World Expo

So, a little late with the continued Shanghai posts...but, here is one about the 2010 World Expo.

Our World Expo Strategy: Avoid pavilions with a long wait, and thus see more of the world. It worked. We saw a LOT.

(I even got a "passport" to get stamped in different "countries". Cooler than my real one)

Suprise Favorite Pavilion: Uzbekistan. For real. I want to go there now.


Lamest Pavilion: Lebanon. With Iraq coming in at a close second (apparently China did the pavilion for them...thus it was all cheesy Arabian Nights stuff).

Celebrity Encounter: Suprisingly few foreigners were there, thus in the Pakistan pavilion we were noticed and had a conversation with a V.I.P. who apparently was in charge of Pakistan's pavilion...still trying to figure out who he was. He complimented us by noticing that as Texans we didn't have accents. ha.


Pavilions Avoided: Saudi Arabia (all day wait), India, South Korea (also long waits), America (apparently lame...it looked lame). Also, China (you had to have a special pass to go in...lame).


Weirdest Moments: Both Leslie and I were flirted with on a global scale. Have you ever been asked by a Yemeni boy to write your phone number on his arm? Awkward.

(The outside of Iran's Pavilion)

Pavilions I Am Sad I Missed: Israel, Iran

(Guess which country? Venezuela. Definitely interesting to see how people presented politcal systems/issues)

Other Pavilions I Was Excited to See: Mongolia (represent!), Palestine, Libya, North Korea (because when will I be able to visit either Libya or North Korea easily?)

(Palestine)

(North Korea...the truth seemed just a tad bit obscured...shocker)

Worst Part?: How badly my feet hurt. FYI hiking boots would have been a better idea than sandals..but I was too excited to be in clean, fashionable Shanghai.

Before Shanghai hosted the Expo, I can't say that I paid attention to it...China really upped the ante. If you get a chance, definitely check out a World Expo....cultural festival on a massive scale! Seriously, I have realized during my time in China how much diversity truly is a gift, and it was so sweet to be there! I almost cried when I saw Arabs....

Hidden History in Shanghai

During my visit to Shanghai, I definitely saw some of the awesome things you might expect, like the World Expo...but I also had the opportunity to go off-the-beaten-path a little bit...having heard that there was a good bit of Jewish history in Shanghai, I decided to seek it out (one of my good friends from our city is studying in Shanghai, and she got to come along as well).

Shanghai was a refugee haven during (and even before) WWII and there was a significant Jewish population living there...so interesting. We toured the Synagogue that is now a museum in Shanghai..fascinating!

Shanghai in many ways did seem reminiscent of New York City, and the history nerd in me was delighted to find such a diverse offering of cultural memory to be found there!

Vacation

Hey everyone! Back from the blogging hiatus!

Honestly, things have been pretty rough/exhausting the past few weeks, and it was good to get out of town for 8 days. The first few days we were in the Sichuan province for some language training, and then we spent a few days in the ultra-cosmopolitan city of Shanghai, where I got to see one of my very good friends who is living there for grad school.

So, the next few posts will probably be about some of the things encountered/experienced during our travels. Stay tuned!

Also, in both of the cities I visited, Starbucks was readily available...so now....detox time. It may not be pretty. Just like the photo below:

(Me, sans-morning coffee..yep, pretty scary)