Shanghai hello how are ya?!

Weekend in Shanghai was just what the doctor ordered. It was like a baby step vacation out of Ningbo and it was too too fun.

FRIDAY: We left after school and went via bus, train, and metro to the underground markets. TO BARTER! To be honest, bartering intimidates me and I am not very confrontational at all. BUT I possibly might've maybe found my potential wedding ring for $13!! (HMU BOYS) After a long night of shopping we headed back to our hostel. I stayed in a room with Kate and 4 other Chinese girls. It was a packed room but my first night in a hostel was quite successful.

Waiting for platform 9 3/4

SATURDAY: 8:30AM up and at' em! We went to meet up with the other ILP groups to tour Qibao Ancient Town. Qibao has seven "museums" or exhibits. We stopped by the art exhibit, miniature exhibit, and craftsman exhibit. Really cool stuff. Then we went on a gondola boat ride and got some street food. It was so beautiful outside and everything in Qibao was so fun!

After that we had some time to kill so we thought "hey, let's go to the zoo!" Great idea. I was amazed at 1) how fast we found the zoo and 2) how big the zoo was. There are just open parks and a mini theme park and tons and tons of animals!

Let's just say that after 8 miles of walking we were in need of some food and a place to sit. We went to a restaurant to get fried wantons and they played the same song the WHOLE time. It's just China.

But the day wasn't over yet! Half the reason we came to Shanghai in the first place was for a District Conference and tonight was the YSA dance. We decided to make a pop by (mostly to see if there were refreshments) and we were not disappointed. Ate more lemon bars and cookies than I could count. Three weeks without American sweets will do that to you. Even pulled a Napoleon Dynamite and stashed some goods in my pockets.

My guilty streak continued into the night because next comes CLUBBING. Couldn't pass up a night on the dance floor! We went to the Muse down by the Bund and I can assure you it was a very fun and interesting night.

SUNDAY: 10:30 that morning seemed like 6:00AM and I rolled out of bed and into church clothes smelling like cigarettes and alcohol. Top knotted the hair and we hopped over to the metro to make it to the YSA Conference. We were late and missed the lunch (here's where stuffed pockets come in handy) but it was still a great conference. There were around 50 youth and most were teaching English or with other school programs. We stopped by People's Park before hitting the metro, train, and bus back to Ningbo. We came home exhausted with a Shangover (Shanghai hangover) but we'll be back! Shanghai sure hasn't seen the last of us!