Howdy!
It's been a while. To be truthful, I'm developing a genuine disdain for writing publicly online. But I realize it's nice and somewhat cathartic to be able to go back and read about what I was thinking one, two to three years back so I guess I'll be updating for my future self, at least.
So distain, schischtain, whatevah, here we go'
June in a Nutshell
The Landlord
To be perfectly honest, when we first purchased the place last year I had my lofty notions of landlord tyranny and iron-fisted rule over the serfs of my 159 sqm kingdom.
But as the old tenants left and we've had to completely regut and renovate the place I've since learned to scrap all of the above-mentioned notions.
So new tenants were found and the past few weeks have been days filled with talking with contractors, replacing furniture, customizing curtains, installing bidets & satellites, applying for gym memberships and internet connection, dusting, scrubbing, yadda, yadda, yadda aiyaiyaiyaiyaiyaiyaiayaiyaiayaiayai! You don't understand, those people were horrible...I was this "- -" close to giving away my firstborn child.
The Healthcheck
I've been going through the very bureaucratic and protracted process of applying for my work visa.
And so far it has involved 2 physical examinations. The thing about physicals in a Chinese hospital is that it's like one great mad rush of a treasure hunt - except with 'fun' stuff like blood and urine. So you start off with a blank card and the object of the "game" is to get tested and stamped by all the different departments. And since there are tonnes of people all out to do the same thing, you must strategize and dash around. I must say, there was an unexpected air of competition and dare I say 'joy' on the hospital floor. I guess this 'joy' kind of makes up for the total and complete lack of privacy. Getting an ultrasound reading was an experience en"joy"ed by patient, doctor and 8 other pairs of curious eyes waiting in line.
The Move
I've taken the big step and moved to Pudong. That is east of the river in Shanghai. It's a lot of things that the city west of the river is not. I had huge reservations about moving out here despite my office being here. In a nutshell, I liked the energy and anarchy of Puxi. I thought, if I'm going to move to Pudong, I might as well just move back to Canada. Someone asked me if I harbored anything against trees... Anyways, I think my time in Shanghai has irrevocably changed me. Yesterday the police were handing out leaflets outlining fines for jaywalking. I was totally incensed, I love jaywalking! (Joking, PSB officer!!! I  abiding by the laws of the city!!!) Anyways, I just wanted to note my anarchist tendencies, future-self, this is what I was like in 2006.
The Job
Ah work colleagues, don't we all love them. I have one who treats me like her bonded mule and maidservant. I put up with it fair enough, but I was really irked last week. I had written her an e-mail and ordinarily enough signed off with my name. When I received her reply I noticed that my signature line was "Senile". At first I got a laugh out of it thinking that I really was going senile by spelling my own name wrong, but then I started thinking....I'm not really that clumsy as to totally forget how to spell my own name...so I did some investigative research and found that she must have changed my name in the signature line to "Senile"! Who does that?!? Anyways, I'll let this one slide, but next episode we gonna have words.
And oh yes. I love Vietnamese banana chips.
And that is all for today.
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