10 Days

I’m sorry for my infrequent and so far quite uninformative updates! It’s been a hectic 10 days, to say the least. I wanted to blog on Saturday when I was here for a week, but I was so busy moving into my new apartment that the day was gone before I knew it! But, after 10 days, I’ve finally managed to find a little time to post more than a couple of pictures.

So, what has been keeping me so busy? The hunt for finding the ‘perfect apartment’ began within a day of arriving in Shanghai. Finding a place to live as a student is surprisingly easy! I viewed 8 apartments before falling in love with a 4-bedroom apartment 40-minutes away from Fudan by metro. It’s situated in a cute local neighborhood where I haven’t seen any other foreigners except for me and my 3 flatmates. After a trip to Ikea, my little room is already starting to feel familiar. So far, so good!

My Chinese Language course started today. It’s safe to say that my summer holiday is now officially over! I have 20 hours of lessons a week, which includes reading and writing, listening and speaking, and Chinese character classes. I’ve already learned how to say my Chinese name (which is apparently a “very good girl name”) and where I’m from! Along with a lot of classroom phrases that, I must admit, went in one ear and out the other. Time to go back to old-school Bahrain-style studying and memorizing…

Now all that’s left for me to do, administration wise, is to change my official address at the local police station, and apply for a residence permit! Settling into Shanghai is turning out to be easier than I expected.

Tagged: Experience, Out and About