I've been in Shanghai for almost a week now (I got here Wednesday afternoon), and it's already been kind of an overwhelming experience. The actual program doesn't actually start until tomorrow, when we'll take placement tests for class levels and begin our real schedules, so up until now we've really just been exploring on our own, stocking up on snacks, and trying to find the best and cheapest street food around. There's a little under twenty people in the program, most of whom are from CMU, and we've all been trickling in since Monday--by now, I think just about everyone has arrived.
The surrounding campus is a lot larger than I thought it would be, but we've had plenty of time to look around and get acclimated. Our hotel is on the edge of campus, which is convenient considering it's close both to our classes and to much of the surrounding city. We've also seen quite a few stray cats on campus, which are fairly approachable and always fun to find.
A few days ago, we headed to 豫园 (Yuyuan Garden), a Chinese botanical garden in Shanghai. It's a beautiful area with lots of flora, koi, calligraphy, and in particular tourist traffic. We have a scheduled trip there in a few weeks, but it was definitely worth it to check it out beforehand (and it didn't hurt getting some experience with the Chinese subway, either).
This week has been pretty laid back in terms of meeting everyone in the program and getting used to Shanghai, but I imagine the coming weeks will get a lot busier. If I had any complaints so far, it'd mainly be the jet lag and the mosquitos, but otherwise the food and atmosphere have been amazing. I'll try to update on Saturdays (though I guess today is Sunday, so I already messed up Week 0), so until next week!
再见～