Beautiful Mold

After a long delay on the tarmac, I arrived into Shanghai around 9pm. Again, everything was in English and clearing customs was very fast and friendly. The hotel provides a shuttle from the airport which I didn't know about - awesome! The customer service rep was very nice. She told me that I've arrived in the beautiful season. I was very excited and asked her why it was beautiful. She explained that it's rainy and if your clothes get wet, make sure it's dries completely or else it'll mold. Ahh yes, it's mold - not beautiful. The word beautiful and mold both sound like "may" with tonal differences. Moldy season - not beautiful season.

Day 2: Housing and Medical Exam
My housing consultant met me at the hotel lobby and we began our apartment search. First, we headed to the office and they provided a 40 minute overview of Shanghai, along with a comprehensive map of the city. Then we went to see two apartments in Puxi. Puxi and Pudong is separated by the Huangpu River. Puxi is like the "NYC" and Pudong is the "New Jersey" side. Obviously, my choice was to live in Puxi. However, the traffic is really bad and it would take 1.5 hours to get to work (in Pudong). With that information in hand, "New Jersey" started to sound more attractive. We saw two apartments in Puxi, both were nice but didn't have an onsite fitness center and it seemed very small, which would make sense b/c you're paying for the location.

Midway through the day, we made a pit stop for my medical exam - government required in order to work in Shanghai. This was quite the experience. Fill out form, wait in line, go to another line, take picture, wait in line, then pay. Afterwards, I got the go ahead to change into a medical gown. The entire facility was set up in a rectangular shape, you go all around the rectangle and end up at the dressing room - very efficient. First room - radiology, then blood work, EKG, Ultrasound and then General Exam. During the general exam, the physician said, 'yes, you are super fat' a literal translation. Not overweight, not obese, she said it - super fat. Love it. I tried not to laugh out loud because she didn't find it very funny. Once the exam is complete, I need to wait a week, get the results, apply for a work permit, wait for approval and then apply for temporary residency. This will take approximately 3 weeks. Since I was made aware of this, I made sure I packed enough for 3 weeks (no shipments allowed until residency completed).

The whole process went very quickly, however, you're sharing this entire experience with about 20 other people. At one point, there were 5 people waiting in the blood work area.


The late afternoon consisted of 3 Pudong showings. One was close to the Huangpu, which meant close to Puxi. As they got further out, the apartments got bigger. I decided on the one closest to Puxi - Shimao Rivera. Now, they will negotiate the contract. Jenny, my relo consultant indicated that this is an older complex - about 5 years old. The complex has everything - 2 fitness centers, beach (man-made), indoor pool, restaurant, green maze and many amenities. As part of a furnished, serviced apartment, all appliances and furniture are included. There is no dishwasher and everything is 'Shanghai-sized'. The oven would fit a small tray of cookies and the washer and dryer is a combo. Everyone says the dryer is worthless, which I believe. What was really funny to me is the size of the washer. It is tiny! I think it'll fit one pair of jeans. This is why they will change our sheets once a week and replace towels twice a week. Housekeeping will also stop by 2-3 times a week. All of the locations are largely expat and everything has an English version.


Here's what some of the places look like:
Xiangmei




Shimao




Day 2: Dinner


I got back to the hotel around 6pm and decided to find a place to eat. This adventure took about 2 hours. I refused to eat at the McDonalds, Pizza Hut, or KFC around the corner. Well, I found a place that had lots of pictures on their menu. As I walked around the stores, a few people gave me the funny look - it's like they were saying with their eyes, "you're not from here, are you?"

I laid down to watch TV at 10:30 and passed out at 10:35