Friday

Wow, sorry for the delay; it ended up being a very busy work week. Last week was 100% devoted to work. I had my morning commute, the day of work, and then the evening commute. Then I would often have meetings in the evening to overlap with my cohorts in the US morning. Lots of activity at work right now.

So as a consequence I worked a lot, took a few photos, and absorbed a lot. But I didn't write much because at the end of the "day" I would crash into bed like an avalanche.

On the weekend I wandered a bit and rested. On Sunday I took the bus from the airport center terminal near Jing'an Temple to Pudong airport and waited for Dawn's plane to arrive. She got here ok, if tired and lagged. We rode the bus back to the hotel area. Sadly, because the bus was full we had to stand for 45 minutes. Dawn was ok with it (having just sat for 14+ hours). We got her settled, went down to the lounge for some Tsing Dao beer and fried spring rolls (which are little flat rectangles rather than round rolls), and then she was down for the count.

On Monday, I worked again because Dawn was going to be resting. At lunch, we went to a traditional Chinese restaurant and I had something that was really good. Jingjun was worried I wouldn't like it because it was a very localized food to a different part of China, that most westerners didn't enjoy. It was hand made noodles in a spicy sauce. Damn it was so good I ate the whole bowl. We also had a Chinese Hamburger (a doughy flatish bread with "hamburger" in it (spiced shredded pork). And we had a Coke. lol.

In the afternoon, when she should have been napping I had Dawn take a taxi ride out to the office in the afternoon. She was still tired and woozy, but came out. We then had a huge office dinner at this cool restaurant. We had a big room reserved, with a round table. The 10 of us sat around, drank tea, beer, and had a lot of really good food. We had:
- Very spicy fish dish, fish head intact. It was actually very good
- Tofu in a nice brown sauce
- A thinly sliced sausage that is reminscent of Spanish-style meats
- Pumpkin
- Pork that Chairman Mao liked (it was really good!) - he ate it every day
- Mushrooms in a garlicy sauce
- Chicken with nuts and a creamy sauce
- numerous vegetables
- Lotus root with rice stuffed in the holes
- Green beans and asparagus
- a flat banana-like bread cake

...and numerous other things. We ate very well. Toasted a lot. Afterward, we walked a long way to the subway down a packed street. Dawn had the 1000 yard stare going - that's a lot to do in one day. We got to the subway, took it back to the Jing'an area. Dawn was barely standing up. Fortunately the walk home was short and she conked out. I wrapped up work and signed off for the rest of the week. Official vacation!! My new boss was like "You.... SHALL NOT... Work!!!" and then he slew a Balrog of the ancient world.

So, yesterday, Tuesday, we ate a huge breakfast and took a nap. I was tired, possibly from toasting so much the night before, partly from too much breakfast. We had a great lunch with Jingjun and his wife. Jingjun is heading to Canada for work. After that, we took one more short rest and then took the subway to the Bund. I'll write more in my next post.

Day 3 - The Subway

Today, I'd like to tell you about the Subway. No, I don't mean the sandwich shop (I am told it tastes exactly the same in Shanghai as the US, and this frightens me). No, I mean the mass transportation system that is 100% on time. Consider the number of people in Shanghai: 22 Million. Consider how people get to work on time. The Subway here is amazing - it's very organized and well documented. It's still confusing as hell the first time or two, but it does the job well.

Yesterday, Jingjun and I took the subway to work. It's the main leg of my journey to the office, which goes like this. Exit the hotel, go down the street, then up into an elevated area to cross a murderous street. Then down again near a park where people do some form of thai chi in the morning and finally to the subway entrance across from Jing'an Temple. Down the temple into the frenzy.
First you have to use a machine to purchase a ticket (actually a magnetic card like a Visa). It's 4 RMB, about 65 cents. You grab the card and your change then head toward the entrance. If you have a bag it goes through a weapons detector x-ray scanner. Then you head deeper to where the subway cars lie. You have to know which line you are on (I am on #2 - green) and you go line up, making sure you going the right direction (away from the airport). There's already a gazillion people weaving in and out of your space, in some weird semblance of order and chaos.

You queue up right in front of one of the doors, and every 2-3 minutes a car arrives. You simultaneously enter/exit with about 40 people at once. You cannot be shy. This morning, I took the whole route myself and you just have to push your way in. I left a little early (8:15) and hit rush hour head on. Not my brightest move. 2 stops from my entrace is People's Square and it's a transfer station. A crazy amount of people got on and crammed their way into the train. At this point, I had at least 6 people crammed onto me. Fortunately, in Shanghai I am fairly tall. I had a young woman with her shoulder in my armpit (I was reaching up to hold the stabilizer bar so I wouldn't fall when the car starts), a dude with his belly touching mine, another guy angled into the side of my face. He was reading a newspaper of all things, and he angled his head so it was about an inch and a half from my face. He shampooed this morning. Several other people behind me were smashed into me. I wanted to take a picture so bad but my phone was in my pocket and I couldn't move my arms without knocking teeth/eyes/noses out. No one looks each other in the eye, either. It's like this bizarre mass of bodies but all trying to ignore each other. No one touches you more than they are forced to.

After a couple of stops, it thinned out slightly (still overcrowded by US standards). I was able to breathe again. You have to be strategic when you know your exit is coming up. The car itself would stand 5-6 people side by side in width. So, when you have to push through 40 people in this space to get to the door, you better be closer toward your stop or be prepared to push and pull people forcibly. There's this weird little dance that happens in the microsecond after the doors open, people get out and just before more people manage to get in - everyone shifts position in a bizarre shuffle to get closer or further depending on the nearness of their stop.

So it was warm and drizzly today. It got to 70 for some reason. I was in hell - basically steaming all day from all the walking in the humidity (it is annoyingly reminiscent of San Antonio summer) then the poor A/C because it was JUST in that temperature zone where the A/C didn't want to come on but it was just simply way too hot.

On the way back to the hotel, I went back down to the subway and crammed my way in. At People's Square (again), some wise guy was shoving people on the subway and shouting something. A lot of people were laughing, so I think it was a practical joke of some sort, but it was like packing sardines in. I remember this one young lady whose face was forced close to some dude's armpit. One expression I recognize here - disgust! I didn't get close enough to the door so went one extra stop up. I crossed the terminal rapidly and walked right into a much emptier train car as it opened right before me. Whew!

It was raining pretty good when I left the station and trudged 10 minutes home. The smells of local cooking on the street corner, the people clearing their throats and spitting because apparently it's good luck when they see a foreigner, the sound and smell of the rain, me steaming slightly into the night and hurrying home through the rain... according to Jingjun, I am having the true experience of Shanghai.

Day 2 - Work

Greetings. I am logged into a US server and using that server to connect to my blog in the normal way. Now I can upload some photos and such. :)

Yesterday I spent largely in the hotel; I did a lot of schoolwork because I had a paper due in the morning... no the evening ... no, wait, the early morning. :) Yeah. And then there was the mandatory nap in the afternoon. Wow, I had no choice. I went face first down into the bed after a day of really good energy. Stress-B vitamin in the morning for the win!

So really, it's quite amazing here. I feel very alien though. There's the usual "hey, I am in a foreign country" mixed with "I know 2 of the 22 million people here" and I am clearly a minority. Shanghai is modern as hell, but English is not the dominant language. It reminds one to be humble.

One of the first things I noticed is how much I use facial cues to determine what people are thinking. But many of the people here are inscrutible. They have these perfect masks, like a country full of introverted people. Add in the language barrier and it makes for a difficult time knowing what people are thinking.

Interestingly, though, the place reminds me almost instantly of several cities at once. First off - Houston and Galveston. The airport to the hotel from the East side of Shanghai was almost startlingly like driving to Houston from the East. Well, except for the Mandarin everywhere.

But the city itself, the downtown, is very modern and reminds you of New York, sprawled a little like Los Angeles.

View from my hotel when I first
arrived on Saturday

So another thing is that, unlike in the US, you sort of have to set aside your independence a little. Maybe this is just jet lag talking, but there is an emphasis on not talking about oneself over here too much. Probably not a good place to visit if you are all about yourself.

This morning, I rode the subway with my coworker and I saw the meaning of crowded. Although, I don't think it's THAT crowded, not like the guidebooks all said. I was in full on rush hour traffic and it was like being in Manhattan at rush hour but everyone speaks Manarin.

After the subway, we walked for about 10 minutes and there was largely no one there. We're in the fringe of the financial district, so I don't know what the guide books are all crazy about.

I've been writing this over the day, in breaks during work. We've had a hard day of work! The team is very focused on problem solving and improving things, which is great. Sometimes it is hard to see 5000 miles away but it's impressive to see them organize to tackle an issue.

So I will stop rambling for now and offer some of the photos I have taken.

The lounge of the hotel, where I do my homework and
communicate poorly with wait-staff. Fortunately tipping
is not allowed because I'd be out of money

View from my room - daylight; a hazy day

View from my room, a little to the right

A little further to the right. There's the Hilton!

All the way to the left now.

Cantonese dinner - pork

Those green beans were awesome. I am pretty sure
they were green beans. The white balls were like a
milk pastry. Really good too.

Seafoody goodness and amazing tea.

Walking at lunch. A huge sun dial. No sun though today.

Near the science and technology museum - a theater, I think.

A small park near the office. Sorry for the lopsidedness.
I may be tired

I love the garden / technology / industry balance

Century Avenue in the Springtime

A building near work

I was thirsty after lunch.
Orange juice - with pulp.

Day 1... The Adjustment

E <p>Greetings. Today I am spending the day partly in the hotel. For one thing I am trying to set up my safe zone, and for another I am still somewhat tired. However, i slept fairly well last night, getting about 7 hours. I woke up once at about 4am and took a benadryl to sleep more.</p>
<p>About 8:30 am I got up and got breakfast. It was largely westernized food, but made up in a nicer style like you would see in a nicer hotel. They also had some dim sum, noodles, and such. </p>
<p>I am figuring out the time difference, and what's working and not. I can access this blog via wireless on my phone but not from the computer. That's going to make posting pictures difficult. Also, there is internet in my room, but its expensive so i am doing most of my work from the downstairs lounge where it is free wireless.

Today, i expect an afternoon nap, but for now I am catching up on my philosophy class. Lots to do before I get to work tomorrow. I plan on walking in the area in a bit, and taking some pictures. Its springtime here and a lot of flowers are out and its nice, though hazy today.

Catch you again later!

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!