Trip & Arrival

Been a while, but I finally figured out how to get onto the blog. Not as easy as one might think in China….

First the flight over. The flight over was awesome. Sitting in Business Elite is definitely the way to go! Let’s start off with dinner:

- Artichoke Hearts and Salmon Carpaccio
- Thai Chicken & Coconut Soup
- Walnut and Goat Cheese Salad
- 2 Crab Cakes, Lemon Grass Noodle thing, & seemingly grilled vegetables
- Vanilla Ice Cream with nuts and chocolate syrup with 2 strawberries

YUM! After that they make sure to keep everyone fed so they have a snack a few hours later that included fruit, vegetables, cheese, and salmon carpaccio. Then about 2 hours before we land they have another dinner. For that I had beef tenderloin with mushrooms, rice, bread, vegetables, and chocolate cheesecake. During the flight I spent the time watching movies, tv shows, and playing on my computer. Since each of the seats has an electrical outlet as well. When it came time to it I reclined my seat, which probably goes down to about 170 degrees so nearly flat and I got some shut eye. All in all it was a good flight but I’m sure it gets tedious after a while.

When I arrived in Shanghai I went to immigration, they looked at my papers looked at me, I smile, stamp and I’m on my way. I exchange some green backs to some funny looking money, then I get my bags and walk over towards customs. There are 5 Chinese customs officials sitting down, and none of them are stopping anyone so I just keep walking past. Walk through to see a sea of people waiting for their friends/colleagues/relatives and I don’t see a sign for me crap. So I signed phone to a Chinese cop and he directs me to someone who sells prepaid phone cards. Buy one, get it working, call the guy, and found him. I’m on my way now.

Driving in a vehicle with a locale in Shanghai isn’t for the faint of heart. I had no problems, I can appreciate driving like an ass hat, but its an experience. Signals don’t really mean a damn, turning lanes aren’t only the ones closest to that side, driving into oncoming traffic, NO PROBLEM! They also happen to use their horn as a conversation tool. I think BEEP = hello, BEEP BEEP = move to the side I’m coming through, BEEP ^ 5 means I have 5 passengers or perhaps I really like this horn. And forget red lights. They are just for show.

Past that, Shanghai was a lot of fun. I got in and out of cabs that spoke 0 English, not even Engrish. I spent some more monopoly money, got caught up on sleep, went to good restaurants, and met some cool other local expats. The drive to site was long, 4 hrs or so, but it wasn’t bad. It was nice to get away from some of the pollution that is present in Shanghai. When I got to the city you notice you aren’t in a city any more. The people are walking around without shirts and without shoes, children are running around everywhere, nothing has been cleaned in probably 2yrs, but all of the people are pretty nice. They seem to be curious how I can get so big (vertical and horizontal) and seem to want to know what I am doing at all times. Everyone laughs and then when I nod, or smile or wave, they get ecstatic and run away like a thrilled little school girl. Oh well, guess I will be a celebrity for the next few years here.

That is all for now. This is a long post, I’m gonna try and post some up later in the weekend to say what the first week was like and what the digs are like. Hope everyone is well, miss ya/luv ya, I’m out!