After breakfast and packing, it was 8:30am when we left the hotel with just four short hours left to savor Shanghai before we had to leave for the airport. My mom, who has never been away from my dad this long in their forty-five years of marriage, wanted to make sure she came home with a nice authentic gift for him from China. So we headed to the recommended Silk Museum and Market, selling the finest quality in Chinese silks. It was like dying and going to Chinese silk heaven. After browsing through the massive collection, we settled on a red tie. Go Terps! (Who are playing now btw... this time difference thing really throws you off. The Ravens play tonight at 1am and we'll be on a plane somewhere over the North Pole. Bet I'll be their northernmost fan. I never like having to come home from a trip, but at least it's football season... it makes returning to reality a little easier!!)
Anyway, it's Sunday morning, now around 10:30am and the subway is packed! Where are all these people going on a Sunday morning? It looks like the NYC subway station in the Bronx after a Yankees game. Once we dodged our way through the crowds, we opted for one last stroll down that infamous shopping street, Nanjing Lu. Well it was more like a mad dash ducking in and out of stores... a last minute shopping excursion as time closed in on us. But as we hurried our way back to the hotel, we felt good about our purchases.
We didn't want to miss an opportunity to ride the Maglev Train, which connects Shanghai to the Pudong airport at a top speed of 268mph. It's currently the fastest train in the world... Yes, please!! It didn't feel as fast as I thought it would... maybe that's because it was such a smooth ride (or because maybe I've already gotten close to this speed driving my car). The scenery definitely flew past our windows.
We were excited to find out that we had been upgraded again to Economy Plus and had the entire row to ourselves. This flight is shorter than the last, but it's still a long fourteen hours and forty minutes, so I'm not sure "shorter" is anything to really get excited about.
I slept much more than I anticipated on the way home... probably because these eighteen days were jammed-pack with physical activities and a bit of mental stress, as we tried to navigate in a foreign country where we couldn't communicate. I think we're going to need a vacation after this vacation, lol. But we both really appreciated the opportunity to have this cultural experience and open our eyes to an entirely different society and way of life.
It's fascinating to me that we all share the same planet and originated from the same path, but have such vast differences in appearance and lifestyle. And I've never traveled somewhere before where I was considered "famous" because I stood out for being so different than the norm. This was an interesting experience; fun in some aspects, annoying in others and even scary to be that noticed, putting a target on you. But it definitely gave me a newfound proudness to be an American in the sense that our country is a blend of all types of people and cultures from all over the world. Watching the Olympic Opening ceremonies this summer, when China walked in, it was obvious the athletes were representing China. The same applies to most other countries, like India, Russia, Mexico and Italy. But when the USA made their entrance, it was a representation that included a mix of all colors, cultures and nationalities. That's really cool when you actually take a moment to stop and think about it.
It was nice to touch down back in the states and great to see my dad as he anxiously awaited for us outside of baggage claim. He might have enjoyed being a bachelor for the last two and a half weeks, but he definitely missed my mom and is extremely happy to have her back under his roof. They're the cutest!
That's a wrap my friends. Another great trip and a new part of the world to check off my list. Now it's back to reality.
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