Weekends have become my sleeping days. Just like old times. It’s funny how during the end of last semester, I was waking up before my alarm or waking up early even though I was exhausted. And now, I’m barely waking up to my alarm.
Sleeping in, of course, pretty much wastes most of the day. I haven’t done much during the weekends, even though I really should. It’s pretty much the only time I have to explore Shanghai. Anyways, I sat around at home updating stuff as since I’ve fallen behind as usual. I only went out once dinner came around. Without Jessie, our go-to native Mandarin speaker, Nneka, Winnie, and I had to order food without her help. Ironically, we went to a restaurant without a picture menu. Luckily, they did have some pictures hanging around depicting featured dishes. Obviously, we just pointed =X
While eating, I got a call from Wei, who wanted to go see the tourism parade on Huahai Road. It was chaotic. Soooo many people. I was impressed by how people stuck to two directions while walking though. It made it easier to move through the crowds unlike when I was at the St. Patrick’s Day parade earlier this year. I wasn’t able to budge during that parade.
Some people had amusing ways to see above other people’s head. I saw a few people with stools and chairs. One guy had a tripod he was lifting above the crowd. But the best idea had to go to the guy who brought a ladder to the parade. Genius.
Unfortunately for us, we walked in the wrong direction at first and ended up at the end of the parade. It was funny watching the floats just whiz by once they reached the last block. The singers stopped singing and the marchers just walked the rest of the way. Way to not entertain the crowd that was there. Seeing how we were at the wrong end of the parade, we basically walked along the parade in increments, stopping occasionally to watch a float pass by.
The ending was pretty amazing in more ways than one. The parade itself ended in dramatic fashion, with a sea of police officers marching past. What was more amazing was how fast people dispersed after it ended. No one lingered around like they would in the US. They just left. After getting some food at an Italian restaurant (I had gelato and fruit =X ), we were even more amazed at how fast everyone left. We were only in the restaurant for about an hour, but by the time we were outside again, the streets were clear and cars were already back on the streets! Amazing efficiency!
Spent the rest of the night talking to Fanny until the early the next morning. I had to close the curtains because it was getting bright outside when I went to sleep O_O