Life is getting easier everyday...

Click to take a look at daily life here in Shanghai Shanghai_walking009

Hey, Jenn here again! I know that I have been letting Sean bear the burden of writing all of the blog entries but I have been his shadow writer at times, I have helped gather some of the information and well let’s face it, someone has to plan all of the stuff that we are doing! We really have been going nonstop… exploring, traveling or writing about it. We are four weeks on the road now and in some ways it is getting easier and in others the wear is showing. While Sean is busy with what I now term his “mistress”, the blog, I have been busy trying to keep us organized and travel- ready. I have learned the art of washing clothes in either the bath tub or sink (depending on the load) and then hanging them in various parts of the hotel room to dry. The window is the best place but since we are across from the biggest post office in Shanghai, I refrain from drying my delicates in the sun. We have learned to stop on the way home to stock up our mini fridge with the necessities - orange juice, coffee drinks and soda and to keep a few cups of noodles, potato chips and pastries on the shelf for those times that we just don’t feel like going out in the freezing cold or having to deal with the language barrier just to feed our gnawing bellies.

We are living out of four suitcases (but we just had to buy a 5th…shopping) that I have neatly arranged all over the hotel room. Trust me this room is much nicer than the first one so I am not complaining. And although these beds are bigger than the first room, they are still nothing more than a double bed. Which I guess if you are Asian, that is big enough. When you are like Sean and I, you find yourself precariously hanging over the edge in the middle of the night. And then there the housekeepers in the morning… You don’t need an alarm clock here (which there is not a clock in the room-must be some superstition, I’m sure) you are wakened each morning with their loud talking and banging of doors. The first thought that always comes to my mind is, did we put the “Do Not Disturb” sign out last night?

Getting around has become easier and I don’t feel like the “alien” that I did the first few days. I actually caught myself walking down the street the other day as if I belonged here until I caught the glare of a stare directed at me and it was then that I realized my transformation into a China resident has started. I am starting to feel normal here. I wished that I spoke the language… Oh my God, I wish I did. And it is soooo hard. Nothing makes sense with the pronunciation so I have also honed my skills at looking up words quickly in my Mandarin book and pointing to what it is that I want to say. And they are really great about it too. I recently picked up a bottle of what I thought was soy sauce but couldn’t tell so I had to confirm with the older man at the register… he chuckled and said “Yes, soy sauce”. It’s funny, you never know who will surprise you with English.

I don’t think I will ever get used to the shopping here though. I can’t tell if it is high pressure sales or just extremely good customer service. Either way, since I am the great “shopper” and usually not the great “buyer”, I think I will stay out of stores for awhile until I really need something. There is no window shopping in Shanghai. If you look at it, the sales lady has it bagged for you before you can say “bushi”, which means NO in mandarin…but Sean and I still don’t know how to pronounce it!

I will end for now but I already know what the subject of my next entry will be about. I will end up being one of those starving kids in China that my mother told me about in order to get me to eat my vegetables… and now I know why they were starving… and I would do anything to have those safe vegetables that my mother was trying to get me to eat…. You can’t imagine the food here. Where is the General Tso’s Chicken , the Honey Garlic Chicken or Pork Fried rice??? And what is foie gras and who eats pig intestines??? More to come…..promise.

Click to learn more about the "meat street" behind me... Shanghai_walking009