My First Day at School

Today was my first day of orientation at EF, my new school here in Shanghai. There were five other teachers who were also new to EF. A school representative met us at the hotel & showed us how to use the bus to get to the main office near People's Square. There we had coffee & took a look around the center.

Then another representative took us to open bank accounts, get passport photos for various administration purposes, & buy cell phones & SIM cards. We took a break for lunch, & in the afternoon we met more of the staff members & signed our contracts. Everyone was very nice & welcoming.

The main office takes up several floors in a high-rise building downtown. It's very stylishly decorated, with banks of computers for student use, as well as several classrooms, lounging areas, & even a pool table! It looks like a well-organized forward-thinking company.

I won't be teaching in the main office, but in a school in the northern part of town in Hong Kou district. I'll go tomorrow to find the school & explore the area. I'll also start looking for an apartment that's close to my school.

Excess Baggage

In my recent move from Vietnam to Shanghai, I left a lot of things behind (mostly books). I had to fit all of my things into four bags: two checked bags at 20 kilos each & two carry-ons at 7 kilos each. I carefully weighed each bag to make sure that I was under the limit, reluctantly adding more stuff to the pile of leave-behinds.

When I got to the airport to fly to Hong Kong, the Vietnam Airlines representative at the check-in counter told me that I was only allowed 20 kilos of *total* checked bag weight & only *one* carry-on. I was 15 kilos over weight! I paid the $120 excess baggage fee & boarded the plane. (They graciously allowed me to take the two carry-ons & thankfully did not weight them.) Apparently, if you fly from the US or Canada, they allow you 40 kilos, but if you're flying within Asia, the rules are different. I must have read the wrong page on their website.

Two weeks later, I flew Dragon Airlines from Hong Kong to Shanghai. This time I expected the excess baggage charge, so I found more things to leave behind & packed the lighter items in my checked luggage while stuffing my remaining books into one carry-on, hoping that it wouldn't be weighed. This time the lady at the check-in counter only charged me $35 for the extra weight & ignored my carry-on altogether.

I bet this move has helped me a lot with my 100 Thing Challenge.

Shanghai!

I'm in Shanghai! I'm so excited to be here! I have a really good feeling about this year.

My first day here I found a grocery store - oh! the variety! Found some yummy street food - held out my hand full of change & the lady at the food stall counted out 5 RMB (about 70cents) very slowly so I could see what she was doing. Walked down a side street bustling with a night market.

I actually understood little bits & pieces of what people were saying, especially numbers & things like "how are you?" & "do you want some?"  I'm looking forward to improving my Mandarin skills while I'm here. Juliana will be so impressed!

10 Things to do in Hong Kong on the Cheap

1. Hong Kong Park - Free
2. Kowloon Park - Free
3. Temple Street Night Market - Free to browse & people watch
4. The Escalators - Free: Ride them up the mountain, then walk down
5. The MTR - Cheap & easy way to get around town
6. Star Ferry - Cheap way to see the harbor
7. Self-guided architecture tour - Free audio recording & map from the Hong Kong Tourism Board
8. Museums - Free on Wednesdays
9. Window shopping
10. Endless noodle shops - Meals for under HK$50

Architecture in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is full of amazing examples of modern architecture. Walking around, I can't help but look up agape at the elegant monstrosities. It would be interesting to know more about these monoliths scraping the skies of Hong Kong. Unfortunately, I will miss the architecture walk sponsored by the Hong Kong Tourism Board. They only offer it on Saturdays, the day I fly to Shanghai. As it is, I can only admire them from the pavements below.