In Transit, China

After spending four full days in Shanghai, the three girls and I took it easy the last day. We went to People’s Square again, this time with our new friend, Edward, a 23 year old from New York looking to start a business in China. I was surprised how refreshing it was to be around an American who was not a “SASer”. Even though in port I’ve had many interactions with locals, their extent is really limited by how much I manage to communicate without knowing the language. It was nice to see a new face and actually be able to explain the concept of Semester at Sea and my experiences so far.

 

After spending some time in an underground mall (that is actually a converted bomb shelter!) we decided it was about time to head over to the train station to head over to Hong Kong. But to our surprise, somehow Noel was missing. She had been with us just 5 minutes before, and it was out of character for her to just wander off without telling one of us. We took turns searching the mall, while one of us stayed at the store we last saw her at, hoping she would turn up. After frantically searching for 20, then 40, then 60 minutes, we had exhausted all of our options. We tried asking the security guard to use the intercom to page her, but with the language barrier, it took at least fifteen minutes to explain ourselves, and eventually we learned that since we didn’t speak Chinese, we couldn’t page her. We had 45 minutes until our train was scheduled to leave, and we realized we had no other choice but to go to the station and hope that she found her way there. We caught a cab and sat in Shanghai traffic—it was just our luck that our first experience with highway congestion was when we were late for our 18 hour train! When we got dropped off, we ran through the terminal Home Alone-style, found our platform, and frantically showed our ticket to the station workers. They yelled in Chinese and pointed forcefully in the opposite direction towards the exit! Panicking, we spotted a Chinese woman motioning us to follow her. We compared tickets to check that we were both going to Hong Kong, and she led us to the customs line, since traveling to Hong Kong is considered crossing a border out of mainland China. We threw our bags into the x-ray conveyor belts, and ran to the desk to have our passports stamped. I looked at my watch and we had 6 minutes before the train was scheduled to depart! We cleared customs and were directed out to the platform where the train was waiting for us. We ran with all of our bags to Car #8, almost completely relieved, still praying that Noel would be sitting in our cabin. We opened the door to beds 15-16-17-18 and lo and behold, Noel was sitting on the bottom bunk eating a snack. (Cue exhale.)

 

If there was one moment on this trip that felt like The Amazing Race, this was it. And the best part- it was a non-elimination round! Even though we had one package of cookies to last the 4 of us the entire train ride, we made the best of it by making our own subtitles to the bizarre religious movie on our personal TV, journaling, and best of all, sleeping for 10 hours. When I woke up at 8 in the morning, I looked out the window and saw the most beautiful countryside. Mountain ranges fanned out around the train tracks, dotted with houses and colored with carefully cultivated farmland. Hardworking farmers tended to their crops, even on this Sunday morning. The greenery raced past our window, and before we knew it, we were seeing signs for Hong Kong. After a long and exhausting journey, we made our way back to the ship. I never expected the feeling of coming home after a long day to rush through me like I did when the MV Explorer came into view. I had found the water again, and I was home.

 

Tonight I looked out into the dark waters after dinner, and realized how calming the black of the night is. Out in the distance, the black waves blend into the dark night sky, lit solely by the constellations. The engine murmured behind me and the misty salt of the seas sprayed gently on my face. It’s been five weeks, and the ocean already feels like where I belong... the world is my playground and, honestly, I couldn’t be happier.

Welcome to the Middle Kingdom, The People's Republic of China!

I just have to say, is this real life?! You all have no idea how many times I’ve had to do a reality check in the last week. I got back on the ship from China yesterday, and in two days I’ll be in Viet Nam. Two days is not enough time for me to process the last 8 days, and I still haven’t fully processed Japan! Shanghai shocked me. After spending time in Japan, I thought Shanghai, China’s largest city, would look a lot like Tokyo. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The buildings were just as tall, but the streets were dusty and empty for the New Year. Every skyscraper looked completely unlike the last one, with the most varied architecture I’ve every seen in one place. The Bund was filled with bulky British colonial buildings, and across the Huangpu River, the oddly shaped towers created Pudong, which was built up just 20 years ago. A grey haze hung over the skyline every morning as the city slowly woke up. I’m glad I spent a full five days there (most people stayed only two, and then flew to Beijing), because I was able to really get a feel for the city. The first day I was alarmed by almost everything- the unrecognizable food, the crazy driving (pedestrians don’t have the right of way), the pollution, the spitting and coughing, and the prevalence of Mao Zedong 30 years after his death. I did many things, like visit Fudan University’s Center for American Studies, which my Sino-US Relations professor directs, and the Shanghai Museum and the Urban Planning Museum in People’s Square where I learned all about the history of Chinese art and Shanghai’s future as a developing city. Over all, though, my favorite days involved going to Hongkou and Zhouzhuang.

 

My third day in Shanghai, Kristina and I walked to Hongkou, about 20 minutes northwest of where our ship was docked. This neighborhood was where many Jews settled in Shanghai when they were escaping Nazi Germany. When the Sino-Japanese war broke out though, the Jews were confined to a ghetto, called the Restricted Sector for Stateless Refugees. We found Ohel Moishe Synagogue, which is at this point, the only evidence that there was ever a Jewish population there. Now, the tenement-lined streets are filled with lower class Chinese families setting off a constant stream of firecrackers celebrating the New Year. Unfortunately, the Synagogue and museum were closed for the holiday, but we were handed a brochure and created our own walking tour. We saw the distribution center where families were sent to be placed, and the park where Jews would meet on the weekends. There was a monument in the center of the park with a description of the area written in English, Chinese, and Hebrew, but aside from that, it looked like any other park in the morning. The space was filled with women practicing tai chi and children playing ball. Once called Little Vienna, now the neighborhood has transformed to look like any other residential area. Everyone has been talking about how dynamic and rapidly changing Shanghai is, but it felt most evident to me as I walked around this once Jewish neighborhood, now completely devoid of any Jewish culture.

 

I really loved walking around town with just Kristina. It’s always fun to have lots of people around, but I think everyone has discovered that a pair is the easiest, 3 is the safest, and 4 is the best way to split a cab. It was great only having to consult one person about what we should do next or where we should eat. We went over to Doulun Cultural Street, where there were lots of interesting storefronts, including calligraphy stores, Christian bookshops, an antique store filled with old communist paraphernalia, and a tea house with a statue of Charlie Chaplin in front. The street was also home to the old meeting house of the League of Left Wing Writers, which has been converted into a museum. Unfortunately, all of the displays were in Chinese, so we weren’t entirely sure what we were seeing. We turned down a side street and it was like walking through a black hole. All of a sudden, we were completely out of place. There were women frying dough in the street, locals browsing tables of boxed fruit, and dried fish hanging everywhere. You should all be proud that I kept it cool as fish heads were being chopped off right before my eyes!

 

I wanted to keep these posts short, but I’m clearly failing miserably. So I’ll just write about Zhouzhuang. On the third night, the ship left for Hong Kong, and myself and 3 other girls stayed in a youth hostel. In the morning, we set out to find the sightseeing bus company that ran buses back and forth from the canal towns of Suzhou and Zhujiajiao. Once we got to the station, the woman at the ticket office said there were no trips to either of those places that day. When we asked where they were going, she replied with “Zhouzhuang.” Completely mystified, we quickly decided to just go for it. So we hopped on the bus to a place that we could not even find in our travel guide, ready for a day of adventure. It turns out that Zhouzhuang is the oldest water village in the Shanghai area. It was about an hour long drive outside of the city, and is a tourist destination mostly for the Chinese. So as if we didn’t stand out already as 4 white girls, we clearly didn’t belong there! That said, it was the most incredible place. It felt like “real China” completely unlike the concrete jungle of Shanghai. The town was a complex network of alleyways and bridges, interspersed with old residences and souvenir stands. We walked slowly through the packed sidewalks, taking it all in. Eventually, we got to Quanfu Temple, an old Buddhist religious site. It was one of three Buddhist temples that I was able to see in China (including the Jade Buddha Temple in Shanghai, and the Temple of 10,000 Buddhas in the New Territories of Hong Kong) and it was beautifully ornate. I walked through courtyard after courtyard of sanctuaries filled with incense, and across bridges stretching over coy ponds. Though every aspect of the temples was gorgeous, I didn’t feel the same type of connection that I felt with the Shinto shrines in Japan. I’m interested to see how I feel in the Buddhist temples in India, which I expect will have a very different atmosphere.

 

So right now, I’m trying my best to get over the cold I caught (colds spread around this ship FAST), and reading up on Vietnam as fast as I can. For some reason, Vietnam wasn’t one of the countries I was really excited to see, but now that Southeast Asia is all I need to focus on, I really can’t wait to experience the culture. I’ll be spending two days on the Mekong Delta, and I’ll see the Cu Chi Tunnels and Cao Dai Temple, but other than that, I have no idea what I’ll do! Most people are actually going on a Semester at Sea trip to Cambodia to see Phnom Penh and Angkor Wat. Oh man, I can’t believe I didn’t even write anything about Hong Kong here. Hopefully I’ll get the chance to put up another post tomorrow before we get to Ho Chi Minh City!

All over Japan!

I'm sitting here now in the ship's computer lab with 10 minutes to spare before the China Diplomatic Briefing. I'm writing about Japan, but out the window I see the beautiful skyline of Shanghai. I'll get to that city once I get off the ship!

We arrived in Japan on Tuesday the 9th at the Port of Yokohama. Yokohama is essentially the main port access to Tokyo, so once clearing the ship at around noon, we made our way to Tokyo! The very first thing I noticed stepping foot in Japan was how immaculate the streets were. For being one of the largest cities in the world, it was absolutely silent. People talked practically in whispers under their breath, cars' slight humming noise was barely audible compared to the loud honking and traffic of New York City. And to top it all off, there are essentially no trash cans on the sidewalks. Occasionally I would see a recycling bin, but because it's considered rude to eat and walk, if you leave the place where you bought your food, you're out of luck in finding a way to dispose of your trash! I was shocked that the lack of trashcans had a positive effect on the cleanliness of the city rather than a negative one!

Anyway, we walked (quietly) to the train station and boarded the subway for Shibuya, the "young, hip" district, if you will. As one would expect, every train car was silent and clean, and surprisingly, even in the large Shibuya station, though it was filled with people, everyone moved with disciplined order, completely lacking the chaos and noise I would expect from Tokyo. We walked through the city to find the Meiji Shrine. Since I can't upload pictures, I would suggest google-ing it because it was beautiful.

In the middle of this huge metropolis was a forest, akin to Central Park in New York. The pathway into the park was framed by a giant Cyprus torii, the "pi" shaped structure indicating the entrance into a Shinto shrine. The gravel pathways winding inside the forest were very quiet, and completely unlike a park in the states where you would see couples picnicking and boys throwing Frisbees. Everyone walked in quiet reflection, taking in the nature and preparing themselves for the spiritual encounter with the shrine. Once we passed through several more toriis, we were at the outer courtyard of the shrine. Huge wooden buildings stood before us, simple, yet intricate at the same time. They were all painted white with dark brown thatching, blending perfectly with the natural scenery around us. We stepped through the gate into the main courtyard, and we had to literally step over the raised threshold so we were completely aware of our entrance into the sacred place.

When we were through, we were surrounded on all sides but long continuous wooden buildings, culminating in the main sanctuary straight ahead. Curious, I walked up the stairs to the sanctuary and witness something I didn't expect. True, I know very little about Shintoism, so I don't know what their prayer rituals were. Individuals walked up to a kind of basin, threw in a coin or two, and stepped back. They would then bow twice, and then clap twice and begin their personal prayers. When they were finished, they would bow once more and walk away to make room for others. My friend Amy and I decided to try it, and even though I am not Shinto, I think I found a religious connection in my own way. Looking straight ahead I saw the section of the shrine that was off limits, where the kami, or sprits, dwell. Looking up and around I saw the tops of trees, with no skyscrapers in sight. When I clapped I felt more alert to these surroundings and much more able to reflect on my life, my time on semester at sea so far, and of course, the fact that I was halfway around the world in Japan. When we finished, we stepped just outside of the main courtyard where a stand was selling good luck charms. They ranged from good luck in love to safe travels to passing an entrance exam. We saw the same charms in every other shrine we visited as well.

I have to go, so I'll finish this quickly. As you can tell, I'm not going to get to the other 4 days just from this one entry, but maybe after Vietnam I'll be able to sum up all the highlights. My second day I saw Mt. Fuji which was spectacular despite the clouds. The third day was spent essentially in the electronics district of Tokyo. Our fourth day was in Kyoto, and my last day was a home visit in Kobe.

Gotta go to China! Love and miss you all!

The Middle of Nowhere, Pacific Ocean

This was supposed to be sent over 2 days ago, but there were problems with the email server, so just play along :)

News of the week: crossing the international dateline (sob).

Five days in to our 12 (or maybe 11?) day trek across the latter half of the Pacific Ocean, we are finally crossing the dateline. We were supposed to do it yesterday, but since I'm pretty sure its exact location doesn't matter whatsoever, and more people have birthdays on February 2nd than on the 3rd, they decided that all 700ish of us would never experience Wednesday, February 3, 2010. Disregard the time stamp on this entry everybody, because at this instant it is 2306 on Tuesday, and in one hour, it will be 0006 on Thursday! So this February has not 29 days, not 28 days, but a lonely 27. I personally thought it would be hilarious if we were sailing the opposite direction and got two Groundhog Days (heh...).

Tonight was full of celebration and mostly confusion, as our Global Studies professor held a contest for who could best explain this curious thing called the International Dateline. After a quick examination of the applause-o-meter, my friend Zach won, great thanks to his explanation of his Peruvian rodent friend Carl and the unfortunate loss of his tail. If you think I'm crazy, you're wrong. You clearly just don't understand the dateline well enough! Anyway, Zach got a free sweatshirt and I'm jealous.

If you're just dying to hear some real news of my trip, I'm sorry to say that inter-port shipboard life isn't all that exciting. We had class all weekend, I watched lots of films about Mao Zedong, and I had some form of potato in every meal. Last night, however, in celebration of our "No Class Day" today, we had a dance! It was somewhere between a middle school dance and a frat party (a rock and a hard place?) where there were chaperone-ish people (we do live with our professors, remember), yet everyone is in college and recognizes that the opposite sex generally has no cooties. It was pretty funny every time the ship rocked and the entire population of the dance floor fell over in unison! And it was probably pretty hilarious to all the people watching their in-room TVs that none of us dancing kids had any idea we were being videotaped!

Anyway, Japan could not come sooner. If today is the 2nd, and tomorrow is the 4th, and we get there on the 9th, then I still can't figure out how long I have!

Miss you all back home, and please send me emails! I can't remember if my email address is on this site, but its amharburger@semesteratsea.net
And a shout out to my new niece Molly Anne Harburger: I wish I could have been home when you were born, but in Hawaii my new friends and I all welcomed you into the world, even though I feel like I'm a world away. I miss you and love you, and can't wait to meet you!