Most of you have probably already seen this, but I didn't have some of your email addresses at the time. I sent this out when I first arrived, so if you've already read it, move on to the next!
Okay, first off, the traffic here is unbelievable!! So far I haven't seen any of the crazy '8 cars to 4 lanes' business, but people switch lanes constantly, pull random u-turns, pedestrians and mopeds weave in and out of traffic ignoring the cars - it's ridiculous. And drivers seems to signal that they're going to do anything from turn, to making a u-turn, to cutting off a pedestrian by honking. I was walking down a pretty small street last night to get some water, and mopeds just honk for the hell of it. Bizarre.
The airport was on the other side of the city, in Pudong district (the city is divided up into a bunch of districts - like neighborhoods, but huge. Think South End, Back Bay, etc. but gianormasized). The bus from the area where I live and my school is (MinHang district) took for bloody ever - I think close to 2 hours because of all of the traffic and construction.
Speaking of construction. Holy god. EVERYTHING is under construction. I've never seen so much rebar in my life! We passed the 2010 World Expo site in Pudong. It looks like it's going to be pretty cool, should anyone feel like coming sometime in 2010 to check out the World Expo! It was kind of surreal driving through the city though - there was an incredibly swanky shopping center, nicer than the ritzy part of Newbury street in Boston, right next to an enormous pile of rubble, which I can only imagine will soon be more swanky shopping. I passed the giant IKEA - I need to figure out how to get there! There are mopeds everywhere here. I'd swear I was in Italy, but no one was riding around saying 'ciao'.
We finally got to my apartment at about 7pm (plane arrived at 3:15). It's a gated apartment complex with security guards at the 2 entrances. I have to swipe a fun card thingy to get in the gates. Once inside, it's actually very nice. There are many buildings ranging from about 6-15 floors, and pretty courtyards and trees in between. My studio apartment is quite tiny, but the bathroom's decent sized, everything is clean and new, and the main area is already divided by a bookshelf thing into 2 sections - bedroom and living room area. I was worried about storage space, but there are tons of little cabinets and closets - it even came with Hello Kitty slippers to wear around the place! Of course they're the right size for a 6 year old, but I'm gonna make it work. :-) Seven, the girl who picked me up from the airport, was the one to get my apartment set up, and she had already gotten me pillows, sheets, and a blanket which was very sweet - I didn't want to have to find that immediately on my own. There's a nice little balcony that looks over, well, buildings and smog, but if you look directly down there's trees! And tons of flashy lights at night.
Josh's friend Jess Lee (ironically enough from Spartanburg, SC and don't worry, Emily, she can't stand the Converse girls. She's not one of them!) from the program he did in Beijing just moved to Shanghai a few weeks ago. She's doing a combined Chinese language/MBA program here. She and her friend who's visiting came over after I arrived last night to help me get situated. We didn't do too much, but she helped me to get a cellphone and as soon as I figure out what the number is, I'll let you guys know. The easiest way for you to get ahold of me will be via internet (email) and using Skype. I'm not getting a land line, and most phone cards don't allow you to call an international cell phone.
My apartment is apparently in a relatively wealthy part of Shanghai. A lot of international schools are nearby and though I haven't really seen any other westerners around here, they probably exist somewhere. I do know that another American teacher at my school and her husband are going to be in the same apartment complex as me, as is the Malaysian couple I mentioned earlier. I don't know if she's arrived yet, but another teacher is going to be in the studio right next to mine.
I can already tell the language issue is going to be huge. Luckily Jess was with me to buy my cell phone, because a lot of people in this area don't speak English. So far they're nice to me because I'm a stupid foreigner (I've heard "laowai" more times than I can count - it means foreigner, and it always seems to be directed to me), but I really need to study the Chinese I've learned and develop my vocabulary!
Just down the street from my apartment is a big square area that kind of reminds me of Cambridge but with more neon lights. This area is MUCH quieter than the city center and isn't quite so intimidating. Right down the street there's a Bank of China which doesn't appear to be charging me ATM fees but I'm not sure (my school will set up a bank account for me in the next few days), there's KFC, McDonalds (I'm not gonna lie - my first meal in China was McDonalds. They speak English there!!), Starbucks (free internet), and a bunch of stores who's signs I can't read. There's also a Tesco, which is apparently like BJ's. You need a membership card but they have tons of international things. From what I hear, that's the place to go for cake mixes. Now if only I had an oven....
I'm going to spend this morning unpacking and then brave the subway system (Jess and Josh said it's pretty easy) to go to Jess's and we're going to hang out for the afternoon and go to a karaoke bar. Not a huge fan myself, but apparently it's an entirely different ballgame here - Josh says it's painfully hysterical. I'll take pictures!
Hope everything is going well with everyone, and keep in touch!!
Hi Ms. Lasher!! :)
ReplyDelete-Katie Davis, 2008 English Student