But! Are We Having Fun?

My introduction is that this may not be the most poetic post. In two day, so much has happened. I am going to do my best to keep this pulled together. Here we go! 

April 4th. 

I awoke to a grey and rainy Shanghai. I was unaware this would be a prediction for numerous following days. After a quick coffee upstairs, Ellen, Johann, and I hit the streets. We were meeting one of Dave's coworkers, Brian, for breakfast. 

We met Brian at a Starbucks. In January when I left, I said to myself I wouldn't have a Starbucks until I got home. ... Well... 

Brian introduced himself as he sat down with a cup of coffee. Ellen had told us he made the perfect tour guide. His personality showed through quickly in the first few minutes. His intimate knowledge and familiarity of Shanghai made him a good guide. But his friendliness, humor, caring-ness, and over all ability to put everyone at ease made him the perfect tour guide. 

Breakfast consisted of dumplings. Brian said the place was a secret hole in the wall. Well it was a hole in the wall type place, but sure not a secret. I was glad we had gotten there early as I watched the line begin to circle the block later. Johann and I watched the dumpling making for a bit. Dumplings are essentially dough with meat balls inside. But the juices of the meat sit inside the pouch of the dough that are steamed to a boiling temperature. So to eat them can be tricky. Brian, luckily, gave perfect instructions. He warned us to not tear the dough as you use chopsticks to pick them up. Then nibble on a corner of the dough to create a hole to drink the juice out. Then devour the delicious dumpling! As you can see from the pictures, I'm terrible with chopsticks. But I will have you know, I never tore or dropped a dumpling. Success. A delicious success! 

Brian had to make a haircut appointment. He told us what to see while he was gone. So Ellen, Johann, and I stopped at another dumpling shop for fried dumplings. Then we went on to the park. Brian had told us to find the "Parents Proudly Pimping." We all had that face too. This is an area of the park where parents or grandparents create a little station to find a good spouse for their children. They have a list of their information; description, job, yearly income, age, and so on. Then other parents go look and play ultimate matchmaker. The idea is the kids, who are 20-30's, don't have time to find a spouse. So the parents help! This isn't some small thing. There were easily multiple hundreds of people. There were even marriage brokers with large books to flip through. We walked through the Parents Proudly Pimping for a bit, laughing pretty much the whole time. 

The park continues on. Ellen, Johann, and I explored as we went along. 

We next met up with a woman named Cheryl. She has lived in China for ten years. I'm not quite sure how to describe Cheryl. Here's why; she is a very kind woman and a very caring woman. That's obvious to see. But as we went to a market and I watched her bargain I knew she would easily take down anyone who stood in her way. I discovered I am a pansy when it comes to bargaining. I tried pathetically a bit near the very end, but Cheryl would get prices to less than 70-80% off and say she could have done it better. She radiated confidence and authority. Johann and I watched just in awe. Johann got very excited about bargaining, while I just wanted to let Cheryl always bargain for me. Between Brian and Cheryl, I had to take out a notebook to copy down all the information being thrown at us! 

Brian, Cheryl, Dave, Ellen, Johann, and I all went to lunch after the market place. Brian laughed as he told us about the spot for lunch. He said he hadn't been there yet, but was certain "the kids"- as we are continually called here-would love it. He was 100% right. It's a restaurant entirely based on bathrooms. The seats are toilets. The tables are bathtubs with glass over the top. All the food is served in tiny urinals, bed pans, or little urinal cups. The food is designed to look scarily like poop. You can only imagine the hilarity that ensued. 

The restaurant was next to a busy market place. We wandered for a bit. Everything from food to jewelry to art was being sold. But eventually the overwhelming crowd became to much to handle and we left. 

Brian had discovered an art festival that we all went too. It was a very westernized festival. It was the largest concentration of westerners I had see yet in China. The art was incredible. From music to clothes to actual paintings to food to moving art everywhere you looked was creativity. We spent multiple hours here. They had interpretive dance competitions, latte art competitions, and just the best atmosphere. The perfect place to just relax for a bit and enjoy. 

Dave, Ellen and Cheryl decided to go home then. Brian, Johann, and I went to his hotel to meet up with two more coworkers, Oscar and Mike. Brian had the perfect quote as we went towards the hotel. "Politics make strange bed fellows. And so do ex-Pats." Brian began to rattle off restaurants or bars he wanted to us to see in Shanghai that night. He kept saying to us, "As long as we are having fun." This actually became a theme for the night due to Brian continually asking "But, are we having fun?" The trick was to realize this was always a rhetorical question with Brian. Anyway. The list ended up being around 30 or so items long. We did three. 

The first was a infused rum bar themed entirely around pirates. Mike entertained us with middle school pirate jokes. We sat on stools around a wooden barrel. It was fairly early so we were the only people in the place. Still fun to see however. 

We then decided to go where we could talk and relax for a bit. "The Boxing Cat." We played pool- which Johann and I lost- and hung out talking. Oscar speaks Spanish fluently. We talked in Spanish for a while. I didn't realize how much I had missed it these last few days. It was a needed reminder. 

The final stop was "The Shelter." It's a techno dance club that is made out of an old bomb shelter. You must walk through a cement tunnel before emerging in a dark thick-walled room. The music was loud enough that no matter where you were in the room your chest vibrated with the bass. Brian and I swing danced. Which was not only hilarious but incredibly fun. We stayed for a bit. However, Mike, Oscar, and Brian were getting up at 5am to watch live feeds of the Final Four. So Mike got Johann and I a taxi because he speaks fluent Mandarin. Then Johann and I went to our beautiful room and quickly fell asleep. 

April 5th: 

Easter! Johann, Ellen, and I got up early. Dave wasn't feeling well so he stayed at the hotel. I had made connections from America to go to a WELS church service in Shanghai. In an upper room of an apartment, several folding chairs were set up. An electric piano sat in the corner. It was all in English and entirely westerners. But it was nice to be surrounded by people who understood the background and believes you came from. Between transportation and the actual service, this took up the whole morning. 

Afterwards, we met up with Dave for lunch. I wanted to explore the other side of the river. We all hopped into a taxi that dropped us off beneath the Pearl of the Orient. Tourists were everywhere. Well really just people were everywhere. We took pictures, walked up and down the river side, and even stopped for ice cream despite the rainy gloomy day. 

We kept seeing signs for the "Sightseeing Tunnel." There are only tunnels connecting the sides seperated by the river- no bridges. The four of us decided instead of taking a taxi, we would find out what this sightseeing tunnel was. We bought tickets. All of us were expecting a walking tour through a museum-like tunnel. Instead we experienced a trippy journey through strange lights via glass cable cars. Colorful lights swirled and danced before us. There was really no theme except confusion. We all got done and just laughed. It was clearly aimed at extecential 5-year-olds. 

 

We walked around on the other side of the river one last time. I couldn't help but smile at the beautifully illuminated city of Shanghai one last time. 

Not Confused But Confucius

"Everything has beauty, but not everyone can see it." Confucious 

⚫️⚫️⚫️ 

Johann and I arrived in Shanghai after a very long day and night of flights. It maybe was the fact the seats were very small, but more likey due to all the fun electronics easily available, Johann and I didn't sleep for a single minute of the flights. But the long customs line woke us up. We went through very easily. I think the real test is if you have the patience to get through the lines. After getting our bags, we met Ellen. Big hugs were exchanged immediately. We were all very excited to see each other. 

The three of us took an hour long subway ride to the hotel. Ellen had spoiled us by getting us a room in the Renissance in the middle of Shanghai. It is a big skyscraper centered next to the Yu Garden. Johann and I's room had a bathtub overlooking the skyline and river. While Johann took a shower in the bathroom, I took a bath and admired the view. We both later admitted we totally fell asleep. That has nothing to say with the view. 

After our R&R session, we met Ellen in the club lounge upstairs. We all ate a snack before heading out. Right next to the hotel, next to the Yu Garden, is a market place. We wandered here for a bit. This was the first time Johann and I were surrounded by Chinese culture. While since Shanghai is used to tourists, it's still very obvious when you're not from here. Even though in Spain there were moments it was clear I wasn't from there, I could fake it. Here there is no faking it. Signs of no recognizable letters, a huge language barrier, and our skin make it obvious who we are. Ellen speaks a little of the language, but mostly not. It causes for quite the adventure most of the time. A great adventure however. 

Johann's eyes were officially droopy by this point. To his credit, he'd had a long five days to say the least. But as we headed back to the hotel for dinner, I was sure he would fall face first into his plate of food. Ellen said it reminded her of when he was an infant. His headed bobbed and his eyes were barely open. Ellen and I kept him up for a bit so he could sleep through the night. I walked him back to the room, which he claims to not remember. To Ellen and I's credit, he slept through the night. 

Ellen and I continued to explore the hotel. The very top floor is a night club. The floor beneath that: a swimming pool and fitness center. Beneath that is a conference center. All these rooms have floor to ceiling windows overlooking Shanghai's nighttime beauty. We had a great time exploring and looking at the beauty before us. 

  

I did not sleep through the night, unfortunately. But Johann and I slept in till about ten. We then met up with Ellen after some breakfast. The three of us returned to Yu Garden, this time entering into the actual garden. The garden is gorgeous. Flowers cover your vision. Ponds have perfectly arranged wooden bridges jumping over them. Rocks create the perfect background for the scene. Iconic Chinese buildings accent the garden. Despite the people meandering all over, it is gorgeous. 

Our next journey was to pick up Dave from the train station. We met up with him, then headed back to the hotel. We all took about an hour for some R&R time. Hopefully the jet lag junk goes away soon. 

Afterwards, we went to the river Wu Song. We walked around for a bit before heading to a place called "Good Fellows." It is an Italian restaurant obviously meant for ex-Pats. The owner of the restaurant talked to us for a bit. He is Italian, lived in New York for a while where he began to love the idea of owning a restaurant. He then began to travel the world setting up restaurants. He spoke of how he decorated the restaurant with pictures of actors and actresses who were ex-Pats to America and had made it big. He painted beautiful pictures for our minds. 

After dinner, all four of us went outside to the river again. This time to see the lights. Johann and I leaned over the river and spoke of the beauty we'd seen in our lives. Johann mocked me when I said it was incredible how there is beauty everywhere. From the Arctic Ocean in Alaska to the city of Shanghai, it's beautiful. Obviously there you can focus on the negative and think of how the river is dirty or the arctic is barren. Anywhere you go you can view it this way. But isn't life so much better when you think it's beautiful? 

When we got back to the hotel, Johann and I went up to the swimming pool. It's entirely glass with windows overlooking the city. It's amazing. Johann was annoyed at how the water was perfectly lined with the walls and would splash out into the catching area beneath. I tried explaining how that creates an aesthetically pleasing picture. He was still annoyed. But a perfect end to the day. 

I guess the end of the day was really me laying on a velvet duvet chair looking out the windows as Johann scanned Chinese TV, which is odd-let me tell you. Johann literally fell asleep complaining about how his body was still so awake and he would never adjust. I think I stayed up just from laughing at that. I don't know how he adjusts so quickly. I'll get there. But as for now the adventure continues... 

'Twas Goodbye In Puerta De Sol

I arrived in Madrid with a sunny day all around me. I quickly took the subway to the hotel Johann and I had booked. It was more of a hostel if we are being honest. But Johann informed I needed to call it a hotel because he and I had our own room. However, every bit of it felt like a hostel to me. 

The owner of the hotel was named Max. He and I talked for a bit as I checked in. He was very excited that I spoke Spanish. He began to spout off Spanish very fast. I told him I couldn't understand Spanish if it was spoken that fast. Boom. Burst his bubble. Nonetheless, he was very nice and would become very helpful to us in these days. I sat on our balcony to the room, soaking in the sun. The balcony was just big enough for Johann and I to stand, shoulder to shoulder, and overlook the busy street below. So I sat up on the brick railings of the balcony because frankly it was more comfortable than squeezing on to the actual balcony.  The hostel was in a very central location in Madrid. While this was ideal, it was also very loud. Loud, but awesome for people watching. Every type of person you can imagine walked on this street. Entertaining to say the least. 

Finally, I went to the airport to get Johann. I waited... And waited... And waited. Okay, I may have gotten there a little early because I was crazy excited. So when he emerged from the doors, we embraced in a hug, gave each other some insults as brother and sister do, and took off. We hauled his luggage throw the metro stations to the hotel, turned around, and went straight back to the metro station. Our stop? Diego and Sonia's house. We met the whole family. After greetings, we went to a restaurant for dinner. Johann talked to Hugo about soccer, and I practiced Spanish one last time. Hugo and Iciar tried to figure out a way for us to stay at their house. But we just stayed for dinner. I'm very glad Johann was able to meet them. I said a very fond farewell attached to a promise to return to Spain and Johann and I took off. 

We walked around for a bit afterwards to see the night lights. But not long because we both were quite tired. I was excited that Johann was able to be so functions despite being up for practically two days straight. It meant I could run him all around Madrid the next day. But for then, bedtime. 

The next day I took Johann to all my favorite spots in Madrid. If you'd like to hear about them in detail, read my last posts. It was fun to watch them be amazing through his eyes. He would grab my arm every once and a while and exlaim, "I'm in Spain!" It made me giggle because I had forgotten how amazing it really was. He stopped approximately every five feet to take pictures. He took pictures of the covers on the sewer tiles, of parking garages, hundred pictures of the same statue and so on. He told me, "It's interesting because it's a different culture!" I rolled my eyes but smiled because I was being reminded how wonderful it was. I got to play tour guide. I loved it. I told him all the facts I remembered and explained as many Spanish traditions and customs that I had remembered. I suddenly realized how sad I was to leave Spain. 

We sat in Puerta de Sol to finish our exploring. I suddenly realized this was farewell. It was so odd. I thought of Marta's question. "Where made me feel something?" I ran through the places I had been in my mind. I met my "second family" in Teruel and Calatyud who made me feel so loved and excepted. I had been excited by meeting new friends. I had been inspired by the love of a plaza of people remembering the lovers of Teruel. In the Pyrenees, I had been inspired by people who were clearly bad ass and tough. I watched people who conquered mountains and laughed in the face of trials. In Barcelona, I had felt peace lying on the beach. I had been astounded by cathedrals in Barcelona. In Madrid, I met a family of incredible people  who helped me explore new places. In Olot, I felt exploration excitement run through my veins as I explored big rocks and small towns. In Pamplona, I had more fun than I can explain and felt relaxed as I danced into the night and explored the famous town. The list goes on and on. 

But as I sat in Puerta de Sol one last time I realized the feeling: home. Maybe not my ultimate home. But Spain had come to feel so home-y to me. I love the people. I love the places and sights. I love the traditions. I love Spain. I'm so comfortable there. I truly feel at home.

Bless Johann for letting me sit in silence in the middle of the plaza, just soaking up the feeling. Finally, as the sun began to set and we both were getting hungry, he reminded me I have to go eventually. I said I was worried because I felt as if I moved the real world starts. But one adventure must end in order for another to begin. And so that's what we did. 

The next adventure: China. This morning we took a taxi to the airport. We figured the expense was worth not having to maneuver the metro with all our bags. We were right. We checked in, went through security and customs, then got to our gate... Two hours early. Johann and I discovered we balance each other out well. I make sure he is on top of things and on time, and he makes sure I remember to enjoy things and breathe. So far traveling with my best friend is awesome. I can't wait for the rest of the trip. 

Currently, I'm on the plane from Moscow to Shanghai. The Moscow airport is very crowded with duty free shops and lounges. There is practically no room for chairs in gates. So people line the walls, siting on the floor. They also have vending machines for shirts with Putin on them. We tried to figure out how to get some... Obviously. But we needed Russian cash. Which neither of us had and we weren't committed enough to exchange cash for it. But I did get some chips in Russian writing! 

Our airplane... Johann gave me grief about putting this in my blog. But it needs to be mentioned. Johann and I have elected this is possibly the coolest airplane we've been on. Let me first mention, on the flight from Madrid to Moscow, a three and a half hour flight, we got served a full meal and several drinks, all for free. They were also very nice and helpful. On this flight, an eight hour flight, we will receive dinner and breakfast, for free. Now. The electronics is where it becomes fun. So each seat has a screen in front it. They also have a USB port to charge your personal electronics. Each TV has the option of TV shows, movies, music, games, eBooks, and audio books. You have a remote control that doubles as a gamer control. The movies include everything from newer releases like 22 Jump Street to Gone with the Wind. Yes, I'm serious. The music covers every genre you can imagine and you can make your own playlists frm any of them. Johann reports the games are very fun. He also reported the flight attendants as all very beautiful. The "beautiful" flight attendants even gave us slippers and eye covers for the overnight flight.  Best part? All free. Now. Also keep in mind our flights from Madrid to Shanghai were ~$350 a person. Aeroflot. Who knew... Well done. 

Despite the cool plane... Which is very cool... I still am very bittersweet. I'm so unbelievably excited about China. Of course. But I also know I'm leaving a part of my heart in Spain. I heard a quote about how everywhere you go, you gain a new piece for your heart, but you also leave a string attached to that place. That couldn't be more true. But as Teresa reminded me, I can always return. So I smile because I know I will be back. I know I will be back to my spots of peace, fun, dancing, comfort, and home. But for now, the adventure continues.