Getting to day 1: Shanghai

Shanghai. It sounds so far away.

After the flight from Chicago I'm inclined to speculate, "you have no idea". Rewind six months or so and you'll understand. At some point last winter, Kris, my wife, came home from the office and mentioned that a new position in Shanghai was a possibility. It simply sounded "too far away" to be real. I soon forgot about it and dedicated time to my business (something I do when I'm not swimming) and swimming (something I do when I'm not working).

Then in late spring, Shanghai started recurring in our evening conversations. Suddenly it seemed we were pregnant with this Chinese reality. Pregnancy scares me, not so much the change but the commitment. This was going to be a three-year deal and I had no idea how to find a Chinese swimming pool where people even remotely followed an organized traffic pattern ([reluctantly]: think fire drill).

Anyway, we make a quick one-week trip to survey Shanghai and instantly Kris, K8 (my twelve year-old daughter) and I, really like the place.

Liking Shanghai seemed almost sacrilegious; after all we'd lived in Ann Arbor for nearly 11 years. The longest we'd ever been in one place – and we liked it. I liked it. I could swim in one of the most storied pools in the country with some great swimmers who knew how to share a lane (albeit while lapping me every 200 meters).

Reality does have a way of seeping-in though. I'm a fifty-something mad man easily persuaded by fortune cookie prophecies imploring, "great adventure and good fortune awaiting" (when that fortune actually did appear in a carry-out, it was the kick in the butt I needed). The other 51% of the decision was the weight of Kris' import on our existence.*

Fast forward five weeks and "Hello Shanghai". We now enjoy mid-summer's nights from our balcony over looking the Huangpu River in the Pudong district of Shanghai (pictured above).

Hopefully, I can record our time in China with all of its adventures, challenges, frustrations (prerequisite of cultural transition) and oddities in a colorful, honest and enlightening manner. In the future look for visits to the bird and insect market, some good restaurants, a survey of Huangpu River traffic, bizarre street traffic, and of course the great architecture scene, not to mention a bunch of other stuff.

Stay tuned, Hui tou jian ( ' means L8R).

* – 51%, 99%, it's all the same when you're the minority. ;-)