China Trip Part 2: Shanghai

Day 3 in Shanghai entailed visiting a Chinese middle school, and reading to the kids.

All of the children had a uniform they were required to wear, and a red handkerchief (much like my parents did when they lived in the Soviet Union). I was paired up with an adorable young girl who had a twin in the same class. For those who don’t know, China used to have a one-child rule. Many families, however, wanted more than one child. Women often took fertility drugs in order to have twins, and that is why they are so common in China. I don’t know if this is what happened with my reading buddy, but it was a common practice used. The girl I read to was very good at English, and although she was younger than me, probably spoke English better than I spoke Chinese. I read her Goodnight Moon and Five Little Monkeys, two of my favorite books as a child.
Next we went to a karate class, where students mimicked the teacher’s movements.

We went to Dongchang High school, where I met my pen pal I had been communicating with. Next I went to a calligraphy class, where the students crowded around me and intently watched me paint, which made me very nervous.
I also played Ping-Pong during break time, and was able to beat a Chinese student! I used to play with my brother, but I had no idea I was that good.
Finally my pen pal and I walked to the subway station, which was unbelievably clean by the way, and rode it all the way to her apartment. There I met her parents. This was my favorite part of the entire trip because I was able to experience Chinese hospitality. They were incredibly kind, engaging, and I could tell they were so happy to have me visit. Luckily her (my pen pal) and her mom spoke English, so my broken Chinese was not a problem.

However, when I came to their apartment, they served me strawberries. This might not seem like a big deal, but I was given strict directions by my teachers to never eat fruits you cannot peel, as they are washed with sink water (most likely), which we weren’t supposed to drink. We couldn’t even use it to brush our teeth. I didn’t want to be rude, after all they washed a whole bowl for me, so I very slowly picked one up and took a tiny bite. After about thirty minutes, I was able to eat only two strawberries, by taking tiny bites so they wouldn’t notice.
The meal they served me after was the biggest selection I had seen the entire trip. Fish, dumplings, mushrooms, soup, you name it; the whole table was covered with dishes. They also knew I don’t eat pork because I am Jewish, so they didn’t serve me any pork, which is the main meat in China. Usually at restaurants I would have to ask: 有没有猪肉？It means: Does it have pork? However, they were kind enough to use no pork at all. They also served me tea, and I drank (not exaggerating) about 15 cups.

Here are the other parts of my blog:
Part 1
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5