Some final whining remarks

So, gonna try and wrap it all up a bit, and I seriously suspect I’m not gonna have the energy to keep blogging for a while after this. I guess this blog is simply turning into a travel blog, and since I won’t be out travelling for a while, I guess it’ll be idle for some time again (hopefully not more than perhaps half a year though).  Anyhow, I can report that travelling by train in Poland and Germany is about as reliable as a drunk leprechaun waving a pot of gold in front of you, promising you’ll get it if you jump off a cliff. Out of 9 train rides during my entire trip, only 4 were on time, out of which the first and last one were between Malmö-Copenhagen and Ystad-Malmö, leaving a total of 2 out of 7 train rides on time not counting Sweden. In total, the time they were delayed accumulates to roughly 1,5 hours. And that’s not counting the 2,5 hours that I had to sit and wait at Szczecin Dabie as a result of the outwards train from Poznan being 30 minutes late and thus causing me to miss my connecting train to Swinoujscie.

For your information, if you happen to have 2,5 hours of your time over and don’t know what to do with it, for the love of whatever higher entity there may be, DO NOT spend it in Szczecin Dabie. It is, quite frankly, a cesspool of a hole in the middle of nowhere. Without any chairs to sit on. And crappy weather.

Also, I would just like to take the opportunity of making a slight remark of the fact that not a single train during the trip – in fact, not even the cabin on the ferry – had any electric outlets that could be used for e.g. charging a laptop battery. Nor any internet possibilities. Which sucks pretty friggin’ badly. ‘Cause there’s no way a laptop battery is gonna last for 5 hours (effective train riding time Poznan-Swinoujscie), not to mention 8 hours (actual time getting from Poznan to Swinoujscie). So there are two option here: 1) Decrease travelling time (by, among other things, increasing reliability), or 2) Get me some electric outlets! Or, of course, preferrably both. EU, you know what to do. Oh, and some actual information about the trains that are late would be very appreciated as well.

Last update from the course

Sitting on the train from Slubice to Poznan, and I figured I’d try to write a final blogpost summarizing the course and what I’ve done since the last post. Haven’t had any internet access since then (except for a short while in Berlin, but, as will be shown, that wasn’t really the time to start writing a long blog bost), thus the lack of updates. Having a bit of a hard time actually remembering which day I wrote the last post, but I believe it was Wednesday so I’ll start with Thursday, which began with breakfast as usual, and then a lecture during which we made a SWOT analysis of the prospect of Frankfurt and Slubice (or Slubfurt as it’s also called) becoming more of a city, than two separate ones, as well as participated in an EU-related project that has to do with creating a more uniform educational system within the Union (related to the Bologna process).

After lunch (which, I can report, has consisted of two scoops of mashed potatoes, some sort of salad, and chicken in various forms every single day) it was excursion time, and we all got into a bus that took us to Kostrzyn – a city that was completely destroyed by the Soviet Union after the second world war. Obviously, it’s been rebuilt, but five kilometers from where the old town lay, so all the remains (which are roughly half a meter high on a general basis) have been left where they lay, and are now completely overgrown. It was all quite cool, especially since the place had been a literal fortress with walls (some of which were somewhat intact) and everything – dating back to the age of the templars. We had a guided tour there, which unfortunately was only in Polish, so one of the teachers (who came like three days late to the course) was told by the main person responsible for the course to translate. This was, perhaps, not the best idea, since the translation quickly became more of a joint venture with the students, making it all very fragmented and really rather hard to understand for the people who couldn’t speak Polish.

Once back, it was time for more Maffia – it sort of became the game of the course – and Berlin the day after. We walked into Frankfurt, took the tram to the station (because, as I have learned, while there have been plans for a tram line into Slubice from Frankfurt for quite a while, the plans have been thwarted continously, if not by reluctant politicians, then by taxi drivers who feel threatened by the introduction of public transport in Slubice, potentially lessening their profit), just managed to catch the train we wanted (it takes some time to buy tickets to 24 people – even though one ticket was valid for five people), and were met by an awesome guide in Berlin. She took us along Friedrichstrasse, to Checkpoint Charlie, then into the museum there. We were supposed to see one of the old watchtowers from the wall as well, but apparently the Germans had been so kind as to erect a big fat building in the way of it, and because everyone by now were so hungry, most of the group couldn’t be bothered to walk a block extra (not including me), and so we all went for lunch inside Sony Center at Potsdam Platz (or right next to it anyway). The road then went past (and into) the Holocaust memorial, which I was apparently not allowed to run on top of (they tell me when I’m in the middle of it and have to make a two-something meter drop) – though truth be told, it really was a lot more fun interesting from the ground. Everyone went nuts with their cameras there though.

Once past the Holocaust Memorial, we also saw the Brandenburg Gate, and ended the tour with a visit to the Reichstag, which, by the way, was really awesome (check out pictures of its dome) and quite ingenious. The que took like an hour, but it was worth if, even in spite of the entry procedures worthy of an airport (which I so badly hate). Once finished, my group of five and one other went with the guide to Alexanderplatz, shopped around for a bit, saw the World Clock, and then headed to a bar (where I could enjoy some internet access for about 15 minutes before my computer battery went out) recommended by the guide and her friend who’d joined us, where we had food, beer, and a general blast. The train back was 30 minutes late (40 when we got to Frankfurt), so we weren’t home until after 2. Speaking of which, I really haven’t gotten eough sleep this last week – I’m so gonna sleep for a whole day when I get back to Malmö.

Today was the last the of the course, with breakfast, continued work on the SWOT analysis, a comparison of our work with the EU project and that of the EU themselves, and finally, a last lunch and goodbyes to everyone. So I went back, packed my stuff, walked to the train station in Slubice, and got on the train on which I am now. Or were, actually, ’cause now that this is posted I’ve actually reached my destination – my relatives in Poznan. I probably won’t have time to write anything until I’m back home, so until then! All in all, the course has been really nice, and considering it’s worth 7,5 ECTS for one week of mostly playing around, not to mention for free, even better!

Short and quick update!

So basically, I just spent the rest of the evening yesterday chilling on my own, which felt really rather nice. Today has consisted of the regular breakfast, a lecture before lunch on divided cities in Europe, a fun lecture about thinking outside the box (with an exercise consisting of everyone in four groups picking up one item from their pockets, and then solving a given problem with those specific items – in our case we had a USB-stick, a student ID-card, a 1 zloty coin, a small bank note from Ukraine, and a small note saying “good luck” in German, with which we had to stop disaster from happening when a fire broke out; I’m telling you, some really awesome MacGyverish solutions were presented by all groups), then lunch (which was pretty much the same as the day before), followed by a lecture about the close cooperation between Torneå and Happaranda (it was interesting and I learned a lot that I’d never known before, ironically enough while being in Poland), as well as one on Social Capital.

Most of the lectures were held by the guy mainly responsible for the course – a Polish teacher from Poznan University who’s really energetic, fun and layed back. Then supper at 18 (that is, basically kvällsmat), after which most of the class decided to go and sightsee some of Frankfurt, and me, having seen most of it already, went to my awesome CouchSurfing friend and stole some more of his internet (where I am now). We were just invaded by his very drunk but terribly entertaining female friends, who have been running in and out of the door a couple of times laughing and chattering, and now left again. I’ll be heading back to play some role playing games with my class (Maffia it’s called apparently, never played it) once they return from Frankfurt. And on that note, I end, because I feel I should socialise a bit with my CouchSurfer friend and his room mate. Sorry this got so short and compressed, but it’s a bit difficult to stay focused and write long and elaborate texts while being among a bunch of drunk girls and two other very nice guys with whom I’m trying to speak at the same time.

Dear diary, yesterday I found a blackberry (not the telephone brand), but no internet

Last contact with internet: yesterday morning. Mental suffering due to feelings of isolation: high. It turns out that Wifi is about as difficult to find as gold in this remote place of the world, and that includes both sides of the bridge. I searched two Polish libraries (the public one and the university one) and one German (the main one in Frankfurt), and none of them had Wifi, nor the possibility of connecting one’s own laptop via a network cable. Eventually, desperate for contact with the outside world, I turned to my dear CouchSurfing-host, and now sit here leeching on his internet. Along with roughly ten other Polish students who seem to be on their way to a party or something similar. It’s a bit difficult to concentrate on writing when my brain constantly wants to practice my Polish skills and much prefers to listen to everything that is said around me, instead of focusing on writing. I’ll make an effort now though, and try to brief what’s happened since that last encounter with the internet last morning.

So I headed out into town(s) around 11, walking towards what I thought was the central station in Frankfurt – following a path based on the rough memory I had from the evening before when I was picked up – in order to find a tourist information office and pick up a city map. I managed to find it without getting lost, and from there I could follow a sign downtown to the tourist information, where I indeed, managed to obtain a map, and even a small pamphlet with recommended tourist walks of Frankfurt/Slubice. Having 6 hours before the first course meeting on the bridge (between the two cities), I decided to do the longer one of them, and as a result of this, I’d managed to see basically everything of any touristy worth by the time we all met on the bridge, including the former Olympic stadium at the edges of Slubice (which (the city) isn’t big, but it nonetheless took like half an hour to walk there); a visit not really worth the effort. I ate cheap lunch at the student cafeteria in Frankfurt, which was served by nice girl behind the counter, and handled by an equally un-nice cashier.

I wasn’t sure if there would be any dinner served that day, so I decided to try and have something to eat right before the meeting. Being on the German side, I went for some asian quick-food-thingy in the main shopping centre of Frankfurt. Now this brings us to one of today’s rantings: Why, for the love of all that exists, do no Germans speak English!?!? It’s utterly doomed to fail to make oneself understood in English (at least without a larger amount of gesturing and improvised Germanified Swedish) if you’re speaking with anyone above 30 years of age, and even then, you’ll still be lucky if you manage. To prove my point, I can only say that when I ordered “one number 11″ (noodles of some sort – and that was even my second attempt at ordering; the first one was met with highly puzzled gazes) at the Chinese quicky-food, I instead got mini springrolls, which were “number 1″. Also, I keep having to remind myself everytime I cross the bridge from the Polish side that, no, I cannot speak Polish to people, because they are in fact Germans.

Anyhow, once my slight worries that no one would show up at all at the bridge (it being 17.50 and no one being there except all the regular cars and passers-by) were proven wrong, we stood there waiting for some half hour or so to make sure everyone was there, then went to Academicum Polonicum and were briefed of where breakfast, lunch and dinner would be served, and also where all lectures would be held (in that very building). We were then showed to our accomodations, which not very surprisingly was at the same campus that I’d slept the previous night, only in another building. I got a single room (some shared doubles), which, to be frank, I’m rather happy with. Unfortunately, while there is an internet socket in the room, this of course is not active, and I can’t make it either, since I will only live here for a week. Through some strange technological miracle, I managed to find a very weak Wifi-connection of my CouchSurfer host for just enough time to get my e-mail, but then I lost it and haven’t been able to find it since.

Dinner was provided for that evening after all, and around nine o’clock when everyone had settled in, pizzas were delivered. Without alcohol, no one was especially talkative, so awkward silences were rather frequent. This – everyone being students after all – was amended after the pizzas, and some sort of party erupted in the kitchen of my corridor. I socialised until midnight or so when I finally went to bed in order to get some sleep – breakfast was at 9 today, so sleeping in was not really an option. All I can say is that I am very glad I brought earplugs.

Next item of whining: While the apartments we stay in are in fact really nice (apparently on a completely different level in comparison with most Polish student apartments; then again, these were built like 10 years ago, while most other reside in 30+ years old buildings), the shower piece unfortunately was so clogged up that it felt like showering under a regular water tap. In fact, I think more water actually came out in a direct 90-degree angle from the shower piece than from the small holes it was supposed to (of which 3 or so were actually working). Okay, moving on.

Breakfast was quite alright, bread, cheese, cornflakes, and all that regular kind of stuff. Definitely beats the strange Chinese breakfasts I had in Shanghai. The day then started with an interesting but rather depressing movie about how it was to live in Slubice/Frankfurt before Poland’s accession into the EU (unfortunately with sound provided by a pair of built-in laptop speakers), which was followed by lecture regarding how it is to live here today.

I’ve probably lost most readers here out of boredom anyway, but in case I haven’t, I’ll try to make the rest a bit shorter, because the few of you that’ll actually read everything will be sitting here until tomorrow otherwise.

So, lunch (more like dinner), then a guided walk into Frankfurt discussing points of interest with regards to the theme of the course, On the Border. Then some practical info, dinner (more like supper), and now I’m here leeching on teh interwebs.

All in all, the course feels, to say the least, a bit sketchy and improvised, because the schedule changes like every 15 minutes, but apart from that, it’s been really interesting so far, and considering it’s all free, I’m not one to complain (okay, I am, but still).

This whole post got a bit stressed because I’m not entirely comfortable leeching off someone else’s internet in their own room, so I’ll just end here and hope that the tip I got that there should be publicly available Wifi in the student cafeteria pays off tomorrow. Until then!

Btw, has anyone ever heard of the Baltic University Programme (BUP)? I know I hadn’t, and I’m thinking they’re not doing a very good job of informing people of courses like this – I’m the only Swede, there’s one Finnish guy, two Belorussians, one Russian, and like 20 Polish people, half of which are all from the same university (which apparently actually informed its students of this course through their web page). I’m fairly certain me and the Finnish guy got to go mainly because we simply were the only one’s from our respective countries who actually applied.

It’s aliiiiiiiiiiive! (And so am I)

Right, so roughly a year (okay fine, a bit more than a year) after the last post here, I finally get around to writing something again. This time around, it’ll once again serve as a travel blog, much like it did in Shanghai last summer.

For those of you who don’t know, I’m currently in Slubice, Poland, right on the border to Frankfurt (Oder, not am Main – duh), attending a week-long course which begins today (at 18.00, we’re meeting on the bridge between Slubice and Frankfurt) and ends on Saturday, called, logically enough, On the Border.

Now, I haven’t entirely grasped what it’s actually about, but from what I’ve understood, it’s basically a regional studies course, which should involve some politics, economy and some-such. I’ll get back to you all on that once it starts though.

Apparently, travel within Poland by any means of communication is basically a bitch, because a trip by train from Swinoujscie (where the ferry from Ystad arrives) to Slubice would take approximately 7-9 hours, out of which the fastest alternative ironically enough went via BERLIN. So, not feeling to inclined to spend that amount of time on going here, it ended with me flying into Berlin from Copenhagen (touching ground at 22.20), catching a train from the airport to Berlin Ostbahnhof, and there changing to the last train for the day heading to Frankfurt, finally arriving at my destination at 01.07. Now, this may be new to some of you, but there’s this awesome thing out on the internet called CouchSurfing (Google it), and thanks to this, I had two ridiculously friendly guys come and meet me at the train station in Frankfurt, from where we walked to one of the guys student apartment, where I actually got to sleep for the night. And I got breakfast here as well. The guy living here had an early morning class though, so he wasn’t home when I awoke, but he’d left the keys to the apartment so that I could lock once I left and I am to leave the keys with the neighbour. I am, quite honestly, amazed at the friendliness and hospitality of some people in this world. It makes me feel like there may be a sliver hope for humanity after all.

Most of you all probably know how much I hate flying due to all the stupidly retarded safety regulations (speaking of which, this comic sums ut all up very well in my opinion), but all in all, the trip went very well, train to Ostbahnhof was only slightly late (which is impressive considering it had come all the way from Prague and was heading to Amsterdam), and the friendly greeting I had here sure made up for any possible negative experiences on the way.

And now, I believe I shall leave the apartment of my very friendly host, and see what Slubice and Frankfurt has to offer (not much I’ve heard). First point on the agenda: getting a map.

Until next time!

V for Vendetta coming alive; UK plans giant database for all electronical communication

So, this blog has been in hibernation lately, but this piece of news was just too much for me to not write about.

We all know how happy the UK is about CCTV, but apparently they are now planning something very similar to China’s Golden Shield Project; that is a humongous database meant to tap all electronical communication in the country. This surpasses the Swedish FRA-law by miles, and the implications on personal integrity and freedom will be very dire. I can’t help but think of V for Vendetta.

How does the fight against terrorism justify a development towards a more and more totalitarian state? Let’s face the fact, the so called terrorists are winning the fight without even lifting a finger any longer. We’re having the work cut out for them.

Just something short

So yeah. I’ve been home for soon a week, and have posted once since I got back. What’s happened you may wonder, to induce this lack of everyday posting that I so zealously tried to keep up the last half-year? Quite frankly, Shanghai just made me realise that there’s more to life than writing a blog post every day. I’m sure as heck not quitting the business (don’t think you’ll get rid of me that easily), but the frequency of blog posts will be most likely be less than it has been previously, until I simply feel like doing every day posts again.

So take care, and I’ll see you next time!

Rules of haggling

So, I’m back in Sweden, and felt that perhaps a bit of summing up would be in place. One word: absolutelywonderful. The course surpassed my expectations, I’ve had a great time, I love Shanghai, I’ve done a tremendous amount of shopping, and last but most important of all, I’ve learned so much and feel that I’ve grown as a human being and gotten to know myself better than before. All in all, it was an invaluable experience, and I can’t wait until I get back to Asia again.

So, now that that’s been dealt with, I figured I’d make myself a bit useful to other people as well and put together some simple rules of thumb to keep in mind if you want to be a good haggler (I got seriously good at it):

1. Get to know the market. This is basic principle number one. Unless you know what stuff is roughly worth, then you’re gonna pay an overprice. A good way of doing this is to simply go into a supermarket or regular store with fixed prices (if such a thing exists) and see how much they charge for clothes, trinkets and the like. Another way is to simply probe the market, by starting to haggle but in the end not buying anything (if they drop the price really fast to what you’re asking for, then the price is still too high). After a number of different tries you’ll get a feel for what the lower limit for things is, and how much the price can vary. A third option is to simply start buying things (bargain as much as you can), and realise that you will pay an overprice the first number of times (but this basically always holds true if you’re new to bargaining (and you’ll feel you’ve made a great deal nonetheless)). But through practice comes knowledge, and you’ll quickly get a lot better.

2. Always be prepared to leave. This means that as soon as you feel that you can’t leave without actually buying whatever it is you’re haggling for, you will be paying too much for it. Starting to walk away (for real, not just slowly as if you’re waiting for them to call out for you; once I went 30 meters before the woman came running after me screaming “Okay!”) ususally makes them drop the price to what you’re asking for (unless the price you’re asking for is outrageously low (i.e they won’t make any profit at all)). Keep in mind that there are usually a lot of other stores that sell the same thing; this should make it easier to leave.

3. Lies are part of the game. The salesperson always lies (“Very good quality”, “Very low price”, “Special price for you my friend”), so why shouldn’t you? Claiming that you can buy something at home for the same price they’re asking for is always a good argument, or that another shop offered you even less (keep in mind these people will know the market even better than you do, so keep your lies feasible). If you’ve made some other similar purchases (especially if you’re still carrying them with you) you can always claim you got them cheaper than you actually did (or if you already got a really good price on them, that’ll at least help you drop the price here as well).

4. The more you buy from the same place (at once, or even if you go there several times) the cheaper you can get it. If you’ve made a good deal once and come back, they usually remember you and will be more willing to give you a good price this time as well.

5. Examine the product properly (even if you have no clue how to find out if it’s good quality or not). Not only will it help you find faults with it which might push the price a bit further, but it also makes you come off as if you actually know what you’re talking about, which gives you an advantage.

6. Be coldhearted. They will be playing with your emotions (keep in mind, it’s all an act), so make sure you’re not affected. This also includes comparing prices with western ones. If you do that, you’re screwed. You need to think like a local, and compare it to local prices, lest you’ll be paying too much.

7. Be prepared to spend time bargaining. I once spent half an hour haggling for three paintings before I got it down to what I wanted. Basically, the bigger the deal, the longer you’ll be able to haggle, and the better the price you can theoretically get.

I’m not claiming that these seven rules are all-encompassing (quite definitely there are many more, but these are the ones I could come up with, derived from my own personal experiences), but they will do quite a lot of good if you adhere to them. If anyone has any more nifty rules, feel free to comment.

Last weekend

Friday started with a regular class called ”Social Transition Pains: Chinese Confused, Lost and Disoriented?”, after which some of us (including me) went and had lunch at the muslim noodle place near campus. The course’s last lecture started with all of our presentations (which took like one and a half hour), and then some summing up of the week. Took it easy for a while, and then it was time for the farewell dinner at a sea-food reasturant. Got a tremendous amount of obscure sea-related dishes there, one of which was a whole fish with eyes and everything that stared at you sort of accusingly – somewhat disturbing. Dinner was followed by a trip downtown, to a bar/club called ”I love Shanghai”, which turned out to be very difficult to find (street numbers seemed to be completely arbitrary, and jumped like ten numbers at a time). Nonetheless, after some confused wandering about we managed to find the place, and I stayed there until 1 or so.

Got up early on Saturday since I felt that I had a lot of shopping to do. Went to Qi pu lu (Cheap road – yes, that is it’s actual name, and it made for an excellent haggling argument) and a pirate market with a Finnish and a Danish student, and got new none-squeaky Nikes (100 yuan), a pair of Timberland shoes (80 yuan), a pair of pants (50 yuan), new pair of Ray Ban sunglasses (since I lost the pair I got the first day in the taxi; 50 yuan), and a bunch of socks and boxers. All in all, very happy with the shopping. In the evening fair amount of students went to an Indian restaurant that had an all-you-can-eat-and-drink-buffet for 80 yuan, after which I simply went to bed (having gotten like 6 hours of sleep the night before).

Woke up early on my own on Sunday for some reason and started the day by packing my backpack, which turned out to be a lot more difficult than I had thought. All I can say is: I am very glad I did not find any good sweater to buy, because I most likely wouldn’t have been able to take it with me. At 12 I was supposed to meet up with a Chinese girl (speaking, to say the least, rather limited English) outside the hotel (she worked in the restaurant next-door), but it turned out that she’d overslept (until 12) and didn’t come until 12.40 (upon which I was about to leave, becase I was starting to think she wouldn’t show up at all). We took the metro and then a taxi to the Shanghai Zoo, which was a mixed experience. Parts of it were a lot like western zoos where the animals had pretty decent living conditions, but other parts of it were just small concrete rooms in which the animals seemed to be very miserable indeed.

Anyhow, after two-three hours there we were both properly hungry and decided to find a good restaurant. I proposed going to the Frensh Concession, so we got into a cab, but just after a few minutes I noticed a Teppanyaki restaurant (a Japanese restaurant chain; a lot of students had been there and said that it was superb) outside the taxi window, so we got out and went in there. It costs 150 yuan for all-you-can-eat-and-drink, and the concept is that you order raw dishes from the menu, which are then prepared by a chef right in front of you (so every table, which can serve like 10 people, has its own chef). Now, it may have been fairly expensive (very expensive by Chinese standards), but OH MY FUCKING GOD was it worth it. I swear to God, they served the best meat (and in general, food) I have ever eaten in my entire life. If they open up in Stockholm I’ll make friggin’ pilgrimages there just for the sake of the food. We sat there for I think two hours straight just eating more and more blissful food.

Upon leaving the restaurant one of the waitresses gave me a 1,8 liter Sake bottle as well (she said I’d payed for it, which I dunno, but heck if I’m gonna say no to something expensive that’s free), but to my great demise, I realised rather quickly that I’d never be able to take it with me. My backpack was filled to the brim and probably already over-weight (and the bottle weighed like three kilos on it’s own), I wouldn’t be able to take it as hand luggage since it’s liquid (God do I hate all these stupid, retarded flight ”safety” regulations), and sending it by mail would probably cost more than the bottle itself was worth. So ended up leaving it for the reception to give it to the Danish girl that I’d been shopping with the day before, and left a note saying she could do as she wished with it.

I was supposed to get up at 4 today in order to have some breakfast and a shower before checking out and heading to the airport (was supposed to meet another Swedish student going with the same flight at 5.30), but instead I got woken up by the room telephone at 5.50 by the Swedish girl calling from the lobby asking if I was coming down anytime soon. I (very) quickly packed down the computer and [necessär] which were the only unpacked things I had left, put on my clothes (I’m currently sitting in the plane with my t-shirt being inside-out), and ”ran” (running is difficult with a giant heavy backpack on you back, and a smaller, still rather heavy one up front) down to the lobby. Checking out went surprisingly quickly (checking in took damn near half an hour, and it had seemed to take just as long for some people when they were leaving), so we got into a taxi and headed to the airport. Once there I found out that I had a 5-kilo overweight backpack (they didn’t weigh my hand luggage, which probably would have been overweight by a couple of kilos as well), but thanks so some miracle, the lady merely said ”You have overweight”, but then simply let it pass anyway. For which I am eternally greatful, because the Swedish girl ended up with a 10-kilo overweight, of which she only had to pay for 3 kilos, but still ended up paying some 600-700 yuan (200-something per kilo – OUCH).

And now I’m on the plane, and about to eat whatever they brought me. In China it would’ve been damn near unedible due to spicyness; here it will probably be slightly strong at best. See you at home folks.

Even longer!

First, a note on laundry: Running seriously low on clean socks and boxers last Saturday already, I wanted to hand in my dirty clothes to a place that several students had recommended, not very far from here. So I walked there only to find that it was closed, in spite of the fact that it should’ve been open. I tried again Sunday morning, and actually finding it open I left my laundry there for 17 yuan (a heck of a lot cheaper than the last place which charged me 69, as well as another place that I just scouted which wanted like 200-something). Going there to pick it up on Monday, I once again find that it’s closed (mid-day), to my great demise. Mind you, the one pair of socks that I still had with me were starting to smell REALLY bad by this time. Luckily enough, I had actually purchased three knock-off Calvin Klein boxers from some street hawker (for 30 yuan) on the way home one day, so I was actually covered on that front. Thankfully enough, the place was actually open on Tuesday, so I was able to get some non-stinkin’ socks – yay!

Now then, after having eaten breakfast at the restaurant next-door on Sunday, I decided to take Metro line 8 into town (it would take approximately 20-30 minutes to walk to the station), but accidentally started following the wrong signs and ended up at Metro line 3 instead. So I went one station with that, and was going to change to line 8 there. I actually had to walk out of the station for that though, so while being out I took the chance (to be honest I just couldn’t really find the station for line 8 ) and checked out Hongkou Football Stadium and Luxun Park which was right next to it. It was really nice just walking around in the park and observing (i.e photographing) the Shanghainese residents, what with their singing, Tai Chi, instrument playing, and general socialising.

Eventually managed to find the station for Metro line 8, and went downtown. Having no clear goal in mind, I looked at the map and decided to check out something called the Spice Market. This however just turned out to be in Xintiandi, the place that I’d been some week or two ago whose name I didn’t remember when I blogged about it (the place that they’ve rebuilt to make it look like Shanghai from the beginning of the 20th century; it’s funny how that works actually, they tear down all the old stuff, and then rebuild it to make it look old). So I turned around and started walking towards the old town and so called antique market there (all stores basically sell the same “antiques”). On the way I went through a residential area where you could really see how many of the less-than-middle-class Shanghainese live, which was awesome.

Once I was in the old town (that is, the area of Shanghai built to look like it’s from the medieval China) I got a really nice six-piece chopstick set for 35 yuan, and then visited the paintings shop that I was in last time I was there (where I got two small ones and one large painting scroll for 100 yuan after a lot of haggling, and I wanted to do something similar). This time however I chose two large scrolls and one small one (and I think the big ones were even nicer than the one I got last time), and wanted it for the same price, something they were not too happy about. In the end however (that is, some 30 minutes later of haggling and starting to walk away a few times as well), I got them for 100, which was a great deal to be honest.

While I was there I also figured I’d see if I could pick up a katana for some cheap money (I needed at least one more for when I’m cosplaying at Kodachikon, as Roronoa Zoro from One Piece (am I geeky or what? xD)), so I asked a store keeper in another store that had some regular swords if he had katanas. “Aaah, samurai swords! Come this way!” He led me into the deepest parts of the store, where he had a really neat collection of katanas. I start looking at one of them, and then he asks “You like sharp?”. I reply, “Sure, I like them sharp”, upon which he moves away a cabinet covering the lower half of one of the bookshelves only to reveal a hidden niche of sharp, seriously nice katanas. The price he wanted for the real ones was however a bit over my budget (I’d have to pay up at least a 1000, and that’s including a lot of bargaining), so I settled for the replica I looked at first. Managed to get it down to 100 after some serious haggling, and also had him include the stand for the sword, as well as a cheap box to carry it in.

After this it was sort of cumbersome to walk around with all the stuff I’d bought, so I decided to head on home, and got on the 123-bus from People’s Square. On the bus I met a Chinese guy who studied in Canada, and we ended up talking for the most part of the trip back, and I’m actually heading out now at 20 in order to meet him for a beer or two at Pedestrian street, which feels really fun.

Monday started with a short Chinese class as usual, followed up by the first lecture of the day (“Topical Issues: Trade Friction, Currency and China Investing Overseas”). Had lunch in the school cantina, and then tried to work a bit on the group presentation we’re gonna do on friday (we’re doing it on Environmental Issues in China), but most of the time was spent trying to get the wireless to work (did actually succeed in the end). Second lecture was called “Chinese Human Rights”, and was the best lecture we’d had so far. Brilliant lecturer (from a Norwegian university, although he had a very Swedish-sounding name: Otto Malmgren) quite simply. This lecture was followed by a presentation of a company called BAAMM which apparently works to connect companies with students in order to mediate internships and the like. Presentation made by an elder Swedish man who spoke typical Volvo executive Swedish, but was still sort of interesting (although he did linger a bit too much on the technical details (“And here you can see the last five visitors to your presentation”) that we students simply take for granted).

Once that was over I had a quick meal, before heading out with a bunch of other students to an acrobatics show. It was basically like a circus, only without the animals. Really nice, although driving around with seven motorcycles indoors (while highly impressive) didn’t feel like the brightest of ideas (electrical motorcycles had been appreciated on my behalf at least).

Tuesday I actually managed to miss my alarm clock (i.e cell phone) completely, and awoke on my own an hour after the time I’d intended to get up. So I quickly put on some clothes and went to the Chinese class of the day, and then the lecture “Implementing Chinese Constitutional Rights – an excercise in Futility?”, held by Otto Malmgren, which was really, really good (although I was terribly hungry since I didn’t get any breakfast (1. no time, 2. I’d run out of muesli a couple of days before)). After lunch in the school cafeteria (after which I picked up my clothes at the laundry (yay! clean socks!) and took the shower I didn’t have time to take in the morning) it was time for “IPR [Intellectual Property Rights] in China”, which was pretty interesting, but most of it was spent talking about the Chinese legal system in general (which has been done already quite a few times) and not so much on IPR per se.

Once the lecture ended I headed out to the Fabrics Market with some other students, and picked up my tailor-made suit, coat, and two shirts. DAMN I look good in them xD Worth every yuan. Went to the pirate market I visited the first day after that, where I ended up buying jack shit, in spite of trying to find a good pair of sunglasses. That, and shoes (my Nike Airs are squeaking insanely much by now), are top priority on the shopping list now. Gonna have to get that on Saturday (as I most likely won’t have time on Friday) along with everything else that’s still on the list.

Yesterday morning the whole course got into two buses and was driven to a “traditional Southern-China town” called Zhujiajiao. The place was very much a tourist trap, but I went into photography-mode and shot like 200 images, many of which turned out really well, so I’m glad we went there. I also bought two t-shirts (40 yuan) and a fan (10 yuan; one of those classical-looking ones) there. In the afternoon every country went to it’s respective consulate (except for the poor Icelandics who can’t afford a consulate in Shanghai, and went to Glitnir Bank instead), which was quite interesting (they had IKEA-purchased ginger cookies and Daim; they were quite popular, I assure you). After the visit, I felt that I had to both start and finish my part of the group presentation, so I took the Metro back to the hotel and spent three hours or so (took longer than I imagined – I think I’m being a bit too ambitious) fixing it.

Today started with a somewhat interesting but mostly boring lecture called “The Population Factor”, which mainly consisted of statistics, statistics, and some more statistics (demography is really not my cup of tea). Today was also the day we (the group for the presentation which I’m in) were supposed to gather and try to coordinate our efforts into one Power Point presentation (I hate Power Point). However, I was the only one from my group who even showed up at the first lecture (the two girls had fever, and the two guys, I later learned, were simply hung over), so there really wasn’t much I could do during the lunch break.

For the second lecture (I never really found out what it was called, because the schedule just says “To be confirmed”, but it was held by an American, very dramatic and engaging journalist who held one of the best friggin’ lectures on the whole course) the Icelandic guy actually showed up (still hung over (don’t get me wrong though, he’s a great guy)), but he hadn’t really done his part anyway (much like everyone else; turns out that while I was back doing my presentation everyone else was out clubbing, damn typical =P) so there wasn’t much to do. We quite simply decided to coordinate our presentations on the lunch break tomorrow.

And now I’m gonna head into the shower, and then go to the pedestrian street in order to meet up with Jason (the guy from the bus). (Now if only Lightroom could finish exporting my 10 GBs of images into JPEG (it’s at 70% and has been going for an hour and fifteen minutes) so I can put them one of the student’s USB-stick (everyone wants my pictures from this trip).)

There is an overhanging risk this blog entry will be my last for this visit (that’s sort of depressing), but I’ll try to put one up on Sunday, if I have the time. Buh-bye!