Replicants

I have landed in Shanghai and made my way to my hotel! It's been one really long day. My body is vibrating in a way that's not usual. The flight to LAX was quick and uneventful. The flight from LAX to Shanghai was surreal.

To begin with, we were flying north and east. We basically flew the coastline from LA to Vancouver, Alaska, crossed the Bering sea and then went down along part of Russia and right over Japan... hiroshima and nagasaki were right out the window. The whole way though, we chased the sunset, so it was like 10 hours of perpetual evening followed by actual evening for 4 hours. Nightfall hit right as i landed in Shanghai.

I actually slept in brief fits for 2 or 3 hours at the end of the flight. Thank you benadryl. Jingjun, my coworker here, and vp of product development met me at the airport and we took a bus to my hotel.

Shanghai at night is a city of lights. Not just lights but moving lights. An entire bridge had a moving wave of light that changed colors. A nearby high rise shimmered with moving colors. Like 100 or more floors. The place does feel a little like blade runner. I hope they got all the replicants.

So i am in the downstairs lounge. Outside the lounge when i first came down from my room a young chinese woman dressed rather provocatively asked if i wanted a massage. Emphasis on the "massage". I guess math isn't the universal language after all. I declined and wondered if dawn would get the same consideration when she arrives.

Now i am waiting on a ham and cheese sandwich (68 RMB - about $12)and drinking a Chinese beer. Yeah, hotel food, but i expect rapid decompression here soon. I am way tired.

So, for now... have fun!

Long Haul

I arrived in LAX, and am waiting for my flight to Shanghai, which starts boarding in 10 minutes. Quick layover!

The previous flight was quick and quiet, 3 hours. I did accidentally spill my ginger ale. I spilled it on me as well as the leg of the guy next to me. He had a hole in his pants and this is exactly where the ice and ginger ale went. This guy was also asleep. Good times.

Not much to report. I am already tired. There are a ton of Chinese folks at the gate, playing card games, and some with iPads playing interesting tile games. Promises to be an interesting two weeks.

Gotta pack it up. Not sure when the next post will be, but check back. 14 hours flight, then get through customs, travel to the hotel, check in, find food, and see what's up then. I will have been awake about 24 hours unless i sleep on the flight. See you from Shanghai!

On the way

I am sitting in terminal A at DFW, waiting for my first leg to LA to depart. I am tired... I stayed up pretty late last night to hopefully be tired for my long haul flight this afternoon.

Turns out my phone may work in China, but I am keeping data services off to avoid a horrendous bill. But I can use it for the free wireless all over Shanghai. 

Gonna miss Dawn and Beryl and my normal group of friends and family I regularly connect with, but the trip will be over before I know it.

Gonna go find something small to eat before the flight. Let time zone madness begin. I will post more later!

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Packing for Shanghai

I've gotten very used to domestic travel - throw stuff in a suitcase and be done with it. However, international travel is a little different. Today I called all my credit cards and let them know of travel plans. It was important to tell them Dawn is traveling a week later because their fraud department would be like "hey, charges in China AND Texas? No."

I'm also having to pay all the bills in advance and charge up all the devices in prep for the long trip. I've been reading on the NPR top 100 science fiction books list on my Kindle (http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/139085843/your-picks-top-100-science-fiction-fantasy-books). I'm finishing the Lord of the Rings for the umpteenth time and will then read Hitchhikers, possibly one of my favorite series, for the umpteenth time. I typically can't sleep on planes, and with a 14-hour flight, a fully charged kindle (and shuffle and video iPod) are a must.

I've made copies of important documents, added them to (local) email so they can be accessed that way if necessary. There's a ton of stuff sitting outside the suitcase ready to go in. It's actually less than I expected.

I want to bring a gift to the team in Shanghai, and I asked the director of the group over there what folks would like. Essentially anything made in the US is good, but a special request for a frisbee ("flying saucer/flying disc") was made. This is for lunch time sport in the garden area around the building; team building. Can do!

There's a lot yet to do today: finish packing, catch up on school (I am woefully behind this week because of travel activities), prep estimated Taxes (boo!!), and of course work. I'm wrapping up some projects that need completion today. I think I'll make it.

I'm wearing my travel watch that I got in Amsterdam. If you know me, you know I hate watches, but this one is an exception. It shows dual time zones in an analog face. A great watch.

Jen's driving service comes and picks me up tomorrow at 10am, for arrival around 10:30 at the airport. Then, off I go to LAX. Gotta run, lots to do!

Shanghai

I haven't written in about 2 years. I haven't really had much to reflect and talk about because I've basically been in "go" mode with work and school.

School is wrapping up after this semester, and I'll complete my Associates in Science (despite having a Bachelor of Science already). I'm taking a philosophy class this semester, which seems appropriate as a last class for my unique mentality. Nothing like ending on a reasonable note. I'm going to break from school for a while and see how work continues to go; right now juggling all the work and travel and school and life is keeping me on my toes. My recent bout with strep and a friend's death in the family reminded me how the delicate balance of things we have going at any one time can be interrupted and brought to change very quickly. I need a break from all the hustle.

Speaking of work, it's going quite well (this is not self-product placement). They're sending me to Shanghai, China! I head out on Friday where I will work for a week and a day or two. Then, Dawn will join me and we're going to wander around Shanghai for 5 more days before returning bleary-eyed home.

So, I thought I'd start this little ole blog back up as a travel journal. My main concern of course is that I won't have internet access to this site. Hopefully this won't be the case.

As with previous trips, I tend to write my thoughts, impressions, and post pictures of stuff I did during the day. Feel free to join if you are interested!

Today - packing. I am getting ready for a two-week trip, and that means packing efficiently. There are also several things I need to I need to bring that normally I wouldn't. Some of the guides I've been reading (incorrectly or not) suggest I bring toilet paper, deodorant, earplugs, and soap. I think in Shanghai these won't be an issue, but a little backup wouldn't hurt. I also have to bring plug adapters for the computer and such.

So, this is just a short note to start; I'll be adding more. Friday - Saturday will be largely quiet as I will be traveling for about 20 hours straight. Good times. I hope I can sleep on the plane (I never sleep on planes).

Keep checking in!

Learning

I'm reclaiming a little space to write today, despite being so busy my head has been spinning lately.

Tonight I have a huge test in Chemistry over three chapters: ionic bonds, covalent bonds, and stoichiometry - the main calculation base for equations in chemistry. These calculations involve conversions from mass (grams) to moles (number of molecules in a unique element's molecular weight), and all kinds of related calculations like solute concentration, diffusion of multiple chemicals, titration, empirical formulas, and so on. It's starting to get difficult to understand and even harder to be able to relate what I am learning in casual conversation. And I am still just in basic chemistry. Biochem, genetics, and molecular biology loom on the horizon.

So I am going to write about learning instead. A week ago, I was terrified of this upcoming test, and I was trying to figure out how I was going to learn all this stuff in a condensed amount of time. On top of that, I'm trying to learn an equally complex subject of biology, working full time, trying to remember what my wife looks like, and finding time for friends and leisure.

Yet somehow I did it, or at least I feel like I understand what I set out to learn over these last three chapters. For me, it's a several-step process.
1) I read the topic I am learning to get familiar with the vocabulary and concepts. I don't delve too deeply into the details. I need to put it together first.
2) I go to lecture, where the teacher then fleshes out the concepts. In any other learning situation this is like going to a seminar or hearing an expert.
3) I usually then go back and read the topics again and start to work through details. Most of my learning stress is over the transition from concept to details, because it takes time, which is often in short or poorly configured supply.
4) Then, I teach. Here's what I did this past Saturday and Sunday, and it was where the learning magic happened.

On Saturday and Sunday, I met with some school peers to study for this chemistry test. Both days were awesome because I got to connect all the dots of the information I learned. As I worked through problems and worked through explaining my understanding of how this stuff all appeared to work - and received peer's understanding, it all started to make sense.

On Saturday, I covered some topics about ionic bonds with Michelle that really solidified my understanding and helped her see the magic light bulb - stuff she was having trouble with suddenly appeared easy. Michelle is brilliant already, so it wasn't a hard stretch. But that light bulb, when all the stuff we've read and had explained and given to us finally switches on, is a great thing.

On Sunday, a larger group of study pals and I were churning out equations. Here, the practice was great. It made sense to all of us and we got to see the larger patterns of what we were trying to do. And you could start to see the comfort level and expertise improve rapidly. Joy (my dietician cohort) was kicking my butt in equation-processing-speed. A couple of other students showed up and were still working on concepts. We spent time explaining and working through it with them which also helped reinforce it in ourselves. I had a particularly fun conversation after study was nearly over that afternoon with Ashley and Aba where I got to explain some of the magic I see in the periodic table's structure, and got to see the light bulb switch on with both of them.

Learning, achieved. It can happen very rapidly, or very slowly. I see a lot of kids in classes work on rote memorization without concept application. For me, I start with concept application and work into the details. It makes remembering terms easier because there is a place to put them. And, I understand the work better, the concepts, and have a place to see where innovation could happen. Or, where my knowledge is limited.

One of the most oft-heard complaints in class is "I don't know how to study", by which I think they mean, "I don't know how I learn". I'm glad I am figuring out how I learn. After all these years in school. :)

Finally, I had a great conversation with pals Tom and Jen the other night about learning distribution: where kids seem to learn less (or perhaps just differently) nowadays but each person has a unique perspective and they work at sharing information rather than isolating it or becoming expert in it. So, balance of the system is achieved even though the individual may not have a full specialization (using an biology entropy analogy here). At first I didn't know if this is a good way to do it, but I'm thinking about it, particularly the "basic" level of what needs to be known in order to be a useful member of the collective. Thanks, Tom & Jen!

Off to do some work and then to study some more this afternoon to fortify specific formulas like molarity and titration in my head. By the time you read this, my test will be done.