Return of the Chinglish

In case of emergency, please form an orderly line here to pay for your groceries

Who needs IKEA? For all of your household furnishing needs, make your way to "Hotel Thing Confluence"

Tired with conventional and unfashionable glasses for the blind, Helen Keller took matters into her own hands.

Sugar, no boys allowed!

Stinky Tofu

Ni Hao!

The eagle has landed. Actually, we landed a week ago but I anyone who knows me knows that under the effects of jet lag I become a lobotomized lump of what used to be me. Now, well recovered, I am back in China and doing a lot of reminiscing, such as walking into a grocery store and remembering the brand of soupy fat free yoghurt I used to buy in Da Qing. I am also trying to absorb a lot of new information about where places and landmarks in the city live and how close in accordance we would like to live with them.

No matter how many times I leave a place and start up new somewhere else, relearning my surroundings is always the hardest part. It took the better part of two years to learn where everything was and how to get to it in London and now it feels as though I was never there at all. The only souvenir I have is the English guy sleeping next to me (sorry mom) on the air bed in his brothers apartment. 

My Chinese is coming back so quickly and my iron stomach is once again being put to the test with the many weird, wonderful and appalling foods I've been offered. Ever wondered what a fart actually tastes like? I don't have to anymore. I've tasted one in the form of a food actually named "Stinky Tofu." Other oddities I have sampled and actually though decent are dried jellyfish, salty bamboo, and wet peanuts. Yum. Good thing Shanghai also has a plentiful array of western restaurants. I might have jellied noodles for breakfast but at least I can have a Greek salad with garlic bread for lunch.

Today is serious apartment hunting day.  Previous attempts have sent us into a bit of an emotional trauma as the places we visited looked like they were being used to hold midnight dog fighting sessions and smelled like stinky tofu. Fingers crossed we find some better prospects today or else we may end up having to camp in the public park. 

I officially have one job. In September I will be teaching English to 6 year olds  for four hours a week. I am going to start  looking for something else to supplement the hours but it's a start at least, and the pay is good.

Things are kinda sorta coming together and as our first week in China comes to a close, I can kinda sorta start seeing what kind of life we can put together for ourselves here. Of course, being China, it could all change tomorrow. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Here are some photos of our trip to the gardens in Hangzhou.

 It was monsooning heavily.

Big Buddha

   

See You In Shanghai!

It's today. After all of the anticipation, discussion, debates over what to pack, vacuum sealing (SO FUN!), cleaning and preparation, we are leaving! At 11pm we will depart  Heathrow Airport and with a quick stop-over in Mousekawitz Russian(not it's real name) aiport, arrive at 11pm the following evening in Shanghai.

Last time I left to work in China, I brought a backpack with exactly two shirts, one pair of shorts, a toothbrush and my camera. I was calm and confident and strong. This time I am packing two suitcases full of "just-in-case" clothes, respectable interview uniforms, kitchen supplies, and binders full of boring papers regarding various boring elements of my life. Essentially, I am traveling like a bag lady, sans empty soda cans. I am traveling like an old woman.

Well, I guess with old age comes a sense of clarity about how I want my life to be. I want Tony with me, I want us to be happy and secure, to never lose the sense of adventure and look back on all of this one day and smile. I think we're off on the right track with this China business. 

So we're going to get off the plane in Pudong and start searching for my job and our apartment. That is step one. Wish us luck. I have never had experience dealing with a Chinese rental company, and I think we will need lots of it, and patience...and a few bottles of alchohol.

Goodbye London! Hello Shanghai!