I could really live here .....

Foreigner cemetry in Yokohama.

I arrived in Yokohama on Sunday afternoon and promptly found myself in China Town, which was just like China Town in Melbourne. Since living in China though, I have discovered that both these representations of China are not the 'real' China at all. Rather, they should be named 'Hong Kong Town' - the food much more of a Cantonese style than a mainland China style. Which suited me just fine because I love Cantonese food and was able to enjoy several meals of yum cha.

China Town in Yokohama.

Every restaurant in Japan has an eye catching display of plastic food in their windows.

Although I wasn't in Yokohama for very long, I could see that it is a very liveable city. It is a harbour city that was a traditional fishing village until 1858 when the city opened up as an international port. The international influence is very noticeable, particularly in China Town and Motomachi - a gorgeous little shopping district with beautiful clothes stores and lovely little cafes (that unfortunately all seemed to be closed on Monday!). A very liveable city! There are so many expats living in Yokohoma that there two big international schools, one with 500 students and the other with 700. Not bad for a city of only 3.5 million. I visited the Yokohama International School which was fabulous, people were so friendly and helpful. Lots of people invited me into their classrooms and were more than willing to share their experiences and give me documents to help me in the enormous job of preparing our school for IBO accreditation.

Motomachi - shopping district in Yokohama. Yokohama school girls going for a jog.

Unfortunately I had to head back to Tokyo on Monday night, ready for my early flight to Shanghai on Tuesday morning. When I arrived in Shanghai, I decided to catch the Maglev train to the city where I would catch a regular train to Wuxi. The Maglev train hovers on an air cushion above the tracks and travels at a top speed of 430km/hr, wow! Dim sum in the middle of China Town in Yokohama.

Maglev train from Pudong airport to the centre of Shanghai.

I arrived back in Wuxi to find the city covered in a blanket of smog, random noisy displays of fireworks and a very cold and messy apartment. So, I decided to put off the cleaning and head down the street for a foot massage. It is amazing how your body seems to adapt to the luxury of regular massages - I could really feel the knots in my feet and shoulders after two weeks of no massage. It's a hard life!