The First Day-Thursday June 8

The First Day-Thursday June 8

Shanghai airport has no air conditioning! This is first lasting impression of China. Then I proceeded to invest in can of Pepsi for 18RMBs ($3) to quench my thirst. So much for cheap China prices. One of the first noticeable things at the airport is the large number of foreign travelers.

The flight to Harbin was uneventful. I boarded after paying 260RMBs for exceeding the baggage weight limit. During the five-hour layover I had a chance to chat with an engineer for a Swiss laser-welding equipment company who was making a service call to a customer.

Chris (my foreign teacher contact), Mr. Sun(the owner) and Elva ( a local teacher) greeted me at midnight at the airport. I felt really important for three people to greet me in person. We drove back to my apartment and exchanged stories along the way. One of the streets we went on is ‘Edmonton Road (or Way) as Harbin/Edmonton are sister cities.

I woke at 4:30am to unpack and the first thing I did was blow up a power adapter. My first major task is to get an Internet connection.

The first shower was a cold on as I had not mastered how to turn the hot water on. The bathroom does not have 2 taps for hot and cold water as most westerners are used to.

The kitchen is quite sparse with a single gas stove (my first investment will be the traditional microwave) and no oven.

The washroom has a curious feature-the bathroom is the show area as well-toilet and all. I was greeted with an absence of toilet paper and towels.

My window view is of the run down end of very old looking apartment building. The double door is heavily reinforced and heavy duty metal lock (triple bolts). This should deter any would be burglars.

During the night, there is dead silence. There should be no problem sleeping.

The first task of the day is for my employer to register me at the police station. The is a 24-hour period for this from time of landing.