Spring has sprung

Current location: The north of Shanghai, Zhabei district.
Current status: moved in. settled. excited. exhausted.

The month of February is quickly speeding by and I don't see the pace letting up any time soon. This city has already flooded me with experiences to the point where I have currently switched into an overload setting. That is why I now sit here on the couch with my feet up, relaxing, reflecting and writing to you.

These past weeks have set the foundation for this outpost. The housing hunt has taken up a good portion of our time while we have also gone out, explored, battled sickness, set up the homebase and have begun our client projects.

On Sunday my friend Frankie and I moved into our new apartment just around the corner from the Shanghai Circus World (a huge dome building that looks like a golden golf ball). After visiting a handful of different flats we chose this one. Mint green décor with a hint of Miami Beach in the 90’s. 6th floor. Balcony. Heat. Washing machine. 40 minute walk from the Fashion Hub. Perfect. Home.

Living in China and not speaking Chinese creates many daily challenges in the area of communication. It’s a constant exploration of my drawing skills, my use of body language and of course a test to see how fast I can flip through my Mandarin/English pocket dictionary.

Tomorrow I will be leaving Shanghai and will be going to Ningbo where the China headquarters for our client Hape is located. We will spend a few days there, learning more about the company and the product before we move on to the bamboo forests of Anji where we will explore the material of which the toys we are going to market are produced.

There’s never a dull moment. I’m snapping more photographs than I am writing down words. I hope some of these shots fill in the gaps.


THE FIREWORKS NEVER SEEM TO STOP


FIRST DAY AT THE HOMEBASE







CHECKING OUT ISLAND 6




VISIT TO TONG LI








Sky