Semester 1

Chapter XII: Winter Is Coming (November 17 – November 24, 2016)

Last Friday, I visited one of the mainstream local clubs after some time. Not that I changed my attitude towards those but this M2 joint hosted Jillionaire which seemed appealing enough. M2 is probably one of the more acceptable poshy spots but it still kinda sucks. The system of rich Chinese partying separated at their expensive tables and poor whites mashed on the dance floor drinking free (and most likely fake) booze is there, of course. However, the music was fine and the place is quite spacious so the party wasn’t that bad.

I don’t know what it is with Shanghai but I lost my voice for the second time since my arrival. This time for almost two days. I charge it to the pollution but I’m not really sure. Fucked up thing is, this time it happened one day before my English classes so I spent Saturday consuming liters of ginger tea and drinking bottles of water. I was able to deliver on Sunday but I sounded like a fucking Malboro man 5 minutes before his death. Kids had to be thrilled by that.

It seems that the nice weather is officially over too. What amazes me is how fast the switch was. On Sunday you could hang out outside late night with just a sweatshirt, feeling completely okay, one day later, you’re dying if you’re not wearing a winter jacket, beanie and a pair of gloves. It went literally from 18 to 6 degrees. Which also made me to switch my AC for the very first time. They don’t really do central heating system so every room is equipped with its own AC unit. Since landlords try to save as much money as possible, they usually go for the cheapest, least ecological option. There are three energy labels in China, my AC is the fucking worst. If you have a look at buildings and see that each one of them has hundreds of ACs installed, you can get an idea of how inefficient it is and how harmful this gotta be for the environment, air, etc… It’s China though, who cares…

It kinda sucks that my favorite activities, such as reading outside or biking around the city are gonna be either impossible or highly inconvenient for the upcoming couple of months. One thing that calms me down a little a bit is the idea of the Malaysian trip in the middle of January. Oh, and I managed to get a haircut and visit the Power Station of Art again the last week too...

I’m still working on my first paper, narrowing it down, adding references and shaping it into a form I would feel comfortable with. Yeah, and I just gotta mention how much I fucking hate my Chinese culture class. It’s not like I don’t wanna learn about that, it’s the fact our teacher is the fucking worst. He takes super Asian approach and for each 90 minutes lesson, he just gets a 70 slides presentation full of names, dates, titles etc. and wants you to memorize all that shit so you can pass a test the following week. It’s all part of your final grade so you have to try. And it feels like being back to secondary school again. No value whatsoever. Plus the guy has that kinda energy that makes you wanna punch him just for opening his mouth… Some of my classmates have a different teacher, they go to fucking museums and write reports on it. Talk about bad luck…

It’s Thursday morning, I just finished my coffee (blacker than my soul) and I’ll be heading to to (guess what) the Chinese culture class. The raining stopped, which is good, but the temperature is like 2 degrees, which fills me up with despair. I’ll try to go for a run after the class so if you won’t hear about me after this blog, I didn’t make it.

Highlights:

• While I was reading in Jing’an park one afternoon (Gutmann’s book The Slaugher gives you chills), over the course of couple of hours I was approached by two elderly Chinese guys who just felt like talking. One claimed to be a former coach of the national diving team, the other one was a retired banker with super critical attitude toward Chinese government. It was super random.
• A vegan friend of mine made a happy muffin for me. That was fun…
• I tried Chinese red wine for the first time. Took a 1 liter bottle for like 23 RMB and surprisingly, it was actually good. Wouldn’t expect that in my lifetime...

Semester 1

Chapter XI: Mansion & Games (November 8 – November 16, 2016)

It’s the mid term period at the university so I actually have to study little harder than usual these days. That doesn’t necessarily prevent me from unveiling another parts of the city and local life though, so don’t worry – I got some new shit to share…

Last week, I went to a joint named Organic Kitchen for a game night. Now, people who know me probably also know that I’m not really that social and that me at a game night isn’t a very common thing. Which is absolutely right – this was in fact my first experience with something like that. However, Organic Kitchen does all-you-can eat vegan buffets every week for around 80 RMB and veggie heads use that opportunity to hang out and play. And they say that getting out your comfort zone is important, right? The menu was great – burgers, muffins, tons of salads, fruits, soups different mixes of vegetables… Another food overdose. Even the games were kinda fun. Cards Against Humanity are quite amusing. After couple rounds of that, I ended up playing some super complex RPG game with couple of guys that felt like board game veterans - I, on the other hand, still didn’t have a clue about the rules by the end of the evening… Anyways, Organic Kitchen is a cool place – small, cozy, has a little European café feeling. Today, I’m coming there again, hehe…

I also visited The Mansion for the fist time ever. Couple of weeks ago I went to Nantong for a party organized by those guys, this time I had a chance to actually visit their main hub. Mansion is located outside the city center, close to Shanghai Zoo subway station. I heard so much about it and based on that, I expected some kind of squattish/druggish dirty place with certified party freaks. That’s not the case at all. I mean the place is super cool, you get in for 100 RMB and that includes 5 drinks on the bar. You can choose whether you wanna spend your time on the ground floor which is more chilled out and you can actually talk to people, or in the basement where the party goes on. DJs played techno, some heavy house and base tunes and I stayed there till around 6am. Even the crowd was quite diverse. Students, model-looking girls, swagged out kids - everything you'd expect - just a little more appealing and alternative. Another place I genuinely enjoyed…

As far as studies go, I think I passed Chinese language mid-term test which is something I feel fucking proud of. After some struggle, I’m able to formulate some most basic phrases (with completely fucked up intonation) but I can fucking feel the progress. Going all Asian and shit…

Weather is still acceptable and temperature ranges between 12-20. Haven’t really needed to turn the AC (which is the only heating system in our flat) yet. Outside of my social and educational activities, I’m still on regular shit and I still enjoy that. And I adopted the habit of wearing a face mask when I cycle anywhere – not sure whether it helps but there’s really not much to lose and some days the pollution is just off the roof... I've also started to write some raps after like a million years - I'm having fun with that.

 

Highlights:

• I booked a ticket to Malaysia for the winter break. Almost 4 weeks, no particular plans so far, this is gonna be fun!
• Donald Trump. Fuck everyone that voted for him but more importantly, fuck our corporate capitalistic bullshit system that actually created the amount of animosity and frustration that got people into even thinking about supporting that idiot. We live in the world where people channel their issues in a completely wrong direction and this is what you get… Didn’t expect Brexit, didn’t expect this. Please miss me with all that white man, traditional family, anti-immigration shit... And fuck Hillary too... Bernie was the only rational option all along...
• Wasteland – new HBO produced Czech TV series. Definitely one of the best TV productions that ever came out of our country.

Semester 1

Chapter X: Vegan Overdose & Summer Comeback (November 1 – November 7, 2016)

Local weather somehow managed to get back to summer settings which significantly improves quality of life. Now we’re back to over 20 degrees during the day, wide open windows, short sleeves and sunshine. Hope it’s gonna last at least till Christmas.

Last Friday, I went to Dada for a Genome 666 party again. It was lit and it only confirmed the fact that those guys know very well what they’re doing. Attending their events it’s just a sure shot. It’s fresh, it’s full of energy, it’s just about what you’d like to experience at a party. I guess I’ve officially become a fan.

One day later, I had a chance to visit the very first vegan fest organized in Shanghai and I gotta say, it could not have gotten much better. The weather was simply amazing, there were many stands with tastings and food for friendly prices and (maybe surprisingly) there were lots of people, majority of which were actually Chinese. There were loads of expats too but the number of locals was definitely higher that one would expected in China. After checking what was there to offer, I went ape shit and got into all the things that you cannot real find here easily. Donuts, burgers, bread, tempeh, ice cream… I spend lots of money and I got stuffed to a level I hated myself. Even skipping dinner that day didn’t make any difference on my stomach…

Other than that, it’s the same old… School, galleries, reading, movies… I actually got back to gaming too… GTA 5 is life man… The game is so good it makes me wanna cry… Everything about it…

I’m also improving my situation cooperating with one of the English schools in the city. Having patience with kids is quite a challenge since I’m really not the kind of guy who enjoys being around those little things, but hey… what doesn't kill you... Hopefully, everything’s gonna work out fine. Also, I'm putting my Instagram badge on this blog cause that's how I fucking roll now... Bitches.

Highlights:

• Chocolate vegan donuts. No further explanation needed.
• Whatever they say about Chinese making sounds like animals throughout the day is true. The amount of spitting, burping and other weird noises coming from their mouths is really disturbing. Fucked up thing is, kids do it too. Working with this was a bliss.
• Loneliness by Huber Klimko-Dobrzaniecky. Awesome, super edgy and douchy book...