人山人海

(Disclaimer: I had this blog done a week ago but couldn't get the pictures to post. I give up for now. But they were sweet.)

 Wow. The last month has flown by. I can hardly believe I’m down to my last few weeks. I try not to think about it. Sorry for not blogging in forever, I find now that keeping up with real life takes up most of my time. Haha. Anyways, this may turn into a long string of unrelated topics. My apologies.

Epic badminton reach

A number of people have asked about Office Olympics. I guess it’s a month-long event, because the games are far from over. My team is doing great. Notable performances include our women’s doubles in badminton (undefeated so far), best time for the team relay sprint, and jump ropers who can jump over 200 times in a minute.

Another cool thing about work…I’m no longer at the bottom of the corporate food chain! We hired a part-time employee about two weeks ago. In fact, I was assigned to train her -- in Chinese, she speaks almost no English -- to do the work that I was previously in charge of. It was a fun challenge. 

I’ve also been going out regularly on Friday nights with people from work for additional badminton. It’s always a good time, plus there’s good food involved. I think my skills are getting pretty decent, too.

Pudong skyline at night - it's incredible.

Lots of people at work ask me what I do on the weekends. I’m never sure quite how to respond, because every weekend is completely different. Of course there are the essentials (Saturday morning ultimate and Sunday evening church), but in between there is still a lot of time to fill. When I don’t have plans, I like to simply explore the city. I’m pretty sure I could spend every weekend for the next ten years doing that and still not cover the whole city. Have I mentioned how big it is lately? The pictures don’t do it justice.

Being “comfortable” in Shanghai is easy. Many western amenities are available that in most parts of China, no one would have ever heard of. Example: Saturday afternoon, my cell group went laser tagging. That being said, there are also plenty of reality checks that make me certain I’m still in China. Example: A man sitting on the corner of a street, holding a stick. On the end of the stick is a turtle, hanging from a sling. Was the man selling the turtle? Taking it for a walk? Preparing to cook it? I don’t know either.

A typical day at Qibao.

Another reminder of being in Asia is, of course, the people. While this may seem blatantly obvious, I’m white. I’m pointing this out because it’s something I forget. Most days, I see less than five white people. (This of course, does not apply if I go anywhere touristy). At work, there is one other American (who I rarely see) out of over 100 people. So when I see another white person, there’s a conversation in my head something like this. “Wow…that guy really sticks out. Wait a minute, you look like that too. Oh yeah. I must really stick out.”  Speaking of people, the sheer number of people in some spaces is truly incredible. While visiting the only ancient town in Shanghai (called Qibao), I was particularly struck by the vast multitude of people. The title of this post, 人山人海 (rénshān rénhǎi), is a Chinese phrase meaning “a mountain and a sea of people”. Quite an accurate description of this phenomenon.

This last reminder goes without saying – the language. My Chinese is definitely improving, and the better I communicate, the more I enjoy living here. That being said, Chinese is a tough language, and I make plenty of mistakes. Using the wrong tone can drastically change the meaning of what you’re trying to say. The other day at work, I meant to say something about an expense report, but instead of saying “fèiyòng”, which means expense, I said “fēiyōng” – Filipino maid. Not the report I meant. Same pronunciation, different tone. Oops.

Bird on a stick - a tasty Qibao snack!

Fortunately, I’m not alone in making mistakes, and English has its own quirks. A coworker once asked me if I was “going to watch the Super-bowel”.

You gotta live and learn. Some people just live.

Snapshots of Life

I started to write a deep, philosophical post about humans’ ability to adapt to different situations. For some reason, I couldn’t finish it…guess it’s meant for another day! Instead, I decided to take the simple approach and just give a few examples of what my daily life entails.

SUP. Shanghai Ultimate Players.

Saturday mornings = ultimate time. Playing Frisbee in China is not popular; in fact, many Chinese people have never thrown a Frisbee in their lives. Quite sad, if you ask me. At any rate, during my first week in Shanghai, one of the guys from my cell group told me that they play at a university campus every Saturday. The group was started by people from Church, but is now includes a number of local Chinese students that we’ve invited to play with us. It’s a good time. It’s also great exercise, which is good because I’m pretty sure I’ve been putting on weight. 

People watching.

Mom – if you’re reading this – I officially take back any words I may have previously said concerning people watching. This is a legitimate hobby. One of my new favorite places is a local park. I sometimes get food to go so that I can go there and watch. The other night, I arrived around dusk and found a very entertaining sight. One woman was practicing her dancing. This wouldn’t be unusual if her husband had been with her, but she was alone. There she was, holding a tape player blasting traditional Chinese music, just dancing around by herself. Meanwhile, another man not far away was walking backwards in circles. I have seen this before, but I’m still clueless as to the purpose. But I guess that’s normal here. Many nights, random people get together to dance in the same square. Yesterday there were proper speakers set up and everything. While it’s usually old people, there are sometimes also some younger couples (40ish) present. 

Office Olympics.

Last week, I was working at my desk, when suddenly I hear…thud. Tap. Thud. Tap. Thud. Tap. I look around the corner, and there in the middle of the office, one of my colleagues is jumping rope. “Why is this occurring??” is the first thought in my mind. Answer? Training for the Office Olympics. It’s actually called 春天运动会, but I’m calling it Office Olympics. This phenomenon occurs twice a year, and we are currently in the first week of the Spring Games. While I was wondering why someone was jumping rope in the office, my coworkers were probably wondering why I wasn’t training. But don’t worry – as of day two, my team is doing quite well. We are ahead in both the sprint relay and hula hoop competition. Woot for finance team!

I’ll plan to post some pictures tomorrow or the next night :)

Christians in China!

My church is great. Unfortunately, since it’s an international church, it is only open to foreign (non-PRC) passport holders. Being a Christian is allowed in China, but you can only attend government-approved Chinese services. I haven’t been to one yet, but I’m hoping to go soon. From what I hear, they are very traditional, and the doctrine is sometimes sketchy, likely in order to align teaching with government ideals. I probably won’t be able to understand enough to know the difference, but I’ll be sure to say what it’s like! Bibles can be easily acquired…just only from Chinese churches. No distributing of Christian materials is allowed outside of the church. 

Chinese Church that gave me a Bible

Additionally, Children’s Bibles are not allowed, since it is illegal to teach children (anyone under 18) about Jesus. I recently went into a Chinese church (difficult to find!) to inquire about service times. While I was there, I also said that I wanted to buy a Bible…the man who was in charge of Bible sales was not available, but they were so happy I had asked that they gave me a free (used) Bible from the church. Side note: this turned out to be better, since it has all the Chinese hymns in the back!

Outside SCF

Anyways, back to why my church is great. 1) The place is PACKED with people from over 60 countries who all come together to praise God. How great is that?? 2) There are plenty of opportunities to get involved, including conferences and outreaches. Last Saturday I was at a conference called “Partnering with the Holy Spirit.” It was incredible. God is moving in Shanghai! 3) Getting connected is super easy…cell groups are well promoted and highly encouraged. I’ve been going to one for three weeks now, and I already feel like I belong there. In fact, I’m leading worship this Wednesday. Pray that I can play the guitar well enough to get by. Bonus: I met a French-speaker. So fun. 

I forgot to mention, the name of the church I go to is called Shanghai Christian Fellowship, or SCF. This picture was on a rare sunny day, I think I've only seen two of them in the past month!