Connections and Connecting in Shanghai

“The quality of our lives depend on the quality of our relationships.” -Esther Perel

Lately I have been focusing on the different relationships in my lives including with myself, friends, family, colleagues, students and the new people I meet everyday in Shanghai. Esther Perel is a psychotherapist who is most known for writing about intimate relationships in her best selling novels, TED talk and podcast that I have started listening to. She is so in-tune with relationship dynamics and I continue to listen to her podcast which is groundbreaking in its approach and look into different relationships and the complex elements that life brings.

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Latest Read: When Breath Becomes Air

“Human knowledge is never contained in one person. It grows from the relationships we create between each other and the world, and still it is never complete.” 

One of my goals post-college and moving to Shanghai is to read more books. I have always loved reading, but college took it’s toll on my personal reading given I had dozens of books and textbooks to read every semester (especially when I had an English class which was often). The first week I was in Shanghai, I found a great foreign book store near People’s Square and have frequented it numerous times since. Sometimes I just go and read a book in the store, however I have splurged on four books so far, one of which I have completely finished and ADORE. The latest book that I finished is “When Breath Becomes Air” by Paul Kalanith which is about Paul’s journey as neurosurgeon who is diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. Paul wrote this book as he was dying and it is filled with such profound lessons about life, love and following your passions. I had not doubt in my mind that I would move to China and teach English. However, I would recently learn that this decision I made would come with unexpected heartbreaks.

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Daily Shanghai Essentials to Take Everywhere

I decided to take a moment to do some yoga meditative poses on my nightly walk and reflect on the past few days and challenges that have come my way. I’m so proud of myself for how far I have come as a person and my growth in learning to truly feel my emotions and to do my best to lead with kindness, empathy and compassion for myself and others. The past few weeks I have learned what are essential things to always have with you to make life easier and for basic survival skills. I thought my backpack I got at REI and it has been the perfect bag. It’s canvas, light, durable, has lots of room and I’m so happy I brought it. The first thing I learned was to ALWAYS bring an umbrella with you because rain or shine, the umbrella is critical to surviving the weather extremes and changes of daily life in Shanghai

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What Happened to August?

During my commute on the metro back home this afternoon, it dawned on me that it is September. I arrived in Shanghai the evening of August 15th and the last few weeks have been somewhat of a blur between surviving the heat, welcoming afternoon rain showers, moving out of my hotel, training for work and exploring Shanghai. I recently received my schedule for work and was informed that I have the first week of October entirely off for the autumn festival. I can only imagine that this week is hectic with celebrations and busy assuming that most of the country has the week off.

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Wechat is Life and Other Essential Phone Apps

This post is all about apps for my phone that I have found CRITICAL and mostly about WeChat…how China functions. WeChat is an app where you can message people, pay for almost anything and make posts like on Facebook. You will not find a person who doesn’t have Wechat. The messaging side is similar to WhatsApp where you can make free phone calls, however WhatsApp is blocked in China (without a VPN). In order to use the wallet feature, you really need a Chinese bank account which can be challenging to get in China for a foreigner without a work visa. You also need a local number, local address (not a hotels), your passport and sometimes your work contract. I use the back ICBC because it is internationally recognized and you can wire money to accounts back home. Also, there are branches everywhere and most have at least one person that speaks English. The wallet side of WeChat I assimilate with the popular app Venmo where you send money back and forth to people. China, especially major cities are moving away from cash.

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First Days in Shanghai

Hi friends!

Well, it is now day four in Shanghai and what a few days it has been! I landed after the easiest flight ever where I had a whole row to myself from LAX to Shanghai Pudong Airport. My driver picked me up and deposited me at my hotel where I settled in. The next morning I immediately started exploring the city, using the metro system which is very intuitive, easy and reliable (so far). It really puts American transportation to shame!

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Shanghai Bound

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I have exciting news that this coming August I will be moving to Shanghai, China to kick off my next chapter! I graduated this past May with a degree in Anthropology and certificate in TESOL and am headed to Shanghai to teach English, experience living in the country I was born and travel around one of the most beautiful parts of the world. This has been my plan for several years now and I was fortunate that this past year, my university started a certificate program for TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).]

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City of Cenotes

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There were so many memorable parts of the trip (as you can tell), but I can truly say that visiting and swimming in the cenotes blew my mind. It is such a unique part of this area of Mexico and there are over 9000! The water is crystal clear, chilly and something that I would go back to explore more of. A lot of them have become commercialized and require a guide which I think is important so that people don’t damage the formations. We went to three cenotes: Carwash, Sak-Atun and Aktun-Chen. All three were different and something that made for a great afternoon activity!

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Road Trip: Yucatan Peninsula

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Happy New Year to you all! I sit here in my apartment staring out at the snow coming down and can’t help but wish I was back in warm and sunny Mexico! During winter break, I took a week-long trip around the Yucatan Peninsula, spending most of my time in Tulum and Playa del Carmen. I rented a car and drove around and truly had a wonderful time with my sidekick ;). Back in September, I booked flights and accommodations, did a little research and pretty much winged it day-to-day. I thought I would break up the trip into three sections/three posts and give you an inside look on my experience in this incredible part of the world. This first part mostly is about food…my favorite thing.

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