Arrival!

Welcome to my blog about my summer in Shanghai. After a long long LONG day of flying, I finally arrived around dinner time.

For now I'm staying with some friends of a friend in an extra room of their apartment. I'm very fortunate that they're so hospitable! The section of the city that I'm living in isn't one of the really flashy or eye-catching areas... it just seems 'regular' (whatever that even means!).

Tonight I biked with one of my temporary roommates, a 25 year-old Chinese woman, to a local ex-pat restaurant/bar. A few quick observations before I fall asleep:
1) Shanghai seems WAY more international than any other part of China I've been to (even Beijing!). We ran into her friends, who were Australian, Filipino, British, Irish, and French! Last summer I would go entire weeks without seeing another foreigner in Luoyang. What a difference.
2) Biking in China is dangerous. You have to be really careful. On the way home we opted to ride on the sidewalk. Much safer!