Two weeks in Shanghai

Hello Germany!

We have been in the megacity Shanghai for nearly two weeks now. I don't think the adjustment period is completely over yet, but we are feeling better every day. 'Information overload' is the name of the game as soon as you leave the house. Not necessarily because it's extremely crowded, no, but rather the combination of active illiteracy, foreign culture, and enormous pace of life doesn't always make it easy for a Western European. Practically no one speaks English here, so it's quite difficult to communicate. Luckily, there's the smartphone, without which nothing works here. Calling a taxi without a smartphone... no way! Shopping without a smartphone... hardly possible! Paying without Alipay or WeChat Pay... you're looked at as if you came from the moon. Everything is digitalized and cash is almost extinct.

The school makes a good impression, the colleagues are great so far and well-coordinated. Everything is incredibly well-organized, all processes are documented. The schedules are very tight, so there was hardly any breathing room in the first week. Nevertheless, the evolution from jet-lag zombie to normal human being is halfway complete.

The school has welcomed us warmly and showed us around to get a first impression of the city and the mega skyline. The sight is simply breathtaking and certainly a highlight every time.

Today we were in the Former French Concession and got an impression of whether we would like to live there in the future or not. It is super beautiful, like a mix of Hanoi and Paris, but in our opinion, it is not suitable for family life. Now we hope to find a nice apartment soon where we can feel comfortable in the long run.

By the way, our first acquisition is a cool used electric scooter, which we will receive in 10 days.

With that being said...

Goodbye Julian, Sumitta & Niu