We have arrived!

As I sit here in luxurious suburban Shanghai watching Myth Busters on the Discovery Channel, I finally have some time to reflect on the last few days.

We flew to Shanghai on Saturday. After a two-hour car ride to LAX, my dad and Susan dropped us off at the curb. We checked in and learned that if we could redistribute our stuff in the luggage, we could save $510. They were seriously trying to charge us $330 for every bag over 70 pounds, of which we had two. So sweating and cursing, we wheeled our overweight bags and moved things around, thereby completely thrashing our organizational system (we packed some bags to be opened right away and some were packed to be opened when we moved into our apartment). Luckily, we only ended up paying $150. Just the cost of doing business I guess. “No one said moving to China would be: cheap.” Our bags weighed 49, 65.5, 68 and 70 pounds - a total of 252.5 pounds. Insane, I know. I’m not proud of it.

We flew to San Francisco and then connected to a flight to Shanghai. The flight was long, 11 hours and 26 minutes to be exact. We were in coach. Ryan had the window seat and I sat in the middle of row 53. A super nice Taiwanese man named Daniel sat in the aisle. There were four movies, none of which were worth watching.

When we started to land, Ryan couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. We were both so excited. Deliriously tired, but so pumped. We landed and made our way through customs. It was a breeze. At the passport control counter, there was a little machine where you could rate their customer service. They let me in the country, so I pressed the “extremely satisfied” button.

We collected our bags and headed to the exit. We had to put all our bags on a scanner before we could leave the terminal. There was a huge line and since the conveyor belt was so short, it was impossible to catch your bags on the other side before they crashed to the ground. I didn’t get it.

Outside the terminal, we found our driver. Nancy, the woman we are staying with, had arranged for Mr. Lu to pick us up. We followed him out to the van. We were knocked over by the humidity when we got outside. On the ride to Nancy’s out in the Hongqiao district (it’s in the west while the Pudong airport is in the northeast), we had our faces pressed to the windows, in awe of our new hometown. It was like the density of New York, as sprawling as Los Angeles, but with the lights of Las Vegas.

When we arrived at Le Chateau complex where we would be staying with a woman named Nancy, we were simply giddy. The place completely exceeded our expectations. After we made it through the security gate, we passed row after row of huge houses. It was like a subdivision in Rancho Santa Fe. The house we’re staying at is like 6000 square feet. It’s incredible!

The next day (Monday), I woke up at 5. It was already light outside (a consequence of China, a country the size of the US, being on only one time zone perhaps). I watched Friends and ate some Italian bread toasted with Skippy peanut butter. It was like I never left the States.

That day Ryan and I had to go to the police station to get a temporary residence permit. It was a bit crippling to not speak any Chinese. We basically handed them our passports, they handed us a form and that was it. As we were sitting there, Ryan told me how he regretted that we didn’t take more Chinese classes. Strangely, I felt more comfortable than I did in France where there was always this pressure to speak the language. In China, I just simply don’t and people don’t really expect me to.

That afternoon we walked to the subdivision’s clubhouse. The walk over there was blissful. It was sunny and warm, but not too humid and there was blue sky! I remember thinking, this isn’t as bad as everyone says. Michigan heat and humidity is worse than this! And the air seemed fresh. I wasn’t the least bit vexed by the weather. But the secadias are almost deafening at times. They’re like the size of my palm! The clubhouse looked like a five-star resort with a concierge, an Olympic-sized pool and restaurant. Always scavenging for food (we have yet to go to a grocery store), we decided to eat there. Ryan had nachos and pizza for his first meal in China. I at least ordered spring rolls. Our waiter, Jimmy, ended up becoming our first real Chinese friend. We talked to him about China and the world for 45 minutes over lunch.

That night we ate with Nancy and Lauren (Nancy’s daughter’s friend who has been studying Chinese and is living in the house until Sunday). We had macaroni and cheese. So Chinese, right? After dinner, Nancy suggested we go get massages. We took a cab to this little hole-in-the-wall massage parlor. For an hour, we had neck, shoulders and foot rubs for only $7 a piece. Any day that ends in a massage can’t be that bad. I was beginning to like China.

Yesterday (Tuesday), Ryan and I went out looking for an apartment. I had of course, gotten sick. It’s just a little cold, but it was enough to wear me down. I had expected this I guess. Anyway, we had seen some ads online (craigslist Shanghai, Shanghai Expat, etc) and had made some appointments to see the apartments. When we called a cab from Nancy’s, the driver couldn’t read pinyin (Chinese words written in Roman letters). That sucked. We ended up driving for over an hour after he got us lost on the road we needed to be on in the height of rush hour traffic. I wanted to go home at this point. But Ryan, picking up the optimism pendulum, encouraged me that the day would get better. And it did. We saw apartments in six different complexes with a bilingual real estate agent named Sam. I could have lived in any of them. They were all two-bedroom apartments, fairly new, in good neighborhoods. Some even had state-of-the-art gyms – I mean better than I’ve seen in the US. They had yoga classes with instructors form India, indoor pools, treadmills with satellite TV, the works. But, the whole time, I couldn’t help but feel that the prices were too high. That’s the thing about China for me right now. I’m always asking myself if I’m getting ripped off. It sucks feeling taken advantage of. Sam seemed like a great guy, but we’re still foreigners.

Last night we watched the Olympics on TV and I went to sleep at 8. I just felt sick and tired. My sinuses felt like someone stuffed feathers up my nostrils. Welcome to Shanghai!

Today (Wednesday) was my first day at work. Ryan came into the city (we’re living 45 minutes outside) with me and dropped me off in front of the building. 666 Fuzhou Lu (road) – I had read and spoken this address so many times. It was surreal to be there. I walked in and met my boss, Katie. She gave me a tour of the office, including an introduction to the Star Recruitment team, of which I will become a part. I met so many people. After a whirlwind tour, I was off in cab to my medical appointment, which I need to apply for a residence permit, back in Hongqiao (where I live). I hadn’t eaten anything since 7 and it was already 1:30. Strangely enough, time flies by here for me. I wasn’t even hungry, just dazed. It was really hazy today. I’d never seen anything like it. It was like California during the fires, but with no ash in the air. In the cab that morning, Ryan suggested we move to Geneva next. To go from here to Switzerland would be a dream– I think I might need to after this year.

The medical exam was extremely thorough and efficient. I was seriously impressed. They took blood (the most painless blood draw I have ever experienced in my life), checked my eyes, did an EKG, an ultrasound of my stomach and lungs, a chest x-ray and a physical. The nurses who lead you from room to room had on the cutest pink fitted scrubs. They were so friendly, so that made it an almost pleasant experience. During the ultrasound, the technician was this cute old man. He was so straight-faced. When he was moving the wand around my ribs, I started to laugh out loud and nothing – he wouldn’t even crack a smile. Until the end, he handed me my paperwork and shot me a smile as he nodded.

After that, I took the cab back downtown to work where Katie told me a bit more about the “products” (i.e. schools ) I will be selling to potential teachers. I asked a lot of questions and she warmed up a lot to me. I left feeling better than I felt in the morning. Good enough to make it through another day. That’s all I need to do right now.

-Alexa



From Ryan:

Wow. What a wild 4 days it's been. Alexa summed up most of our experiences up until today so that's where I'll start.

I rode with Alexa in the cab to her office this morning with plans to see a bit of the city before I had to head out to the other side of town for an interview. I was dressed in a suit and tie and started sweating from the second I walked out the door. I kissed her goodbye and set off to obtain some cell phones for us. I eventually tracked them down at a small street store that sold me two used cell phones. I just needed something quick and cheap so I can quit using my American phone at $3/min. As it turns out, with these phones, we can receive calls from anywhere in the world for free and can make calls to the US for $.07/min with our special plan. Not too bad for phones off the street, eh?

Our new numbers are as follows:

Alexa: +86 137 640 59401
Ryan: +86 137 640 59464

So give us a call anytime. Just remember that we're 12 hours ahead of the east coast.

After I found the phones, I strolled down the street - starting my day of seeing the city. I stopped off at a small shop that sold vaguely familiar looking briefcases and handbags. Deciding that I needed to look slightly more professional than my plastic shopping bag would allow, I stopped in and bargained a price on a nice leather briefcase/messenger bag thing.

I'll continue with the rest at another point. I'm falling asleep at the keyboard. Suffice it so say that it was a busy and positive day.

I hope to hear from you all soon.

Ryan