Great day. Our bus nearly got T-boned by a taxi. Our driver rolled down the window and began screaming at the other driver, who screamed in return. Meanwhile, traffic is backed up and honkly madly. Just like old times.
We found the skateboard after only one failed attempt. There were only two boys there who attend French school and have a different spring break than the rest of the students. So they and Gage had the place to themselves. Gage showed them how a Californian does it, and they were impressed. At lunchtime, a guy on a bicycle came peddling right onto the course to deliver those boys a pizza. All the fast-food chains here deliver. It’s fun to see a guy on a scooter with a huge wooden box full of Big Macs strapped to his back.
Still the same: people constantly sweeping leaves with their twig brooms. Yup, leaves fall off the trees here in the springtime. The construction is not as frenzied but still going on. There are more cranes than before, but you still see guys mixing cement by hand and carrying it in wheelbarrows. Then they put broken bottles along the top of the wet cement to keep people from trespassing on their work. You still see women doing laundry on the sidewalks in plastic tubs, and babies in split pants being held over the ground to do their business. There are still interesting American “names” for the students. There’s always an Apple and a Lemon. But new this time are Devil and Cinderella. When I called one student’s name she replied that she had changed her name again. When I asked what the new name was, she said….Again. So that’s her name, Again.
Different: more couples and PDA’s. The girls wear extremely short shorts and skirts. The canals and alleys have been cleaned up, and the city is cleaner, but the pollution is noticeably worse. The traffic lights have been updated and now display the number of seconds left before turning from green to yellow.
When we arrived, it was cool and rainy. Yesterday the sun came out to give us a taste of Shanghai heat. I got a farmer’s tan at the skate park. Today I will show Gage how laundry was done in the 50’s.