chaos EXPOSED

This post is completely from an American standpoint of the World Expo opening ceremony, literally! Counter to what many of you believe, I am still in New York! The Shanghai Expo started 3 days ago on the riverbank of the Pudong district, and  I sadly watched the grandiose opening ceremony from my work computer, scrambling to find headphones that worked. I could only catch the last hour since I definitely did not wake up early enough, and I had to get ready for work. So, at 9AM (9PM Shanghai time) I watched the last part of the ceremony- gawking at the multitude of fireworks, and apparently the world's largest LED screen, plus the most number of high-powered lasers in one place at the same time. China never fails to impress.

Just to clarify for everyone, I am a second session ambassador, meaning I do not start training until the halfway point of the Expo, which is July 16th. Until then, I will continue interning here in New York going through another crazy conference, but will also have time to vacation with my family in the beginning of July. I will be headed to Hong Kong for the first time, but will also show my parents around Yunnan, southern most province of China.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to suffer from heat exhaustion, as the last time I visited Yunnan was last April, and it was already 90+ degrees. I can only imagine what it will feel like in the middle of summer...

How I wish I were in Shanghai now. I am looking at a lot of the first session student ambassadors' photos and am so jealous that they met President Hu (the president of China), the Consul General at a BBQ at the American Consulate, and had a video conference with Hilary Clinton! I'm not too sure that the second session students ambassadors will have as much exposure to such VIPs, considering that closing ceremonies are rarely as high-status. All I can do is sigh, and appreciate that I am even able to go.

However, I am not sure that the return to Shanghai will be as I expect.  Much of the news has covered stories regarding the downfall of Shanghai nightlife, which is making it even harder for me. I know that by the time that I reach Shanghai, most of what I am used to will be on high-security alert. I already know that the street vendors will not be surrounding my living quarters, Chengdu Lu + Nanjing Xi Lu's market will probably be on lock down, and now clubs are being raided and closed! Shanghai's obsession with face value is causing an unhappy evolution to many of its old visitors. I yearned to go back because of its mesh of culture; I absolutely love street food and the "fake" markets; on the flip-side if I wanted the western culture, I would go to Xintiandi, which was rare for me. Now, everything will be like Xintiandi and the expatriate area. I will probably have to traverse far out of the central districts to find my beloved hole-in-the-wall restaurants.

All of this is assumption, I will have to let you know when I finally arrive back in the homeland. That's it for now. I'm just a sad American longing to be transported back to Shanghai.



Here are some photos: the only view into Shanghai that I currently have.