Getting settled in Shanghai

I arrived in Shanghai September 5, 2011. It was scary just seeing the city coming in from the taxi. I got settled into Shanghai at the Rayfont hotel to start searching for apartments. I was, I believe, ridiculously lucky in being able to get a lot of things settled in the first day of arriving. It helped that a friend of mine was able to take a look at the place that I was already considering. Still, looking back at things, I'm amazed at the fortune I had in getting a phone and a signed contract to stay in my apartment within 4 hours of arriving.

My apartment was really small, 46 square meters including the bathroom and a small washing machine. You could describe it as a loft, with a small bed constructed close to the ceiling so that there's a larger floor area. It was actually a very quaint but homey place, a huge shift from the places i've stayed at in Manila and Vancouver. I liked it, I liked the privacy it afforded me and the sense of independence... it was liberating. I got it furnished the day after from Carrefour; got my wifi fixed; finalized the situation with the Ayi; and settled into my apartment on day 2 in Shanghai. Big woop.

The first days in Shanghai was made easier by having friendly faces around with me. Matthias, Sunny and Roger made the whole adjustment period a lot more approachable. There's a tangible value in having a friendly face in a new environment. Maybe not codependence but the knowledge of having a community there; even just one with fairly loose connections just to break bread with and understand your perspective along with you... there's a security in that. I'll talk a bit more about community later on when i eventually talk about the friends i made. But safe to say that having fellow UBC people there was reassuring that I wasn’t crazy for going to China.

I also had a purpose for the first couple of days which i was grateful for. It just so happened that there was a polyurethane conference in Shanghai. I was seriously uncertain the first couple of days, something that i think everyone will go through. But a jump from the pleasant Vancouver summers to the Shanghai heat was a pretty big one, having a purpose to wake up and immerse myself, forcefully most of the time, was helpful. I learned to appreciate that value of purpose to give yourself a reason to wake up and engage the world in China, this was one incident, the other one i'll talk more about during our trip to Xi'an.