Day 5

I'm happy to say that I actually slept through the night last night.  I'm hoping that means progress, although I'm still so hungry most of the time, I have to wonder what the deal is.  I thought all the walking and "light" foods we eat here would encourage weight loss, and maybe it will eventually, but right now, I'm starving!

Today, Samantha joined me at a Meet & Greet for the American Women's Club in Shanghai.  I belonged to the American Women's Club of the Taunus when we were living in Frankfurt, Germany and loved it.  In addition to the great events and activities, I really enjoyed meeting a lot of wonderful women and taking fascinating trips.  I hope to get a similarly rewarding experience out of the Shanghai group.

The Meet & Greet was at Le Royal Méridien Shanghai hotel in downtown Puxi, which is on the other side of the Huangpu River, which runs through the heart of Shanghai.  Expats seem to divide themselves between those who live in Puxi and those, like us, who live in Pudong, east of the river.  I joined the club, signed up for some small activity groups such as Couples Euchre and the Cooking Club, although I'm still looking for information on the book club.  But, the main part of the Meet & Greet was a vendor fair filled with tables of services of interest to expats, such as grocery deliveries, medical and dental facilities, air purifiers, travel and tour companies, and schools.  I met a few women but mostly Samantha and I had fun talking to all of the vendors.

Le Royal Méridien Shanghai is located in the Nanjing Road pedestrian area.  After almost 2 hours, we left the hotel and walked around the pedestrian mall a little bit, people watching but also admiring Shanghai's varied and striking architecture.

We then took a taxi back to Pudong and had an American-style lunch at Johnny Moo's, a burger joint just up HongFeng Lu from our apartment building.  Samantha decided to pair her french toast with a cookies and cream milkshake.  Although not like something she'd get at home, it was a nice break from traditional Chinese cooking.  Tomorrow, however, Samantha and I will join Peter and one of his "Guy Tai" friends for a tour conducted by the Community Center of Shanghai:  A Taste of China with April Li-Eat, Learn and Practice Chinese.  We will learn about the food we're eating and also practice our Mandarin.  Tai Tai is the local term for expat at-home, non-working mothers and wives.  Given that so many trailing spouses these days are husbands, the slang for stay-at-home dads is "Guy Tai."  :)

After a quick trip to the international grocery store, Samantha and I headed back to the apartment.  I have posted pictures inside our apartment, but not of the outside of our building and complex here at Dawn Garden.  It is a huge complex with at least 10-12 buildings.  Ours has only about 10 stories but some definitely are taller.  The pool is lovely looking, although we've been told we aren't technically allowed to swim there, as we did not join the clubhouse.  Apparently, in these types of complexes, it is common to have a separate management company run the recreational facilities.  Chris and I negotiated into our lease to get memberships in a local health club, which is much more expensive, apparently, than the cost to belong to the clubhouse here at Dawn Garden.  We are going to the health club tonight to get our membership cards and see what those facilities are like.

The thing we like most about this complex, other than the size of our individual unit (3 bedroom, 2 bath, and more than 1,800 sq. ft.), is the green space and interior courtyard.  The grounds are really quiet and it doesn't feel like you're in the middle of a city of nearly 24 million people.  Quite a difference from Elmhurst, IL, where we are currently living part-time (population of 45,000) and especially from my small town home in Watkins Glen, NY (population 1,800).  It will be an interesting experience of city living in addition to Asian city living.