Gesturing is key

Our tour guide, Nora
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Today I'm writing from the Shanghai Theater Arts Academy library. At first they wouldnt let me in but then one guy walked around with me and spoke chinese to like 3 guys and somehow then I could use the computer. I'm not sure what took place. I can't believe that I can wake up naturally at 7 am, this has never happened to me before but its kindof nice. I think after this I will try to find the Starbucks which is funny because in the US I would never touch that place but here its one of the only ways to get american coffee and everyone in our group is going through caffeine withdrawl.

Lunch time
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Yesterday was a cool day because we got to tour the old city. We went to some really gorgeous private gardens but then we were right in the center of old shanghai which I gathered was essentially like being in Times Square. Lots of excitement but lots of guys trying to sell us Louis Vuitton bags. Lee and I walked outside the old city walls during our free time and went into some really intense indoor markets. They were like mazes and went on forever. We got to bargain with the vendors which is really scary, even for me. To bridge the language gap we mostly puch stuff into calculators and then wave the numbers in each others' faces. We enjoyed another totally Chinese lunch. All of our meals have been in what we call the 'communist eating style' where every dish is put on a lazy susan in the middle and everyone takes from them all. Its really annoying if what you want starts turning in the direction away from you because you won't see it until it gets all the way around the table and there might not be any left. Most of our group has been really good about trying all the new weird stuff (a few of us have really taken to the whole prawns with shell still on), but the vegetarians, who are usually seated at a separate table, have been having more difficulty. Nobody wants to be the meat eater who has to get stuck at the vegetarian table.

Holy silk dresses, Batman

resting and contemplating
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After lunch we went to the Shanghai Arts Museum where we saw some sweet jades. Then Lee, Joanna, and I went on our grand adventure to get custom dresses made. It took us a long time to hail a cab since the bike lane is so packed with motorcycles and bikes that you can't even get close to the regular lane. Finally we get in and I just point to some chinese characters of where we need to go. After a few failed attempts in other shops, we settled on a small boutique where one woman measured us as we tried on sample patterns. Its amazing how much we got done just saying "No" and shaking our heads or "OK!" and giving the thumbs up. The shop lady had very strong opinions about fabrics and would not hesitate to say "ughhh" and shake her head if she thought the one you picked was ugly. After two hours we had (we think) everything worked out, and accepted our receipts with two hands to be polite. I can't wait to see how they turn out when we pick them up on thursday. But does it really matter when its a custom made dress for under 100 dollars??

Bamboo scaffolding??
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Today is our day off and I'm not sure what we are going to do, except that a very fabulous stunt show is on the menu for this evening.

Love, Kate

Lee is still in bed so she will add later :)

Weee!   I'm awake now!   I'm pleasantly surprised that I awoke at 9 am despite having gone out last night.   Yay for my first Shanghaiese nightlife experience!   Most of the NYU group went, excluding Kate and Jared who fell asleep.   Our attempts to go dancing crashed and burned.  It took us forever to figure out where we were going: Baby Face, the not-to-be-missed club in Shanghai.   As soon as we walked in, I realized just how much it rocks that NYC has a smoking ban.   I literally couldn't breathe or see through the cigarette haze.   The Chinese government actually endorses smoking as a healthy lifestyle choice.   Yar.   As if communicating with bartenders wasn't difficult enough with the language barrier, the bartenders preferred dancing to taking my order.   Some sketchy, unsoliticited Russian attention ("So, do you live here?"   C'mon!) and a drink miscommunication (160 RMB for a Heineken?!  That's 20 USD!), and I was done with Baby Face.   The highlight would've been the me and Kati (not to be confused with Kate) vs. Sasquatch fight outside.   These manly German/Nordic blondes with thick legs started talking smack after we tried to save them and their pint-sized man friend from Baby Face.   I already didn't like the huge one's face and out of my earshot she told my friends that the insane prices didn't matter because they were rich.   We win anyway...   We ended up meeting with those who had separated from us earlier and sitting outside, drinking and carrying-on til 3:30 in the beer garden.   The bar had stiff drinks and awesome fries so I was content.   Group bonding is key.   Everyone wanted to come back to the academy and climb in bed with Kate after we left, but I saved her.    At 4 am, she wouldn't have been pleased with us.   I can't wait to pick up our dresses on Thursday!

In old Shanghai
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I chocolate you,

Lee