Time Travel

(Heather)

Oh, how I wish time travel was possible—for multiple reasons. First and foremost, I want to go back and spend more time in Shanghai, as it was fantastic! Two and a half days was simply not enough time to see and do everything we wanted to see and do in such an incredible city. Please don’t misunderstand me—we packed a lot into the time we had, but there’s so much left undone.

I’ll cover the highlights of Shanghai. Friday night, after arriving via the high speed, super smooth, and super comfortable train from Hangzhou, we had a quick dinner and then meandered over to the Oriental Pearl TV tower. The tower is a Shanghai landmark, and is lit up at night by an abundance of sparkling purple bulbs (see pictures in web album). You can (for a fee, of course), take an elevator to the tippy top, which provides stunning and breathtaking views of nighttime Shanghai—the city is lit to rival Vegas.

After breakfast Saturday morning, we walked over to the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art, which featured an exhibition by renowned Japanese artist Kusama Yuyoi. The exhibition, entitled “I Dreamed a Dream,” featured many of her works, and reflects the colorful, chaotic, wild, and crazy world of dreams. Some of the installations and exhibits are even interactive, including the sticker room—the room originally was entirely white, but now is coated with hundreds and hundreds of colorful dot stickers, placed there by hundreds and hundreds of visitors. (You’re given a sticker sheet as you enter the room). I found all the exhibits and the almost surreal and entrancing nature of her art fascinating; I think the boys got a bit frustrated and antsy at the crowds ( the place was PACKED).

After leaving the art museum, we met up with Kay, who was kind enough to travel to Shanghai Saturday morning to help guide us around. (Side note—Cindy, another of last year’s students, was kind enough to travel with us TO Shanghai, and show us around Friday night and Saturday morning). Kay took us to what I believe is the former French Concession area of Shanghai, but is now a fantastic enclave full of small art shops, craft stalls, clothing boutiques, cafes, coffee joints, and restaurants. We had dinner at the cat café, which was adorable—I’ll avoid further description, though, as I feel that would end up being repetitive per Max and Caitlin’s posts. After dinner, Kay, Timmy, Dareus, Max, and I all tried our hand (voice?) at karaoke, thanks to Cindy, who has a friend who booked a room for us (Caitlin was exhausted and headed back to the hotel). A few hours, a few raspy voices, and many amusing yet embarrassing moments later, we headed back to the hotel.

Sunday morning we visited the Shanghai Museum, which really deserves more than a morning. Honestly, I think the best way to do justice to the Shanghai Museum would be to visit over the course of several weekends (maybe eight or nine?), concentrating on a single gallery—bronze, ceramic, jade, etc—at a time. There is so very much wonderful stuff in the museum, but the Ming vases, celadon pottery, ancient calligraphic scrolls, and bronze wine vessels all deserve to be visited and appreciated in a more singular manner.

After museum-ing (yup, I’m making up words), we had lunch at a local food court, where we all tried the famous Shanghai soup dumplings. These are delectable little pockets of pork, scallion, and ginger, wrapped in dough and cooked so that a savory broth remains IN the folds of the dumpling. When you pick up the dumpling, you pierce it with a chopstick, and then immediately slurp down the rich and velvety broth. Messy, but the best foods always are.

Fast forward a few hours: Kay and I walked around Nanjing Road and down to the Bund, while Max, Timmy, Dareus, and Caitlin hung out at a local store and caught up on some much needed relaxation. We then headed back to the hotel, retrieved baggage, and caught the train back to Hangzhou.

Okay—so we did a lot, right? Well, yes, but we also missed a lot. We didn’t get to Yuyuan Garden/historic area (I’m sorry Becky!!!), the Dongtai antique and flea market, or to the night cruise on the river. In other words, I need a time machine.

Now, as for the second reason I need a time machine—I think I might have missed a calling in life. You see, Derek (one of the English teachers here) asked me this past week if I could speak to his class about Western art, as that was the current topic in their English workbooks. In particular, he wanted me to speak to the students about how to appreciate and enjoy art, as so many are simply used to being told “this is an important and meaningful piece of art, and here’s why,” rather than personally deciding on the merit, appeal, or beauty of a piece. Over the course of forty minutes, I put up a few of my favorite paintings, and asked for student thought and opinion. As expected, most were silent, but eventually a few girls in particular started to open up and ask questions/make observations. Their ideas were fascinating; I also realized that I adore talking about style, lighting, color, composition, brushstrokes, mood, etc, in relation to artwork. It’s kind of like discussing a novel, but you can ensure all students have indeed LOOKED at the painting J

In any case, I think I need to go back in time, take more art history classes in college, and moonlight as a gallery curator. Those jobs are plentiful and readily available, correct? I can combine curating with teaching, yes? No?

Extra, extra, extra special thanks to Cindy and Kay for taking us out and about around Shanghai, and for serving as incredible (and handily bilingual) tour guides!

Cheers!