Moving abroad

anksta

anksta

anksta

Soldato
Joined
19 Jan 2005
Posts
2,722
Hi I'm moving to China in less than 2 weeks and I'm hardly prepared at all. I mean I have my visas and places to stay and a very loose grasp of the language but other than that I'm a bit stuck.

I'm not panicking or anything but thats whats making me worried, I'm just sitting around doing nothin, have done for the past 2 days. I was supposed to get paid on Monday 1500 quid and from there I was gonna buy things like a laptop that I need and some other gear but I only got 600. They're looking into it but I don't know how long that will take and whether or not I'll actually get the rest so my plans have been a bit dented from there.

I haven't started packing or anything yet, I only just bought a bag the other day which still hasn't arrived. Can people please just shout out some things that I should have done/should be doing/should definitely get before the 16th please, I don't care if I've done it yet or how obvious it is.

So far on my list of things to take I have my clothes, medicines/deoderants etc. a laptop I haven't bought yet and my camera. Taking things like passports, ipods and phones as a given, that seems WAY too short a list.

Help me out OCUK.
 
need more background on

why your going?

how long for?

do you own a property here? and what your doing with it?

etc
 
I'm going for an experience, I finished uni last year, got a job and then was made redundant in 3 months, from being made redundant I was put on Garden Leave (full pay at home) and I wanna do something with my life that doesn't bore the eyelids off me when I'm doing it let alone telling someone else about it.

I'm going to teach english and I'll be there for a year if all goes ok. I'll be living in a small flat I think on a University campus just outside Shanghai.

I will be packing up another large box of other things such as more clothes and shoes, some home comforts, my tripod and things like that, suggestiongs for this are also welcome.

Cheers
 
Get in contact with some TEFL people out there to socialise with - as much as it's good to mingle with the Chinese, it'll be nice to have a few people you can just relax with.
 
yeah thanks Sara thats a good idea.

Anyone else? Am I missing anything really important to take with me in my main bag or hand luggage? What about some little tricks I'll need getting around Shanghai?

Anythin really, come on people.
 
You're really not missing anything - I went to China for a year via a month backpacking in India, so only had the stuff I was travelling with when I got there. You really can find pretty much anything now, especially in a city like Shanghai. The only issues I had were finding big shoes or any sort of jeans I liked, but I was in somewhere far smaller than Shanghai. Don't worry about forgetting stuff, really, you can pick up anything you need. If you've got some spare time, do some more language work, it'll help a lot :)

I would recommend picking up a laptop before you go, however - they're not really cheaper on the mainland in my experience, and the last thing you want straight after getting there is faffing about trying not to get ripped off.

Getting yourself around Shanghai is pretty straightforward, the metro's fine and pretty comprehensive. I didn't spend as much time there as Beijing, but always loved it - and haemorrhaged money :p Don't be afraid to wander around the city and get lost, the metro's good for getting yourself back somewhere you know, and you can always get a cab - just, be kind of careful of getting ripped off, it helps if you know vaguely where you're going, and I had to call drivers out a few times when they were obviously going the wrong way. Feel free to ask any China specific questions :)
 
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