We are really struggling with the time change more this time. Maybe that is because we have not had a schedule that required us to get going in the mornings here so far. Monday Michael walked to his new office to get a feel for it and participate in a conference call. While he was gone I was on Skype the whole time with the drapes pulled. He walked in and asked how I liked the snow…. What snow??? He pulled back the drapes and the most lovely snow was falling in these huge delicate flakes. Of course nothing was sticking, but it was gorgeous! And I almost missed all of it!!!
Michael goes to the office today for his first ‘official’ day in the TI Shanghai office…...although he has participated in conference calls since we got here and is actually on one for the US now... it is Wednesday, 12:25 am here ... it started at 11pm. His greatest fear is that he will not be able to wean himself from the projects in the US and will be working days for China and nights for the US. Not a very productive scenario for either organization if he is dead on his feet.
Today I go to the apartment and do the walk through and get the keys. I think it will be better for us once we get into the apartment and can find our new normal. Right now the hotel room looks like a used baggage display. We are so wall to wall and cannot find anything. I am generally a very organized person…however, we had to rearrange to get the weight down and my sweet, bull in a china closet husband, cannot get anything from the suitcase without messing everything up. I am looking forward to getting our home put together. Like I said… we need to find our new ‘normal’ …so we can move forward.
Right now is really stressful… we are in a sort of limbo… and we are struggling. We have to remind ourselves not to take out things on each other… But we have been a bit snippy with each other. I know that once he is settled into his new work environment and we begin to make friends and get more familiar with our surroundings we will both settle down… this is really teaching a couple of old dogs a few new tricks!!! We just need to get acclimated… that’s all!!!
Our sleep patterns are so off... we lay down for a nap in the afternoon... wake up about midnight or so .. get up … eat a snack (thank goodness we brought some)...get on the computer… talk to the family… go back to bed and get up in time for breakfast at 6:30am when they open the restaurant downstairs... which is the only meal we have consistently eaten since we got here. It IS the best meal of the day. Breakfast food is interesting here. There is some of the normal fare we are used to… but also fish and vegetables and salad greens….. eggs floating in something…. and other mysterious food that I do not recognize. The pastries are really good… however they are not very sweet and neither are the sweet breads such as the carrot walnut loaf yesterday. Even the pillow chocolate is not really the same sweetness for milk chocolate.
We went exploring yesterday and walked what felt like 20 miles or so... but it was for 2 1/2 hrs straight. We went to 3 huge malls… all VERY high end clothes and accessories. We stumbled upon an electronics and appliances store, but no furniture or household goods type of places… I know they have to be here somewhere!!! I am thinking we must go to Wal-Mart again and head straight upstairs… they will surely have pillows and other household necessities that can hold us over until all the paperwork and visas are in order and we can take possession of our shipment. The grocery stores have some of this type of stuff, however the towel are very thin and flimsy. I saw no pillows though. I just need to be patient. I know these people need this kind of stuff too… but I will be darned if we can find it…. Maybe it is in the burbs!!! Wonder if they have a Target????
We did get a lot of stares while on our outing. We walked through some areas that were more just for the locals. And of course, Michael beard is an oddity all by itself. Chinese men do not wear beards or mustaches here… I am thinking it is more about can’t grow them as opposed to not wanting them. Even I got stares… and I am not even blonde anymore!!! But… I did have on sunglasses… and I noticed that no one else seemed to be wearing them…. And it was really bright out. So maybe that is what made me a bit odd too. But more than any of that… we were Americans…. ’Foreigners’…. on a street occupied by primarily local Chinese people which made us really stick out like a couple of sore thumbs!
We saw a place called Johnny Moo's... it is a burger and shake place... the food we saw through the window looked so yummy... I told Michael we would need to remember this place... and too bad we were not hungry right then... although it was 12:30 ish. My stomach thought it was the middle of the night. I will be SOOOOO glad when we get our bodies straight on this time change stuff!!
While walking my sense of smell was overwhelmed… some were really good smells and some were REEEEAAAALLLLLYYYYYY funky smells too. And one should not walk too close to the base of trees… that is the only place for the puppies to go…. I laughed… told Michael to beware of the puppy poopoo!! But again … the city is really clean to have that many people living in it. That was the first time I had seen even the puppy droppings before. There is a pride in having a clean city. The other interesting thing I noticed…. Lots of people smoke here. As we walked along the streets yesterday… lots of folks on scooters puffing and walking and puffing. Very different from the US where smoking has become less excepted and more outlawed. Here the hotel lobby is a place to smoke and other public spaces allow smoking. The rooms are non-smoking so we are faring well there. But when you walk into a building that the smell of tobacco is present it surprises you.
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