09 Jan An unexpected twist of events
Well to be honest, my first 2 days in Shanghai, were quite an unexpected journey, as soon as I touched down I already had the feeling of homesickness, never leaving Australia before and so quickly being in another country where independence was key was quite a difficult challenge.
I must admit when I arrived I felt deeply uncomfortable with Shanghai, It was just totally different from Australia, and the population of Australia in one city can be quite intimidating.
Everything is different here, the people, the weather, the driving, the metro, the food, the Internet and of course working. Most people tend to keep to themselves here, although when always asking for help people will always be happy to help.
It is winter here in Shanghai, and it is very cold, I left Australia a with slight cough, it has now worsened but hey, that’s my fault. When it comes to road rules, I must say they don’t exist in Shanghai, everyone is in a hurry, nobody indicates when changing lanes, light colors don’t even matter, people still drive when it’s a red light, when the pedestrian crossing is green cars come flying out of no where.
I have been here just over a week and I’ve almost be hit by a car 3 times, In Australia cars give way to pedestrians, but I guess on the road here in Shanghai it’s everyone for themselves.
The metro here is really packed, I mean in Sydney I complain how I don’t want to sit next to a stranger on the train, In Shanghai your lucky to not be squashed on the train, it’s just really busy on the metro all the time, but hey I guess so many people and the metro is convenient, it is what it is. The metro is quite fast though which is good.
OMG the food is amazing here, so cheap and so delicious, everywhere you walk there is food available, which is just awesome. The first 4 days I barely ate and I was loosing weight, now I am struggling to stop eating and I am putting on weight the food is just too good!
Surfing the Internet can be increasingly difficult as Internet speed is just below par in shanghai, but hey on the upside at least it works!
Working here is totally different to working in Australia, It is non stop here, long hours at work all the time and everyone works very hard, before I came here I was working 22 hours a week, 3 days a week 7 hours per day, Now I am doing over 9 hours of work daily which is like 45 hours per week, so yes it is so different but hey I’m keen to work hard.
Clubbing here in shanghai is also different from Australia, clubs go off, the alcohol is cheap and good nights out partying are always eventful. What mostly amazes me about Shanghai is the infrastructure is so good; buildings go up in no time. There is so much sight seeing to do here, so many nice places to visit, I’ve taken so many pictures and vlogged like crazy.
I must admit my first impression was a bad one once I arrived and I wanted to turn around and head home, but I gave it a few days and Shanghai grew on me and now what my perspective of Shanghai has totally changed, if I could I would stay longer as this city is such a beautiful place to be in!
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