Thursday, April 23, 2009

Celebrity News

Had planned on going to Home Sweet Home early today but decided last minute not to, I will go tomorrow. Met an American who now lives in Shanghai, he comes on Thursdays to volunteer at HSH. We talked for a bit and put tiny bead on little wires to make dragonfly magnets. One of the workers tried to teach me to do the fabric on the wings but I just couldn’t do it right! It was so difficult! After about 15 minutes it was just me and the “wing” guy working at our small table. I suddenly felt like I was being watch and was soon closely surrounded by 3 men staring at me and watching what I was doing. I looked up and smiled and said a few Chinese words to them. They seemed very pleased and watched for a couple more minutes, almost on top of me trying to watch. It was the oddest thing! One of them looked to be a victim of a terrible fire. I don’t think I will ever be able to get the image of his poor body out of my mind – I know my smile made him happy though and for him to know I wasn’t judging him probably meant a lot.

Soon it was time to leave and two of the people I have been working with argued over who was going to drive me to the bus stop! Haha the one in the wheelchair won. He pulled himself onto a motorcycle and I carefully climbed onto the back sitting sideways –woman passengers usually do this in China, anyways I wanted an easy way to bail if we had to stop and he couldn’t put his feet on the ground!! He drove like there was no tomorrow, I held onto the side of the bike and hoped he didn’t notice my white knuckles! We went a different way and he took me to a different stop – one that my bus still came to. I jumped off, thanked him, and was relieved to be on my two feet. I got off the bus and walked the 4 or 5 blocks home. Grabbed a bite to eat and attempted to catch up on e-mail.

I decided to take my motorbike for her first run and go to Carefour.I rode my motorbike through the crazy streets of Pudong, no helmets, no rules; I was constantly on the lookout for the crazy drivers! I made it there no problem; I rode on the sidewalk a lot and thoroughly enjoyed my ride. Locked my bike and headed inside where I got a snack and walked around. Two security guards came running past with huge guns, I was going to take a picture but thought better of it! I then decided to go get Starbucks and pick up a cold Chinese mango dumpling to take home and eat. I hopped on my motorbike and headed back to the compound. I got back and slowly unwrapped my dumpling, curious about how it would taste. Took one bite and could barely hold it down. I saved the rest of it and got Ms. Evelyn to try it when she got home – she agreed it was nasty. Ms. Evelyn got home and we sat and had Dunkin Donuts coffee –kudos Heather!! It was so good! We sat and chatted about our day and talked about what was on our mind. I took Harry for a long walk, took some pictures of the compound, and when I got back Bryan was walking in the door from school.

We all got ready and went to downtown Pudong. We went up the World’s tallest building, the Shanghai World Finance Center. We took a ton of pictures and were laughing and talking when I realized people were taking pictures of me and trying not to be obvious. I’ve seen people doing this before and it doesn’t bother me, I think it is comical that somebody wants a picture of me. Then one man came up and asked for a picture with me and I said yes and soon a line formed! I was laughing so hard and started posing for fun hahaha. People were pushing and shoving to get a photo with me and finally I said I had to go. I was laughing so hard and so was Ms. Evelyn – What can I say I am white and have dirty blonde hair, I’m a celebrity! Anyways some of them followed us and kept trying to take pictures until we were out of the building. We then walked down to the river and watched the boats and had some ice cream.

Our driver picked us up and we headed to Puxi to pick up Mr. Gary at Microsoft and head to dinner. I let them order for me, said I was willing to try something new. I had noodles with chicken and thin fish slices in a bowl of hot soup, Ms. Evelyn ate the fish but it made the whole meal taste fishy. After dinner we went to get bubble tea and other drinks, I had a fruit drink with jelly like chunks in it. I came home and had a quick shower, got to talk to Heather and Dad, and now am off to bed.














Chels

4 comments:

  1. Chelsea, I am literally laughing out loud at everything you are doing! It would make a hilarious children's book, "Chelsea goes to China".

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  2. Chelsea, congrats on becoming such an adventurer in China! It sounds like you are having a great experience and widening your comfort zone. This is a great boot camp for life. I really liked the celebrity thing - its kind of weird but fun too. When you get to Beijing, hit the McD's near the University and then walk across the street through the gates of the school and straight down to the common open area. Just start speaking English and see what happens - I promise you it will be a blast!

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  3. You are a great photographer. I feel as though I am traveling with you through your writing and photo's. Thanks for all the fun details!!!!

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  4. Fun, crazy buildings and you're a celebrity...I'm honored to know you :))

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