Week 3 in Shanghai

This marks an official 2 weeks of survival in Shanghai.

Well, I finally found an apartment which stands out much better than the rest but still there is room for improvement (no pun intended).

I just hope that the toilet is bigger because toilet is the only place I can think and relax, but at least it is much better than the guesthouse in Korea. The kitchen is still oily at some places, I have no idea how to get rid of the oil stain from the last tenant but I have already cleaned out most of the area. The water in the bathroom has too low pressure and the heater takes too slow to work. Thats the only thing I'm unpleased because I forgot to check when I visited the apartment. The bed is also too hard but I'm gonna buy a mattress protector for cushion.

Other than those,I'm just glad that I'm just 2 mintues away from the MRT, 2 stops away from my office and the hypermarket is just above the MRT. There's a gym and park nearby, there are too many things to eat and the buildings are relatively new.

I'd never have guessed that my working life would start this way.
For the past few years before University I used to admire those Americans who move out of their hometown to stay in the city to work, and they have to take a few part time jobs to pay for their rent or meals in order to survive. Thats hard work and independence. I just found out that it's the same in China, graduate leave their hometown to come to Shanghai to work too. In Singapore, we just take the train to work. The end. For the rest of our lives.

I have no idea why all the interviews that I have gone for wanted me to go overseas.
I've thought Mitsubishi Chemicals was a position in Singapore until they told me it was 5 years in Japan.
The position that I applied for in my current company was for Singapore. The Singapore HR told me I wasn't selected, but the Asia Pacific HR wanted me to work in Shanghai. A complete turn of events. I had prepared myself mentally for the Tokyo one because I told myself to go out of Singapore for a while, but I just didn't expect China.

Prepared mentally doesn't mean its easy. I mean there's nothing to prepare you for this. You just gotta survive and adapt. For the first few days I've been telling myself, if I can't do this I can just quit and go back. Once I applied for my phone, bank, apartment, broadband etc, there's no turning back, at least for a whole good year. The first few days are torturous. Every second passes by slowly. Maybe its the unbearable hotter-then-Singapore weather, Maybe because I'm alone, maybe because I'm in an unfamiliar environment, maybe because I'm away from home for too long. The main reason is I am not ready. One week's notice after coming back from my 3 week K-J grad trip is barely enough to get myself ready for another round of adapting.

It is very good training. Discipline, independence, Survival.

Working environment is the same as Singapore. Everything is in English except spoken. Welfare maybe not as good as Exxon but still its an Amercian company. My case is really one of a kind. Its the first time they hired a fresh grad from overseas to work here and they are having some difficulty applying my work permit because you gotta have 2 years working experience.

I'm not considered an expat but I am considered a Shanghai employee paid in Singapore market. Everyone thinks that I'm like posted here for overseas assignment, with all those overseas allowance and the likes but no, I'm just a plain employee. Its more like me applying for a job in Shanghai, except I have better benefits because of my manager. Heh. I'm really a valuable employee.

Everything's routine now. Let's see how I survive in a years' time.