High End Shopping Mall

The weather has been terrible here of late. In fact I heard on the news that this is the coldest winter China has seen in decades! Most of the affected is northern and central China but it's still very chilly here. Temps during the day about 50 degrees. However the buildings have no insulation so it's often colder inside than it is outside! Therefore this weekend a couple of us headed to a mall to check it out.

We were walking in an Armani store and looked up to see a man basically changing and trying on slacks right out in the middle of the store. This was an older man plus a very upscale store so it just made me laugh. Certainly not something that you would see in the US.

Then we walked into a Calvin Klein store and saw the mannequins set up like this. I'm not sure about the reason for the unintentional porn but again it cracked me up. I got yelled at for taking the picture but we've all heard "a picture is worth a million words" so I had to have it.

Pringles?

Everyone likes Pringles right? We have flavors in the US like: Original, Sour Cream & Onion, BBQ, Hot & Spicy, Cheese, etc. All good in my opinion.

Well I have some new choices to try during this adventure. You see Crispy Prawn flavor on the left and Finger Licking Braised Pork Flavor on the right. Heck that is only the beginning. Almost all of them are some sort of meat flavor. Rib-eye steak is one other that I remember. I have not experienced any of these just yet but someday...

The Return and the value of disposable goods

The other night I went to the local grocery store that offers so much more than just groceries. I needed small speakers for my DVD player to work properly. So I purchased a pair that cost 198 RMB or about $25US. When I got home and opened them it is blatantly obvious that these were used significantly. Heck they were so beat up the looked like they had been in a fire.

So I take them to work the next day and explain it to my colleague. She then explains the situation to my driver who will then return them that night with me. We get to the store (keep in mind just one night after I purchased them) and Bob takes them to the return desk. We get a receipt to take them up to electronics. Then we have to get the receipt signed upstairs by security, which seems a bit redundant. Once we get in the department finally the questioning begins. They open the box and see the problems. But it's obvious without understanding Chinese that they think these are very old and I'm trying scam them. They match up serial numbers, production lot numbers from the box, etc. Next thing I know we have 5 employees trying to solve this $25 problem!

After calling my office and that person speaking to my driver I find out the driver thinks "They sold him a piece of sh*t." They certainly did.

Finally they agreed, I think, to replace these. But no luck they are out, no more. So I try to buy the floor model. Yup, no luck. Those don't work. We finally find another pair, same brand and a bit more expensive - another $3US. They test them and they work.

After 1 1/2 hours the problem is solved! The lesson is only to buy disposable stuff because with the language and culture trying to make a return simply isn't worth it.

Nanshan Park

On Sunday afternoon I decided to go wander around Shekou which is the community or area that I live in. I happened upon a sign for a park so I decided to check it out. Unfortunately other than the sign for the park name nothing else was in English, so I had no clue what I was getting into!

It turned out this was a hike up three mountain peaks! What is different about going for a hike here is that the path is straight up (read: no switch backs) and it's paved with brick steps. However unlike steps we are used to their is no uniformity to them. Some are 5" high others 8". Some are 10" deep others 4". Makes for a challenge.

So I head straight up and it's not 5 minutes before I am sweating like crazy and my heart is pounding out of my chest. Thankfully I had bought a bottle of water at the start. They put red numbers on some of the steps indicating how many steps. The last one I saw was 1,000. There are a few rest stops and you will see the locals playing cards, eating oranges, taking pictures, etc. At no time did I see any westerners nor hear anyone speaking English, so I had no clue how far to keep going or where the end was. After reaching one of the peaks I decided to head back the way I came. Going down was as much of a challenge as it was so steep it killed your thighs. Plus if you don't watch where you are going you will slip and roll forever!

That bottle of water saved me for sure! I hadn't eaten all day plus had been up late the night before drinking. I guess this was a good way to get the alcohol out of my system!

Unique cross merchandising!

We have all heard the stories about "thinking outside the box" right? Well do you think you would have come up with selling an 8 pack of AAA batteries and including one free spoon and fork? Brilliant! I had to buy it simply for the humor plus I did need the batteries.

The Bill

I awoke on Sunday morning to find this piece of paper under my apartment door. If you are able to determine what in the heck any of it says then more power to you. I took it to the office today and was told that it is some sort of summary of my utilities for the past month...of which I wasn't living here either. This is the way most everything is...impossible to read! (Click on the photo to get a close up if you want)

Work

Well with me moved in (not settled by any means though) and the weekend over it's time to really get working. Basically with Mike transitioning out and me in for the next few weeks I will be following him to factories as well as the office. We hit many factories this past week, some of them multiple times to follow up on issues. Some of the factories speak good English but others don't speak at all. Therefore we always have someone with us to translate and help out. Plus our driver to get us around. Very quickly I've realized that street signs are very rare in China so you count on someone to know where they are going at all times. Lots of time spent in the car listening to the iPod for sure.

Slingbox

Slingbox for those of you who don't know allows me to watch my own TV on my computer anywhere in the world. Basically it's set up in my basement in Chicago and through modern technology I can control the Comcast cable and DVR from my computer. Therefore I was able to watch the Packers/Seahawks playoff game live. It doesn't stream super fast but still to occasionally watch US TV is a big time perk. GO PACK GO!

"No drunk, no home"

My team threw me a welcoming party/dinner on Friday night just a couple days after arriving. As the guest of honor I was pretty much required to be the first to try each of the foods that came out. Thankfully my team was good to me and didn't get too much crazy food. The first item that came out was something that I found out later to be fish skin (no clue what kind of fish). It was SUPER spicy. Unfortunately our drinks had yet to arrive so my mouth was on fire! It gave everyone a good laugh at me.

After the food was done one of the guys raised his glass to me, welcomed me and then said "Gambai" which basically translates to - bottoms up! So we both had to chug down our glass of beer. No big deal right? Wrong! Once he was done the next person did the same with me. Basically it was about 12 of them versus Mike and myself. One by one they kept trying to take me out. This went on for about an hour and a half. As you can see from one of the photos there was a large supply of empty bottles.

This night was when I learned of the dinner custom: "No drunk, no home." Thankfully I'm bigger than them and being a Cheesehead I can hold my beer pretty well.

I'm a GIANT!

Well as you can see from this photo I'm a bit taller than most of the people here....

The "Poop" Pool

Some of you may remember my story from this summer as I was training for my triathlon where I ended up having to get out of the local pool one morning because they found someone who had decided to use the pool as their toilet. So I named that they "poop pool." Well in my apartment searching here I found the "poop bed." No I didn't rent this apartment, sorry. So many funny sights like this in China that I will keep passing on.

My Apartment

The next moning I decide on an apartment. Now the fun begins. With the help of one of my Chinese colleagues as well as the apartment agent we have to negotiate with the owner of the unit. Everything is negotiable from the price to furniture to appliances. I ask for a lower price, DVD player, TV for bedroom, hanging machine to dry clothes outside, etc. All in all we get the lower price and come to agreement. The lease is also in Chinese so I need help with that. Literally it took longer to sign this lease than it has to close on a condo in Chicago! Now I have to buy sheets, towels, iron, dishes, pots, pans, pretty much everything that is needed to live. Off to trips at WalMart. In one of these photos you see Mike (the colleague who has lived her for 18 months and returns in March to the US) and Bob (our driver) helping to cart some stuff out of the store to take home.

Apartment Hunting

The day after I land it's time to find a place to live. I've already begun working with an apartment rental person who speaks very good English so she is ready for me. She knows I need a furnished apartment that is clean, has two bedrooms, etc. On the first day I see between 15-20 apartments. They range in size from 800 sq feet to 1,500 sq feet. In all of the apartments you give up something that you are used to. Stuff like a dishwasher, dryer, decent furniture, a kitchen that you can fit into, location, etc. At the end I narrowed it to two that I wanted to go back to the following day. Both are on the ocean with a view of the sea and if the weather is clear of Hong Kong in the distance. The next day I go back for a final review.

Moving Day!

On Tuesday morning January 8th I was ready to embark on my two year excursion to southen China in the Shenzen area. What does one take for two years? Not much other than clothes and toiletries. As you can see from the photo I packed lightly - three suitcases, a back pack and my briefcase. I'm sure I've forgotten something though. It was really tough to know what to bring, how much of anything and what to leave at home. My flight was a 14 and 1/2 hour flight from Chicago to Shanghai and then a connection to Shenzen. All in all I landed a bit tired on Wednesday night in Shenzen and was picked up and taken to my hotel. More later...