Hangzhou survival 101

Arrived: 28 Jan 2007

~~Setting up house~~

So, i've survived a week here in Hangzhou. The first few days were rather stressful and hectic. Moved into my apartment in the western suburbs of the city and began a massive buying spree - bedding, electrical appliances, miscellaneous household items and then carting them home, queueing to open a bank account, cleaning the apartment etc. Fun stuff.

I can't total up the hours i've spent in electrical appliance shops, hypermarts comparing the prices and brands of various electrical appliances but it must be more than the amount of life that's cut off when you smoke 10 packs of cigarettes. And let me tell you, i probably HAVE shortened my life by that equivalent.

They must sell 50 varieties of rice-cookers here, i swear. Sales assistants here shadow you as you walk around the shop like ghosts. I can't seem to look at Anything without them trying to give me the pitch so i'm reduced to these furtive glances at the shelves and trying to shake them off my tail. no luck.

I picked up a rice-cooker to examine it closely and Persistent Assistant helpfully pointed out "This is a rice-cooker." Yeah thanks. She then proceeded to rattle off the virtues of it doubling as a porridge-maker, steamboat blah blah. Ditto the miracle water filter, heater, hair-dryer etc.

Its been awhile since i've lived on my own and it takes getting used to! I felt really grown up (meaning - it was a big pain in the a**) having to deal with workmen/ technicians who came to fix my washing machine, fridge and internet. Daddy i need you!!!!!

~~Always bargain!~~

When in China... do as the Chinese. ..

Yes, don't EVER pay the listed price here. I've learnt to ask "Is there a discount?" before buying anything and chances are, they'll shave off 10-20% off the marked price, even in a big store. If there aren't any discounts, you have to badger them for a freebie. Thats the way to go here. Its so competitive amongst the shops that they are bound to cave in. Muahahaha.

~~Layering does work~~

somewhat...

its about 5 deg here this week and according to locals, it is already a "warm" winter. I must pile on a few kilos with the amount of clothes i wear and it make me feel like a rather chunky penguin when i go out. Most Hangzhou houses also do not have central heating either! Brrrrr... i'm thankful for my trusty little heater that keeps me from hypothermia when i shower.

~~Mandarin is oozing out of my pores~~

My other daily struggles are more like "communication problems".

Everything is in Mandarin. .. I've always been bad at Mandarin anyway but its became painfully apparent here. I can get by with ordinary conversation but i'm stumped at technical and business vocab. My laptop language settings, emails, communications, employee handbook, discussions and instant messaging with colleagues are all in chinese.. Its like someone flipped a switch in my head to a foreign language mode and i have think, speak, write it all the time.

Takes me 3x as long to process everything!!

Work is going ok, its quiet for me since i'm new and the rest of the staff are busy wrapping up projects before Chinese new year. Besides i can't really catch 40% of what they are saying haha.

Just last friday, i had to call our IT helpdesk and he explained (of course in mandarin) how to configure my laptop. It doesn't help that Hangzhou people tend to speak very fast either. I was reduced to saying "huh?" at every sentence. (look- before i came, i didn't even know how to say "restart computer" and "double-click"!!) Finally he gave this big sigh and and walked over to help me. He probably was convinced i was a techno-idiot. Or maybe just idiot in general.

In any case, i'm glad that i CAN read at the very least and i've figured out the public transport here. Took buses everywhere over the weekend -woohoo!! There's loads of shops and local eateries around my area so i'll never starve even if i don't cook. Eating out is pretty affordable here especially after converting it into SGD.

So its 10 more days before i come back to Singapore for Chinese New Year - a brief respite from All Things Chinese. And I can't wait to see my family again!!

I'll post pictures of my apartment and write more this weekend - IF my internet doesn't mysteriously conk out again like it did last night.