Semester 1

Chapter XIV: Push & Flats (December 2 - December 9, 2016)

I had a chance to visit some cool events over the past week. Cool thing is, it all happened quite organically and I pretty much just followed the flow.

I paid a visit to the ARTCN gallery and checked a painting exhibition called Microcosm. Nice little place on Guangfu Road – the number of small galleries all over the city is indeed remarkable. Last Friday, I went out with some of my friends. Before we went to the Shelter, we drank some beers outside and then visited a bar named XO on Hengshan road. For whatever fucking reason, they had 1 hours free flow of draft beer which is like the students’ dream. We got little tipsy and continued to the Shelter for a party headlined by some Japanese djs. The music was very unshelterish, had a very groovy and funky vibe and the guys spinned actual vinyls. It was cool but at that time, I really felt like getting wasted to some heavy techno…

Me and a friend of mine also went to Pushfest – the first skateboarding movie festival in Shanghai ever. I feel I moved in this city during the times of some cool ass “firsts”. The vegan fest, now this one… It took place in Central Studios and the venue was packed. There were some awesome movies presented (the one from Madagascar was fucking sick), u-ramp with guys doing freestyles and djs rocking some boombap hiphop shit. It’s kinda funny that I’m starting to recognize faces on different events. Even in city this big, people interested in specific shit just tend to run into each other. I was listening to this podcast couple of days ago and the guys were bitching about the fact that in New York, you got like 5 decent clubs. I kinda get it… Cool shit is rare anywhere. On the other hand, there are cities with zero cool spots and literally nothing going on – and there’s really so much more going on in Shanghai than wherever else I’ve been to… Shout out to Brno! 

When it comes to my “I’m better than every single fucking one of you” shit, I tried vegan burgers in this Happy Buddha place for the first time. They have this 1+1 deal on Mondays so I took one of my friends and pretty much gave her no options. The burgers are nothing special, they aren’t horrible though neither, and it’s cool they do that. What I can actually call special, is their chocolate vegan cake. That is a bomb. One of the best I have ever had… God damn it!

I also went to the vegan game night again. It's kinda interesting that majority of the people attending that shit (including the chef over there) is not vegan at all. The food is just so good, it attracts carnivores too. Vegans are usually outnumbered. Nevertheless, it was a cool evening again by the end of which, we got an exquisite cheesecake. All hail to empty calories!

My final exams are approaching. Most of them will take place during the last week of December and I honestly cannot wait to get it over with. I mean, I’m not complaining but I would really like to start focusing on writing my own stuff which is nearly impossible if you have 2 super hard tests every week, reflection papers to submit on weekly basis and final projects for the motherfucking Chinese culture class popping out of nowhere.

Highlights:

• I got a flat tire on my bike 2 more times. That’s right – 3 times per 2 weeks. I’m not sure what the bike god tries to tell me but please just cut that shit off. I’m willing to deal with this like once every two months but not like twice a week. I’m doing the right thing here, you see? The fucking cleanest way of transportation and shit...
• I got an offer to write for one positive and super formal student blog. Not sure whether anything materializes out of it but the fact someone read this pile of bullshit, and figured I would be a valuable asset for something like that, amazes me.
• I found a place where I can buy red lentils. I know it sounds stupid but for whatever reason, getting lentils in general isn’t quite easy around here…