It's Friday night and we (Matt and Emily - no Dean) are riding on a bus to Shanghai. I'm on a work related trip and I dragged Matt with me. He's very good at problem solving and has more knowledge than me regarding the industry for which Plaid is developing a new product - 2 things which will come in very handy the next few days. My thinking is that he'll get to see a little more of China while Plaid gets free labor.
When I say little, I'm not exaggerating due to the whirlwind nature of the trip. Getting from point A to point B in China can be very time consuming, and we're trying to visit 4 factories within the next 4 days. Even though they are all in areas around Shanghai, it will take many hours and different modes of transportation to get to each.
This morning we got up at 5 am to catch an 8 am flight. The plane was delayed 2 hours, then it took 2-1/2 hrs by car to get to our destination. We arrived around 3:20 pm. We worked fast and furious to cover what we needed to cover with the factory because we had to catch a bus to Shanghai that left at 5:50 pm.
I had just enough time when we arrived at the bus station to use the washroom - an eastern style ceramic hole in the floor. I wish I could post a picture here now for anyone who has not yet experienced The Squatter. Unfortunately, I now have a permanent image of how low the locals can go because I accidentally opened the stall door of a woman using one. "Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Was all I could stutter as I quickly shut the door.
I must admit, I'm feeling a little cranky right now.
It's hot and muggy on the bus, and little things that normally wouldn't bother me much are getting under my skin. The bus driver spent the first 45 mins blaring his horn as we swayed from side to side traveling through town to reach the interstate.
Then the woman across the aisle from us started clapping. That's right, clapping aloud. To herself. For the next 45 minutes. We're not sure what she was doing, but we're guessing it was either her form of entertainment or exercise.
We just finished a 15 minute stop at a Chinese rest joint for fast food dinner that makes KFC seem gourmet. I wolfed down my rice and stewed cabbage, the only things that looked even remotely appealing among a lineup of mystery meats. I got a short workout sprinting to the bus, since the driver was backing up to leave when we came out of the cafe. Now we're on our way again, lumbering towards Shanghai.
Hopefully my bladder will forgive me for not taking my chances on the restroom. The odor wafting from the doorway combined with the mental image of the last time I used the pee pit today kept me away.
The man in front of me is snoring loudly. Is it time to cue the crying baby to chime in?
I'm going to risk sounding a little snotty here, but Chinese public transportation is not my idea of fun on a Friday night.
We should arrive in Shanghai around 11 pm, and if we're lucky, to the hotel by midnight. Ahhhhh, I can't wait to crash into bed.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Too expensive
After two months living here, I've found I'm finally starting to feel comfortable with RMB currency. At first it felt like we were spending Monopoly money, especially since for every 1 dollar exchanged you receive almost 7 Chinese Yuan (Renmimbi, aka RMB, and Yuan are two words for the same thing). 6.8 is more exact, although China made a formal announcement early this week that they will allow their money to float a little more freely in the market. Experts predict the exchange rate will be closer to 6.5 to 1 US dollar by the end of the year. It's been steady at about 6.8 to 1 for the last two years.
The feeling of knowing what the money in your hand is worth is really nice. I mean, it's something I took for granted at home, and found really challenging when we first arrived in China.
It seemed no matter what we paid for something, my coworkers were always telling us it was too much. How were we to know though? And who's to say what is really too much - it varies by person and by the situation. Some things cost less here than they do back in the U.S., and others are the same price or much more.
Even though we're more comfortable with the money values now, we still judge everything by what it would cost to buy it back in Atlanta. Maybe over time that will change?
The feeling of knowing what the money in your hand is worth is really nice. I mean, it's something I took for granted at home, and found really challenging when we first arrived in China.
It seemed no matter what we paid for something, my coworkers were always telling us it was too much. How were we to know though? And who's to say what is really too much - it varies by person and by the situation. Some things cost less here than they do back in the U.S., and others are the same price or much more.
Even though we're more comfortable with the money values now, we still judge everything by what it would cost to buy it back in Atlanta. Maybe over time that will change?
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Traveling Dean
My parents left on Thursday to head home. We are traveling back to Atlanta on July 1st, less than two weeks away, so we did something a little unusual… we sent Dean home with them! He doesn’t have to have a seat since he’s under the age of two, so he’s traveling home in their arms.
Hard to believe the little guy is only 11 months old, and already I can’t remember what we did with our free time before he was born.
It’s Sunday evening as I type this and Matt and I have been total bums all weekend. Friday night we went to Cheers to watch the World Cup USA game, but other than that, I’ve laid around all weekend reading a new book and relaxing.
Tonight we went to dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. It was odd to not have the usual stares and attention we receive when Dean is with us. I felt a little out of sorts, since I didn’t have to chop up all of my food and the best cuts of meat/veggies/etc for eager little fingers sitting in a stroller nearby.
Hopefully traveling Dean isn’t missing us too much. I’m already looking forward to having the chaos he brings back in my life. 11 days to go…
Hard to believe the little guy is only 11 months old, and already I can’t remember what we did with our free time before he was born.
It’s Sunday evening as I type this and Matt and I have been total bums all weekend. Friday night we went to Cheers to watch the World Cup USA game, but other than that, I’ve laid around all weekend reading a new book and relaxing.
Tonight we went to dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. It was odd to not have the usual stares and attention we receive when Dean is with us. I felt a little out of sorts, since I didn’t have to chop up all of my food and the best cuts of meat/veggies/etc for eager little fingers sitting in a stroller nearby.
Hopefully traveling Dean isn’t missing us too much. I’m already looking forward to having the chaos he brings back in my life. 11 days to go…
Saturday, June 19, 2010
World Cup
It’s Saturday – we made it through another week! The weather is so beautiful outside today, sunny and clear. It’s rare to see so much blue sky here in Shenzhen. A combination of pollution and tropical, humid weather means there are many days when the sky is hazy or completely white, and it feels like we live in a cloud.
Right now the talk about town is the World Cup. Any restaurant I’ve walked into the past week is showing it on TV, and many are offering food or drink specials and World Cup viewing parties.
I know I’ve heard of the World Cup in the past, but I can’t recall ever watching a game. Matt knows much more about it than me – I’m still learning. He explained to me that it’s like a soccer tournament that only happens every 4 years, and the teams are made up of players from the country they are from. (I learned this last bit when I asked if I would get to see hottie David Beckam playing for the U.S. Important to note – he would normally play for England, but he’s injured right now and can’t play at all).
For anyone out there like me, ignorant to the world of soccer, here’s a few more tidbits: the World Cup location changes, kind of like the Olympics. Since soccer is not as big in the U.S. as it is in other places around the world, often games are only shown on TV live, which could mean they are on TV in the middle of the night. There are 32 teams (countries) playing and the entire event lasts a month.
I’ve seen a lot of advertising for the World Cup in Shenzhen, such as Lego-like doodads and soft drink cans covered with pictures of players. China’s team didn’t make the cut, but the people here are still so passionate about this sport.
Matt read in a local paper that the Chinese government received a large number of tickets from North Korea, which they then distributed to Chinese celebrities or well-to-do businessmen. I did a google search on the topic and came up with this article, which is pretty interesting…
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23845657-north-koreas-world-cup-fans-who-are-really-volunteers-from-china.do
Rest assured we will be cheering on team USA, and we hope they go all the way!
Right now the talk about town is the World Cup. Any restaurant I’ve walked into the past week is showing it on TV, and many are offering food or drink specials and World Cup viewing parties.
I know I’ve heard of the World Cup in the past, but I can’t recall ever watching a game. Matt knows much more about it than me – I’m still learning. He explained to me that it’s like a soccer tournament that only happens every 4 years, and the teams are made up of players from the country they are from. (I learned this last bit when I asked if I would get to see hottie David Beckam playing for the U.S. Important to note – he would normally play for England, but he’s injured right now and can’t play at all).
For anyone out there like me, ignorant to the world of soccer, here’s a few more tidbits: the World Cup location changes, kind of like the Olympics. Since soccer is not as big in the U.S. as it is in other places around the world, often games are only shown on TV live, which could mean they are on TV in the middle of the night. There are 32 teams (countries) playing and the entire event lasts a month.
I’ve seen a lot of advertising for the World Cup in Shenzhen, such as Lego-like doodads and soft drink cans covered with pictures of players. China’s team didn’t make the cut, but the people here are still so passionate about this sport.
Matt read in a local paper that the Chinese government received a large number of tickets from North Korea, which they then distributed to Chinese celebrities or well-to-do businessmen. I did a google search on the topic and came up with this article, which is pretty interesting…
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23845657-north-koreas-world-cup-fans-who-are-really-volunteers-from-china.do
Rest assured we will be cheering on team USA, and we hope they go all the way!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Dragon Boat Day
Today China is celebrating Dragon Boat Day. I’m not sure of the history of this national holiday, or what it means for the average citizen here. What I do know is that the China Plaid office was closed Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week, but only due to the fact that we worked Saturday and Sunday as an exchange.
Some of my coworkers traveled home to visit family, while others talked of how much they looked forward to lying around, watching movies, relaxing, and sleeping a lot.
In celebration of the national holiday, we ate sticky rice wrapped like a triangle in green plant leaves. Actually, we ate it on Monday because we’re silly Americans and we didn’t know any better.
Mom and Dad Adgate are visiting, which is partly why it’s been almost two weeks since I posted the last blog entry. They arrived late on the evening of June 6th after about 20 hours of travel. Whenever I am not working, I am spending all of my time with family.
It’s been great sharing all of our new experiences with them, from eating sesame seed covered duck bought on the side of the road to teaching Dean to giggle like “huhuhuhuh” or say “wow!”
We celebrated Matt’s birthday on the 14th with a delicious dinner of amazing, fall off the bone baby back ribs at Matt’s new favorite place to hang out – a restaurant/bar
named Cheers. He’s only been there a couple times, and yet everyone who works there really does know his name! At any given time, at least one of the five owners can usually be found sitting at the end of the bar. I believe they are all from the U.S., and the atmosphere they've created reminds me of a Taco Mac or Loco's sports bar back home - two places Matt and I love!
The food available at Cheers is reasonably priced, although very expensive in comparison to the local Chinese restaurants. Ribs with a baked potato will set you back 20 RMB, which is about $18, while the yummy chicken sandwich or a burger costs 45 RMB, about $6.50.
One thing Matt found out when talking with the owners is that is was very difficult for them to purchase the right kind of cuts of meat to make burgers and ribs the way we do in the U.S. Meat is just not prepared that way here. For one thing, it is almost always still attached to the bone. The bones add flavor, and probably moisture as well. I get tired of always eating meat off the bone and I wish I could just buy prepackaged Tyson Chicken breasts or ground hamburger meat at the store, but Matt doesn't mind it. He's happy to have meals with flavorful, delicious meat at each one.
I am thinking about asking the guys at Cheers if we can buy raw hamburger meat from them or direct from whoever their butcher is so we can cook with it at home. Hamburger Helper, anyone?
Some of my coworkers traveled home to visit family, while others talked of how much they looked forward to lying around, watching movies, relaxing, and sleeping a lot.
In celebration of the national holiday, we ate sticky rice wrapped like a triangle in green plant leaves. Actually, we ate it on Monday because we’re silly Americans and we didn’t know any better.
Mom and Dad Adgate are visiting, which is partly why it’s been almost two weeks since I posted the last blog entry. They arrived late on the evening of June 6th after about 20 hours of travel. Whenever I am not working, I am spending all of my time with family.
It’s been great sharing all of our new experiences with them, from eating sesame seed covered duck bought on the side of the road to teaching Dean to giggle like “huhuhuhuh” or say “wow!”
We celebrated Matt’s birthday on the 14th with a delicious dinner of amazing, fall off the bone baby back ribs at Matt’s new favorite place to hang out – a restaurant/bar
named Cheers. He’s only been there a couple times, and yet everyone who works there really does know his name! At any given time, at least one of the five owners can usually be found sitting at the end of the bar. I believe they are all from the U.S., and the atmosphere they've created reminds me of a Taco Mac or Loco's sports bar back home - two places Matt and I love!
The food available at Cheers is reasonably priced, although very expensive in comparison to the local Chinese restaurants. Ribs with a baked potato will set you back 20 RMB, which is about $18, while the yummy chicken sandwich or a burger costs 45 RMB, about $6.50.
One thing Matt found out when talking with the owners is that is was very difficult for them to purchase the right kind of cuts of meat to make burgers and ribs the way we do in the U.S. Meat is just not prepared that way here. For one thing, it is almost always still attached to the bone. The bones add flavor, and probably moisture as well. I get tired of always eating meat off the bone and I wish I could just buy prepackaged Tyson Chicken breasts or ground hamburger meat at the store, but Matt doesn't mind it. He's happy to have meals with flavorful, delicious meat at each one.
I am thinking about asking the guys at Cheers if we can buy raw hamburger meat from them or direct from whoever their butcher is so we can cook with it at home. Hamburger Helper, anyone?
Monday, May 31, 2010
Oxford, my friend
We are excited to say we think we've found a Chinese nanny for little Dean. She was referred to us by someone we met who knew someone who knew her. Gotta love networking.
With the help of two coworkers, we interviewed her late Thursday afternoon. The only negative we could come up with during the interview is that she doesn't speak any English. Nada. None. Zippo.
At the end of the interview we asked when she could start and she said Friday (as in the next day), so we decided to give it a shot. She is a very sweet woman, married with two kids ages 7 and 2. Her 7 year old lives in the city with her and her husband, but the 2 year old lives in her home province about an hour plane ride away. We're finding this happens often - it's very common for grandparents to raise the children while the mother goes to work in a big city.
I took half a vacation day from work to stay home and begin teaching our new Ayi ("auntie" in Mandarin) how to take care of Dean. There were a lot of hand motions involved, and when I hit tough spots that really needed to be explained in detail, I grabbed our Oxford Mandarin/English Dictionary.
Communicating became a game - how few words can I look up to convey what I'm trying to say to this woman? How many visuals can I give her? If I keep saying the same English words over and over, how long will it take her to learn what I'm saying?
In the end, I felt pretty good that she understood the bulk of what I wanted her to. Matt will be keeping a close eye on her for the next few weeks while she learns more, and during that time, our dictionary will be working overtime.
With the help of two coworkers, we interviewed her late Thursday afternoon. The only negative we could come up with during the interview is that she doesn't speak any English. Nada. None. Zippo.
At the end of the interview we asked when she could start and she said Friday (as in the next day), so we decided to give it a shot. She is a very sweet woman, married with two kids ages 7 and 2. Her 7 year old lives in the city with her and her husband, but the 2 year old lives in her home province about an hour plane ride away. We're finding this happens often - it's very common for grandparents to raise the children while the mother goes to work in a big city.
I took half a vacation day from work to stay home and begin teaching our new Ayi ("auntie" in Mandarin) how to take care of Dean. There were a lot of hand motions involved, and when I hit tough spots that really needed to be explained in detail, I grabbed our Oxford Mandarin/English Dictionary.
Communicating became a game - how few words can I look up to convey what I'm trying to say to this woman? How many visuals can I give her? If I keep saying the same English words over and over, how long will it take her to learn what I'm saying?
In the end, I felt pretty good that she understood the bulk of what I wanted her to. Matt will be keeping a close eye on her for the next few weeks while she learns more, and during that time, our dictionary will be working overtime.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
3 men and a baby
It's day 6 of a week long trip for work - 1 more day to go. I had no idea how exhausting this trip would be, both mentally and physically!
My coworker Simon informed us yesterday that the Chinese government is trying to build up the transportation infrastructure so most places within China are accessible within 2 hours, either by train, car or plane. Right now that's not the case. We've taken all three almost every day, staying in a different hotel every night to get to a variety of factories. It was exciting at first, but at this point I am very ready to be back "home" in Shenzhen.
I've talked to Matt a couple times during the trip and he and the guys (Dean included) were doing good until today. Now Dean needs a woman. He's used to estrogen in his life: mommy, grandmas and Soumya at day care made sure he always had plenty.
I hope the three men and a baby make it through the next 24 hours. I'll be very upset if Dean is sold at an open market in exchange for a roast duck and a bowl of noodles.
My coworker Simon informed us yesterday that the Chinese government is trying to build up the transportation infrastructure so most places within China are accessible within 2 hours, either by train, car or plane. Right now that's not the case. We've taken all three almost every day, staying in a different hotel every night to get to a variety of factories. It was exciting at first, but at this point I am very ready to be back "home" in Shenzhen.
I've talked to Matt a couple times during the trip and he and the guys (Dean included) were doing good until today. Now Dean needs a woman. He's used to estrogen in his life: mommy, grandmas and Soumya at day care made sure he always had plenty.
I hope the three men and a baby make it through the next 24 hours. I'll be very upset if Dean is sold at an open market in exchange for a roast duck and a bowl of noodles.
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