#lostinshanghai

[reichenyoo]

I'm in #pink #pinkattack #LostinShanghai #Shanghai #China (at Crystal Galleria 上海晶品)

[superlooknum]

Wish i could turn back time to the good ol' days. Captured by @flying_jingjo #houtanpark #lostinshanghai #repost

[superlooknum]

In the glasshouse at desert zone. #chenshanbotanicalgarden #lostinshanghai #latu05 #landscape #perspective #whatisee (at 上海辰山植物园 | Chenshan Botanical Garden)

[theadventuresbegins-blog]

Just a tinsy bit of cray shit happened last night #unexpectedjourney #lostinShanghai #with #Gatasan @yugatabudijanto #museonthebund #MUSE #club #Shanghai #partypeople #bulegila (at Muse)

[zhenanna]

Lost in Shanghai

Today was my interview for an internship at Stepping Stones. I have never been to Stepping Stone's office, so I took only the information that was given to me and decided to venture to a brand new location in Shanghai. Taking the train to the designated stop was easy. But once I exited that train station, that is where my adventure begins. (Keep in mind, that this is my very first time in Shanghai and travelling alone). I looked at the street signs around me which was near the exit of the train, and started walking towards the signs that had higher numbers indicated on it. But as I was walking, I realized that the more deeper I got into that neighborhood, the less populated the area was. As I continued upwards, I only saw what looked like factories and deserted streets. So, I took this as a sign to back-track and start from the train station exit.

Now, I thought since  that direction was wrong, maybe I should start walking the other direction. So, I did.  But, as I continued on that path, although there were more convience stores around, it was still very deserted. I continued to follow that path, hoping to find lane 979. After 30 minutes I still didn't find that lane with the dark green post next to it. In fact, I had just walked an entire stop on the train that I just took. Now, I started panicking.

My instincts told me not to go any further, because obviously I was walking down the wrong path. So I started asking people around me for directions and due to my anxiety, I wasn't able to understand any of the directions they were giving me. Thus, I resolved to trying to hail a taxi. But it was much harder than I had thought. I spent 30 minutes trying to hail a taxi, but to my disappointment I didn't get a cab. But throughout this anxious moment, I met a girl who tried to help point me to the right direction. I was very thankful for her care and willingness to help me. Her calmness allowed me to also take deep breaths and take her advice.

She directed me to walk north so I will be at 中山西路and then from there, ask the locals for help in finding the actual location of the building. I walked north and I occasionally asked locals throughout my walk. As I was walking north on  中山西路, it started pouring and thundering, which contributed to my anxiety and panic. After about another 20 minutes, I wanted to give up. The loud sounds from thunder, the huge rainstorm I was caught in, the lack of resources I had to get me out of this situation and the deserted streets all contributed to my feeling hopeless. I wanted to go home and just break-down and cry. I felt I couldn't do it, that I'm weak. I felt so useless because I was lost in a foreign country and I couldn't even hail a cab to take me to the building.

But in the mist of this mental break-down, I asked God to please give me strength and to help me find this place. I asked him to provide me with some help. So with faith in God, tears in my eyes, and some determination, I continued. In the mist of my wondering, I saw a empty cab and quickly raised my hand and ran to his taxi. To my surprise, he actually agreed to take me there. I was so excited that I was going to make it.

During my ride in the taxi, it was interesting talking to the taxi driver and his impressions of me. I was pretty amused at his first impressions of me. During this taxi-ride I also took notice of my surroundings. But as he drove further towards my location, I became cautious of the direction that he was driving towards and started panicking. He made so many turns and got off the road that all the locals had advised me to follow and to conclude that, the neighborhoods that he drove through were extremely scary-looking. In particular when he drove close to where the harbor was, I immediately thought about the moive Taken, and started panicking inside. But I pulled myself together and asked him exactly how long it will be until I reach my destination and if we were still on 中山西路. Thank God, that after all those what-felt-like-nervous-break-downs, I finally arrived at Stepping Stones.

On my way back, the furious thunderstorm persisted. This time, I followed instructions given by my interviewer on how to get back to the train station. I took her advice and as I was walking I noticed that there were huge floods and streets were full of muddy waters and what looked like little waves of rain-water. This was the first time that I have ever witnessed so much water accumulated on the sidewalks and roads from a thunderstorm. People were taking off their shoes and walking barefoot on the angle-high waters and what I found particularly amusing was a little boy who took off his shoes and started playing in the water. But as I continued on the path that my interviewer advised, I started noticing that my surroundings were becoming familiar again. And to my surprise and awe, I arrived at the train station within 10 minutes.

 My jaw dropped. I had completely ignored this path at the very beginning. I realized that I had took the long way. And I learned that if I was to have just asked one of the locals from the very beginning, I would have arrived at my designation in within ten minutes. Well, my advice to anyone who is planning to travel abroad in Shanghai and wants to volunteer with Stepping Stones is to go towards the road with a lot of traffic and walk the opposite way of traffic and you  should be there within 10 minutes.

This was surely an adventure and at the end of the day, I thank God for his protection and his provision. Praise God for he has led me there and brought me back safely. I love the Lord!

-Anna Zhen