Monday, December 01, 2008

Connected at home

Well, Wifey has managed to get the apartment connected to the net via China Telecom DSL. I must say it's much faster experience than what the resort offered. The property agent says it's 1 Mbps. It certainly feels close to what I used to get back in 1984-ville with 1.5 Mbps. So I'm going to stop complaining for a while, at least until the next cold front hits (ETA this weekend) and temperature drops to single digit readings.

I must say we hit jackpot with this property agent who fixed this apartment for us. He's young, energetic and goes beyond his call-of-duty to help us fix the TV and net connection. He's also helping some other non-Mandarin speaking poor sod get his money changed and other stuff. You can't find any housing agent in 1984-ville who is willing to do all this, even for a fee. I highly recommend him (the agent, not the poor sod) to anyone who's looking for an apartment in Shanghai.

One thing about people in Shanghai. They seem to be NOT unhappy, which is not saying much until you realise that folks back in 1984-ville do not smile at all. So far, ALL service staff whom we've encountered smile as a norm. The thing is, they all have the same inscrutable facial expression that's inherent to ethnic Chinese people. It's what I'd described as the Monday-morning-face-on-the-subway-to-work but they are more ready to break into a smile when you engage them in conversation.

I have a lot to learn from the Shanghainese in the coming months...

1 comment:

charcoal.satsuma said...

plus they censor the internet, so there should be less traffic right?

how's the work?