Shanghai, China

[James Hull]

Hello, Ni Hao.

I moved to Shanghai 7 weeks ago and I've been trying to keep up with CrossFit as best as I can. Someone in my gym just asked me if I knew CrossFit, but then didn't know any English to answer my barrage of questions. For instance:
me (as slow as I could go): How did you hear of it?
the guy: Yes... how you hear it. (smiling and nodding)
me:

Same thing with when did you hear of it.

Are their any other CrossFitters in the Orient??

I'm between ZhongShan Park and Jing'an Temple.

[Randall Scott]

hey james..sorry that i can't help you with your question, but i have one of my own if you don't mind.......what are you doing in shanghai...teaching? i've spent several months in taiwan and love asia. would like to move there some day.

[James Hull]

Hi Randall,

No problem. At the moment I am teaching part-time to pay the bills, but I am looking for something more serious while I learn Chinese. It's not easy to stay in the zone. Coffee is expensive. But all around I'm liking it.

[Randall Scott]

Originally Posted by James Hull

Hi Randall,

No problem. At the moment I am teaching part-time to pay the bills, but I am looking for something more serious while I learn Chinese. It's not easy to stay in the zone. Coffee is expensive. But all around I'm liking it.

what other work opportunities are there there for westerners? why not just keep teaching? from what you said about coffee and the zone...does that mean you are in an expensive area? i have a fascination with the whole asia thing..haha

[Arturo Miranda Bencomo]

James, are you still there?

[James Hull]

Yeah, I am still here! I still do crossfit here, at California Fitness (selling points were its cleanliness and squat rack). Are you in Shanghai?

To answer the previous question, a little late, sorry.. An English teaching job is probably the easiest to find and teaching at some places is better than others. I keep getting emails from friends who are considering coming over here. Most of them hope they can find a job before coming here, but that is next to impossible. The fact of the matter is you have to get on a plane and make the leap, spend some time on the ground, building relationships, figuring out what others are doing, etc. THEN you will have a good idea about whats available.

I am working on a start up business right now, writing equity analyst research on US-listed Chinese companies. (there are about 600 on the OTCBB!)

Anyway, I'm still searching for a crossfit buddy. I got myself a real stopwatch which definitely gave me a little kick.

Cheers,
James

[Arturo Miranda Bencomo]

What California?? The one near Times Square? Do they even have Free weights there?? I Checked when they opened and it had the biggest Globo Gym Feeling I´ve ever seen in China.

I used to live very close (RenMin Lu with HuaiHai Lu) I hope my new place is near... add me in Facebook. I will be there in a few weeks.

[James Hull]

Haha, thats the one. They have a whole section of free weights. But I haven't really pushed any of my lifts to the point where I might need to bail (horrible). Very much a globo gym feel to it. They are tolerant of me chalking up every now and then. It gets very crowded in the evenings, so I get some weird looks sometimes. Only once I had a problem with someone cutting in on equipment mid-circuit. There are 3 places to do pull ups.

Do you know your new address yet?

Bad news, facebook is blocked in China, so until I fork over dough for a VPN in the US.. I don't ever check it. But I will try to add you.

Cheers!

[Arturo Miranda Bencomo]

Yeah , I know about facebook, they did it during my last trip to Beijing. But there are ways to go around it.

I am going to look for a place once I've landed. There is one more crossfitter in Shanghai: http://board.crossfit.com/showthread.php?t=50418 (W/F safe).

Keep in contact!!!

[Arturo Miranda Bencomo]

James, I am training at Sparta (TIbet Road) Not far from California.