Anyway, Chris left for Ningbo early this morning, so although he was able to say Happy Birthday, we celebrated last night with dinner at Peter & Nickle's house. Nickle even baked a cake, which is no easy feat in a Chinese oven. I got presents from Chris last night, including some coupons for travel and dinners out, which will be a great way to get to know Shanghai and the area. Peter picked me up this morning for some shopping, bringing some beautiful flowers when he stopped in. I bought myself a rice cooker (not that we make that much rice, but with only 2 burners on the stove top, there's no room to cook rice when I want to without the separate rice cooker), an iron, a hair dryer, and some fun DVDs, including the Newsroom (because my best friend Jane recommended it) and Warehouse 13 (because my daughter Beth recommended it). Tonight, Peter, Nickle & the kids will meet me for dinner across the street at Cantina Agave, a Taqueria & Tequileria recommended to me by a woman I met through the American Women's Club of Shanghai as a place that is easily adaptable for people with food allergies. I'll admit that I am nervous eating out in China with food allergies. While I don't think tree nuts will be that big of a problem, my allergy to sesame seeds and sesame oil is definitely proving difficult. I have been to a couple of restaurants already that have very limited options for me because of my sesame allergy. On the bright side, however, the waiters, managers, and chefs are very conscientious about my allergy and when I had the laminated wallet card I had made by Select Wisely that describes my allergy in English and Mandarin, they take it very seriously.
Chris and I attended a workshop on Saturday that is run by the Community Center of Shanghai entitled Shanghai 1-2-3. It is a free information session, including free breakfast and lunch, aimed at getting recent expats acquainted with some of the issues of living, and thriving, in Shanghai. It was a long session, running from 9 a.m. to almost 2 p.m., but it was very informative and helpful. The session on the emotional ups and downs of being an expat was not new information, although it's helpful to be reminded that there will be some bad days along the way, but generally things will get easier. I'm happy that we met several other recent expats, including a few from the Chicago suburbs. The easiest way for me to combat the bad days in Germany was by spending time with the other expats I met there - friends are the best medicine for the blues, no matter where I am living.
The medical portion of Saturday's program was somewhat startling. While I knew that I wouldn't want to be taken to a local hospital in case of emergency, I was mostly thinking of the language barrier and the quality of care. I didn't realize that we would be waiting in line for hours, often all day, because there are no appointments to see a doctor on a regular basis and the local hospitals only take cash. And while I am planning to make appointments to visit and tour the local VIP clinics and expat hospitals, which will accept our insurance and often direct bill, they are rarely open 24 hours a day. So, should an emergency happen after hours, we might end up at a local hospital after all and better have about 10,000 - 20,000 rmb, aka $1,500-3,000 USD, on hand to take with us to the hospital - they won't treat you until you pay. And, we also learned not to call an ambulance, as they take longer than a taxi and have no medical professionals on board.
While I knew we would need to get air filters for our apartment as China has real air pollution issues, I didn't realize the effect the water would have on my hair and skin. The chlorine levels are so high, and the water itself is so hard, that my hair is starting to get pretty brittle already, never mind the dry skin. So, we have a vendor coming over tomorrow to test the water and the air, so we can know what type of water filters and air filters to get. We don't drink the tap water, but apparently the 5 gallon bottles of water that are delivered to our apartment aren't necessarily safe drinking water either, unless they come from a couple of reputable dealers. Yikes!
So, this week's to-do list includes the meeting with the air and water filter vendor, an in-home visit from the Shanghai Geeks to help set up my Vonage router, allowing us to finally receive calls from our U.S. friends and family, and to hook my laptop to the TV as I can't find an HDMI cable to buy anywhere, setting up interviews for a driver, and researching sights to see in Bangkok for our upcoming trip over the October Golden Week holidays. All-in-all, not a bad way to spend my birthday and the time while Chris is away.
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