We have been back in Shanghai for 7 weeks now, and I am still amazed that I am in the same city. We are 20 or 30 miles from our old house, but it feels like we are a world away. When we moved to Shanghai, I never would have considered living here. Why would anyone choose to come all the way to China only to live in an American-style community? But there are so many things that I am enjoying about our new location:
The sky is blue.
The almost constant breeze.
There is no soot accumulating on the outdoor furniture, but the management washes the windows once a month anyway.
The internet connection is so fast!
The house has almost all the comforts of home. How I missed wood floors!
The car gives us more freedom than I imagined.
Papa is more relaxed.
The new school is challenging in the best possible ways. So far, the school is exceeding my expectations, and I expected quite a bit.
We have a small fenced yard for the dog!
We can see ships passing by on the sea from the bedroom windows.
The compound's convenience store has a great selection of groceries that Americans want, without any additional price gouging.
We have traded the constant honking of cars for air traffic. I prefer the airplanes,which are louder than the cars, but the noise is so much less jarring. Oh, and sometimes we hear ships sounding their horns.
We are surprised at the people who can and will speak English here. I suspect there are more foreigners on this side of the river.
We are socializing more with Papa's coworkers and their families.
Taxis? Horrible traffic jams? Not so much!
The shuttle runs all day long, so except for the distances involved, grocery shopping is more convenient .
Of course, there are also a few downsides to life in Pudong:
Everything is more expensive, and we have a few new expenses (the car, the school supplies, oh my!)
We miss seeing our Puxi friends every day.
Although Papa's commute takes about the same amount of time as before our move, now he is driving, so he doesn't get to use that time to relax.
We had better amenities in our old place (indoor pool, hot tub, beautiful landscaping, more television stations). High class problem, I know.
The old shuttle ran to a wider variety of places.
The access roads outside the new compound are twisty and narrow and sometimes harrowing to travel down.
We have to work harder to have a "Chinese Experience." I'm not sure that The Paying Customer and aka The Works would agree that belongs in the downsides column. But I feel that we have so much to be thankful for, and I hope some day they will feel the same way about this experience. If we have to be away from our home this year, this isn't such a bad place to be.
The sky is blue.
The almost constant breeze.
There is no soot accumulating on the outdoor furniture, but the management washes the windows once a month anyway.
The internet connection is so fast!
The house has almost all the comforts of home. How I missed wood floors!
The car gives us more freedom than I imagined.
Papa is more relaxed.
The new school is challenging in the best possible ways. So far, the school is exceeding my expectations, and I expected quite a bit.
We have a small fenced yard for the dog!
We can see ships passing by on the sea from the bedroom windows.
The compound's convenience store has a great selection of groceries that Americans want, without any additional price gouging.
We have traded the constant honking of cars for air traffic. I prefer the airplanes,which are louder than the cars, but the noise is so much less jarring. Oh, and sometimes we hear ships sounding their horns.
We are surprised at the people who can and will speak English here. I suspect there are more foreigners on this side of the river.
We are socializing more with Papa's coworkers and their families.
Taxis? Horrible traffic jams? Not so much!
The shuttle runs all day long, so except for the distances involved, grocery shopping is more convenient .
Of course, there are also a few downsides to life in Pudong:
Everything is more expensive, and we have a few new expenses (the car, the school supplies, oh my!)
We miss seeing our Puxi friends every day.
Although Papa's commute takes about the same amount of time as before our move, now he is driving, so he doesn't get to use that time to relax.
We had better amenities in our old place (indoor pool, hot tub, beautiful landscaping, more television stations). High class problem, I know.
The old shuttle ran to a wider variety of places.
The access roads outside the new compound are twisty and narrow and sometimes harrowing to travel down.
We have to work harder to have a "Chinese Experience." I'm not sure that The Paying Customer and aka The Works would agree that belongs in the downsides column. But I feel that we have so much to be thankful for, and I hope some day they will feel the same way about this experience. If we have to be away from our home this year, this isn't such a bad place to be.
Sounds like it was a good move. I love your descriptions but would also love to see some pictures.
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