Welcome to Shanghai : Day 4

2008. 10. 25

Today is supposed to a slow day. No clients. No hot shots. No business calls or whatnot.

First, some of the participants went on a trip, completely abandoning the booth. It is very irresponsible of them . Which means the parttimers and the young guys get to keep the booth and to get rid of all the brochures and souvenirs left. And that’s what Oh did in the entire morning. Before taking lunch, Oh and another participant decided to go on a road trip. And it was awesome.

Leaving the convention venue, Oh checked up on the girl that he is interested in. Still no response from her. Whatever, Oh thought.

Hopping on a cab and explaining the directions to the cabby who does not speak English, Oh put up the map on the glass that separated the driver’s seat’s and assistant’s. Finally, the driver understood and started to floor it.

The traffic in Shanghai is extremely insane. The hodgepodge of bikers, cars and pedestrians is just ridiculous. What is more amusing is the fact that Oh, since his arrival, has not witnessed a single car accident. Many of Oh’s foreign friends said that the traffic in Seoul is horrible. Well, surely they have never been to Shanghai.

They arrived Pearl Village, a street full of jewelry shops and souvenir shops. Since it is a Saturday, it seems natural that they are tons of people. I mean it is china, but this is way too much. Just take a look.

Then Oh and his friend moved to this particular private garden that a son built for his mother. Luckily, they met a group of Korean tourists. Tagging them alone, Oh was lucky to eavesdrop the explanation on the garden.

In order to cope with the bubbling stomach, Oh and his friend walked into a MacDonald. They never imaged to heat a Big Mac in China. Well, it was decent.

After gulping down fries and a hamburger, the duo jumped into a cab to head over to People’s Square. Just like before, Oh put up the map and pointed the destination on it. After a little bit of gesticulating, the driver sensed where to take the two lost expats.

Arriving, the duo, in lieu of going to the park, decided to go to the underground shopping mall, which was a lot like that in Seoul. The girls were cute, well dressed. Hip per se. Oh purchased two lip glosses for the lady colleagues of his as a souvenir. Oh and his friend realized that the trip turned out way better than they thought it would.

Oh felt a bit like a stranger. Granted, Chinese and Koreans look quite alike. But it was the language that separates one from another. However, since two language share a lot in common, Oh was able to interperet some of the charactehrs that led him to certain directions or that helped understand the previous conversations with random Chinese people. And thanks to the fact that Oh learned Chinese back in highschool in college, Oh threw some random, broken language in Chinese faces. Of course, whenever it happened , those Chinese had a confounding look.

Back to the road trip, the duo made up their minds to try Shanghai metro. Again, when purchasing the tickets, Oh put up the map on the glass at the box office and said “I need two tickets for this station.” It worked. Again, a lot of people. I mean simply a LOOOOT.

The subway was not too bad actually although Oh thought it was a bit small compared to the back home. The width of each train was as small as the NTY transit, which is very tiny. Well, Americans are big. But their subway is way too narrow and small.

Getting of the subway, they headed back up to the overground. After walking about 20 mins in dress shoes, they made it to the convention venue. But the show was over, and there was no one. Oh started to panic for two reasons. A) He thought before the show was over that he could talk to the girl that he gave the little note to B) He left his jacket and the umbrella that he had checked out at the hotel with a 100 renmenbi for a deposit. What is worse is that in the pocket of the jacket there is his passport. 100 renmenbi is almost 20,000 won. But without the passport, he can’t go back home.

After making several phone calls, he found out that the jacket is safely kept by one of the participants. But the umbrella is still missing. Dang it. It seems like the last day is running the entire leg of trip. Also, Done waiting for the girl’s reply, Oh asked the front desk where the girl that he is interested in is staying. And guess what. The front desk said that she is NOT staying the this hotel. And it could be because A) She is really not staying B) Oh got her name wrong., which could be why she has not responded yet.

After coming back to the hotel, Oh was relieved to know that the jacket’s been secured. But still he was curious what the deal was with the girl. So, Oh decided to be sitting in the lobby, awaiting her. Oh thought “I don’t believe this. This is the very last night in Shanghai and he is waiting for the girl that he barely knows.”

Two and a half hours. That will be it. Then he is going to hit the most flamboyant and the fanciest spot in Shanghai to explore the crazy night life in Shanghai. The only thing that is sucky is the fact that it’s been drizzling.