luckily i was given five hours to calm down

Hello dear readers,

Today was moving day and I haven't been this physically and emotionally drained since my bout with mono last January.

It all began at 7:30am when our little group was picked up by the Shanghai Jazz Institute van and taken to the foreigner medical center for another physical. Apparently the one I spent hours and dollars on in the States was not good enough. It was an operation not unlike the medical exams given to people conscripted into the military: little rooms for one or two exams and shuffling between them to get a form stamped. I tried to create a rapport with my examiners but they thought I was insane and just poked me with KY jelly and the ultrasound wand. Ouch! Also, I forgot to mention that we were not allowed to eat or drink anything past 9pm last night for our fasting blood draws. This made the blood draw painfully slow and irritating, though I do love a good romp in hospital pajamas. Especially in front of strangers!

9:30am: After that ordeal, we returned to the hotel and grabbed our luggage. This caused a great ado on account of all of us having an obscene amount of luggage, as mentioned earlier. I'm not sure why the Chinese continue to be surprised at the pile of stuff Americans bring to China, seeing as they bring new teachers EVERY SIX MONTHS. But, I digress. Anyway, we had to get another car for us and our luggage but eventually we made it to the Institute.

There, we met some of our colleagues and headed off to the bank to make use of the hour before lunch (it was still only 11am). We all needed to open bank accounts for our salaries, otherwise I'd be hanging out every month with a fat pile of cash. The bank took 0.5 million years to process all of our waiguo needs. The guy who saw me took care of other people's business while I sat right in front of him. It was bizarre. Other clients were hovering behind me and over my banker the entire time, prodding him with questions and shooting me dirty looks. Finally we all ended up with a Bank of China account and a debit card: 2.5 hours later. At this point, I was woozy with hunger and effort.

2pm: The lunch provided back at the office was good and filling, enough to prolong me for our next adventure. Here ensued possibly the most frustrating series of events I've had in China. At the office, we sat around in a daze meeting a few new people and watching our Chinese colleagues chatter and run around. Every few minutes someone would come out of the boss's office with some information that would set everyone tittering. After a half an hour, we were told to "pick a number between 1 and 6 (but not 5)", at which point we were handed a piece of unintelligible Chinese writing and an envelope of keys. These were our new apartments. After this, there was a bunch more yelling, tittering, and confused stares in the office.

3pm: We wandered out to the van. More yelling, tittering, shuffling, and confusion.

3:30pm: In the van. At the first apartments. Everyone out. Confusion. No explanation. I am handed a 12-pack of water bottles in addition to my obscene amount of luggage. Shuffling. Confusion. Other car arrives. I am handed a bag of apples. Shuffling.

4pm: Finally movement towards the living quarters. I look for my apartment but am instructed to wait. Confusion. Movement. One backpack lost. I'll find it later.

4:15pm: Up 3 flights of dark concrete stairs to my lair. At last. Rest.

2 hours later: where is everyone?

2.5 hours later: everyone is in my apartment?

5 hours later or 9pm: I've been fed and I feel good and my internet is working! (That's why everyone was in my apartment, messing with the internet and generally fooling around.)

Sigh. So that's my day. I'll post about the apartment tomorrow. Pics too!

ellen