Day 2 Flight to Shanghai and Arrival in Yuyao

The flight over was LONG. As I headed to the rear of the plane, I spotted two little Chinese boys, short hair and long dread locks... they turned out to be my seat mates for the first 6 hours. "What is your name?" I asked and he said, "Nathan, what is your name?" "How old are you? "6, how old are you?' They were a family of 4 children.. which is unheard of, but they were traveling to China and looked very Chinese. Later a woman told me they were either very wealthy or they don't live in China. The father kept coming back to check on the boys and give them treats. Eventually I asked him if he would like to trade seats... (get me out of here ...). He was very grateful and showed me to his seat which was against a window and much quieter.

My new seat partners were a Chinese woman, her baby and Mom... heading back to China because the Grandmother is very sick. Turns out she lives in Iowa and works for a seed company. She is married to a man from Taiwan and likes living in the U.S. This is her second child. She explained that since 1981, if you have more than one child, you must pay the government $1,000.000.00. When I told her I was going to teach in a middle school, she reminded me that each of the students are only children and most the center of the universe for 6 doting adults, two sets of grandparents and parents.

A very smooth landing in Shanghai. Through customs and met my friend Elizabeth, looking very rested I might add, and we picked up our bags. A young Chinese college student holding a sign welcomed us to Shanghai and we were wisked into a very lovely air-conditioned car and driven about 2 hours to the city of Yuyao.

We are staying at the Yuyao Business Hotel. It appears to be right in the center of town surrounded by an assortment of stores and lots of cars and electric bicycles. My room is fine... a window overlooking the street... lots of electrical wires in view. I have two double beds in case any of my readers decides to take a quick jaunt to see me!
There is wallpaper and dried orchids and tiny little towels in the bathroom.
There is a pot to heat water... I'm not quite sure if I can boil it enough to drink it. We were here about 30 minutes and then taken our for a welcome dinner at a large hotel across from the school.

Samples of many Asian dishes were on the lazy susan and rotated around. I struggled with the turkey foot... couldn't do it. The noodles were good and vegetables. We shared some beer and red wine. Joansey, one of the English teachers in charge was very welcoming. Two college students also helped us to get settled. I have a feeling the spoken English skills won't be very advanced. Tomorrow we'll meet the other teachers and get our assignments.

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Location:Yuyao Business Hotel