hello (ni hao)

So, I started a blog. This brings me back to my livejournal days, about which I am trying not to shudder. But after more than a few requests and the realization that it gets sort of old typing the same thing to every person who asks, here it is. I can't guarantee that it will be super interesting, but you asked for it.

It's funny how the fact that I was moving to China for 10 months didn't really hit me until the ride to the airport. It was about at that point that the tears were pretty much uncontrollable, and that continued for at least the following 24 hours. The plane ride was miserable, and my feel are still swollen (either that or they just got FAT). But, there are a few things that were reassuring right off the bat. One of those things was the fact that Anchorman was on the movie channel when I was getting ready for bed the first night. Nothing like falling asleep to a little Will Ferrel that really makes you feel at home. Also, we had been told that there would be water and 'snacks' waiting for us in our rooms when we arrived. The 'snacks' consisted of 2 packages of oreos. I've eaten more oreos in the past 3 days than I have in the past 5 years combined. When you've got nothing to eat in your kitchen, you'd be surprised at what a good breakfast oreos make. Or maybe you wouldn't. This is probably a lot like college.

The other people on the program seem pretty much normal, at least from my first impression of them. I'm sure it will be weird working and essentially living with the same 40 people for the next 10 months, and it's not hard to tell who is going to get on my nerves faster than others. But, right now I'm quite pleased and am feeling MUCH more comfortable than when I got off the plane. And it's still early...so I'm trying to keep as open a mind as I can, even though I've probably been judging half of these people since they friended me on facebook. And I'm sure they've been doing the same about me.

Also, everything here is REALLY inexpensive (we had lunch on wednesday for about a $1.25 a person, and it included 2 meat dishes, rice, and tea!) and it is really, REALLY hot and humid. Thank god my apartment on campus has air conditioning. I also have a rather large tv in my apartment, which has 9 channels total, 4 of which are English. Not that I'm planning on watching much tv, but it's nice to know that it's there. Actually, here are some pictures of my apartment from the first night, before I even unpacked. I'm not good at this uploading photos to blogger thing but here are 2:

I also have a bathroom and kitchen and balcony. The hallway to the bathroom and kitchen is to the right of where the foot of my bed is. It's a really nice size for one person. So...I guess my first impression of Shanghai is that it's less...Chinese than I expected. It's frustrating not knowing how to communicate with anyone and feeling totally helpless, but I'm sure once I start learning some Chinese that will be at least slightly less difficult. I almost had a nervous breakdown the first morning trying to get my phone card to work so I could call my parents. It's stupid shit like not even knowing how the use the telephone that really makes you feel like an outsider.

On Wednesday we had our free day and almost all of us went to this store called "Trust Mart" which is a lot like a Wal-Mart...we bought a lot of stuff for our apartments like kitchen equipment and alarm clocks, etc. I was nervous at how full my basket was, cause I wasn't sure if they would take credit cards and i didn't think I was going to have enough cash....but it turned out my entire bill was only about $20. My awesome alarm clock that speaks to me in Chinese was only $3. So was the Hello-Kitty watch that I bought so that I could finally stop feeling so disoriented.

By the way, Kat and Mike, I apologize that I cut and pasted portions of the emails I sent you guys and just put them here as my blog. I'm really lazy and didn't feel like finding yet another way to retell my first two days here. Anyway, I'll try to be good about updating and stuff...there are still a million more things to tell but I've been so busy since I got here (except for that 7 hours i spent online as soon as I hooked up my internet....). Looks like I start teaching next Friday (September 1). yikes...