I’ve been to Taiwan and Shanghai many times, and altogether I’ve spent a few years in those two places. As a matter of fact, I think I’m in a bit of a rut. I’ve decided that this time, inspired by the Fulbright spirit, I’m going to push myself to try some new things. I’ll be building a list on this post, and reporting on my progress. I also welcome you to suggest things you think I should do in the comments. I’ll take those as challenges to keep searching out new adventures.
- buy shoes
- go to a movie in Chinese with no subtitles
- attend a concert (I’ve done this before, but not for a long time)
- learn a Chinese drinking game
- take a class (yoga, cooking, music)
- master a Mandarin song for karaoke
See which ones I’ve done:
Eat that food that comes on a stick and is soaking in hot water in the night market: Check! It was kind of an accident — I was looking for a quick lunch, so I went to 7-11 to get a bun. Well, 7-11 is no longer serving buns, at least not that 7-11. But they did have the Guan Dong Zhu, which is the food on sticks soaking in water, so I got some.
I dd one — it’s not on the list, but I did something I’ve always been scared to do: I made a restaurant reservation on the phone. Doesn’t sound like much, but every little bit helps!
I am with you on that! I made my first restaurant reservation in August on the phone with my broken French and I felt GREAT and it WORKED! I would love to challenge you to buy things (anything) on Tmall （天猫）or Taobao （淘宝）when you are in Shanghai 🙂 I remember doing it for the first time a few years back and it was a big undertaking XD. you will know what I mean when you try it! also Didi (the uber equivalent in China) English app is pretty amazing – I used it on a regular basis this past summer.
Great suggestions! I’ll add them to my list.