wednesday 8th- friday 10th October
up early and back into class. luckily Id studied a chapter in advance character wise, as we headed straight into new material, and were told to read ahead for a practise test at the end of the month that wont have pin yin (extra hard!) was way too exhausted for my first class on Friday morning and skipped it, but to be fair lots of students havent been in. received my unit test back and scored 87% quite pleased with that.
back to work on WEdnesday, Gar was away in Hong Kong, so Pauline had me tidying and organising things for the trunk show on the weekend. The trunk show is appointment only, with all the stuff laid out, people can try things on, get orders or buy samples. I was sent to the accessory market at YuGarden (unfortunately loosing the 100 that she had gave me and having to use my own money ffs) its about 4 stories, i was only in the ground floor but it was full of beads, belts, trim etc. I got a whole roll of black ribbon for the skirt i was making for 5 RMB. back home I would pay that for a metre! she also had me making flower corsages from organza and freshening up and changing old ones with the steamer and with fabric manipulation and thread trimming.
Saturday 11th - Sunday 12th October
exhausted this morning. the trunk show is later today though they only have 1 client, they got bakery goods and we were able to have some! i was to create packages for accessories that may be bought, cutting cardboard and organza squares. I ran some basic errands. And helped Gar create labels and attach them to the different products long with creating a lace chart for clients who wanted a different lace for a style of dress. Even had a class of wine while i did it while some upbeat tunes were played as the french clients tried on dresses (they had quite the American accent for french)
I was in an upbeat mood and would have loved to have settled down with some wine and some good music, but of course I had Chinese to study! By nearly 10 I was at my wits end with the boredom of studying. Everyone was heading to Bar rouge so i decided to join them, to get out of my room. Had a barcardi breezer outside the dorm and headed to the Bund. We had the passcode for Bar rouge and were able to get in for free (usually 100RMB in) there was a "beach theme" so the outside bit was filled with sand. nice place but completely packed.
At the top of this old landmark building there was a fantastic view of the bund (floor 7 above M18) we tried to go to M18 however some of the guys who were with us were wearing the wrong shoes etc so we left. some grabbing beers from the shop as we sat chatting and admiring the view at the bund. it was fun, well it was, until the street cleaning crew decided to hose the area down, and, when we were slow to move, nearly hosing us down too in the process. We all jumped in taxi's back to the uni, a drunk black most likely gay american student with appalling chinese joined us, along with an annoying asian american who laid claim to having several nationalities in her bloodline. you're american taiwanese, stop adding things! thankfully she sat at the other table when we got to Perrys. it wasnt too busy and we had a go at playing the chinese dice cups guessing game. not the most fun, but perhaps it is when you are drunk. over at the other table, mainly filled with guys, 2 drunk chinese girls started trying it on with them, kissing them all and nearly mouth raping the one guy who really didnt want any attention as he had a girlfriend. by the time we left she had seemed to have tried it on and kissed the majority of guys in Perry's and her friend was videoing her kissing some guy, I later found out they were chinese models from the country only here for 1 day and just going wild...nice.
I slept in til 1 the next day, very tired! but well rested. it was clear and sunny. I was meant to go to Lupu bridge as it has a 360 panoramic view over the Chinese expo pavilions, but with chatting to the others we missed the stop by 4 and randomly decided to get off at the next one ending up in Pudong. we strolled around chatting before ending up at the "finance City" it had become very window and cold. but sat at the park and tried peach and grape oreos with milk (a little bit similar to iced party rings, they taste very fake) before deciding it was too cold to only be in shorts and heading for dinner at the local Muslim restaurant. A nice chilled Sunday that was much needed!
Monday 13th - Wednesday 15th October
late to bed last night as I slept so late on sunday. got told I have an oral test on friday, oh the joy! so we have a week to learn unit 10 on top of 5 other units for it, greetings, where you're from, food, shopping, health, time and class. Laoshi Xie was late on the tuesday as she was u most the night with a reaction to an injection. poor thing. Got speaking to the famiy. My brother took part in Zombie run, loosing only 1 life and getting a medal, pretty cool! met Linda for lunch on wednesday (lunches have been better this week, had some packed lunches of fruit croissants and sweetened walnuts and some nice pockmarked tofu dishes aswell) she leant me her bicycle and says I can borrow it for the semester if I want, I used it to cycle to work, it only took 30 minutes, I got to see so much more, eg metro city all lit up at night, and it only took 30 minutes, rather than the usual 40 minutes walking and metro time! will be using it more to get to work for sure!
been making flowers in work, organza and manipulating edges along with packaging and labeling, learning a lot about final presentation.
got to go to a show at Shanghai Fashion week. apparently tickets are expensive and hard to get, but Pauline (my boss) had 2 due to her fashion company. I borrowed heels and met Pauline and some other chinese fashion people (a husband, wife and their very cute small daughter) in Xintandi. went through Xintandi style and xintandi shanghai, full of top end designers and lots of chinese bespoke designers, I plan to go back and have a proper look about.
outside the entrance (the fashion show is held in Taiping park) I was photographed by many, many different chinese photographers, there were not many westerners at this show as it was a very chinese design, "Siijii" the show lasts half an hour. the ticket along with some "goodies" was in a wax sealed envelope, complete with gold bracelet inside. in the first foyer we signed our names on some clouds for the wall, in the next section, set up as the reception area I had a Hennessey and orange juice, complements of the house (im not a huge champagne fan) while looking at some of the sponsors and some of the designs on display. this year there are some very high end sponsors, like fancy expensive car manufacturers and phones, one of whom want them on the catwalk (?!) therefore some of the usual higher end designers are not showing this year, and instead are doing some private shows, such as a spanish designer tonight who is having a late 11pm show at Bar Rouge. the show had improved vastly from previous years, a lot more organized and on time.
we got front row seats, in our goody bags we had cloud print festival coats which we were asked to put on (strange) the theme seems to be time and clouds?
Siijii used all chinese models, many of them, they had lot of sports styled wear, often with lace or mesh, there were a few dresses and the majority had a repeat print of swirl like clouds.
afterwards upon getting a taxi we stopped to get the girl some icecream (for her first show she was very well behaved) both her and the small boy sitting a the next table covered their faces in ice cream (I guess it’s the real way to do it as a child, more fun and enjoyable, and who doesn’t like someone cleaning up after you haha)
back at the studio I added the finishing touched to the flower head clips, - the label, before packaging them in organza squares and securing them in a japanese knot (looking a bit like a steamed bun I guess) wrapping in cardboard and securing in twine. I left early having finished all to study having been told that I could get more hands on, watch the pattern cutter Fanny at work (chinese pattern cutting is like japanese pattern cutting very complicated and different to Western with little to n draping, but it will be good to learn and see the differences) along with being told of upcoming buyers fairs that I may be attending and purchasing I may be doing for them.
Friday - Saturday 17th-18th October
What a hideous oral test, it was not as I had thought, asked by Laoshi, we were taken to a computer room and it was done with prerecorded questions in superfast chinese and we had to answer in 10 seconds!!! I got rather confused at the start even though we had a sheet with some of the questions. but at least I was able to do my presentation at the end find, introducing myself:
wo jiao Kelly. Wo shi Yingguoren. Wo shi Liuxuesheng. wo xuexi Hanyu. wo zai DonghuaDaxue. Hanyu Hen nan.
我叫 。。。我是英国人。我是留学生。我学习汉语。我子啊东华大学。汉语很难。
I found that for my class after I just couldn’t be bothered. and the game we played, although very competitive was a bit hard. I got asked how to write a character I did not yet know and also a maths questions where I didn’t hear the .50MAO.
Cycled to work and started doing a pattern from a shawl. its hard. the chinese do it so different. I have a pattern master, they used a ruler doing small lines?
I continued this the next day, altering it for a better fit and look and then trying some sequin beading, its so hard to get straight! found a huge tesco's on my break and did some shopping, perfect!
Sunday 19th - Monday 20TH October
mild heart attack this morning as I thought I had slept in, but realized it was sunday, no school or work for me today! had the egg pancake for lunch today along with fruit and a small cake tart before going to the market at Hongqiao. it's not what I expected, I think I've basically the only white person to ever enter, it was more for the older generation and was full of vintage thrift stuff, there was some cool items, but mainly awful. from here .Got on Line 7 to Meilan Lake. A very warm sunny day, what better way than to spend it relaxing somewhere far out from Shanghai, that’s not buzzing with people, and didn’t really seem too Asian, the architecture was quite old town western style to be honest. there were people with their dogs, bridal shoots, hammocks, tents and children playing, also a strange man beating the grass near the lake with a stick to catch crickets - who knows what for!
but 5 O'clock the "tourist area" was like ghost town, I most definitely did not feel like I was in Shanghai that’s for sure! explored the Century mart and got some vegetable noodles for dinner. it took over and hour and a half to get back as the metro was so slow! for not doing much today, I was pretty tired!
got my oral test results back, some people were getting spoken to about it and the lady boy seemed to forget to wear anything other than a top today. I need to practice my oral, some people were getting high 90's! today was absolutely roasting, a hot 27' in mid/late October I was too warm in shorts and a tshirt. Went to the Confucius temple as I was off work, paying only a student 5RMB in, it was a small haven in the busy shanghai area! so relaxing, not so many people, beautiful architecture, and a lovely area to sit looking into the water with the many Koi carp. sat for ages relaxing, perfection! I love the ancient chinese architecture, its so beautiful, whereas the usual architecture of the past 50 years is quite horrid, brash and dull and very much in need of updating!
one could light incense for Confucius or write a wish, we had a right laugh reading the different wishes in German, English and French, most were silly and romantic, one from a young teen demanded a girlfriend soon who would love and be with them forever whilst another wanted good grades and christmas presents. the workers selling the cards showed us one wish that came true, a German man wishing for the Germans to win the 2014 world cup - clearly granted by Confucius haha!
outside is a small array of shops, some pets to buy (everything from rabbits to snakes and tarantulas) and lots of quirky phone covers and bags. its rather easy to get to, taking exit 3 at Laoximen station and the 2 street on the right on past the wooden gate posts with chinese characters and its on the Left. as per usual not easily signposted but worth the effort to go to! 
Tuesday 21st -Friday 24th October
been told that we have a unit test next Tuesday, oh such fun! and we will be doing 3 chapters next week in Comprehensive class. learnt directions in speaking class and had a strange but hilarious comprehensive class using the words' Danshi" "juede" and "bijiao" 但是，觉得 和 比较 but, think & compared to - and using them to rate famous people - Hot or Not! very funny!
On Tuesday and Wednesday went to the Intertextile trade fair in the New Shanghai Pavillion Line 10 Huamu road, finally seeing some Chinese decoration in the "kerry" shopping centre and getting a pass that called me "garment manufacturer" I felt very official. it was my job to try and find more CDC Silk, heavy satin, new jacquards and fancies for the bridal and evening wear, mainly 100% silk or silk/poly silk/viscose blends. the place was humongous! you could get a caddy ride to the different areas. I focused on the first day in N1 only. filled with silk vendors, mainly Chinese. I had a sheet with some of the samples i was to look for, also to look for similar bridal fancies and jacquards, and to order samples to the store, getting a card and noting down widths, prices, minimum quantity, delivery time, local popularity etc. some were very reasonable in price too! lots of beautiful silks, lots of westerners and lots of english speaking vendors! but i found myself bored of looking at fabrics, and by day 2 I was at a wits end, and i was only doing a few hours at this!
i visited some of the international traders, mainly Asian, lots and lots of lyrca and lace,, not much silk. often a lot of the textile traders would sell in huge bulk, mainly for factories, I was looking for small batches, maybe 20/30M. I looked in W1-3 and N1-3 these places maybe had 300 stalls per section. yet my second day I only got 10 or so more orders.
I spent the metro journey back asking Gar, the second in command and fashion accessory designer from manchester all about her career experience and she suggested getting in contact with designers and headhunters for contacts - in fashion, the more contacts the better.
the next 2 days were spent with yet more fabrics, i went to the 2 fabric markets trying to find CDC silk, Heavy, but in a dark navy. very difficult and i was unsure if the colour was acceptable. i was at the markets at Dongmen and the South Bund market. although my boss said 45rmb approx for a metre, the ones in South bund wanted 140 as its more western! so not fair! however in Dongmen they were all very helpful, at one point 5 vendors were all trying to sort out who could help.
i went back the next day for samples, practicing my chinese, buying a half metre of lace for only £1.50! and at the accessories market get free sequins near Yuyuan, what a kind lady! I spent the rest of the time writing up the info from the trade fair before cycling home and getting stuck into chinese (I did one homework for 2 hours!) packed for tomorrow for the school trip as I had to meet at 7.30am
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