Refreshment no. 2.

"I'm so jealous, your life is always so adventurous," I could hear the faint words from an old wall post rumbling through my mind.

Really? I mean, really?! I thought.

It would seem that way at times, certainly. Though Facebook, as you know, is a tool of profile control that can tell any casual looker from afar, I am awesome, see. And I like the sound of that, sure, I remember myself in high school. However, in Zhengzhou, it just isn't so. I'm always desirous for more; pining, in fact, for that deep love of home. Continuous "adventure" includes eating thousand-year-old eggs, a Chinese delicacy, for Thanksgiving. I certainly didn't find that awesome.

A waiguoren is always an outsider, by (Chinese) name and principle. And that sense of striving to belong is a strong force, no doubt.

Yet, in Shanghai, that need to run home dissipates, or at least its presence becomes only a whisper into your ear, rather than a noise-splintering car horn--BBBBBBBBBBBBEEEEEEEEEEEP---can you find what doesn't belong? It's a question of finding your district of comfort. Puxi or Pudong?

Rather, in Shanghai, foreigners clutter the streets, in comparison. A blond, maybe even a ginger, and a brunette can take residence along side the usual black-haired mainstay of the streets. And they're all residents, not tourists. American corporations like Cold Stone Creamery ice cream find company with noodle shops, bubble teas, and Chinese restaurants that never include fortune cookies or square takeout boxes. After all, it's still real China, even if it doesn't feel like it. But when compared to Zhengzhou or Nagoya, Japan, Briana's adopted home, and as similar of a comparison as Japan and China can get for twin cities, we thirsted for those American characteristics that have taken root. Blond hair in Asia is not always a treat. It can be attention beyond desired. We each have our own horror stories and equally, claim to fame. Briana's been known to be a Hermione of Nagoya. A complement of high esteem, hello Harry Potter!

But sometimes you just don't want to be a freak. That kid. Even if it may be popular in Asia, it's a brand I don't endorse.

When I picked up Briana at the airport, I asked, want Mexican food? With its inherent references to another nationality, its appeal, however, is much more American at heart. Margaritas & Tex-Mex burritos. A call to Iowa City's late-night Panchero's. As friends from college, we needed a good throw-back.

I could see the vibrant energy of it from the cab window a half-block away--America! The Mexican restaurant was overflowing with drunkards or those almost there. We found out, 30 minutes too late, we had missed the free flow special of tequila-loaded margaritas for 100 kuai, or $15. The drunken stumbles and slurs were decidedly American, or at least foreign, certainly the college basketball jerseys were. Briana smiled wide as we sat down, this, feels like home.

And it did. It was glorious, indeed, as the days that continued were also, each small reminders of home, one with Chinese characteristics that is.

Yet, I felt uneasy in my burrito munching and expensive Reuben sandwich choices; I could probably eat rice for the entirety of my stay in Asia for cheaper than that one meal. There's always so many opinions on travel; what is the best way to do it? Are you a conscientious traveler, an ugly American, or a bobbing dollar tag begging to be ripped off? In a city like Shanghai, what is real & true? Are you a fool for just clinging to American imitations, or worse, corporations, in the Pearl of the Orient?

While in the daytime smog, I would feel lost in a tangle of what to do. The sun, draped in a thick haze, would also cast a fog over my clear thinking. A need to save always permeated my conscious too, but in a city that begs you to spend (& truthfully, I crave it too), its claws snagged deep. Why not?

But once the night lights turned on. It all disappeared. The voices faded. Shanghai was all glory and an oyster for the mere hours the sun waited to take hold again. This is where I should to be for the holiday weekend, I would think. And equally so to Briana, the perfect place to show off China's city of flash and class. A city of legends that stretch through the night and culture of new & old. A place not quite a melting pot in an American-sense, but a confluence of globalization, most certainly.

A refreshment, at least, in its own right.