Life Quality is Good

Today's weather: High = 23 Low = 13
Sunny

Unbelievably, the gorgeous weather keeps up for yet another week and the cold fronts have not hit this far south yet. That is going to change abruptly this weekend when the temperature will drop in Shanghai and it will feel like winter, but for now I am grateful for the good timing.

It may seem like I'm a wimp for the weather, as I'm from Canada after all where it is supposedly cold all the time. But the problem here is that the houses are not designed for it, and the *indoor* temperature becomes uncomfortable. At least in Canada you can walk into an insulated house, turn on the heat, and take off the jacket. In a Shanghai winter, you never feel like you're warming up and the jackets always stay on. Including when you sleep. And yes, that's with the hot air conditioner going full blast too.

So any break in the winter weather is a good thing.

I just got back from a global leadership training conference that was very inspirational. We heard talks from the former CEO of General Electric and some of his business models can be applied to what I do -- teaching work. Certainly a lot of useful take-aways and it was well worth the money.

Being based in Shanghai makes it possible to attend these kind of events, in addition to Toastmasters clubs and a whole host of other activities. I have been enjoying a very active life over the last month and making lots of new friends. Combined with a more relaxed work schedule, I would say the quality of my life here is far better than the last two years combined ---- as I expected that would be the case.

Frankly, you really can't beat this city in China for the quality of life it offers. What amazes me about living here is that every weekend you can visit a different corner of Shanghai and it is all brand new. For example, the conference was held in a part called 'Xin Tian Di'. I don't often go out there, it is near the People's Square area and rather crowded. I live in the Xu Hui area which is about 15-20 minutes away by motorcycle, or 30 minutes by subway.

'Xin Tian Di' is a very attractive area in that most of the older houses have been preserved and it has that unique Shanghai charm that I remember over 8 years ago from first coming here. There are new developments of course, but they blend in well with the old houses and they haven't been bulldozed down like so many other districts. There is this new pedestrtian street where you can lounge around, eat at restaurants, chill out in the Starbucks, and so forth. If friends and family come visit me here, this is definitely the place to hang out in.

I'm really grateful for how this year is going because I remember all too well what it was like in the previous two years. The feel of dread quickly set in by November during the long stretch before the big holiday. It was basically a case of survival. Just get up, go to work, go home, and crash on the couch. When you combine varying degrees of isolation and extreme workload, that can't be healthy.

It is interesting that most of my colleagues here go to other places in China during the weekend, for example, a trip to Beijing, another one to Dalian, and weekly trips to Nanjing that one of my colleagues does. I used to do this stuff all the time while living in Wuhan last year. This year I'm going to stay put until the holiday as it has been one incredibly hectic travel year for 2010 already.

For the sake of health, I better stick in one place for awhile and give those airplanes a rest. It wasn't until I was 22 years old when I took the first major airplane ride. Because of that, I've always regarded air travel as something special and want to experience that same kind of joy. Since it got to the point where I was sick of air travel and dreaded going to the airport, then something had to be seriously, seriously wrong. So that's why I'm staying put for awhile.