Best and Worst of Shanghai Part One!

So I send you another blog part one:

Best and Worst of Shanghai Part One!

Top 5 Worst:

1.     Internet-

I am not sure if I have mentioned this yet or not but China does not have a lot of the freedoms that we are used to in America. One of the biggest one that I have noticed thus far is the Internet. People had warned me about the internet but I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I got here, and boy was I in for a rude awakening on how lucky America is. My daily routine at home includes Facebook, daily blogs, the news and Pinterest all of which I could not access over here. Yes that’s right Facebook, blog sites (how am I writing this you are now wondering?), most news sites, movie sites (i.e Hulu) and site with a chat site are just a few of the blocked sites over here. By blocking these simple sites I have noticed how addicted I have become to the Internet over the last 4 or so years using it as a forum of procrastination when I don’t want to do homework or other work. Oh yes this internet block is a bit annoying to my social life, but it is also a hassle when trying to do my project. Trying to do research it is a bit frustrating because sites that you are used to using for simple things do not work or are blocked, or are now in Chinese so you need to find another way of doing them.

Because of this lack of freedom I would now like to take a special moment to recognize all of those who have fought and died to give me all the rights that I have today as an American. Happy Veterans Day to all those in the Armed Forces both past and present.

2.     Traffic-

No one likes to drive in Boston, NYC or DC or do they?

I just took a moment to look up Boston, yes it’s my favorite City and I may talk about it a little much but this times it’s for a good cause, and this is what Wikipedia says about driving: “Driving is to be avoided if possible, due to traffic congestion, poor parking options, high driving-associated costs, the complexity of navigation, notoriously aggressive drivers, and difficult-to-follow city rules and signage.” Take the above paragraph add 100 times the confusion, aggression and cars and you have the roads of Shanghai!!

Since there are so many people living here, many choose to ride mopeds or bikes versus driving cars which only makes the roads more scary. Walking most places is frightening and dangerous! Walk on the sidewalk and you will get nearly killed by a crazy bicyclist, try and cross the road and you may be run over my someone turning, a moped or someone running a light. So it is always important to PAY attention, listening to music and walking is not a thing over here (at least for now).

The other thing with traffic is the horns!! Oh my do people like their horns over here. Half the time I do not know what they are honking at, they just honk and honk and honk at everything.

3.     Buses and Taxis-

Convenient √

Cheap √

Easy √

Scary √

Fast √

Among those listed, one is just not like the others! If you guessed scary you are correct! With the crowded roads, lack of speed limit (signs), and from what I can tell laws getting in one of these is a serious safety concern. Everyone weaves in and out of traffic happily honking at anything in his or her way.  When I say everyone I mean everyone even buses. Taking the bus home from another town yesterday was scary. Just as everyone fell asleep, we were thrown forward, almost launched from our seat due to a VERY quick stop to avoid at least our 5 near death accident in 30 minutes.

4.     Eating-

For any normal person they would be in heaven, meals are about $.50-$20 (and that expensive), on average about $3/4 which is a far cry from anything in the States. Not being able to digest anything due to my Crohn’s makes eating super, super difficult and frustrating. Everything over here is cooked together making cross contamination a large concern. It is also nearly all in soy sauce, which contains not only soy but wheat, if not drenched in it; it is cooked with it, making it again inedible. Going out I can only eat raw food, as long as there is no dressing, rice or sushi. This makes it a bit challenging but I have become a little creative with what I can cook in our microwave back at the dorm :)

5.     Spitting-

Apparently it is normal to just clear you throat and hock a loogie wherever, whenever. Enough Said

Check back tomorrow for the top 5 best things about Shanghai (I’m to tired to write it now :()