total beginners who somehow got something they liked are NOT good recommendees, but better than nobody I suppose. Your fashionista friend studying design who knows about clothes (and whose personal style you admire) is a better option. Try looking online too.
3. In China the people who own the stores are probably not the same people who make the clothes (gets shipped off to their little sweatshop, if you can find a tailor who makes things him/herself that'd be great, but note that it usually takes longer to get that done), so make sure you get them to DRAW (or write, or ideally both) exactly what you've described to them for the suit.
4. If, when you return for the fitting, you are unhappy with the result, the good news is that after several revisions you can usually end up with something wearable (if not exactly what you wanted in the first place). This is where point 1 comes in though, if you make your designer plainer and more similar to their standard pattern, your suit will turn out better. Revisions can only do so much. They can make sleeves fit better, they can make pants fit properly, they can clean up the lapels etc. But if it's just really ugly, there's not much that can be done about that...
5. In true China style, if you aren't happy, complain and get them to fix it. :o) Be specific: ie the sleeves are too long, these buttons need to be readjusted/sit higher etc. If you have that fashionista friend mentioned above, ask them to come with you!
6. If you have no recommendations and can't find anything useful online AND (most importantly) if you don't mind being a guinea pig, find a place that looks good to you. Although it's unlikely, you might find a diamond in the rough. Note that most places will probably be "the rough" and not the diamond though... I haven't had a great deal of luck with this method, but if you do try it, maybe start with something smaller/cheaper like a shirt and see if you like how they make that.

Materials
7. The point to be made about materials is that if you don't really know good quality fabric over bad quality, you will find it more difficult to know whether you're being ripped off for "the best Italian cashmere". However, it's pretty likely that the store owners are lying. I read somewhere that the really high-end fabrics do not exist in Asia so you can't expect them. My suggestion (from someone who is also not that great with fabrics) is to just go with the print/pattern that you like, feel the fabric (you should at least be able to tell the really cheap and nasty synthetic fabrics from something a little bit nicer) and if you're satisfied with it, then go with that. Don't buy fabrics that are already pilling (those crappy little balls that gather on fabrics) or shoddy looking/dirty. Obvious enough right?

Jacket
8. From watching Project Runway I now know that jackets are one of the hardest pieces to make. The point about keeping this plain is particularly important as you can't get couture from an el cheapo tailor.
9. Small changes are ok i.e. different collar or lapels, where the buttons go on the jacket or how many buttons you want should work out. But make sure they write it down/draw it ala point 3 so you end up with what changes you asked for.
10. Get someone else to go with you on your fittings so that they can see what the back of your jacket looks like. Make sure they're honest about it and critical and if possible know something about clothes...
11. Get it lined. Just make sure you ask for lining because otherwise you MIGHT not get,... it's always best to make more requests than less.

Pants
12. Pants are easier to make so they shouldn't struggle too much. However you need to watch out for things like them making the pants way too straight leg/high waisted (you do NOT want nerd pants). When they're measuring you for the pants you will be able to see how long they are making them, and how wide etc. So if you wanted wide legged pants and the width around your leg they're measuring seems pretty tight, you can tell them to make it wider. They'll try to argue but just fight back. You can always get the pants let in, but you can't really let it out that much.
13. I also recommend asking for lining because it means the pants won't be itchy if you got a woolen material. Note that you might not get it (I didn't even though I asked for it...)

Skirts
14. Basic skirts, best to go A-line. The fashion for skirt styles in China is a bit different to Western countries, so basic is good in this sense because otherwise you end up with some weirdly froufrou China style.
15. A good thing to note with a skirt is the zips/closing. I hate those stupid little metal fasteners they use so I asked for a button to close it. I recommend that because the little metal things tend to fall off easily. Buttons are marginally better so ask for that. It's easy to change if they forget too! That's a good note for the pants too, buttons > little metal fasteners.

And that's my advice, useful or not. It's a lot to think about, which is why I'm saying off the rack on sale can be better... less things to think about and the workmanship is already there for you to see. You can tell if the buttons are close to falling off, or if the seams are uneven, you know what you're buying. It also takes a long time to get a tailored suit, which not everybody has.

In the end, you get what you paid for, so if you pay around 500yuan for your suit, you won't end up with something that looks like it cost a lot of money, but you can end up with an acceptable and wearable suit for less than you'd pay off the rack (make sure you bargain them down - it is China after all, it's all negotiable BEFORE the deal is made, but not afterwards), which is what most people are looking for.

One down...

Two to go. First exam, and one of the easiest, speaking.
Except when I had to talk about environmental pollution. I mean I kind of knew it was coming (after turning up at the exam I definitely knew because my friend told me so I had 20 minutes to think about it) but what am I supposed to say with the limited vocabulary that I have? I'm not yet at the level of fluency where I can just say whatever about anything and get the gist across. And Chinese is not really a language where it's so easy to convey ideas without the requisite vocab. My friend said to me that Chinese people don't seem to have that many adjectives, when they describe something it's always good or really good or bad or terrible. It's true, although maybe at a higher level when you learn to speak more expressively that changes, but in everyday life I find most people don't use a lot of adjectives. Or maybe they do and I can't understand them! Heh.

Something has bitten me on the wrist. I'll take it to mean I'm allergic to Chinese exams.

City perspective: Guangzhou

I'm reading this interesting article on the influx of African immigrants into Guangzhou, China (here) and, having just been there and witnessed it myself, it kind of struck a chord with me. One little event that has stuck with me since my trip (bearing in mind my trip just ended two days ago) was going into a little noodle shop in Guangzhou and seeing a family of four: mum, dad and two little kids. For me it seemed pretty unusual because the mum was Chinese (probably Cantonese, and yes there IS a difference) but dad and the kids looked African. This was especially surprising for me, as you see the white male/Chinese woman combination a lot, but never this.

For the most part (my family included) the Chinese people that I've encountered are quite racist against Africans and people with dark skin. Or if not racist, ignorant at least. So it was a bit unusual. But for me, what made me look twice, three times, more, were the little kids speaking Chinese. I know that it would make sense for them to speak Chinese if they were brought up in China and attended a Chinese school but... I kept looking over and eavesdropping shamelessly, wanting to hear more.

I'm used to seeing/hearing foreigners speak Chinese now of course, but these little kids spoke Chinese like native Chinese children. Of course they were young so they spoke of child-like things and teased each other. It was all simple words and sentences, but if you closed your eyes you would think they were Chinese.

Is it strange that I found this situation so fascinating? It helped that the children were absolutely beautiful. Big eyes, long eyelashes, cute chubby little faces. Mixed babies are just the best.

I guess it's just something that I didn't expect to see in China, and it broke the usual stereotypes of white foreign males and Asian women that you always see around.

*edit*
I just realised that the tone and content of what I wrote doesn't quite match up to the link that I posted. However the link really is interesting! :o)

One month more

Any Les Mis fans may or may not get the reference in my title. I've now got that song stuck in my head, I'm thinking of writing some lyrics to go with my current situation, but that takes more motivation than I've got right now. This post is probably a bit out of the usual travel/life in China post that I usually put up here, but my LJ lifeline has been cut again so blog here it is!

I guess now that it's a real countdown/race to the end of my time here, I think I'm appreciating my time here a little more. Or maybe it's because I just came back from travelling around other unfamiliar parts of China and Shanghai seems familiar and home-like now. I've toyed with the idea, on-and-off, of staying here for longer instead of going back home and working, but it keeps coming down to the same thing. It'd just be financially crazy/unviable not to take the job I've got lined up waiting for me and instead living here with no income (I suppose I could find some teaching position in the interim before finding a likely low-paid job here in Shanghai) likely having to keep on living with the G'parents. And all the pro/con lists that I can make in my head don't help. In the end I should ask whether I want to stay or go, but the answer is that I don't really know. I want to stay, I want to go.

Part of me longs for the independence I'll get when I go back. Then I think of having responsibilities, paying bills, working full time. But then I switch back and think it'd be the same here, I'd have to work, but I'd be paid much less in a (most likely) less intellectually satisfying job (and with fewer work perks like flex time and leave days). But then there's family here, and learning Chinese, and all the novelty that comes from living in a new, big city. Versus the friends living in Canberra that I've got and all the usual, cosy haunts that I've got around the 'Berra.

Sometimes in life you get these forks in the road and I know I'm the type of person who, no matter how happy/satisfied I am along my other path, will always wonder what would have happened if only I'd gone the other way. But that's what keeps life interesting, is it not? The endless possibilities, the what might have beens, the what will bes?

I know I'm going back, but it's interesting to speculate on what it could be if I didn't.

***
In other news-worthy items (or not, depending on your perspective) I just got back from travelling in southern China - Guilin, Yangshuo and Guangzhou. While I don't think I got out of the actual travel what most gushing tourists get (various over-awed and excited exclamations of "oh wow isn't the view BREATHTAKING?" and "aren't Chinese minority cultures SOOO fascinating?" Or as one American guy sitting at a table in a small, but touristy restaurant in a village near the Dragon's backbone terraces "this chicken is the best chicken I've ever tasted... it's ruined all chicken for me for LIFE!") it was good to see other parts of China, besides Shanghai and Beijing. I was dragged to a few smaller Chinese towns near Shanghai when I was younger, but I didn't really appreciate them at the time.

In some ways Chinese cities are all the same. Lots of tall buildings, all in that kind of ugly Chinese modern architectural style (i.e. with haste overtaking taste as the final say in how it all looks); a bit of foggy smoggy-ness in the skies; the centre of the city having big, wide roads with stores and restaurants and hair dressing salons galore; and the scads of Chinese people busily roaming the streets. But if you look a little closer I think you can see some of the differences too. And that's what makes it interesting.

I think it helped me realise that I'm a bit of a city gal. Nature is nice when it's sunny and beautiful and the birds are chirping (not too loudly, that's just annoying) and you can wear t-shirts and shorts outside, but when it's cold and rainy and you're miserable and gloomy, it's not all it's cracked up to be. I'd rather be inside next to a fire or a heater with a hot drink and a good book than outside roaming the moors to see some foggy greenery and getting all rosy cheeked and red-nosed.