Shanghai, Day 4

Apr

2

Well, I gotta say that today was just a blast. It’s the day that I’ve enjoyed the most, and for a whole lot of different reasons. Mainly for the people that I met. I made some new friends today and was able to spend a lot of time talking to them. I’m making lots of Chinese friends, and learning Mandarin little by little. I’m up to at LEAST 5 or 6 words now. But hey, I gotta start somewhere, right?

Speaking of Mandarin, the vocabulary is surprisingly easy (much easier than English) but it’s the pronunciations that are hard to learn. The pronunciation of words in Mandarin is much more important than in English, because (for many words) if you pronounce it incorrectly then it becomes a completely different word. I found that out today when two friends (Kevin and Tony, below) were trying to teach me to say “I like to watch films” in Mandarin. When I tried to pronounce one of the words I ended up saying “wash bowel.” They got a good laugh out of that. Ahhh well…that’s me…always the comedian.

Anyway, after shopping we went to eat at an authentic American diner. I mean that seriously. It was nice to have a taste of home (in the form of meatloaf and french fries) for lunch. Here’s a few shots of the little side area that the diner was in. It was really pretty and quiet. It was almost like a little back alley in the French Quarter in New Orleans.

I don’t have many pictures from today since I spent most of the day shopping and then talking with people. I will close out this post with a few pics that I took of Times Square when walking back to the hotel tonight. I hope all you Americans have a good day…it’s time for this white Chinese boy to hit the sack!