International Integration

It has been drizzling since morning. Instead of taking the kids to their regular soccer field took them to the clubhouse today. There's a cute play area there with kids of all ages having fun. The room looked a little crowded and I went and sat in a corner while my kids were off to play. Looked around and saw a lot of Ayi's sitting in groups having a conversation. Ayi means Aunty in chinese but is frequently referred to a housekeeper or maid . Pretty much every expat here has an Ayi either full time or part time. Ayis do a damn good job at what they do....whether it is cleaning the house or taking care of the kids.
I found a couple blonde haired ladies and went up to and said 'Hello'. One of the lady was from Spain but brought up in Canada for 10 years. The other one was from Germany and the third one I met was from Turkey living in China for the last 3 years. They asked me how I feel in China. I said it's getting better (and I wasn't lying). I told them that apart from the language everything here was nice. The lady from Spain quickly said - "Ah you are lucky to speak English lady. If you speak in English you will survive in China. I have a friend who speaks nothing but Spanish and she's struggling even after spending more than a year here."
That gave me some courage. Look at me....I can speak 3 Indian languages and English. I should be able to pick up Chinese as well. Here I am in a community where people from all parts of the world live in peace and harmony. They came here and went through all the emotions that I am going through. Yet now they say they love this place and this is home. Time to stop cribbing and take it head on. OK China....bring it on. I will try to learn your ways and fall in love with you like everyone else here does.

First shopping in Shanghai

Took the ferry today to the other side of the HuangPu river (from Pudong to Puxi) with two new friends I made here. In 2 mins I was in Puxi (pronounced Pushi). Visited Chreng Huang Miao...i had a hard time recollecting this name to type it out. But well, it's the most crowded place thus far I've seen in Shanghai. It's a shopping mall/market in Shanghai. There are plenty of shopping options here including 2 yuan, 5 yuan and 10 yuan shops similar to the dollar tree stores we have in the US. Don't expect the things in these shops to go for long. I got a few toys for the kids which I know for sure will be ditched by them in 2 days. Apart from these petty shops you'll find Chinese handicrafts, wonderful souvenirs and other exquisite items. If not for my very helpful friends, communicating and going around would have been a challenge. But hey, I am learning a few words now...'Chaga duo shao Qian?" meaning 'how much does that cost' is one thing I learnt from this very dear friend in Shanghai.

I would have probably shopped my heart out if not for the soaring heat outside. It was extremely hot and humid and the kids were getting a little uneasy. We had Iced Lemonade Tea at a juice center and it was so refreshing. Then hopped onto a taxi got back home, turned on the AC and crashed. Within minutes the sky got dark. A thunderstorm with rain and a lot of wind cooled down the air. Now...getting ready to say good night.

Plate'o mania

After settling down we order food from India Kitchen. It takes us 3 calls to finally get someone on the phone who could speak in English. But then the good part was that they agreed to deliver food to the hotel. Food arrives in about 30 mins. We needed some plates so we call the hotel front desk and order for 4 plates. In 5 mins, we hear the doorbell. When we open the door there's a boy standing there with 4 'forks'. We say we need 'plates'. He gives a weird look so we ask him...English? He says 'Pu' (yippeee...we had learnt that Pu means 'no'). So, Ram enacts eating and tells him we need plates. He had a bright smile on his face and he nods and goes back. He's back in a few minutes standing with 4 more forks...this time the forks were shorter than the ones he got last time. Oh god, this time both Ram and I enacted by circling and telling him what we wanted. Wish we were smart enough to go to Google translate and show and make him listen to what we wanted. But well, I guess the travel had made our brains dumb. Anyway, he again nodded and went back leaving us to hope he'll be back with what we want before the food gets cold. In a couple minutes the phone rings...it was from the hotel restaurant. They ask us in broken English what we wanted. We said 'PLATES' and they asked us if we wanted 'Blades'? I was going to say 'yes', i just want to kill myself...but gathered my composure and repeated. Looks like they finally got it and the same boy came back with real 'plates'. I just felt like hugging him...phew! First day and what an experience.

China Land

Ni Hao Shanghai. I have embraced you with open arms leaving behind my relationship of twelve years with Portland. I am all equipped to step into my new role of an explorer along with my family. Ready, get set, go.............
Immigration and customs was a cake walk. What more? Hop into the cab and go to my hotel. I see the Marriot counter right in front of me. We walk there and the guy in the counter talks to me in English asking me if I need a taxi. We say 'Yes' and he talks to someone on his walkie talkie in Chinese. 500 yuan and my family and I get into this 7 seater Buick minivan and off we go....
What a beautiful city this is...city of skyscrapers...yet, not as crowded as I thought, a lot more road discipline than I thought, very friendly demeanor than I thought and most of all very easy to live in than I thought...well, everything true but the last one.
45 minutes and we are in our hotel room in Pudong, Shanghai. What is Pudong? Good question. Pudong is a district in Shanghai and is named because of it's location on the east side of the Huangpu river. "Pu" in Mandarin means River and "Dong" means East, thus Pudong means East of the river. The West of the river is the district of Puxi, "xi" pronounced as "shi", so as to say "Pushi".

Standing next to the huge window of our hotel room I see the new area of Pudong.
But my heart cries out for Portland, my house, my people. I feel totally out of place.