JOSH SNIEGOWSKI (film and video major) writes:
After getting off of the 14½ hour flight (which actually wasn’t even close to as bad as I thought since I brought a lot to keep me busy) everything actually didn’t seem that different. The airport was less crowded than O’Hare and seemed to be running everything relatively the same. People ran around in business suits trying to get to their next flight too. I still was somewhat nervous being in a foreign communist country, but as I went down the escalator to get my luggage, I noticed a huge poster with Jackie Chan on it. This helped somewhat to ease the change.
Once we started driving to our hotel, I started to see the differences much more clearly, starting with the traffic. This may be a sad statement, but I believe that when I leave China the traffic is going to be what amazed me most about the entire trip. If anyone ever thought Chicago traffic was hectic, they should come to Shanghai. When they return to Chicago they will be kissing the ground they drive on. Three-lane highways seem more like six-lane highways as every car zigzags in and out of whatever lane they want without worrying about who is driving up behind them. Our bus literally would cut the guy next to us off leaving no more space than the width of a hair between the car and our rear bumper.
Driving off the highway is no better than on. At intersections there is no turn arrow, so you would think that cars would wait for an opening in traffic to turn, but this is not the case. If a car has any opportunity to turn, be it only a second, it goes. This causes the other car to slam on its breaks as the other car makes its turn. Police around watch this and shrug it off.
Along with cars, there are bikes and motorcycles everywhere. Never before have I seen a street lined with near 100 parked bicycles. There are even individual lanes in some sections where bikes and motorcycles are meant to drive. If there isn’t a lane, then they either drive on the street or even right on the sidewalk. With all these different kinds of traffic, it’s obvious that there are a huge number of horns going of at any given moment.
Once we got to where we would be staying for the trip, we checked in and went straight to the rooms. I expected a lot less and was very pleasantly surprised when I actually saw our rooms. Although small, they are furnished very nicely and comfortable to sleep in. Everyone was exhausted, but we didn’t get more than five minutes in the room before we were herded back onto the bus to head for a gallery.
After arriving on the Bund, I was amazed. All the buildings did not appear to be Chinese at all. Everything around us looked to be European. Once inside the gallery, the first thing that I thought was that I was under-dressed. Everything seemed very formal and I felt privileged to be there. The piece of art that stood out the most involved multiple buildings being filmed to look as if they were thrusting up and down, which were paired with the sounds of a female orgasm. I’m not sure what the meaning of this was, but it stuck with me after seeing it.
At the end of the day, everyone went out to dinner together and enjoyed a vast array of food. Everything was vegetarian and the food that stuck out the most was the eggplant. It was very sweet and tasted almost like candy, but it resembled a bowl of slugs. The meal was amazing, as was my first day in Shanghai. By the time I got back to the hotel I was half asleep and I passed out almost instantly.
Josh Sniegowski is a sophomore in the film/video department.
