Getting Around

He Laoshi really challenged us tonight with the exam over our recent readings and lectures. We all gave it our best before getting into a discussion about today's readings, which focused a little more on the nuts and bolts of travel in China: getting around in the city, using taxis, changing money, safety, and using public toilets. (Note: carry your own toilet paper.)

Our learning was enhanced with videos of taxis, Shanghai traffic, and trains, as well as photos of various types of toilets we might encounter. Things will certainly be different than what most of us are used to, but fortunately we're staying in nice places and fairly well-developed areas, so we should be OK. We also learned some basic phrases to help us get around, including Mandarin words for "taxi," "left," "right," "exit," "where is..." and "how much is it?"

Tonight's special participatory activity was learning the opening line of a popular karaoke tune, "Duimian de nuhai kan guolai" (对面的女孩看过来). He Laoshi said that if we have the opportunity to do karaoke in China, we should do it.

Following class, we adjourned to Fortune Cookies where we enjoyed a terrific and filling banquet-style meal. I liked getting to know some of the students better, but I regret that I left my camera at home. (I could have taken some great pictures for the blog!) I promise to be a better blogger during the trip. I started making my packing list today, and the camera is at the top of the list!

By the way, two students told me that the videos from my last post are not working. I don't know what to tell you - I have checked the blog at home and at work on Internet Explorer 8 and FireFox, as well as on a UITS Mac with Safari, a MacBook with FireFox, and my BlackBerry. Videos work every time for me... This may be a silly question, but did you click on the "play" button? ;-)