Katy started working two weeks ago today and it’s been hard for me to be bored and in a city with so few native English speakers. Besides the difficulty of ordering food, it’s lonely not having people to talk to. I have attended several social events: the program InterNations is a global community of ex-pats in cities all across the world, many were native English speakers and it was nice networking and trading stories and hearing advice about navigating Shanghai; then our building held a meet-up for non-locals staying long-term; and finally are a few people I have reached out to or met up with - friends of friend mostly. But to be honest it’s been more than a little lonely not having a network or group of people that I consider my ‘tribe.’
Luckily I have many things to keep myself busy. There are a few websites I’m working on developing, my current job with www.newyorkcraftspirits.com is completely remote, so I can do the work from anywhere if I have halfway decent internet. I have also been writing, not just this blog, but for myself and for my upcoming internet projects. Of course there is plenty of reading that I’ve been meaning to catch up on and that I’m finally putting a dent in it. I enjoy these activities, plus I’ve been working out more regularly than since I was in college. Unfortunately, these activities are solo and the prevailing sentiment this week has been boredom mixed with loneliness. That will change, starting tomorrow when Katy and I start an epic month of travel. We will be in at least three countries, half a dozen flights, and many planned adventures planned - but you’ll have to keep reading to find out what they are.
While I am using this blog post to complain, I do know how fortunate I am. Without the internet, smart phones, and international calling plans, I would feel lonelier. Plus, we probably wouldn’t have been able to plan all the amazing travel we have coming up. But, even more importantly, I have stayed connected to the people closest to me, and reached out to some I haven’t spoken to in quite some time. We may currently be 12 time-zones different from the East Coast, literally half a world away, but at least it’s easy math. My cell phone plan costs less than ten cents a minute to the US so I’ve been taking advantage of that, and I hope I continue to do so when we get back to the West Coast.
Katy had to remind me that when we moved to Oregon in August I felt isolated being on the West Coast and three time zones behind everyone I knew on the East Coast. Additionally, I didn’t know anyone living in or around Portland. I knew I could have called friends and family, but for some reason I didn’t. I felt like I needed an excuse to call, and often failed at coming up with one. Now that we’re in Shanghai, I feel like being in China and craving the English language is my excuse to call. It’s been almost eight months since we moved to Oregon, but right now it is the home that I miss, even though eight months ago I missed the East Coast. Katy calls this “shifting baseline syndrome,” and she’s right. My baselines have shifted, but I will never stop yearning for the good old U S of A.
See you all soon - but not yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment