Settling in

We have been in Shanghai for about a week now. I haven’t quite adjusted to life here but we are starting to settle in and find the things we need. We really haven't done any sightseeing yet. I've basically just run lots of errands and gone to work.












After several trips to Ikea our apartment is starting to look more like home even though we didn't come here with much stuff. I bought a whole bunch of picture frames so the wedding photos are everywhere. Next week our kitchen curtains will be ready. We bought a drying rack for our laundry which we can keep in the shower where it doesn't take up the whole kitchen. I still really want a dryer and I don't like how hard our clothing feels after it air dries. We also still have to get a good toaster oven because apartments here don't come with ovens. I was really happy we found an art supply store so I can decorate the walls. I bought nails at a hardware store, my Chinese accent was so bad I had to resort to pantomime to explain what I wanted. Internet is really crappy here. They block Facebook and any sites that involve too much free communication so most foreigners have to use a proxy to get around the firewall which makes internet slower.

The first two days here I was feeling really overwhelmed and didn't want to go places by myself because not many people around here speak any English. They probably do in the really touristy places because when we go to nice restaurants they all seem to speak it. On Tuesday night, when we first got back from Taiwan we went to Carrefour and it was horrible. Danny said it was a really nice market where we could find all the western foods I wanted but it turned out to be really crowded and dirty. People were pushing each other and yelling at each other, it was way worse than any Walmart in the states. We bought some cheese, cereal and other stuff anyway before I vowed to never go back there. Wednesday I went to Ikea and decorated the apartment more and it made me feel much better. Ikea feels just like shopping in the states.

Thursday I started work so I had to venture out by myself. I was really nervous riding the metro by myself. Hardly anyone spoke English and Danny didn't set up a phone yet so I couldn't call anyone if I got lost. It is a twenty minute walk from our apartment and another twenty minute walk to our school. It also poured the whole time and my feet were soaked and blistered by the time I got to my work. I went to the wrong building around the corner from my work first so I was relieved when I finally found it.

My co-workers were fairly friendly. Most of them were new to Shanghai like me. I was really relieved to be around people who spoke English by that point. We had two days of orientation where we learned about the PYP program but didn't find out much about the actual school like our schedule or anything. They give us lunch and breakfast every day but so far nothing vegetarian except fruit and a few crackers.

After my first day of work we went to City Shop. It is more like a whole foods whereas Carrefour is more like a super ghetto Walmart. I was so relieved to find City Shop even though everything there was like triple the cost of stores at home. It was sort of like shopping in the Hamptons.

Danny figured out the bus schedule for me so I only have to walk about 10 minutes instead of 40. The buses have really crappy English signage but once I knew how to go they saved me a lot of time.

I was really excited Danny finally set up a second phone while I was at work. After the second day of orientation Danny and me went out for Korean food with a few of my co-workers. By that point I figured out a bit more about the school by chatting with various co-workers. It seems like a decent school, a bit disorganized at times but as people often point out - it is China.

On Saturday Danny and I decided to try going to synagogue. We found the address online and it turned out to be incorrect. After more carefully checking the location and a bit of wandering around in the rain we found it. It turned out to be a big house in an area that looked like the suburbs. I felt sort of awkward knocking but we made a lot of effort to find it. It did turn out that the rabbi and his family live on the top floors and the synagogue was below. There were only about five people there besides the rabbi and his family but they were welcoming and invited us to stay for lunch afterwards. They apparently have a bigger service on family night the first Friday of each month so we may try it again then. It was good to find out there is somewhere to go for the high holidays at any rate.

We ate dinner at a Thai restaurant in the nice shopping mall on Saturday night. There are a bunch of shopping malls that are about a 15 minute walk from our apartment. The really nice one with the Gucci store and stuff I can't afford has a bunch of nice restaurants inside. Another mall had a Coldstone, Dairy Queen and a Beard Papas which we were very excited about. The Thai food tasted like Chinese Thai fusion but it was still pretty good.

In spite of being somewhat fancy the bathrooms in the malls are really scary. Some of them have a trough that you are supposed to crouch over and it makes everything smell horrible. I always wait until we get home for the bathroom. My school has some bathrooms like that as well.

On Sunday I had to work because the students had an orientation. We had a half day Monday to make up for it but it still pretty much took away the weekend. My students were really cute though. They rushed in like little balls of energy running around chatting excitedly. I was fairly relieved that most of them spoke English fairly well. They really didn't tell the foreign teachers much about what was happening and the Chinese teachers mostly took the lead. I never had a co-teacher before but from everything I've read about it that isn't at all what should happen but you can't exactly change the culture of the school the first day.

After work we went to Element Fresh for lunch. The food there was really good. It had fresh salads and sandwiches which I was desperately craving. We are starting to find all of the things I am used to at home but it is a bit tough at times. The language barrier is really frustrating but Danny has been helping me a lot.

So far we haven't done any sightseeing but what I have seen of Shanghai isn't that pretty. All the roads are really wide with multiple lanes. It is convenient for drivers but the aesthetic is horrible. It is like living next to Roosevelt Boulevard. Maybe if we start exploring I'll find some prettier areas. So far it is just giant streets and shopping malls.