If only my schedule were as busy. Being new to the city, without any contacts save one or two, and struggling to get a handle on my neglected Chinese skills and adjust to my surroundings, I was counting on some job-related responsibilities to ease me into my new environment and distract me from the emotional difficulties of my move. The holiday week all but eliminated this possibility, not because my office had closed for the holiday (there were still people around), but because it was undergoing renovations that left the whole place covered in tarps and drop clothes and filled with noxious paint fumes, (smell that lead!). Thus, on consecutive days, my orientation process was postponed and I was left to explore Shanghai on my own…and wallow in my loneliness. Waaah waaah, I know.
I occupied my time wandering around the periphery of my hotel and going for slightly longer walks in my remote part of the city. My hotel was a good 20 to 30 minute ride removed from any popular or relevant area of town so my sight-seeing was somewhat limited for the first few days. As it turns out, the hotel where new EF employees usually stay upon their arrival was booked solid – because of the holiday. I did break away from the monotony on Wednesday night though, checking out a famous dumpling restaurant with a friend from the States and walking along the Bund, a historic strip along the Huangpu River (through which European imperialist dogs infiltrated China during the 19th century).
But just when things were starting to look up…disaster! Wednesday night, my main line of entertainment and communication went down for the count. My computer overloaded itself and basically became so slow that it was non-functional, leaving me with little to do besides watch HBO Asia and Cinemax on the hotel TV, channels that seem to rotate the same line-up of low-budget horror films, low-budget kick boxing movies, and a collection of Baldwin brother movies starring every one but Alec. Sometimes I wonder if some of these films might have been released exclusively for HBO Asia.
Anyhow, I like to think that there’s a positive side to everything, and indeed my computer catastrophe turned out to be a blessing in disguise, especially since I was able to fix the problem rather easily. For the roughly 48 hour span in which I did not have a computer, I had no way to contact anyone, and as such, I spent the bulk of that time looking for alternative means to contact the outside world: my family, my girlfriend, my company etc. I was deterred from this pursuit briefly on Thursday morning with an orientation event that did come to fruition – a tour of the city – but upon my return I sought out an internet bar.
This seemingly simple errand turned out to be more of an epic pilgrimage. I asked at the front desk where to find a “Wang Ba” (literally, net bar) and the concierge told me where to go, a place quite close by. Having become well versed in the surrounding blocks, I made my way over there with ease, but wouldn’t you know, not a wang ba to be found. I looked for signs and asked a few people, but to no avail. After traipsing around for about a half hour, I go back to the hotel and ask the concierge once again where I’m supposed to go. I ask him to draw me a map thinking I may have misunderstood his directions, which he does, but it mysteriously directs me to the same place. I go to the same area once again, ask around more, and get pointed in a number of directions only to have the same result…nada.
I return to the hotel for a third time, this time to find the concierge out front chatting with the bell boy who had picked me up some dumplings on my first night in town. I say hello and tell the concierge that there tisn’t a wang ba to be found in this desert of a district…at least not where he said. Baffled, he sends the bell boy with me to find the place. Unlike the concierge, the bell boy doesn’t speak any English, so it forces me to use my Chinese. We retrace my steps and then beyond, going down a few random alleyways, chatting in elementary Chinese along the way. His name is Zhang Zhiming, or “Ken” for the western guests, he’s 20, he lives in Pudong with his parents, he’s worked at the hotel for a few months, etc. As we chat it becomes clear that the kid things I’m pretty okay for a foreigner.
Then, after about an hr of walking and directions-asking, and the umpteenth random alleyway, we see it, an oasis in the desert, an internet bar! We go in and I tell the girl at the front desk I want to “shang wang” or “go on the net.” She gasps, and with an angry expression throws her cup of water in my face. Zhang Zhiming, somewhat stunned, explains to me that in my bad pronunciation, I’ve just solicited the poor girl for intercourse, not internet…okay, I just made that last part up…but the outcome was essentially the same. For whatever reason, probably because they didn’t have the equipment to document my passport, I couldn’t get access to a computer. Part of the problem, Zhang Zhiming tells me, is that they need to confirm I am over 18. Children younger than 18 should not be wasting time on the wed; they should be studying.
So, probably not unexpectedly, my frustrating search ends in frustration. We walk back to the hotel and I buy the kid a coke on the way. I also concede to teaching him English at some uncertain point in the future. He’s happy to help me with my Chinese. That’s all well and good, but after this ordeal I need a rest.
A few hours later, after catching my breath and washing off the “essence of Shanghai,” I commence Plan B and venture downstairs to go looking for an international calling card. The concierge recruits my new-found friend “Ken” to go hunt one down for me. I give him the money, and wait patiently. An hour or so later he returns (“I’ve got a golden tiiicket…"). I’m eager to hear a friendly voice. But not so fast. After some trouble using the card on my hotel phone, Zhang Zhiming suggests that I might need a cell phone to use the card. I wasn’t planning on getting a shou ji (sounds like “show gee,” literally, “hand machine”) for another week or so, but that would have to change. I would have to go to the bank in the morning to exchange more funds.
The next day I head out to the nearest bank to get some RMB and lo and behold, the branch is closed. I return to the hotel beginning to grow very frustrated with this recent trend. In the lobby, I run into a guy named Kellen as he’s getting off the elevator. Kellen is another new employee at EF. He’s from Georgia and has been in Shanghai a few weeks longer than me. I had met him originally at breakfast the morning before, but this second meeting yielded another positive outcome of my 48 hour computer-less isolation.
Kellen tells me he’s heading over to the mega center (the main EF office in the city) in a bit and invites me to come along. Desperate for a computer, some contact, and some assurance that my company actually exists, I happily agree. We meet a little while later and take a bus to People’s Square, the center of town where the main office is located. I’m pleased to discover a bus line that can take me where I need to go. Not only is it cheaper than a cab, but I find I’m a lot more settled in a new place once I learn its public transportation systems. This was a step in the right direction...
We stop at Kellen’s apartment to drop some things off as he’s just begun the moving process. I try to get a gauge for how price, location, and accommodation come together in this city as I know I’ll have to figure it out for my own apartment hunt soon enough. With my mind on my money and my money on my mind I find an open bank and get some RMB. Now on to business…
The giant blue EF signs on the neighboring buildings are reassuring, but I’m still skeptical I actually have an employer until we finally get to the office. Save for one room of computers the place is undergoing a complete overhaul. As I had been told on the phone earlier in the week, it would have indeed been pointless for me to come in earlier in the week. I met Katie and Jean, the two recruitment staffers I had been in contact with throughout, figured out when I could actually start showing up to work (Monday) and finally got on a computer (e-mail, g-mail, chat, Facebook, giants.com…phewwwww, much better).
Recharged, I consult with Kellen and the office crew and head over to China Mobile to get a cell phone and a sim card. I whip out the Mandarin once more, elementary but effective, and purchase a “hand machine” and select a number. After the fact, I recalled that many Chinese stay away from phone numbers with “4” in them because the word for four, “si,” sounds very much like the word for death. My number only had one “4.” That was safe enough for me. After an encouraging and productive morning/early afternoon, I hop back on the bus and return to my hotel.
Within a couple hours of returning to my room, I am able to bring my computer back from the dead. A seemingly catastrophic situation turns out to create some positive gains: I make a Chinese friend, I make an American friend, I meet confirm the existence of my office and the specifics of my schedule, I discover the bus, and get a cell phone. Not bad at all.
I spend the rest of Friday and most of the weekend enjoying my newly resuscitated computer and resting up from the loneliness, stress, and cardiovascular workouts of my first week in Shanghai. Saturday I venture all the way across town, by bus and subway, to hunt down my branch office in Zhongshan Park. It’s located in the Cloud Nine Shopping Mall, a 9 – story shopping center on the west end of town. As expected, it’s closed, but it was useful to locate my eventual place of employment. Sunday, I treat Zhang Zhiming to dinner at restaurant near the hotel. He’s surprisingly helpful with my Chinese. I pick up one or two new vocabulary words each time we chat, and get a little more comfortable with my language and my new environment.
The remnants of a typhoon from Taiwan began to hit the city as we sat at dinner. I hope that the heavy wind and rains can wash away the stresses of Week 1. As I look ahead to the following day, as the rest of the country goes back to work after the holiday, I will be going with them. I hope the upward trend of my first week will continue.
Vocabularly:
网巴, Wang Ba, Internet Bar; roughly pronounced “wong bah”;
手机， Shou Ji, Cell phone; roughly pronounced “show gee”
(Vocab Notes: Remember the literal translation “net bar”? Notice how the first character of Wang Ba, “wang,” resembles a net. The second character “ba” is a phonetic translation of the English word “bar,” I believe. For example, 酒巴，jiu ba, literally “alcohol bar” refers the conventional Western notion of a bar.)
Music to move you: “Radio Nowhere” by Bruce Springsteen
Notes: Sorry for the long post, but I’m trying to get the blog caught up on my goings on here. When I’m not busy, I’ve been exhausted, so getting things in order has been hard. I hope to be up-to-date soon though, so stay tuned. Week 2 has been hectic but busy. I got an apartment on Friday! I’ll be sure to write all about it in the next post.
Also, I have resurrected my Shutterfly site and uploaded some pics to that. You can start checking that regularly for updates as well. 'Til next time, take care!
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