Hard to believe that we've been living in China almost a year. Tony's one year anniversary is just around the corner. A lot has happened to us this past year. I often think of all the milestones that we've managed to hit. I've managed to master the train system and am often riding it from the Puxi side of town over to the Pudong side of town. I walk around town quite a bit and have found the shortcuts to different areas and will often walk to the stores to pick things up. I know where to find the things that we need and can navigate my way through the bargaining system here. Most of all, I can actually communicate in Mandarin now. I can actually understand when people speak to me in Mandarin. I no longer get the "Shen me?" (which means "What?") look when I get into a taxi and can give directions when needed. When we first arrived, Tony, Matthew and I really couldn't speak Mandarin at all. I recall a meeting with Matthew's Chinese language teacher and the conversations were completely in English peppered with spatterings of Cantonese. Fast forward nine months later, she gives me updates on Matthew's progress in Chinese class and it's conducted completely in Mandarin. I can respond to her and write notes to her in Chinese as well. Matthew is doing very well in Chinese. He can read the characters and translate the words into English. He can communicate when he wants to. He just tends to be lazy and rely on me.
Tony, on the other hand, has given up on the language completely. He's on the road so much, that it's a major chore to give up six hours on a weekend for the language classes. I think he took about eighteen hours of language. I have now inherited the balance of his lesson time. So, I've resume my language lessons. This time, I'm not being as aggressive as I was when I first arrived. In the beginning, I was in class eight hours a day, five days a week. It got to the point that I needed to give myself a break. I took off for four months and have recently resumed my lessons in March. Now, I am only scheduled for six hours a week over a three day period. Much better. I often convey some of the every day words to Tony to help him along. He tells me "Why do I need to learn it? I have you with me." True, although I must say, if something would ever happen to me, he would just turn to Matthew and have him translate.
We've adapted to life in Shanghai. I must admit, this town has grown on me. I get a great sense of accomplishment when I read the bus signs and figure out the destinations. I know which buses to hop on in order to get across town. Tony's mortified that I take the bus. First, let me tell you that I don't mind riding the bus. Hey, it's cheap. Really cheap. 2RMB (which is $.25) and I can get all over the place. Taking the bus has actually allowed me to see parts of the town that I would never have an opportunity to come across. I'm on the bus with all the locals. So, as they say in New York, I'm hanging out with my "peeps!"
One year has practically flown by. I've managed to get around, not get arrested for voicing my opinion and can communicate. I say that's a major achievement!
