September 18, 2012 Part 2

Today I had the mandatory medical exam, required by the Chinese government, to obtain my work visa.  It took place at a clinic designated specifically for this exam and it was a strange experience to say the least.  I was shuffled, half-naked, between 10 different rooms to receive all the components of the medical check.  Each part of the exam  (blood drawn, chest x-ray, ultrasound, height and weight, eye exam, blood pressure, etc.) was done by a different person.  30 minutes and 12 staff members later I was out the door!  The efficiency was actually kind of amazing.

Afterwards, Disney gave us the rest of the day off.  Still suffering under the jet lag I went back to my room to relax and later I decided to venture out on my own and walk around the neighborhood of my hotel.  Two blocks away is one of the largest parks in Shanghai: Zhongshan Park.  It is a lovely place filled with beautiful trees, lakes, and green fields.

There were lots of locals there doing typical Chinese park activities including...

Couples dancing.  I see middle aged and elderly people there doing this everyday, they even tango

There are large groups of men everywhere playing some kind of checkers game.  Two men play at a time and 10 or 12 men surround the game and kibitz 

                                                                                 Fishing!

 Seniors and middle aged people doing Tai Chi.  Exercise is very important in Chinese culture and there we senior citizens everywhere in this park doing fitness activities, sometimes even dropping randomly to do push-ups!

 Everywhere I looked there were grandparents with small children.  It's clear that the they dote on these sweet little ones.

Many, many toddlers wearing traditional "split pants".  (So if you don't know what this is it it's a common practice in both rural and urban China.  Parents either buy pants with a hole cut down the center seam or just cut one themselves.  The child wears these pants with no diapers and then poos and pees whenever and WHEREVER they want.  In the park today I actually saw a Westerner pull the pants off her 3 year old and let her pee right there on the grass in front of everyone.  Nobody batted an eye.)

 

 

So, so much singing in the park.  Random people with small head microphones and hand held speakers stood in park singing (not for money or anything...just singing!)  Also elderly people singing as they walk the grounds, and picnicking groups of college aged students taking turns standing and singing then applauding for each other. I watched one of these groups for a long time and eventually they started taking turns leading group games.  Some of the games were ones that I used to use in my classroom and watching them have fun made my heart hurt a little bit missing my dear SSA kids.

                                                        Men reading the newspaper

                            Kids taking roller blade lessons (man in the yellow is the instructor.)

                         Lots of musicians gathering to jam on traditional Chinese instruments. 
                                                 It was a lovely day to be in the park!

Before I go I want to mention that today is the 81st anniversary of the Japanese invasion of northeast China.  This is an event that is as fresh in the hearts of the Chinese as if it took place five years ago, and with the escalated tension over territory disputes between China and Japan all anyone is talking about are the potential protests that might happen in connection with this anniversary.  I saw nothing out of the ordinary today but have been hearing many dramatic stories.  Many Japanese businesses in China have closed down for a few days to avoid problems.  
I think it's hard for Americans to understand the intensity of the Chinese' feelings about Japan.  I can't imagine a teenager sitting in my class and weeping when she thinks about the attacks on Pearl Harbor...but that's exactly the kind of thing that happens on this date.  For some, the pain is still fresh four generations later.   
The week before I left for Shanghai I rented The Flowers of War from Redbox.  This is a Chinese film starring Christian Bale and it was the highest grossing film of 2011 in China.  It's based on an American book and takes place during the Nanking massacre, and event that killed 250,000-300,000 Chinese people.  The violence in the film is hard to watch but the story is totally absorbing.  It's incredibly grim but it gave me insight into the strained relationship between these two countries.  My heart goes out to the Chinese who are morning this terrible moment in their history.