Friday, June 29, 2012

Have a happy weekend

What are you doing this weekend? Yes, I really want to know. 

Tomorrow morning, Mike and I will be discovering our new 'hood with Sandy, a woman I had been set up with through my mom's friend back home. Sandy has lived here for about 10 years, and now that Mike and I have moved, we're neighbors. She'll be taking us to the local bakeries and coffee shops and fruit stands, including the famous Avocado Lady about whom we've heard a lot from other expats. Her shop caters to foreigners and carries hard-to-find Western items like peanut butter, raw almonds and yes, avocados. After having some terrible guacamole at a Mexican restaurant last night, I have high hopes for the Avocado Lady.
LaterGram: Goods for sale at the Avocado Lady


Thursday, June 28, 2012

Lessons Learned (so far)

We're well into our second month here and I'm starting to compile a list of lessons learned living in Shanghai (reminds me of my working days and having to create a "Lessons Learned" PowerPoint after every event; funny, I don't miss those that much).  
  • First and foremost, pedestrians do NOT have the right-of-way. I learned this quickly. And you will too if you come to visit. Walk with confidence and give dirty looks when necessary.  
  • And speaking of traffic, honking is commonplace. Instead of "watch out", here it means, "FYI, I'm coming through," or "FYI, I'm behind you," or "FYI, I'm turning left." You get the idea.  
  • "Excuse me" doesn't exist; touching and bumping into strangers is perfectly acceptable. 
  • You don't really let passengers get off your subway train if you want to get on it.  
  • Locals hack up loogies and spit them out. When you hear that lovely sound (and you will hear it), steer clear. (By the way, picking your nose in public is no biggie either.)  
  • Carry tissues. Restaurants don't always provide napkins (and if they do, some charge for them!).  
  • Any Western anything (groceries, meals, clothes, shoes) is at least three times as expensive as its local counterpart. 
  • Yes, the pollution is that bad.  
This is a preliminary list as I'm sure there are more lessons to be learned.  

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Vacation's over

On my walk to school this morning (yes, I can walk to school from our new place!), I had a freak-out moment. This extended vacation -- during which I sometimes felt like Eloise (even though I was at the Ascott in Shanghai instead of the Plaza in New York City) -- is over. I live in China now. Permanently. Or at least for the foreseeable future. My place of residence, my "home" is in Shanghai. When people ask me where I live, I'll have to tell them, "Shanghai, China." Madness. 

And then I walked by the Jing'an Temple; I took a deep breath, and felt a sense of awe and calm. I live in China! The feeling was very similar to how I felt in San Francisco every time I laid eyes on the Golden Gate Bridge. I used to say (sometimes aloud), "I live in SF!" The view never got old, just like walking by the Jing'an Temple every day on my way to class will likely never get old.  

Some of you have requested pics of our place, but I think I'll wait until we get our shipment from the States to take some (it's due to arrive on the fourth of July; fitting, no?). Right now, the apartment doesn't look much different from a hotel room filled with bland furniture and ugly lamps.
In case you don't know, this is Eloise. She is six. She is a city child. She lives at the Plaza.

Monday, June 25, 2012

"Home"

We're in our Shanghai home! It's been an exhausting day, moving more than seven pieces of luggage from the hotel to our new apartment and communicating in Chinese at a one-year-old's level. And did I mention Mike is on his first business trip to Hong Kong and Beijing? Off to shower and snooze; more tomorrow. 

Friday, June 22, 2012

Happy Dragon Boat Festival!

As if this week weren't exciting enough with Go Skateboarding Day, today marks the start of China's Dragon Boat Festival. Sounds cool, right? Don't you imagine boats with a dragon head at the bow and a dragon tail at the stern racing down the Huangpu River?

But we haven't seen anything like that just yet. In fact, I'm not sure what the locals do to celebrate other than take a day off and eat zongzi -- a pyramid of sticky rice inside of which hides a piece of meat (usually pork) or red bean paste, wrapped in a bamboo leaf. Some are tastier than others, we've learned. Neither one of us likes the ones with red bean paste (although I like red bean paste in other things!), and some shops make their zongzi with too much rice and too little meat.   
pinterest.com/pin/165296248796293910

In other news, I got myself a little job. I'm helping a French woman (or she may be Belge) with the English version of her website text. It's kind of perfect. I meet with her tomorrow to discuss her needs.  

What are your plans for the weekend?  (I suppose we'll also be on the lookout for dragon boats...) 


Thursday, June 21, 2012

Happy Go Skateboarding Day!

Did you know that today is International Go Skateboarding Day? Me neither. But guess who did?  
Mike's best shot of our 20-minute photo shoot
An Australian couple stopped to chat with us in the middle of our little photo session. The guy was excited to find a fellow skateboarder, and he and Mike exchanged phone numbers. Who knows? We may have just made ourselves new friends on Go Skateboarding Day. 

(P.S. This may or may not be Mike.)  

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

A Little June Gloom

I've been feeling a little blue lately. Maybe it's the time of year (Father's Day makes me a little sad; this year is the third without my dad); maybe it's the frustrations of wedding planning; maybe it's the fact that we have yet to find our community of friends here in Shanghai. 

But today, I laughed and I laughed hard and I felt better. I started Mandarin classes this week with five other women: a Russian married to a German, a Thai married to a Brit, a German born in Turkey, an American who has lived in Ireland the last 10 or so years, and an Asian American from Diamond Bar. At one point today, we were trying to put sentences together that we could use when ordering a meal. It took us so long to actually formulate a question that finally, we all burst out laughing, knowing full well that even the most patient of servers wouldn't wait to hear our order in Mandarin and would simply ask what we wanted in English -- our solid efforts wasted. It was a fleeting moment, maybe insignificant to the other women, but for me, it felt so nice to let go and laugh and commiserate with fellow females also far away from home.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Chinglish Part I

We've all seen some funny (horrific, some may say) uses of the English language, but not much compares to what you find in China. I have a feeling this is the first post of many to come on the subject. 

We saw the image below on Nanjing Road (think: LA's Third Street Promenade on steroids, with brighter lights and the volume turned way up). It was outside a store where a number of couples seemed to be looking at (their?) wedding photos. 
"Loved is sweet. Love only you, only I am drunk. You belong to me, the door is always open for you."
Whaaaaaat? And yes, Mike's wedding tux looks exactly like the one pictured.

Off of Nanjing Road, by some food spots:

Anyone up for some "freshiy spueeied fruit" juice?

At an electronics mall: 


Not to be mistaken with the IiiPad

And a favorite, found in a menu:

Who wants some "bad hair fragrant beans"?
I'm not sure what's better or what's worse -- beans that have bad hair or beans that smell good

More to come, I'm sure of it. 


Friday, June 15, 2012

Have a healthy weekend

I seem to have caught a bit of a summer cold. Yuck. Apparently, all expats are prone to one when they first arrive. It's the body getting used to living in such a polluted environment. How lovely.

The pollution has probably been one of the hardest things to get used to. In LA, you could often see the smog hover over downtown, and that was bad enough. But here, it envelops you and swallows you whole. It can be hard to breathe on some days, days when the sun and blue sky lie behind a wall of gray.

Mike and I downloaded an app that reports the day's air quality. It's funny (in a scary sort of way) to see the difference between the numbers reported by the China Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) and the US Consulate. I'm happy to say that today's numbers are much better than what they have been, when the US Consulate actually recommended masks!

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Back-to-School Time (and more)

We got a lot accomplished today. In the morning, I became a student (and language nerd) again after enrolling in beginner Mandarin classes, which start next week. Mike and I then took a look at our new apartment. It's this great space on the top floor (penthouse!) of this fancy building in the French Concession. The apartment itself is maybe about twice the size of our old San Francisco pad, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms and an incredible view of the city. By the way, my goal here is not to brag but to entice visitors! 
View from the living room; five points for naming the site in the background (no peeking)
We also took the next step in securing our permanent residence permit (which means we passed our medical -- woohoo!). We had to go across the river to Pudong to get to the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Public Security (sounds serious, huh?). Mike described it as a DMV from hell with three floors of waiting areas and government workers. We signed a piece of paper, they took our picture, and we were done and out of there in less than 10 minutes. Okay, not exactly the DMV.  

And perhaps most importantly, we booked our honeymoon. We'll be off to Bali at the end of September, spending three days in the jungle and three days by the beach at fantastic resorts. I can't wait! 

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

By the way

We managed to find Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals early Sunday morning. And yes, we did have those blood marys... with nachos -- true breakfast of champions. Game 5 of the hockey playoffs was also on and it was nice discovering a place where we knew we could catch live action sports when needed. 
The Camel: Where the expats go to watch their home teams


Sadly, we didn't bring much luck to Boston or LA, but the Kings made up for it today/yesterday. Congrats, Los Angeles! 



Monday, June 11, 2012

Boarding the Mothership

In our two (or so) weeks here, Mike and I have had some strange experiences. One that will have to make our top ten list is our medical examination, required for expats planning to stay in China for more than one year. I wasn't thrilled about having to be examined in foreign country, by doctors I didn't know, speaking a language I didn't understand. I rarely go to the doctor's in the States and now I'm going in China?!     

I put on my big girl pants and went with Mike to our appointment. From the waiting room, I caught glimpses of other expats, donned in white gowns, walking in and out of various rooms, some holding their arms...  in terrible pain, I imagined dramatically. 

Once the appointment got under way, we were ushered to a changing room where we had to ditch our tops and put on those same dreaded white gowns. I felt as if Earth had recently been invaded and these fellow expats and I had been abducted and forced to wear some horrid uniform before boarding the mothership. Can you sense my terrible discomfort? I hadn't even visited a room yet! 

First up was an x-ray, then an ultrasound. In a third room, a doctor took my blood pressure, then I had an EKG. Finally, my eyes were examined and my blood drawn (remember the arms held up "in pain"?). It took all of 20 minutes. I survived. And all in all, it wasn't that bad, but it was an experience.  
Best imagery I could come up with to visually illustrate our required medical examination (minus the secret handshake);
From the movie, "Sound of My Voice," directed by a fellow gtowner, the plot of which has nothing to do with my current situation.

Friday, June 8, 2012

Happy Shanghai Friday

What's everyone up to this weekend? Watching hockey and basketball? Mike's really missing live action sports. We'll have to find bars that televise the games -- after figuring out game times and time differences. I have a feeling we'll be having bloody marys while you're all drinking beer.

Mike's parents are arriving today from Dalian, a city in Northeast China. No set plans just yet, but at some point, we'll have to pick up Mike's custom-made shorts and shirt from the fabric market. And as soon as I decide what I want, I too will be picking up my own custom-made clothes!    



Thursday, June 7, 2012

Peace Amidst Chaos

Continuing to play the tourist, I recently visited the Jing'an Temple located in Jing'an (fitting), home to fancy malls, high-end stores, five-star hotels and a number of office buildings, including Mike's. It's near the Shanghai Exhibition Centre, which is little more than a pretty building (for history buffs, it was built as the Palace of Sino-Soviet Friendship; the star topping the building was a gift from the Russians to their communist counterparts).   
The Jing'an Temple is this beautiful sanctuary in the middle of commercial chaos. Leaving behind the billboards, the lights, the traffic, the noise, you step into peace. 

Below are the temple's residents and their devotees.  
Sakyamuni, created out of white jade, 3.87 meters high, 11 tons
Guanyin Bodhisattva, created out of thousand-year-old camphov wood, 6.2 meters high, 5 tons
Buddha, created out of silver, 8.8 meters high, 15 tons
Can you even make out the temple in the picture below, beyond the lanes of traffic and in between the high-rises? Certainly a nice little escape within the city. 





Wednesday, June 6, 2012

It's official...

...Mike and I are in a loving relationship -- as recognized by the Consulate General of the United States of America in Shanghai, China. As romantic as it sounds, it was pretty uneventful. We waited in line, went up to the window when called, raised our right hands, and swore the document we had in hand was true. The document, which states we're in a committed relationship, is required for my permanent residence permit. Best part of the process: Mike high-fiving me on the way out, saying, "We're loving!"   
Unfortunately, it was nothing like this.


Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Playing in Pudong

This past Sunday, Mike and I ventured across the Huangpu River via subway to Pudong (literally translated, "east bank"), home to the buildings that create the city's famous skyline.
Our first stop was the infamous underground mall of counterfeit items. Ignoring the "lady, you want bag?" pleas, I marveled at the Jimmy Choo purses and Longchamp totes, the Chrristian (yes, spelled with two Rs) Louboutin heels and Tory Burch flats, the iPods and the Beats by Dr. Dre headphones. We even saw a plethora of TOMS Shoes (doesn't that defeat their purpose?).    
                                             
                                                       Yes, even "official" jerseys
Guess what fakes I bought?
We then made our way to the Science and Tech. Museum, essentially a very large children's museum, where Mike, of course, let his not-so-inner kid out.  
Mike becomes a character in his own video game.
Notice that all other adults are helping their children.


Monday, June 4, 2012

Adventures in Grocery Shopping

On our first weekend truly on our own, we ventured to Carrefour, an international hypermarket headquartered in France whose location here in Shanghai is about a 20-minute drive away from us. Hypermarket is a good term: it's gigantic; it's Target and Walgreens and Safeway in one. 

Besides reveling in the fact that we could find our favorites from home (there's a well-stocked imported/international section), we enjoyed discovering, or mostly observing from afar, the local fare.  
I'll let you guess the animal parts. 

There was also quite the sausage display. Note the "untouchability" sign at the bottom. 

Beyond the meat department, we loved the efforts of American brands to infiltrate the local market by appealing to consumer taste.   
Yes, we bought a pack. 
And let's not forget last weekend's orientation tour of Metro, China's Costco, where you can buy entire slabs of pork. Here's me grinning through the terror.
 

I paint a terrible picture. In all honesty, there are plenty of food options, both in grocery stores and at restaurants. We're not going to starve. In fact, we've eaten some pretty good meals, including decent nachos and a very respectable pizza.  


  

Saturday, June 2, 2012

P.S.

#1 - Internet freedom allows you to play with colors and fonts and layout. Do you like the new format?  

#2 - This weekend is my 10-year college reunion. I so wish I could be in two places at once -- alas! 
Thanks to my girls for the pic.     


Friday, June 1, 2012

It's the little things

When we left San Francisco, we knew we wouldn't be able to access beloved sites like Facebook, Hulu and Netflix, but we were also told that, like most things in China, there were work-arounds. A few days after we arrived, I figured out a temporary work-around (hence why I'm currently able to blog and Facebook and stream videos and surf as I please -- just like at home). Internet freedom!  

Upon seeing my Facebook News Feed finally load, I screeched in excitement. It's strange how something seemingly insignificant can have such an effect on a person. I had thought, "No Facebook? No big deal." But not really. And it's not Facebook itself, it's the mere fact that I couldn't access it when I knew it was there, when I was able to just a week ago. Why should I be blocked from my websites when I didn't do anything wrong? I'm an American, damn it.  ;)  

Because this is a temporary fix, I may not post again for a while. Forgive me. Be patient. And watch this video because you can.  

On My Own

Mike started work this week, which means I've been left to my own devices.  On day one, I gave myself the challenge of going out and buying nail polish remover (crucial, I know). I loaded my backpack with my map, my guidebook, my Chinese phone and my iPhone (useless, really, but a security blanket), and off I went. You really need to psych yourself up to leave the comforts of the hotel where most people speak English and you're at a safe distance from speeding vehicles. But I accomplished my day's mission thanks to a little charades and a smile.  

Afterward, I ended up wandering around the French Concession, which will likely become our hood for the next two years. It's an area full of small, tree-lined streets (no less dangerous, by the way) with a bunch of shops and food spots. It'll be fun to explore.  

I played the extra tourist on day two and spent a few hours in the Shanghai museum.  Some pics below.