putting the knit in shizknitz

First off, I need to mention that I haven’t been able to access my blog since setting foot here. We have a fantastic internet connection here at the hotel (I’ve been using Skype to call home), but my blog has been blocked, probably due to China’s censorship project (T hooked me up with a VPN home so I can blog). Secondly, its really HUMID here, and I don’t do well with humidity (add spicy hot pot soup, and the rain, and I look like I’ve been hit by a truck).

I’ve been playing the role of “stay at home gf”. It’s quite nice, I’ve never lived like this before and future opportunities are slim, so I’m enjoying it as much as I can. I get up in the morning, work out at the gym, go eat breakfast with T at the restaurant downstairs, he goes to work, I go shopping, meet for lunch, and I do more shopping or walking around. He comes home, we go to dinner, bed. If I thought things in Argentina were cheap, I was wrong. Try 1 USD = 8 RMB, a calculation along with the haggling which makes me wish I brought a calculator. Another difficulty is that I speak/write less Mandarin than Spanish. My vocabulary is basically “neehow” (hello) and “sheshe” (thank you). To take the cab, I have the front desk write in chinese characters where I want to go, and I hand it to the driver (which starts at 10 RMB, with an average of 15 RMB a ride so far). Most street signs and wall signs have english written underneath, but for desperate measure, I can try to guess what it says by looking at the characters (they are mostly the same as in Japanese). At the stores I point and say “how much” and they plug it into a calculator. If I feel like haggling, I plug in a lower amount and hand it back to them, going back and forth until we agree.

This place is construction, 24/7. I had heard that steel prices in the US were rising because a lot of it is being exported to China, and I believe it. Especially in this Pudong area there is more construction going on than on a UC campus!!!! People work day and night, and in fact I saw them finish repaving this major road (Pudong Road, S) in less than 24 hrs. Compare that to repaving little Jasmine Avenue back home in Los Angeles… took them almost a month! The efficiency is amazing. I think that is one big difference between China and Japan is the efficiency of everything which leads to the difference in customer service. We’re staying at a really nice place and have eaten at some nice places but overall its about getting it done - whether it be eating, purchasing, payment, etc… which is a vast contrast to the neverending formalities bowing and thanking of the Japanese.

I have horrible jet lag all of a sudden, which is why I’m still awake (its 1:20 AM Wed here)….