5am came surprisingly easy for me, as we woke up in order to make our 8:30am flight at the airport an hour away.  I ended up staying in last night, which was ultimately a good decision.  Today’s definitely a full day, getting to Shanghai, sightseeing, and getting checked in to the hotel.  Now that we’re Chinese-domestic-flight pros, checking in to the flight was much easier.  Most people didn’t buy a bunch of junk in Xi’an, so the same people had the same overages, and all was taken care of with ease.  I was excited that my new ATM card was waiting for me in Shanghai, so I splurged on breakfast.  Turns out my fresh orange juice—and after thought—was more expensive than my beef noodle soup.  Go figure, airport food is a ripoff globally.

The Shanghai airport is about an hour away from the main city, so we didn’t get to see much right off the bat.  That was drawn out by our detour through Shanghai Maple Automobile factory, our substitute for the GM factory we were supposed to see (thanks bankruptsy!).   We were taken to the show room (we had lots of fun with the half-cars), and then taken to their cleanest of assembly lines.  That one workshop supposedly puts out around 160 cars per day, and they let us watch as they installed engines, door handles, linings, etc—the entire car was made in front of our eyes.  SMA is a new car company, but they’ve already got some international deals and are hoping to make a major dent in the Chinese car market—one right now that seems about as diverse as American cars.  There are lots of Japanese, Chinese, and (surprisingly) German cars here, and it’s not uncommon to see Buicks, BMWs, and Mercedes driving around.  In Beijing, I’m proud to say that I saw my first ever Lamborghini “in the wild”.

We were told that Police cars and cars with white license plates (government officials and friends) have no traffic laws whatsoever, though it’s hard to believe that anyone follows any traffic laws here.  I think I mentioned it earlier, but I’ll say it again—I’m so incredibly impressed by the driving here.  It’s orchestrated chaos, and it seems like everyone’s running at breakneck speed, together.  I still have yet to see an accident here.

Our hotel—the Carolina Hotel—is absolutely ridiculous.  Actually, there’s nothing too special about it, except that it’s a complete 180 from what our accommodations were in Xi’an, and it’s very welcome.  Working AC, a mini-fridge, an incredible rain-style shower, and complementary breakfast every morning, along with a hotel staff that speaks English?  It’s a beautiful thing.

I think I’m going to meet up with my friend XiaoXia tonight to celebrate making it this far—there seems to be a lot going on tonight, and we’re all ready to party.

Getting to Xi’an was an absolute breeze.  It might have been the shortest 2 hour plane ride I’ve ever taken-Danika and I listened to some music and then we were there.  Crazy.  The 20kg (~45lbs) checked bag weight limit really messed a bunch of people up, as most everyone went crazy buying junk at the Pearl and Silk markets in Beijing.  Fortunately, it’s not too expensive if you go over, but it is a hassle.  One girl had her lighters thrown away, one guy who’s addicted to hand sanitizer had to throw it out, and another girl freaked out because she (edit: thought she) lost her debit card.  I, fortunately, was completely drama free, and was very comfortable on the flight.  They even served dinner on the 2 hour flight.  They’re very nice.

We had lunch with all of our professors (laoshi in Chinese) at a nice restaurant before we left.  I really love the food here, and pretty much anywhere you eat, the food is served family style on a lazy susan.  Of course, all this means is that the gluttons (yours truly) get to stuff themselves silly at every meal.  If it weren’t for such big dinners, I’d probably lose a ton of weight here from all the walking I’ve been doing.

The place we’re staying here in Xi’an, at Shaanxi Normal University (Xi Da for short) are very similar to our international student dorm at Bei Da, except it’s disgusting.  Bei Da wasn’t nice, but it was clean-this place is shoddy and dirty.  It’s ok though, because we’re only here for 3 days, and the Carolina Hotel we’re staying at in Shanghai pulls a glorious 4 stars.  We’re one the 8^th floor though, which makes for some really nice views.

And… last night was absolutely ridiculous.  It took us a while to get going, but once we did we got rolling quickly.  We went back over to Pyro Pizza in Wudaokou-their happy hour is form 10pm to 12am.  5rmb (~$.80) tequila shots and 20rmb (~$3) pitchers got us where we needed to be mentally.   At midnight, we left Pyro-most people went back to the Lion King KTV for karaoke; Summer, Chavon and I went straight to Vic’s again, back at the Worker’s Stadium in Sanlitun.  Unfortunately, we had to pay the 50rmb cover this time, but we stayed there from midnight until 4am, so I guess it was worth it.  Craig, Chelsea, Danika and Yeong met us there around 2am, and we danced the night away.  After about an hour of being there, I needed a break, so I went across the street to the urban mall area.  Knowing me, I found my way onto a roof or two, and spent about a half an hour taking pictures from above.  I love roofs.  And I didn’t have to hop any fences to break in here (though I did squeeze through some bars in order to climb the second ladder).  No incidents here though.  The night ended great, and we got back to campus around 5am, as the sun was rising.  Champions.  We got to sleep until 10:30 the next morning anyways, so it all turned out fine.

I’m writing this on the plane now over the Pacific Ocean, umpteen hours into my flight.  Everything’s gone very smoothly so far, and the plane is incredibly nice with personal screens and plenty of leg room.  There are no fewer than 60 children under 4 on this flight though, which has made it very noisy at times.  I’ve slept great, watched two movies so far (Taken and Bolt).  Haven’t busted out the Pokémon yet though.  The picture above was from the Toronto Airport—a nice benefit to my delayed departure date.  I had never been to Canada before, and while I know that the airport doesn’t technically count, they did stamp my passport!  Though the fog was thick, we boarded and left without a hitch, and I think things should be just as smooth when we land.

They’ve fed us really well too—three full meals and a snack.  None of it gourmet, of course, but not bad—Ramen, grilled chicken, turkey sandwiches.  First class passengers get entire beds to sleep on though, I have to say I’m a little jealous.  Air Canada does it with style, all around.

I’m incredibly excited and anxious to land.  I’m nervous that getting a taxi to take me where I need to go might be more than I can handle, but I’m sure I’ll be able to make it.  Here’s hoping that I can find everyone once I get there!

I only made it through unit 1 of my Mandarin Rosetta Stone before coming, but so far I like the language and hope to be able to pick it up.  The plane is 90% Chinese people, but the only thing I can understand anyone saying is xíexie (thank you)– which gets said a lot.  I don’t really have many goals for this maymester program other than to get my Mandarin feet wet and see some new things.  I really look forward to getting to know the other 9 students and Professor Liu, and just hope she doesn’t hang me out to dry for coming late!  We have the Great Wall of China tomorrow (Sunday), and classes start on Monday I believe.

Last but not least, I forgot to mention earlier that I did fix my computer’s camera, so I’ll probably be hitting up anyone hanging out on Skype or Google Chat.