I can't say I've given up on learning Mandarin but I certainly have lost my sense of direction over the past 3 months or so. It's all I can do to keep up on work, a little social life, some triathlon training, etc.
However I love reading stories about the language like the one in the June 23rd issue of China Daily titled "Moving beyond the basics of Chinese into deep waters." The story was written by a foreigner living in Beijing. There were two great parts. One was where he translated a venture capital panel on some high tech products. Over and over he introduced one of the speakers incorrectly simply because of the tone or inflection of the words. Instead of his name, Ye, followed by Zong which means head or chief he used the wrong tong and essentially called this leader "Chief Love Child!" Thankfully Ye Zong was a good sport.
Another time after this foreigner passed what he described as the HSK Level 3 exam (Chinese Language Proficiency exam) he joyfully announced to his colleagues that he officially passed the level 3 exam. The audience full of his colleagues was silent for a long time. After which they all burst out into hysterical laughter. Apparently he had instead announced: "I am an X-rated adult movie star." Whoops!
The intricacies of the language certainly are challenging but I have no clue how a proficiency exam and an x-rated movie star could even be close to one another.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Vending machine...dress shirts!
Spill coffee on your shirt in the morning, no problem...
Forget to use deodorant in the morning, no problem...
Need a fresh shirt for an evening dinner, no problem...
Fresh out of a vending machine in Shanghai for only 79rmb ($12.15 or so) your choice of a couple of stylish colors and lots of sizes!
Forget to use deodorant in the morning, no problem...
Need a fresh shirt for an evening dinner, no problem...
Fresh out of a vending machine in Shanghai for only 79rmb ($12.15 or so) your choice of a couple of stylish colors and lots of sizes!
Hip Replaced!
As my mom would say "huzzah!" This past week my mom went in to the hospital to have her hip replaced. Everything went well and now as she told me she feels like the bionic woman with two replaced knees and one hip.
My brother Alex came from LA and got there mid week to help with the recovery and move to a short term rehab facility. In my eyes on of the biggest challenge for me living over in China is being so far from family and friends when stuff like this takes place. It's not exactly like I can get on a 2 hour plane ride from Chicago and be there, tis a little longer than that.
Pop quiz for whomever wants to answer this question. As my mom rode in an ambulance from the hospital to the rehab center she posed the question to this question to the ambulance driver: Name the 10 parts of the human body that are spelled with three letters (no slang allowed). It's not easy...unless you google it you cheaters!
My brother Alex came from LA and got there mid week to help with the recovery and move to a short term rehab facility. In my eyes on of the biggest challenge for me living over in China is being so far from family and friends when stuff like this takes place. It's not exactly like I can get on a 2 hour plane ride from Chicago and be there, tis a little longer than that.
Pop quiz for whomever wants to answer this question. As my mom rode in an ambulance from the hospital to the rehab center she posed the question to this question to the ambulance driver: Name the 10 parts of the human body that are spelled with three letters (no slang allowed). It's not easy...unless you google it you cheaters!
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Train Station
About a year ago Shanghai opened a regional transportation hub. Basically we have two airports here, Pudong which is the new predominantly international airport and Hongqiao which is mostly domestic. Well right beside the Hongqiao airport they opened this high speed train station as well as local subway station, effectively linking all transportation in the city. While they did this they also opened the new terminal of the airport and doubled its capacity.
Today I took the high speed train for the first time. It was an excellent experience. Top speed I noticed was 307km/h or about 188mph. It barely felt like we were going 60mph!
Here is a view of the station. This was on a Saturday morning so basically off peak times. I can't imagine the insanity when it is busy!
Today I took the high speed train for the first time. It was an excellent experience. Top speed I noticed was 307km/h or about 188mph. It barely felt like we were going 60mph!
Here is a view of the station. This was on a Saturday morning so basically off peak times. I can't imagine the insanity when it is busy!
Chengdu
Well the bosses are back in town for me. Hence I'm running around like crazy, probably not good for the race in a week to work hard, stress, not sleep and drink more alcohol than normal but it is what it is.
Late this past week we visited a furniture factory that is the largest in China that only supports the domestic China market. I've been to a number of enormous factories but this puts them all to shame. They support about 3,000 retail stores in China. In fact this week the CEO of Ashley Furniture in the US (world's largest furniture retailer) visited them to try and partner. However this factory wanted nothing to do with them as he didn't see that it would help him at all and they would end up competing anyway.
Below is a picture of their compound. I can't even describe how big it is other than to say they have this urban planning scale model of the facilities and it was probably 15 feet by 15 feet in and of itself!
The only bad thing about the factory visit is that Chengdu is famous for two things: spicy Sichuan food and panda's. We got to eat some great Sichaun food but didn't have time to head to the mountains and see the panda's. I guess a return trip is in order to see the panda's...and eat more of the food!
Late this past week we visited a furniture factory that is the largest in China that only supports the domestic China market. I've been to a number of enormous factories but this puts them all to shame. They support about 3,000 retail stores in China. In fact this week the CEO of Ashley Furniture in the US (world's largest furniture retailer) visited them to try and partner. However this factory wanted nothing to do with them as he didn't see that it would help him at all and they would end up competing anyway.
Below is a picture of their compound. I can't even describe how big it is other than to say they have this urban planning scale model of the facilities and it was probably 15 feet by 15 feet in and of itself!
The only bad thing about the factory visit is that Chengdu is famous for two things: spicy Sichuan food and panda's. We got to eat some great Sichaun food but didn't have time to head to the mountains and see the panda's. I guess a return trip is in order to see the panda's...and eat more of the food!
Monday, June 20, 2011
Shooting at airplanes...fun times in Korea!
So about two weeks until my race in Korea. I haven't booked my tickets yet as I can't find anything reasonable for the 90 min flight. But after reading this account I'm pretty sure I will avoid Asiana Airlines (even though I've flown them before and they are great). Kind of amusing that soldiers think small rifles will bring down a jet huh? Obviously tensions must be getting higher between North and South Korea for this to happen...
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/657de9e8-9a3c-11e0-bab2-00144feab49a.html#axzz1PpQ7Jfiz
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/657de9e8-9a3c-11e0-bab2-00144feab49a.html#axzz1PpQ7Jfiz
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Plum rain season is here!
Gotta love China for all the reasons for the rain. Right now we are in the middle of Plum rain season. It happens every year and has something to do with the high levels of humidity causing massive amounts of rain. Generally speaking this is good as China has had a drought of late and needed the rain. Me I could do without it. Since being back from vacation a week ago I think we had one day without rain. Friday and Saturday (today in fact) have been horrible.
I have a customer meeting at 9AM on Sunday in Hangzhou which is a 2.5 hour drive away. So given the early rise on Sunday I figured I would stay in. Also since I'm only two weeks away from a race in Korea it's all the more important to get some training in.
That being the case this evening I went to the pool. Figured I would do a long swim, knock myself out for the night and get up early to sit in the van. There were only two others in the pool with me so I had room which was nice. After about 20 min or so I heard a thump into the pool. The swimmer who was near the middle of the pool stopped and looked all around. She came a few feet probably of being hit by a falling piece of the ceiling! Yup the sky was falling outside making the sky fall inside! That was the end of my workout for the night.
Ahh China gotta love it!
I have a customer meeting at 9AM on Sunday in Hangzhou which is a 2.5 hour drive away. So given the early rise on Sunday I figured I would stay in. Also since I'm only two weeks away from a race in Korea it's all the more important to get some training in.
That being the case this evening I went to the pool. Figured I would do a long swim, knock myself out for the night and get up early to sit in the van. There were only two others in the pool with me so I had room which was nice. After about 20 min or so I heard a thump into the pool. The swimmer who was near the middle of the pool stopped and looked all around. She came a few feet probably of being hit by a falling piece of the ceiling! Yup the sky was falling outside making the sky fall inside! That was the end of my workout for the night.
Ahh China gotta love it!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Procrastination 101 and countries visited
So ever since I was in school I've been an expert at procrastination. Tonight when I should be working out for my race in three weeks or downloading my pictures from Italy and posting on what I wonderful time I had there, I decided to procrastinate.
Instead I counted all my stamps in my passport. My passport is about 8 1/2 years old now. The first few years were a few trips to Canada and one or two to Europe - Germany and Ireland specifically.
Since 2007 the stamps have multiplied at a ridiculous pace. As of today I'm up to 287 stamps!
My countries visited includes 23! In no particular order: US, Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, Germany, Ireland, Belgium, UK, Sweden, Italy, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Philippines, Mongolia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan and Singapore.
By the end of the year I should add two more at least.
Not bad for a midwestern guy who didn't leave the states until a trip to Jamaica in college!
Instead I counted all my stamps in my passport. My passport is about 8 1/2 years old now. The first few years were a few trips to Canada and one or two to Europe - Germany and Ireland specifically.
Since 2007 the stamps have multiplied at a ridiculous pace. As of today I'm up to 287 stamps!
My countries visited includes 23! In no particular order: US, Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, Germany, Ireland, Belgium, UK, Sweden, Italy, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Philippines, Mongolia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan and Singapore.
By the end of the year I should add two more at least.
Not bad for a midwestern guy who didn't leave the states until a trip to Jamaica in college!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Bookstore
Old Chinese Proverb
Confucius say,
"If you are in a book store and cannot find
The book for which you search, you are obviously
in the.....
Confucius say,
"If you are in a book store and cannot find
The book for which you search, you are obviously
in the.....
TV-Live
Well since my TV channels have generally been horrible (at least until I got a Philippines satellite dish which is pretty awesome), this was my "TV-Live"....
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