May 14th, 2011
SHANGHAI, China — One city down, two to go! Today we got to Shanghai! We were greeted by our translator/guide Crystal (who happens to be a sophomore at IU!), and at the hotel we met our second guide Sherry (an IU alum!). Shanghai is a beautiful city comparable to New York City and Chicago. Everywhere you turn there is a skyscraper, and the streets are filled with an insane amount of lanes, taxis, nice cars, and very nice people!
The first meal we ate here was a traditional Shanghai style called a “hot pot.” The servers brought out woks filled with broth in the middle of a hot plate at each table. Then, each table was brought multiple vegetables, meats, and seafood to put in the broth. The servers also gave each person their own personal sauce varying in the level of spice. It was very delicious!
After lunch, we went to rehearsal with the Jurnaliste Choeur of Shanghai. The choir was made up of female journalists from Shanghai. Tomorrow, May 15th, we will sing a Chinese song and an American song with them at the end of a full concert we will give at the Shanghai Concert Hall. The concert will also double as a live national radio concert, broadcast to over 1.2 million people!! After our joint rehearsal, we had a gift exchange with the other choir. Gifts received included post cards, key chains, and we all got a copy of their CD! This event was especially spectacular because we met with them on the top floor of a 43-story skyscraper, the 2nd tallest in its district. All together our first day in Shanghai has been a wonderful one, and we cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings!
Shanghai the Bund! (a famous district and Hoosierism)
– TJ Ford, Elisabeth Gawthrop and Cruz Baisa
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- Our Shanghai hotel – Very Nice!
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- Some of our rooms have balconies! Laurel’s just chillin in Shanghai, it’s #nbd (no big deal)
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- A few of the hundreds of skyscrapers in Shanghai
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- Lauren Stoffregen and Emma Schroeder checking out the view from the 43rd floor.
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- Journalist Choir we sang with!
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- The women from the Journalist Choir applaud our performance.
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- The Singing Hoosiers and the Journalist Choir rehearse together for our performance the next morning!
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- They sell shrink wrapped chicken in convenience stores! Not that brave.
This event was especially spectacular because we met with them on the top floor of a 43-story skyscraper, the 2nd tallest in its district.