It's been a long hot week in Shanghai. It was 40 degrees Celsius today (102 F) and will heat up slightly to 104 tomorrow. I'd like to tell you how much I'm enjoying this recent warm up but that would be a lie. If there is a positive, it is that the skies are relatively clear so the pollution is lower than when I got here. (no real solace) In deference to the hot weather, I only walked 10 miles today.
I have been looking for a new place to live for the next 5 months as I feel like the very nice place where I am is just too far from the downtown. It does sit atop the Metro station so getting around is fairly easy. Thursday and today were spent apartment shopping. No different than anywhere else in the world, lots of junky places, some nice ones and some that just won't work. I have a budget for housing that I will stay within because if all else fails, where I am will be acceptable. I liked two of the 12 I have seen. One might be too far from the Metro but worry more about the other one as it might be too small to promote marital harmony, if you get my drift.
On the work front, we have had some breakthroughs on my assignment and the way to fix things is pretty clear. Actually getting it done may be difficult because it involves improving some of the computer information we use and none of that ever happens quickly. There is a good team here and we are certainly pushing ourselves to make the changes necessary to improve the business for Staples in China.
Since I've been taking the subway a lot, I noticed something interesting on one of my trips. I was standing against the doors on the side of the train where they don't open, and all of the women sitting on the opposite side of the car were staring at me. I was thinking, "Either there's something wrong with my attire or I must look pretty good today, these women can't take their eyes off of me." As I moved to get off the subway, the stares didn't move with me, so I thought that's strange and turned to see that the whole time they were staring at the TV monitor that was right next to me! So much for that ego trip!
Finally, on the home front. Jon is about to start his career as he begins training with EMC on Monday for seven weeks to prepare him for the first phase of his job in Tech support. Jeffrey heads to Arizona on Tuesday to begin his college career. Marissa has been told she will be getting a job offer from Ernst and Young so she enters her senior year of college knowing she has a job after graduation. Our house is on the market and we have had two very interested lookers. Hopefully, we will be getting a good offer on our house, soon. The nest will truly be empty.
Did I say it was hot here?
Steve
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Some Shanghai observations
Here are some things I've noticed lately that might be interesting...
1. Things some people don't want you to talk about. There is a list of them like Religion, Tienanmen Square incident, politics, one baby policy, etc. I have found most educated (and bi-lingual) Chinese are anxious to learn about the world and the world's views. They are willing to discuss most things and understand other culture's styles and beliefs. You're safe as long as you don't say what is being done here is wrong. Of course, that hasn't really stopped me.
2. They still embrace Mao as the key leader with Sun Yat Sen a close 2nd. Mao is more strongly embraced than any single U.S. leader you could imagine. In earlier trips to China, I observed Mao's photo on the wall of every home I entered. His power looms large over the country still today. I was told by someone that where people in the Western world might show their conviction by saying, "I swear to God", here, the strong comment is followed by "I swear to Mao".
3. Incense - Some people use this to make themselves comfortable with their environment and there is someone in an office near mine that burns some each morning. While it would be bothersome to my sensitive nose if I were next to him, I don't see it as a big deal. I cannot help but think of Archie Bunker each morning when I come in and smell it. I clearly hear Archie on a rant about people burning "incest". (Sorry for you youngsters who don't get this one.)
4. Smoking - A lot of young men smoke cigarettes, maybe not more than elsewhere, but I do notice it. What I really notice is that I have never seen a Chinese woman smoking a cigarette in public. I'm told the smoker population is 80% male. I looked on line and found this quote... "According to a World Health Organization (WHO) 1997 study, 63% of Chinese men smoke, but only 4% of Chinese women do." When I asked a young male about this, his response was, "It is not seen as attractive for a woman to smoke". You can fill in your own punchline here.
5. Ambiguity - I had an interesting meeting with a local person who is a VP for a large company and is pretty knowledgeable about how people here think vs. Westerners. His view is that Westerners want to resolve any situation quickly by coming up with solutions to issues and resolving them and moving on to the next thing. His advice was to always leave some ambiguity to any solution I find to allow the local team to have some flexibility to move and adjust before taking action. This is not being slow moving or faint of heart about tough decisions but more about making sure no one loses face in these decisions and subsequent actions. Good advice.
6. 1 Child Policy - Another taboo topic that I had a nice conversation about. What I didn't understand was that if you and your spouse are both from single child families, you are allowed to have 2 children. Of course, twins are considered a blessing and someone with more than one child from elsewhere in the world are considered blessed to have more than one child. (Of course, they haven't met my son Jonathan.)
7. Co-habitation - Interesting to me that cohabitation is not frowned on but seen as a normal part of life for many. I will note that the female's parents must approve the arrangement or it won't work.
One term I did learn to not use here was one that we use in the States for a mad scramble of people trying to do anything. They DON'T refer to that as a Chinese Fire Drill.
I can't leave without a photo of your intrepid blogger taken last weekend...
1. Things some people don't want you to talk about. There is a list of them like Religion, Tienanmen Square incident, politics, one baby policy, etc. I have found most educated (and bi-lingual) Chinese are anxious to learn about the world and the world's views. They are willing to discuss most things and understand other culture's styles and beliefs. You're safe as long as you don't say what is being done here is wrong. Of course, that hasn't really stopped me.
2. They still embrace Mao as the key leader with Sun Yat Sen a close 2nd. Mao is more strongly embraced than any single U.S. leader you could imagine. In earlier trips to China, I observed Mao's photo on the wall of every home I entered. His power looms large over the country still today. I was told by someone that where people in the Western world might show their conviction by saying, "I swear to God", here, the strong comment is followed by "I swear to Mao".
3. Incense - Some people use this to make themselves comfortable with their environment and there is someone in an office near mine that burns some each morning. While it would be bothersome to my sensitive nose if I were next to him, I don't see it as a big deal. I cannot help but think of Archie Bunker each morning when I come in and smell it. I clearly hear Archie on a rant about people burning "incest". (Sorry for you youngsters who don't get this one.)
4. Smoking - A lot of young men smoke cigarettes, maybe not more than elsewhere, but I do notice it. What I really notice is that I have never seen a Chinese woman smoking a cigarette in public. I'm told the smoker population is 80% male. I looked on line and found this quote... "According to a World Health Organization (WHO) 1997 study, 63% of Chinese men smoke, but only 4% of Chinese women do." When I asked a young male about this, his response was, "It is not seen as attractive for a woman to smoke". You can fill in your own punchline here.
5. Ambiguity - I had an interesting meeting with a local person who is a VP for a large company and is pretty knowledgeable about how people here think vs. Westerners. His view is that Westerners want to resolve any situation quickly by coming up with solutions to issues and resolving them and moving on to the next thing. His advice was to always leave some ambiguity to any solution I find to allow the local team to have some flexibility to move and adjust before taking action. This is not being slow moving or faint of heart about tough decisions but more about making sure no one loses face in these decisions and subsequent actions. Good advice.
6. 1 Child Policy - Another taboo topic that I had a nice conversation about. What I didn't understand was that if you and your spouse are both from single child families, you are allowed to have 2 children. Of course, twins are considered a blessing and someone with more than one child from elsewhere in the world are considered blessed to have more than one child. (Of course, they haven't met my son Jonathan.)
7. Co-habitation - Interesting to me that cohabitation is not frowned on but seen as a normal part of life for many. I will note that the female's parents must approve the arrangement or it won't work.
One term I did learn to not use here was one that we use in the States for a mad scramble of people trying to do anything. They DON'T refer to that as a Chinese Fire Drill.
I can't leave without a photo of your intrepid blogger taken last weekend...
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Weekend 2 in China
Friday night I went with some of my co-workers to a very nice area with no cars and lots of nice restaurants. We walked around for a while trying to decide what to eat. Sometimes in life, too many choices freezes the brain. Anyway, we went to a Vietnamese restaurant (first time for me). I ordered stir fry which was same as others I've had. We had some spring rolls which were very tasty, one with shrimp and the other with crab.While everyone else had a beer, I was interested in their fresh juices. I settled on a new one for me called "Dragon Fruit" juice. I guess this is a legitimate fruit that has an edible pulpy inside. The best thing I could say about the juice is that is was wet. Not thirst quenching, not sweet, just wet. It tasted kind of like drinking juice from the rind of a watermelon. Let's just say, I won't re-order that one. The rest of the group went off to a jazz club but it was 9:30 and I was fading and had an early start on Saturday, so good night to all.
Saturday, I went to two water towns outside of Shanghai. They are mostly commercialized with many gift stalls that I never entered. There were some authentic nice things to see from a long time ago, museums, gardens, Buddhist temples, etc. I was looking for interesting foods, street scenes and people to photograph and wasn't disappointed.
All of the photos can be found if you click on this photo but please note this will take you out of the blog where you can see a slide show of all of the photos on my website. You will have to use your backspace on your internet page to return to the blog:
Sunday began with a Skype phone call update with Susan. If you intend to travel outside the U.S. be sure to figure out the Skype thing before you go. You can even buy Skype call minutes to call from your computer to a mobile or home phone for like $.04/minute.
I left early to beat the heat and the crowds but I guess 7:30 AM is not early enough for either. I took the subway to an area called "The Bund", pronounced like fund. Took a nice stroll through a car free zone, a real treat around here, and then it began to rain. The Bund is a very fancy area along the river that divides Shanghai and attracts many tourists as it is the home to some very high end restaurants and hotels. I took cover under the awning of the closed Chanel store to wait out what looked like a brief shower. When I sat on the ground an security person came to shoo me away because that must be against the law to sit on the ground in front of a fancy store. When I stood up, he went away. Note: My son Jonathan would not do well here with all the restrictions.
The rain stopped so I proceed to walk around the Bund. I got some interesting photos of men practicing Tai Chi but otherwise, the Bund area, maybe a one mile concrete path along the waterfront, was crowded with locals taking photos of their loved ones with the building across the way in the background. I may have one of those on my photo page.
I then proceeded to walk through some neighborhoods on a 3-4 mile hike to my lunch destination which has been written up as the best hamburger place in Shanghai. It did not disappoint. The menu is all kinds of regular American food. I treated myself to a chocolate shake which almost made me forget about the burger because it was so good.
One other positive I noticed on today's walk was the presence of "traffic assistants" These people are there to make sure no one enters a crosswalk that is not showing a green walk sign and they actually go out in front of traffic to make sure no cars/bikes/mopeds make illegal turns and slow down the pedestrians. Very nice, now we only need about 50,000 more of these to make walking in this city enjoyable.
While I planned to see more, I decided to go back to my room and chill out for the early afternoon as I have already walked around 7 miles so far today. I decided not to go to the Expo since it is here for 2 more months and it might be cooler in September. did I say it was hot here? Well the humidity is now down so it's no as bad. I took a brief 3 hour nap before deciding where to go tonight.
Tonight, I went back to the Bund to see it in the evening on a relatively clear night. The place was absolutely jammed with people, tens of thousands in unending streams. I just tried to ignore the crowds and take my photos. I had some Japanese fast food for dinner, basically rice and beef with two tiny chicken legs and a salad thing for $4.50. I went to the Bund and took some photos and then got out of there.
See the photo links and here's a sample...
Pudong photographed from the Bund in the daytime, kind of blah...
Pudong photographed from the Bund at night, quite a bt more interesting...
By the way, I hate photographing buildings so don't expect a lot of these. Final walking total for the day was 12 miles.
Saturday, I went to two water towns outside of Shanghai. They are mostly commercialized with many gift stalls that I never entered. There were some authentic nice things to see from a long time ago, museums, gardens, Buddhist temples, etc. I was looking for interesting foods, street scenes and people to photograph and wasn't disappointed.
All of the photos can be found if you click on this photo but please note this will take you out of the blog where you can see a slide show of all of the photos on my website. You will have to use your backspace on your internet page to return to the blog:
Sunday began with a Skype phone call update with Susan. If you intend to travel outside the U.S. be sure to figure out the Skype thing before you go. You can even buy Skype call minutes to call from your computer to a mobile or home phone for like $.04/minute.
I left early to beat the heat and the crowds but I guess 7:30 AM is not early enough for either. I took the subway to an area called "The Bund", pronounced like fund. Took a nice stroll through a car free zone, a real treat around here, and then it began to rain. The Bund is a very fancy area along the river that divides Shanghai and attracts many tourists as it is the home to some very high end restaurants and hotels. I took cover under the awning of the closed Chanel store to wait out what looked like a brief shower. When I sat on the ground an security person came to shoo me away because that must be against the law to sit on the ground in front of a fancy store. When I stood up, he went away. Note: My son Jonathan would not do well here with all the restrictions.
The rain stopped so I proceed to walk around the Bund. I got some interesting photos of men practicing Tai Chi but otherwise, the Bund area, maybe a one mile concrete path along the waterfront, was crowded with locals taking photos of their loved ones with the building across the way in the background. I may have one of those on my photo page.
I then proceeded to walk through some neighborhoods on a 3-4 mile hike to my lunch destination which has been written up as the best hamburger place in Shanghai. It did not disappoint. The menu is all kinds of regular American food. I treated myself to a chocolate shake which almost made me forget about the burger because it was so good.
One other positive I noticed on today's walk was the presence of "traffic assistants" These people are there to make sure no one enters a crosswalk that is not showing a green walk sign and they actually go out in front of traffic to make sure no cars/bikes/mopeds make illegal turns and slow down the pedestrians. Very nice, now we only need about 50,000 more of these to make walking in this city enjoyable.
While I planned to see more, I decided to go back to my room and chill out for the early afternoon as I have already walked around 7 miles so far today. I decided not to go to the Expo since it is here for 2 more months and it might be cooler in September. did I say it was hot here? Well the humidity is now down so it's no as bad. I took a brief 3 hour nap before deciding where to go tonight.
Tonight, I went back to the Bund to see it in the evening on a relatively clear night. The place was absolutely jammed with people, tens of thousands in unending streams. I just tried to ignore the crowds and take my photos. I had some Japanese fast food for dinner, basically rice and beef with two tiny chicken legs and a salad thing for $4.50. I went to the Bund and took some photos and then got out of there.
See the photo links and here's a sample...
Pudong photographed from the Bund in the daytime, kind of blah...
Pudong photographed from the Bund at night, quite a bt more interesting...
By the way, I hate photographing buildings so don't expect a lot of these. Final walking total for the day was 12 miles.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Week 2 in Shanghai
So now that I’m into week 2, I guess things should be getting easier. Mostly, they are. I am still adjusting to the wonderful local food that has me searching for Western restaurants constantly. This week, I did sneak in an Italian meal plus Fajitas another night. I did have some nice Chinese lunches in a hotel where we were doing some training.
On the work front, there are several big improvement opportunities for the Staples business in China that we are trying to make happen. There seems to be a fairly constant stream of Staples’ visitors which makes life interesting and makes you feel less on an island by yourself.
Big plans this weekend, Saturday will be a drive out of town with a co-worker so it will be interesting to see the countryside. Maybe the air won’t have a taste to it. That’s normal, isn’t it?. Then, I’m headed to the Business Expo on Sunday with one of our visitors. The Expo is a big deal here as it is a business show that goes from June until October. The character that represents the show looks like a blue version of Gumby.
By the way, the weather is about the same, except that now that I can’t always talk about the heat, they’ve added in almost daily thunder boomers that make the Texas rains look like wimpy showers. I have finally remembered to put my umbrella in my backpack. They do have a pretty cool thing here I haven’t seen elsewhere. When you enter a building, they have an endless supply of skinny plastic bags for you to slide your wet umbrella into so you don’t drip all over the floor.
I almost knocked a moped driver on his “assets” yesterday. It seems we both wanted to be in the same place only I was standing in it and he was headed to it without slowing down. Another guy got hip checked into a wall trying to pass on my no passing side. So it’s a real treat to be here with the locals, at times. Finally, a fairly strange looking somewhat drunk local guy was sitting next to me on the subway and obviously was staring at this small book (Chinese-English dictionary) I was carrying. He leaned over toward me (of course, I leaned away from him) and said, “I think it’s great that you’re studying Chinese”. You could have knocked me over with a feather (or his breath!)
On the work front, there are several big improvement opportunities for the Staples business in China that we are trying to make happen. There seems to be a fairly constant stream of Staples’ visitors which makes life interesting and makes you feel less on an island by yourself.
Big plans this weekend, Saturday will be a drive out of town with a co-worker so it will be interesting to see the countryside. Maybe the air won’t have a taste to it. That’s normal, isn’t it?. Then, I’m headed to the Business Expo on Sunday with one of our visitors. The Expo is a big deal here as it is a business show that goes from June until October. The character that represents the show looks like a blue version of Gumby.
By the way, the weather is about the same, except that now that I can’t always talk about the heat, they’ve added in almost daily thunder boomers that make the Texas rains look like wimpy showers. I have finally remembered to put my umbrella in my backpack. They do have a pretty cool thing here I haven’t seen elsewhere. When you enter a building, they have an endless supply of skinny plastic bags for you to slide your wet umbrella into so you don’t drip all over the floor.
I almost knocked a moped driver on his “assets” yesterday. It seems we both wanted to be in the same place only I was standing in it and he was headed to it without slowing down. Another guy got hip checked into a wall trying to pass on my no passing side. So it’s a real treat to be here with the locals, at times. Finally, a fairly strange looking somewhat drunk local guy was sitting next to me on the subway and obviously was staring at this small book (Chinese-English dictionary) I was carrying. He leaned over toward me (of course, I leaned away from him) and said, “I think it’s great that you’re studying Chinese”. You could have knocked me over with a feather (or his breath!)
Food Shopping
This is not one of those stories about all the weird things they eat over here vs. what we are used to in the U.S. We know and acknowledge that Asian favorites are just different based on being in a different society where products are available not common in the U.S.
This is about Potato Chips. In Carrefour's this evening, I stopped to look at the Potato Chip aisle. Here is a list the Potato Chips that Lay's sells in this market:
Blueberry
Cucumber
Tomato
Lemon tea
Green tea
Lime
French chicken
Italian red meat
Hot and sour fish soup
Yes, these are potato chips! As the old Lay's commercial used to say, Betcha can't eat just one!
This is about Potato Chips. In Carrefour's this evening, I stopped to look at the Potato Chip aisle. Here is a list the Potato Chips that Lay's sells in this market:
Blueberry
Cucumber
Tomato
Lemon tea
Green tea
Lime
French chicken
Italian red meat
Hot and sour fish soup
Yes, these are potato chips! As the old Lay's commercial used to say, Betcha can't eat just one!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Shanghai People on Sunday, 8/1/10
Today was a little warmer than yesterday, if that's possible. (I remember my wife's Grandma Connie uttering the amazing words, "it's too hot to die" back in 1981 when she was in her last year.) It turns out the actual temp was 39 C or 102 F for those of you following along at home. I walked around with a couple of Staples people as we tried to find some key sites on one of the walks in the book I referenced yesterday. After a couple of hours, I had to bail on them because I wasn't enjoying it due to the heat. So after a couple of rest periods and a meal, I decided to walk to a book store located nearby. No problem found the bookstore which had many English language books and I will frequent this place again. Then I decided to find an electronics market looking for a converter, not just for the plug end but a 110 to 220, no luck.
Buoyed by this success I decided to walk to another bookstore approx. 1 mile away. Well, I got good and lost and getting overheated. After several breaks and more confusion, even with a map (who knew the road I was on was a huge circle?), I found my way to the metro to go back home. I bought a couple of Gatorades along the way, got back to my apartment and then slept from 6 PM until 3 AM. No dinner again.
I would like to let you know about the people here. While individually everyone is nice. A "ni hao" (hello) always gets a great response back from the locals, as does "zia jian" (goodbye). It feels a lot like NYC with less rules while you're out on the streets. Drivers are totally out of control. The lane markings are not even a guide, red lights don't even slow down right turners. With a countdown on the flashing green walk signs, it only gives the drivers a chance to lurch forward in anticipation of the light change. Add to that, bicycles, mopeds and motorcycles, all of which can be coming down the sidewalk toward you or from behind since they drive in either direction on either side of the street and you have total chaos for a foreigner. My guess is that with this many people here if you really enforced the rules, you would have a huge logjam with no movement. Also, drivers love to use their horns and flash their lights at each other but most are immune to this and don't react. Also, pedestrians are at the bottom of the food chain as drivers rarely slow down for pedestrians, they just lay on the horn and keep going, even with a green cross walk sign.
In public when walking around, it is similar. Everyone wants to beat you to the next spot. People queue up for entering subway trains without allowing anyone the space to exit which just creates a massive jam of people trying to move in both directions when the doors open. When buying my Gatorade yesterday in a supermarket, the guy who I "beat" by slowly strolling to the line for the cashier was so upset, he paced around me trying to find an angle where I wasn't looking to push his way in front of me. On subways, people race for seats and are quite satisfied when they find one.
A lady was trying to manhandle her scooter into her courtyard and was shocked when I held the steel grate open for her while she negotiated the weight of the bike up and over the edge of the step down she had to push it over.
The guy who finally told me how to get "un-lost" was someone I approached with trepidation with map in hand trying figure out how to ask him where I was so I could just catch the subway back. So when he asked me, "Are you lost?" in English, I was relieved. We had a nice conversation and when I left he chased after me to give a plastic holder for my map so it wouldn't get ruined.
Final set of comments. Shanghai doesn't close, ever. Sundays are like any other day. The guys doing construction across the street with three huge cranes began work with booming sounds Sunday at 6 AM, but I out-smarted them by not sleeping past 5 AM even though I went to bed at midnight. I'll show them they can't wake me up! Shoppers were again all over, the streets are crowded with families, restaurants are full of people, I'm looking forward to cooler days in a few weeks!
Buoyed by this success I decided to walk to another bookstore approx. 1 mile away. Well, I got good and lost and getting overheated. After several breaks and more confusion, even with a map (who knew the road I was on was a huge circle?), I found my way to the metro to go back home. I bought a couple of Gatorades along the way, got back to my apartment and then slept from 6 PM until 3 AM. No dinner again.
I would like to let you know about the people here. While individually everyone is nice. A "ni hao" (hello) always gets a great response back from the locals, as does "zia jian" (goodbye). It feels a lot like NYC with less rules while you're out on the streets. Drivers are totally out of control. The lane markings are not even a guide, red lights don't even slow down right turners. With a countdown on the flashing green walk signs, it only gives the drivers a chance to lurch forward in anticipation of the light change. Add to that, bicycles, mopeds and motorcycles, all of which can be coming down the sidewalk toward you or from behind since they drive in either direction on either side of the street and you have total chaos for a foreigner. My guess is that with this many people here if you really enforced the rules, you would have a huge logjam with no movement. Also, drivers love to use their horns and flash their lights at each other but most are immune to this and don't react. Also, pedestrians are at the bottom of the food chain as drivers rarely slow down for pedestrians, they just lay on the horn and keep going, even with a green cross walk sign.
In public when walking around, it is similar. Everyone wants to beat you to the next spot. People queue up for entering subway trains without allowing anyone the space to exit which just creates a massive jam of people trying to move in both directions when the doors open. When buying my Gatorade yesterday in a supermarket, the guy who I "beat" by slowly strolling to the line for the cashier was so upset, he paced around me trying to find an angle where I wasn't looking to push his way in front of me. On subways, people race for seats and are quite satisfied when they find one.
A lady was trying to manhandle her scooter into her courtyard and was shocked when I held the steel grate open for her while she negotiated the weight of the bike up and over the edge of the step down she had to push it over.
The guy who finally told me how to get "un-lost" was someone I approached with trepidation with map in hand trying figure out how to ask him where I was so I could just catch the subway back. So when he asked me, "Are you lost?" in English, I was relieved. We had a nice conversation and when I left he chased after me to give a plastic holder for my map so it wouldn't get ruined.
Final set of comments. Shanghai doesn't close, ever. Sundays are like any other day. The guys doing construction across the street with three huge cranes began work with booming sounds Sunday at 6 AM, but I out-smarted them by not sleeping past 5 AM even though I went to bed at midnight. I'll show them they can't wake me up! Shoppers were again all over, the streets are crowded with families, restaurants are full of people, I'm looking forward to cooler days in a few weeks!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Shanghai weekend - Long Post
On this first weekend, I had a lot of interesting experiences.
On Friday evening we had a team building, which was karaoke and games. Very friendly and very fun with some nice talented people. We played a variation of phone tag where the native Chinese speaker would give a North American a phrase to repeat for others but by the time it got to the last person it was pretty jumbled. Then we did the same with an English native giving a phrase to the China team and watching them butcher it. Pretty funny both ways.
The meal was an altogether different story. It was a banquet ordered for us by one of the senior merchandising people. We arrived to find 8 cold dishes waiting on a lazy Susan for us to share. There were delectable goodies like fried pork skin, jellyfish, chicken pieces, pumpkin with flower petals, etc. Then began a procession of hot foods like shrimp with spicy vegetables, mushroom soup, a snapper-type of fish and crab. There were many things i couldn't identify and many that were not appetizing to me. I tried almost everything but not the jelly fish or the pork skin. The featured food was a cow's head. There were no eyeballs, tongues or other obvious body parts on the huge platter but the skull bone was there. It was served with some spicy peppers. The meat was tasty. The dessert was a soup with some type of white things floating, sorry, i didn't get the exact info on that one or try it and then mooncakes. The mooncake looked like a nice light sweet pastry.but it was filled with something my mouth didn't recognize so it got put aside. Mooncakes are usually filled with a paste like lotus seed or sweet bean paste. I should have known when i picked it up and it weighed way more than a light sweet pastry should have.
Saturday was a very eventful day. I took the subway to a huge mall area to scope out what was there. I also wanted a western meal so i could at least put some calories in my body, otherwise this will only be a weight loss story. I went to the Blue Frog which serves hamburgers with imported meat. A very nice burger and fries put me a good mood. So I went shopping. The crowds of people were stunning. The Chinese people are taking this consumerism very seriously and crowded into this 8 story mall in an endless procession of people. I went into Best buy to find a surge protector and was amazed by the high prices. No deals here. I also went to a book store to find a book on Shanghai that would better orient me to the city. Then I was on my way to interview a Chinese tutor. Stepping outside into the blast furnace was a bit of a shock as it's quite warm here now and the mall was cool. I bought two small bottles of water for $.20 each.
On my way to meet the tutor, which was another subway ride, I stopped at a Dairy Queen and got a Blizzard. Not exactly the same taste as the US but pretty close and they do turn it upside down to show the thickness just like they do in the US. the only problem is a minute later it's not so thick in this heat.
The tutor's name is Lillian, although I'm not sure what her Chinese name is. She works independently, has been teaching Chinese to Anglos for 8 years. She just finished her MBA. Several of you might ask how do you find these people? I went on the Shanghai expat sites and searched for tutors. Most companies charge $25/hour for private tutoring, while Lillian charges half of that. She just finished here MBA so she is quite smart and very nice. We have arranged for her to tutor me privately and then a lady who's here from Canada will also work with her. We met at Starbucks and after some discussion, I agreed to have her tutor me. The first session was very good as I learned a lot in just one hour. Our 2x per week sessions will be 2 hours, if my brain can handle it.
When we were finished, I took a long walk through a very nice shopping district to catch the subway a little further down. Did I say it was warm here? I kept going into the beautiful shopping areas to get my body temperature lowered and then back out to the blast furnace. Finally catching the train and going to Carrefours to pick up some things for my apartment. Tide so i could do a load of clothes in my combo washer dryer, more on that later. A cup for me for China. Many of you at Staples know I used the same cup for 14 years so I wanted to get one for the China experience, which won't be 14 months but hey it was $1. I bought some other necessities like Oreos, chocolate covered almonds and bottles of water. I thought the water was a decent deal. It was 9.30 RMB (China $) for a twelve pack of 20 oz bottles. (They're actually 550 ml but I'll let someone else make the conversion.) That comes to .88 RMB per bottle which is like $.13 each bottle. Not sure it's Evian or Perrier but it looks clean. This water is just for walking around in my office and apartment, there are 5 gallon bottles of water in a dispenser so you can constantly drink clean water.
OK then back to the room via the subway again, an hour to get my body temperature back to below 100, a quick shower, back into the blast furnace to meet the Staples gang for dinner. (Did I say it was warm here?)
For dinner our group of 8 went to a Muslim restaurant, another first for me. We drank Black Beer (i had to try it and it was very good actually.) The food started coming and didn't stop again. We had two veggies plates, one with spicy green beans(?) and the other with some kinds of cooked green peppers (a large size). It was very tasty. Then came the flat bread baked in the restaurant plus skewers of lamb, some kind of lamb meat mixed with rice that you put on a small tortilla type of shell, a spicy chicken dish, I'm probably leaving something out but the dinner was very good and not expensive. we did leave a lot behind. This was my best meal in China, by far, a very nice surprise!
The photo is me getting some cold air from an air conditioner that didn't reach our table.
So this long day is coming to an end, but wait the team wants to go for foot massages. OK into taxis and off to get foot massages. We ended up getting shoulder and foot massages in one large room we all shared, very nice. My masseuse was a young blind guy who put me in incredible pain, cracked my back, and did a great job. This cost less than $10.
Me getting my massage and feeling pretty good.
Finally, into a cab with others and then to sleep. A really great day. (Did I mention it was warm here?)
Sunday will be a walking tour of Shanghai using an excellent book that Susan discovered was written by one of our Hopkinton neighbors who is a Shanghai native.
On Friday evening we had a team building, which was karaoke and games. Very friendly and very fun with some nice talented people. We played a variation of phone tag where the native Chinese speaker would give a North American a phrase to repeat for others but by the time it got to the last person it was pretty jumbled. Then we did the same with an English native giving a phrase to the China team and watching them butcher it. Pretty funny both ways.
The meal was an altogether different story. It was a banquet ordered for us by one of the senior merchandising people. We arrived to find 8 cold dishes waiting on a lazy Susan for us to share. There were delectable goodies like fried pork skin, jellyfish, chicken pieces, pumpkin with flower petals, etc. Then began a procession of hot foods like shrimp with spicy vegetables, mushroom soup, a snapper-type of fish and crab. There were many things i couldn't identify and many that were not appetizing to me. I tried almost everything but not the jelly fish or the pork skin. The featured food was a cow's head. There were no eyeballs, tongues or other obvious body parts on the huge platter but the skull bone was there. It was served with some spicy peppers. The meat was tasty. The dessert was a soup with some type of white things floating, sorry, i didn't get the exact info on that one or try it and then mooncakes. The mooncake looked like a nice light sweet pastry.but it was filled with something my mouth didn't recognize so it got put aside. Mooncakes are usually filled with a paste like lotus seed or sweet bean paste. I should have known when i picked it up and it weighed way more than a light sweet pastry should have.
Saturday was a very eventful day. I took the subway to a huge mall area to scope out what was there. I also wanted a western meal so i could at least put some calories in my body, otherwise this will only be a weight loss story. I went to the Blue Frog which serves hamburgers with imported meat. A very nice burger and fries put me a good mood. So I went shopping. The crowds of people were stunning. The Chinese people are taking this consumerism very seriously and crowded into this 8 story mall in an endless procession of people. I went into Best buy to find a surge protector and was amazed by the high prices. No deals here. I also went to a book store to find a book on Shanghai that would better orient me to the city. Then I was on my way to interview a Chinese tutor. Stepping outside into the blast furnace was a bit of a shock as it's quite warm here now and the mall was cool. I bought two small bottles of water for $.20 each.
On my way to meet the tutor, which was another subway ride, I stopped at a Dairy Queen and got a Blizzard. Not exactly the same taste as the US but pretty close and they do turn it upside down to show the thickness just like they do in the US. the only problem is a minute later it's not so thick in this heat.
The tutor's name is Lillian, although I'm not sure what her Chinese name is. She works independently, has been teaching Chinese to Anglos for 8 years. She just finished her MBA. Several of you might ask how do you find these people? I went on the Shanghai expat sites and searched for tutors. Most companies charge $25/hour for private tutoring, while Lillian charges half of that. She just finished here MBA so she is quite smart and very nice. We have arranged for her to tutor me privately and then a lady who's here from Canada will also work with her. We met at Starbucks and after some discussion, I agreed to have her tutor me. The first session was very good as I learned a lot in just one hour. Our 2x per week sessions will be 2 hours, if my brain can handle it.
When we were finished, I took a long walk through a very nice shopping district to catch the subway a little further down. Did I say it was warm here? I kept going into the beautiful shopping areas to get my body temperature lowered and then back out to the blast furnace. Finally catching the train and going to Carrefours to pick up some things for my apartment. Tide so i could do a load of clothes in my combo washer dryer, more on that later. A cup for me for China. Many of you at Staples know I used the same cup for 14 years so I wanted to get one for the China experience, which won't be 14 months but hey it was $1. I bought some other necessities like Oreos, chocolate covered almonds and bottles of water. I thought the water was a decent deal. It was 9.30 RMB (China $) for a twelve pack of 20 oz bottles. (They're actually 550 ml but I'll let someone else make the conversion.) That comes to .88 RMB per bottle which is like $.13 each bottle. Not sure it's Evian or Perrier but it looks clean. This water is just for walking around in my office and apartment, there are 5 gallon bottles of water in a dispenser so you can constantly drink clean water.
OK then back to the room via the subway again, an hour to get my body temperature back to below 100, a quick shower, back into the blast furnace to meet the Staples gang for dinner. (Did I say it was warm here?)
For dinner our group of 8 went to a Muslim restaurant, another first for me. We drank Black Beer (i had to try it and it was very good actually.) The food started coming and didn't stop again. We had two veggies plates, one with spicy green beans(?) and the other with some kinds of cooked green peppers (a large size). It was very tasty. Then came the flat bread baked in the restaurant plus skewers of lamb, some kind of lamb meat mixed with rice that you put on a small tortilla type of shell, a spicy chicken dish, I'm probably leaving something out but the dinner was very good and not expensive. we did leave a lot behind. This was my best meal in China, by far, a very nice surprise!
The photo is me getting some cold air from an air conditioner that didn't reach our table.
So this long day is coming to an end, but wait the team wants to go for foot massages. OK into taxis and off to get foot massages. We ended up getting shoulder and foot massages in one large room we all shared, very nice. My masseuse was a young blind guy who put me in incredible pain, cracked my back, and did a great job. This cost less than $10.
Me getting my massage and feeling pretty good.
Finally, into a cab with others and then to sleep. A really great day. (Did I mention it was warm here?)
Sunday will be a walking tour of Shanghai using an excellent book that Susan discovered was written by one of our Hopkinton neighbors who is a Shanghai native.
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