SAT Scores, Titanic acrobatics, and scavenging...? Oh my?

This has been a very busy week, and we've done so much, that it's hard to think of a way to summarize or explain all that's happened without writing a bazillion-word post. I also don't have time for that, since my internet has been weak at best (the reason I haven't posted sooner), and I want to get something posted while the connection is working. I'll try to write as much as I can, focusing on the three interesting little moments highlighted in my title.

SAT Scores: Why, you may be wondering, would I ever mention something so awful, so over-and-done? Aren't SAT scores one of those things I should be very happy to have left on the other side of the Pacific? Well, on Monday, we met our tutors, Chinese university students who will be helping us one-on-one with our Chinese studies. My tutor seems very nice; she got her degree in teaching Chinese as a foreign language, but now is a graduate student studying folklore. That might have been case of Chinglish, but I'm pretty sure she's actually studying folklore. I must admit, when I heard folklore I automatically assumed it was a mis-translation, since my American vision of Chinese university students is that they're all engineers, scientists, or doctors in the making. My mistake. Example of cultural difference Number 1.
One of the first things she asked me was whether I was going to university; when I said yes, she said that I must have done well on the SATs. Then she asked me how well I had done. Example of cultural difference Number 2. I mention this little episode because I think it is a good example of what my experience of "cultural difference" (as awful a term as that is) has been so far: every Chinese person I have met has so kind, curious, and gracious (except for the ones who stare at us in the street...) that I haven't experienced the feelings of isolation, incompetence, and resentment that people say often come with cultural immersion (although there's still plenty of time, I guess). And we have had enough in common, other than language, that I haven't really thought about culture, except for little moments like this one that give a glimpse into our differences in experience and point of view. For the Chinese, scores determine whether you go to university at all, let alone which one you go to, and are all-important. My tutor's question was not rude or nosey...it was a perfectly natural question for her. And it was an interesting moment for me, to share something that we in America do place so much value in--often while pretending not to--in a casual and open manner.

Titanic Acrobatics: I don't think I can find any striking cultural insight through this anecdote; it's just funny. On Tuesday night, we went to an acrobatic show. I was pretty prepared for this show, as I'd been taken to an acrobatic show when I was in Beijing in 2002, and my family has been to similar shows on other trips. Most of the time, these shows strike a tentative balance between great entertainment and hopeless kitsch. This show was no different. Amazingly flexible and strong acrobats performed feats of balance and contortion, wearing silly costumes and accompanied by terrible music. And the show always ends with motorcycles roaring around a cage. However, this show did have something different: the Titanic act. A man and a woman, wearing flowing white outfits, used two bright blue ribbons to hoist themselves into the air, swing around, and do amazing stunts and moves. Sounds pretty cool, right? How does it sound when accompanied by Celine Dion crooning "My Heart Will Go On", while two giant screens show the scene from "The Titanic" when Jack and Rose are on the prow of the ship? And how does it sound when the finale is the woman being swung around by her partner from high up in the air, not from her arm or leg, but from a rope (a noose, really) tied around her neck? It's hard to describe here, but please be assured that it was the most amazing mixture of intense kitsch, breath-taking moves, and American pop culture.

Scavenging: My title may have been misleading. We didn't actually scavenge. We Scavenger Hunt-ed. And we won. This victory may seem unimportant to you, but to me and to my fearless teammates, it was a hard-won honor. And we get a free 1-hr full body massage. The scavenger hunt took all day (Thursday), and involved miles and miles and miles of walking. Other than the Walk for Hunger, I have never walked so much in my life. We covered most of downtown Shanghai, almost entirely by foot (we hopped the metro a couple of times). We went from Old Town (the only part of Shanhai, I think, where the buildings are still less than ten stories) to the Bund (what used to be the heart of the European part of Shanghai, by the river) to this random area where we were kind of lost and faced great adversity (it was a bad time for the team, but we got through it) to Nanjing Rd (Nanjing Rd is like the 5th Avenue of Shanghai...we spotted a Zara, Marc Jacobs, California Pizza Kitchen, a Western supermarket, and many other Western stores. It's extremely long) to Renmin Square (People's Square, home of the Shanghai Museum and other important sights). We were walking from 9 AM until 4 PM, with only brief breaks here and there.

Other goings on from this week, in short form:
- We visited the school where we'll be teaching English once a week to the children of migrant workers. There are two of us for a 50-student class. I'm a little scared about this. Me, with my scant Chinese, in charge of 25 fifth graders who don't really speak English...
- We went to the Oriental Pearl Tower. It's kind of the distinguishing marker of the Shanghai skyline...very tall, pointy, with three pink globules. We went up to the second of the three globules, and saw a great view of this very large and quickly expanding city.
- Other touristy activities included an open-air bus tour of Shanghai, a visit to a "water town" (a small town with historic buildings built along a system of canals) about an hour outside the city, and dinner at Wujiang Rd, Shanghai's "snack road".
- I joined a gym! It's huge and modern and has yoga classes!

That's about it. All is well here, and I'm adjusting nicely. I'm going to try to think of something insightful and intelligent to write about later this weekend, so I don't keep just giving a litany of activities. Stay tuned!