So China….

First impressions are conflicted which I guess is sort of the definition of culture shock. We arrived after a decent flight (~11 hours) into Shanghai and it was all very efficient. We collected bags, came through customs with no issues. Given how easy quarantine and customs are here, I wonder what people think about Australia's customs setup with the dogs and checking everything and everyone being so serious.

Anyway, we found our connecting flight, checked in with no issues although Jane is already getting conversation directed to her and people finding it difficult to comprehend that she doesn't speak Mandarin. We went through security with the only problem being me getting told "one at a time". Oh well. Then to the gate, and by this point we were really tired, it was about 8pm local time and we'd been up since 3am local time having got about 3 hours sleep the night before. So it was a bit of a blow when we discovered that our flight was delayed due to storms in Beijing. about 3 hours later we manage to get on the plane and then sit for ages on the tarmac waiting to take off.

Finding the driver was fine, we got to our apartment (it looked just like the photos!) except it was about 30 degrees. Turning on the air conditioning hasn't really helped so far.

Then up in the morning with no way to contact the office and no Chinese address for it we went for a walk to find someone with a phone. The guard in the Chanel offices next door helped us out and we talked to someone from the office who came to meet us and took us to the office, showed us around then for some lunch.

We caught up with Adam and Anita, then I left to come and get some much needed essentials (think toilet paper) and got slightly lost on the way home.

So here I am sitting in my new apartment in Beijing, slightly freaking out as to what we've got ourselves into really. Jane is starting to get wrapped up in work already which is good for her. Not quite sure what I'm going to do to be honest, or how well I'm going to cope with this sort of a change. Still, it will take a few months to get used to at least, and probably the whole year before I start feeling comfortable but the chance is here to make this a great experience.