Barbara & Bruces' Asia Adventures continue (China, Hong Kong and Korea too!!!!)

Here we are, back home.  Our bodies are still partly on Shanghai time (13 hours different from Minnesota), but so too are our experiences and memories. I think one of my strongest impressions is a sense for how much China has changed in just a few generations: from civil war and the remnants of the colonial presence of the French, British and Americans in the early 1900's, to the Japanese occupation and World War II in the late 1930's and 1940s, to the Communist Revolution in 1949 and the establishment of broad cultural as well as political and economic changes in the 1950's and 1960's, to the Cultural Revolution disrupting the lives of millions of more educated Chinese, to the end of the era of Mao (early 1980's; he died in 1976) and the opening to the West, to changes in how China's economy would be organized and bring rapid economic growth by manufacturing much of the world's goods, to the dramatic reduction in poverty and the urbanization of China in ...

We are back in Minnesota, although we have only been 'home' for less than 24 hours. I am floating in time and space, as my mind and body slowly catch up to my geographic location. Sleep-wise, my body is wide awake and alert at night and confused by the daylight that my body thinks   sleeping. There are moments when I have to remind myself that eating involves going to the market, rather than walking down any random street and stopping in at any interesting looking 'hole in the wall' restaurant, with a large menu on the wall (in Chinese, of course) a few tables and chairs and hopeful owners, sitting and cutting vegetables into small slivers. On our return, we are once again, struck by size differences- Americans are big and drive big cars, plus lots of open space with trees, grass and even weeds, especially in Minnesota. It is strange to have buildings be 3-5 stories tall with yards and open space between the buildings.  So, for us it is a time of transition and vibra...

In this short post, I want to offer a few portraits of daily life in Shanghai, as we've seen them.  Here we see two friends, sitting in the shade of old trees in a neighborhood of traditional house apartments ("traditional" in the sense of being pre-World War I).  You'll notice clothes drying on lines just outside people's windows, a common sight in a place where most people don't have clothes driers inside their home.  A "green" practice! More clothes drying!  And it appears that only the wealthy would have private garages--the spaces between rows of two-story houses in older neighborhoods are often filled with motorcycles and scooters (some electric, getting their batteries recharged), bicycles, chairs in the shade, cars for those who have one, and occasionally pop-up shops.  Always interesting places for curious folks like us to stroll. But--can one find food in Shanghai?  Of course!  Food is everywhere, many smaller shops along...

Lake at the Shanghai Zoo Having finished teaching my classes, we have had several days to play and explore.  What is particularly lovely, since this is our second time here, is that we have had time to visit places and areas a bit less 'touristy' and have some lovely interactions with people (usually through my cell phone translation app).  We are getting around easily on the subway system, it is cheap (usually rides cost between 40-60 cents to go almost anywhere), frequent, fast, clean and only occasionally crowded.  I continue to love discovering new neighborhoods and noticing the daily rhythms and task as people go about their lives. Family with daughter and swans  One day we visit the Shanghai Zoo: While Bruce had visited the zoo last year, when I was teaching- we both went this time.  The Shanghai Zoo is large and beautifully landscaped. The day we went, it was filled with kids with parents and/or grandparents in tow. Lots of photos taken with the...

It's a crowded morning in the subway, and a young couple, a grandma, and a young boy are traveling somewhere together.  The boy's feeling fussy, and the dad takes him to the other side of the subway car.  But after a while they come back to the mom and grandma, and the mom holds out her arms to the child.  But he holds out his arms to the grandma, who takes him and holds him closely. Barbara and I are eating in a small cafeteria near our hotel (sometimes the easiest way to figure out how to order and what you're getting is to be able to see and point to it!).  We're the oldest ones eating there.  There are a number of young women, older than students, but still 20-something, who are often selecting items for take-out containers.  But we also see young men about the same age, sitting together or alone at one of the tables, eating their food in the cafe. We go to Hangzhou, to see the area around West Lake.  By Chinese standards today, it's only a me...

It is a rainy evening here in Shanghai. We are in our hotel room, watching world news on CGTN (the English language world news station) after a dinner of tea, cherries and mangosteens.  Its a good time to share more thoughts and photos. Mixed neighborhoods near People's Park Traditional Shikomen alleys Water brush Calligraphy class I love walking and exploring different neighborhoods in this city.  Things change quickly, a fancy, modern shopping mall is across the street from older, smaller and narrower alley-ways surrounded by two story red brick homes with laundry hanging from widows drying racks. Fequently we are detoured around areas of street repairs or deep pits that will soon be tall buildings. But despite the density of buildings, moving vehicles and people, pocket parks are everywhere. These parks are always clean, filled with growth that blocks noise and creates a peaceful haven, away from the hustle and bustle of the near-by street. ...

I am typing this blog, following the last day of class. I am both sad because the students were wonderful and inspiring and looking forward to a few days of exploring.  One of the lovely perks about where we are staying and the studio where I taught, was my twice a day walk (about 30 minutes) through local neighborhoods.  I wanted to share some of the street scenes along the way. As you will notice in the photos, I was usually the only white person in the crowd. It was interesting to notice responses as I walked- usually I was ignored, but sometimes people would look at me in curiousity (which I would respond to with a friendly "Nie Hau" and head nod, an occasional look of surprise and of course, wide-eyed stares from  small children staring as I walked by. When I would smile at them, their mother, or more usually their grandmother or grandfather would smile back with a bit of pride and pleasure. Birds in the trees -Pocket park next to our hotel Starting out, I walk...

Nihao (hello)--thanks for checking in to our blog once again.  We're now in Shanghai, but I want to add a few things from Beijing.   The day before we left, Barbara was teaching all day, and I headed out to see two very different aspects of Beijing life.  The first was the morning "English" mass at the "South Cathedral."  I'm not Catholic myself, but am always interested in the variety of faiths practiced in the various countries we live in (even if for a short time)--including local or historical expressions of Christianity.   Some of the first Catholic missionaries came to China in the early 1600's; they were French, and so perhaps it wasn't surprising that part of the scriptures were read in French, but this may also have been because there seemed to be a number of worshippers from  what seemed to be French- speaking African countries (listening to accents, and sometimes noticing dress), where the language as well as the faith was spr...