SHANGHAI BABY!

Well, after getting off of the phone with a good friend of mine who shall remain nameless, (Erica Swanson), I was reminded that I have been in Shanghai nearly a week and I have not updated my blog! Leaving some to wonder, "did Cailin ever make it to Shanghai? Or did her plane go down?" The answer is,of course, a resounding yes! I am in fact in Shanghai! However, Shanghai is an entirely different beast than Hong Kong, and it has taken a little while for this reality to really sink in for me.

 

Let's start with a few numbers:

I am from Cottage Grove, MN: population: 33,081 (2007 census Wikipedia)

I have lived in St. Paul, MN (the capital of my fair homestate): population: 287,151 (2000 census Wikipedia)

I have also lived in Minneapolis (the largest city in Minnesota): population: 386,691 (2009 census Wikipedia)

The combined total population in the Twin Cities area is the 16th largest in the nation: population: 3.5 million (Wikipedia)

I have also visited New York, NY (the largest metropolis in the US): population: 8.4 million (New York City proper) 19.1 million (New York City Metropolitan area

I just came from Hong Kong: population ~ 7.06 million

Shanghai: population: 19,213,200

 

I knew this before going to China, but knowing it and experiencing it are two very different things. This is city is, to use a gross understatement: huge. It really doesn't ever seem to stop. You know how when you are coming sown from up North in Minnesota and you see the Minneapolis skyline? It takes up the majority of the view, Shanghai, on the other hand, is nothing but city, it is a wash of light and skyscrapers everywhere. It just never seems to stop.

 

My first problem when coming to Shanghai was, how do you cross the street? Because Shanghai is, like a friend here described it, a river, it never stops it just keeps flowing. This is true of pedestrians, cars, and motor-bikes and bicycles. Red lights, cross-walks, and even sidewalks are all simply suggestions, and you simply have to go with the flow of whatever's going on and be prepared for the changing currant to take you someplace different, otherwise you'll be crushed. So it has simply taken a few days to get acclimated to this new vibrant atmosphere.

 

I'll have pictures to put up soon enough as well, but the other information I've found out since arriving is: 

I'll be working at the EF megacenter in downtown Shanghai

I'm looking for an apartment this week     

Right now I'm staying in the French Concession in Shanghai at the Rayfont Hotel

And I finally got up the courage to go rollerblading on one of the suburban streets, it was a thrill with all of the traffic!

 

Love and miss all of you guys!

My Last Days in Hong Kong

I have loved the city of Hong Kong, but it's getting to be time to go to Shanghai. In my last few days in Hong Kong I've had a lot of really great opportunities to see amazing archetecture, eat some great food, and walk, and walk, and walk! I have walked over much of Kowloon and Hong Kong island by now. Hong Kong was pretty easy to get around because the signs were written in Chinese and English. Most people also spoke enough English to assist you and answer any questions you had. I'm really going to miss Hong Kong.

Transferring to Kowloon

Well my beautiful blog followers, I'm leaving my posh, but pricey hotel by the airport and going into Kowloon, to hopefully find more reasonable lodging, Kowloon is also very close to the Chinese Consulate where I can hopefully drop off my visa application and pick up my visa. My enormous checked bags were placed under lock and key at the Hong Kong airport, (they are simply too heavy for me to carry), and I have found that Dragon Airlines flew me one-way from Shanghai to Hong Kong, so I'll hopefully be headed back to Hong Kong International soon to continue my journey to Shanghai!

Hong Kong Transfer

This will be very quick, as I have a great many things to take care of. So it turns out that I was incorrect about having my visa, I have a visa application. This needed to have been turned in (in America) at a Chinese Embassy with my passport in order to obtain a Chinese Visa, and I thought this application was the Chinese Visa. This mistake is what landed me on a plane (shortly after arriving at PVG, Shanghai) to Hong Kong. I have to find a Chinese Embassy here in Hong Kong and continue plugging away at getting back to Shanghai. Hong Kong (at least where I am at the airport hotel) is beautiful, and I am still excited to begin this adventure, everyone has been very kind! Keep reading to find out what happens, because this part of the book hasn't been written yet!

1 Week to China

For the most part this last week has been full of the same things as many weeks: I took care of my grandpa, I hung out with some friends, and I kept chipping away at the giant 'to do' list that I would like to take care of before I leave. However, I didn't really have any huge emotional breakdowns, there has been a considerable lack of chaos, and things just seem to be happening the way they are suppose to. This is entirely comforting to me, and dissuades me from returning to the freak out status! Also, this last Wednesday was my birthday, and I celebrated (as per usual) with family, friends, and food!

Sunday, August 22

I went to Baja Sol with my friend Betsy, where I indulged in the carnitas sandwich, not that I could eat all of it, I took half of it home... and promptly ate the other half later in the night! This was pulled pork, doused with melted cheese and chipotle barbeque sauce! The cilantro cole slaw was one the side.

Tuesday, August 24

My friend, Brant (alias: Brantnare) took me out to Norton's in downtown Red Wing (Norton's is owned by the bassist of Husker Du, Greg Norton) and that was also fabulous! We started out with Tappas: Chorizo sausage, cheese (with some sort of jam on it), salted nuts, and dipping oil.

And then we moved on to Brant's favorite, the sammy (or s'miches). I had the Vietnamese sandwich with patte, ham, cilantro, red onion, carrots, and asian dipping sauce.

And this is the empty dish of creme burle that Brant and I ate before I remembered to take a picture of it.

11 Days to China

Because I'll be leaving for China in precisely 11 days, I've been going on a sort of goodbye tour of Minnesotan places, friends, and food. So I have spent my days over the last week or so rollerblading beautific places in Minnesota, hanging out with great and amazing friends, and getting a taste of different foods I'll miss when I'm abroad in Shanghai, as well as getting a taste of what I'll find in Shanghai! To the left is the buffet we (Fizza, Melinda, Aimee, Dehlia, Naomi, and me) procured at the Hmong Market. Along with amazing clothes, fresh produce, and various knick-knacks was really good authentic Asian cuisine! It was great, I was initially sort of scared of the whole fried fish, but it tasted awesome!

Another thing I expect will be rare in Shanghai would be copious amounts of red meat, no, I know it's not the best for you, but I really do love steak!










And lastly, one of the things I'll truly miss in Asia is... Asian food? Well not exactly, Americanized Chinese food is not authentic, but let's face it, it's pretty darn awesome!

18 Days to China

So, with18 days remaining until I leave for China the question remains; what do I want to do? Answer: hang out with friends, AND eat the food that I love here and will likely be harder to find in another country. Today I answered these two quandaries by hanging out and walking down by the river with Kat and eating at Cecil's.

The walk down by the river was perfect, it was a beautiful sunny day in the seventies (which has been a very welcome cool-down lately) and I took a ton of pictures (many of which are posted on Facebook in the album titled, Minnesota!); but more than anything I think I'm going to really miss the smells around Minnesota. Down by the Mississippi it smells like warm, moist, vegetation; in the suburbs you can always smell freshly mowed grass; and in the city it smells like... well the city! People, food, and asphalt! Then fall will come with the cool, crisp sent of sugar and dying leaves.

I should mention at this juncture that it is my intention to take as many pictures as possible of the food that I'm eating in China and posting it on this blog so that you can see what I'm eating, whatever that may be. So in keeping with this thought that I would also add the pics of my favorite foods (Minnesota cusine) I'll be indulging in before I take off. This sandwich is a representative of the sandwich I actually ate (Chicago style pastrami know as, the "Some Like it Hot!" This is technically the Rueben I brought back for my mom, but you get the idea.