It's Over

The Expo ended yesterday without all the huzzah that had characterized the opening. It was quite anticlimatic. Except for maybe when our very last visitor walked through the pavilion doors.

A flurry of emotions right now churning inside and making my stomach queasy. Each time I come back to Shanghai it becomes harder to leave.

A Post on Gluttony

I had so much food at teppanyaki today I thought I was going to explode. All you can eat sashimi, meat/veggies/seafood, and drinks for 150 RMB are deadly. I'm going to miss it back at home. After I thought I couldn't eat anymore, we got mango dessert at 許留山 on the Pudong riverfront. Then I remembered it's ok because there's a separate compartment for dessert. My stomach and jeans didn't protest.

I already miss Shanghai.

Today was not a good day for 文明-ness

I visited the notoriously hard to get into Japan Pavilion today. It was a pretty good experience. The robot playing the violin was better than I thought it would be, though like all other pavilions here, I would not wait over half an hour for it. After that I decided to go pavilion hopping around the Asia area. Got in Malaysia (basically a huge tourism-promoting space) and Singapore. Did some picture taking at Saudi Arabia, India, New Zealand, and Indonesia. Speaking of which, I was turned away at their fast access lane for having an American credential. Talk about diplomatic friction.

The highlight of the day: I was sitting on the floor in the theater of the Singapore Pavilion when I felt something warm soaking through the side of my shirt and pants. I looked over and there was a kid, wee wee out, spraying an arc of urine on me. After that my desire to pavilion hop abruptly ended and I went home.

5 more working days. Exactly a week before Expo ends. Then Thailand. Then Hong Kong. Then back to the good ol' US of A. Can you believe it?

I AM TIRED

1.5 million people. The population of a small country, and expected number of visitors at the Expo tomorrow.

1 Million Visitors, Cute Babies, and 老朋友

Quick updates on what's happened since my last blog post:

The Expo hit a record high of 1 million visitors on Saturday, October 16. Check out the sudden spike on the graph.
http://en.expo2010.cn/yqkl/index.htm

Volunteered at an orphanage dedicated to cleft lip and palate babies today. It was a sobering and rewarding experience. Shanghai Healing Home, link below.
http://jamieweidner.squarespace.com/

Friend from home Henry is currently in town visiting. I am now using him to translate bits and pieces of Shanghai-nese I hear but cannot understand. Friend I met in Taiwan last year Sam also visited recently. It's always nice to see familiar faces.

Between collecting data at the Shanghai Library, planning my trip to Thailand, and thinking about how I already miss Shanghai, I wonder about the identity of this city post-Expo. Shanghai has been enmeshed in Expo-ness, figuratively and literally. How odd will it be for the average Shanghai-nese to see Haibao in every corner of your life--on the subway, in the alley you live, as a nicely shaped shrub around the city--on a daily basis one day, and have him be gone, erased, wiped out the next? The government gets things done quickly--pushing forth the retirement of Haibao and associated propaganda will probably not be an exception. And then the larger philosophical question: what happens to Shanghai post-Expo? The city has centered around planning and executing this tremendous event for years now, and now that it's coming to a close I feel like it's almost inevitable that the city remakes itself or goes through an identity crisis. Maybe I've gone a little too "native"; after all, a good part of the world doesn't care for or experience any impact of the Expo on their own lives. But Shanghai, revolving around Better City, Better Life, will now become ____________. Talk about a serious mad libs game.

Hodgepodge Update

So, JA China. Even though that event happened eons ago I am still obligated to blog about it since it's pretty important. Even though our kids didn't end up taking any awards home that day I was immensely proud of them. There was a portion of the event called a "green trade show" where teams had to market and try to sell as many products as possible to "clients" who walked around with pretend money. Our kids were ecstatic that they had received 11 orders. These three kids, around 11 and 12, who come from migrant families and have received nowhere close to the quality of education I had growing up, were able to confidently present their product to foreigners--CEO's, and English-only speakers. The team that won Best Sales Award ended up having something close to 26 orders, but if there was an award for sales pitch presentation, these kids would have taken the day.

I love you guys!

To be honest I don't know that the Green Innovation Challenge Event really helped in terms of encouraging kids to develop practical business ideas. I mean, obviously most of the products were unfeasible, so it's not like logistics were relevant at all. It definitely fostered a desire to be entrepreneurial and for young students to be creative thinkers. But at the end of the day reality wins out over idealism and it's really one big competition. Everyone, kids, teachers, and to an extent volunteers alike, all care very much about who emerges victorious. And that's how the real world is. The people with the best ideas, most charismatic personalities, the ability to persuade, those are the ones who will make their way to the top. I'm super happy that my group of kids didn't falter in the face of competition and carried themselves well. They definitely are equipped with the necessary foundation to be able to compete now and in the future. So what's the next volunteer event? Working for Habitat for Humanity, helping to build a house in Pinghu!

News media (except in China) is abuzz with Liu Xiaobo's recent Nobel Peace Prize Award. It's big international news right now, to anyone who cares. Except China. Most ordinary Chinese have no idea Liu is and what just happened, and they probably never will. In fact I found myself wondering how Liu himself even found out he had won the prize, given that he is sitting in a jail cell near Beijing somewhere, isolated from the rest of the world except for occasional visits from his wife. I came across a Globe and Mail article that looks at the issue in a broader context:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/tiananmen-dream-dead-in-one-generation/article1160927/
How much longer will China develop economically before the lid pops off on the bottle titled 'political freedom'?

Three weeks. That's how long we have until the end of the Expo. And there are even less working days left. I'm gripped by a monumental carpe diem attitude right now. I want to do everything that is associated with Shanghai. I haven't even seen a good part of the Expo yet. I love the city, even as it has its flaws. Oftentimes the conversations I enjoy most with tourists are with the local Shanghainese. I wonder how it feels for them to see the pace at which their city has changed and developed. I met a guy here who lives in Tianzifang (田子坊). Imagine if your home was in a place like Universal Citywalk. Or any other place with thousands of tourists a day, walking past your front doorstep, milling around your house, trying to take pictures with you. I would hate it. It's almost as bad as an ant invasion.

I will end my post here for now with something fun and quirky I did in the past few days. Taking studio pictures in China/Taiwan is a must do. To commemorate my fleeting youth I partook in this aesthetics-whoring activity. Teehee. But seriously, when I become old I can show my grandchildren (if I have any) or even my children, that I was not always a wrinkly raisin. Ugh, aging. I'm shuddering just thinking about it.