Life in China...So far!

Well, we've been here almost 3 weeks now. And life's been everything but boring. Getting used to being in a bustling city of approximately 27 million people (compared to Knoxville, approximately 181,000 people), hearing horns honking constantly, being approached by "watch, bag, DVD" salesmen, avoiding the Metro during rush hour, eating some awesome food (not really knowing what some of it really is), meeting new friends, experiencing new things, struggling with my Mandarin trying to talk to the locals... I can't really complain. It's different for sure, but it's been great so far. I'm excited to see what the next few months hold.

A few things that I have observed since we've been here, that I found interesting...

1. People, especially the young women, wear really weird shoes here. I may be coming from a Westerner's stand point, but the other day, I counted about a dozen people in one hour wearing the strangest shoes. If I ever can snap some photos of them I will. An example of an odd pair of shoes I saw: neon yellow 3-inch heels with a stuffed teddy bear head on the front... My Toms are really boring compared to those!
2. Some people have no shame walking around in their PJs. And these just aren't any plain PJs, they are PJ pants and button up PJ tops. Cotton with little ducks on them to sleek silver Silk PJs, I feel like we've seen them all! And the best part, they wear the slippers to complete the outfits too! It's quite amusing.
3. When you go out, carry some tissues and hand sanitizer/wipes with you. When you use public restrooms, very few of them have toilet paper or soap. 
4. Around almost every corner, there are fruit stalls where you can buy some really good fresh fruit! I would highly recommend going to these places. All you have to do is pick out what fruits you want, have them weigh it, and then however much it weighs (per type of fruit) that's how much you pay :)
5. The older people here are VERY impressive! I've seen people, who must be well into their 80s or 90s riding their bike around the city, carrying what looks like some pretty heavy bags, just going along like their age does not affect them. It's amazing! 
6. The children here are SO adorable! I may be biased, but I think Asian babies are just the cutest things ever! Just the other day, we were at a concert, and there was a little girl (maybe about 2 or 3 years old) sitting behind us singing along. It was so precious! And they all love Jon! They are always so surprised that a white person can speak their language. It makes them smile so big!

And that's just in the first 3 weeks! :) Shanghai is such an international city though, with most of the comforts that Western culture has. It may be completely different when we venture deeper into the country :) It's always an adventure with Jon. I'm excited to see what the next few months will be like!