Back in the USA

Just over 40 hours ago I walked off of flight UA #836 and into the customs area at Chicago-O’Hara airport. I WAS HOME!

Actually, I wasn’t quiet home. I still had to collect a mountain’s worth of luggage, clear customs, located my car service/driver and travel into the city. As I walked from one end of the terminal to the other I felt the stress of travel slipping off my shoulders...or was that the weight of my backpack slipping off my shoulders?! Johnson luck struck again as (like usual) my flight landed at the last possible gate in the international terminal - the furthest point from customs.

I was prepared to sail through customs. I had done this before. This time though the customs official did question my declaration form. “In 6 months you only spent $480?” I almost laughed out loud. I definitely spent more than that. I quickly explained that I had already been home once during my 6 months and brought most of my gifts/souvenirs home at that point. With that explanation the official quickly stamped my passport.

As I waited for the luggage to appear on the carousel I saw a beagle sniffing her way around all of the passengers. The image immediately brought to mind Emma Lou -- my brother’s beagle.
Ninety minutes after landing Rick and I loaded all of our bags into an Escalade care of Chicago Chauffeurs and headed into the city.

40 hours after arriving I am sitting in Caribou -- updating this blog and uploading pictures (gotta love free wi-fi). My next destination is Target. I’ve missed this MN institution. Rick doesn’t know it yet but I think I am going to spend at least an hour just wondering around.

My last time...

This morning was no different than any other work day. I grabbed a cab outside my hotel, handed over my business card and settled into the seat for my short ride to the office. Then I realized today was different. My cab ride this morning marked my last trip to the office in Shanghai. Today is my last day at work. This realization stunned me; two hours later I am still struggling with what to make of it.

How do I even begin to sum up my work experience in China? Will I ever be able to succinctly summarize my experiences in China? How do I answer the questions I know I will be asked when I get home? Ones like…

“So how was it?” or “What did you like best?” or “What did you learn?” or “What did you not like” or “What was your favorite food and what did you not eat” etc…

Hmmm….Perhaps I should make a list of answers. I am a list maker. I love lists!

Q: How was it?
A: Amazing!

Q: What did you like best?
A: The ability to get lost in a crowd all while standing out. My daily routine. Dropping 20lbs.

Q: What did you learn?
A: I learned to check my expectations at the door. I learned to simply take it all in. It was a great lesson in humility, cultural difference, etc…

Q: What did you like least?
A: The horrible air quality was really hard to deal with. Just when I thought I was used to it I think they started either burning more coal or another material. Cab drivers that (I swear) pretended not to understand me.

Q: What was your favorite food and what did you not eat?
A: I LOVE dumplings, Sichuan style food and BBQ pork steamed buns. I could not bring myself to try stinky tofu – the smell can turn my stomach. I disliked many of the cold appetizer dishes. I still do not eat fish.

I’m sure my list will grow as I experience a few more things for the last time prior to my flight out of Shanghai on Sunday.

Cost of Living Adjustment

As I begin making plan for my relocation to Fargo I am once again amazed at the difference in cost of living from one state to another. Given the Fun Fargo Facts previously posted I suppose the low cost of living in ND should not be a surprise.

With my return to the US I have a few main items to address immediately:
· Find a place in Fargo to live
· Buy a car

I am following advice from my brother and opting to move into a rental apartment. Figure with the economy and all I should wait till I get settled into my job before diving into a home purchase. (Tim - thanks for the advice!) When I was in ND in November I looked at a few apartment complexes and found two that I really liked. I called back to the one I liked best and found out that the unit I had looked at was still available – YEAH.

I have found it very difficult to do personal when you are 7000 miles away and you are on the other side of the international dateline. For example, if I need to call my bank I have to wait until 10pm my time to call as that is 8am in MN. You’ve gotta love the 14 hr time difference. Thankfully my sister has been willing to help me with some of this. Case in point she will be sending in a deposit for my new apartment since I won’t be getting back until next week. (Thanks Kris!).

Aside from finding an apartment I also have to purchase a car. I had to return my company car when I moved to Shanghai and unfortunately my new role doesn’t come with a car – darn! Thankfully I’ve been able to do a lot of searching online. I’m leaning towards a Ford Edge. Figure the least I could do is support the US auto industry. J Plus with all the incentives and rebates out there it’s hard to say no!

If you want to check out my new apartment visit: http://www.ppm1875.com/p/book/oldorc.shtml

Although I am starting to make plans for my return you can rest assured that a few adventures will still be had in Shanghai including at least one more trip to the fabric market, a massage at dragonfly, dinner on Hongmei Lu, a night boat cruise, etc… I’ll be sure to post updates on these as soon as possible.

Fun Fargo Facts (and a few ND Facts)

Fargo…
…is located in Cass County; Along the Red River of the North
…is a border town located next to Moorehead, MN
…has an estimated population of 99.200
…is the largest community in the Fargo-Moorehead metro area (population of 175,000)
…has an average high temperature of 16 degrees in January and 82 degrees in July
…is 4 hours Northwest of the Twin Cities (closer to where I grew up)
…is 3 hours west of Cross Lake, MN (even closer to the family cabin)
…is 10.5 hours Northwest of Chicago


North Dakota…
…is the Peace Garden State
…was admitted to the union on Nov 2, 1889
…has a population of approximately 636,000
…had an average of 9.3 people per square mile


You may be wondering why I’m sharing these statistics with you. It’s pretty simple. When I return to the US I will be relocating back to North Dakota. This time I will be based in our Fargo office

A Shanghai Weekend

This past weekend was eventful, relaxing and painful.

On Saturday, after working out and eating a great breakfast (I haven’t had to cook since Rick got here!), Rick and I made our way down to Figaro Coffee. I had another stack of books to drop off for their book exchange program. It also means less weight in my suitcase as I head back to the US next week.

I enjoyed a great tasting latte and was able to read a few pages in my current book. After some relaxing we headed to Yu’An Gardens to finishing buying gifts for a few different people. Once again, I found myself spoiling my niece and nephew.

By the way, why is it always so much easier to buy for girls than boys?

After dropping a few hundred kuai we headed over to the fabric market to pick up the clothes we ordered last week. With one exception all of our items turned out great. The exception was the suit I had ordered. First the pants where way to tight around my quadriceps and the tailor had forgotten to make my jacket. Either that or he fell asleep while making it. I’m not quite sure as the language barrier made it hard to understand and I couldn’t make complete sense of his hand gestures.

We continued our day with a visit to the pearl/counterfeit market and enjoyed happy hour at Big Bamboo (www.bigbamboo.com.cn). After a few drinks we headed down to Jimmy Moo’s a 50 style dinner that servers good hamburgers and shakes.

Yesterday was all about relaxing and taking it easy. I enjoyed a cup of coffee as I started to pack up my apartment. After a while we headed downstairs to my neighbor Pat’s place where we enjoyed a late breakfast of pancakes and bacon. After this the three of us headed out for massages. To get a massage here is unbelievably cheap 135-220 Rmb ($20-$32). I will be going back at least one more. Our day ended with a great dinner at Papa’s Bierstube and some American TV care of Pat’s Apple TV set-up.

Unfortunately throughout the weekend I was plagued by neck pain. I somehow tweaked it when stretching on Saturday morning. The massage helped a lot but just when I thought I was getting better a wicked headache hit. So yesterday ended with me laying in an extremely dark bedroom with a compress on my head and 800mg of Advil working its way through my system!

Thankfully my Monday is off to a much better start!

Captain Kodak

Over the past 10 days I have taken a ton of pictures. Just call be Captain Kodak. I’ve finally been able to update my picasa site with all of them. I don’t expect anyone to go through all of them. Feel free to just poke around a bit. Use the following link to access my newest public albums:

http://picasaweb.google.com/esjohnson80

Albums Recently created and/or updated include the following:

Great Wall
Summer Palace
Temple of Heaven
Forbidden City
Silk/Copper/Jade Factories
Olympic Campus
Various Around Xi’An
Dinner Show
Terracotta Army
Wild Goose Pagoda
Various around Xi’An
Various around Beijing
JiMao
Rick in Shanghai
Chinese Opera (updated with a few more pictures as I visited it with Pat’s Family)

So Much History, So Little Time

On Sunday we had another early morning as we left on the 8:00am flight for Beijing. Our 3 day excursion in Beijing started off without a hitch. We grabbed a cab to the Crown Plaza Beijing and by 11:00 am we were relaxing in our room. After an hour of resting and relaxing we headed out for lunch.

Our original lunch plans were thrown out the window when we couldn’t find the café the concierge recommended. As we started walking aimlessly I could feel myself getting snippy due to lack of food. I’m sure I tested Rick’s patience. Thankfully I looked down a side street and saw a large sign proclaiming STEAMED BUNS!

Score 1 for us. The restaurant was bustling with people. Score again. We had found a popular place. We were on a roll. Then, I looked at the menu and realized it was ALL in Chinese and there were NO pictures. UGH! I tried to talk to one person unsuccessfully. I was about to write it off as a lost cause and head to McDonalds when a young waitress basically forced us to sit at a table. Thankfully her English was great. 18 (tasty) steamed buns latter Rick and I headed out to walk off our lunch at the Olympic campus.

The Birds Nest was an amazing sight. The water cube in my opinion was simply okay. I think it would have been more impressive at night. After taking a ton of pictures we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.

I was extremely excited and nervous about our dinner plans. At 6:30pm a Bobcat Sales Rep and one of our dealers picked us up and took us out for Peking Duck. YUMMY! I was worried for no reason as dinner went off with only a few moments where communication broke down due to Rick and I forgetting to use basic/simple English words.

We spent Monday and Tuesday going on guided tours of some of the more famous locations in Beijing including: A silk factory (spent money), a jade factory (spent more money), the cloisonné factory (and spent even more money!), Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace. We also had time to take in a Chinese Acrobatic Show.

Our last tour stop before heading back to Shanghai was the Great Wall. There are three popular locations for tourists to climb the wall. We headed to the Badaling section which is 888m above sea level compared to downtown Beijing which is 44m above sea level. We went up by foot and we came down via a cable car.

As we took our time climbing it was easy to be overwhelmed by the magnificent grandeur of the Great Wall. It’s amazing to think about the time, effort and resources that went into its construction. The scenery from our different vantage points was simply breathtaking. It’s easy to understand why this great creation has such historical significance in China.

We left for Shanghai at 6pm yesterday. We were back in my apartment by 8pm. To sum it up…It was four days with little sleep, lots of shopping, many sight visited and a TON of memories made!

3 Blind Mice

This past Saturday Rick and I took off from Pudong International Airport. Our destination was Xi’An. This city is located in central China and was previously the capitol. Its history dates back as far as 2000BC.

Rick and I only had one day in Xi’An so I arranged for a tour guide and car in order to make the most efficient use of our time. Tony our tour guide picked us up from the baggage claim area of the airport. I have to admit I felt like someone special as I scanned the crowd of waiting people for a sign with our names on it.

Tony quickly got us (and our stuff) loaded into his car. We headed first to see the Terracotta Soldiers (a.k.a. Terracotta Army). The soldiers which date back to 210 BC were created by the First Emperor of China. The soldiers were found in 1974 by local farmers digging a water well. It is estimated that over 8,000 soldiers were originally placed in battlefield configuration in three separate pits. Some of the soldiers have been rebuilt and restored, however many still remain buried in the pits.

One low point of our time visiting the soldiers was our lunch. We walked in to the ends of what could have been a good lunch buffet. As we sat eating we all of a sudden heard a commotion in the open prep area (think carving station at a buffet). It sounded a bit like screams coming from the staff. Soon enough we realized what was going on as a rat scurried across the dining room floor. I simply looked at Rick, shrugged my shoulders and said “When in China its best to just keep eating.” As I took my next bit though I couldn’t help think about the nursery rhyme from my childhood, “three blind mice, see how they run.”

Most of our day was taken up by our trip to see the soldiers. We were able to stop at one more tourist spot though; we visited the Wild Goose Pagoda.

That evening we attended the Tang Dinner Show where we got to try many different types of steamed dumplings and watch a sampling of traditional Chinese dance and music. My favorite was the Warrior Dance. Rick liked the trumpet solo.

After the show we took our time getting back to the hotel by wondering through the Muslim Quarter and around central Xi’An enjoying the sights offered within the city walls.

I’ve heard that a true test of a relationship is if you are able to travel well together. I have to admit that the Muslim Quarter put this concept to the test. I walked a few blocks into the neighborhood and found myself truly enjoying all of the sights, sounds and smells. On the opposite end of the spectrum was Rick. I think he came close to having a panic attack. He was hung up on the smells. As he said his “olofactory [bulb] was on overload.”

Thankfully we were able to push through the uncomfortable moments and even managed to buy some bags of great tasting dried fruit and pistachios.

Nervous

Last Wednesday I headed to the airport with butterflies in my stomach. I was on my way to pick up Rick. I was nervous because I was worried about what his reaction would be to Shanghai/China.

I have really enjoyed my time here. That’s not to say that there haven’t been frustrating moments (there have been). It doesn’t mean that I don’t miss my family (I do!). It’s just that if I had to stay longer here in China I could do it. I’ve been able to reach a point where I could easily call it home…for awhile. So I was worried about what I would do if Rick didn’t enjoy his time in China.

The nerves I felt were a familiar feeling. I felt the same way when Kris visited me in St Petersburg Russia during my study abroad. During her visit though I think I was even more worried as I had dedicated so much of my time in school to Russia and the Russian language and I wanted someone in my family to get why I loved it so much.

Rick arrived safely in Shanghai; although I think he was almost the last person through customs. Since the moment he arrived we have been going non-stop.

After getting settled into my apartment Rick and I headed out to walk around the neighborhood. It was already dark so it was a bit hard to show off the sights.

We eventually made our way to Amy’s a place serving Sichuan style food for dinner; spicy and yummy!
I took the first four days of Rick’s vacation off of work. The first two days (last Thursday and Friday) were spent in Shanghai.

Highlight of the first few days in Shanghai:

1. Fabric Market – Rick scored a suit and cashmere over coat for $200. I also did a fair bit of shopping….I’m just fulfilling the stereotypical female role.
2. Yu’An Garden – our first chance to really barter for anything; unfortunately we had spent most of our money at the fabric market. Rick did get a gift for his niece.
3. Thanksgiving Dinner – I had made reservations for Thanksgiving dinner at an expat friendly restaurant. The meal served at the Big Bamboo was good overall; despite a poor attempt at a pumpkin pie. The disappointing pie was made up for with 2:1 Happy Hour drinks!
4. Counterfeit Market – Major purchases knock off Ugg boots and a Rolex watch
5. Jin Mao Tower – We checked out views of Shanghai from the world’s highest observation deck.
6. Dinner with the Neighbor – Rick was able to finally meet Pat (my neighbor) and his family; they were in town visiting over Thanksgiving.

Majors and Minors - an Evaluation

My college diploma is stored in a box.  Somewhere.  I think.  I’ve moved 5 times in 5 years so suffice it to say it’s never been displayed on a wall or even framed.  I didn’t walk across the stage for my graduation as I was scheduled to move to Connecticut.  My diploma simply arrived in an rectangular, unmarked, unassuming envelope.  It was sent standard mail.   The University of Minnesota did not incur much of an expense in getting it to me.

I on the other hand incurred a fair amount of debt in order to earn my diploma; some of which I am still paying off.  I received not only a Bachelor’s degree but also a minor in Russian language.  At times I wonder how much each cost me.  My primary degree is put to use often.  I mean heck, I work in corporate America, have spent time in sales & marketing and still cart around crates of my old business text books.  The money I spent on my major in other words was money well spent.

My minor in Russian language however isn’t used that often. Oh, occasionally I have had to pull out a simple phrase or two. Primarily when a new friend asks “Say something in Russian?”  I usually respond with the profound “Menya zobyt Erika.  Ya liubliu Rucckye yazik.”  (Translation:  My name is Erika. I love Russian language.)

For professional purposes I have only pulled out my Russian skills twice.  Once was in 2004 at ConExpo; a construction equipment trade show held in Las Vegas.  I helped a Russian visitor to the show buy a Bobcat T-shirt in the right size.  The second time, was just last night.

Let me explain....

My work day yesterday ended early as I was invited to attend a tea and dinner with a group of our dealers and end users.  I gladly accepted but knew that my chance for conversation would be limited.  Many of these folks don’t speak English.  I made it through the first few hours by occupying one persons time.  Our conversation was very basic but at least was in English.  I walked out of the tea session for a bit as I wanted to give the person I had met the chance to escape.  I know how hard it is to speak in a language that is not your own.  He deserved a chance to speak in his own language.  When I came back to my seat there was a new group of folks across the table from me.  

I leaned back in my chair prepared simply to drink my tea and listen as I didn’t want to force English on anyone.  Quickly, my ears perked up.  I started to glance often at the group across from me.  “Did I just hear Russian?” I thought to myself.  One person in the group was obviously not Asian; so perhaps.  “No; that can’t be” I assured myself.  

As the minutes slowly ticked by I kept hearing familiar, albeit foreign, sounds.  

I started to debate in my head  “I should break out the Russian.  No I shouldn’t I’ll look like a fool.  I should. I shouldn’t!”  After about 5 minutes I couldn’t take it any longer (plus boredom was getting to me).  I made eye contact with the individual I thought could be Russian and simply asked....

“Vy Govoretye Po Rucckye?”  “Da” he responded 

(Translation:  “Do you speak Russian?”  “Yes” he answered)  

YES!!! I was right, it was Russian.  The next hour flew by as I talked to the customer from Kazakhstan.  I apologized profusely for my poor conversation skills.  I told him that it had been 6 years since I last studied.  He smiled and assured me it was okay.  I did laughingly tell him that despite the break my Russian is much better than my Chinese.

Coincidently, the tea and dinner were a pre-event to a construction trade show that started today in Shanghai.  What is it with me finding the Russians at trade shows!?

Two uses for Russian in my 5 years in corporate America.  Others might think I am not get my money’s worth out of my minor; but for me I’ll take it.  I may just even crack open my Russian textbooks when I get back home.  Yesterday’s encounter made me realize that I miss the language -- and the people.  Too bad I don’t have time to squeeze in a trip to Kazakhstan.

Back in the USSR…

...Scratch that. I meant to say Back in China.

Yep, I am back in Shanghai. I got back on Saturday evening after a never-ending flight that started in Fargo and included stops in Minneapolis and Tokyo.

My two weeks back home flew by. I simply had a great time in the US, highlights included:

1. Having dinner and drinks with friends….multiple times.
2. Spending way too much money shopping in Chicago. Gotta love the cost of running shoes.
3. Driving. Driving. Driving.
4. Physical Therapy on my shoulder. For those of you wondering, I’m still fighting my bike accident injury so per my physician’s recommendation I squeezed in a few sessions of PT. Thankfully it’s not my rotator cuff
5. Working out at Fitness Formula Club with my trainer. Thanks Martin for kicking my butt!
6. Having my brother-in-law Bud cook dinner and lunch for me (and my family). Yummy Philly Cheese Steaks and Chicken Wings. Bonus: hearing my nephew say “I love meat, I’m carnivore!”
7. Spoiling Cori and Cooper with lots of gifts. I think the big winners were the most inexpensive; chopsticks and the loose change (the equivalent of nickels, dimes, and quarters) that I gave them.
8. Catching up with all my friends in Bismarck/Fargo
9. Looking at homes in Fargo. Man can you get a lot of house compared to Chicago.
10. Working to figure out where I will land next with Bobcat (more on that soon)

I have just shy of a month left in China. I return to the US on December 14. I know that the remaining time will fly by as I’ll be working to wrap up my projects at work, hosting Rick in Shanghai, traveling to Beijing and Xian and finalizing my next assignment details.

This week my main objective is simply to get over my jet lag. I didn’t have much issue with it going back to the US. Coming to China appears to be a different story.

Deja Vu

I was going to title this entry "Leaving on a Jet Plane" but then I realized that I think I've used this before. Regardless it still applies. Tomorrow (my Thursday morning) I will be boarding a plane headed to Chicago via Tokyo and Minneapolis.

I will be spending one week in Chicago and then will head to North Dakota for meetings. During the meetings I'll find out what my next role will be in Bobcat. Whatever it is I will be relocating to ND, likely after the start of the new year. Anyone have a house for sale in ND?! Talking about this though is getting ahead of myself.

I'm most excited about my week of vacation. I plan to hit the gym, walk the lake, shop, eat the food I miss, drink some cocktails all while catching up with family and friends. Plus I'll get to spend some time snuggled up in my bed watching all of the TV shows that Rick recorded for me on DVR.

I'll also be making a quick pit stop during this two weeks in MN and will be able to see my immediate family. I can't wait to spoil my niece and nephew!!

Try, Try and Try Again

This weekend the goal was to not spend money – or more specifically not to wind up at the fabric market. Things started off great with an early morning run with my neighbor and one of his coworkers (5 miles for me, 6 miles for the two guys) followed by pancakes for breakfast. YUM!

After getting ready for the day the three of us headed out to the ferry terminal. We were going to attempt to head to Hengsha Island (a.k.a. the Quiet Island). I had heard that it is the most scenic place in Shanghai as there is no industrial/manufacturing allowed on the island. I think another reason why it is so quiet is because it is impossible for foreigners to get to it.

I’m sure some of the locals are able to make it back and forth between the islands very easily. Unfortunately, my small group of expats was unable to figure it out. We went into 5 different buildings trying to buy tickets. The staff at each building kept pointing us to the next building and the next and the next. We tried and tried and tried again but were unsuccessful in figuring out the system and how to buy tickets.

So after our multiple attempts we opted to scrap the original agenda and move onto plan B.

We headed to Nanjing Lu where we re-fueled with Starbucks. It was only 11:00am but after a run at 6am we were already starting to fade. The caffeine had the desired effect so we headed out to the Bund. This area of Shanghai is known for its interesting architecture. There is a river walk that runs parallel to the buildings of interest so I was able to get some great pictures. We didn’t give up though on a boat trip. We signed up for an hour long river cruise. The weather was a bit overcast and the smog/haze was thick in the sky but it was still a nice way to pass some time.

By 3pm we were heading back to the Hongqiao area (where my apartment is located) . A quick detour was made to City Shop. This is a grocery store that clearly caters to expats. Josh had yet to be introduced to this grocery store so we felt that it would be worthwhile to detour. I was especially happy as next door to City Shop is a frozen yogurt store – oh so Yummy.

Check out pictures from Saturday’s adventure using this link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/esjohnson80/BoatTrip#

A Kodak Challenge

“A picture is worth a thousand words,” proclaims many a person (and I think a Kodak ad campaign). I fully agree that images are extremely powerful. Unfortunately, there are many images that are hard to capture on film; Shanghai is no exception. While I haven’t given up on capturing some of the fleeting images that have captured my attention I want to share them in words in case I am never successful.

Pigs on a scooter: I’ve already described my running route and its many smells. It also has some unique scenery. One day, while running along I realized I need to take a quick step backward in order to avoid a collision with a scooter. While my heart beat out of my chest due to the near miss, my eyes couldn’t believe what was strapped to the back of the scooter – three butchered pigs. With their bellies slit open these pigs were truly a spectacle to see. I thought perhaps this sighting would be a onetime occurrence. Unfortunately I was wrong; I’ve seen many a scooter with pigs strapped to the back

Double Takes: I’d love to capture on film some of the looks I get when walking down the street. At times some people have just barely avoided having an accident due to looking over their shoulders and doing a double take while riding a bike. I get a lot of these looks when I am working out but even manage to get a few just during the course of normal activities (i.e. walking home from work).

Butt Cheeks: Pampers and Huggies diapers are available in China but I have to report that I don’t think they have gained wide spread acceptance. Instead, it appears that it is more popular to put your children in pants that have a split between the legs. Thus, the little ones can squat down anywhere and do their business. I can appreciate the cuteness of babies butt cheeks and even how this is a very “green” practice BUT, it is still odd to see a toddler squatting down in the middle of a sidewalk.

Darth Vader: When riding scooters many people here wear a dark sun visor and a second shirt. The shirt reminds me a bit of a painting smock. I think its worn either to prevent their clothes from getting dirty or sunburn. As these scooters speed by me on the side walk I often find myself humming the Star Wars theme song. I’m sure my nephew Cooper would love this look.

Pallet Harness: One morning while sitting outside my hotel, cooling down after a run, I saw a very strange sight. A man walking down the road, in the bike lane, had harnessed himself to a pallet on wheels. The pallet moved slowly along behind the man. I couldn’t figure out what was on the pallet – it was a mix of boxes. Immediately I had to question how this means of transport could possibly be cost effective (and efficient).

Cold Weather

I have been patiently waiting for some cooler weather in Shanghai. My patience is growing thinner and thinner as the days go on. The seasons back home are changing so I assumed they must follow suit here in China. Perhaps my assumption was incorrect.

Just yesterday it was 80 degrees at 11 in the morning. Today, at 6am it was 72 degress. As I dressed for my morning run I looked longingly at my cold weather workout gear. Don't get me wrong, I don't want extreme cold just enough so that I can enjoy wearing jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt.

Introducing....The Underwires!

Despite your initial reaction you can rest assured that The Underwires are not a psychadillic rock band. Although, my brother likes that image and it may get played up by The Underwires in the future.

....So are you confused yet....

The Underwires is the team that was formed for the Breast Cancer 3 Day - 2009. As of now we have seven team members and one more on the fence. Without further ado let me introduce the team:

Kris Roberts -- my big sister
Tim Johnson -- my big brother (yes, after a few guilt trips I got him to join)
Leann Johnson -- Friend of Kris' and one of the 12 pack (kris' college roommates)
Rick Wolowicz -- my guy
Katie Flinn -- friend, college roommate and fellow AKPsi fraternity alum
Angela Lim -- friend, fellow AKPsi fraternity alum
Pat Ward-- friend, my neighbor here in China

Karen Johanning -- she's on the fence as she needs to have foot surgery. I'm keeping my hopes up that she will be able to join us.

If you want to check out more information about the three day visit the following site:
http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/TwinCitiesEvent?px=1182312&pg=personal&fr_id=1302&et=IDFpAoeGKGqQ4f60WkFVNw..&s_tafId=85059

Run – Pat – Run!!!

I have to send some good wishes out to my neighbor Pat today. During his whole time here he has been devotedly training for a marathon. I don’t think he’s missed a day of training.

Today Pat will be running his race; he is running the Chicago Marathon. His goal is to be able to finish with a time that qualifies him for Boston.

I know that temperature wise it is a bit warm in Chicago. Despite the less than ideal conditions I hope he runs like the wind!

The marathon just started about 30 minutes ago. I know he is in coral 7 so he should be on the course by now. Unfortunately, I’m heading to bed soon and won’t be able to see the results of the race until the morning – can’t wait to see his time.

A+B=C

Two boats leave North America headed for Asia Pacific loaded with Bobcat machines. One leaves on Wednesday and one two days later. It takes them 10 days to make the trip. The boats port in Sydney Australia. During that time the Aussie dollar value slips in value, at the start of the journey it was .85 to the US dollar, now it is at .72. What is the value of the inventory if you have no demand? Would the purchaser’s cash flow have been impacted differently if they had paid for the inventory when the Aussie dollar was valued higher?

Questions similar to this one have been plaguing a group of us at work for the last week. I feel like I am having a crash course, or at least a refresher in algebra, macroeconomics and operations. AHHH!

Despite the stress and worry I am actually amazed at what a slowdown in the economy is allowing (or forcing) me to learn. Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather see double digit growth for my company and others around the world. However, since that isn’t happening I’m trying to find the silver lining in the work I am doing and the times we are all living in.

My Local Cafe

This week I feel in love with Waga’s a café that is about 2.5 blocks from my apartment. It’s an odd mix of a place. It is part Coffee shop/internet café/smoothie bar/restaurant.

I think I’ve spent 10 hrs there in the past week. It’s a good place to sit and hangout with a book, a stack of magazines or your laptop. I was especially happy to find that it has free Wi-Fi and that I can get on to my bank’s website.

During the week I’ve tried their pasta (yummy good) carrot cake (good) and powerhouse smoothie (great). I especially like the smoothie as they add whey protein powder to it and it has a bunch of fruit. All of which are good things for someone who is trying to lose a few pounds and train for a marathon.

They also have take away available. Today I grabbed a smoothie from them as I headed off to the fabric market.

I had another unique experience at the market. I had previously brought the tailor a pair of pants and said “copy.” They understood that I needed to have the waist made smaller; however they did not make the needed adjustments throughout the rest of the pants. They didn’t make any adjustments to the butt or the hips. I looked like I was wearing MC Hammer pants. The same tailor made a pair from scratch for me. These also were a bit comical as I could barely get them up over my quadriceps. The tailor actually laughed when I came out of the changing area.

Oh well, I’ll head back in a few weeks to pick up the adjusted pants – hopefully they are better.

(Special Note to my China neighbor: The tailor asked about you, I reminded them that you are in “Mei Guo” – USA. Thought you’d like to know they didn’t forget you.)

Where oh where is the KFC?!

Money – check
Street map – check
PB&J – check
Umbrella – check
Book – check
Magazine – check
Camera – check
Ipod – check

Once I double checked that all of the things listed above were safely stored in my backpack I headed out for an adventure. My goal was to walk my running route but to go further than I have run. I had to find the 4 mile marker as I have an 8 mile run this weekend and I didn’t want to get lost. Conveniently, the 4 mile marker is at a KFC.

As I walked out of my hotel I slipped on my backpack, turned on my ipod and started down the familiar roads. I enjoyed walking my normal running route as I had time to take pictures of the highlights including the food section, the blue wall, Best Buy (a.k.a. 2.5 mile marker). Unfortunately I didn’t get a shot of the folks doing their morning Tai Chi – by the time I got to this point they were already done for the day.

I walked past the three mile marker and based on my neighbors advice I headed straight on. A few blocks later I began to anxiously look around for the KFC. Thankfully, it was easy enough to find – it is at a point where the road comes to a T-intersection. At that point I kept on walking. I figured I’d head into town and make my way to The Bund.

The Bund is on the Puxi (west) side of Shanghai; it is an area along the river that supposedly features a lot of cool architecture. I have never explored it on foot. I have only been through the area by taxi and can say that the construction sites that seem to dominate the landscape are not that impressive.

As I made my way down Nanjing Road I realized that the crowds were growing larger and that my pace was being slowed. I ducked into an underground crosswalk (tunnel) and as I walked up the stairs on the other side I was amazed at what I saw.

I was at the start of the pedestrian section of Nanjing Road and it was wall to wall people. All I could see for blocks was a sea of people - most of whom looked nothing like me; all I could hear was the sound of rapid fire Chinese being spoken. The chaos surrounding me assaulted my senses. I turned right, walking away from the crowds and Nanjing Road.

I quickly headed to the side of the road and held out my hand to wave down a taxi. The Bund would have to wait; I simply did not have the energy to push my way through the crowds to get to it.

I settled back into the taxi and instructed the driver to take me to Shanghai (shopping) Center. I exited the taxi and quickly made my way to Starbucks. After drinking a cup of coffee and eating my PB&J I was in a much better state of mind.

I still opted to forgo my trip to the Bund and instead wasted some time browsing through an English bookstore. I will wait to visit the Bund until after the national holiday is over. There are simply too many people off of work or visiting from out of town to deal with.

As I write this I find myself craving the streets of Chicago. Where even at its most congested is much calmer than Shanghai. I’d love to be out walking the lakefront or even down Halsted to North Avenue (of course with a stop off at Feet Fleet and Borders Books).

Tomorrow I will think about where my next adventure will take me. I have to go into work for the day due to month’s end and some upcoming deadlines (unfortunately, the rest of the region/world doesn’t have this week as a holiday). I can guarantee that no matter where I head on Friday it will NOT be towards the city center and Nanjing Rd.


Check back soon for a link to view pictures from my running route: http://picasaweb.google.com/esjohnson80/RunningRoute#

Christmas in Shanghai

Yesterday felt like Christmas. I arrived at my office (yes, we had to work on Sunday) and found that a package from Rick had arrived. I knew what he was sending me but still it put a smile on my face. His package included a few pairs of jeans, a couple books and A LOT of magazines. I was most excited about the jeans as many of my pants are now to big for me.

A few hours later I got a call from our receptionist saying that another courier had arrived. I was happily surprised to see that the return address was from my friend Katie Flinn. I waited to open her package until I got home. Katie had sent me a bunch of home-made cards and a framed picture of “the girls” from her wedding in late June. The picture is proudly on display in my living room.

10K – Diet Coke – CNN – Sand Fleas

By 8:30am this morning I felt that I had accomplished quiet a lot.

I woke up and headed to the gym. I had run 10k (with only a 3min stop at the 5k mark for a potty break), had showered, had eaten breakfast and was settling down on my couch with a Diet Coke to watch some of the Presidential Debate on CNN.

The debate could only hold my interest for so long. I actually found the programming on HBO more captivating. Not sure what that says about me or the election process.

My Saturday was pretty much routine. However, I did have a Chinese lesson with Bella. I’m struggling with all of the different tones. You may be wondering what I mean by tones – let me explain a bit.

If you say the word “cup” in English – depending only on the context – it means the same thing no matter how it is said. So if I say “May I have a cup of water” or “Give me a cup of water or else!” no matter the tone (pleasant or harsh) it means the same thing. Not so in Chinese.

Basically there are four tones in Mandarin. Depending on the tone the same word could mean four different things. AHHH! No wondering I’m struggling. Even in Russian they didn’t have the concept of tones.

After my lesson I wasted away the afternoon at the fabric market and at a local Starbucks.

This evening I headed out to grab a bite with my neighbor Pat at a German restaurant. Unfortunately, on the way to dinner or at the restaurant itself I was attacked by some sort of bug. This is the third attack I’ve had in Shanghai. I’ve decided that it must be some sort of flea or chigger or something that like how I taste. During dinner I wound up getting 15 bites (yes, I counted them) on my lower legs. The itch and hurt worse than any mosquito bite I’ve ever had.

I’m now safely back in my bug free apartment and I am looking forward to a good night’s sleep as it has eluded me for the past few nights

90 minutes and 80 Kuai

Wednesday morning I had a Chinese lesson. I started using a new tutor. She’s great. Most of all its extremely convenient as she comes to my home for our hour long session. At the start of my most recent lesson I asked her to translate 5 statements for me into Chinese. She did translate them but into pinying – not Chinese characters. I guess she figured I’d be able to remember the correct pronunciation and be able to handle my next adventure on my own.

A day later, my adventure began. My mission was simple - get a haircut. I walked two blocks down from my hotel and entered a bustling salon. Initially I thought it was busy due to customers. I was mistaken; it was due to the amount of staff. The staff outnumbered the customers at least 2:1.

I was quickly seated in a barber's chair and a man working at the salong came over. He started to say something and I put up my hand to stop him. I’d come prepared. No use trying to explain things with hand gestures. I took out my notebook and started to read my translated statements.

1) I need a haircut
2) Please cut off 5 centimeters

I didn’t get past the second statement as a small crowd had gathered around me and one of the group my notes from me. She was Chinese but was able to read pinying. I figured I was set to go. The rest of my instructions were pretty simple:

3) Keep the style the same – just shorter
4) Don’t cut my bangs I am growing them out
5) When all is done I still need to be able to pull my hair back (a.k.a. ponytail)

First step – wash the hair. In China these step is extremely different from the US. First, this guy came over with a small bottle filled with a clear liquid. He squirted some onto my head. I thought to myself “This must be some sort of pre-treatment. I can handle this.” I was wrong. He proceeded to lather my hair with shampoo while I remained seated in the barber chair. After he was done I was then brought over to the sinks. The soap was washed out and I was treated to a length scalp massage. This first step took 45 minutes.

Second step – cut the hair. Another individual was tasked to do this. He indicated with his fingers how much he’d cut off. About two inches (5cm). I said ok. Then the scissors came out. Within moments I knew something was wrong. It seemed the instructions I had written either didn’t make sense to them or were being blatantly ignored. This was supported as the hair stylist began to cut new layers into my hair; obviously a violation of my third request. Since the cutting had begun the only action I could take was to wait and hope for good results!

After 45 minutes of cutting I was done. After paying 80rmb ($12) I walked out of the store. I walked out to the sounds of a man who in the same 90 minute period changed his tune. Early he had told me in broken English “Hair very unhealthy.” With one foot out the store I heard him say “you American now beautiful.”

You can check out the results for yourself:
http://picasaweb.google.com/esjohnson80/Haircut#

Suggestions please!?! Put your thinking cap on!

As I go on with day-to-day life in Shanghai, I have started making plans for the future. I am very excited about one activity that is in the works.

Next summer marks the 20th anniversary of my mom’s death and in honor of her memory I am signing up for the 2009 Breast Cancer Three Day. I’m not doing it alone though. Four other people have signed up to be part of a team. They will join me in the Twin Cities from various locations (MN, CA, MI) Team members include:

Kris: My big sister, I mean come on if the youngest in the family is doing it, the oldest has to join
Leann: Kris’ college roommate
Katie: My friend from college and the fraternity
Pat: My neighbor in China

If anyone reading wants to join there is still plenty of time to join the fun.

Special Note: If my brother is reading this I have to say I think you need to sign up! I mean come on you can’t let your sister show you up!

For those who aren’t wanting to walk there is a way you can help out. No I’m not asking for donations (yet). I am asking you to put on your thinking caps. When our group registers for the event we want to use a funny/inspiring/creative team name. So take a few minutes and think of some ideas. Send ANYTHING you come up with to me. Trust me all suggestions are welcome.

For a bit of inspiration; I’m including a small sampling of team names I have seen used in prior years.

Dudes for Boobs
Save the TaTas
Jelly Belly Girls
Walking for TaTas
Mom’s girls

You can expect us to be wearing t-shirt/athletic gear featuring our team name during the event.

Lazy weekends – in any country – are the best!

This past weekend was extremely low key! Plus there was the added bonus of today (Monday) being a holiday and day off from work.

However, when in China a couple of days can’t go but with at least one or two adventures. I’d say I had seven mini adventures since I last posted. In no particular order they are as follows:

1. New Clothes: Picked up items from Fabric Market. The button down shirt and grey pants were perfect. The black pants are still a bit off, but I’ll make due with a belt. My dress turned out PERFECT. I had to laugh as I stepped behind a yellow curtain, hung in front of a window to try it on (see the window in the pic). But as I say, “when in China….” I’m not sure where I’ll wear it, but I like it. I’ll definitely be getting a more practical little black dress in the future.

http://picasaweb.google.com/esjohnson80/MarketsFabricGifts#

2. More Clothes: Ordered more items from Fabric Market: I have to stop going to the market, I keep ordering more things. This time was a cashmere pea coat and a velvet blazer.

3. Accessories, accessories and more accessories: Bought fake purses for great prices – thanks to the rainy day

4. Delivery Service: Found out how to set-up home delivery from the grocery store.

5. Overcame Fears: I overcame my fear of riding my bike in the rain. Okay, I maintained a white knuckle grip during the whole ride, but I did it! I’d say I’m 90% cured.

6. Making Friends: have a new neighbor – his name is John. Actually, he’s been here awhile but at the gym this weekend we (Pat, John and I) all got talking.

7. Medical Treatment: I’ve been hit by killer headaches for three days straight. Since I am in a foreign country my imagination likes to take things to the extreme. Seriously, I know I won’t need a CAT scan – but what if I do!?! For now, I’ll stick with getting medical advice from my Aunt Kitty*

*FYI – Kitty gave me great advice on my shoulder injury after my bike incident. Per her orders I needed “rest and lots of advil.” She was right; I am FINALLY back to lifting weights without pain.

Round and Round I Go

Today I traveled to WuJiang for a medical exam. It is a requirement for my work permit application. I’ll admit I was extremely nervous. Mainly because of the needles that I knew would be involved.

I arrived at the hospital at 10:15am and by 11:00am I was out the door. During my 45 minute exam it felt like I went around in a circle a million times.

I was initially seated in a central waiting room and around all sides of it were various doorways leading to different departments. After being handed an exam form I figured out that I had to visit each of these offices.

My first stop was the blood work department. The nurse looked for a vein in my left arm then moved on to my right. Not a good sign. Then after feeling my right arm for what felt like 5 minutes she called in another nurse to feel for a vein. Not a good sign. Then the initially nurse proceeded to stick me after. Not a good sign….or so I thought. I figured the first nurse was being to cautious and her nerves might cause her to botch the job. Thankfully I was wrong. One needle prick and four vials of blood later I walked across the waiting room to the other side of the circle.

Up next was vision testing. I can report that I am not color blind and am pretty certain the nurse said my vision was better than 20/20. Although I am not certain, nor do I know if she understood the term Lasik.

From there it was back to the waiting room and visits to five other departments including: EKG, Weight/Measure, X-Ray, Ultrasound and Dentistry. All of which required me to walk around and around the waiting room as their was no order to the process and you simply went to any open department (one with no line-up).

After visiting each department they marked my exam form with a red stamp. It seems everything that is official here is market with some sort of red seal or stamp.

The results of my exam are supposed to be available on Sept 18. I have a feeling I should pass without issue.

After getting it back I will file an application for a Z visa and a work permit. After these are approved I will have to travel back to the US to submit for a Z visa. Then upon returning to China on a Z visa I will register my work permit. At which point I should be able to stay in China for 12 months with multiple entries. I’m not yet feeling confident in this whole process so would appreciate all you sending good thoughts/wishes/prayers my way!

Visitors in Shanghai

The last few days have been a lot of fun. My neighbor’s brother was in town visiting. I did not join Pat and Tim on all of their adventures but I did tag along for a few including a dinner out to see a Chinese mask performance and a trip to the market.

Our dinner arrangements were set-up by Bella (Pat’s Chinese tutor). She wanted us to try some spicy food while enjoying what she called a Chinese opera. The food was great. I impressed myself with my chopstick skills – picking up two peanuts at once. The performance was one of the coolest things I have seen since getting here. It wasn’t so much of an opera as it was a dance that featured Chinese masks.

The dancer basically changed masks at the blink of an eye all while twirling, jumping and dancing about to some funky local music.

The weekend in all was busy and good. It was nice having someone else to bum around with and tell share stories with. As I said goodbye to Tim last night I was reminded of how limited my circle of friends and contacts are over here. The thought didn’t keep me down for long as I got an email today from my brother and he is working to stop over in Shanghai during a proposed business trip to Hong Kong this fall. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that he can make it work.

I’ve created two albums of pictures from my most recent experiences. I think I was able to even successfully post a video of the mask performance. Use these links to check out the pics:

http://picasaweb.google.com/esjohnson80/VisitorInShngh#
http://picasaweb.google.com/esjohnson80/ChineseOperaShngh#

The Backdoor Solution

I’ve had issues trying to connect to my bank online since I arrived in China. I have found two options that work 1) I use my neighbors computer 2) I ask work to switch me over to their backup internet connection.

Option 2 basically means that I am operating outside of the Doosan Asia Pacific firewalls. Today I actually had to be switched over to the backup connection in order to send out some work emails (my attachments were too big)

After being switched over I thought to myself “I wonder if I’d have an easier time uploading pictures using this connection.” I tried it and found that it was easier. So I can now say that ALL of my pictures since one week before I left the US until today are up for viewing.

I especially like the ones that confirm a Bobcat worksite in China is much like one in the US. I also like looking back at some of my pre-departure pictures. I miss hanging out with the folks pictured.

Here is the link to my public gallery:
http://picasaweb.google.com/esjohnson80

Chinese Tailor

I went back to the fabric market on Saturday to pick up my pants. Unfortunately they were not a perfect fit. The legs were about 2” too long even with my heels on and the waist was also about 2” too big.

The salesman at the fabric booth quickly called in the tailor from another location. The tailor pinned up my pants, correcting for the errors. In one week’s time I will be able to pick them up. I wound up ordering another pair in the same style but a different color as I’ll have to return to pick up the first pair so I figure I'll make efficient use of my time.

I joke with friends that my family must be descendents of Vikings. I claim that my proof comes from my broad shoulders (and blue eyes). I always struggle to find fitted shirts that can work for my shoulders while not making the rest of torso appear to be wearing a burlap sack! Since the tailor was alread dealing with my pants I figured I’d hand him another challenge by asking him to make me a fitted button down shirt. I want to test their abilities with a shirt before I request any type of jacket.

If had encountered issues like these in the US I’d probably have gotten really frustrated, but I’m trying to keep it all in perspective. For less than $30 I am getting custom made wool pants; for that type of deal I can handle having to go to a few fittings.

As my neighbor was getting his pants pinned up (he also had problems) I wandered into the fabric booth next door. I wound up requesting a short Asian style dress. I really have no idea how it’ll look or turn out, but what the heck for $50 I can risk it.


The picture below is similar to what I am having made. The only difference is that mine will have short sleeves.

Markets all around….

From pearls to CDs to fake electronics to fabric to souvenirs there is a market for just about everything in Shanghai. Last weekend I experienced a new market. I ventured into the fabric market. It is three floors of small booths all selling different types of fabrics including silk, cashmere and wool. Each booth is typically staffed with a slew of sales people and at least one tailor.

I used www.shanghaiexpat.com to read up on the market and based on recommendations listed there I headed to booth #258. I was happy with what I saw so I ordered a pair of black dress pants. I brought along a pair of pants I had brought with me from the US as an example of what I wanted made.

The process was pretty painless. I picked out my fabric, handed over my sample pants along with a 100rmb deposit (another 80rmb is due upon completion) and in return got a claim check dated for one week later.

I’d like to say I am hopeful for awesome results but I know not to set my expectations too high. I’m also excited to get my sample pants back as the tailor volunteered to take in the waist for me. I go tomorrow to get my pants – I’ll keep you posted on the results.

If the tailor passes the test on the first pair of pants I will eventually have a few more pairs of pants made along with a suit and a winter dress coat. I am also eyeing up a booth that specializes in dresses. That experience may have to wait until I get a little more comfortable with the thought of striping down in a not too private location in order to be measured. :) I think I’ll get over my fear as I have truly never owned a “little black dress” and the thought of getting one brings a smile to my face.

One market experience in a weekend is never enough. So with my claim check in hand and my umbrella open – yes, it’s been raining again in Shanghai. – I headed to “Old Shanghai.”

Old Shanghai is a market built a few years back that features a lot of the trinkets and trash you’d expect as a tourist in China. The concept of an “old” village is truly tarnished by the presence of franchises like Starbucks and Hagen Daz. Somewhere in the mix of it there is supposedly a garden and a few temples. I did find one temple, but have yet to find a garden. It is a fun area to wander around if anything just for the people watching.

I topped my day of marketplace adventures off with some local cuisine from the food street in central Shanghai. It is a street only a few blocks long that features multiple storefront food vendors. The street features everything from Peking duck to octopus on a stick to juice smoothies. In my opinion some of the best dumplings can be found on this street. My advice is simple, if you see a lot of people in front of the booth its going be good.

Click here to see pictures of all the markets:
http://picasaweb.google.com/esjohnson80/MarketsFabricGifts

Its time to howl at the moon!

….Ok, howling at the moon might take the upcoming festival (national holiday) to an extreme. In the middle of September we will be celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival here in China. From what I gather it is a celebration in honor of the harvest and also the deity that lives in/inside of the moon according to Chinese legend.

With this festival a food that is often served is the moon cake. It comes in various forms, but to sum it up it is a circular pastry that is stuffed with a variety of normally sweet fillings.



Almost all restaurants, hotels, cafes, grocery stores make either individual servings or gift boxes full of moon cakes available for purchase. My hotel features many poster promoting their moon cakes. By the description along I was turned off….I mean what exactly is Lotus Paste?

At work I was offered a box with two moon cakes. I politely took it and said thanks. I wasn't sure if I was daring enough to try them. I put it to the side on my desk.



A few days ago I ran out of granola bars at my desk so was scrambling for something to eat for breakfast. My eyes spotted the box of mooncakes. I hesitantly bit into one of them and to my surprise immediately liked it! It was filled with a sweet sugar mixture that included mixed nuts. It reminded me of pecan pie - but not as sweet.



I saved the other moon cake for the next day. It wasn't filled with the same mixture, instead it had a plain sugary mixture that had a hint of vanilla.


I have since tried to find the same moon cakes at Carrefour. No luck. I tried a few samples that they had and they tasted horrible. I barely was able to get one bite down. Perhaps I had one with lotus paste! I did take a picture of the box so am thinking I’ll bring it with me to the store the next time I go.


Use this link to access pictures of some of my food adventures – including my most recent one with moon cakes:

http://picasaweb.google.com/esjohnson80/FoodInShanghai

Pictures

I have been trying hard to update my pictures in a timely fashion. If you ever want to see the latest and greatest use the following link to access my public web albums:

http://picasaweb.google.com/esjohnson80

FYI - you can now check out the flash flood pictures

From a Chevy Impala to a Cubicle

I’ll admit that one thing I am struggling with in my new job is getting used to working in an office again.

For the past 1 ½ years my office has been mobile as I traveled 80-90% of my time.

I learned while on the road how to effectively utilize my company car – a Chevy Impala – as an office. I became an expert at finding free wi-fi spots and at hosting conference calls from the side of the road. I had shoes for all occasion packed in my trunk along with a ready supply of snacks, etc.

In comparison I now find myself having to adjust to structured office hours of 8:30-5:30 and life in a cubicle with low walls.

When I was last in an office environment I at least had an office with a door. If I needed privacy or needed to block out the noise I could simply close the door. I now find myself wishing for a good pair of earplugs – or at least some high cubicle walls.


Use this link to see pictures of my office:

http://picasaweb.google.com/esjohnson80/Office

Pearls are a girl’s best friend

The popular song proclaims that diamonds are a girl’s best friend. However as I do not plan on owning diamonds anytime soon I am proclaiming pearls to be my jewelry of choice. My choice may be influenced by the amazing pearl market here in Shanghai.

Literally there are rows upon rows of vendors set up selling freshwater pearls at extremely reasonable prices. As well they have some salt water pearls. I like these even more but unfortunately the prices are more. I have resisted buying any of these for myself.

I have purchased quite a few freshwater pearl pieces for myself and for gifts. I’ve even established a relationship with a specific vendor. When bartering she always tells me “I give you best best friend price.” The phrase alone makes me laugh. Plus I know she will always go a bit deeper in her discounts.

Use this link to see pictures of the pearl market:
http://picasaweb.google.com/esjohnson80/PearlMarket

Visa + 3 Men in a Tub

Today I traveled to WuJiang to address the continued issues with my Chinese Visa. Actually, folks from Fragomen law firm and a worker from our factory in WuJiang are out dealing with the issues on my behalf. I basically had to come down here in order to hand my passport over to them and to pretend that I live here.

So, this morning I packed up a few PB&Js along with some oranges and snicker bars and headed out. The ride down was good as I practiced Chinese with our company driver – Mr Chi.

I just checked into my hotel – its actually in Suzhou – and I am in LOVE! First, it’s a huge room with a walk-in closet. Second, there is a great view we are right on the river (I’m assuming it’s a river). Third, there is a bath tub! Oh yes, there will be bubbles later tonight. Rub-a-dub-dub!

Until then, I am a bit worried as two people I hardly know are out somewhere in this town with my passport, 3 pictures of me and various company documents. I’ve had my fingers crossed for the last 20 minutes and will likely keep them like this until my visa extension gets approved – hopefully in 7 days.

I’ll try to take some shots of the city while I am out running tomorrow.

To vomit, to puke, to hurl

The smells during my weekly grocery trip reached an all time (horrible) high. The smely combination of fish and freshly butchered meat almost caused me to be violently ill.

As I've mentioned any trip to Carrefour is an experience. It’s hard to put into words what a trip involves. During a typical trip you can see, hear or experience any of the following:

1. Carts being used as bumper cars as the phrase “Excuse Me” is rarely – if ever used
2. Demonstrations galore. Favorites of mine include the vacuum sealer and all the food samples
3. An amazing amount of workers on the sales floor including the 20 people that walk around mopping up any small smudge, to the man that stands all day watching the carts come up the escalator. I am convinced making payroll at these stores is not a concern/concept.
4. A screaming match at the produce weight stand (you go here to have your food weighted and priced)
5. The sound of butcher knives whacking apart pieces of beef
6. A man jumping in front of a line of 10+ people because he only has three items and thus feels we shouldn’t be made to wait.
7. And so much more….

On there own any of these items aren’t really things to find annoying, put them together and they can test your patience. Being in Carrefour tests my patience more than waiting at a doctor’s office.

I wonder what the locals would think of a store operation if it used the “Fast, Fun and Friendly” standards espoused by Target. I think though that even Target would be challenged in China. Despite the examples I listed above, I think a lot of issues are a result of the crowds --- there are just SOOOO many people in the store at one time.

I tried this week to capture my trip to Carrefour in pictures as they are worth a 1,000 words.

Use this link to access my pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/esjohnson80/MyWeeklyTripToCarrefour

Wading my way to work

I had a new experience yesterday morning. In order to get to work I had to take off my shoes and socks, roll up my pants legs and wade through flood water.

Let me set the stage for my recent adventure.

Around 7:30am on Monday morning the skies over Shanghai opened up. It rained hard and fast for about 60 minutes. After that it was on and off showers for the first half of the morning.

I realized I had no chance of catching a cab due to the rain so resigned myself to walking to work. At 8:30 I stepped out of my hotel and immediately saw that there was water up past the sidewalk (3/4 of the way up a car’s wheel well). Traffic was gridlocked. I sighed to myself and decided to go back inside. I logged into my work systems from the hotel and waited for the water to recede.

At 11:30 I went back out. I had to get to the office as I had afternoon meetings scheduled.

The streets around the hotel where clear, but the closer I got to work I realized that the flooding (and traffic) was still an issue. I tried to find a different path to the office – I checked out the other side of the road, investigated walking out of my way. Any option was flooded out. With a chuckle to myself I grabbed my camera out of my backpack. I knew that this adventure required pictures.

Use this link to access my pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/esjohnson80/FlashFloods

Beef ….It’s what’s for dinner

I’ve hit a point where aside from craving vegetables I am also craving USDA Certified beef. Thankfully it is easily enough to fulfill this craving in China. Although I’m pretty certain the beef here is not USDA certified.

Last weekend I headed over to Sunil’s house for a BBQ. There was a unique mix of folks, including Expats, and locals in attendance. Our host treated us to his soon to be famous “Sunil Burgers.” How very yummy. One of the more interesting moments was when I showed the local girls how to make vegetable kabobs for the grill.

Aside from burgers, just tonight, I have had a great steak. It was at Roosevelt’s Prime SteakHouse. My neighbor and I headed there to celebrate his 50th Birthday. What a place, I felt like I was walking into the Chicago Chop House. My steak was great. One odd thing is it appears they only cook one side of the steak; the top was well done, the bottom medium…put it together and I guess it makes medium-well. It didn’t top Gibsons as my favorite steak but it’s in my top 10, if not top 5.

Use this link to find pictures of the food/my experiences:
http://picasaweb.google.com/esjohnson80/SunilBurgers

My typical week…

I’ve settled into a nice routine here in China. I am reminded what it feels like to hold a position that doesn’t involve much (if any) travel – its nice. You may be wondering what my week is like so here are a few of the highlights:

Weekdays
6:00am Morning Workout - Cardio
8:30am – 5:30pm Work
6:30pm – Evening Workout – Weights
7:30pm – Dinner, conference calls with Bobcat US or watch movie, or read a book, or study Chinese

Saturday
Morning - Long Walk/Run followed by running errands. This basically translates into a trip to Carrefour. Sometimes I add in a trip to the movie/cd store.
Afternoon – Chinese Class
Evening – Catch-up with some of the other expats I’ve met and/or some other crazy adventure

Sunday
This day is lot like Saturday except this is my day to sleep in and not workout!

Yep, the routine I have here is likely similar to many of yours. The only difference is I am often confronted by unexplained cultural differences that can cause you to simply wonder aloud “What the….”

I don’t mean to imply that the way the US does everything is the best way. It is simply what I am familiar and comfortable with. I know that there are some lessons/ideas that I am learning in China that could be applied in the US and work well. However, there are some things that just wouldn’t cut it back at home.

Wish me luck!

Recall about two months ago when I had issues with my Chinese visa? Well my issues continue. First when in the US I wasn’t able to get a 6 month visa due to the Olympics and changing regulations. I then requested a 3 month visa but was instead issued a two month visa.

As the two month mark is quick approaching I submitted a visa extension request via a third party agency. Well the third party submitted the request to the appropriate government office. As a result of the submission I have been summoned to the immigration office for an interview.

EEEK! For some reason I feel like I have been asked to go to the principal’s office. I think what I am feeling must be similar to what a sixth grader about to get in trouble and have their parents called in for a conference feels. The problem is I was never called to the Principal’s office – at least not for negative reasons.

Perhaps I am freaking out a bit too much. What’s the worst that is going to happen - I have to go home. I’ll cross that bridge if and when it comes.

I still can’t control the butterflies. I’m already trying to put together answers to potential questions. The problem is I have NO IDEA what an immigration official would ask.

Why are you here?
Why do you need to stay longer?
Why couldn’t a Chinese person due what you are doing?
Etc….

AHHHH!

I’ll keep you posted on how it goes – but for now please keep your fingers crossed!

Team Building in China

I initially thought that I wouldn’t write about work in my blog – I figure it’d be best to keep these observations to myself. However, this week I experienced something that I had to comment on.

Within Bobcat NA we often have team meetings and during these there is usually time allowed for team building activities. Common activities include golf, trap shooting and playing cards. As I managed a group in NA I often struggled with how to make quarterly staff meetings fun or at least prevent us from going crazy while being trapped in a conference room for five days straight. My favorite group activity in NA is either hitting the arcade or going bowling.

This week I attended a quarterly meeting for the Aftermarket group in China. I had been informed the meeting was only one day in length. Upon receiving the agenda I realized that it showed two days. So I asked the question – “What are we doing on the second day?” The answer “We are having some team building activities.”

I was told that we would be doing beach activities. A million questions came flooding into my mind….

What type of activities would we be doing at the beach?
I was hoping for a little beach volleyball
Would I be able to pass get away without swimming?
I really didn’t want to put on a swimsuit in front of my tiny Chinese colleagues
Would we spend all day outdoors?
If this was the plan I’d have to pack a case of water
How could this be considered a good group activity?
Body image issues aside, what if people didn’t like the beach, were sun sensitive or couldn’t swim….how could these activities appeal to the masses.

We arrived at the beach at 9:30am. The group was dressed in a wide range of clothing – from long pants with polo shirts, to dresses to shorts and flip-flops. We simply looked like an odd group. After paying to enter the beach we stepped through the turnstile and were accosted by people trying to sell us their wares – sun hats, life preservers, water toys, etc…

The group pushed through and made it to the waterfront. Once there we bargained with a vendor offer use of some tables and chairs. Or at least I think that’s what was going on – All I heard was a very heated (lengthy) discussion.

All of us settled in to the spot we had claimed. Immediately a portion of the guys surrounded a vendor – I couldn’t figure out what they were doing until someone from the group asked “Do you swim today?” I replied “No.” Then I put it together. They were buying one time use suits. I couldn’t take my eyes of the group of guys bartering over swimsuits. I have no idea what they paid for these suits – I can’t imagine much. Almost as soon as it started it was over and the group was headed over to change into their suits.

What a crazy concept, I mean heck in the US a girl will easily pay over $100 for a suit and I know brand name suits for guys can run over $50. Evidently the amount of inches a suit took off your waist, or the lengths of the trunks are not a concern over here.

While the some played in the water I watched a group of three play cards. I was trying to figure out the rules via observation. It reminded me of Gin. After awhile one of the managers came over and asked if I wanted to learn. So he coached me through like 10 hands. I only one once, but on the other hands I didn’t lose too badly – which is good as typically you count points in the game and the amount of points you have left equals the amount of money you have to hand over to the winner.

90 minutes later we left the beach. I had a surprisingly good time.

Use this link to access Team Activity pictures
http://picasaweb.google.com/esjohnson80/WorkMtg

Its Raining, Its Pouring the Old Man is Snoring (sign with me!)

For the last two days Shanhai has been hit with sporadic thunderstorms. I should say that differently. For the last two evening Shanghai has been hit with storms. Meaning that I am trapped inside my hotel. I am going stir crazy. Who wants to be stuck inside on a Friday night.

Mind you I didn't have a lot planned, dinner out and a trip to the pearl market (more on the market later) but I had been looking forward to doing this all day. Especially, considering I had hoped to do this last night and had been washed out.

Unfortunately, shortly after I got home from work the skies opened up for the second night in a row.

So instead of buying gifts for my friends and family I am stuck eating PB&J and wathcing the olympics.

About those Olympics - while here if China is playing they are on TV. The priority is Chinese sports even if that means airing badminton over the US vs. Greece basketball game. Seriously why is badminton an Olympic sport?

Also, a lot of the events I'd have like to watch are taking place during the day. I tried to work with this by watching the videos of the event online. Unfortunately, China has a block on any type of Internet video from outside China. Grrr!

Run 3, Walk 2 – Smile at the locals!

My morning workout routine continues. I’m going back to basic running training and focusing on using a run/walk combo. I’ve been out enough in the morning that some of the faces on my route are starting to become familiar – the taxi riders outside my building, the group doing Tai Chi, the old woman with extreme Osteoparosis, etc.

I still pass numerous strangers during my workout though. It is amazing the looks that these strangers give me as I run/walk by them. At times I feel like I am the main event at a Circus Side Show. In my own neighborhood I’ve become accustomed to the looks. They don’t seem as blatant. I think because every day the locals likely see a handful of Caucasian expats; perhaps not out running – but they are around.

As you move further away from the center of Shanghai the number of expats decreases dramatically. That made one of my runs this week very interesting. I was out in a distant suburb of Shanghai for one night. In the morning I went on a run. The amount of extremely obvious and direct looks I got was amazing. Heck at times they even turned around once they passed me to look at me again and again. (double and triple takes).

My response was simply to smile bigger and hold my head up higher. I proclaimed silently in my head “Yes, you are witnessing something unique for this area – you are watching a tall, white, female American run down the street while wearing an I-pod, an SI Band and a waterbelt!”

Keep your comments coming….

I wanted to let all of you that post comments know that I do read them. In fact I have re-read most of them many times. The thoughts you share are great and at a minimum lets me know who has been reading my entries.

Also your comments help me get through the moments where I miss home. Although I haven’t talked about it much I have had some very interesting conversations with myself over the past few weeks, trying to keep myself entertained, trying to make sense of Chinese customs, trying to deal with lonliness, trying to rationalize homesickness….etc.

So thanks again!

p.s. I will have an interesting entry soon about recent "team building activities"

Girl Down – I repeat Girl Down! LITERALLY

DISCLAIMER: READ THIS STORY AT YOUR OWN RISK. BEFORE PROCEEDING - PLEASE NOTE: ERIKA IS NO LONGER “DOWN,” SHE IS FINE AND RESTING SAFELY IN HER CHINESE HOME.

My family often uses the line “that’s Johnson Luck.” For today’s adventure I feel that sentiment sums it all up rather nicely. My morning started out like most of my weekend days – I slept in a bit and after waking up cracked a diet coke and settled down with a book to pass some time. This morning though added in to the mix was my agreement to purchase a bicycle.

My neighbor purchased a bike a few weeks ago and I finally committed to also get one. He had them all scoped out for me. At 10:00 I headed to a mall 2 miles west of my apartment. In the mall was a major sporting goods store (similar to Dick’s in the US) and across the street was a specialized Trek bike store. After scoping out the selections at both stores I opted to get an 8-speed Trek road bike.

My bike is “pimped out.” I had her customized with a headlight (aka a small flashlight) a flashing rear light, a storage back for under the seat and a rack for carding things on the back. With my backpack on my back I settled onto my bike and headed to my apartment. I immediately grabbed my school books and my neighbor and I hoped back on our bikes. My destination was my Shanghai Center for my Chinese Lesson. I arrived to class safely.

Close to the end of my lesson a thunderstorm rolled in – it was a downpour! I grabbed some dinner after class all the while keeping my fingers crossed that the rain would end. Thankfully it did. Back on the bike I headed out onto the sloppy wet streets for the 3-4 mile ride back home. In Shanghai you play a bit of a game, swapping between riding your bike on the street to on the sidewalk. At one point during my ride I was on a side/frontage road next to a bustling 6 lane road. It was one lane wide.

50 feet onto this road I could hear a car coming up behind me. I looked back and realized I had time to make it to the next side walk entrance IF I kicked it up a notch. Focused back on the road I felt my tires due a weird movement through some uneven pavement and then start to skid/plan on some of the slime* on the road. I was afraid of losing control so put the brake on a little bit. BIG MISTAKE! My back well went out from under me and before I knew it I was down on my side.

Adrenaline pumping all at the same time I jumped up, yelled out “PAT!” and looked back to realized the car had stopped a good 20 feet behind me. I fell literally right in front of the driveway entrance I was aiming to use to get onto the sidewalk. My neighbor Pat, who was about 10 feet ahead, swung back coming up beside me on the sidewalk.

Thankfully the wounds I incurred were minor – road rash and a skinned knee and elbow. I literally used the shirt off of Pat’s back to clean up my wounds. He focused on fixing my handle bars with a portable tool kit he carries. We made it back to the hotel without further incident; however, I was a nervous Nelly for the remainder of the ride.

I concluded as I rolled my bike onto the elevator to my apartment that I need to avoid driving any sort of wheeled vehicle in the rain – this is the second accident due to hydroplaning I have been involved in. Johnson Luck strikes again!

Use this link to check out pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/esjohnson80/ChinaMyBike02

BeiBei, JingJing, HuanHuan, YingYing, NiNi proclaim “Let the Games Begin!”

BeiBei, JingJing, HuanHuan, YingYing, NiNi are the (rhyming) names of the 5 Olympic Mascots. These five “Fuwa” represent each of the Olympic Rings; more than that their names are supposed to evoke a sense of playfulness among a group of close friends. Also in China if a person uses a rhyming name/nickname in referring to a child it is a sign of affection. China, always big on symbolism and meaning has taken it one level deeper.

If you translate their names it roughly equals “BEIJING WELCOMES YOU!”

I thought this was a neat concept upon hearing the explanation behind their meaning and the translation of their names. I think though that the expression should be expanded to say "CHINA WELCOMES YOU". First, because there are multiple cities helping to host Olympic events; for example Soccer Matches are being held in Shanghai and Equestrian events are going on in Hong Kong. More than that though is the sense of pride that Chinese people, regardless of town, express about these games.
This sense of national pride was very evident last night during the opening ceremonies. After a great work out at the hotel gyme my neighbor and I headed out for dinner. I was craving a burger so we headed to Hooters. We were lucky to get a table as we arrived just a few minutes before the ceremonies started.

The locals (and Expats alike) all had their eyes glued to the television. The difference was during our meal Pat and I talked about a host of things. I realized that the locals hardly took their eyes off the TV, barely saying anything. When they did talk I have a feeling it was about the games.

During the ceremony even the restraunt got into the celebration. The Hooter girls proudly handed out stickers of the Chinese Flag and celebratory shots to their patrons all while singing along to the national anthem.

It was a fascinating scene to watch. I consider myself a proud supporter of the US and feel I am pretty patriotic. Regardless of this I simply can't recall every being so enamored with an Olympics hosted in the US.

I think some of what I was seeing relates directly to the Chinese culture. The Chinese want to make certain that their country is perceived well on the world stage – they don’t want to "lose face." Plus, in recent history I can’t recall China ever opening up their country (and way of life) to the world for such scrutiny, on such a large scale.

By the way….I passed on the shot BUT the cheeseburger I had was great – considering it was made in China

Use this link to check out pictures

http://picasaweb.google.com/esjohnson80/ChinaOlympicsOpen

Hong Kong in Pictures

Dessert in HK: Me on HK Street on way to dessert place/Steamed Milk Dessert (similar to custard)

Dinner in HK: Fatty Pork Belly/Fried Bean Curd/HK Chicken/Winter Melon Soup

Lena and Me on Bus/View of Stanley Market

The Buddha/Gelato/View from the Cable Car

View from the Peak/Tram Ride

Lan Kwai Fong

View from Star Ferry