Rosaline was a very kind person and we enjoyed spending time with her. She took us on a tour of her campus, which was beautiful. She told us ECNU is the only college in China with a river running through campus. Rosaline's grandparents, whom we would later meet, also attended ECNU and Rosaline said they used to sit along the river while they were dating.
Dating in China seems very different than in America. Many Chinese young adults live in homes with their family and sometimes their extended families, which means they don't have much privacy and have to meet in public places. Karaoke bars seem to be a popular place for young singles to relax and meet each other. Molly, our tour guide, said Ikea also is a popular dating destination, which surprised me. She said all the furniture setups make people want to get a home together.
Rosaline laughed when we asked her about Haibo and said many people her age find him "kind of silly." We also asked her about the huge statue of Mao on campus. She said all Chinese universities have one and a joke among students is each finger on Mao's outstretched hand represents 1,000 yuan you owe for attending the school.
Rosaline's grandparents live in a high-rise in Shanghai's Pudong district. Her Grandpa is a retired middle school teacher and principal and her Grandma is a retired geographer who worked for the government. We also met her uncle, Joseph, who is a manager at a factory and Thomas, his young son.
We brought Rosaline and her family some chocolate from Fannie Mae and Cupid Candies and some Chicago Cubs memorabilia. They gave us some green tea, which I'm looking forward to drinking.
I eagerly had been looking forward to trying some authentic Chinese cuisine and Rosaline's grandparents didn't disappoint. The food was delicious. Rosaline's family prepared pork meatballs, fried fish, a vegetable unique to the Shanghai region whose name they didn't know how to translate and several other dishes. My favorite was a flavorful soup made with cabbage, pork belly, pork shoulder and tiny folded omelets stuffed with (you guessed it) pork. They also served us some kind of drink made of corn, which I thought was delicious and am now mildly obsessed with finding in the U.S.
Before leaving for China, I tried to learn as much as I could about Chinese culture. One thing I learned is Eastern cultures tend to use language in ways more subtle than Western cultures.
For example, there were several times during dinner that Jake and I were feeling rather stuffed and stopped eating for a while. Grandma would something to Rosaline, who translated "Grandma said this soup was very hard to make" or "Grandma said you do not eat much for two people who are so tall." We got the hint and kept eating.
After dinner, we chatted a bit about our respective countries. Rosaline said many Chinese people think President Obama is "cool" but she said they also don't like that he recently met with the Dalai Lama and his stance on Taiwan.
Joseph was kind enough to drove us back to the hotel. I think the biggest thing I got out of visiting Rosaline's family was that most people in the world seem to want the same things. They want to have jobs, homes and families and generally lead happy lives but it's easy to lose sight of this when we focus on the differences between our cultures or nationalities.
Later that evening, we took a river cruise down the Yangtze River. Shanghai's skyline is incredible, especially at night.
Excellent, again a lot of information based on your own experiences. Very enjoyable to read. Your grade = 10 points.
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