"Permanent" Apartment

Settling into Shanghai

Over the weekend we made our move to the place we intend to call home for at least the next year, if not for our entire stay while in Shanghai. The apartment offers very nice western amenities including on-demand water heater, oven, washer/dryer, central heat/air, double-paned windows, and more. The complex is extremely convenient to all "Green City" amenities of JinQiao, but with the convenience comes traffic noise; barring that, the apartment is ideal.


This move was by far our easiest given we had a total of 14 boxes and luggage. At the moment the interior is quite institutional, but as our knowledge and explorations of the city evolve so should our nest. The trick will be marrying Asian aesthetics with our vast collection of Mexican wares.

A little bit about the cost of expat housing; in a word - expensive. But housing costs in Shanghai, just like anywhere else, boil down to location and amenities, and we have it all. Ranking in the top 25 most expensive places to live in the world, Shanghai's cost of living expenses are comparable to NYC. Having moved from western NC, we are forced to redefine some lifestyle choices in order to maintain our home-country budget. A large cost for us is keeping and maintaining our house in the states. We may revisit the decision to keep our house next year.

Upon possession of the new apartment we discovered we would be without Internet for 2 days, and it's only then that I felt the first twangs of anxiousness. The Internet is my lifeline to the 'real world'. If it were not for the technological advances that allow me to stay close to loved ones I don't know that I could be a happy expat. As it is I blog, email, IM, tweet, wall, SMS, skype and photobucket my way to loved ones daily. Add Internet technology to our wonderful new digs and life is pretty super in Shanghai!

Spring in Shanghai

Green City of JinQiao - Beautiful!

Today I went for "Coffee Morning" at the Shanghai Community Center. It was the last coffee morning of the season, but it was my first, and it was an informal way to meet some new people and to learn of many more resources of the city. Two guest speakers talked about Jade and Chinese antiques. I will definitely be visiting the antiques dealer in the near future, I'll keep you posted.

After the meeting I spoke with the HR director of the center and I will begin work next Tuesday! I will be assisting the full-time web designer with web maintenance. I am looking forward to using my talents and to learning more about server-side issues in China.

The community center is located appx 3 miles from our temporary lodging, so I chose to walk home to take advantage of the glorious weather. Halfway home and in awe of the many beautiful gardens, I realized I had my camera so I took a few pictures. Select the image to see a larger slideshow and descriptions.

I don't know about you, but this area isn't AT ALL what I had envisioned any part of China to look like. Granted, we're in a very new area of Shanghai: Pudong, and especially the JinQiao area not long ago was swamp land filled with pig farms (or so we've been told) - still, with the cobbled walkways and old-world architecture the area evokes a European feel to me. What do you think?

Volunteering in Shanghai

Why I love my husband!

Inserted is a copy of an email response I received from my husband today. I emailed him to say I filled out an online volunteer form for The Shanghai Community Center after I signed up for a painting class that will be starting in 10 days. Once the Community Center saw my IT skills I was called immediately and asked to come in to discuss a volunteer web maintenance position. I emailed my husband to ask if he minded if I volunteered a couple of afternoons a week. His email is very typical of all the emails I receive from him and it serves as an example why I am still madly in love with him after more than 30 years together...
All is going superbly in Shanghai (for the exception of fish head fondue - no thanks!). I'll keep you posted on the volunteer position and the painting classes.

Chinese Grits!

Seems EVERYTHING is made (or can be found) in China!

Another reason we’re gonna love China – Chinese grits! We made our first trip to the Lotus, a large supermarket (akin to a Walmart superstore). The store is comprised of two large floors filled with everything imaginable and has an escalator to accommodate shopping carts. For many small reasons (and not just because we found grits), I will prefer to shop this store over the one located much more conveniently to our new apartment. I still can’t believe it - GRITS – a southerner’s quintessential comfort food! We were in the spices and dried fruits isle when my husband handed me the bag of golden milled corn. He mumbled half-jokingly, “Chinese grits…”, and once I took a good look at the bag, I assured him they were INDEED grits! I had to do a bit of convincing, but because they were less than $2, my husband consented to give them a try. They are a bit larger ground, and they are yellow (like the fancy stone ground type), but I cooked them this morning and they were GREAT!! Never, ever would we have imagined we’d ever run across them. However, because we’re venturing beyond the Laowai (foreigner) markets and shopping with the locals, we’re discovering there’s hardly anything that can’t be had here.

We packed so much food because we read post after post of folks whining about not finding this or that, and yes, if English brands are to be purchased, they may or may not be found and they will come at a premium cost. For instance, Skippy peanut butter can be had in the Chinese packaging just about anywhere and for a reasonable price. So, for those exploring a move here – just come on and don’t freak about provisions, almost everything can be found here in Shanghai and I’ll prove it to you by taking you to places that were shared with us.

We also packed baking pans, muffin pans, a wine opener, etc. which ends up being a waste of space and time. All the items can be had at the Restaurant supply market – a huge market for buying dishes, utensils, pots and pans, etc. We visited the market yesterday, I have chosen some fun “China” for our new apartment and the dishes are incredibly priced. The restaurant supply place is yet another treasure resource shared by my new friends. Next Saturday we’re returning to the restaurant supply with a list in hand, and some memorized Mandarin phrases ready to bargain. We’ve negotiated our way around Pudong for the past two weeks without speaking a word of Mandarin beyond “Ni Hao” (hello) and “Xiexie” (thank you). Pictured - restaurant supply market on corner of YangGao Lu (near Thumb Plaza) next to the Lotus supermarket.

My friends have also shared the address to a huge textile warehouse where I’m promised an overwhelming selection of fabrics and services. I am to take my bed measurements, and upon selection of my favorite fabrics our custom bed linens (or custom slipcovers, draperies, etc) will be made and delivered to us within the week. This beats the fake market HANDS DOWN!! If it weren’t for our friends, and if we were pansies and weren’t willing to venture out beyond our comfort levels, our selections would be truly limited. But by our newbie experiences in our whole 2+ weeks in Shanghai, seems everything can be found in China if you're willing to do some adventure shopping.

Shanghai - Week Two

What a difference a week makes!

I would love to report of exotic tours and fun findings around the huge city of Shanghai, but alas, I’ve nothing more to report that we have eaten out a few times, walked more miles than I dare say I’ve walked in 6 months, I have negotiated the supermarket three times by myself, and we have found a place to live. This week was really an exercise in routine, about dealing with the basics; food, shelter and small comforts. And speaking of comforts, we had a glorious foot massage one evening, more about that later.

First a little about our new ‘hood: We chose an apartment in the Green City area of JinQiao. Green City is convenient to my husband’s work, and it is a very popular expat area, especially for those with families. It is indeed green and clean, and it is slower-paced than many other parts of the city. The apartment is small, but it is lacking in nothing as far as expat amenities go. We are very excited to be moving in at the end of this month. We will be living within a stone’s throw to the supermarket, multiple restaurants, fitness center, and other shopping. If you are reading this and are needing a reliable local realtor who speaks and UNDERSTANDS English and westerners, we highly recommend Shanghai Properties and especially James. Email me if you would like to know more.

Negotiating the supermarkets: I have so much to learn, but already I’ve learned so much. The biggest trick is wrapping my head around how/where the Chinese would reason a certain item to be located/categorized vs where westerners would place items. Store layouts are more similar than not, but I spent 30 minutes trying to track down Chinese flour one trip. While the Chinese don’t bake (it’s not in their culture to have ovens, rather they purchase their baked goods daily) they still make tons of steamed bread dumplings so I knew wheat flour should be readily available somewhere in the store. I was diligent until I finally stumbled upon some large bags (literally the flour sacks) of what looked like flour. The only clue I had to go on was a small wheat symbol on the bag. So, I purchased a huge-hunkin’ bag of Chinese flour for less than $2.00 vs the imported Gold Medal brand for $8.00 – and that’s the sort of victories I’ve taken great pride in this week. It’s hard being a grown, sufficient, middle-aged woman who is reduced to being a 12yo when negotiating everyday life. But, to be a successful expat I’ve got to buck up, swallow my pride, and just have at it. My new friends are an incredible resource as well.

To get around when not traveling by foot we research a location’s pinyin address and then ask the concierge to translate that address into Mandarin for taxi drivers. Pinyin is the standard Romanization of the Mandarin language, it is what allows we westerners to understand and speak Mandarin without knowing the Mandarin symbols. For instance xiexie (pronounced sheshe) is pinyin for 谢谢 which means thank you. Most taxi drivers wouldn’t have a clue what the pinyin means, so the information must be translated to the Mandarin symbols. I am envious and amazed by the many young people who know Mandarin, pinyin, and English.

So, with all the walking and other new experiences, taking advantage of a foot massage was definitely a treat this week. For only $68rmb each (which equals less than $10US) we had our feet, shoulders and calves massaged for over an hour one evening. It was heaven! BUT, the massages aren’t for pansies – they dig hard and deep. Try as hard as he might I had this one little fella having at my feet, but I never flinched – I definitely got thrown in my “briar patch”! I’ve set a weekly goal for myself, if I walk at least 15 miles a week I will treat myself to a foot massage.

So, all in all my husband and I had a ShangHIGH week! We’re off to the restaurant supply market in the morning to scope out pots, pans and dishes needed for our new place - at over four stories high, we’ve been told to be overwhelmed by the selections. Can’t wait!

ShangHighs and ShangLows

New expat friend to the rescue.

There is a local, very popular expat forum frequented by the many thousands of expats living in Shanghai. The forum is just like all the others; filled with forum jockeys, trolls, cliques and a whole lot of forum smack that must be waded through to get at any sort of decent information, but the forum was the tool that saved me this week.


Through the forum I made a comment about my first trip to the local supermarket, I also asked for a resource to purchase a coffeemaker, and an angel of mercy replied to my post offering her welcome and help. That contact led to a wonderful phone call and then the phone call led to another contact. I can’t begin to express my gratitude for the two ladies reaching out, but both do so out of compassion and memories of how they felt upon first arriving to the city.

All that to say my new friend is showing me the wet market today (open market where the locals shop), AND taking me to a Costco-like store (where she assures me laowai items are much cheaper), AND helping me negotiate a local laundry, AND introducing me to the Community Center, a very large organization mostly patronized by expats. My first week here and already I’ve found someone who speaks English AND understands where I’m coming from - this is BIG!

“Dee” is originally from Canada, but has lived many places including the states. She and her family have been in Shanghai four years. I explained a bit of my previous day and she chuckled and told me, “You have experienced what is called a ShangLow day...we expats explain our days here in terms of ShangHighs and ShangLows, and you had a ShangLow day.” You’re darn tootin!

And another bit of revelation…seems my pronounced southern accent and colloquialisms are a bit difficult for some. I’ve been told by an Australian (who sports a heavy accent herself, thank you) that I am as difficult to understand as a Scott. For real? Another mid-western American told me the girls at the community center were going to have fun with me when they hear me talk; she onced lived in Atlanta so she had no problems working through the endless syllable pronunciations. So, maybe the assistant was having a legitimately difficult time understanding me? Who knows – the assistant idea is a bust. Dee also told me I was going to have to curb the southern manners and start taking up for myself or I would be eaten alive by the city. Snap - Heard dat!

At present we’re negotiating apartment options. Our Realtor, James, is GREAT – he is unassuming (which attests to his experience with westerners), listens and doesn’t pressure. Apartments are pricey but it’s all relative to location and amenities and our diligence – finding a suitable place is going to be the least of our issues. More to come on the real estate search another post. Thanks to everyone's encouragement and fun notes, it is WONDERFUL hearing from you all! Here's to new friends and tried and true friends!



Picture of Shanghai at sunset taken from hotel

Misinterpretations

Observation: A Chinese smile, nod and “Aryh, yes…” really means “I don’t have a clue what you just said”.

I learned the hard way today the young lady in charge of assisting me with everyday dealings comprehends very little English and the driver comprehends even less which equaled to a very frustrating and pointless outing. Instead of being shown the fresh fruits and vegetable market I was taken to the fake market. Instead of assisting me at the supermarket, I was let out at a random intersection and had to walk several large city blocks to the supermarket alone…yeah, the misinterpretations were THAT bad. I was too livid to cry, instead I stomped and cursed my way to purchase the incredibly expensive provisions. I was cursing the situation not the assistant.

The situation is this; many people here speak English, but few English speaking Chinese comprehend English speaking people – why would/should they? This assistant took me to a market she thought a rich laowai would want to go. And the misinterpretations are these: We are far from rich and given the extremely high prices for imported groceries (Kellogg’s breakfast cereal $10US a box, small block of cheese $8, Gold Medal flour $8 a bag, etc) our effective income has just taken a nose dive (and thus my motivation for seeking out a locals market). And I’ll tell you now…of the top 10 things I want to do in Shanghai, going to the fake market doesn’t even make the list!

The assistant would probably be shocked to know because our extended-stay hotel has seen fit to rob us via laundry charges I am washing our undies which would otherwise cost $3 each. We had seven pieces of clothing laundered – not starched, not dry cleaned, not ironed even and the bill totaled $37.50 US (I dare say our designer Target pieces even cost that much)! I don’t know how to make the assistant understand I’m trying to find a place to buy a cheap tomato not a flippin’ Dolce Gabbana ripoff! When I was shown the curb today I asked, “Are you not going to help me at the Carrefour?” She replied, “aryh, yes – you walk to Carrefour I go back to work, yes?” I replied with a resolute “yes” knowing any further attempts to communicate were futile. Also, I realized in that instant she doesn’t consider babysitting me her work. I abhor having to be dependent on anyone to see me through the simplest of every day matters, but I must find someone more effective than she to help me a little while longer.

I’m going apartment hunting today with James, a Chinese Realtor, after our mandatory Chinese physicals (part of being a foreign resident) – wish me ruck…