Today is Friday the 13th. Anyone superstitious out there? I was really surprised when my good friend Laura told me several years ago that 13 is a lucky number in Italy. And here, it’s 6 and 8. 4 is the unluckiest number as it sounds very similar to the word for “death.” Last week on the news, I heard how everyone in the U.S. was trying to get married on 07.07.07, because 7 is a lucky number. So probably if one takes all the cultures and religions around the world into consideration, you could find something good or bad about each number.

Patrick and my relationship actually seems to have a lucky number when it comes to apartments. Every place we lived together in Vienna – from the student dorm to our last apartment – we seemed to land on the 6th floor. Having viewed probably 40some apartments in Shanghai, only one was on the 6th floor.  And, no, the climax of the story is unfortunately not what you think. Although we liked that apartment (Patrick more than me – he is more superstitous than he likes to admit), we did not take it. We are breaking with tradition – watch out, 20th floor, here we come.

We have a very nice Chinese landlord who was patient through many contract negotiations with Patrick’s company and demands from yours truly (but you did not see some of his furniture and strange railings in front of EVERY window that were supposed to protect suicidal spider-children with supernatural talents from vertically climbing up windows and jumping out). We now are liable in case someone jumps out of our windows (for those with children, it is really not possible for them to fall out, don’t worry), so just keep that in mind when visiting us. (:

So the move is tomorrow. I spent today packing up our belongings in the service apartment. We also received word that our shipment from Austria has arrived in Shanghai, but still needs to go through customs clearance. So it will probably be another week or so until it can be delivered. My biggest hope is that we receive everything before our trip to the States on July 28th.

I posted pictures of the outside of our building. I will take pictures of the inside when our belongings have arrived, so it actually looks like someone lives there. Visitors, you will be able to see your “wing” of the apartment is waiting for you.

Or shall I say buses and bread? Today I had my first Shanghai bus experience on the way to buying the best bread this city has to offer. I wish I had a funny, first-time-on-a-bus story for everyone, but I don’t because I was with long-time Shanghai resident and bus veteran, Olga (Greek, grew up in Germany, married German-Turk, now speaks fluent Chinese).
So here are the not-so-fun-but-read-them-anyway-details:
– A ride within downtown borders costs 2 kuai (20 cents) and all buses are air conditioned.
– We rode a double decker on the upper deck – not recommended for the frail of stomach and not comparable with well-known and much smoother counterparts in London (we wondered if that is because of uneven streets or bad driving, but I never noticed uneven streets before, so…).
– We took a total of 3 buses and had seats on all of them – apparently unheard of during rush hour.
– I used my fancy, new transportation card that works like a debit card – also on all metro lines and taxis.

Bread was at the end of today’s exciting adventure. This discovery was like finding gold at the end of the rainbow. Thick, dark, chunky loafs with all kinds of seeds, oats, and nutrients. This bread baked at Dutch-owned bakery called Bastian, could compete even with some Austrian bakeries which was evident by the two kilos (I am guessing one kilo/loaf) I had in my bag on the way home.