Here is a brief recap of my first days in China…

Tuesday

Jet lag has me waking up really early. Also, Chinese mattresses are rock hard, which seems odd but I guess its normal here, The mattress in the old apartment was the same. We need to find a memory foam mattress cover because its pretty rough sleeping on this thing.

In the morning we went to the PSB (Public Safety Bureau) to register. All visitors to China who are not staying in hotels or other official locations must register with the local PSB within 24 hours of arrival, regardless of how long they are staying. It was pretty painless though.

We was running late, so rather than going back home, I got parked at a cafe for a few hours where I was able to get some work done on wifi. On the way there we walked past a shop with a painting of Obama with a rabbit:

Wednesday

Still waking up early… the bed is still rock hard…

We went to the supermarket today, which always an experience. Highlights included a live, large turtle in the seafood section, and oddly enough in the bread section there was a package labeled “Fish Hamburg” and a matching one called “Pork Hamburg”. I didn’t get photos, but I’ll try to next time.

In the evening we went to a neighborhood restaurant specializing in Peking Duck. A whole duck plus fixings and a vegetable side cost 99 rmb, or almost exactly $15. I am worried we won’t be able to afford eating out so lavishly on a regular basis.

Thursday

Still waking up early… the bed is still rock hard…

I’m trying to figure out the work schedule. If I get online at 8 or 9, my co-workers are often still online and I can chat with them and email back and forth, sometimes as late as noon or 1 pm (midnight in Boston). If I work during the day, I can get a lot of work done, but never go outside. Sharon gets home early, so spending the evening working kind of sucks, but I need to be online from at least 10-11, depending on how meetings go.

I think the best thing will be to get in the habit of working from 10-5, taking a few hours off, then getting back online at 10 pm for an hour or so. That will leave 5 hours free in the early evening.

… haven’t been outside today yet…