Shanghai Times

I just got back dropping off my Xbox 360 at my favorite video game store. The owner charged me 200 yuan (about $24) to "mod" my machine so it can play the cheaper, pirated games sold on the streets here (about $1.25 a disk). I'm going to have to rely on Amara to help me to control my video game playing.
We have also been buying up many movies. We bought Ocean's 13 the other day, and are eagerly awaiting the rest of the summer blockbusters to hit the streets - Evan Almighty, and Transformers. Our favorite DVD store from last year was raided last year and now charges too much for movies (to pay off the settlement), so we simply found another shop that was still in business.
I am enjoying my last 2-day work week. Starting next week, I will be working six days a week. But the goal is to make enough money this summer to pay for my university courses that start in the fall. As for Amara, I could not be more proud of her. She works long hours both at work and at home (preparing lesson plans). Her dedication as a teacher reminds me of my mother.

Erik and I are finally starting to get settled. I have finished my first full week of work and so far am enjoying my job. Erik also has been working a couple hours a week for a teaching company and will be getting full time hours soon. We both love our apartment. Right now, we are sharing it with a friend who was on the China trip last year. In a couple weeks, two more of our friends will be coming and crashing with us until they can find their own place. We're excited to see everybody again!

We owe finding our apartment to our Chinese friends LeeJun and Benjamen. They spent many hours with us going to apartment agents and talking with them since our limited Chinese would have made it almost impossible to get an apartment on our own.

We've been eating at a lot of different resturants around Shanghai. At Hot Pot, we all tried pig brains, which was actually not too bad.

We also went to a Sichuan resturant. Sichuan food is one of our favorite types of Chinese foods.

We have more pictures in our photo gallery, check it out!

We also made a movie of our apartment for all to watch. Enjoy!

After searching around, we finally found an apartment - just one bus stop away from the back gate of ECNU (where my classes will be held). It's nice - 2 bedrooms, with a living room and balcony, a washer and dryer, and a great view of the city. And its all for 1800 RMB (235.00 USD) a month! Its been a tough search - apartments are going fast due to the ECNU graduation (graduates moving off campus). Luckily we have wonderful friends here to help us out. We move in Tuesday.

I started my first job today. I teach a class on Sunday Mornings, and will start a Wednesday class very soon. Its very easy work, and it pays extremely well (around 20 USD/Hr). A friend from GVSU is in charge of HR at the school, and got me the job. It is perfect for me because I desire part time work, to make sure I can survive my classes.

Amara has been averaging 2-3 interviews a day. There are so many appointments and calls for her that it is hard to remember who is calling from what school or agency. She has already gotten a few offers, but I think her intent is to wait until all the offers are in, and make a decision based on where she would have the most fun (as well as salary and benefits, to a lesser extent).

Attached is picture of a boat with a huge TV on it (can you say electrical hazard?!?!)

Written by Erik

As of tomorrow, we will have wrapped up a very eventful first week in Shanghai. After we landed, we wasted no time contacting old friends and employers whom we had only communicated with via email previously.
We are currently staying at East China Normal University, in the Zhongshan park area of the city. The dorm we are staying in is a little expensive, so we hope to be moving out soon.
I am planning on taking the ECNU language program that starts in the fall (we are amazed at how good our friend Tony has gotten at chinese, largely in part to these classes).
Yesterday was the begin of a three-day series of interviews for different jobs for Amara and I. We are very optimistic, and couldn't be happier.