Not much to say

My friend, Mike, works at a hospital in Shanghai. Last week, he was in the nursery. This little girl was abandoned, most likely because she IS a girl. This practice is still common in China though I think less common than it used to be... Newborn boys are often referred to as "big happiness" while girls are only "small happiness." Maggie's father left their family when she was one for no reason other than the fact that the only child they would have was her, a girl.

The best part of traveling is the opportunities to interact with people you'd never meet otherwise. Lorenza, Lilly and I went for dinner last night at a Japanese restaurant in Xintiandi (touristy area built in 1930s). Lorenza is from Italy and wanted to discuss American politics. I am not a big fan of politics but it was an interesting conversation nonetheless because she has such a vast knowledge about America already. To hear her talk, it sounds like the developed world is extremely interested in the US but mostly on a superficial level (movies, TV, culture, etc.) and most of the people who say "America sucks" are doing so out of ignorance. This particularly won me over, as I feel that most Americans who say "Towelheads" or "Muslim people are terrorists" and the like are also doing so out of ignorance. She wanted to hear our take on whether Obama or Clinton would win the Democratic primary and wanted the whole concept of primaries explained because in Italy, the parties just choose their candidates and put them up for the general election without prior fanfare. Their voter turnout is quite high and she was flabbergasted at the exceedingly low turnout we have in America because she feels it is the greatest democracy in the world.
Lorenza was there when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and got a direct taste of the state of race relations in America today. She said she was very surprised because she thought all that was over in the States. This led directly into education and right back into just who, exactly, doesn't vote and why. The other thing that shocked her about America was the Second Amendment and how prevalent guns are.. all I could do was recite the historical background and why the minimal language of it makes it so easily quotable for rightists and thus will probably never change. Our last topic was health care: why so many are uninsured, why the government doesn't provide health care, lobbyists, drug companies, why Bill Clinton was elected and his attemps at health care reform and why they failed...

The thing I always hate discussing politics is not the actual content but the fact that everyone thinks they know better than the person next to them. Sentences are cut off and ears shut rapidly. It's hardly worth having a conversation when someone is not listening, only mouthing off about what they're SO SURE they know, or doing it for so long and so loudly that no one else can get a word in edgewise.

I had cucumber sushi and learned from the menu that it exists due to folklore about a Japanese sea monster who loved cucumbers.

Speaking of race, these dolls are in many of the "kitschy" shops here. They seem rather offensive to me but maybe they hold a purpose I don't know about.


Have I mentioned I'm really looking forward to Beijing? I was reading about it in the guidebook and they have EIGHT Taoist temples there. I still have not been able to find one in Shanghai. I'm almost to the point where I'm tempted to say Taoist when someone asks me my religion.. I think I already live in the Taoist fashion. It's not a religion where you have to worship idols or have to go to a temple.. balance in life and meditation before decision are more important; a sort of "laissez-faire" approach to life.. things will happen as they happen and their effect on the individual is what they make of it. It's a more peaceful way of living.

Sunset over Pudong after work yesterday