First Day in Shanghai

I'M IN SHANGHAI!!! This city is massive, makes cities like New York and Chicago seem like small towns (yes, I'm actually serious). And the number of high-rises is unbelieveable. Last night, my recruiter picked me up to take me to my hotel, we took the Maglev, which is supposedly one of the fastest subway system in China. It can reach up to 350 km/hr. Wow, that is fast. My recruiter, Joseph, actually kind of reminds of me Tiger Woods. He told me he had lived in Shanghai for the past three years and he is originally from Colorado.

Anyway, we took the Maglev to get to outskirts of Pudong (the lower neighborhood of Shanghai) and took a taxi into the city. We drove across a bridge over the river; the bridge was so high up and it was alongside the apartment high-rises, it actually felt like I was in some science-fiction movie set in a city. The way it looked, it looked so futuristic. I cannot imagine what Tokyo must look like. When I got to Pudong neighborhood, I saw lights like it was a street in Las Vegas, but Joseph told me that was nothing compared to the Shangai downtown area. Well, Today, I will check out the downtown area after going to the office for some paperwork.

I think I will really enjoy it here in Shanghai. The people seem friendlier than I had expected. Of course, there is a language barrier. I tried ordering a calling card from a convenience store this morning and that did not work out. The guy couldn't understand what I was trying to ask, and I couldn't understand him either. Obviously this means I should learn at least some "survival" Mandarin; to the point when I can order in restaurants, talk in grocery/convenience stores and to taxi drivers. Well, I have been learning some already; so far, I've only been saying "thank you" when I bought my food from the store.

Right now, I'm in a cafe watching life on this seemingly busy street go by and maybe learn a thing or two about Chinese city lifestyle. I've noticed people act very busy, always walking like they are rushing to get to someplace. But me, I'm just strolling on the street. Plus, everyone stares at me, as if they have never seen a Westerner before. Of course, they have seen Westerners before, but I think they like to stare just because there isn't too many of them in Asia. Also, there is about just as much bikes and mopeds as there are cars. And, they do not seem to notice pedestrians. I was walking to get to the cafe, and it was a green pedestrian light to cross the street; and bikes and cars were still turning and not stopping for pedestrians. I almost gotten run over. I was standing in the middle of the street all confused on whether I should run off the street or just keep walking like the other people. They do not seem to be concerned at all about the bus driving moderatly fast coming right at us. One other strange thing I noticed, a guy on bike had two dead animal carcasses. I guess it's normal here, but it definitely wasn't normal for me.

Later on, I will check out downtown and People's Square, since the office is really close to that area. Whoo, big lights here I come!