Shanghai Calling #6-- Flourishing

10 days to go! I'm relieved to report that my boredom has slightly diminished in the last three days. The visiting people deal has toned down a bit since Thursday. Yesterday, we took a train to Suzhou, a city that is an hour outside of Shanghai. Suzhou is world-renowned for its Ming Dynasty gardens. We visited two of these gardens, and I have to say, they were intricately designed and provided a lot of shade in the scorching heat. (Yesterday's weather was very hot and humid, not favorable for traveling.) I took a lot of really lovely pictures. We also did some shopping and found that many of the prices were cheaper than Shanghai's. But, my dad insisted on having dinner at McDonald's, because our lunch was not very appetizing. The place we ate at for lunch was not well kept and the food was not well cooked, to say the least. Many relatively cheap restaurants in Chinese cities share these unsanitary qualities, which is why you kinda get tired of eating out. That's what happened to me last time, and it's starting to occur now. So that's the story behind why we had Filet-O-Fish's at McDonald's for dinner. All in all, the day was fun, and I enjoyed riding the train.
Today was a pretty special occasion: my cousin's high school graduation. I realized that Americans treat graduations with more importance than the Chinese. It's probably because the Chinese only started doing this fairly recently. My parents said that they didn't have HS/college graduation ceremonies when they graduated. Also, our graduations are far more formal, but theirs are more emotional for the students because they live together and get to know each other more closely than we do. High schools in China are like colleges: you have to take a gigantic exam that determines what high school you get into, and the students live in dorms and go home on weekends. My cousin is really smart and attends the best high school in Shanghai.
I was surprised that the ceremony was so casual, since most special occasions in China are very tradition-based. There were a few speeches by teachers, administators, and students, and a video of memories, which was kinda funny. ;) The students do some weird things sometimes, just like us! The formal part was actually yesterday, when everyone got their diplomas and dressed up in suits and dresses. Oddly enough, they don't wear caps and gowns and play "Pomp and Circumstance", the typical graduation music in the US and many other countries. But, it was still cool. I also saw my cousin's dorm, which he had to clean out. My aunt was really pissed at him, since the dorm was uber-messy. :) In conclusion, it's been a better few days. Unfortunately, we have another family gathering tomorrow and more eating meals/visiting people in the coming days. :( Until then, I should try and enjoy these good days while they're still here.