First full day in China

Friends and family...I have survived my first day in Shanghai. Surprisingly, i haven't even felt the jet lag today but am expecting it to hit hard tomorrow. It was so kind for my office mate Ewgenia to come and pick me up from my apartment this morning to help me navigate the subway system to get to the office. I paid close attention to my surroundings so i didn't have to bother anyone to help me home (although, i had another office mate insist on taking me to the first subway station but did the rest on my own). Also helps when the directions are clearly written out for me...doesn't seem to hard, right?

Can anyone help me pronounce these roads?

This is the view that I woke up to this morning:

See the blue sky in the middle picture? That actually lasted all day which i'm told is rare. A beautiful first day! Also, notice the near-by track that I will soon be running on.

To those that didn't know, I turned XXX on the 14th...the day that I missed b/c of the travel and time change. I feel very lucky b/c I had a wonderful birthday despite that fact. Donald and Trisha packed a surprise b-day package for me that included pictures of home.

I'm very happy to have these :)

I also received so many birthday wishes via email, some of which had some images that i could really appreciate.

 

Seal hugging penguin; courtesy Bud                                                            Birthday camels; courtesy Andy Pants

I was too exhausted this evening to venture out to find a grocery store so i'm going to finish my shoping list tonight and head out after work tomorrow. In the morning I get picked up early for my health exam required by the government for my work visa. No food or water in the morning until it's done. Wish me luck...