Life abroad teaches you a lot. Here's a list of what I've learned about life and China in general:

• You're the most amusing thing most people have ever seen. Get used to it.
• If something smells bad, just blame the nearest sewer vent.
• You're never more than 20 feet from one of these sewer vents.
• Raw sewage smells like sulphur.
• This smell is not to be confused with a Shanghai favorite: stinky tofu. Think of the smell you'd expect in a pig barn. Now multiply that by ten.
• Stinky tofu tastes wonderful.
  
• Eggs are only good if you leave them out- preferably in the sun- for 12 hours before cooking. And surprisingly, I still haven't gotten sick by eating one of the aforementioned eggs.
  
• The American concept of cockroaches is laughable. Wait till you see cockroaches the size of kittens.
• The American concept of instant noodles is just as laughable. Chinese instant noodles normally come with: a broth packet, a dried vegetable packet, a spice+oil packet, and a set of wooden chopsticks. The price? Less than 50 cents.
• Don't boil tap water to make instant noodles.
• Or coffee.
• Or anything else.
• Just stay away from the tap water.
• The average internet connection in the states is at least twice as fast as anything I've used here as of yet.
• You have no idea how marred the image of Americans really is until you talk to a European...
• Don't eat the apples.
• Don't eat any fruit you haven't peeled yourself.
• If you see someone doing something strange and you can't figure out why, don't worry. Chances are that it's not just some cultural difference- no one else around you knows why that person is being strange either.
• The Chinese are actually the best drivers on the Earth. Period.
• Doubly so for taxi drivers.
  
• Carry a wallet if you have to, but don't carry any cash in it. It WILL get nicked.
• Think it's a great idea to beat the rush and get on the subway before quitting time? Yeah, you and 500,000 other people.
• Bayonets are still in fashion. Especially at the US embassy.
  
• Armbands (even black ones representing mourning) really freak me out. A lot.
• You are guaranteed to see at least one person wearing an arm band every day.
• Home insulation is probably the thing most taken for granted in the states.
• Mixing money and education is probably the worst idea in the history of the human race.
• You'll realize this once you understand there's a difference between teaching to live, and living to teach.
• Having a family that loves you is probably the best thing that can happen to a person. Period.

Happy Holidays!

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3 comments Posted by htmlgecko at 2:59 PM  

Wow. It's been over a month since I've added a post. Long story short: I've been busy with keeping up on the school's standards of excellence, and I'm also very annoyed with blogger's inability to properly debug issues caused by their own lack of adherence to standards. I spent a few hours one day redoing my main.css stylesheet and also created a large number of different graphics to add to the blog (I tried to make it look pretty) only to discover upon implementation that blogger won't allow it due to some unknown error. So, the site is still here, but a little shoddy looking in my opinion. I hope that's a good enough explanation for everyone who I'm sure was chomping at the bit waiting for me to update...

On a lighter note, my life in Shanghai has taken shape and become natural and structured. During the week, I try to stay cheap and local, eating jiaozi (steamed dumplings) two or three times a week and maybe going to a Korean bar at the subway station called "WAbar." On Saturdays, my friends and I usually go salsa dancing at a club called "Mural," where at least I'm not the worst dancer. Other days are usually left for basically anything. Bowling at High Point, checking out other clubs in the city, or just being a hermit in my apartment.

I still haven't managed to get skype working properly. The problem is the lack of out-of-the-box support for my Macbook Pro's internal microphone in linux. I'm highly content with my configuration and functionality in this operating system, so I probably won't be switching back to OS X anytime soon. If I were to get my microphone functioning properly, it would require the modification of a few libraries, and porting a windows driver, which I simply do not have the skill to do. As a perl programmer, I excel. As a C programmer, I curl up into the fetal position and cover my ears. I realize that the backend of perl is C, and I've even written a number of modules for perl, but they're also written in perl! At least, through my adventures of trying to fix this problem, I've fixed the problem where my left channel would constantly sound blown/staticy- so my music is very clean and crisp sounding once again. What a relief, eh?

I'll be adding quite a few pictures soon to the flickr account. Just click the "Photos" button on the top of the page, as always.

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6 comments Posted by htmlgecko at 4:55 PM  

Wow what a crazy weekend.
On Friday, I had to go to the Puxi campus (a little over an hour in a taxi) to get my work visa all arranged (I came here on a tourist visa which is valid for multiple entries, but is only valid for 60 days.) I arrived about half an hour too late, and the visa people, or "surgeons" as all the Chinese call them- probably due to the lack of a better translation, who had waited for me until 3 had left. This meant that Helen, the director of the international program for Shanghai High School, had to guarantee my work visa for me. What this boils down to is that if I cause any trouble or get in any trouble, she's the first person to be called to take responsibility for my actions or help me out of a situation. This is kind of a big deal because she's such an important person in the school...

After I talked with her about this, I was invited to go to a barbecue at the Puxi campus with all of the other foreign teachers. It was really awesome, because we all brought something to cook and share, such as deviled eggs, chili, pork chops (my idea!), steak sandwiches, and lots of beer. It really reminded me of home... almost. No matter how much something reminds you of home here, it's always got some strange Chinese twist on it or something's not quite right. I can't really complain that much, but that's the way it is here- nothing tastes, smells, or looks exactly the same. I guess that's only expected from a country known for its ability to copy things...

On Saturday morning, our apartment building lost power, and I wasn't about to sit around in my dull apartment without air conditioning or anything to do, so I set out to hit the town. Long story short, I ended up walking around for literally 14 hours. I left the apartment and headed for Lujiazui to eat some lunch at a place called "Element Fresh," which has so far been the best food I've ever had in China. A little pricey, though. My lunch cost me about $15 USD, whereas normally it's maybe $1.50. I didn't care though- it was worth it to eat a lamb pita and drink a fresh smoothie. After lunch, I talked to a Chinese man who was trying to sell me a watch, and ended up "explaining" to him that I came here from Italy to learn English with my wife- he left me alone after that. I met Nichols to go shoe shopping in the Super Brand Mall (see the photos) and then headed to Jing'An to find more PS2 games. I never realized how hard it would be to find them in China! The one shop that I found that had a library of them didn't have any English copies, or simply didn't have a spare copy to sell. I walked around and ate some more for quite some time, waiting to meet my friend Nicole (a woman I met on the plane on the way over here) to meet some of her friends at a club in Fuxing park. Our group got a very nice bottle of vodka and a table and had a good time. That's the way it works here: you buy a bottle, you get a table. To summarize: I was out and about from 1 in the afternoon until 3 the next morning. My feet still hurt.

I spent Sunday relaxing and preparing for the coming week, as it is a 7 day workweek. This is mandated by the government, as the following week is a 7 day vacation (for National Day Holiday, sort of like July 4th in the states.) It's not that fun, but it's worth the 7 day vacation next week. Let's just hope I'm not too tired from this week to enjoy the next one...

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5 comments Posted by htmlgecko at 11:40 AM  

This post will be complimented by a much longer post about my weekend, but for now I have to leave it at this: there are a BUNCH more pictures up. Please, feel free to have a look! Remember, click the "Photos" button at the top of the page to be taken directly to my photo albums.

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1 comments Posted by htmlgecko at 10:47 PM  

I've finally taken the time to add some pictures to my flickr account, some of which you'll find here. There's a lot more that I want to share with people, so these are just preliminary photos for the impatient.

To begin, my balcony:
It's dusk in this picture, but you can still see how nice of a view I have. My windows face south, so I can't see the river or any of the tall buildings in the downtown area, but I really couldn't ask for a better view.

My air conditioner:

You have no idea how important these things are in China... we've all been asked not to leave them running while we're not in our rooms, but some days it's just too hot not to. By the end of the month I doubt I'll be using it much though- the humidity will be my only problem then.

My kitchen:

The basic necessities of all kitchens: a fridge, microwave, and washing machine... apparently the kitchen is where most people keep their washing machine if they have one. Not shown: the mess from last night's dinner and the induction plate I use to boil water.

There's a whole lot more to see if you follow this link. Remember, you can always check my flickr photostream by clicking the "Photos" button at the top of the page, as well!

Time for dinner!

EDIT: Dinner ended up being beef stomach with vegetables and rice noodles in a tomato broth. Really good, if you don't think about it being stomach- which had the texture of soggy, steamed dough.

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6 comments Posted by htmlgecko at 6:28 PM  

Hello everyone! Welcome to my new blog that is designed to share my new life in Shanghai with all of my friends and loved ones!
There will be a lot of images coming soon, but I have to do a little work on my computer before I can upload them! And take some that people will actually want to see!

How about a brief introduction to tide everyone over?

I now teach the 2nd grade in Shanghai High School International Divsion (SHSID) at the Pudong campus. Pudong is the newest district of Shanghai that boasts itself as having the most economic reform over the past 10 years. All of that money being poured has paid off, and now Pudong is one of the best places to live in Shanghai. I currently live on campus of the school I teach at, which is on the very furthest east side of Shanghai (nearest to the eastern terminal station of subway line 2.) It takes about 10 minutes for me to walk to the subway, which is very efficient, so I really can't complain at all!

My job pays very well considering that I am a fresh college grad with little teaching experience. I teach on average 3 or 4 classes a day, as well as assisting my co-teacher, Linda. The primary focus of my job is to teach non-native speakers (of English) how to read, write, and speak in English. I also teach social studies, science, and "personal growth" to my homeroom students. It's a very rewarding, but very time cosuming job.

I think I've shared enough for now- it's almost time for lunch!

If you have any questions that you'd like me to answer (about my life in Shanghai, China's culture, or anything in general) please feel free to leave a comment. Ask my dad for help if you don't know how to...

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Labels: introduction, life 4 comments Posted by htmlgecko at 3:50 PM