57 57 5777!

I must admit I arrived in Shanghai with a heavy heart � lots of goodbyes followed by a biting into a meat sausage posing as a veggie sausage in a sandwich shocker then one last super sad goodbye and no sleep � all ensured I wasn't in the mood for China when I finally emerged through customs and got outside.

 

My taxi driver was rather sedate (and rather grumpy) and asked me repeatedly about something I didn't understand which just added to my general feeling of wanting to be on the next flight to London. A long traffic jam later, lots of spitting out of the window (him, not me) and he was a bit more interested in chatting � I never did establish what he wanted to know. It left me with an uneasy feeling that my language skills are now so rusty and under-used that I'll be useless in all situations apart from giving my opinion on badminton or the weather. Reading that back, it sounds like the advice young ladies were given in Jane Austen novels! Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad after all!

 

I arrived at my hostel hot and harassed � but managed to explain who I was. Oh the pleasure of being understood! Blessed relief as I explained to the friendly receptionist that the pretty sinks they have in the bathroom here are really common in China but I've never seen one in England and hope to have one in my future house. OK, it's not UN negotiating but it made me feel better to understand and be understood.

 

I stepped out into the rain to sort out a phone so that I could say I've arrived safely. My previous Chinese phone and my UK mobile and both my UK and Chinese bank cards refused to work at the airport so I was feeling a little stranded and unsure of how I would resolve this. A new phone has restored the feeling of calm that comes from knowing that even if everything's going wrong, at least I can ring someone to tell them.

 

While I was waiting for my phone to be fixed, I had a penny dropping moment (no actual pennies were harmed in the making of this moment) that made me laugh and skip about in the street. I had to wait a little longer for my phone so that I could ring a friend and share my joy.

 

I spent a year in Shanghai travelling in taxis with an automated welcome system � as soon as the driver starts the meter, a little box says hello to you in Chinese and then in English and when you leave the cab, it says bye and reminds you "not to forget anything you take". One particular taxi firm has a catchy little line that I have often danced along to, translated it means "I eat, I eat, I eat eat eat" which is probably why I like it so much � a good motto for life. Still, it never made much sense why a cab firm would want a slogan about eating. While I was standing in the rain, feeling tired and overwhelmed, one such taxi pulled up across the street � I heard the little "I eat I eat" and started to smile. Ah Shanghai, you still have this power over me - to turn a crappy situation into a funny one. Then I had a lightbulb moment. The phone number for the cab firm is 57 57 5777 � which when said in Chinese sounds like "I eat I eat I eat eat eat". I felt that childlike rush of figuring something out and some of my optimism was restored.

 

Obviously doesn't take much to please me these days.