A run-in with reality – by Derek Sandhaus
THIS STORY FIRST APPEARED IN MALA LITERARY JOURNAL
There are few better places to be than Shanghai in the springtime. Sandwiched between the frigid bleakness and sweltering mosquito-infested blanket of the Yangtze Delta extremes are a perfect few weeks of shirtsleeves and al fresco dining. Under spring’s clear blue skies, one starts finding excuses to be outside. For me it was an impromptu editorial meeting with an author.
I had been in Shanghai for just over two years and was attempting to transition from nobody to entry-level somebody; from aimless transient to anchored expat.