I arrived last evening (Jan. 2)at 5:15 p.m. local time (+8 GMT/+13 hours ET). Customs was much quicker this time. I was thru and had my three bags (UAL let me bring the third bag free and helped me rearrange luggage between them to save $$) in about 20 minutes. I was met outside customs by the head of HR for Shanghai and our driver in a van.
We drove to straight to the apartment where I was met by a rep from the realty company (DTZ) and three from our apartment complex. They wouldn't let me up to the apartment until I showed them the wire from Navy Fed, because they've not yet received the money.
Once in the apartment, (they take their shoes off at the door or wear blue plastic cinch booties, similar to what you wear in a hospital, over their shoes) I was given a quick tour and asked to provide a copy of the contents which I have to check off to show they're all here. They connected my broadband and showed me how to use the safe in the bedroom. Then they departed and I was left to unpack.
The lights from the Bund were really pretty and I could see the lighted ships/boats - cargo, junks, tankers, etc. - going by. I finally went to bed around midnight and woke up about 9 a.m.
At 10 a.m., a rep from DTZ took me to the apartment office to fill out my police registration - they take your passport and fill it out in Chinese. Foreigners have to register within 72 hours. I also have to have a hospital exam. That will take place Friday morning.
Ater that, we were off to the electricity store, which is basically an indoor market with numerous vendors to buy outlet adapters (five for 20RMB or US$2.50). They sell new, used and fake products and you have to be careful to get new. I can tell already that shopping for electronics at places like that is going to be an adventure. The store was all the way across town and it cost 24RMB (US$#) to get there. Cabs in China have a driver's compartment that surrounds the cab driver in a plexiglass box almost. Passengers can sit in the back of a VW Santana or in the front seat.
After the electricity store, we went to an outdoor mall that I'd been to previously and stopped by Starbucks for a Grande (largest size in China which is equivalent to a Grande in the US) Vanilla Latte. You can't get them with sugar free vanilla here. Then we were off to a shopping mall and ate lunch at a Chinese restaurant.
The menu included oxtail, fried pigeon w/ head attached, roast pork necks, fried whole crab, ox tongue, roasted baby pigeon, goose liver, and Chinese food that you can get in the US. All Chinese meals are family style. We ended up having beef in a curry - it was very tender and shredded easily -- and fried rice cantonese style with shrimp, egg and pork in it. You don't put the rice on your plate (oops) but wait for a bowl with a weird looking spoon. I actually had a bite of shrimp and used chop sticks to get the beef out of the bowl. I'm terrible at it and the Chinese around me snickered. I lost control once and shot a chopstick at my host. I apologized profusely and then laughed. They brought me silverware but I kept using the weird spoon like me host to eat and the chopsticks to get the food out.
After lunch, we headed to the Super Brand Mall/Lotus SuperCenter Grocery in the basement. It's weird to be in a China and hear "Hark, The Herald Angels Sing" and "Silent Night" being sung over the mall sound system in a communist country. It was rather unexpected and ironic.
The two level grocery is basically like a Super Wal-Mart in the states. You can buy dvds, clothes, food, electronics, etc. I couldn't read most of the things in the grocery store except for the section area that also had English. American cereal is US$6 for a small box. There's lots of chocolate around for some reason. The meat section almost made me gag. Whole ducks, birds, fish, pork necks, turtles, etc. I can already tell that I'll be losing weight.
To get to the second floor of the store, you had to take a special escalator. Instead of having stairs, it was a moving ramp at an angle. The wheels of the cart lock in the teeth of the metal escalator and up you go.
Next door was the pharmacy. Prices seemed to be less than in the US and you can get pretty much everything you get in the states. However, I'm not sure you can buy a Budweiser or Heineken by the can in a pharmacy in the states.
Upon my return to the apartment, I got our satellite tv set up. We can listen to US radio channels on it - similar to Directv. I'm currently listening to the Steve Miller band. We get Fox News, CNN, Bloomberg, Cinemax, HBO, Star, TCM, Cartoon Network, Disney, Nickelodeon, MTV Phillipines, CNBC, Trinity Broadcasting, BBC World, ESPN Int'l (lots of pool and soccer), Star Sports which is all European soccer, National Geographic, Sports Plus (showing Chicago Bears vs. Minnesota Vikings from Sunday currently) and lots of channels from around the world.
Tomorrow, is my first day on the job. The staff have called me or text messaged me to welcome me to Shanghai.
Observations:
Google.com forces me to Chinese google (http://www.google.com/intl/zh-CN/) that comes up with lots of question marks.
Joss, luck and dragon seem to be in many of the names of things here.
Chinese hang their laundry outside to dry off their balconies.
There's no such thing as districting. Slums are next to nice housing areas. Outside our windows beside the river, ships pull up and have coal and other things loaded onto them.
Bright, colorful lights are everywhere. Shops are painted in bright colors.
Each of our bedrooms has a lock and key.
You can't always go directly to a Web site. For example, I have to go to blogger.com to get to my blog instead of going directly to dukeofdata.blogspot.com. Even after I post, I can't see the site. I can only see the back end where I type, edit, etc.
Every time I tell someone thank you, they reply with "my pleasure." The Chinese are incredibly gracious.
Text messaging from a phone seems to be the preferred method of comms. Everyone seems to have a mobile phone. Chinese don't leave messages for the most part.
Asian soap operas are as corny as ours.
Coke & Coke Light (Diet Coke but it tastes like Coke Zero) are sold in 650 ml bottles or 1.25 L bottles.
I found an English language bookstore at the Shanghai Times Square. You can buy recent fiction in trade paperback when it's still in hardcover in the US. Camel Club by Baldacci was 176RMB or US$22.
A full service apartment is basically a hotel. They do your laundry for high prices, get you up with a wake up call, clean your apartment twice a day, change your linens twice a week, etc.
American cereal is VERY expensive. A 16 oz. box of Cheerios was 48 RMB/US$6.
Not being able to read signs, labels, etc. when you first get here is very frustrating. You take for granted how much you read in the states.
It's important to have some things that remind you of home. Having silly things like a football game on tv, being able to listen to the radio on iTunes, having Internet access, etc. all help make the transition easier. It probably takes away from the Asian experience to muck it up with American stuff, but it does help to make you feel more at home.
US$1 = 8.11 RMB
If you register with the American Consulate, they send you a number of emails. I've been here less than 24 hours and already received two.
You barter at the markets w/ a calculator.
Logos on the fake clothing (North Face, Polo, etc.) aren't always where you find them on the real thing. Sometimes, they go over the top of the pocket.
You don't tip for service in China.
Gas prices are similar to the U.S.
Get your Visa at the Chinese Embassy to avoid the 200% mark up of a service doing it for you.
If you come here to work, you need to pick a Chinese name.
You can't convert Yuan/RMB after you depart China and you won't see US $ in China.
To work and live in China as a US citizen, you need a work Visa, alien permit and residence visa.
Can't ship your household goods until you have a residence visa.
Vonage will work in China w/ a US phone #. You just set up an area code in the US and hook up the phone in China.
It's a good thing Spurgeon does Morning & Evening. I don't get it via email now till evening now.
We drove to straight to the apartment where I was met by a rep from the realty company (DTZ) and three from our apartment complex. They wouldn't let me up to the apartment until I showed them the wire from Navy Fed, because they've not yet received the money.
Once in the apartment, (they take their shoes off at the door or wear blue plastic cinch booties, similar to what you wear in a hospital, over their shoes) I was given a quick tour and asked to provide a copy of the contents which I have to check off to show they're all here. They connected my broadband and showed me how to use the safe in the bedroom. Then they departed and I was left to unpack.
The lights from the Bund were really pretty and I could see the lighted ships/boats - cargo, junks, tankers, etc. - going by. I finally went to bed around midnight and woke up about 9 a.m.
At 10 a.m., a rep from DTZ took me to the apartment office to fill out my police registration - they take your passport and fill it out in Chinese. Foreigners have to register within 72 hours. I also have to have a hospital exam. That will take place Friday morning.
Ater that, we were off to the electricity store, which is basically an indoor market with numerous vendors to buy outlet adapters (five for 20RMB or US$2.50). They sell new, used and fake products and you have to be careful to get new. I can tell already that shopping for electronics at places like that is going to be an adventure. The store was all the way across town and it cost 24RMB (US$#) to get there. Cabs in China have a driver's compartment that surrounds the cab driver in a plexiglass box almost. Passengers can sit in the back of a VW Santana or in the front seat.
After the electricity store, we went to an outdoor mall that I'd been to previously and stopped by Starbucks for a Grande (largest size in China which is equivalent to a Grande in the US) Vanilla Latte. You can't get them with sugar free vanilla here. Then we were off to a shopping mall and ate lunch at a Chinese restaurant.
The menu included oxtail, fried pigeon w/ head attached, roast pork necks, fried whole crab, ox tongue, roasted baby pigeon, goose liver, and Chinese food that you can get in the US. All Chinese meals are family style. We ended up having beef in a curry - it was very tender and shredded easily -- and fried rice cantonese style with shrimp, egg and pork in it. You don't put the rice on your plate (oops) but wait for a bowl with a weird looking spoon. I actually had a bite of shrimp and used chop sticks to get the beef out of the bowl. I'm terrible at it and the Chinese around me snickered. I lost control once and shot a chopstick at my host. I apologized profusely and then laughed. They brought me silverware but I kept using the weird spoon like me host to eat and the chopsticks to get the food out.
After lunch, we headed to the Super Brand Mall/Lotus SuperCenter Grocery in the basement. It's weird to be in a China and hear "Hark, The Herald Angels Sing" and "Silent Night" being sung over the mall sound system in a communist country. It was rather unexpected and ironic.
The two level grocery is basically like a Super Wal-Mart in the states. You can buy dvds, clothes, food, electronics, etc. I couldn't read most of the things in the grocery store except for the section area that also had English. American cereal is US$6 for a small box. There's lots of chocolate around for some reason. The meat section almost made me gag. Whole ducks, birds, fish, pork necks, turtles, etc. I can already tell that I'll be losing weight.
To get to the second floor of the store, you had to take a special escalator. Instead of having stairs, it was a moving ramp at an angle. The wheels of the cart lock in the teeth of the metal escalator and up you go.
Next door was the pharmacy. Prices seemed to be less than in the US and you can get pretty much everything you get in the states. However, I'm not sure you can buy a Budweiser or Heineken by the can in a pharmacy in the states.
Upon my return to the apartment, I got our satellite tv set up. We can listen to US radio channels on it - similar to Directv. I'm currently listening to the Steve Miller band. We get Fox News, CNN, Bloomberg, Cinemax, HBO, Star, TCM, Cartoon Network, Disney, Nickelodeon, MTV Phillipines, CNBC, Trinity Broadcasting, BBC World, ESPN Int'l (lots of pool and soccer), Star Sports which is all European soccer, National Geographic, Sports Plus (showing Chicago Bears vs. Minnesota Vikings from Sunday currently) and lots of channels from around the world.
Tomorrow, is my first day on the job. The staff have called me or text messaged me to welcome me to Shanghai.
Observations:
Google.com forces me to Chinese google (http://www.google.com/intl/zh-CN/) that comes up with lots of question marks.
Joss, luck and dragon seem to be in many of the names of things here.
Chinese hang their laundry outside to dry off their balconies.
There's no such thing as districting. Slums are next to nice housing areas. Outside our windows beside the river, ships pull up and have coal and other things loaded onto them.
Bright, colorful lights are everywhere. Shops are painted in bright colors.
Each of our bedrooms has a lock and key.
You can't always go directly to a Web site. For example, I have to go to blogger.com to get to my blog instead of going directly to dukeofdata.blogspot.com. Even after I post, I can't see the site. I can only see the back end where I type, edit, etc.
Every time I tell someone thank you, they reply with "my pleasure." The Chinese are incredibly gracious.
Text messaging from a phone seems to be the preferred method of comms. Everyone seems to have a mobile phone. Chinese don't leave messages for the most part.
Asian soap operas are as corny as ours.
Coke & Coke Light (Diet Coke but it tastes like Coke Zero) are sold in 650 ml bottles or 1.25 L bottles.
I found an English language bookstore at the Shanghai Times Square. You can buy recent fiction in trade paperback when it's still in hardcover in the US. Camel Club by Baldacci was 176RMB or US$22.
A full service apartment is basically a hotel. They do your laundry for high prices, get you up with a wake up call, clean your apartment twice a day, change your linens twice a week, etc.
American cereal is VERY expensive. A 16 oz. box of Cheerios was 48 RMB/US$6.
Not being able to read signs, labels, etc. when you first get here is very frustrating. You take for granted how much you read in the states.
It's important to have some things that remind you of home. Having silly things like a football game on tv, being able to listen to the radio on iTunes, having Internet access, etc. all help make the transition easier. It probably takes away from the Asian experience to muck it up with American stuff, but it does help to make you feel more at home.
US$1 = 8.11 RMB
If you register with the American Consulate, they send you a number of emails. I've been here less than 24 hours and already received two.
You barter at the markets w/ a calculator.
Logos on the fake clothing (North Face, Polo, etc.) aren't always where you find them on the real thing. Sometimes, they go over the top of the pocket.
You don't tip for service in China.
Gas prices are similar to the U.S.
Get your Visa at the Chinese Embassy to avoid the 200% mark up of a service doing it for you.
If you come here to work, you need to pick a Chinese name.
You can't convert Yuan/RMB after you depart China and you won't see US $ in China.
To work and live in China as a US citizen, you need a work Visa, alien permit and residence visa.
Can't ship your household goods until you have a residence visa.
Vonage will work in China w/ a US phone #. You just set up an area code in the US and hook up the phone in China.
It's a good thing Spurgeon does Morning & Evening. I don't get it via email now till evening now.
1 comment:
Very valuable message
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