London to Shanghai

Well, we finally made it to Shanghai!  I feel like we have been here for a week, yet we only arrived yesterday.  I seem to have spent most of my time in a jetlagged daze, wide-eyed, not knowing what to look at first!

But before I get into that, we had a few more days in England after my last post. I went for a fabulous cream team (above) with Mum and Dad in Christchurch.  The Harris family BBQ was good fun as always, despite it being the first year we have had rain.  Matt went to the cinema with his Mum on Monday morning to see Dunkirk.  I didn't fancy it, so I headed into London for a catch up with the lovely Louise. Matt did all of his packing on Monday, and I was already done, so Tuesday was aa bit of a non-day, just waiting around to go.

Tuesday evening, we did go out for a last Harris family meal, to a fab Portuguese restaurant.  It was delicious, and they even had Sangria!

Matt went off to his cousin Katharine's graduation from Oxford, while I was still in Hampshire...

Then it was finally moving day (again!).  We headed to the airport early to try to blag an upgrade because it was our 3 year wedding anniversary, but BA apparently don't do upgrades for that reason anymore.  Still, we were in Premium Economy, which is well worth the extra couple of hundred.  The seats are bigger, loads of leg room, attentive service, real plates and cutlery, and a glass of bubbly on arrival.  Fab.

The flight was actually quite pleasant, because we had so much space. The flight was fairly empty too, so we had a spare seat next to us for extra room.  I watched the new Beauty and the Beast film, as well as Logan, both of which I had been hoping would be on the entertainment.  The flight was 10 and a half hours, and we managed to sleep for just 2 of those hours.  We had a nap and then both woke up at the same time, so decided to drink some wine and whiskey instead of sleeping!

When we arrived, passport control was really easy, and we got our bags straight away.  Baggage claim also had a desk where you could buy sim cards, so we got set up with pay as you go Chinese sims straight away.  The Head of Secondary was waiting for us through customs, which was lovely.  She had the school mini bus and kept us company on the drive to our new flat.  No idea how far we were from the airport, I was too busy looking out the window and chatting, but I think abut 45 minutes.  Our flat is in a gated community, but it doesn't really feel like one.  There are a mix of nationalities there including Chinese.  Lots of people use them like serviced holiday homes, so you get a service similar to a hotel.  The reception staff were very nice, and spoke fairly good English.  They sort out registering with the police which you have to do within a few days of arriving, and we signed our contract for the flat.  The flat itself is gorgeous, and surrounded by trees and water fountains.  We are in building 13, but it's not unlucky here.  Number 4 is considered unlucky, while 8 is very lucky indeed.  The next hour was a whirlwind of information and new faces, as people from school came to check the flat and our IKEA box.  People from the building came to talk us through the furniture and to read the meters.  We had a lovely welcome package from the school waiting for us, which included flowers, a huge box of fresh fruit, and a box with tissues, coffee, sugar, paper cups, and 30 small bottles of water.

The air con is incredible, as it is ridiculously hot here.  We went out in the afternoon and the temperature on our phones said 37 degrees, real feel 46!!!  REAL FEEL 46!!!!!  That is insane.  We didn't venture very far in the afternoon, just to the Life Hub, which is a shopping center opposite Green Court Place (our community).  We stuck to the areas that were air conditioned mostly, and had our first meal, as always when in a different country and needing a bit of familiarity... McDonald's.  Familiar, yes, but there are some seriously odd things you can get on the menu.  We stuck to the traditional cheese burger.  The Life Hub is full of fountains and fairy lights, and is very nice.  They even have Clarks and C&A!

In the evening, we had been invited to the Irish pub by Matt's new Senior Leadership Team colleagues, and had said maybe, but decided to go in order to keep us awake a bit longer.  The two we met were very nice.  A bit older than us, both with families - kids starting at our school, and other halves working in Primary.  They were both very friendly and easy to chat to.  The Head of Secondary turned up later too, and got us some fried snacks from the bar to keep us awake.  I had a Magners cider (since we were in an Irish pub!).  We didn't have too late a night, but I was really glad we went.  We were buzzing on the walk home from meeting new people, and feeling already like we love the city and our new flat.  The walk to the pub (it is on the way to school), was lots of tiny local shops, wet markets (fruit and veg places), nail bars, pubs, restaurants, hairdressers, all sorts.  A feast for the senses.  I can't work out what to look at first!

Matt got some noodles on the way home, and was very pleased with his chopstick skills.

This was a steamed bun we had on the walk to the pub (it's very light, almost sweet fluffy bread-ish bun, filled with meat. yum.

We were awake at 4am, literally the crack of dawn.  We had to be at school at 7.30, as we were being driven to do our medicals, with one of the HR staff members (thank goodness she was there because it was all in Chinese!).  The mini bus took an hour in traffic, and we were feeling a bit unwell by the time we got there.  We had also had to fast from midnight, which would be OK if we weren't awake from 4am, starving hungry.  The medical was a bizarre and (for me) stressful experience.  It's a very sterile experience, although the nurse at the end was so kind to me, the whole thing was redeemed slightly.  It's a corridor with a series of rooms down it, and chairs to sit on outside while you wait.  The first room is lockers and changing rooms that you strip off in and get into a gown that barely covers anything, and pub shoe covers over your feet.  Then you go from room to room just saying hello to the doctor there, doing the procedure and being told the next room.  We had an ECG, ultrasound, chest x-ray, eye test, our hearts listened to, asked if we had ever had an operation, asked if I was pregnant, all in a different room for each.  I was behind a nice English man there on business, who I chatted to in the queues.  The last room was a blood test, and I had a bit of a wobble, as I sometimes do, being very frightened of needles.  The nurse was so nice to me.  We were finished at 10, then had to get back into the bus for an hour back to school.  The HR lady who had taken us, said she would take us to the food court in the supermarket for amazing dumplings, but by the time I got off the bus at 11, the combination of fasting, extreme heat, seriously bad jet lag, car sickness and the adrenaline rush, then low from the needle, I was ready to faint.  I don't actually remember getting from the car to the food place, but a coke and a plate of dumplings was put in front of me, and slowly I began to feel better.  Matt said he knew something was wrong, when he pointed out a shop selling puppies and I ignored him!  We did go for a look later!

The dumplings, it turns out are absolutely incredible, and have gone straight into my top 5 all time favourite foods.  They are little parcels of pasta-ish, filled with meat and meat soup.  You bite a little hole in them, suck out the soup, then eat the rest, with chilli flakes. Yum yum yum!  Our chopstick skills could use a bit of work.  Some men in the queue were laughing at Matt because he kept dropping his!

We had time for a quick wander around the attached supermarket, which is crazy!  Live fish tanks, piles and piles of rice and lentils, bright adverts everywhere.  It was a bit overwhelming.  Matt had a meeting at school after that, so I asked reception to help me get a cab home.  The lady on reception was nice enough to come outside with me and tell the driver where to go.  I now have a card with our community address on it in Mandarin, so should be OK in the future.  I got diddled on the price, which was annoying, but I felt so unwell after my traumatic morning, I just wanted to get home, and didn't realise until later.  I went straight to bed for a nap, and only woke up when Matt got home a few hours later.  His meeting was about the next few days.  Because he is the only leadership team member living here, he has to meet the new staff arriving on Monday and Tuesday in reception to take them up to their flats.  He also has to lead everyone over to the Beer Factory in the Life Hub opposite for our social on Monday, and go to pick two people up from the airport.  They are putting him to work straight away.