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Arriving alone to a new city can result in culture shock that hits you like a train. It is very easy to become overwhelmed, particularly coming from the west to a city such as Shanghai and not only being unable to speak the language but not even being able to sound out written words on account of the characters. In addition to this, such an experience is akin to creating a totally new life in which you not only need to familiarize yourself with new surroundings and normalities, but also begin your social network completely from scratch. It can be a daunting prospect but also a very exciting one if you are prepared to jump in and let the tide carry you along. From previous experiences I have come to believe that the two most important things on entering such a situation are to make friends and start to learn the language as soon as possible.
It was this belief that saw me scouring the internet on my first morning in Shanghai, tracking down networking events, sports clubs, social groups and Mandarin schools. If you take your time, know what you are looking for and understand which opportunities will be most fruitful, you can have an absolute ball. What's more you will be having so much fun with your new friends and acquaintances that you will be too busy and wrapped up in exciting new experiences to allow culture shock to set in at all. Suddenly you have a phone book full of amazing people keen to invite you to events and parties and show you their favorite bars, shops and sites. Very quickly your weekends and weeknights will fill up and you will begin to wonder how on earth you are going to fit it all in! In addition to this, as you explore and become more familiar with your surroundings, you start to identify a few key locations, like that bar that serves your favorite cocktail, a particular street with a certain restaurant, or just knowing where they keep the tuna in your local supermarket- life suddenly feels a lot more comfortable.
On the subject of learning the language, I have really landed on my feet here in Shanghai having managed to track down a lovely girl who runs a small independent Mandarin school and does 'survival lessons' one on one for a very reasonable price. She now comes to my apartment every Monday and Thursday after work and seems impressed by my progress which is encouraging! The most rewarding thing about making this effort is that you are able, for example, to get in a taxi and speak with the driver, however briefly, or make yourself understood at a basic level in the local market. I find that this ability to communicate and feel at home in such situations really helps 'decode' your surroundings and suddenly everything doesn't seem quite so alien anymore. Another positive aspect is that people you meet are often impressed by the fact that you are attempting to learn their language, (particularly in China as the natives seem to recognize that Mandarin is pretty tricky for a western girl like me to master!) and this is an additional help in building a rapport with new acquaintances.
I think it is also important to get your social balance right. It is very easy to join a sports club made up mainly of expats, have a fantastic time and feel very comfortable very quickly, however it could mean that you are missing out on huge aspects of your new city. It is notable that the places my Shanghainese friends take me are very different to those that the Gaelic football team populate and it is absolutely fascinating (and a lot of fun!) to be fortunate enough to be able to explore both sides of the city. Additionally whilst the locals are keen to help me with my Mandarin and love practicing their English on me, sometimes it is just nice to sit down and talk at a million miles an hour with the expats and not worry about your pronunciation or word choice.
Perhaps it is because I have been eager to meet people and so have made a particular effort to attend events, but Shanghai seems pretty well set up with opportunities for networking and making friends. I have also experienced very directly the old adage that one meeting or opportunity inevitably leads to another. Last Friday night for example I found myself at an exclusive candle lit rooftop birthday party with a group of wonderful Shanghainese girls, simply because I had found myself talking to one of their friends at a networking event. She was keen to take me under her wing, show me her city and get me involved with as many social activities as possible. I was very happy to accept. This weekend they are demanding that I go for a 'crazy' karaoke experience so we will see how that goes with my dubious singing skills! I have found it fascinating that my colleagues often seem surprised when I tell them that I have made friends with locals and as well as expats. There seems to be a stereotype here that westerners will stay socially within the 200,000 or so strong expat community so I am glad to have unwittingly broken that mold!
Such a mix can also be very practically useful as I found out in my second week here when I had to rope some of my friends to accompany to me to the local hospital after unfortunately falling foul of a particularly bad bout of food poisoning. As I sat down in front of the consultant, a look of panic came over his face as he fretted about the language barrier but then disappeared just as quick as he realized I had brought back-up! Within 40 minutes of arriving we were able to leave, medicine in hand, having successfully navigated all of the various procedures and tests- something i I would definitely not have managed alone. The experience provided an interesting insight into the Chinese medical system which I found to be very efficient, if hap-hazard at points! Their go-to cure seems to be to put the patient on a drip which is an interesting cultural nuance! As was having to sit on a stool in a busy corridor with my hand though a window into a laboratory so that I could have my finger pricked to give a blood sample for testing. Despite being a bit uncomfortable, the whole experience epitomized for me my Saltire experience so far. Living and working in Shanghai is allowing me to see and experience so much more of this city and it's people than I could ever dream of doing if I was simply here as a tourist, ticking off a list of Lonely Planet's 'Top ten things to do whilst in Shanghai'. My internship and assigned project are challenging and therefore providing me with a completely new set of skills and knowledge, however I also feel that I am developing a host of very practical life skills through the necessity of adapting to a totally new life.
By way of summary I will draw on an African poem I once read, in which the author asserted that he was a 'nomad' and therefore 'home' for him was wherever he traveled. It's a romantic notion, but perhaps not an easy one to identify with immediately. Personally for example I find that I have a strong emotional connection to Scotland and wherever I go still consider it fundamentally as my 'real' home. It's the comfortable familiarity that I mentioned before and the friends and family that I have there that mean it continues to hold a strong emotional pull. That said, through this experience of starting over in Shanghai, I'm beginning to understand what the author is getting at. I think that adapting to a country such as China and creating a sense of familiarity and comfortability can seem like a big challenge, but if you are willing to put yourself out there and really take ownership of the task, it can be endlessly rewarding and allow you to grow immensely as a person. By taking note, not of the glaring differences, but the little similarities, and realizing the potential of each opportunity and invitation, you can side-step the dreaded culture shock and, in a very short space of time, unwittingly begin to fall in love with a place that once seemed a bit overwhelming and perhaps a little out of your comfort zone.