Easy living in Shanghai

I’m in a coffee bar in “Xintiandi”, which is the name for a couple of beautifully restored old-houses in central-Shanghai. And what do you do with such a beautiful place …. Exactly: you put in lots of expensive bars and shops and probably soon everybody will love it there. The concept worked, because it’s totally crowed here, filled with tourists, rich Chinese and me. Although it’s so touristy and really not that special, it’s a place where you’ll find yourself every once in a while (I’ve been here already a couple of times). I arrived here by accident after wandering through town and I’m now enjoying a nice Sunday afternoon here.

I have been studying my Chinese in this bar for nearly one hour. My progress in this language goes beyond any expectation (I must admin I didn’t expect much) … so I’m happy and keep my focus on this language – which I feel is a necessity if you live here. However, I’ve met already loads of foreigners that speak hardly any Chinese. Once mastered the basic survival Chinese, why learn more? I’m not judging, just observing … and I’m still working on mastering the basic survival Chinese, so I must admit that’s an achievement. I just enjoy learning Chinese a lot…so everyday I’m excited to learn.

This week has been quite easy and not very social… just me and myself most of the time, because for ‘De Baak’ I had to do much computer work and had no meetings. Solitary behind the computer screen (this is the modern live, right?). However, there’s one really nice development in my working situation. That’s my new desk and comfortable office chair. So far I worked at a kind of kitchen table, and matching backbreaking chair – my muscles weren’t enjoying this. Mathijs, a Dutch guy, left this week to go back to Holland after a stay for two years in Shanghai. I bought his desk, chair, flatscreen, DVD-player and his bike. So next to this beautiful desk, I’m the proud owner of a beautiful bicycle. Friday night I went out with my bike to have a little drive through town. I loved it! Cycling through the endless streets of Shanghai is a great feeling. What was supposed to be just a little tour ended up as a total SH-exploration tour of two hours. When I returned home, I felt exhausted and skipped partying on Friday night – to bed with the endless “Prison Break”-dvds.

Musically everything is also going well. I have a bass-teacher now too (the best bass-player of Shanghai, as I’ve been told). He’s an American guy called EJ, and for a small fortune a lesson he agreed on teaching me once every two weeks. I you want to learn you’d better learn from the best, dui bu dui? My music class yesterday went really well and I’m enjoying it a lot. And we will have a gig on the 9th of November!!! After the class I joined the pianist Haiyin and went to KTV (karaoke) … my first time. It’s difficult … my God. You think: “Ah, I know this song”, but when you have the microphone you realize you can only sing the Verse and the rest is a mystery … just words floating on the screen. Haiyin used her Chinese politeness and said I did a good job, but I know better – I was quite shitty, especially compared to these Chinese girls that where singing like Angels! However, I was an enjoyable experience and would like to go again. I ended my Saterday night at a big party in a beautiful house in my neighborhood. I met the couple that lived in my house in Goa’an Lu before I moved in – serendipity! It was fun!

Next weekend I decided to go to Chengdu for 3 days. I booked a ticket and feel delighted to go there. Explore this huge country and all its sights. Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province, which is famous for its delicious food, so what do you need more!

DUTCH DESIGN AND LAURA FYGI

The live in the EAST is going well, but fast! Today I’ve been here exactly three weeks. There happened a lot already, but still I feel like I just arrived and feel flooded by new experiences. It feels good, but I try to take it a bit slower and spend more time watching DVDs (I bought “Prison Break”, and must admit I'm already hooked), just to relax my body from all the action in this town. My weekend has been good and already had a full working day, today. I’m starting to feel my working is getting busier; there are really some concepts I want to finish quickly, so I’ll have some ‘material’ to work with. When you start with a blank sheet, like I’m doing here in China, you really have to put in a lot of energy to get things ‘moving’, but it’s very rewarding (if the movement starts!). We’re still negotiating about the spot in the office, so my days are spent at mostly alone. It’s ok for now …

Last Thursday I went to the Creative Industry Week here in Shanghai, which was nice. Especially the Dutch corner, by far the best. There were not so many presentations so after about two hours you really saw everything there was to see there, but I got some name cards and the sense that the Creative Industry is also a hot topic in Shanghai. I was in good company of Michiel and Ad Fernhout (which some of you will remember for tv – Medisch Centrum West). Ad has a company now on Cross Cultural trainings, and he’s interested to go in business in China – so he was visiting to get a better picture of how to start here. He looked like he was enjoying it a lot, so I hope to welcome him here again soon.

My weekend was nice and filled with music. Friday was a quiet night, after a party on Thursday I didn’t feel like drinking again. So I was in my bed at around 23.00 o’clock (which for me is early – especially for a Friday night). Saturday I had my music group. All the practice of last week paid off and I could follow it a lot better than the week before. The teacher even made me a small compliment which I accepted with a smile. So keep on the good work and next to learn the Chinese language I will spend a lot of my free time to play the bass guitar. I’m motivated, on Sunday I was in the Jz School again to practice for the coming lesson.

Saturday before I went to my music class, I received and email from Bas Jan, an entrepreneur I know from New Venture. He was in Shanghai. That’s the third person I know from Holland that came to Shanghai. I’m very happy to meet all these people here. It’s very special to show them my “new” city – however, I hardly know the place myself – but that’s ok. I know it a lot better than they do, so that’s enough. We went to Jz Club (which is the number one Jazz-place in Shanghai). A lot of Dutch people were in 'tha club', including Marc van der Chijs and even the Consulate General Mr. Verwaal himself. What a coincidence! But we soon find out that it wasn’t a coincidence at all. There was a very “special guest” in the club and that was the reason for their presence, as they told us. And after waiting for about one hour the orchestra leader raised his voice and said: “Ladies and gentlemen, here is our very special guest …….. Mrs. Laura Fygi!!!!!”. A lot of applause and screams filled the room. Laura is a Dutch jazz-singer and very famous (I never heard of her before, but that doesn’t mean anything in this case). She sung very well, and Bas Jan being a music lover, was very happy. A great night in this town.
The "new kid in town" is quite sleepy now and will go to his bed. Tomorrow is another (working)day!

A Chinese teacher, a housekeeper and a visitor from Holland

Wednesday evening … just came back from Jz School. This is the music school I’ve joined last Saturday. It’s a 10 minute walk from my home and I can use a piano and a bass-amp, which I totally great. I want to make an effort to go there a lot and improve my music skills, which is a necessity if you want to be accepted in the music scene in Shanghai. Most musicians I’ve met are (semi)-professionals and way out off my league, so I feel an urge to improve my skills. Coming Saturday I will play with my music group and I wish to make a good impression. So I’ll try to go to Jz again before Saturday.

Further everything is quite fine. I’ve got a housekeeper since today, she will clean my house every Wednesday, so don’t have to worry about that anymore. It’s the same housekeeper as Michiel and Rosalie have - a very nice Chinese woman. I was working at home today to open the door and welcome her in my house. Since I had no cleaning stuff we had to buy it and that was maybe the highlight of this quite busy and hard working day. The shopping with her was just a lot of fun. So don't get me wrong, today was actually a really great day (now I start to think of it). I love to work, so don’t feel sorry for me. I’m just totally tired now and not fit to check one of the local bars in my street (haven’t seen any of them yet). Because I just moved to Shanghai I feel I never want to take time to rest. However, my body really is in need of at least some quiet nights a week, so I have to accept that, and take it easy once in a while (which I find difficult).

Next to a housekeeper I’ve got a Chinese teacher now. I’m not sure about her teaching skills for the long term, but for now she’s fine. I had my first lesson yesterday evening. My Chinese language skills are improving everyday. With the help of my hands, smile and endless repetition I actually can explain some people some extremely basics things (which I feel is amazing). My secret weapon in learning Chinese is Chinesepod.com – the greatest website on the planet for me right now. I listen to their Chinese lessons everyday (a lot!!!).

Yesterday Raffi, my ex-colleague from New Venture, was in Shanghai. We had a drink at a nice Western style bar Cotton’s, that’s just a 5 minute walk from my home. I could impress her and her friend with my few Chinese sentences, which I used in the taxi and the restaurant. It was very nice to see her. We had two tasty cocktails – I didn’t join for a night clubbing. I have to be responsible an think about my work, which is going better and better. Monday and Tuesday I’ve had some appointments and everyday I get a clearer picture of where we can go with de Baak. The office-situation with ASI is still 'under construction' and there have to be made some serious decisions back in the Netherlands, before I can join this office. I hope they can be made quickly, because I would love to have an office here. Right now I use the Starbucks as my office (if I need to escape the house).

Back to Raffi! My first 'visitor' from Holland here in Shanghai. I’ve been only gone for two weeks, but when I was talking to her it felt as if I’ve been away for months. But probably if I would return, I would find not much change back in NL … But it feels like a while since I left Holland. These last 2,5 weeks have been quite intense and I feel I really need to take it a little easy, so I'll be on my way to bed. Actually I didn’t sleep very well the last few days, since my house is super noisy at night and I’m used to the quietness of the Laagte Kadijk in Amsterdam. I think / hope I will get used to this noise very quickly and sleep like a beautiful rose in this house, that already starts to feel a little like home. Shanghai definitely starts to feel like home. I’m totally tired, but also very happy to have this beautiful experience here in China.

My own place!

I’m writing on my computer in my ‘own’ house here in Shanghai. My Address is: Gao’an Lu 30, for the people that know this city. It doesn’t feel like home yet, but it doesn’t feel strange. I think I can quickly feel at ease in this place. It’s about 80 m2 in total. I have a living room, a bedroom and a little office-room. The furniture is quite basic and not super stylish, but nice and functional (let’s hope it doesn’t break quickly). If I look out off my window now I see the lively nightlife of this neighborhood – it's very exciting. Even if you stay at home on a Saterday night (like ‘boring’ me), you feel part of this energy on the streets. And I just found out I can spot the famous TV-tower from my window (real cool)! I already met my neighbor in the elevator. He is an Americans guy – so at least I can talk with him, and he can probably help me to find my way around 'tha hood' - Good restaurants, bars, shops, etc. etc.

This week has gone very quick - like everyday here (like live in general – but I don’t want to get philosophical here). The week was actually quite relaxing with three quiet nights at home in a row from Tuesday until Thursday. However, right now I feel totally exhausted. The result of partying until 5 am yesterday, moving all my stuffs to the new place in the early afternoon, go to IKEA and buy sheets, glasses, plates, etc. etc. And also did my first music activity today. I’m playing jazz bass with four nice people – I really have to do some homework on my bass the coming days, because they already had three lessons together and learned some songs. For me everything was new and I could hardly keep up with everything. However it’s great to be able to make music in China, and I’m totally motivated to get this jazz bass thing working.

My work for the Baak has been going well, even with my computer-situation. It toke me a few hours, and I had to hire a Chinese software specialist, but I got it working again. The sad news is I lost quite some files – it’s no crises, because I also made some back-ups from the most important stuff. Further I met many Dutch people (which is primairy target group here for the Baak). There are so many many Dutch here – sometimes I don’t even feel I'm on the other side of the world. Especially my conversations last Thursday with somebody from Philips were very interesting and nice. So I'm totally not bored and didnt got crazy (yet) here in China. I'm looking forward to start my third week in this dynamic place!

Ok, I will have one drink with a friend in the Cotton Club (a nice bluesy / jazz bar), before I’m off to bed – my ‘own’ bed in my ‘own’ house.

Sweet developments and a computer crisis

Tuesay evening! This is my first real quiet night since my arrival here 9 days ago. I’m quite tired and already in my pajama after a relaxing bath. The big news is: I found an apartment. It’s on Hengshan Lu, which is a famous street in the middle of the French Concession. This district, you can compare with the ‘Jordaan’ of Amsterdam. Not that there is any resemblance, but it’s also: central-located, lively, bars & restaurants everywhere and everybody knows the place. So I’m happy, and don’t have to spend more time looking at shitty or expensive places. I’ll move in this Friday. Right now I’m still in the house of Michiel and Rosalie, whom left for Beijing this week. So this castle is mine the coming days. They’ve been very friendly and helpful (I’m very grateful).

My household here in Shanghai

I lost my jetlag and rose the last two days at 7.30h in the morning (China time). My work is going well and I feel this ‘new’ live is very different from my holiday-experiences here in China. I had my first ‘business-diner’ yesterday and attended a networking breakfast this morning (where Michiel did a presentation on ‘Media in China’ – he did a good job). Today I visited ASI Consulting, where I probably can rent an office-space for 2/3 days a week – so I don’t have to be alone too much when watching the computer screen. They could possibly also help me to fix my work permit, so then I’ll be here totally legal and don’t have to worry anymore about endless Chinese paperwork. I see a lot of potential benefits for me, as an employer of de Baak, when I'm close to ASI (also for them I see benefits to be close to me). So, I hope we can agree on the practical details. Next week we’ll meet to settle it.

My social contacts are going good. The total of numbers in my telephone is rising quicker than the European stock exchange is falling (so no worries here). I'm happy so many people are interested in me (‘the new kid in town’). However, I need to find a good balance between excitement and rest (one of the challenges). Together with getting exercise, because the Chinese kitchen is the bomb and a I only travel by taxi here. Today I eat the local specialty, which is hairy crab (definitely not cheap for € 30,- a piece / but it’s a one of those thing you need to have tried). My Chinese is still slowly improving and on the lookout for a teacher (don’t expect too much … I'm still a totally Newbie in this field). I joined a music-school where I will start to play jazz-bass with an ensemble-group (they put me in the senior group, so I hope my I can live up to expectations).

The only problem is that I broke my laptop this afternoon. I accidentally made some changes in the system – méi bàn fă! I lost all my files and all the programs have problems / only internet works well. The technical boys of the Baak can hopefully do their ‘magic’ tomorrow and make everything just the way it was. I love change, but sometimes the outcome can be a little worrying. Many kisses from this metropolitan city, where you can also enjoy a quiet evening ….

Getting the work started here

Already Friday afternoon! I don’t have an apartment yet, but I’ve seen two potential winners. I’m not a hurry, but it would be great to have my own place. Everyday spent one or two hours looking for apartments – I’ve seen 14 places now. This is easily done, because everyday the agents have 3 or 4 new houses waiting for me. So, no worries here. I have two agents working for me, so I’ve seen two apartments twice – this happens.

I started my work here for De Baak. So no holiday for me this week, like most people in China. Michiel and Rosalie have an extra room here on Zhao Jia Bang Lu, which they use as their office. It’s quite convenient and we’re working hard. It’s totally quiet (only the sound of our fingers hitting the computer). The internet is quite slow here and some sites don’t work very well or not at all (that’s why I haven’t got my Nabaztag working). A bit of a hassle, but patience is a beautiful thing, so I’m ok.

My social activities are going well. I went to a club on Wednesday evening and danced like crazy – it was fun. Met some more Dutch people and a few Chinese. Even went to see my ex-girlfriend Xiao Ben yesterday, but her cat just had a miscarriage, so we were more focused on the animal that each other – this happens.

My first ‘working’-week already gone – it’s amazing. But in China I don’t feel a there’s a big difference between the week and the weekend, so I probably will do some work tomorrow, catch up for Monday and Tuesday.

Arrived in Shanghai

It’s my third day in Shanghai and it feels good to be (back) here. The city is quite deserted, because today it is a holidayweek in China (October 1st). Still the vibe is great, feeling the energy floating thought the streets and the smell of ‘creative destruction’ is everywhere.

My first two days have been good. Totally jeglegged, but still I got some work done: having seen 8 apartments (one I really like – some I really hate), done my first business meeting, got a temporarily resident permit, got my mobile phone and computer working … and more of these practical activities. Socially it’s been quite nice too: meeting a Chinese friend and enjoying my stay here with Rosalie en Michiel, who are so kind to have me as a guest in there beautiful apartment on Zhao Jia Bang Lu.

My 4 weeks of practicing Chinese in Holland really paid off, because I can manage myself in a taxi and order in a restaurant. Further I can tell people I like it here and a little more (very) basic talk. I’m determined to improve my Chinese quickly so wherever I go, you’ll see my with my iPod listing tot Chinese lessons on Podcasts.

I'm happy I’ve arrived and already feel time is going fast. Very, very fast!