A few observations in Shanghai

Let me jot down a few observations and thoughts about my two weeks in Shanghai before I forget:

- People dress pretty nicely.  - In general, people are better looking than ones in Hong Kong.  Perhaps decades of being an international city in China has exposed Shanghai to various nationalities and cultures from earlier on and people know how to be more fashionable and better present themselves.  Though I know most people do not have a high average salary, they are able to buy a lot of nice stuff cheaply.  The variety is interesting to watch - all the colors and patterns in dresses and clothing.

- I'm not as an outsider as I thought but I'm not as much of an insider as I sometimes think either.  I have become cozy with my Chinese coworkers and mostly they do not reject me as being Chinese or local as most other Chinese would outside of China.

They tell me a lot.  My fellow coworkers are all from the countryside of China and told me many stories of lives in the countryside.  One told me that his relatives allowed his uncle to die and not tell him that he had cancer because it would be an exorbitant amount to treat the disease, a luxury the peasants don't have.  Another uncle almost died not being treated for something that would have cost a few Rmb.  Most people are still poor in China.

- Large population explains everything.  The traffic, the competitive drive, the rigid testing system, the automatic answer to hierarchy, most of it can be traced back to the sheer number of people.  Limited resources and not a lot of people get it.

- There is a lot of talent there just as there is a lot of wasted potential.  I appreciate how much talent there is here.  I feel quite lucky being here that I actually had the chance to accomplish a lot in life and won in so many ways.  Many people work just as hard but never got rewarded.  I had a skewed perspective always comparing myself to the more fortunate and privileged friends around me when I should remember that I am already luckier than so many.  In the same vein, I really like associating myself with real Chinese than just ABC types. I feel a real connection and it's a shame that I had abandoned that relationship somehow in the past.

- I like shopping online.  It's so much cheaper, easier, and I get it delivered the next day.  It's so fun to get a package at home every time I get home.

I feel guilty not having produced more in the past two weeks.  But I think I'll get back on track.

I am wondering if I'd ever get plastic surgery.  I don't like the way my face looks.