HADLEY VOGEL (art history) writes:
Today was our last hurrah in Shanghai.
I woke up later than I would have liked to because I thought that we were meeting a half an hour later than we really were. Once we had all congregated in the lobby we took off on an architectural tour that commenced at the Children’s Palace. It was unreal how decadent it was, and seemed a little cold to have been built for a father and his two sons.
Upstairs they were having workshops for children, and outside of the classrooms there were some of their projects on display. There were robots and cars and a sculpture of a man playing a saxophone, as well as a very crude representation of African culture. After leaving the palace we had a long and grueling walk through a very cold and wet Jewish ghetto. Dvir, our guide, was extremely informative and was able to bring us into one of the homes. I felt like I was entering a film noir set with a single fluorescent light hanging over an old kitchen table.
After warming up and getting some lunch, a nap, and a hot shower we met up with everyone at an Uighur restaurant, a cuisine from the northwestern region of China. The waiters were all dressed in traditional garb and danced through the restaurant pulling diners onto the stage. The music sounded Turkish with an energetic beat and the waiters were very enthusiastic and tried their hardest to keep as many people on stage as possible at all times. It was definitely the most fun dinner we had as a group, and I was glad that Davide from BizArt was able to join us.
I’m going to miss BizArt and ripping into half of a lamb with my hands, as well as the unapologetic mannerisms I’ve grown accustomed to.
Hadley Vogel is a junior art history major.
