The Shanghai train station that I arrived at was night and day different from the Beijing train station. It was actually more like an airport for as easy as it was to navigate. The hostel was just as easy to find, which was nice.
Shortly after I arrived at Blue Mountain Bund Youth Hostel I met Jake and Ben, two Americans. I swear, this trip I have met more Americans traveling than all my other expeditions combined! Jake and Ben had just graduated from university and were on a Southeast Asia adventure. We chatted over a beer for a bit, then went out for a bite to eat.
On the way back to the hostel we stopped at a convenience store for some drinks and I heard a woman say "Maggie?" I turned around and saw a blonde woman, but I wasn't wearing my glasses, so I couldn't tell who it was. At first I thought it was an Irish girl I met in Miami some time back. It was Jenny, the German from Peking Yard in Beijing. Jenny, Holger, and Daniel had left Beijing and gone to Japan for a week and were now back in China in Shanghai. I don't know why I first thought of the Irish girl I had met six months ago on a different continent and not the person I had met just one week previous in the same country. I suppose after knowing them for less than twelve hours I just never assumed I would meet the Germans again. I realize a similar argument could be used for the Irish girl... Anyway, it turns out that the Germans were staying at Blue Mountain as well and we planned to catch up later.
The next morning it was raining hard- a proper downpour, really. Most of the things I was interested in doing in Shanghai took place outdoors (the Bund, parks, etc.), but on account of the weather I figured I should find a Plan B. The Germans invited me to go to the aquarium with them. I don't like aquariums because the fish don't do anything. At least at a zoo the monkeys might make a funny face or there might be tiny bear cubs rolling around being cute (although not a Chinese zoo). All fish do in is swim around in circles. Boooor-ing! I don't remember what Ben and Jake were doing. I think maybe going to a museum or something even less appealing. So I weighed my options and even though I wasn't too excited about the idea of the aquarium, I tagged along anyway to do something and to be social.
The aquarium was pretty much what I expected. Daniel wasn't thirlled with the place either, but we made the best of it and had an OK time. There was one tank full of the tiny fish that eat the dead skin cells from your hands and feet. Apparently they are all the rage in pedicure spas. We stuck our hands in the tank and it tickled when the fish nibbled on our hands. There were penguins at the aquariums, too, and you can't help but smile when in their presence.
The rain was still coming down hard after the aquarium, so we returned to the hostel and played Settlers of Catan. I had played Settlers before, but it had been a few years and I had forgotten much of the strategy of the game. It didn't help that the few directions included were only in Chinese. Daniel did his best to remind me of the rules and Bing helped with the rest (remember, no Google in China). I lost the game. I sent my brother an email and told him that I lost Settlers of Catan to a bunch of Germans and he said, "You lost Settlers to Germans because a native German made the game. Also it's a game about competitive cooperative {sic} which is something Germans have done for years." Thanks for the consolation, brother!
Later that evening I played some cards with Jake and Ben. I invited a guy to play Uno with us and we met Daniel the Australian. To avoid confusion with the two Daniels I will refer to Daniel the Australian as Daniel 2, or simply D2.
Shortly after I arrived at Blue Mountain Bund Youth Hostel I met Jake and Ben, two Americans. I swear, this trip I have met more Americans traveling than all my other expeditions combined! Jake and Ben had just graduated from university and were on a Southeast Asia adventure. We chatted over a beer for a bit, then went out for a bite to eat.
On the way back to the hostel we stopped at a convenience store for some drinks and I heard a woman say "Maggie?" I turned around and saw a blonde woman, but I wasn't wearing my glasses, so I couldn't tell who it was. At first I thought it was an Irish girl I met in Miami some time back. It was Jenny, the German from Peking Yard in Beijing. Jenny, Holger, and Daniel had left Beijing and gone to Japan for a week and were now back in China in Shanghai. I don't know why I first thought of the Irish girl I had met six months ago on a different continent and not the person I had met just one week previous in the same country. I suppose after knowing them for less than twelve hours I just never assumed I would meet the Germans again. I realize a similar argument could be used for the Irish girl... Anyway, it turns out that the Germans were staying at Blue Mountain as well and we planned to catch up later.
The next morning it was raining hard- a proper downpour, really. Most of the things I was interested in doing in Shanghai took place outdoors (the Bund, parks, etc.), but on account of the weather I figured I should find a Plan B. The Germans invited me to go to the aquarium with them. I don't like aquariums because the fish don't do anything. At least at a zoo the monkeys might make a funny face or there might be tiny bear cubs rolling around being cute (although not a Chinese zoo). All fish do in is swim around in circles. Boooor-ing! I don't remember what Ben and Jake were doing. I think maybe going to a museum or something even less appealing. So I weighed my options and even though I wasn't too excited about the idea of the aquarium, I tagged along anyway to do something and to be social.
The aquarium was pretty much what I expected. Daniel wasn't thirlled with the place either, but we made the best of it and had an OK time. There was one tank full of the tiny fish that eat the dead skin cells from your hands and feet. Apparently they are all the rage in pedicure spas. We stuck our hands in the tank and it tickled when the fish nibbled on our hands. There were penguins at the aquariums, too, and you can't help but smile when in their presence.
The rain was still coming down hard after the aquarium, so we returned to the hostel and played Settlers of Catan. I had played Settlers before, but it had been a few years and I had forgotten much of the strategy of the game. It didn't help that the few directions included were only in Chinese. Daniel did his best to remind me of the rules and Bing helped with the rest (remember, no Google in China). I lost the game. I sent my brother an email and told him that I lost Settlers of Catan to a bunch of Germans and he said, "You lost Settlers to Germans because a native German made the game. Also it's a game about competitive cooperative {sic} which is something Germans have done for years." Thanks for the consolation, brother!
Later that evening I played some cards with Jake and Ben. I invited a guy to play Uno with us and we met Daniel the Australian. To avoid confusion with the two Daniels I will refer to Daniel the Australian as Daniel 2, or simply D2.
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