Kirsten Captures

So normally I like to do recap posts of my day. Mostly because my memory sucks and I like to be able to look back and remember what the heck I did.

But it gets boring after awhile.

Let’s see… Wednesday night we had dinner at Hong Mei Lu with some of Peter’s coworkers, ate spicy Indian food, and stayed up way too late. Thursday night we hung out with Nester and watched Public Enemies which was a great movie. And yeah that’s all I want to remember about those two days.

So now I want to talk about some of my recent observations. I have been in Shanghai for about a week and a half now and have noticed a few things.

Here we go:

1. Our curtains don’t block much light. It’s always a good morning over here. Except when I grab the eye mask and snooze a little longer. Then it’s a great morning.

2. I kind of want a motorbike. One with an extra obnoxious horn that I blare the entire time. People will know I’m coming.

3. I love Starbucks. Sometimes all it takes is an iced coffee to make my day. Now order me a latte and I feel right at home. So at home that I will park myself in one of those straight backed wooden chairs for 3 hours. Thank you free wifi.

4. English signs in China are pretty hilarious. The one below is pretty normal. You know, please throw your trash in the wastebasket and you will be a strong man in civilization. Cool. What’s even better is the clothing with English words. Yesterday we saw a nice young man wearing sweatpants with “Her face” written on the butt. Get me a pair of those.

5. Walking down the sidewalks of Shanghai is physically demanding. You must always be ready for any upcoming street vendors or packs of people walking 5 abreast. Oh and definitely look out for the bicycles and motorbikes that sneak up on you from behind. Also be wary of the men with motorbikes trying to pick you up at the metro stop. Thanks but no thanks.

6. I love the cityscape. The size, symmetry, and implied conformity is totally fascinating. Cities are much more visually appealing to me photographically because there is more to capture. There is also a sense of organized space. “Space” is one of my favorite concepts in anthropology and is scarce in big cities. Something to think about.

7. This look really safe. That’s all I have to say about that.

Oh and if you were wondering, my pictures have been taken exclusively with the Iphone. While I adore my Nikon 3100, I feel awkward whipping it out everywhere, especially in China. People already stare at me enough and I hate to be the dumb tourist. Shooting from a phone is less obtrusive and allows me to capture moments more organically.

Just an observation.