We made it! We’re here! It’s almost impossible to wrap our brains around the fact the we are living in China! Our first week in Shanghai has been a whirlwind (or typhoon?!) of intense humidity, fabulous people, sightseeing, and chopsticks!
Even before leaving the states, I became startling more aware of how different our life in China is sure to be. While standing in line in San Francisco to board our flight to Shanghai, a Chinese man right behind me let out a gargantuan, juicy burp. I looked around, wide-eyed, and no one else even appeared to notice. I know, of course, that many customs are different, and things Americans consider rude or unsavory are commonplace in other countries. Still, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of discomfort. Life is going to be different. I am looking forward to immersing myself in the Chinese culture, but I am fairly certain that culture shock will creep in eventually.
Shanghai International Airport was easy to navigate, and we were greeted by the upper school vice principal, Ty, and two other new teachers, Claire and Jonathan, who are also Portlanders. NW represent! Woo hoo!!! Claire will be teaching in the upper school, and Jonathan will be teaching at a different school in the area. Conversation flowed easily as we drove to our apartment complex, Haifu Gardens, in SE Pudong.
The air was hot and sticky as we unloaded our bags, and a smell of spoiled produce hung lightly in the building’s foyer. It wasn’t a terrible stench by any means… just that familiar regional smell that we have come to know exists in little pockets here and there from our travels through SE Asia. Our apartment is on the 14th floor. We eagerly explored every nook and cranny of the space. There are certainly many positives about our new home- it is a good size, feels open, and has lovely views. A few downsides exist- ugly furniture, a tiny washer, and the cramped blue kitchen. Our minds have been reeling almost non-stop, however, and we are certain we’ll have this place looking beautiful and cozy in no time! It will be a fun challenge!
The view of our dining/living room from our front door…
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Our living/dining room…
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Our heinous neon-blue kitchen…
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The “laundry room” patio….jpg "Shanghaiapartment04")
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The living area… we have requested all the furniture be moved out. Fingers crossed!.jpg "Shanghaiapartment06")
To the left of the living room….jpg "Shanghaiapartment07")
Bathroom sink….jpg "Shanghaiapartment08")
Bathroom….jpg "Shanghaiapartment09")
The office… we’ve also asked for this furniture to be removed, and we’re hoping to move the guest bed into this room..jpg "Shanghaiapartment10")
To the right of the living room….jpg "Shanghaiapartment11")
On the right is a storage closet….jpg "Shanghaiapartment12")
Straight ahead is our guest room… soon to be converted into an art/pilates studio=).jpg "Shanghaiapartment13")
Our “dryer” on the spare room balcony….jpg "Shanghaiapartment14")
Our bedroom entrance….jpg "Shanghaiapartment15")
Our bathroom….jpg "Shanghaiapartment16")
Our bedroom….jpg "Shanghaiapartment17")
Our crazy retro bed….jpg "Shanghaiapartment18")
The headboard has pleather-faced storage, and a light fixture. It’s so ugly it’s kind of awesome. Check it out….jpg "Shanghaiapartment19")
No, seriously, check it out… .jpg "Shanghaiapartment20")
Our large window seat. I LOVE this! Can’t wait to find some comfy pillows to make this a reading/computer work space….jpg "Shanghaiapartment21")
View of our room from the window seat….jpg "Shanghaiapartment22")
Day 1 (Wednesday, Aug 3)-
On our first full day in Pudong, we awoke to brilliant sunlight streaming through our windows at around 5:30. We spent time looking at the surrounding views from our balconies before heading downstairs to check out the neighborhood.
I was tinkering with the panoramic option on photoshop. Not the most brilliant photo, but it shows you the view from our living room balcony….
I was relieved to see people out walking their dogs within seconds of stepping outside! I have been such a nervous wreck thinking about bringing our furry kiddos here, so I was thrilled to see how many people have pets. I was also surprised by how many people were already outside- walking, stretching, watering plants, and exercising. Our neighborhood is fairly quiet, but it is buzzing with energy. People are out and about all the time. We have yet to see any expats other than our coworkers in our neighborhood, so this will be a real immersion experience! The familiar clang of construction and demolition echoes through the air, but it is much less noticeable than in Dubai. The only really loud sound we heard in the morning were the cicadas! I absolutely love walking along and hearing the slow mounting chattering, that rises and falls several times, before erupting into dizzying mountain of buzzing! We walked around in the balmy air, enjoying the lush greenery, ponds, waterways, and little paths that all mingled together between the towering apartments… I can only imagine how lovely it will be to walk when its not so blazing hot and humid!
Loading up on a little cash before heading out… =)
Our apartment…
We made a large loop, and just before we reached our apartment we came across a dog that looked so much like Bella! He had the same face, though his legs were humorously short. A long lost stubby-legged cousin, perhaps?
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Common area outside the main gate of our complex….jpg "Shanghaiapartment39")
complete with cherubs… =).jpg "Shanghaiapartment40")
The main gate of our complex. Our apartment is the big one just to the left of the middle of the photo….jpg "Shanghaiapartment41")
Later that morning the school sent a bus to pick us up for an optional grocery shopping trip. We joined some of the new staff and drove to a nearby shopping center called Wanda Plaza, and ventured into TESCO, a huge, sprawling, Walmart-like store. We found many of the items we needed, after lots of searching. No one spoke any English, and after struggling to pantomime a few questions, we just took what we could find and hoped we could fill the gaps during future shopping trips. Good thing, too, because we found plenty, including several large, hard to carry items, and we had to make several trips to the bus, with the help of a few others to get everything out of the store!
Back at home, we snuggled up to watch the Goonies and took a nap. While we were sleeping, a huge thunderstorm rolled in, and the clattering booms woke us up several times. Thick gray clouds blocked out the horizon, and torrential rains were pouring down! It was quite an adjustment from our beautiful, sunny morning! Our new friends and co-workers, Darren and Mandy, came over during a momentary pause in the rain, and we sat amongst our boxes, bags, and suitcases and enjoyed happy conversation and refreshments. Claire and Jonathan soon joined us and we all ventured into the subway and to downtown Pudong to go to the Blue Frog. Luckily, Darren and Mandy have spent the last four years living in NE China, so they are familiar with Shanghai, and have some Mandarin under their belt. It was so nice to get out and keep ourselves busy- both to avoid homesickness and help with jet lag. The Blue Frog is a chain in Shanghai, and we went to one located in the heart of downtown Pudong, beneath the iconic Pearl Tower. There we enjoyed monstrous margaritas, sweet potato fries, fresh salad (that didn’t make us sick- hooray!) and bunless burger. Yum! We had a lovely evening getting to know our new friends.
Day 2 (Thursday, Aug 4)- Woke up early, gray and hazy. Again, the bus picked us up and we drove to Thumb Plaza and had breakfast at a yummy little cafe called Wagas. We were tickled to find they have a breakfast happy hour- I’m sure we’ll be taking advantage of that in the future! We enjoyed a lovely breakfast, including the yummiest smoothie ever, and got to know our coworkers a little more. After breakfast we returned to Upper School for a general presentation and campus tour. The building is HUGE! There are five stories, each sprawling and snaking around through a maze of different rooms- many of which aren’t even in use yet. Construction is still going on in this campus, but the main areas are complete and really beautiful. Once again we loaded into the bus, and returned to lower school for lunch (yum!) and a campus tour. Again, the building is quite large and airy. I was able to peek into my classroom, and was pleased with its spaciousness and large windows.
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After the campus tours we went shopping at Carrefour… again, we found that no one spoke English, but did find taco seasoning! Woo hoo! I bought 8 packets. With a few minutes in our shopping trip left, we wandered over to an import grocery store called Pines and they had some Rogue beer. It was fun to see little familiar treats from home!
That evening Darren and Mandy joined us and we walked down the road to a local hole in the wall restaurant. Pictures of each dish were plastered on the wall, so ordering was a fun experience! Of course, Darren and Mandy helped fill in the gaps for us. We enjoyed fried rice, fresh noodles (that we watched the cook shave into the broth), egg and tomato, fried bread, garlic shoots all for $5! On the walk home explored a few little minimarts near our house and found a plunger- definitely a critical item in a location with such a sensitive septic system!
Day 3 (Friday, August 5)
We awoke to another bright and sunny morning. Isaac and I went to our respective schools for meetings, and to receive our classroom assignments. We met up at the upper school for lunch and then loaded the van for IKEA. Hooray! It is not even funny how much I love IKEA! While walking around we were totally regretting selling our furniture before leaving Dubai. It looks as though we’ll be able to move some of the current furniture out of our apartment and replace it with our own… wish we knew that before we left! We found lots of basic items at IKEA and started a mental inventory of the furniture we hope to purchase soon. The most invaluable purchase of the day was our squishy mattress topper- a necessity in a country where beds are literally hard as plywood! We managed to wrangle our goods, including the mattress topper, into a taxi, and made our way home, where we spent most of the afternoon cleaning and setting up what we could in our apartment.
After sprucing up a bit, we joined our coworkers for dinner and drinks at Cantina Agave. Food and conversation were both great- we’re loving the people we’re working with!
Day 4 (Saturday, August 6)
On Sunday we joined the new teachers for a tour of highlights around Shanghai, including the Bund and the French Concession… two very cool areas! We drove around for several hours, taking in the sights, and even found a Starbucks to enjoy. We were especially attracted to the beautiful tree-lined streets of the French concession. I’m sure we’ll be spending plenty of time down there!
The Bund is famous for having old colonial-styled buildings on one side of the river and newer modern buildings on the other. A few more panoramas…
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The Pearl Tower….jpg "Bund08")
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Starbucks!.jpg "Bund11")
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That evening we enjoyed a staff dinner at a restaurant called 1221. Many of the items were traditional Chinese and Shanghai specialties. Everything was served family style, on a lazy susan. It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know our co-workers, including those at the Puxi campus, a little better. After dinner we headed to Camel, a sports bar in the French Concession, to watch a rugby match and socialize some more. All in all a great evening!
Day 5 (Sunday, August 7)
Howling winds and torrential rains woke us on Sunday morning, as Typhoon Muifa passed by off the coast. Luckily, no damage occurred in Shanghai, however, we were silly enough to venture out in the rain once the strong winds stopped. Besides getting completely drenched, we enjoyed our time exploring and even managed to pick up a few more items for our home. We spent the afternoon scrubbing our filthy kitchen cupboards (yuck!), and continuing to get our apartment in order. I used our newly cleaned kitchen for the first time and whipped up some fried rice for dinner- yum!
Whew! Are you still with me? That was a full recount of our first week in Shanghai. All in all its been a great transition, and we’re looking forward to the many adventures that lie ahead! We’ll be back with (shorter) updates soon. Fingers crossed we’ll have internet at home in the next day or so!
