Lessons learned

February 28th

I'm getting settled into my new home. My "kitchen" includes a fridge, toaster and tiny coffee maker, but no hot plate. I live on the third (top) floor of a dorm room which is unfortunately not a part of the school, but is a short bus ride away. I woke up this morning to Chinese firecrackers, go figure. I asked someone about it and was told it was probably celebrating a wedding or some other good news. Here are a few lessons that I have learned (or been reminded of) so far...

* Don't assume that sidewalks are for pedestrians only. They can also be used for bicycles, motorbikes and cars.
* Always watch where you are walking.
* Don't assume that everyone around you doesn't speak English or that they can't understand what you're saying.

When walking around, I am reminded of Skopje in Macedonia, only Shanghai is A LOT bigger. I haven't yet seen the heart of downtown with the huge skyscrapers, but I'm sure I will soon. I took an evening walk tonight and noticed that the buses are PACKED and saw interesting foods being sold by street vendors. I'm also slightly amused at how many people stare at me. I haven't really seen any other foreigners yet, although I'm sure they are hiding somewhere!

Also, I have found the biggest drawback to my dorm room (so far). The shower. It only runs two settings...icy cold or scalding hot. I will have to ask my landlady (via a translator) if there is a trick to getting something in between.

The Oscars here made Chinese news, which is kind of disturbing IMHO (is it really THAT important?).

Oh, another thing is that I have internet in my apartment (woot!). I think it's something like $10 a month, so not bad.