Week 1 in Shanghai: What I've Learned

- Don't take hot water for granted: I'm reminded of this every day as I turn on my water heater which takes about 2 hours to heat the water enough for about a 10 minute shower.

- Don't take heaters for granted: It usually works fine, but every now and then it just stops and I end up seeing a white puff of air from my breath that really shouldn't be there.

- Don't take soft beds for granted: And I thought the mattress I had for college was bad. My current bed is about as soft as sleeping on the carpet at Grace Church (yeah, all you people who stay for Evening service to "study" know what I'm talking about...). This has been fixed, however, as of last night by doubling up a blanket on the bottom as a cushion.

- Don't take stoves for granted: My mind keeps wandering to what I should cook for dinner...until I realize I have no stove to cook it on. I want to buy a single-burner electric stove soon, but it's been too cold out for me to want to do anything. Like move.

- Public transportation is my friend: 2 RMB for buses, and 4 for the metro. That comes out to about $.30 and $.60, respectively. This is how the rest of the world gets around, California.

- Tote bags are my friend: Curiously, the supermarket near my apartment only gives you ONE plastic bag to hold your purchases. Hello, free UCLA blood donation tote. :)

- Living with myself cannot be good for my sanity... because I've found myself talking to, well, myself a LOT more often. Haha...whoo boy...

- Google talk is pretty darn amazing: Yay for cheap free international calls home.

- Bringing an umbrella would have been a good idea: For all that Shanghai only snows once every couple of years, it's snowing this year. Haha... It'd be pretty if it weren't for the fact that I'm kinda freezing my posterior off.

Annnndddd...I think that about sums up everything except for work. But I'm getting a little chilly at my desk, and since I don't have wireless and I can only do internet things while AT my desk, this means that I'm done for now. Until next time, dearies.