Shanghai'd!

There are three Georgetown and one Chinese friend I went to see in Shanghai: Vince Cheng ('04), Chris Murphy ('07), Fu Maojie ('05, and Josh Wei ('05). Vince, Chris and I sang together in Superfood (www.freewebs.com/superfood Holla!). I wish I had one pinky's worth of the musical talent as either or those guys. Josh and I met this year through a mutual friend. We are alike in many ways, except height. He calls me big brother. Fu Maojie, whose English name is Sam, was my roommate and best friend while studying in Beijing. During finals week Sam and I, in one 36-hour period watched the entire season three of 24. Throughout the semester Sam taught me some Hainan dialect, while I taught Sam how to drink hard alcohol. Sam was in Shanghai on business for the weekend, which was why I visited Shanghai when I did. Oddly, there was a certain normalcy in having a reunion among friends in Shanghai. Why wouldn't I see people that I sang and hung out with in college in China? You gotta love living in the 21st century.

I've been to Shanghai a few times before and have seen many of the sights: catholic cathedrals, Confucius gardens, the French Quarter, and the Bund. I've indulged myself by shopping for myself and others in the multi-football field sized market filled with fake EVERYTHING. From Hermes wallets to TaylorMade 3 woods, you can find it at Xiang Yang Market. But did I venture out to these again? Besides to get my cousins a few presents at the market, Hell No. Shanghai's heat, humidity and pollution makes one LONG for a D.C. summer day. Stepping outside of your own freewill between the hours of 10am-4pm makes you a masochist by default. Some of the original gangstas (locals), O.G.s we shall call them, amble casually around on the streets in their underwear and a wife-beater, fan in hand. Oh to be so gangsta!

During the days I spent most of my time with Chris in his totally laid-back office. An air-conditioned and wireless Internet oasis. The name of his company is BUD AR. Actually it's BUDZAR, but the sign people got the Z backwards so for the first day I was there they were Z-less. Despite my lazy and unadventerous attitude during the days, we tried to make up for it with our evenings.

1. Shanghai restaurant workers playing badminton while on break. Sure beats smokin a butt. Well, they did that too.


2. Ted Novak (another Georgetowntown grad I randomly bumped into while having lunch in Shanghai), Me, Josh, Chris and Vince.