last weekend in Shanghai.

ok, so this isn't actually my last weekend in Shanghai, but it was my last weekend with my friends. There are only three days left in the semester (including today) and I couldn't be happier! I have so much work to do between now and Thursday, but I've made really, really good friends this semester. I think it's a pretty good trade off. Anyway, my friends Eunice, Nick, Nick, Ray, Gian, Lauren and Jeff wanted to hit up the fabric market and one of the fake markets one last time before they all went back to the states.
We decided to go to the Science & Technology Museum market, which is conveniently located in the subway station! It was my first time going, and Eunice and I really wanted to get Toms that we saw a few other girls at school wearing. They had really cool patterns and colors that we had never seen before. And all the boys wanted to get watches.
Afterwards, we went to the fabric market so all the Sternies (aka everyone except me) could pick up their suits. Last time Eunice went, she got also got an Hermes wallet that I really wanted, but they sadly did not have the style in cerulean, only boring colors like black and tan. So I got a Celine-esque clutch instead!

my purchases!

cute baby I saw on the subway.....but I was hiding from the parents so the pic is blurry.

Migrant School Teaching

This past Monday was my last time migrant school teaching for the semester. Every Monday for the past two and a half months, I've taught English to two classes of fifth graders (roughly 100 kids total). In the beginning it was really draining. It was pretty tough to control the kids and even harder to get them to participate. As the semester went on, it got a little easier, but was still tiring. Was I that sassy when I was in 5th grade?! Anyway, seeing the little kindergarten kids during recess was always the highlight of the day. They are too cute! The last two weeks, they even called me 姐姐 (older sister)!!

Nick with our second class

kindergarten!

my favorite munchkin.

Beijing

This past weekend, my friends and I finally made it to Beijing, the political, cultural and city capital of China. Beijing is the only city in the world that been both the political and cultural capital of a country for such a long period of time. The first day, we hit up the Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden Palace. And for dinner, we went to Wangfujing st, which is an entire street full of exotic street food. I finally had the candied fruit on a stick (I don't know the Chinese name) and it was so good! I'm sad I didn't try it sooner. I also had a bite of my friend, Eunice's scorpions on a stick. It didn't take like much, but smelled like the back gate of ECNU. They also have starfish, bats, bigger scorpions and cocoon things on a stick. Saturday was solely devoted to the Great Wall. We went to the Mutianyu section, which is were the majority of the Western tourists go. There's a chairlift up to the Great Wall and you can take a toboggan down! Sunday, before we left, we quickly went to the Lama Temple and Summer Palace. I wish we could have spent more time in the Summer Palace because it is so vast! There's even a lake inside!

Temple of Heaven

天安门广场

Wangfujing St

Follow

Today, my art class visited the "Follow" show at MOCA Shanghai. It was a pretty strange show, I'm still not sure if I liked it. It was a collaboration between eight artists and the Museum of Unknown, which is just what roughly 20 artists combined call themselves. On the first floor, there was really eerie music playing. Kind of like a music box gone wrong. And there was a really disturbing video that made me shout in surprise. And then the second floor had this really cool landscape model made of paper, egg shells that had writing inside and a giant, life size board game! Not only was it a life size board game, but it was also interactive! There were brushes and little pots of paint and you could add to the game, or use chalk and add to the instructions. It was a pretty cool exhibit. I like the range of media, but I honestly did not understand any of it.

1933

The other day, I went to the 1933 building near the Bund in Shanghai. The building is known for it's Art Deco style facade, and it is a former slaughter house, so it has some rather unique characteristics. My favorite feature is the many air bridges that connect the inner and outer buildings. It feels like a castle in the sky or something. Anyway, the building's architecture is so different from that of Shanghai, it's a nice change.