Friday

Sheesh. It's rough going from three months with the 'rents to full-time job plus a killer timezone change.

The good news is I have an apartment. Yay! It needs a scrubbing down and there's loads of stuff to be bought - chief among these un-bought items is a mattress pad. Chinese people and their hard beds. You could play Jenga on this bed, no problem. You could probably dribble a basketball on it too.

The work week flew by. This week was better than last. I'm excited to get into a routine and have everything down - but it could take awhile.

Haven't been much of a tourist in my new city, yet. Sightseeing? I went to IKEA and registered at the police station. Ah well. Not like I'm leaving any time soon.

Aaaaand, I think I've found a decent VPN service to help me leap over that feggin' firewall. Want to know what's dumb? I can do a google news search for "Shanghai." But if I try to search "Shanghai art," nooooope. Denied.

The homesickness comes and goes. But I've been lucky to meet some good people - especially my new BFFs Jess and Mike, whom I was staying with before I moved into my apartment. And despite its reputation, Shanghai has proved a pretty friendly city, at least to me, so far. I've met lots of foreigners who've invited me out.

Why and just the other day I was walking down the street when a Shanghai gentleman coming toward me was in the midst of gathering a huge back-of-the-throat loogey. He noticed me and - I suppose remembering how us foreigners feel about the hocking of loogeys - he held it in his mouth until I passed. Still gross to hear, once he was behind me. But hey - I appreciate the effort.

First Weekend

Friday night I went out to dinner with this guy I met on Craig's List (I know, I know, keep reading). I emailed him about a unit he was renting out and In the course of our correspondence it came up that he lived in Fairbanks for three years, and also spent time as resident artist in some tiny school out in the Aleutians. How often do you get to meet a fellow Alaskan in Shanghai? 

He took me to dinner at this artsy Shanghai-cuisine place in the French Concession. The restaurant isn't marked from the street. We walked upstairs and there's a wall with nine illuminated circles, aligned like a telephone key pad. When you make a reservation at this place they give you a number. For us, the number was "57" and you touch the yellow circles (in spaces 5 and 7) and then this big metal door slides away, revealing the restaurant. Like it's a secret or something. How annoying. But the food was good.

After dinner I taxied over to a Haiti benefit concert with my temporary roomies. The audience was probably 80% foreign. There were six bands playing. One was a local reggae band fronted by a British guy and their last song had the chorus: "women dou shi laowai," Chinese for 'we're all foreigners.' How's that for multiculturalism.

Saturday was more home-hunting. And then the guy who took me to dinner Friday night invited me to his home for a dinner party. I was a bit nervous about going, but it turned out pretty interesting. This guy lives in this beautiful refurbished home in the French Concession. All the furniture is art deco. The guests included a wine salesman, a movie producer, an actress, a professor, a lady with an LED company and an architect. But not like a my- mom-style architect. This guy had circular tinted glasses, a metal pendant and a sweater with a skull pattern knit into it. A cool architect. Sorry, mom. 

We ate salmon steaks and drank bourbon. First week in China, I've never felt so bourgeois. 

Then I taxied over to a soft-open party for a new bar (the girl I'm staying with was tending bar). I had a Carlsberg and the most delicious bar peanuts ever. And I talked to this French guy who said funny things like, "I fell een love wizz zee Shanghaiese girl. But shee only wanted sex, so my heart iz broke." Okay, not very funny. But the accent...

Busy weekend. Busy week ahead.

Mid-Week Update

Phew. I would say I can't wait for the weekend, but really I can't wait until I have my own place and am over the learning hump at work. It's been craaaaazy.

Tuesday was another busy day at work. That night my cool new friends (whom I met through Couchsurfer.org) took me out for Sichuan food and then on to a dive bar for a couple gin and tonics made with possibly the worst gin I've ever had (but hey, they cost $2US). Wednesday was also hugely busy at work. I was supposed to go house-seeing last night but I was so tired when I got home I canceled. I went to bed at 9 pm. I've woken up in the middle of the night every night so far, but I'm hopeful for tonight...

I saw one apartment this evening. I don't know. It's hard because I've never really went apartment hunting. In college it was always pretty much decided for me, and the same in Taiwan. I've seen several places that were unacceptable, and then one I really liked only to be told the potential roommates picked a different girl. Boo. I'm 23, but it still sucks to lose the popularity contest (though the competition was going to the same university as the girl in the apartment, that's a substantial leg up, no?). Plus I want a place in the right area, with decent people, and new bathroom fixtures, and good lighting. Am I being too picky?

Well I'm supposed to see places Saturday too. Tomorrow morning I'm going to the police station to register. Because that's what us foreigners have to do in China. 

That's all for now. I'll keep ya posted.

Quickly Before I Crash...

I woke up at 3 a.m. today. Didn't really get back to sleep. Now it's 10:30 and I've been out all day. But, so's ya know, I had a really good first day:

My office is in this cool old house. The editorial staff works in this converted living space in an old home (1920s or so, they think).  I didn't do a whole lot my first day. There was all the usual first-day awkwardness. And by 4 p.m. I went into zombie mode. My boss said I was welcome to go home and nap, but I powered through.

After work the editorial staff took the subway to Pudong and at dinner at the sky-high Jade on 36th, in the Shangri-La Hotel. You walk through the restaurant lobby and there are floor-to-ceiling windows. Incredible views - it was like walking above the skyscrapers. 

We were seated next to the window where we had views of The Bund, and were treated to a six-course meal with three varieties of wine. There was a cold asparagus cream soup, foie gras, scampi, a buttery grilled fish, lamb shank and lemon meringue with a sweet basil garnish. Oh yes - the most interesting course were these delicious marinated tomatoes served with a dollop of parmesan cheese ice cream. 

What can I say, I'm a lucky girl. Now I'm going to bed.

Here I Am

It's 8 a.m. and I'm feeling refreshed after a good night's sleep. Air Canada lost one of my bags, the one with all my bras and my ankle boots. I can't remember what else is in that bag. But it was heavy.

I'm sitting in the hostel lobby with a cup of hot water, thinking I'd take half an hour to do my morning internet canoodling, but then I remembered I can't access most the places I like to canoodle - facebook (blocked), twitter (blocked), blogger (blocked). Back to blogging through email.

Today I'm going to buy a sim card and start looking for a home. 

I knew I would miss my family and it wasn't fun to say goodbye, but the first shock of homesickness really hit me somewhere over the Pacific midway through my flight. Cuz, ya know, ya can't turn back then: I really am seven hours away from starting over in a foreign country where I don't know anyone. This is by far the biggest thing I've done completely by myself: It's exciting, but it's also a little scary.

Then the old lady sitting next to me started chatting. We switched to Mandarin when she found out I could speak it. When I sneezed, she offered me her blanket so I could stay warmer. She told me to be careful in Shanghai (about a million times) and to only go out during the day, and to only go out with friends. She told me which cab company to take. She told me which areas of town are too expensive, she told me my Lonely Planet map was no good and I should buy a new one in the Subway. She asked me how much money I was making and whether or not I'd signed a contract yet.

I immediately felt better, because everything she was talking about was so familiar. I just love old Chinese ladies: Bundle up to stay healthy, how to get anything for cheaper, how to stay safe and all those money questions that seem intrusive to us Westerners - that's their game. And I know that. Talking to her made me remember I'm not walking into a completely new situation. There's lots I already know.

But plenty to learn too. I'll keep ya posted.

Brown Belts

That's right friends: My brothers are that much closer to becoming grand masters of ass-kickery. Lord knows they can already whoop mine.

It's 9 p.m. now, and despite my best intentions, there's still packing to be done redone. So I'll leave you with some karate photos and get back to it. The next you hear from me, I'll be entrenched behind the Great Firewall. So it may take me awhile to figure out how to continue posting pictures here.

Show that little girl, Rick.

The littlest tester. Isn't she darling?

Now remember small one, the bigger they are...

Beach Happenings

Recently, we took a little family trip to the beach. The beach is only 5 minutes from the house, but finding an occasion where all five of us are ready and willing to go can be difficult.

As soon as we were over the sand dune, the boys began passing, punting and forty-yard dashing.

I think my brothers see the beach as mere opportunity to gauge their athletic prowess.

All that raw, vast beauty? Mleeeeeh...

Me, I like to take pictures. And sit on driftwood

Setting up the family photo

Family Photo

Aren't we pretty?

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