Moving to Shanghai
 

Hi all,

I've got my first job post undergrad :fuckyea: and it means I'm moving to China. Shanghai to be precise. I'll be helping run a new baseball academy in Shanghai partnered with MLB China.

I don't know Mandarin in the slightest and this is all going to be a pretty big culture shock for me. Does anyone have any recommendations on things I should be packing (that will be difficult to buy there), things to do while I'm there (and things to do in the general Asia area) and general things that will be a shock to me? I have 2 roommates which will help with the culture shock (we can all be confused together) but any advice/tips will be greatly appreciated.

I leave this Friday! Assuming Revscene isn't blocked in China..

Ford F150s and Mustangs.

Congrats and good luck!

sign up for a VPN now. install google translate now.

revscene works in china but most pictures or links won't load.

good luck
east asia is a great jumping platform for short travels...lotsa cheap flights to be had.

Just live in Richmond for a few days.

I've got something called "Express VPN" which I've been told is great. Google translate is on every one of my devices haha.

Thankfully I live close to work, transit, an Ikea and a Walmart. It'll make the transition a bit easier (hopefully)

Yea! I'm hoping to either do Indonesia or Nepal on my Christmas break !

Congrats man! Definitely travel lots, Korea, Japan, etc

3 baseball bats, 2 gloves, baseball gear, hockey gear, laptop, GoPro, Nikon and 130 pounds of other crap later, I hit the road.

HOLY fuck, from calgary to Shanghai, you'll have a lot of fun.

Chicks are hot and fuck, clubs are amazing and man the girls there are a diff type of animal than the traditional CBC you see in Cowtown. You'll be hanging out with a lot of CBCs who went back to China to work. You'll get along fine. Condoms, bring lots.

Hey all, this city is very crazy. Crazy would be the best way to describe it all. Joined a hockey league with some fellow Canadians and I'll be playing my first game tomorrow! It's all about the wechat, "hey, can I scan your wechat?" is the most common thing I say.

I've been making videos of my time here, aiming for two a month. If anyone has a spare minute and cares to check it out, the videos are below!

looks like you're having a blast.
What are the places that you've been to?

sub'd

ktv's are fun there =)

Haven't been to too many places as work has me going 6 days a week.
So far:
Shanghai Museum
The MagLev super fast train
Perry's (College Bar)
French Concession - Speakeasy hidden in the back of a barbershop (I think it was called "Barbershop" - looked like the movie scene of a 1950's NYC gangster movie)
Bar Rouge
Myst? Mist?
Some other bars that I forget the name of --> the trend of "free alcohol for foreigners or "VIP's" gets dangerous for someone with less than ideal self control

Other than that, I enjoy ripping around on my bike (recently stolen from outside a metro station. It's okay I think it was ~10 CAD or 50 "Kuai" - I'll just get a new one on TaoBao and maybe invest in a lock). Everyday is a new adventure and I am constantly finding myself saying "holy shit" or just "wow, amazing". Another favorite phrase we say amongst us foreign coaches (maybe 15 of us in the entire company) is "TIC" (This is China), a phrase that accurately describes day to life and the bureaucracy. Some visa mixups with the government have my work/life in Shanghai on a fine line right now, will update later!

Recently played my first game in the Shanghai Ice Hockey League, a clip of that should be in my next gopro video blog thing! I'd say 2/3 were Canadians and the other 1/3 were either Japanese or locals suprisingly enough. Most of the guys are older and have higher up jobs and are more established in the city for sure. But looking forward to playing games regularly with them, they are also sponsored by Bud and they have 500 cases sitting in storage for after games and celebrations.

~Kuno

Food! Eat lots! Is cheap and tasty (as long as you think too much about it lol). Buy online (their version of ebay) is really cheap.

I only been to Beijing but is pretty fun. Lot's to see and lot's to do. I was dress up like a bum (went during winter so I had my Northface jacket and a pair of jaens) basically everyone else dress very fashionable (you could tell they were cold and I was super warm). So yea if you want to impress girls, got to dress up and brave the cold.

They don't really drink coffee (well some do) becasue places like Starbucks are super expensive when you get a bottle of water/pop for like $1 to 2 RMB. I speak enough Mandarin to get by.

Food so far has been unbelievable (if I choose to eat cheap). My house (shared with two other coaches) has 1 pot (for boiling water), 1 pan, 2 pairs of chopsticks, one plate and one bowl. I can get some chow mein outside my house for 7rmb ($1.25CAD). My breakfast everyday costs between $0.50 --> $1 and it fills me up really well. Western food is obviously quite expensive, but all you can eat pizza and all you can drink Asahi for 96RMB isn't too bad at all. It's probably for the best we don't cook at the house. Less cleanup, and we're also fighting a long term war with cockroaches - the less food scrap the better.

I was in Calgary the past couple years, I think I can handle wearing "nice" clothes in the "cold" haha.

Coffee is quite expensive, I think a grande at Starbucks for a plain cofee is 37 RMB, close to $8CAD, just crazy.

I speak no Mandarin or "Shanginese". Most people look at me as if I am retarted for not speaking Chinese. My students say "you no speak Chinese. But you are Chinese". I can say "No I'm from Canada" and they always say "No you are Chinese". Either that or "Oh, Korea". Today, I had a new group of students - they called me farmer Uncle because of my dark skin LOL..

haha I had the same conversation with locals 2 years ago when I moved here from tdot, they seemed offended that I kept saying I was Canadian

I look pretty much generic Asian and I get that all the time whatever country I'm in.

If I'm in China - "You're Chinese!"
If I'm in Thailand - "You're Thai!"
Indonesia - "You're Indonesian!"
Hell even in Mexico I sometimes get mistaken for being Mexican

...even though I dress nothing like the locals and speak English perfectly. They can't seem to get over superficial skin colour.

Asians (ones that never travel anyway) don't seem to get the concept of a multicultural society. It blows their mind when you tell them that countries like Canada is full of people who are not just white.

Throughout my year in Asia, I was so sick of their responses: "yah but you look like Asian", I just gave up and told people I'm from Singapore (explains my high English proficiency, first world income). That usually shuts them up. But then they might insist you can speak Mandarin if you're talking to Chinese. Saying you're Filipino may work too.

Are you also in Shanghai?

[QUOTE=CivicBlues;8796661]I look pretty much generic Asian and I get that all the time whatever country I'm in.

It doesn't bother me at all though, I actually got to practice my French last week trying to fend off some hookers, they kept going after me and the other foreign coaches so I just spoke to them in random phrases and they got all confused and left.


Anyone know anything about a car culture here? I see expensive cars everywhere, some tuned cars and a lot of girls driving Mustangs LOL

New video will hopefully be finished soon, the laptop has about had it.

In other news, im in Hong Kong for 4 days doing a visa run, any recommendations for things to do and see? I'm staying in Wan Chai

As many of you likely don't know, I'm one of two foreign baseball coaches in Shanghai (and one of maybe 15 baseball coaches in a city of 30 million). I'm part of an organization called the "International Baseball Community" which helps link former college and professional ball players to teams in emerging markets all over the world from South Africa, Italy, Netherlands, Australia and now China. As I'm the only coach from this organization to come to this part of the world, the chief asked me to film what a day in my life looks like.


Thanks for watching! :D

Out of curiosity, what level were you playing at to land this gig? Or is this more a mix of skill and connections?

A combination of both really. I played 3 years of college baseball while also coaching local youth (as part of the commitment to the team and community, but also cause I enjoyed it).
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In addition to this, I played in a travelling European college league representing Amsterdam in the summer of 2015. Basically our job was to give younger amateur/professional European players (18-25) an opportunity to play with North American talent and to help promote the game in various cities.
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Following that league, I was introduced to a guy named David Burns who runs a website called "Baseball Jobs Overseas / The International Baseball Community". He essentially was my "agent", sending my profile to various teams/passing on my information to teams seeking someone desiring a skillset similar to mine. I had some offers to go to Australia but ultimately decided on China as the pay was higher and it would have been more of a challenge. There's a chance I'll be moving to a European country in the spring to work with a new team before returning back to University (hopefully for Fall 2017).

LOL at that chick on the beach photobomb in Barcelona!

Don't know why I'm just seeing this for the first time. Looks like you're having a blast and it's always great to hear people working in a field that they're passionate about