Shayas in Shanghai

How Far Would You Go...?

...for a Krispy Kreme donut?  In the spirit of sharing global best practices Krispy Kreme has opened its first store in Shanghai, China! This was exciting news for Jeff and the kids who were making visits to Krispy Kreme back home a regular ritual. However, the locations is not close to where we live (imagine driving from our home in Birmingham to Ann Arbor just to buy donuts!).

But today Sarah and I were headed to Puxi for other reasons and we mapped out just how relatively close the Krispy Kreme shop was and committed to the boys that we would find it and bring back a little taste ofAmerica!

The manager was pretty geeked when we walked in, camera in hand, and clearly KK competent. He took our picture and then ran in the back to get Sarah and I fresh, hot donuts. Having never eaten a Krispy Kreme donut (they never last long in our house), it was clear to me why those little treats are so beloved!  Perhaps we will fatten up those Chinese after all!

Wearing PJ's in Shanghai

I was in the local Carrefour one day and I noticed a man, maybe 50 or 60 years old, walking through the store in his pajamas. Long-sleeved, button down, striped pajamas. My judgmental voice went off in my head thinking "These crazy Chinese people - walking around in his pajamas." I later learned this is not crazy at all. It is, in fact, a long tradition. I researched some of the hypotheses as to the origin of this tradition. Here are some of the tidbits I discovered:

Daytime public pajama wearing has its roots in the Chinese shikumen housing practices. Shikumen housing is communal living where families have sleeping rooms but share kitchens, bathrooms and toilets so it was common to see others in their pjs.

Women, who spent the bulk of their time in the home, needed a break from their cramped quarters so they would extend their 'home' to the stores and streets surrounding their home and would commonly go to shop in their, more comfortable, pajamas.

In the 1930's wearing pajamas during the day was in vogue in Shanghai. They were not considered sleepwear but rather casual wear for after work.  They were (and still are) seen as a sign of affluence. Since people generally do not go far from home in their pj's (see above paragraph) then wearing pj's in downtown Shanghai - particularly the affluent areas like Nanjing Lu - makes the statement "I am an authentic Shanghainese!"

Furthermore, wearing pj's during the day says "I am so wealthy, I don't need to go to work today." (In Michigan wouldn't this say 'I am unemployed and depressed.'???)

So not only is it acceptable to wear pj's in Shanghai, it is fashionable! Until now. Apparently the face-saving Chinese do not think the international community will look favorably upon its citizens wearing their pj's in public during the upcoming 2010 World Expo. So they are cracking down - peer pressure style. They (the infamous 'they' here in China) have enlisted the aid of teens and young adults to mock the pj wearing folks into embarrassment, a state which is unacceptable to Chinese people. There is even a slogan for this movement:

"Do not go outdoors in pajamas, be a civilized person for the Expo."  Too bad in their desire to show us who they are, they feel they have to hide some of who they are.

Maximizing the Chinese Experience

We have been in Shanghai for four months now and while we may not consider this "home", it has certainly become our parking spot. And even though the kids still frequently ask if we can go home, there are signs that this experience is beginning to sink in.

While I have generally considered Max the most easy going of the Jeff Shaya clan, it was hardest hit by our move here. As you know, the school the kid's attend is roughly 70% Asian and there is Chinese being spoken all day long; including out on the playground where kids revert to their native language while playing. For the first month Max came home from school crying that "Everybody talks Chinese! Nobody talks English!" It was all so unfamiliar to him and his normal frustration outlet - sports - even eluded him as he could not communicate with many other kids.

But things change quickly. Yesterday, after school, Max and the ayi were playing some version of hide and seek where they were actually telling each other where they were hiding. The game lasted 10 or 15 minutes and the entire time they were carrying on a conversation in Chinese! It just flowed right out of Max. Astounding.

The kids all have Christmas concerts at school. Max gets to wear the following traditional Chinese outfit:

Max has definitely found ways to use up his energy. We recently planned to ditch a queen-sized mattress for the guest bed that we were told was a queen size, only to find out that queen size in China does not mean the same thing as it does in the US. But Max had better uses:

Makes a great fort roof! The towhead on the right? He's from Lake Orion - had to come all the way to Shanghai to become friends with those Michiganders!
 
 

Chinese Speed Bumps

What more can I say?