到了

two nights ago i took an overnight train from beijing to shanghai. i arrived in shanghai at about 7am. after a delicious *rolls eyes* KFC breakfast i took a taxi to the building where my office is. The building (Jin Mao Tower) is one of Shanghai's tallest and the taxi driver knew it by name, though it's at least 20 minutes from the train station.

when i got to the office, the office driver, a secretary and the office maid (they call her wei ayi, or aunt wei) took me to my apartment. The secretary and wei ayi nagged the landlord to fix or clean various aspects of the apartment. while the landlord fixed up the apartment, the two took me to buy various 日用品 (necessities) at a grocery store nearby. The outing was very surreal: two Chinese women leading me through a grocery store, speaking Shanghainese to eachother and Mandarin to me, asking me whether i need dishwashing detergent, milk, chopsticks, etc. Strangely, it reminded me a little of the Wal-Mart visit I did with my parents right before college.

my apartment is on the 19th floor of a 35 floor building and the office building is something like 88 floors tall. when i walk on the street i still find myself spending a lot of time with my neck craned staring up at all the buildings. my apartment is pretty standard: 1 bathroom, 1 bedroom, kitchen, living room, and a closed in balcony/office. From the balcony window I can see the river that splits Shanghai in two, lots of buildings taller than my own, and 6 different tennis courts. i'm not sure why we need so many tennis courts sprinkled throughout the neighborhood.

i start work on monday. i'll post pictures of my apartment and office building sometime soon.