Finally official!!

Yesterday I received our passport back after being without them for one month.  Talk about a disconcerting feeling; being in a “real” foreign country, not speaking the language, not understanding the culture and with no passport.  A Great start to our Shanghai experience?!  So you can imagine how relieved I was to have them back with all the required registrations and stamps.  This is just in time for me to leave the country as I will head for France, Germany and Austria this weekend.

Our adventure with getting our residency permit reminded me of the experience that Tommy had when he tried to do this in Botswana.  He went through a lot more travel and frustration than we did but we experienced the anxiety that I am sure he experienced as well.  Fortunately we have a great admin at work that speaks great English and is very helpful.  “Ralph” has been our god send, he really helped us through this process and reassured us when it seemed that I would not have them back in time to make my trip this weekend.

The added twist for us was the “Health certificate” that we needed before the process could begin.  It was a complete physical and needless to say Catharine and I passed but we received the comment that we had a slightly fatty liver and should change our lifestyle; their nice way of saying that all Americans are FAT!..

So if it were not for the fact that we are running out of money, we could finally settle in.  What a pain this whole money thing is.  I wrote earlier about having to go through hoops to get enough money to pay our deposit and 1^st months rent for the apartment (IN CASH) but now my company is finding every excuse to not start paying my salary or reimburse my living expenses.  It is the little things LIKE RUNNING OUT OF MONEY!! That keeps you up at night. Actually we should be able to survive until mid April if we are not faced with unexpected expenses.

Since they really don’t have credit cards here they don’t really accept out of country credit cards except at big expensive stores, and hotels.  We do have a debit card from our local bank but it is not possible to set up direct payments so each month we have to go get a bag of cash and pay our rent. 

Once we get over this “funding issue”  I am sure that life here will be great, just too many things to worry about right now.  I wrestle with this because we are so much more fortunate that most the people living here and certainly the people of Japan have much bigger issues than we do.  It makes you stop and think about the things that really matter. 

Our house is really nice and it is nice to be settling in.  I hope now I will be able to find time to start learning a little of the language; that would make me feel a lot better as well.  The trip to and from work varies from 15-25 minutes but that is pretty good as it is less than I had when I was working and now somebody else is driving.  I am actually writing this on the way to work.  I have finally come up with a great idea for what to do with all the extra space in our house; I bought a RC car and now I can turn the lower level into a race car track.  The car is very fast and I am having fun learning how to control it.  I have already had my first bad crash and I had to replace on of the servos.  Oh well that is just part of the learning curve.

Starting Over or Settling In?

Well we made it, nearly 1 month to the day.  The big day was Friday and it was a perfect day for moving. A little cool but bright and sunny.  Fortunately I had arranged to have my driver move us to our new place (or should we say house? Apartment?) Because what had started out as 4 suitcases and two backpacks, had somehow grown to 24 items.  I am not sure how it all fit into the hotel room but it hardly makes a dent at our new place. 

Believe it or not we left our home (the hotel) with mixed emotions.  After the initial shock, we had settled in nicely and we had most of everything we needed within walking distance.  That is: a grocery store (however very Chinese), a McDonalds, a Pizza Hut, a Subway (restaurant) and the underground station all within a 25 minute walk (one way).  It was becoming convenient.  Catharine also was getting used to the idea of eating out every breakfast and dinner and having someone else clean the place and change the sheets.  But in all, I do not know how she managed to enjoy life in a hotel room but she did; she is amazing and this whole adventure would not be possible without her.  She did find lots of time to work on her counted cross-stitching so she was very happy about that.  She did however run out of a couple of important colored threads which threatened to put the projects on hold.  Then one day when we were doing some shopping in the VERY CHINESE grocery store, we noticed a cross-stitch shop so we ventured in but alas they only carried complete kits.  It wasn’t until a week or so later that Catharine worked up the ability to ask the sales clerk if they sold just thread, the clerk was very helpful but she did not speak even one word of English so after gesturing for some time and still having no idea what she was saying, the clerk wrote something on a piece of paper.  Now figuring that this was the address for a store that may have some thread, she brought it to “RALPH” (Our God send! He is the admin assistant that has been helping us with the government issues and visas), and after looking at it for some time and scratching his head, he finally said that this was not an address it said: across the street at the red light.  So retracing our steps we figured that the store had to be near one of the four corners across from the grocery store.  Catharine ventured back a couple of days later and after some searching (the shop was no larger than our bedroom closet) found the shop.  The clerk was amazingly friendly and found the threads that Cath needed and amazingly enough, the color are an incredibly close match.  Needless to say, Cath called me immediately with what must have been the biggest smile ever, to report the news; yes thank God for the little things that make life so rich.  So where was I, so as you can see, the hotel had become comfortable!  I also very much enjoyed walking to work!  Now we were about to leave our “comfort zone” once again and start all over (almost starting over). 

Our “House” is about 4 miles from the hotel and from work.  It is located closer to the Expat community which theoretically could make life a little easier (although we have seen no sign of this yet).  It is within walking distance to the Zoo and our favorite restaurant street (about 30 minutes to each).   It is situated in a gated community with 24 hour support.  I think this may become the biggest advantage of this place.  The people at the front desk will help with virtually anything.  It is nice to be able to speak to someone who understands you and can help you solve problems.  Yesterday they helped us sort out the internet line so we once again have access to email; this is very important as it is really our lifeline to friends and family.  Sheryl recently asked with there was anything we needed as she would happily send a care package but, as I told her, all we really need is email from friends and family. 

So since we had the driver for the day on Friday, we went to a couple of the local shopping centers and picked up essentials for our new place.  But by the time it came time to shop for food, we were so worn out that we managed only to get some meat and cheese for sandwiches and cereal and milk for morning.  So last night we made our first meal in our new place, grilled ham and cheese sandwiches with creamed corn; not a real impressive start but I was too tired to go out for dinner last night. 

Today we hope to start exploring the local area and we will meet up with an old friend from Visteon who has decided to live here for the foreseeable future.  He, like many others, has decided to start life over with a local girlfriend.  More on that on a future installment. 

Suffice it to say that although we enjoyed the hotel, we are very much looking forward to settling into our new place, making friends, and enjoying life in Shanghai. 

Water in Shanghai

Actually this is an appropriate topic as Shanghai is now in the midst of a drought.  But what has surprised me is that, like many developing countries, the water is actually not fit to drink.  Now this may not sound surprising but in fact it was to me.  Maybe you have seen the incredible pictures of the skyline of Shanghai and the advanced technology they have employed in their new building and the beautiful subway system, well somehow this does not apply to the utility systems.  When I ran a bath recently, I noticed that the color of the water is really brown.  From what I understand it is perfectly safe for bathing and showering but most people put a lot of foaming bath salts in the water so as not to see the actual color of the water.  Needless to say, we avoid drinking this water as do most of the middle class.  Most people will either boil it and use it for tea or purchase bottles water.  Most houses have a water cooler like we have seen in some office building in the US.  Fortunately, like most everything in Shanghai, you can have water delivered for $4 for a cooler sized bottle. 

Most people here don’t seem to drink a lot of water; rather they drink tea most of the time.  This is evidenced by the fact that drink refills are unheard of (unfortunate to say the least).  I also noticed that while working out yesterday, I went to put my normal (normal for the US) sized bottle in the bottle holder and came to find out that the bottle holder was made for small 250ml bottles. 

Toilets; a seemingly simple device.  Well somehow the Chinese got it wrong.  In addition to the slightly different approach to toilets here (the traditional Chinese toilet is no more than a hole in the ground), they also did not do a good job of copying the western toilets.  For some reason they do not have the “U shape” drain which prevents the sewer smell from coming up and they also cannot handle toilet paper.  Therefore you will always see a small waste basket near the toilet (even the western style toilets) for the used toilet paper.  This seems rather crude in a seemingly advanced town such as Shanghai.

Well I can’t end this edition without mentioning natures force when it comes to Tsunamis.  We have recently seen the power that water can have but fortunately we did not experience any tremors, shaking or water surges.  China’s coast is certainly close to Japan but the quake happened on Japan’s east coast and we are to the west side of  Japan.  I did talk with my friend who works about 50 miles south of Tokyo and he said that they could not believe the shaking.  He said that it was so forceful that he could not stand up during the tremor.  Also may items fell of selves and in many building the ceiling collapsed.  He said that you could see substantial damage even in Yokohama which is 300km south of the epicenter.  He and a number of his colleagues had to spend the night at work because the trains were shut down.  His area lost power but fortunately his house did not sustain any damage even though he is only 1km from the coast. 

WOW what a city!

A shopper’s paradise!  It seems that every time we pop up out of the underground we are in the midst of the biggest shopping complex that I have ever seen.  Tonight we are going to an area where 5 main roads come together and on every corner there is a huge department store and hundreds of feeder shops.  From electronics, to fakes, to latest fashions to mega sports stores, everything is here.  Unfortunately, things are still more expensive than back home.  How the locals do it I have no idea.

Today we made our way to the “BUND” The Bund is the downtown area that lines the river.  Although it was very overcast today, we had a nice walk along the waterfront and by the “Pearl Tower” The pearl tower seems to be the icon of the new Shanghai.  It sticks out on the skyline but is nowhere near the largest building.  In fact the tallest building the world (the “bottle opener in Shanghai”) will soon be eclipsed by the new building under construction next to it. It appears that they are nearing the limit on building height a it will take a non stop, fastest elevator in the world”, more than 10 minutes to get to the top.  So you can imagine that on a busy morning it will take upwards of 30 minute to get to your office once you are inn the building.  I will post more pictures on a clear day.

By now we have almost mastered the underground system, and are starting to feel comfortable with the taxi system.  So this morning we went over to the Shanghai zoo.  The day was overcast and in the low 50’s so it was a nice day to talk a walk and enjoy the zoo.  The zoo was interesting and the pandas were a lot of fun to watch.  But mostly I think we had a nice walk and enjoyed people watching, the kids were really cute. 

So this is our third weekend in Shanghai and we are finally able to roll with the issues.  Like last night, just as we thought we had this travel and eating thing figured out; we got into a taxi, handed him the business card from the place where we wanted to go, he looked at it in every angle possible, then gave it back and said something that was beyond comprehension.  Next he started waving his hands so I knew that he had no clue where we wanted to go.  So, fortunately, we now know how to handle these situations, so I called the restaurant on my phone and gave the phone to the driver.  Well the driver talked to the restaurant for what must have been 5 minutes all the time talking louder and louder, but alas he hung up the phone handed it back to me, started talking to us and then the hand motions started again and by now we knew we were really in trouble. So we thought our best bet was to get out the taxi and try something else but just then he started trying to get another taxi to stop to ask them something but by now we had had enough so we got out, thanked him (for what I do not know!) and then just looked at each other and started laughing……it was the first time we ever got kicked out of a cab….and just as we thought we had it figured out!! Thing is… you never do! So here is another way to get around, and yes Mcdonalds delivers on motorscooters.

So now I’m counting down the days until I get my driver.  Cath and I got a chance to meet him on Friday when he took us to our new house to sign the contract.  He seems very nice but speaks ABSOLUTELY NO ENGLISH!!!  Well I consider this a good time to learn a few key words in Chinese.  Let the learning begin. 

Today is a really ugly day so we are in the hotel watching “The Terminal”  it has a whole new meaning now that we are “Sleepless in Shanghai”. 

Chinese Misconceptions and Interesting Observations

I remember telling many of you that there are more people in China speaking English than in the US, well if this is true we have not met them yet.  Some people do speak a little bit of English but normally they don’t.  Of course the hotel personnel do (although at our hotel their ability is very limited), and in the Expat areas but on the street you are on your own!!

My own perception was that people would dress very simply and in dark colors, well the dark colors is true but people really dress up even to go to the supermarket.  Fortunately the dress code at work is business casual but generally it is a nice business casual.

Although there are still a lot of bicycles on the street it is nothing like what I remember from our original visit in 1985.  A lot of the bikes have been replaced with small motor scooters (advanced mopeds) which cost only $250 and are normally electric.  Of course there are also a lot of cars but in my case I guess that is a good thing. 

People here are very polite and try to help even thought they cannot speak English.  They are also very honest and people generally do not treat us unfairly because we are different.  I will be happy when we can speak a little of the language but for now it is getting more and more comfortable as we learn our way around. 

Just learned a few more interesting “tid bits” about the culture and life among the Chinese.  The Chinese are in general atheists.  Although I thought most would be Buddhists, only about 5% of the population is Buddhist and only about 10% celebrate any type of religion.  We have not yet found a church in the area to attend but we understand that a couple do exist although no Presbyterian Church. 

Although living in Shanghai seems very expensive, the local people are real savers.  There is no such thing as a credit card here so everything is either paid with cash (which are about 90% of all transactions), or by debit cards.  The banks here offer no interest on deposits so many people prefer to put their cash is safes that they keep at their homes.  Still in spite of this they tend to save about 50% of their salary.  This is often necessary as the “social security system” pays very little and the kids must support their parents as pensions are unheard of. 

Marriages here are also interesting.  Although I am still missing many details, what I can say is that once the couple decides to get married, they traditionally ask their boss at work for permission to wed then they go to the government for a certificate and this is where the marriage becomes official (much like our justice of the peace).  Prior to this time the man must have purchased an apartment that they can move into before proposing.  So on the big day, the groom rents a fancy car and is taken to his girlfriend’s house and he officially asks the parents for her hand in marriage.  This is a special ceremony.  Once they agree, they are accompanied by their friends to the government agency where they sign the certificate.  After that they are taken to their new apartment where they perform a special ceremony to thank their parents; then on to the restaurant where they meet their friends and relatives.  These gatherings are large and they often have more than 400 people attend.  At these celebrations many people give speeches and tell stories and of course eat and drink.  The Chinese like their food.  After the wedding they go to live with their parents to be properly educated on edicate and how to behave as a couple.  Once the parents agree, then they are allowed to more into the new apartment.  This may take several months but I must admit that I like the results.  They are very family oriented and have good morals.  Divorce here is rear even though life is difficult.  As we all know they are then only allowed to have 1 child and this child is very precious.  They is an exception however, if they have twins then that is ok and also if neither parent has a sibling then they can be allowed to have two children.  An extremely interesting culture.

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Well today we went to sign the contract on our new apartment and as expected there were more issues, but I kind of suspected this one. You see one of the interesting things that you quickly learn is that they love cash.  I am preparing to visit France at the end of the month and a number of my colleagues at work will be going with me.  For me it is straight forward assuming that I receive my passport back in time.  The government is currently reviewing my application for a year long work visa which I will hopefully receive next week so that we can move into our apartment at the end of next week.  But beyond that, the trip will be simple for me.  But for my colleagues it is anything but simple.  First of all they need a visa to leave the country and to enter France.  But since we will be visiting Germany, Belgium and Austria as well, they need to get approval for this travel from the Chinese government even though those countries don’t require approval nor are there any borders between the countries anymore.   Then they will need to get their drivers licenses translated so they can rent a car (this takes three weeks and during this time they cannot drive in China).  Then you realize that there is no such thing as a credit card in China so they have to estimate how much money they will need and take it in cash!  Yes Cash.  Well this brings me to the point I tried to make at the beginning of this story, the rental agency needed three months rent up front before moving in and it must be in CASH!  But this is harder than it looks, it is very hard / impossible to get money over here, you cannot just transfer money to a bank here.  So I drafted an elaborate scheme where Allison met up with my boss while he was in the US and gave him cash so he could get the local money that I needed so that I could make the deposit.  So all that being said, We went to the bank today to get the money and guess what, we walked out with $10,000 in a paper bag!  It really is a different world.  CASH IS KING!

Our Apartment

Well it looks like the end of our stay in the hotel is drawing near.  We should sign the final papers this week.  We are vey excited as it is a very nice place and larger than we had anticipated.  It has 4 bedrooms and 4 baths on two floors.  There is a large living room on the first floor along with the master bedroom, kitchen, dining room and den.  The lower level has a nice family room (play room), a bar and a couple of bedrooms.  We also have a nice patio off the upper living room.

The complex is relatively small and has 5 buildings in a walled complex with 24 hour security and a 24 hour front desk to help with any issues we may encounter.  It also has a work out room, an indoor pool and a sauna. 

The complex is located within walking distance of the subway line and the Marriot hotel (where there is a Starbucks).  Our favorite dining street is also a 20 minute walk which will be nice.  It is also about a 5 minute taxi drive from my friend’s house, and the DVD store.  So we think the place will work out very nicely and are anxious to move in.

For more pictures check out my Picasa posting.

Big Mac Theory of economics

For those of you that subscribe to the Big-Mac theory of economics, I hope you will find this interesting.  The price of the Big-Mac anyplace in the greater Shanghai area seems to be approx. $2.20.  Now I am not sure what the current price is for the Big mac in the US but this seems very high to me.  So that you don’t get the wrong impression like we only go to Expat McDonalds, all the other people in the restaurant were Chinese.  I don’t really subscribe to this theory because on our walk we pass many very small shops that cater to the poorer Chinese where the most expensive meal is $1.25.  For another reference point, we bought ½ liter bottles of pop for $0.40 each.  So I like to say that the prices here are no different than in Detroit if you buy these items (not imported goods).  Now if you compare this to the fact that the high level engineers in the company make approx $50,000, that means that the standard of living here is slightly lower than the US.  The interesting thing is that bicycles here are very cheap if you don’t need a high performance bike.  For a typical bike you will pay $30, if you want 20+ speeds you will pay $100, and for an electric bike (which are very popular) you will pay $150.  Cell phones here are cheap and most are pay as you go except for those that have iphones and these are becoming very popular. 

To live like a westerner (with a mix of local and imported goods) you will probably pay twice what we pay in Detroit area.  There area approx 100,000 foreigners in Shanghai but they still make up only a very small portion of the population.

Inflation, especially for housing is very high.  The typical apartment building is fully sold out before it has the roof on it and are typically bought by people with connections.  The value of these properties has been increasing about 25% per year, and they continue to build more and more.  There are very few non high rise buildings in Shanghai, but some still do exist.  In these small residences, people live like they have for many years with only the basic needs.