Arriving in Hangzhou#

I recall arriving in Hangzhou on February 28th, filled with a mix of excitement and apprehension.

It was pouring rain that day. From the airport, I took a bus and then the subway all the way to Binjiang District. As I exited the subway station, a pedicab driver spotted me with my suitcase, clearly an out-of-towner, and yelled from a distance, “Need a ride?” I thought to myself, I have navigation, how could I let them rip me off? So I followed my navigation to find the hotel, but no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t find it. I kept circling the destination, and when I asked passersby, no one had heard of the hotel. For a moment, I even wondered if there was an issue with my booking. Finally, out of options, I went back to the subway entrance, paid twenty yuan, and hopped on a pedicab. We arrived in five minutes. The hotel was actually less than a kilometer from the subway station, but due to the poor visibility from the rain, I just couldn’t find it. Once at the hotel, I unpacked and realized my suitcase was soaked. I quickly opened it up to check; thankfully, only the books on top were a bit damp, my clothes were still dry. After a shower, I went out to experience this unfamiliar city, renowned as a “paradise on Earth.” I must say, Hangzhou is truly a very clean city with excellent greenery, but it rains, oh, it rains so much!

Finding a Place to Live#

When starting a new job in a new city, the first priority is finding a place to live. And speaking of finding a place, I have to say, it’s a truly painful process.

My friend arrived in Hangzhou in early March, and we started looking for an apartment. After about a week, with no other options and both of us needing to start work the next day, we just settled for a two-bedroom apartment. The apartment was okay, I guess, but if I had to describe its downside, it was incredibly noisy. Especially when it was very cold or very hot and people needed to run their air conditioners, the noise was so bad I couldn’t sleep without earplugs at night. Poor sleep quality significantly impacted my daily work and life. However, due to various reasons, I couldn’t move out temporarily, so I ended up spending almost a year amidst all that noise.

Work#

Originally, I had an offer from a company in Yuhang District and was supposed to report on March 1st. However, my current boss pulled me in for an interview the day before. Even though the offer they made wasn’t up to par, and was even less than what another company offered, I still chose my current company. Why? Maybe I was foolish. At least looking back now, I certainly was. The salary a company offers you is essentially a measure of how much they value your capabilities.

I could easily handle the entire scope of work, from PC to mobile, encompassing dozens of projects, big and small. While there were occasionally tricky issues, I always managed to resolve them with my boss’s guidance. Overall, the work content wasn’t particularly difficult. If I had to point to a challenge, it was purely the workload, and I’m beyond complaining about that. I’m not sure if it’s because the company is planning an IPO or for some other reason, but the overall atmosphere was quite restless, leading to bizarre requests like finishing a mobile e-commerce platform in three days. However, work is work. Just because the difficulty wasn’t high, I couldn’t forget to improve my skills. Over the past year, I spent most of my free time “recharging” myself with new knowledge and skills. Actually, it was because I was alone on weekends and had no idea what to do. Besides occasionally taking a solo stroll by West Lake, all I could do was write some code for comfort.

Other Things#

At the beginning of the year, I put together a set of kitchenware, cooked a few decent meals, and then pretty much never stepped into the kitchen again.

In June, the friend I had joined in Hangzhou left for Wuhan due to excessive overtime at NetEase. My friend’s departure was followed by a new roommate who loves gardening and keeping fish, and sometimes even cooks meals for me.

I went swimming alone. After playing in the pool for a while, I went to the restroom. When I came back, I forgot my goggles and jumped straight into the deep end. Opening my eyes, all I saw was murky water. Being a poor swimmer, I was so scared I choked on several mouthfuls of water. After forcing myself to calm down, I managed to swim to the other side. Thinking about it afterward, it was truly terrifying. With so many people in the deep end, if I hadn’t managed to calm my panic and the lifeguard hadn’t seen me, I would have basically been ‘GG’ (game over). I should really avoid the deep end alone in the future.

My computer, which had been with me for four years, suddenly had its cooling fan stop working. I bought a new fan on Taobao and installed it; the fan worked, but then the screen wouldn’t light up. Replacing the display cable didn’t help either, so I had no choice but to “chop off my hand” (a humorous way to say reluctantly spend money) and buy a 23-inch external monitor. But a big screen is truly awesome.

One rainy morning, on my way to work, I missed my bus because I stopped to help a taxi driver push his stalled car. Luckily, the driver gave me a free ride to work.

I went to see a movie alone and ended up shedding tears. It seems that as I get older, I’m becoming more emotional.

Looking Ahead to 2016#

As my first year after a career change, I’m generally quite satisfied with 2015. However, I can’t become complacent. I need to continue growing my technical skills, but also improve my quality of life, because, after all, we work for a better life.

Here are some simple resolutions for next year:

1. Write at least one blog post per month
2. Watch a movie at least every two weeks
3. Read one book every two months
4. Increase physical exercise
5. Don’t fall behind on the American TV series I’m following

Of course, I probably won’t stick to these plans, o(∩_∩)o haha