And so it begins...

The countdown to departure began months ago and now I have finally arrived. It still feels surreal to think that I have just boarded a plane to a new country, a new job, a new language... in short, a new life... again.

There is something to be said about travel. The excitement of arriving somewhere new, the despair of having to fly coach for 14 hours, everything seems to coalesce into one giant ball of emotions that you don't really know what to do with. Add to that a 12 hour time difference and serious jet-lag and you have me today. However, I think ultimately I am happy and looking forward to getting started.

So the trip itself was pretty uneventful. The flight from FLL to ERW was on time, my connection in Newark could not have been time better (I quite literally got off my plane from Florida, walked to the new gate and was called to board as I walked up to the counter). The flight to Shanghai was long (and I was in the middle seat to boot!) but the movie selection was quite extensive, so I made do. Arriving in Shanghai, I looked over my neighbor and out the airplane window and it seemed as though the city just went on forever. Block after block of buildings and houses of all shapes and sizes covered everything in sight.

Once we arrived at the hotel, we agreed to meet up for dinner (it was about 4pm at this point). We met in the lobby (there were 9 of us) and walked into a mall. Apparently a lot of the "good" restaurants in this area are actually attached to malls. These malls have floors that are dedicated to such restaurants and there can be between 3 or 5 restaurants on a given floor (these floors tend to be above the stores). We ate and drank (horray for living in a country where you can legally consume alcohol!) and talked for hours. It was great to get to know these people and realize that I am going to have some pretty amazing co-workers.

All in all, I think we are off to a good start and I am very much looking forward to what tomorrow might bring.