Apartments, Medical Exams and Typhoon's ... OH MY!

     So much happens every minute of every day here in Shanghai that it is proving very difficult to keep up with a blog. I found this challenging last year but even  more so now! I mean, I've only been here 2 weeks and already so much has happened that I simply cannot keep up. I have sectioned off this post into three categories.The first is my encounter  with the oh so dreaded Muifa; the second, my search for my first apartment and third, the full body Medical Examination every working alien needs to go through when applying for a working visa in China.

MUIFA!!!!

  All you folks that watch the weather net work or endless amounts of news may have subtly stumbled upon news of her. She was the massive typhoon that was suggested by Chinese officials to be the country's strongest typhoon of the year and the warning actually caused quite a stir here in Shanghai. Her impending arrival even drove some of the Shanghai bars to close early... and that's hard to do! 
  
  So with all this hype Erika and I naturally got a little excited as neither of us had ever experienced a Typhoon or hurricane before. We were eager to be huddled up all cozy and bunkered down in our hostel with fellow travelling expats to lean on for support if things got too rough. Unfortunately, like most things here in China, it was all a big LIE! ... Well, maybe that's a little harsh, but people here do tend to over exaggerate about everything! Its called keeping face. Any way, I was mostly disappointed because we had scheduled our move in date to our brand new apartment around this pitiful drizzle of a storm!

    Really I should consider myself lucky, the storm dissipated just as it was about to hit the mainland, luckily no on was hurt here in shanghai and I get to see another day. But, so were clear... it would have been pretty sick to say that my first week back in Shanghai I got to sit through it's biggest Typhoon. Maybe next time..  




APARTMENT HUNTING: 


Well,
  Erika and I are quite efficient apartment hunters if I do say so myself! It really didn't take us long to find our dream home here in the city. Luck was on our side too as we ended up hooking up with a great agency (Plugging Big Panda Agency  right now! If any one is looking to move here go with them they are by far the most helpful and honest!). The first apartment we looked at, though way out of our budget, allowed us to meet up with this great agent by the name of Ben. Honestly without him I don't know how we would have gotten through. He went above and beyond to help us out with everything, but also without holding our hand every step of the way. The dude just got it!  He knew we were newly graduated Western girls looking for a reasonably priced but chic apartment, and understood that this was something we needed and also wanted to figure out on our own. By subtly guiding us through the process we knew we had someone who we could trust and wouldn't steer us wrong if we got into trouble. He was even so helpful as to give up some of his commission fee for the apartment so we could get a better deal. Overall very great guy! 


  The signing process itself though... HOLY! What an ordeal! 
We literally sat down (Erika, Ben, Mr. and Mrs. Guoa (our landlords), and I ) for 3 hours negotiating god knows what because most of it was all done by Ben and the Guoa's... and obviously in Mandarin. Erika and I pretty much just sat there smiling and looking pretty.  We later figured out that most of that negotiation was them talking about whether or not they could put padded mattresses for our wimpy backs on the beds... the answer was finally a no ...my poor, poor back :( 


 After what seemed like an eternity in my jet lagged mind, we finally  managed to get around to the actual signing of the lease and payments. 


  * Note: If any one is going to move to Shanghai please note that the payments for renting an apartment are very different then back home. Normally we pay first and lasts months rent and the land lord says : "Ok Done!" and every one goes home happy. That is not the case here. We had to pay a deposit of one months rent right then and there, plus 2 months rent and a managerial fee (actually I  just paid the 2 months today ... so I'm broke!). Basically you have to pay  a lot of money up front and then on a bi-montly basis. If I didn't know how to budget my money before, I definitely will by the end of this whole experience! 

Our living room!! You can see the door of my room as well on the right! 

In the end we are extremely happy with our find. The apartment is located  in a great area (Jing'an) with tones of food places, subway and basically everything we will ever need. It is beautiful and a major steel ... Wo ai!   (I love) 




MEDICAL EXAMINATION!


    Well, this is something every alien must go through to acquire a working visa in China. The full body medical exam! A completely ridiculous, unnecessary waist of time and money but Hey! It's China so why the heck not! 


   First thing's first, it took me longer to actually get to the hospital then to complete the actual medical check it self.  So, I arrived at the hospital and was immediately issued a number and sent to a room to change into my robe and little booties. After which I was shuffled off from room to room, with orders being barked at me, pointing, poking, prodding, "ahh-ing", deep breathing, needle pricking and then BAM! Just as fast as I got there it was all over. 
   Somehow within the half hour I was given a surgery check, EKG,ultrasound, blood sampling, radiology exam and full body x-ray. What they possibly could have tested for is beyond me! However, it was a very interesting and hilarious experience!  One I most certainly will not be forgetting!  
  When I got my results delivered to me 3 days later the booklet  said that everything was normal, except for my heart...
The EKG indicated that my heart was ... wait for it.....
   "Basically Normal"
Goodness Gracious China!!! 

What a welcome!

Nihao Shanghai!

mmm smog central! 

   It's been far too long and yet it only feels as though   yesterday I was wondering your skinny side streets, dodging motorcyclists and rogue taxi’s and casually brushing off the intense stairs downs on the subway.  It was my first full day back in the city and boy was it eventful!

  Let me start off this account by letting you all know that the jet lag hit me hard the previous night forcing me to pop a gravol around 3 am giving me about 3 hours of blissful rest before I had to force my self out of my splendid slumber only to trek it out to work for 9 am. Despite the early wake up call the morning went rather smoothly, and although the head office is a tad far from where I was staying I managed to make it down to the subway station closest to the office with no difficulty and plenty of time to spare. 

   Feeling pretty good about my first Shanghai conquest in 7 months I decided to take a taxi to the area that I thought the office was in. This left me with plenty of time to walk around, kill some time and take in some of the surroundings before I actually had to go in. BIG MISTAKE!!! After walking for an hour looking for the building I realized I had taken the taxi to the wrong intersection. I then decided to flag a cab and after numerous communication errors we were finally back on track. Somehow I still managed to arrive at the office  early. After all the business was taken care of we were taken to set up a Chinese bank account. Now, the bank is literally a 5 min walk from the office, but of course a this very simple task would be far to easy and boring for Shanghai so why not stir things up a bit!  Just as we were crossing the main intersection a random angry black cloud decided that it was a great time to dump its entire life onto us. Picture gale force winds blowing the enormous amounts of rain in every direction, pitch-black skies, raindrops the size of your hands, blinding lighting and thunder so loud it would make grown man burst into tears! …

    Ok so I’m exaggerating a little bit but the storm was pretty big! We managed to take refuge under a bus shelter, which in hindsight may not have been the smartest idea as the shelter was made of pure mental and stood directly under two large trees.  Drenched, cold, hungry and tired I stood there with fellow teacher Tony and a women who spoke zero English and waited for a half an hour until the rain subsided enough to let us sprint over to the bank. 

About an hour later our bank accounts were set up and we were able to finally make the journey back to our homes (hostel in my case). The trek home went a little something like this: two westerners standing soaking wet in a very very air-conditioned subway being gawked at from every direction; me being pushed profusely while I struggled to make it though the interchanges during Shanghai rush hour; dodging camera phones sneaking very un-stealthy photos (I know I love the spot light, but these people are worse than paparazzi), and of course no day would be complete without being yelled at by an elderly Chinese woman for showing “too much skin”.

Side note: Mom, Dad, I really wasn’t showing too much skin, I was actually dressed pretty professionally. It was only because I’m western that I got yelled at… I mean the girl next to me had short shorts so short I could pretty much see her colita!

Wonderlust

Monday August 1^st- 2^nd

Wonderlust

We all have this itch, one that cannot be scratched. It just gnaws at you subtly resting in the back of your consciousness. It’s the thought of what’s next? Or where do I go from here?

I recently finished my 4 year degree at Queens University and although I just returned from an exchange in Shanghai and a recent trip to Thailand, the itch has just grown stronger. Wonderlust has officially taken over and I now find myself embarking on another adventure. I am heading back to the East … surprise, surprise! The bright lights, large lifestyle, rich history and captivating culture of Shanghai has called me back once again. This time I will be living in the city for about one year and if you know me, you know that I can get up to a lot of trouble in a year. I will be teaching English in the city and living with my good friend Erika (two single girls in a big city… I yah!).

I invite you all to join me in my adventure. Follow along and enjoy because if this year is anything like the last were all in for a bumpy yet amazing ride.