The beginning

WOW! Levy and I are truly in for an adventure. I am wondering if I am crazy or just extremely brave for thinking this is something i really wanted to do!
We have begun our China chapter with a tumultuous start. Our friend Kerrie gave a us a wonderful evening dinner and send off breakfast full of fiber wich lead to later issues when we arrived at the airport just in time for a fire alarm... All the doors were closed, NO ACCESS. I've never had such a poo emergeny in my adult life, fortunatley Kerrie gave me a ride to a nearby hotel just in time for me to run through the lobby, hands clenching my buttocks to make sure there were no accidents and hit the porcelain gods with some serious thunder.
The lines inside the airport when we got back were a mess, and our flight to SFO was leaving in 30 minutes. Oh btw, the fire alarm was the result of an overheated popcorn machine. Oi vey! Of course since there was an alarm and lots of police around, they were on high alert which also meant anyone with a wierd last name and foreign passport was to be checked, i.e. Levy. Our plane waited and eventually Levy was cleared to go, we made it to SFO fine and then to Shanghai with all of our luggage in tact. And when I say ALL of our luggage, that's A LOT.

Following the advice of previous students we asked at the international student dorms at Fudan University (Levy's new school) for a room for a few nights. DENIED! They were all booked up, OH and they didn't speak english either. Not many people that work around here do, but they will just keep talking and talking to you in Chinese, like maybe you'll get it somewhow, magically. Wen, a Chinese born but now US citizen, from a program in Chicago took Levy to the International Student housing unit, Tonghe, across the street, kind of, to see if there were any openings. There was, one 2 bedroom apartment for more than we can afford without a roommate. However, there Levy met john, our guardian angel.
John is a South Korean studying at Fudan who lives in Tonghe. he was going to help us find a hotel when he said, stay with me for the night, my roommate is gone. He speaks broken english but still English and also Chinese. He housed us, fed us and advised us on finding housing. the following day he helped us get a cell phone, a hotel and arranged for us to to speak with some real estate people that assist in finding apartments. Of course nobody at the agency or any of the landlords of the apartments spoke any english either but John was just a phone call away to speak with them whenever we needed it. (He couldn't come along because he needed to study). THANK YOU JOHN!!!

The apatments are small and in most cases pretty dingy but what can you ask for, this is a big city in China after all. So tomorrow while Levy takes care of school business I will search some more with some other agents. Hopefully we will find a decent living space because we are anxious to unpack and explore.
I am falling asleep at the computer right now but will update you next time i get the chance. Think positively for us. So far our luck has not been great but we have met some really wonderful people that have outreached a hand to us. Oh yeah and it's fucking cold here! But he food is delish!

Here is our cell #: 13917375201, we're 16 hours ahead.

xoxoxo Lolo