Well, one week has gone by! Can't believe it. How weird to think that Shanghai is my new home, but I'm slowly getting that through my head. For the past week, I have been outside walking around, attempting to learn Chinese characters, and eating as much food as I possibly can get my hands on! The food here is just amazing and sooooo cheap! Every morning I have fresh soy milk, some fresh buns, and sometimes, even fresh made wontons. I told myself that I can eat whatever I want in the morning, but after that meal, it's all about veggies and brown rice. Don't want to be a porker anymore so gotta watch what I'm taking in. However, it is so tempting...The only problem I have is when I have to go to the market to buy these things. It's a bit crowded for my liking. Too many people wandering the streets and the worst part about it is the attempt to walk on a sidewalk where there are scooters, motorcycles and bicycles attempting to kill you. I think I have gotten in one fight a day with a motorist! And I can't curse in Chinese so I'm yelling at these people in English and they just stare blankly at me. That's alright. As long as I can vent my anger and they can see that I'm not happy with having to dodge them on a pedestrian sidewalk!
I've been busy looking for housing since I arrived. My poor sister had to take a few days off of work and I dragged her around the city to look at places. Let me tell you...housing here is sooooo competitive. You'd think that there would be nice places but the problem is that my work is located right in the heart of the city and I'd like to find a place where I can walk to work. That's going to be hard...everyone wants to avoid the subways or public transportation but it is going to cost a lot. So far I have attempted to put my name down at two places and I've lost out to other bidders for the unit. Too many darn expats these days! :) We're all fighting for the best housing, but don't want to spend that much money to have it. So it's a painful process and I have to go again starting tomorrow to see if I can find something suitable. I feel like I'm back in DC and NYC again because that was the biggest issue with living in those cities...finding affordable housing. I'll have to post some pictures soon to show you what I have found. Keep your fingers crossed that I find something soon. I need to move in by mid July.
Otherwise, still struggling with the crazy heat here. It's so warm and humid! I walk outside for five minutes and I'm SOAKED. I get some strange looks from people because I am dripping with sweat (yes, very sexy, I know) on the subway but no one else is sweating like me! People tell me that this is going to last until August! So not looking forward to that! I'm looking forward to getting away soon though. Taking a vacation to Scandanavia countries so that should cool me off a bit. Should be a good (and expensive) time.
I've had the opportunity to chat with my girls from Columbia on Skype and it's awesome to have freeee phone conversations. For those of you who are STILL not on skype, get it! That way, I can chat with you guys instead of having you read these stupid blogs :) Just go to skype.com and download. It's free! The bad thing is that I'm 12 hours ahead from US folks, about 2 hours behind Australia folks, about 6 hours difference from Europe folks, so it's going to be tough. Hopefully I will still be able to chat with some of you on weekends. Or better yet, come visit! Until then...
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