arrival

After an 11-hour flight to Shanghai, a 4-hour layover followed by a 3-hour flight delay to Wuhan, I have finally arrived... to be greeted by a blanket of hot humidity at 3am. A shuttle bus brought us to our apartments on campus, which is about an hour's car ride from the airport.

The next morning, we went on a big shopping trip to what is equivalent to a Wal-Mart. Everything was dirt-cheap; it made me wonder how everything in Canada could be so over-priced despite expensive labour. After doing some people-observing, I can say that Wuhan is a very young city. The majority of people walking around are in their early twenties, and are probably university/college students. Also, probably because the area we are in is Wuchang, and not downtown Hankou, people are relatively friendly compared to what I recall to be the attitudes of people in China. For instance, I have yet to be yelled at for not being able to speak proper Mandarin although I am Chinese, and I have been shoved by anyone yet (save for that one guy who pushed me out of his way at the Shanghai airport). Honestly, I had really low expectations before coming here, and what I have seen so far in terms of people, environment, and what is sold in stores and supermarkets, have impressed me.

The next big step now is trying to find a good place off campus to move to. The apartments on campus are decent, but my particular one has a showerhead that basically dribbles out water due to lack of pressure, and the fact that the campus is so isolated makes it almos feel prison-like. I really do want to settle down soon because I feel like I can't focus on work until this housing issue is sorted out.