The requisite first impressions post

Yes, it's a few weeks late, but I know everyone's going to ask all the same questions, namely:

How's the air?
Totally fine. It gets really hazy sometimes but that's mostly the humidity, I think.

How's the weather?
Very very hot and humid, though everyone claims fall is right around the corner and soon it will be cool. I still don't know how cold it's going to be in the winter, because most people I know who have been here for more than a year are Aussies. They use the metric system, which I think is code for "not really that cold." Supposedly it stays at a frigid 10 degrees all day long, but if you do the math that's actually 50. Last winter I would have stabbed my landlord in order for it to be 50 degrees in my apartment, so I'm really not concerned. Also, supposedly flowers bloom here year round.

How's your apartment?
Pretty nice! They gave us a run-around at first and sent Dan and me to separate apartments until our new one was ready. Even though the wait sucked, it was worth it. We live on the 18th floor and we can see the water and an island from our window. Both bedrooms are air-conditioned and so is the living room. We have a washing machine, a nice little balcony/breezeway for hanging up our laundry, and a tiny kitchen without an oven. But the previous tenants left the toaster oven, which is nice.

How's the water?
Chinese people don't drink it, and neither do I. We have bottled water in our apartment - we call a woman from our school when it's time to get a new bottle, and she's shocked at how much water we drink.

How's the traffic?
Completely insane. I may not be getting a bicycle after all.

How's the spitting/staring/other things I hear Chinese people do?
Though I have nothing to compare it with, I think this city is much more Westernized than most Chinese cities. It's one of the special economic zones, shares a border with Macao, and is an hour from Hong Kong, so they've seen a lot of white people before. Most of the staring is from little kids (adorable) and old men (not adorable). The streets are dirty compared to home, but again I think it could be a lot worse. I wash my feet a lot and I'm trying to get Dan to look down when he's walking.

How's the food?
Delicious, but not as spicy as I thought. Food is one of the big reasons I started this blog and I will definitely tell you more about it in the future.


Did I miss a question? Leave it in the comments.