Attending Rotary

Tuesday evening after classes I took the #85 bus to the metro station to go to the Shanghai Rotary Club. On the bus a grandmother was holding her 9-month old baby boy, who was dressed in a winter snow suit and hat. The temperature was about 55 degrees, but many people here dress their babies like it's a January blizzard. What amazed me more was the child didn't make a sound for the whole 20 minute bus ride. He sat immobile in his grandmother's arms, staring at me with this stone faced look. He never smiled or frowned at me, and mostly stared or slept.

The bus drops passengers near the Shanghai Acquarium that I plan to visit this weekend. I transferred metro lines in the busy People's Square station, which was packed with people. Entering the second metro line we all had to push to get inside before the doors closed.

I found the Rotary meeting at a very nice 5-star hotel. Rotary is very similar to the U.S., except this club only has 70 members and only about 40 were in attendance. (By the way, China only has two Rotary clubs: one in Shanghai, one in Beijing. The government doesn't allow Rotary to expand to the Chinese. All members of Rotary here are foreigners.) I presented the Lacey club's banner and got a Shanghai banner in return. The club has 19 nations represented by its members, and Americans are perhaps no more than a quarter of the members. All the business was done in English except the 4-Way Test. The speaker was one of the members. He is an Italian lawyer who is working with an Italian football team to play year-round in the Chinese leagues.

After Rotary I took the metro and bus back to the hotel, arriving around 10pm. I feel very safe walking around at night because most shops are open until 10pm.

Breakfast today was pastry rolls, brown noodles, and warm milk. Not sitting-out-too-long warm milk, milk in a coffee dispenser steaming as it comes out. Lunch today was batter-fried whole fish (yes, head and tail included), spicy kelp, potato strips (very yummy), tofu/pork rolls and some sort of soup. There are no drinks with the meal, and no napkins in the cafeteria. Also no forks. I bring my own baggie of Kleenex.