Beep, beep, beep, beep, beeeeeeep

is the sound that the occurs in the Shanghai subway just before the doors close.

I ride the subway almost every day here. I work in Pudong which is about 5 miles away from our apartment and on the days I'm not working I'm going other places. A ride on the subway costs 3RMB one way (45 cents), with a volume discount each month if you use your transit card for more than 70 RMB in charges. Normally I travel during off peak hours due to my nights and weekends work schedule, but today I got to experience the joy of riding during rush hour.

The Chinese government mandated that, since New Year's Day is on a Tuesday, if employees wanted Monday off, everyone had to work on Saturday. Saturday, therefore, turned into a normal work day. Because everyone had to work, I was not supposed to teach (all my students would be at work), so my manager told me I didn't need to arrive until 9am for a training class. This put me smack dab into the middle of rush hour as I tried to get on the train at 8:30. After watching two trains pass, too full for even Chinese people to get on, I summoned my courage and pushed my way onto the third train.

Elbows, knees, backs, bags - I was completely smashed between a pole and three people. At the next stop, even more people got on. My Chinese teacher used the following example in one class, "America has a lot of trees, China has a lot of people." I agree and I think 50% of them were on the subway with me this morning.

Q - What has been your worst experience with public transit? Today was far from the worst I've had, once in Chicago my bus driver got lost and when I was in Europe we had some fun adventures with buses too. Share your stories.

Thank you for all the Christmas wishes and a very Happy New Year. Cheers!

A Christmas massage

More than I expected, Shanghai loves Christmas decorations. Everything from the bag at the bakery across the street to the displays in shopping malls seems to show Santa Claus (complete with reindeer) and Christmas Greetings. In almost every shop, employees wear Santa hats - from McDonalds to Carrefour. There are Christmas lights, Christmas music (with Chinese lyrics) and I had the day off work today.

That said, this is a secular event and it is not a holiday for 99% of Chinese people. There are no nativity scenes or messages of charity and goodwill. China has imported the "stuff" but not the real meaning. In the absence of the religious message, I have been pondering what makes Christmas truly special and is it possible to have an enjoyable Christmas on the other side of the world. After today, my answer is a resounding, "YES!"

Our holiday started last Friday when we went to dinner with one of Chris's colleagues my friend, Jonathan. Then on Saturday we met up with two other friends for Japanese curry and ice cream and Sunday was the KaiEn Christmas party. On Christmas Eve we went to a party thrown by one of our Chinese classmates, Natalie, and really enjoyed ourselves - rolling in about 1am, tired and happy.

For Christmas day we cooked a big American breakfast - eggs, pancakes and bacon and invited our upstairs neighbor Liz to share in the festivities. She provided two additional chairs and plates and forks. We have an entire set of chopsticks but never did get around to buying forks. Eating pancakes with chopsticks is almost impossible, as we found out. After she left we concentrated on relaxing - and I got a foot massage. One hour of bliss, including a short shoulder massage and scalp massage (for 75 RMB approx. $10). I drifted in and out as Masseuse #3 worked on my feet and thought of my friends and family who have supported me through this great adventure.

Christmas is about people. It is possible to celebrate anywhere because it is not the candy canes or the Santa hats that make it special, but the memories and stories that grow. The slideshow that I link to below shows some of the new friends I have made here who are helping me experience this wonderful city. I hope you enjoy it.

Christmas 2007

Merry Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad to you all.

Cheers!

你们好!

你们好! 我们学习中文。每天我们去学校由脚。我们的类总共有5 个人。

Nĭmen hăo! Wŏmen xuéxí Hànyŭ. Mĕitiān wŏmen qù xuéxiào zòu lu. Wŏmen de kè yígòng yŏu wŭ ge rén.

Chris and I have been studying Chinese for just over two weeks now. It is amazing the number of words and phrases that I can now say and remember. On the street I can pick out bits of conversation instead of everything being "blahblahblahblahblah... blah blah." It is amazing.

Our school is called Miracle Mandarin and initially we signed up for a four week intensive "survival Chinese" class. Class is every weekday morning from 9-12 and the school is very close to our house. We have three classmates, Marko and Marina are from Germany and Natalie from France. Our teacher, Chén Zhóu is from Beijing and she is an excellent teacher. Taking classes has made me realize two things: 1) Now that I am teaching as well, I have a greater appreciation for teachers and she is one of the best - enthusiastic, helpful - leading the lesson so easily that we don't realize how much we are learning. 2) My English students are amazing! Taking any class for three hours is difficult, but I can't imagine doing this at the very end of my workday instead of the beginning.

Mastering another language is one of the best feelings in the world. I knew that I had mastered Spanish when I began dreaming in Spanish when I lived in Spain. It's funny - now that I'm learning Chinese, random Spanish words and sentences keep popping into my head. For example "I" is "wŏ" in Chinese and "yo" in Spanish. Today I was saying something and "yo" found it's way into the middle of my sentence. It is the same part of the brain, I'm sure. I'm not sure I'll be here long enough to master Chinese, but it is a good goal.

We have been concentrating on spoken Chinese and the pinyin. Simplified Chinese characters are the first entry at the beginning of the blog, pinyin is the roman alphabet translation that you see below. Today we started to learn basic strokes for characters. I'm excited to learn, but it is overwhelming as it is so different from English. Thus far we have had elementary lessons on our family, buying things, bargaining, going to different places, etc. All of us in the class have decided that we will enroll for a second month at the school. After that, Natalie is going back to France and Marina and Marko want to enroll in a university program, so I'm unsure what will happen. I know I want to continue to study, but the time and place are TBD.

I feel very lucky to have such a good group of classmates. Natalie is throwing a Christmas Eve party at her place next Monday night. Chris and I both have to work, but we're going to come for the end of the party and eat dessert and celebrate the holiday with our new friends. I'll make sure to take some pictures.

Q - Have you studied another language or do you speak another language? Any funny stories? How did you know when you finally understood what was going on?

I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday and hope to hear from you soon and in the new year.
圣诞快乐! Shèng dàn kuàilè!
Merry Christmas!

G

The characters and pinyin at the beginning of this entry read: "Hello! We are studying Chinese. Every day we go to school by foot. Our class in total has 5 people."

After Six and a Half Years...

I just received the news that my PD plan has been accepted. I have completed all of the requirements to become an FSA (Fellow in the Society of Actuaries) save the FAC (Fellowship Admissions Course). Right now I am planning on taking the FAC after I return from Asia, but will have to contact the Society to establish the particulars.

Thank you to all of you who have supported me during this process, especially my parents, Derek Guyton - my PD reviewer and exam mentor for many sittings, Lisa Black - for making sure I had my priorities straight when I started work, Tony Mateja for rearranging my schedule so I didn't go crazy, Valerie Nelson and Ben York - for giving me study materials and lots of great practical advice.

Wow.

G

Five pairs of shoes

I got back from the gym on Wednesday to find five pairs of shoes outside my door. One pair was Chris's, but I didn't recognize the rest of them. I added my pair to the pile and opened the door slowly to reveal Chris, both of our landlords, an older lady wearing a red coat and a younger guy behind the TV.

After a round of "Ni hao, Nimen hao. [hello, hello]" I looked at Chris. He shrugged. I shrugged back.

Earlier in the week we had told our landlords we didn't understand how to work the DVD player and we thought it was broken. This was their solution. Chris had told me earlier while I was at the gym the landlords had appeared bringing their friend in the red coat. The three of them had brought a manual for the DVD player and were reading it, trying to get it to work. They had then disappeared, telling Chris that they would come back later. About ten minutes before I arrived home, they had come back with the younger man who was now behind the television trying to get the DVD player to work. As I was watching this spectacle, another person knocked on the door - another younger man who talked to man #1 behind the television. The two of them proceeded to starting switching the cables around for the next 15 minutes or so.

At this point, we had five Chinese people in our apartment and me and Chris - that's 7 pairs of shoes outside the door. The two younger man managed to get the sound to work, but still no picture. I was starting to get antsy because I needed to take a shower before I went to work and there was no way that was going to happen with so many people in the apartment. Eventually the picture popped in the screen, complete with Chinese subtitles. I have never been so happy to see "Family Guy" before. It was great.

Within five minutes of the DVD player working, all 5 of our visitors were gone. The two younger men disappeared very quickly, but I managed to convince our landlords and their friend in the red coat to pose for a picture with me before they left.






Q - What has been your greatest technological victory? A new cell phone? Wireless internet? An automatic garage door opener? How did you conquer it?

Thanks for all your comments and emails, I've been battling a cold the last week and hearing from friends and family makes all the difference. Cheers!

The point method fails

I have been ordering most of my food by pointing since I've been in Shanghai - hence the meat on a stick and the fish soup, and most of the other dishes that I've eaten on my own when there has not been a Chinese speaker with me. However, I have been learning food words with my language exchange partner, and have learned the words for pork, chicken, beef, rice, noodles and a few others. This weekend, I attempted to order beef soup with noodles.

I was at work and so during the morning break one of the assistants at work ordered for me. I told her I wanted niu mien (beef noodles), which implies soup. She looked at me a little strangely, but then I pointed to the soup, at which point she started nodding her head vigorously. I paid her my money (8 RMB, about $1.10) and went back to class.

During lunchtime, there was a large container of soup sitting at my desk. I opened it up and looked inside, noting that it appeared to be beef. When I stirred it with my chopsticks I noticed the beef looked a little strange - kind of furry. At first, I didn't think much of it, but when I tried to eat a piece it was incredibly chewy, kind of like eating pure muscle. I started to avoid it, but continued to eat the noodles and vegetables and peanuts out of the soup. One of the other teachers stopped over and commented that my soup looked good, so I showed him the meat. He started smiling and said, "I think I know what that is."

I had been eating tripe soup.

Tripe is beef stomach. I had never eaten tripe before and had never really intended to eat it here. I attempted to eat one more piece after we labeled it as tripe, but it just didn't go down. I finished the rest of my soup and continued with my day.

Q - What is the strangest thing you've eaten? Did you know what it was before you ate it? Was it good?

A side note- I can't believe it's already December. The weather here is in the 50s, down to the 40s at night with cloudy skies most days. People keep saying that it gets colder, so I'm a little nervous and am thinking about buying a space heater. In our apartment the heating comes from the air conditioning units which are all positioned high on the wall. Great for air conditioning, but since heat rises, not so good for heating. Hopefully it doesn't get too much colder here. Hope (most of) you are enjoying the weather in the Midwest!

A Shanghai haircut

I have been in Shanghai for four weeks today. I can't really believe how quickly the time has gone. That said, I desperately needed a haircut. My cut when I left Chicago needed to get touched up every 5 to 6 weeks and I was pushing six weeks now. With this goal, I decided to get my hair cut here in Shanghai.

Getting my haircut has always been a sensory experience. In my opinion when someone washes your hair and cuts and styles it, it is one of the most pampering experiences possible. I have had my hair long and had my hair short and short hair allows many more visits to the salon. My stylist in Chicago, Sam, is phenomenal and as my hair was getting longer I kept thinking about her and how easy it is to pick up the phone and make an appointment. Here, it's not so easy.

When I met other female teachers I would inevitably ask them where they got their hair cut. Two of the teachers who actually live in my building recommended the salon where they have been getting their haircut for the last 8 months. They have made friends with the stylists and said that it was a great experience as well as being very affordable. With that in mind, Liz, one of them, said that she would go with me to the salon on Wednesday to help me out and translate for me.

I have never gotten my hair cut where I haven't been able to talk to the stylist at all. When I was in Spain I spoke enough Spanish to keep up with the customary gossip - the weather, celebrities, etc. Here - nothing. I'm starting intensive Chinese classes on Monday, but that didn't help yesterday at all. Liz was kind enough to translate - I told her as long as I didn't have bangs and no color, I was fine.

The stylists and staff at the salon was great. It started with washing my hair, but they did it in the chair, not over a sink. I got a great scalp and temple massage at the same time. Then they rinsed my hair over the sink as I laid down on what looked like a recliner. Next the head stylist and a special friend of Liz's approached me. Liz passed on my instructions and then had to head to work, so I was on my own. Allong (I'm not sure how to spell his name) was very methodical, working over each section of my hair. I had told him I wanted it shorter, so he carefully shaped it. I watched, silent as he went through each section.

It was a very long haircut. I sat down in the chair initially at about 1:15 and I didn't finish until 2:40. There was only one skirmish - after Allong had finished the cut, he wanted to permanently straighten my hair (I think), but I refused. I haven't washed my hair myself yet, so maybe that was a mistake, but he blew it straight and I am very happy with the results. The cost for this haircut? 30RMB, about $4. Judge the results for yourself:

Question - Where have you gotten your best or worst haircut? Was color involved? How much did it cost?

Keep your comments coming. Hope all of you are having a happy holiday season. I think I'm going to need to download some Christmas music from itunes soon.

Cheers!

You want to buy a bag? Handbag? Gucci - Prada....

In honor of Black Friday, I thought I would comment on shopping here.

Anywhere I walk in Shanghai I am approached by men (and a few women) carrying plastic cards about the size of an envelope. "Lady - You want to buy a bag? Come, take a look, cheap! Gucci, Prada. Come, take a look. My shop, come over here." They point to an alleyway or other dimly lighted corner and show me pictures of their merchandise on the card. Some are aggressive, others will step aside if I shake my head. There is not a single word that means "No" in Chinese, so I am left nodding and saying, "No, no" or sometimes "Xie, xie (thank you)" as I hurry by. There are people everywhere here.

Last Thursday I went to a market at Chi Pu Lu, which one of my fellow teachers has christened "Cheap Lou's." It is five stories of endless booths that are maybe 8'x10'. The three of us were the only foreigners in sight and every single booth owner seemed to have something that we needed to buy. There were some great sweaters and coats (all in dollhouse sizes) and an endless parade of handbags, sunglasses, scarves, shoes and other things. If you show interest they will open a fake wall in the back of the shop and lead you in where the "real" merchandise is kept. I made a great purchase - a blue leather handbag that says Tod's that I can throw over my shoulder for 100 RMB (about $14). After I purchased it I realized that my normal fall coat is bright red which doesn't really go with the blue purse, but I don't care. It's a yummy bag.

Friday night I went to one of the outdoor markets with Robyn, a teacher trainer at the Wuyi school where I have been spending my weekends. The goal was to find a wallet and purse for her. We did not succeed, but the people were very nice there and I am getting much better at understanding numbers. In fact, I was talking to one of the Chinese teachers at work and she said that my numbers are very good, but they sound Taiwanese. Paul - if you're reading this, you did a good job!

On Saturday after work I went to Super Brand mall, one of the many malls in Lujiazui which is in the Pudong new area close to the school. The malls here are incredible. There are restaurants and stores that are two stories inside a single store. This store had a huge Christmas tree at the entrance and there were families taking pictures as children squirmed. My mission was to purchase some warmer clothes. In my packing list I had not included a sweatshirt and only two sweaters. Even though it was in the 60s today, within a week or two, highs should be in the 40s which merits warmer clothes.

I was nervous as I approached the mall because I wasn't sure if anything would fit. Well - I did find some clothes that fit at two stores H&M and UNIQLO. I have shopped at H&M in the States and discovered that I am an XL in China. At UNIQLO, which is a Japanese chain, the same deal. I purchased a sweatshirt and a turtleneck respectively. I haven't been an XL at home for quite some time due to the changing sizes but that is fine.

Buying clothes in another country is one way to truly feel part of the culture even if it's just a sweater or sweatshirt. I still remember purchasing my ZARA coat when I lived in Spain and how stylish I felt. I hope to feel that way before I leave Shanghai. Fashion here is something else. Very short skirts and hot pants with leggings are popular. On the subway I might see girls in heels in skinny jeans with tunic topics and multiple layers or laborers wearing their blue uniforms and heavy shoes. One day I saw a woman who was wearing flannel pajamas and two girls wearing rubber rain boots even though it wasn't raining. There is always a parade of men in suits or blazers and people in uniforms for work. The colors are much brighter here, you can buy basic black for sure but there are reds and yellows and greens and blues and pinks and grays.

This is a culture on the move. Retail therapy is practiced here, whether you are bargaining in a street market or shopping at an upscale mall. You are expected to touch and try and ask questions and learn about your purchase.

Q5 - What has been your favorite purchase in another country? Clothing, souvenirs or something else?

Please post your comments. I really enjoy hearing from you and don't forget to keep in touch.

Cheers!

A Little Tourism

The last week has been very busy, but a different kind of busy than my first week. I have started teaching and teaching and planning lessons have taken up a lot of my time. I work all day Saturday and Sunday and then teach a couple of evenings during the week. It is definitely a challenge, but very enjoyable as the students are highly motivated to improve their English and really seem to like attending classes.

In my free time, I have started exploring Shanghai - bit by bit getting more familiar with it's neighborhoods and attractions. On Monday I went to explore Yu Garden which is an example of classic architecture in Shanghai. My idea of a garden has been expanded by the visit because there were no bedding plants or orderly collections of flowers. Instead, it was a walled garden with various buildings on different hills and a collection of lakes and paths that went up and down over the terrain. After I went there I walked through a couple of the huge markets and just looked at different merchandise. I still do not feel prepared to bargain, although I'm sure that will happen soon.

On Tuesday I headed south to Huai Hai Road which is the ritzy shopping street - the Michigan Ave of Shanghai. I wandered through the boutiques trying to find a park labeled on my map. When I finally found it, it wasn't that impressive, but on my way back to the apartment I stumbled upon a beautiful park that was very near one of the elevated roads. It was calm and peaceful, with a waterfall and grassy bank where people were eating lunch and enjoying themselves.

Another day I spent exploring an area of People's Square in downtown Shanghai. I walked through the park and then approached the Shanghai museum. Instead of trying to absorb the entire museum I focused on three of the collections - the history of chinese money, ancient seals that were used by powerful individuals through the dynasties and the calligraphy gallery. I think the money exhibit was the most interesting, but there are many other galleries to see. Since we live within walking distance, I will most likely return.

Thursday was a great day. Chris had the morning off and the two of us explored another area of People's Square park and then went to the Shanghai Urban Planning Museum. The museum was one of the best museums I have ever been to. They had a huge display of the entire city that you could approach from a catwalk overhead. It was truly massive. There were also exhibits on how Shanghai has changed in the last twenty years. I think someone who knew the city in the 1980s would most likely not recognize it now. The amount of change is almost inconceivable. Then, they have an exhibit on the planned changes to Shanghai over the next 10 years. The Expo in Shanghai in 2010 is serving as the catalyst for much of the change. For instance, they plan to add 6 metro lines in the next two years. I will be interested to see how the city changes over my stay.

They also had a special exhibit called "Nuestras Ciudades" which was an exhibit from Spain on women's voices in shaping urban planning in Spain. It was phenomenal - there were 100 booths, each about the size of a door and you walked up to each with special headphones and could hear the spanish. English and Chinese translations flashed across the bottom of the screen. I could have spent all day there, but had to teach in the evening, but probably listened to about a quarter of the voices. There were architects, gallery owners, shopkeepers, children, students, interior designers - everyone talking about the space in a city, how it is used, why it is important. There were women from Bilbao, from Sevilla, from Barcelona, from Madrid - the entire country. As I wandered through that exhibit I forgot (for a while) that I was in China. If the exhibit is coming to a city near you, I would highly recommend it.

The Apartment in Puxi

Exploring Shanghai

I have attempted to include a link to my google pictures so you can see our apartment, some shots of Yu Garden, some shots of the People's Park and some that Chris took in the Urban planning museum. Hopefully the post works and you can see the links. If not, please let me know and I will attempt to load the pictures in another way.

Q4 - I was highly impressed by the Urban Planning Museum. What has been your favorite museum or favorite museum exhibit? Where was it? Why? Share your thoughts!

Your comments are great, please keep them coming. Also, if you want my mailing address, shoot me an email and I will send it to you.

Cheers!

On Food

Despite the food on a stick incident that I wrote about last time, I have had some excellent meals over the last week. I would be willing to bet that the Chinese invented fast food. There are so many stands selling all kinds of things - peanuts and crackers, meat on a stick, noodles, fruit drinks, dumplings, fruit, .... A culture that snacks. I hope I don't come home 20 pounds heavier. One thing I've tried is a dish that Shanghai is famous for - pork dumplings with broth inside. They are tricky to eat with chopsticks but really really good. My grandma is always saying that pork tastes different from when she was a little girl and now that I've had these dumplings I agree. They are savory and moist, a meatball wrapped in a dumpling with broth. Super good.

Another thing that I've had that was kind of by accident was a fish soup with a ginger broth. Last night I felt like soup, so I saw some people through a window eating soup and went in and pointed at it. It was excellent and I brought leftovers home. The fish was a white fish and there were pieces of ginger and mushrooms and seaweed in the broth. It hit the spot.

Spain girls - it is the season of mandarinas [clementines for the non-Spain folk] here - there are street vendors selling them everywhere, today I even saw a small truck with the entire payload full of mandarinas. Great citrus boost and so fresh and it reminds me of Spain.

One other thing I've had a lot of is a drink that they call "Milk Tea," it's a room temperature mixture of tea and milk with tapioca balls inside that you drink through a fat straw. I was addicted to Starbucks chai in the US and I think I may have found a new addiction here. It's the perfect midafternoon snack.

So, question #3 - what has been the best food that you've eaten while on a trip? Tell me about the perfect bistro in Paris, or the roadside stand where you had barbecue in the south. Share your food story!

Cheers!

Getting settled

The last three days have been incredibly busy. It feels like I have been here for a very long time and it's really been only 96 hours since I landed. I'll try to hit the highlights thus far.

Friday - I took a walk in the morning away from the hotel and found the location of the school where I will be teaching at. It is in Pudong which is the new area of the city. Then, I went back to the hotel to wait to hear from Lilian who is in charge of new teachers. She called right around lunch time and then we went and looked at apartments for the rest of the day. The initial location we looked at was in Puxi, close to the school that Chris is going to be located at, but it was a little shady - the beds didn't have mattresses, the table was missing, the windows were dirty - not the first impression I was hoping for. The next five places were in the Pudong area, three or four metro stops away from where I will be. The apartments got progressively nicer, but it felt like living in the suburbs and I didn't think that was the vibe that I was looking for. We had gotten on the metro and bought our tickets to head home when the real estate agent got a call saying there was another 2 bedroom in Puxi to look at and asked if I wanted to go. At this point it was about 5pm and I almost turned him down because my jet lag was really kicking in, but I decided to give it a go. The last apartment was great. Good location, two bedrooms, there's a couch - mattresses on all beds, etc. I decided that it would be perfect. Location map is below.


Then the negotiations began. Since we're not staying a year, it required a lease with different terms. The price went up, the price went down. Then the agent's commission was discussed. My chinese is so minimal I had absolutely no idea what was going on. Negotiations, contracts, etc. lasted until 8:30. But, at the end of it, I had keys to the apartment, a promise that the hot water heater would be fixed and an appointment with my landlords on Sunday evening at 7pm to give them the remaining $47 that I owed them. It was quite a day.

Saturday was my first day of training. I had to be there at 10:30, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to move my stuff from the hotel because I had woken up at 4am (more jet lag). I ate breakfast at the hotel and they called me a cab. I had my address and the hotel communicated with the cab driver and I thought we were good. Wrong.

For some reason the cab driver thought I was going to the airport (probably because I had all my luggage with me). He kept saying "Airport, airport." When I realized it, I started saying "Puxi, Puxi" (the area where I'm living) but he kept driving the wrong direction. Eventually I said "Feng Yang Lu, Feng Yang Lu" ("Lu" is street - Feng Yang is the street where I live) and he finally turned around. With that adventure, I just made it to training on time.

Training was fine, Saturday is a very busy day at this location, but Erica (my teacher trainer) helped me purchase a cell phone at lunch. It is very tech savvy - a skinny little Nokia that probably could do everything. Unfortunately I haven't figured out the voicemail yet, but I can make and receive calls and text messages. I'm not sure that I can receive international calls though.

Saturday night I met Mike Chiang who's an ND grad and in charge of ND relations in Asia. He took me out for a great dinner and then I met his wife Lily and the two of them took me shopping so I could purchase a comforter, a pillow, some towel and a hair dryer. They were so welcoming and warm and have already come to my rescue again (more to come). I rode the subway home with my purchases and using an international phone card, was able to talk briefly with my folks before falling into bed.

Sunday - more training, this time at a different branch, People's Square. Yup - I got lost. Was almost late, again, but walked in the door right at 9:30. People's Square is the biggest branch that they have here and it is very nice and because it was Sunday, much calmer. Training lasted until 4:30, so it was a full day. Food here is so cheap - for lunch I had beef and peppers with rice and it was 10 RMB which is about $1.30. Tons of food and really good. When I got out of training I decided to walk down this food street close to the apartment. It was teeming with people, all kinds lined up snacking on different things. I chose one booth that was selling some type of (I thought) meat on a stick. I purchased one and took a bite. Not exactly my taste. I don't think it was meat, but if it was, it was certainly like nothing else I have tasted. Didn't finish it.

Then I met my landlords at 7, as we planned. Well, of course it couldn't be that simple - they came and I paid my remaining 500RMB (TV and the $47) and then they started pointing at the hot water heater. I had absolutely no idea what was going on. I could tell the hot water wasn't working, but I thought I had to turn something or press something differently. I finally, after almost 15 minutes called Mike and had him translate for me. The hot water heater is supposed to be fixed today (Monday) now, but he arranged for me to take a shower at my landlady's house. I got off the phone and they stood up and were like - let's go and I was kind of startled, but grabbed my towel and shampoo and followed them to their house, about 5 minutes away, across a freeway.

Today, Monday I had to register at the police station, pay the commission to the real estate agent, come back, get the internet set up and I had to go to the bank too. It was crazy and it's only 2 pm here. Tonight I'm going to observe another class at People's Square. Tomorrow is my demo teaching set up and then I'll find out my schedule going forward.

I don't have a question this time - but any comments you have on my crazy experience or examples of your own culture shock in another country would be much appreciated. Hope all is well.

http://www.smartshanghai.com

The adventure begins...

Well - I've made it in one piece and with all of my luggage. Last night I successfully purchased dinner and am looking forward to seeing the city in daylight. For the next week I'm staying in a hotel in Pudong, near where I will be teaching. Today on the agenda is purchasing a cell phone and starting to look for an apartment - tomorrow my training begins. I will post more once I am settled in. The question this time is:



Q2 - What is your most memorable (good or bad) hotel experience? [The one I'm at now is in the middle - stayed at better and worse, but I certainly have a couple of interesting stories.] Share your comments!



Cheers!

Preparing to Leave

Preparing for a trip is always stressful, especially when going somewhere that I have never been before. This week is preparation week - changing addresses, getting a flu shot, cleaning my apartment and brushing up on my Mandarin. As you all know, I'm leaving for China next Wednesday, October 31st (also known as Halloween), with a direct flight from Chicago to Shanghai Pudong. I'm excited and nervous and ready to get moving.

The intent of this blog is to post my thoughts, stories and hopefully pictures during my stay in Shanghai over the next several months. To get you started on this adventure, I have posted a couple of links including my school and the Shanghai Wikipedia entry.

I thought a fun way to make the blog more interactive is that I will ask a question of you at the end of each entry. Please post your response so that everyone can see!

Question 1: What is the most important thing that you have ever forgotten to take on a trip?
(Hopefully I won't make the same mistake.)

Best wishes-