Leaving Shanghai

Tomorrow I’m leaving Shanghai, and I thought that I’d just share some things that might be helpful for those who come after me.

First of all, some cultural things that I noticed:

  • People will stare at you, especially outside of the city; don’t get offended.
  • People might stand much closer to you than you’re used to when they talk to you.
  • Food is meant to be shared.  Most restaurants are set up for couples or groups of eaters.  The dishes are made to be shared.  Hot pot is a great example, but even other restaurants have this mentality.  The smaller restaurants (more like diners) will have plates of food for individuals.
  • Sometimes, there are bones in the food.  They belong there. Just eat around them.
  • You should be flexible if you come to Jinshan World Foreign Language School; things happen last minute and you just go with the flow.  I have been asked to monitor club meetings (film and drama club), and judge competitions on the day they happen.  Be open and flexible and enjoy the experience.

If you stay in Jinshan district, there is significantly less English to go around than there is in downtown. Still, you won’t have a problem. The school will set you up with someone to show you around the mall and grocery store, how to get to the train station, and you’ll probably be going out to eat with other people most of the time (the school provides food during the school week, so don’t worry about that).

You will be able to do laundry pretty much whenever you want for free if you stay in the student dorms (and you can get someone to go with you to buy laundry detergent), but there you must hang-dry everything, so you’ll have to plan ahead a little bit.  Bring some hangers to make this easier.

You should probably pack a roll of toilet paper to hold you over until you can get to the grocery store.  Many public restrooms do not provide toilet paper.  Also, you cannot flush the toilet paper; there is a bin next to the toilets that you should throw the paper away in (don’t worry; you get used to it).

Don’t forget a plug adaptor.  The outlets at the school accept US (without ground) and AUS plugs.  Most plug adaptors will work.  I got a simple universal plug adaptor so I could charge my laptop, but my phone charger works in the plugs without an adaptor. Don’t forget to check your chargers to make sure they can take 220 V (most can).

Try to download your apps before you come here (you cannot access the Google Play Store after you arrive).  This includes a VPN (although, my VPN never worked).  The apps that I use most frequently are:

WeChat:

You can use WeChat to communicate in social groups.  All of the teachers at the school communicate through this app, and you will undoubtedly be invited to several different group chats when you get here.  You can also use WeChat to look at the train schedules, restaurant menus, and many other things.  Many Chinese people use WeChat to pay for things, but it will not work for foreigners (at least, I could not get it to work).

Didi (like Uber)

Didi is one of the few apps that is in English and accepts a foreign (non-Chinese) bank card.  You can set this up with you bank card and use it like Uber to get around Shanghai.  Fairs are pretty cheap and I did not have any issues using it.  Very convenient.

Baidu Maps and Maps.me

Baidu maps does not recognize most English names of places, so you will have to either learn the characters (and download the Chinese keyboard for your phone), or create a notes file with frequent destinations (the school, the train stations, restaurants, etc.) in Chinese so you can copy and paste them into the search bar.  This app will tell you how to use public transportation, how long it will take, and how much it will cost.  It will take some time to get used to the Chinese, but once you get used to it, it’s very easy to use.  Maps.me is a service that lets you download local maps and use them offline, so you don’t need to use your data to get directions (walking and driving, no public transportation) to many destinations.  The only thing is that it does not have everything.  You can still use it, though, if you have an address.  It was great for me for walking around the city.

Finally, my last piece of advice is: don’t let the language barrier deter you from coming to China.  You can will be able to make it just fine with “Hello”, “Thank you”, and counting.  Get a good translator and you’ll be fine.  Pleco is good, and Google Translate works.  Someone told me Baidu translate is good, but I haven’t tried it.

 

Things to do around Jinshan:

Running/Walking: If you’re a runner, Jinshan has some really nice running paths for runners.  If you take a right after crossing the river behind the school, you can follow the sidewalk to the traffic light, cross the street, and there is a really nice walking park that I run through.  There are plenty of other places to run in Jinshan.  The school also has some outdoor tracks, a treadmill, and some indoor and outdoor basketball courts.

Wanda Plaza: This is a mall across the street from the school.  It is pretty close to an American mall, so but there are some pretty cool shops in there.  You can also see music performances at the mall some weekends.  There is also a Watson (like CVS), a Starbucks, an IMAX movie theater, an arcade, a TON of restaurants and street food vendors, and a supermarket.  Jinshan is also home to many dog-lovers, and they gather here almost every night and let the dogs play together.

This was my favorite restaurant right outside of Wanda, a Japanese Sushi spot 20 yuan for a bowl of Ramen, 50 yuan for a sushi roll.

I also had some great hot pot – you can find about half-a-dozen hot pot restaurants in Wanda.  The frog is excellent!

The Fishing Village: The old fishing village is a small part of Jinshan near the water that has a fish market, several restaurants, and a small old-style shopping alleyway.  It’s small, and you may not go there every night, but it’s worth seeing at least once.

Fengjing Ancient Town: This is a little far away from where you’ll be staying in Jinshan, but it’s a really cool place to go if you want to see an old Chinese water town.  I also found a lot of souvenirs here.

Donglin Temple was also very impressive, but it is about a 1 hour bus ride to get there.  If you’re really into that sort of thing, it’s worth it.  I wish I could tell you how to get to the temple and ancient town, but it’s difficult to explain because the busses are not numbered.  It might be best to go with someone who knows the way, or have someone pull it up on Baidu Maps when you get here.

Jinshan Wei Zhan (Jinshan Railway) 金山卫站: This is your ticket downtown.  The train only goes to Shanghai South Station (30/60 minutes depending on the train you get; 10 Yuan one-way), so you cannot take the wrong train.  When you’re in Shanghai South Station (上海南站), just look for signs for Jinshan Railway – that train will only go to Jinshan, so you cannot get on the wrong train if you go to the Jinshan Railway. The school gave me a public transportation card that I could put money on at the train station.  It works on the trains and the metro line and made traveling downtown very convenient.

Downtown Shanghai has loads of things to do, so I’m not going to list them, there are plenty of places you can look online for fun stuff to do, but if you’re craving tacos, you MUST go to Tacolicious! (Take metro line 1 from Shanghai South Station to Hengshan Rd, and it’s about a 10 minute walk from the station – you wont regret it) (address: 1 Yueyang Rd (岳阳路), Near Dongping Rd (东平路) – You can also just type Tacolicious in English in Baidu Maps and it will come up – one of the few places you can look up in English).

Wonderful Visits

Over the past couple of weeks I had the opportunity to visit students and former students in Shanghai and Belize.  I love watching our students in action and listening to them as they reflect on the differences (and similarities) that they are experiencing.  Teaching abroad changes your perspective.  And, yes, even after many years of doing this, I still find new ideas — both ideas that I love and can’t wait to share and ideas that I find confusing (but still interesting).  Congratulations to all of the BSU students who have been willing to try on new ideas….  I promise, this experience will make a difference in your future as a teacher.

Teaching in Shanghai

So I have had the opportunity to teach this past week. When I arrived, students were preparing for and taking midterms, so there was little opportunity to teach or even observe classrooms. In this school, the students take about a full week from lessons to take their midterm exams.

 

I have been teaching in a grade 12 English class. The students’ English proficiency is very good in terms of reading and listening, and they are able to speak fairly well, but their writing needs the most work. Students tend to have a great vocabulary, but sometimes use words that sound awkward (e.g. She received surgery) or make simple grammar errors (e.g. tense or subject-verb agreement). I do think that this is a great school to come to if you want to be an ESL teacher, teach language acquisition, or want to work with EL students. I’ve also found that, even though every student in the class may know the answer to a question, they are hesitant to raise their hands and participate. I am not sure whether it is because they do not feel their English is good enough, or whether they are afraid of being wrong, but I am going to spend the next month here working to build their confidence in both areas.

 

The school is divided into two tracks: the domestic program and the international program. The domestic program is for students who want to go to college in China, the international program is designed for students who want to study abroad. In the domestic program, students still take English, but they are taught by Chinese teachers, mostly focusing on vocabulary and grammar so they can pass written exams. The International English classes are ideally taught by native English speakers and focus on skills that will help students succeed in foreign colleges (American and European mostly). So where the domestic students might read a story and focus on comprehension, the international students might read a text and consider ways to analyze the text, write about the text, and discuss the text in English. The students pretty much stay in one class all day (except for meals, breaks, and physical education) and the teachers move from classroom to classroom.

 

I taught one class (same class; 3, 40 minute periods) about Farm-to-Table, where we focused on some basic rhetorical analysis: understanding the author, audience, and purpose/theme/message of an article. After I introduced the article (background: what is Farm-to-Table, who is the author, and what do I want you to think about while we read) we read the article, I had them respond to specific questions in pairs and write down their answers, we discussed it as a class, and I had them write about it. Many of the students were able to understand by the end of the group work, and gave me some good answers while I was walking around and talking to them one-on-one, but were reluctant to speak in the whole class discussion. I know you might be thinking that I just haven’t built a rapport with the students, but this is something that many teachers have said about the high school students. The middle school students, I have heard, are more likely to take risks and participate.

 

I am teaching the same class (different period) a young adult novel about Native Americans. To prepare for that, I am having students do a short research project about Native Americans. They seemed much more engaged in that project. When I was asking them questions about what they knew, or what they thought about different things, they were really active and engaged in the class. They know a surprising amount about Native Americans, but they also have some misunderstandings about them. I can’t wait to start reading the text to see what they think about it! It’s a really fun novel.

 

Finally, I just wanted to share some of the pictures from the school. I also visited the Qingpu campus earlier in the week, which looks like is has a great early education program, but no high school (and I didn’t see the middle school). I’ll post those pictures in a different post.

 

My Grade 12 Classroom

Elementary School Lego Display – This year is the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China

“While we read, we think” – Teaching the Farm-to-Table background.

Halloween Decorations, I know I’m late.  When the Christmas decorations come out, I’ll post those, too!


The big track and football fields on campus.  There are basketball and tennis courts right next to this.

Week One in Shanghai

你好 Hello from Shanghai 上海

Welcome to Jinshan World Foreign Language School

I’ve been in this school for one week and have observed several classes, but I have really only taught one class so far.  I will post more about the students and the classroom later, after I get a little more experience. For now, I’d like to talk about the school itself.  I am staying in the student dorms, but I do get my own private room with a private bathroom and shower.  Every morning, at 6 AM, the students wake up to the music that blares through the loudspeaker in the hallway (Mostly K-Pop and American pop).They then

School Breakfast in Shanghai

Breakfast at JWFLS, Shanghai

have half an hour to get ready for breakfast at the cafeteria, which is about a one minute walk from the dorms, before they go to classes. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner on school days are free. Breakfast usually has breads, noodles, meats, fried eggs, vegetables, fruit, rice and bean porridge (all served buffet style). Lunch and dinner vary, but there is always meat, fish, veggies, fruit, yogurt, and rice. It would not be difficult, I don’t think, to maintain a vegan or vegetarian diet eating at the school.  Once I get a little more familiar with the local cuisine, I will post about some of the food options near the campus.

 

 

The school is set up a little differently than most American schools. Students have a “self-study” period at the beginning and the end of every day. In between the two studies, they pretty much stay in one classroom all day. Class sizes are not large in the high school, around 15-20 students.

Classes are 40-minute periods, and between certain periods, they get a 10 minutes break. Teachers move from class to class depending on which group of students they teach.   I have been moving between one 12th grade class on the 4th floor of the high school building, and two 10th grade classrooms on the 2nd floor. The students also get a physical education period a day, and two 30 minute meal periods a day (after breakfast). Students may not leave the campus unless authorized to do so; it is a gated and guarded campus. Don’t worry, though, you can leave the campus with your school ID.  I’m currently working on posts about the curriculum, some extracurricular activities the school offers, the community outside of the school, and maybe about some of the language.  Let me know if there is something specifically that you are interested in, and I will try to give you an answer.  Goodbye, for now! 再见

Visiting Hongqaio Middle School, Jinshan School and Shanghai Normal University


Arriving into Shanghai, Dunkin Donuts at the Shanghai Airport


A dumpling shop on the street

Meeting with Mrs Chen, the principal at Hongqaio Middle School

Campus of Jinshan School

Science class at Jinshan High School, teaching the properties of Venus; instruction in English,

Campus of Shanghai Normal University


Campus of Shanghai Normal University; the trees, not in bloom yet, are Phoenix Sycamores

THINGS TO KNOW/TIPS FOR SHANGHAI (Other than places to see & things to do)

  • At check-in, you will be asked to pay 500 Yuan (70 USD) as a security deposit. HAVE CASH! If you do not damage anything, you will get this money back when you check out.
  • You can pay for hotel WIFI that will work only in your room. Hotel WIFI is 80 Yuan (about 11 USD) a month without a Shanghai Normal University student ID. To get a student ID, which you do not need but will get you discounted WIFI, you need to visit the Office of International Affairs (not the international student center). If you have a student ID, hotel WIFI will be 40 Yuan (about 5.60 USD) a month. At first, the hotel told me that I NEEDED a student ID for WIFI, but I later found out that you do not need this ID; it just gets you a discount.
  • There are sheets, pillowcases and comforters already on the beds. However, if you want to bring your own sheets and pillowcases, that is fine!
  • The beds are uncomfortable. Tip: I slept on top of a comforter for extra padding.
  • Bring extra toilet paper, hand towels, hand soap and other personal toiletries that you might want. Although it is a hotel, it is really more like an apartment. You have to come with or buy your own bathroom supplies.
  • There is a mini-fridge in your room and a small kitchen on each floor of the hotel. From what I have seen, the kitchen does not have an oven.
  • There is a shared laundry room. You have to go to the front desk to ask/buy a laundry card. There are no dryers, so you will have to hang your clothes on the line, or in your room somewhere, to dry. Everyone hung their laundry outside of the laundry room in the outside patio-ish area.
  • Most of the hotel staff does not speak English, so I always go to the front desk with my phone in hand and ready to use my translation apps.
  • Carry extra toilet paper and hand sanitizer with you whenever you go out for the day. Most public bathrooms do not supply you with toilet paper, paper towels or even soap.
  • Teachers, at least at the middle school we taught at, dressed VERY casually. Some teachers wore sweatpants… Most teachers wear jeans (no holes), sweatshirts and sneakers to work. This is what I wore almost everyday after showing up in dress pants, a sweater and dress shoes on my first day! Pack clothing that you can wear to work and out on the weekends. If I had known that the teachers dress so casually, I would have packed way differently.
  • The school days are much longer than in the United States. Typically, I left the hotel at 6:30am to get to the school around 7:30 and eat breakfast. Then, classes began at 8:25am and lasted until around 5:00pm. We were able to leave most days around 3:30 or 4:00, but we did stay later on Tuesdays to take part in some extracurricular activities with the students.
  • There are a bunch of places to eat, get coffee and shop along the street of the hotel. There is a market where you can buy toiletries, food, fruit, silverware, umbrellas, laundry detergent, and really anything you would need across the street from the hotel. So do not worry if you forget something! Wal-Mart is also about a 20-25 minute walk away.
  • The subways are very easy to navigate and in English! You will want to get a public transportation card so that you can just swipe it every morning and evening.
  • When you are ready to pay your housing bill, you will need to visit the Office of International Affairs on campus. You do not pay the hotel directly! When I visited the office, they printed out my bill and had someone who spoke both English and Chinese bring me to the financial office where I paid my bill in cash.
  • If you do not have a Chinese bank account, you will need to use cash almost everywhere. At the bigger malls, I was able to use my debit card (Visa), but at local markets and shops, they only accept WeChat Pay, AliPay or cash. You are able to take cash out of the ATM with your debit or credit card if you do not want to carry a lot of cash on you at all times.
  • You can use the University’s track for free! Although not a gym, the track is great for running and there are grassy areas to do other exercises. I have also used the playground bars for pull-ups and such. There is always a good amount of people on the track exercising, so you will never be alone!
  • One More Plus was my favorite café. They have coffee, treats, sandwiches, and even beer. They have WIFI, bathrooms, outlets, outside seating and an overall great atmosphere. I sat in this place for hours! The staff is friendly and it is right across the street from the hotel. They have memorized my order by now…
  • Don’t forget to bring a converter for the outlets! I have a small portable one that I bring with me everywhere, just in case! You might also want to buy a portable phone charger. There will be days when you do not go back to your hotel room for a long time because you are out exploring. I always kept my phone on airplane mode when I was not using it, so battery life was not a problem for me. But if you are always on your phone, definitely bring one!
  • Learn how to use chopsticks! Some places offer spoons…but not all!
  • Learn some basics of the Chinese language and/or have a good translation app. Although a lot of people in Shanghai have an understanding of English, not all do.
  • For dinner on weeknights, I either went to the café that I mentioned earlier or made myself a peanut butter sandwich in my room. I would buy fresh bakery break almost every Monday and peanut butter from the market across the street. I also bought a knife from the market. Some other random snacks that I always had in my room included fruit, Oreos and crackers.
  • You cannot drink the tap water! So I also always have bottled water in my room, which again, you can get at the market just across the street. You could also bring a reusable water bottle if you wanted because at the middle school we teach at, there is a place to fill your bottle. I am sure there are places to fill your water at all schools.
  • If you go in the spring, the weather will vary. One day it will be 50 Degrees and rainy while the next two days are sunny and 80 Degrees. If you do not bring an umbrella, you can always buy one at the market across the street like I did. Make sure you bring shoes and a jacket that is good in rainy weather, because walking everywhere will be your new normal!

 

Things You May Want To Know About Shanghai and Hong Qiao Middle School!

Hongqiao middle school is located in the south west of Changning district, Chengqiao Community, in Shanghai China. Hongqiao middle school is one of twenty one schools in the Changning district. It is a high end area with fewer community members and it is also a multi-culture area for most of the residents here are from other countries. Hongqiao middle school has got 16 classes with a total number of 323 students. There are not too many students, but the students are of various origins. About 40% of them are Shanghainese while nearly 60% are from other provinces and there are also students from Korea. Students here are mainly from the low income families of nearby communities or the migrant workers’ family. The staff at Hongqiao middle school is made up of 57 members and 47 of them are teachers. All the teachers have a bachelors degree. 78% of the teachers have professional ranks and titles. There are 19 youth teachers (who are under the age of 35). About half of the teachers are native to Shanghai and the other half are from other provinces. Mrs. ZHANG, a teacher you will probably work closely with because she is the supervising practitioner, is originally from Northern China. She currently lives very close to the middle school. Majority of the teachers at Hong Qiao Middle School live within walking distance to the school, which is highly convenient and beautiful by the way.

When designing instruction and assessment of student learning gender must be considered. At Hongqiao middle school there are many more boys than girls. In each class more than half are boys. The classes I have taught have at most 3 girls while the other 12 students are boys. Class sizes vary. Sixth grade classes can have up to 30 students while 8th grade classes may only have 15 students. The students attending this school range from twelve years old to fifteen years old.

The students at this school have all subjects in Chinese except for English, which is taught by Chinese native speaking teachers. This has a few minor drawbacks because majority of these teachers aren’t the best at English and don’t speak English outside of the classroom. They have only mastered how to teach the curriculum and struggle with daily conversation. Again Mrs. Zhang speaks English well and the assistant principal Mary is not so bad at English. The principal, however which I only met one time does not speak nor understand English at all. The students are broken up into classes by ability to speak English. There are students who speak English well and others who have difficulties. When student teaching you will be placed in a classroom with students who speak and understand English well. Also the dress at Hong Qiao Middle School is very casual. Teachers here wear jeans, sneakers and hoodies very often. It is not like back home where you have to wear dress pants and a blouse, khakis and a button up, or shoes. Teachers are not allowed to wear sleeveless shirts however or short shorts or skirts. Everything must be at least knee length. So if you decide to come to student teach at Hong Qiao Middle School, don’t bring dressy clothes it’s not needed.

Things in China are very inexpensive. If you can do a lot of shopping and try to bring things back home. You will save a lot of money.

In Shanghai you are placed to live at Shanghai Normal University in the International Exchange Hotel. The room is disgusting, the walls are peeling, mold by the window and around the showers, and the furniture looks like they don’t clean in between stays. Not to mention the beds are extremely hard. There are washing machines to wash clothes, however you will have to hang dry them outside on a line, which isn’t too bad. To use the washing machines you need a student id from Shanghai Normal University, the international department provides these. You will also be allowed to eat at the school canteen (cafeteria) with this student id as well. To eat in the canteen is very inexpensive, however if you get tired of the food there are local Chinese restaurants, shops and bakeries where you can eat outside of campus. For those of you who like McDonalds, KFC, Dominos, Pizza Hut, and Starbucks, these places are not too far from campus as well. There is also a Walmart within walking distance.

The people that I have met know a lot about sports in America. They are most interested in basketball. Here in China they have a program similar to our NBA, known as CBA (Chinese Basketball Association). It is a complete replica of the NBA. I was surprised to know that many are also familiar with the Super Bowl and the New England Patriots. They have Super Bowl parties similar to what we have. They also are into watching American movies. Many people here learn English by watching these films. Girls at the middle school are into Justin Bieber. People are also very familiar with Bruno Mars, Beyoncé, Eminem, and of course Michael Jackson. While listening to American music students have told me that they learn English through the songs of these artists. People here are also familiar with the colleges in Boston, such as Harvard and MIT.
Out off all the teachers and students in Hong Qiao Middle School, only the school nurse has been to America.

Students who come this fall to student teach at Hong Qiao Middle School should know that you should be prepared to jump right in and teach. I was provided the novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and was given the freedom to create lessons of my own that would check for student comprehension. You are only required to teach two lessons per week. There are tons of extra curricular activities, events, and field trips that you will take part in. The commute from the campus to the middle school is about 1 hour and you will take two trains, which is a total of 4 yuan one way and 8 yuan round trip each day that school is in session. Breakfast and lunch are served everyday. If eating breakfast you should arrive no later than 7:45am, otherwise be here by 8am. If school is closed because of a holiday, it will be made up on the weekend. On weekends students and teachers will take you out to different places and help you to become better acquainted with the city. Teachers and students have many connections throughout the city, so you will always have something to do if that’s what you want. They are your best resources while here. Like I mentioned before dress for school is casual. If possible bring a gift from home that the students here could keep. Also I hope none of you are camera shy because both students and teachers will be snapping your photo constantly. Lastly if you have any special talents, share them with the students because they really enjoy this.

Three Weeks Down…One Month to Go!

Since my time here in Shanghai China, I have experienced so much and have enjoyed every moment of it. My only complaint is how uncomfortable the beds are at the hotel, many nights I can’t sleep comfortably. When I return home I may need to seek a chiropractor. Other than that things are going well. Besides spending my Mondays-Fridays at Hong Qiao Middle School teaching and learning from the students, teachers, and teaching staff, on the weekends I have gone to Century Park, Qibao Old Street, Longhua Temple, and People’s Square just to name a few. I plan to visit a few more places for the time that I have left here. I have also gone to malls and have done some shopping and walked through local parks and taken some photos. I plan on taking a day to pamper myself and relax by going to a spa before I return back home. I’m trying not to overwhelm myself because I will be coming back to explore within the next two years with my family. I have just been taking it all in and relaxing. Back home I’m always going going going, so for the time that I am here I have just been taking it slow and easy. There is only one month left and I finally feel like a regular. I can now walk into local shops and restaurants where I am greeted by name. Also cooks are now familiar with my order. This is so awesome because I don’t eat meat and now I don’t have to search for places to eat. I have a few places that I have become well acquainted with. Like I have mentioned before everyone here is so friendly and welcoming, which makes things so much easier. I am in the process of learning more of the Chinese language.

One Month Left in Shanghai

Officially one month left here in Shanghai!  The past 3 weeks have been exciting and I feel I have learned so much about Chinese culture just by exploring, observing and meeting new people.

On Wednesday, John Marvelle came to observe India and I.  My lesson went well, and the students had a lot of fun.  We talked about the word ’embarrassing’ and what it meant to feel embarrassed.  The students were able to draw a time when they felt embarrassed and some brave souls even shared with the class!

There was a holiday this Thursday and Friday, so this Sunday will be a school day.  In Shanghai, they will make up the school day on a weekend day if a holiday falls during the week.  This is very different than the United States, but allows the students a full summer break because they do not have to make these days up at the end of year.

During the holiday, which celebrates ancestors who have passed, most people celebrate by doing outdoor activities or cleaning the tombs.  I spent the holiday with John and some students from Shanghai Normal University that he knows from when they visited BSU and that I have had a chance to meet throughout my time here.  We went shopping, visited Yu Garden and had dinner at a nice Thai food restaurant.  It was really great to see a familiar BSU face!

I feel that I have finally gotten into a solid daily routine.  After teaching, I usually go to the track to run and workout.  And on weekend mornings, I typically workout and then go to Starbucks down the street.  It is about a 10 minutes walk, but if you walk quickly like me, its faster than that.  I also enjoy going to a cafe called One Plus More.  It is a large cafe with coffee, sandwiches, tea, beer, and other treats!  They have free wifi and comfy seating, so I am actually writing this blog from there.

It is really convenient to be on a college campus because there is an open track, markets, cafes, and more all in one area.  I have been able to buy anything that I have needed across the street from my hotel at a small market.  For example, I have bought laundry detergent, toilet paper, face cloths, snacks, freshly baked bread, fruit and more.  At first I was worried that there would be nowhere to buy random items such as these, but that is definitely not the case!

I would recommend any student teacher come to Shanghai and experience all that this place has to offer, because trust me, it is a lot!