Career Development, But at What Price?

It is well known that Chinese businesses operate on their own levels of what is acceptable and what is not and often those levels sit at extreme opposites of what is acceptable in the US (and most other developed nations as I imagine). A few weeks ago I decided to ramp up my networking efforts to help my job search. This lasted all of one evening because I was reminded of why I despise networking events. Making small chit chat with people about mostly mundane topics ("so how long have you been in China??, What do you think of it?, etc) is not my ideal evening but on this occasion I volunteered to go for the group I was doing an outreach project for. It was exactly as I expected but, begrudgingly, I tried to make the best of it. I met a few people and decided I had done enough and was about to step out when a friendly, older Chinese gentleman stepped up and said hello. I obliged and engaged him in conversation and it turned out he had lived in San Diego for over 20 years and was in venture capital so we had an interesting discussion on China and start-ups, etc. He asked if I spoke Chinese and I responded in Mandarin with a common reply to something when you want to be modest to which he responded with a remark about my appearance and ability to speak Chinese. Annoyed, I tactfully said it had been nice talking to him and I had to go. I wouldn't normally care about such comments but I received this email a few days later:














This is just a ridiculous email on so many levels I really could only laugh at it. It wouldn't be so significant if this hadn't been someone I'd had a very respectable conversation with. I never responded to his email and try to avoid thinking about how he was cheered up otherwise on his "lonely overseas journey."

Happy Niu Year!

(Niu being the Chinese word for Ox) Happy Year of the Ox!

I have survived my first full Chinese New Year. Phew. I must admit, despite years of studying Chinese and China relations, I hadn't the first clue about the cultural traditions surrounding China's most sacred holiday. Here's what I expected: People in dragon costumes dancing down the street as everyone stands along side streets cheering it on and lighting firecrackers. Blame it on my San Francisco Chinatown experience for being culturally unaware but there were no dragons in site and NO PEOPLE! For a city of 18 million in 2450 sq.m (by comparison: LA is 10 million in 4000 sq.m) this is no easy feat. This has to do with a few reasons- many of Shanghai's residents are migrant workers from the countryside who have come in search of better work and better pay and return home for the weeklong national holiday. Also the city felt empty simply because families stay inside together and eat and watch holiday programming much like the West does on Christmas.

Rohan and I banded together with the few other friends who also stayed in town for a lovely dinner at the JW Marriott where we sat before a 360 view of the city from the 64th floor. From here we had the perfect perch to watch the city-wide fireworks show that was to come later. Now, its no secret that I am not the biggest fan of Chinese food, even still after nearly a year here. But I thought what the heck, it's Chinese New Year, a nice hotel, it must be good. When in Rome, right? I won't say anything else about it now except that my views have not changed and may have even been strengthened following a menu that included...pigeon and fried condensed milk. Enough said.

What I was not at all expecting was the magnitude of fireworks and firecrackers being lit across the city. In the States we are so weary of using firecrackers and fireworks because every year the local news channels run stories of little Billy losing his fingers from playing with illegal firecrackers. To this China laughs. It is an unspoken competition every year between the different housing complexes as to who has the bigger and better fireworks display. There is no government sponsored display so everyone takes to the streets with their own. Shanghai is not a spread out city like LA is, it's more Manhattan-esque with apartment and office buildings towering 35+ stories- EVERYWERE. So imagine the wonderment of colorful fireworks going off in between building after building as far as the eye can see for hours on end. I tried taking pictures but they would do no justice. "But Nicole, isn't that dangerous!?" you ask? YES! It is.

This happened in Beijing on the final evening of the Lunar Festival. The newly iconic CCTV complex (dubbed 'The Trousers') saw an incomplete building, which was soon to be the Mandarin Oriental, catch on fire from wayward fireworks that had been launched from an observation deck. (Note: there was no coverage of this in China. All news of the fire comes from international media outlets as many China blogs covering the fire have been blocked or frozen.)
The luxury hotel was supposed to open in Spring but work had been delayed due to the slowing economy.

So the 15 days of the lunar festival are over and hopefully along with it the fireworks and firecrackers at all hours. It was widely noted by several friends who have been here many years that this year was significantly quiet compared to years past, which is crazy to think of since I thought this year was nuts! It looks like the economy has claimed yet another victim.

澳巴马-rama!

That would translate to "OBAMA-rama!" (ao ba ma)
(editor's note: the first character is the incorrect character that they have given for Obama's name but the right one doesn't exist in my computer's character list, leading me to believe China invented a whole new character for him. THAT is how cool he is)

The first paper with Barack and Michelle roughly translates to: "Life stirs in the Capital after a long sleep"

The second headline translates to: "What has Bush left for the World in Eight Years?"

I couldn't exactly say the excitement was palpable here in China. It was just another day. However, my Facebook page and phone were flush with comments and texts from my expat friends all very excited for the renewed hope and change. There were the expected "Inauguration Parties" at bars around town which was just another excuse to get people in to drink on a Wednesday night. I chose to watch from the comfort of my couch, power napping from 11pm-12am Wednesday morning to be up in time for all the festivities. It was equally beautiful and powerful and I was filled with emotion for my country, which I hadn't felt in a very long time.

Many have asked if Chinese people discuss American politics with me. No they do not. I also have pretty limited contact with well educated Chinese but even still, there is little political dialogue engaged in when I am with friends. I find that when I do get into conversations Chinese have very limited information about not just international events but also their own, for obvious reasons. However, every once in a while you find someone not afraid to be opinionated and when it happens it's poetry in motion. Such was displayed in this e-mail sent to Rohan (formerly special friend) and his colleagues by another Chinese colleague. Feel free to find your own significance.

Sent: Wed Jan 21 13:08:49 2009
Subject: Obama Inauguration Speech

Hi all,

Without doubt, Mr. Obama was and is surely a “world stardom”, who attracts people’s attention to see if he is able to rescue and manage the ailing American’s financial system; hence, the world’s economy will have an impressive turn in the near future.

Therefore, his inauguration ceremony and his speech would be one of the shining points in the world last night. However, due to the different time zone, you might miss out the great time to watch and listen to his great speech with full passion. No worries. I downloaded the video clip and uploaded on the L drive. You can have quick access to the material via the following link.

L:\Acquisitions\Inauguration Speech

Enjoy!

It's the little things

I've been back in Shanghai now for 2 weeks after 3 1/2 glorious weeks in California over the Christmas break. I came back with a renewed and refreshed sentiment for China and committed myself to an attitude of optimism and warmth for all things Chinese. Even the spit, rammed metros and 'scents' were not going to break this spirit.

And I was doing so well about 3 hours into my return. I walked to my gym ready for a good workout after 25 days straight of face-stuffing, wine-consuming, California gluttony. I arrived without incident only to find out that my membership had been revoked! Apparently the 24hour fitness reciprocity agreement only lasts 90 days. Never mind that I had been using it for 9months without anyone telling me this! With the close of my studies just one week away I planned on filling all my spare time (after looking for a job of course) with 4 hour long gym sessions. After talking to two different managers I got to one who said she will just have to look at my agreement and will be re-instated after if I qualify. I will spare you all the details (and ranting about the conflicting management at 24hour fitness) but this is turning out to be no easy task. Silver lining?? I now force myself to walk to more places to get exercise. While my lungs may be suffering from increased air exposure I have seen more of the city than before and come across more friendly faces. Just last week, a migrant worker on a bike stopped in front of me while I waited to dodge traffic and get to the other side. He smiled a wide toothless smile and asked if I was cold because I didn't have a scarf on. In America this would be creepy. In China it's cute and made me want to just hug him (that may have to do with him being a pint size little man but still). We exchanged a few words, crossed the street together and said our goodbyes- him putting a smile on my face and me hopefully doing the same teeth or not. It's the little things.

My second test of renewed China-vigor began last week when I left my US bank ATM card...um...somewhere. It had been a few days since its last use until I realized it was gone. Some would think this a cause for panic. The first time it happened to me (in April) it was! The second time (in June), I knew exactly where to return to get it. Now being the third time (oops!)- it's like second nature. Only this time I couldn't remember where I had left it which sent me on a city-wide cardhunt for my little-plastic-that-could. It took me three different banks and 5 days to get it back. In the end I was more proud of my ability to effectively communicate how I "left my international, gold colored bank card in the ATM machine at ShuiOn Plaza because I forgot to take it back out after getting my money." ATM machine, gold colored, and careless (mamahuhu) are all well etched into my Chinese vocabulary, along with a heightened confidence in my Mandarin (and maybe a more conscientious effort to hold onto my ATM card). It's the little things.

I now spend my days mostly in cafes calling on job prospects and studying Chinese. My timing for a job search was just perrrrrrfect given the trainwreck of an economy but I know this down time will not last forever. I am enjoying the free time I have to focus energy on things I enjoy and are important to me. This is a lifestyle that may soon be over and I will never get to live again. When the big picture may be a little cloudy, it's the little things I'll use to weather this storm that is China.

The Marathon!

Yes I am still alive here...barely :) Much has been going on in good old Shanghai lately but before I get to that we must discuss the marathon that consumed a good part of my life for the past 4 months.

I fully completed the Hangzhou International Marathon with Special Friend (SF) on November 9th. Times are not important, what matters is that we finished :) I'll just say it wasn't a PB time (personal best). But it was SF's first ever endurance run and I must give him much respect to have stayed motivated through pretty torturous training conditions and complete the 'thon in a very respectable time. We dealt with 100 degree heat + major humidity, running in one of the most smog infested cities on the planet and just plain a disgusting place to run. But when all was said and done we really enjoyed the actual run and are already talking about the next one. Maybe in more of a smog free city...so LA is out of the picture. The run itself in Hangzhou was really pleasant except for when we were running with traffic which was 70% of the time. For about 6 miles though we were off the main road and running up through tea fields which was one of the most serene trails I've ever run on. But then it was back to the main road with the buses and cars and major exhaust inhalation. Yuck!

What was quite inspiring though were the amount of septuagenarians running AND BEATING us along the way. There was one group of men, about 5 of them, who were all between 70 and 78 (they told us as they passed us... :[ ) Running together in a tight herd. The age of the men isn't so unusual, I saw much of this in the states, but more so their gear- the shoes looked as though they could have been homemade from cardboard and cloth. But damn those guys had endurance! One of them would occasionally pull off for a bathroom break and the rest would go on and that was when I thought we had them broken down but I'll be damned they would always come right back up behind us in a little trot say a friendly "Ni hao" and keep right on going. And here we are in our latest "high-tech, turbo-mode, dri-fit" Nike gear and Chocolate Outrage Gu super energy gels strapped all around my waist for "ultimate endurance!!" And I'm pretty confident they had never heard of a little chafe-saver called Body Glide in which we were sufficiently lubed up in. Of course in the end they kicked our buts and finished probably 10minutes ahead of us. I couldn't tell you b/c I couldn't see them ahead of us after mile 20. Siiigh. I don't know if this was worse or the time I got beat in my second marathon by a speed walker.....

It was a great weekend shared with many friends including my cousin Megan who has been in Shanghai for the past few months. She is the Director of the East Asian program at Union College in NY and brought a class out here to study at Fudan University. She brought a flag for us and was my number one fan out on the route. This is marathon number 2 for which she has been my support staff and I'm thinking of hiring her out for all future marathons :) New York next....



So there was the good

the bad(ass)

and the just plain ugly
Fun China!!

You Know You're Living in the Internet Age (and China) When...

Here's a riddle:

Q: American girl meets cute Australian boy while living in China. Girl and boy fall in love in China. Girl is very happy and wants boy to meet American parents. American parents are traveling in Germany. How does girl introduce boy to parents?

A: Via the Internet of course!

After nearly five months of dating the time had finally come for Special Friend to meet the parents. Ideally, we would go to their house, sit down to a lovely dinner and hope for no talk of milking cats or wayward grace saying ala Ben Stiller in the 'Meet the Parents' movie. But I live in China which doesn't afford such luxuries. And, like I've said many times before, when living in China one must get a little creative. Call it my mantra. SO, the ominous task was reduced to a Skype video call. Now most of you probably know that I talk to my parents nearly every day via video skype [My mom doesn't know how to delete emails but tell the woman that if she learns how to use skype she will be able to see me over the internet and she suddenly becomes a Google programmer].

Naturally, there have been many a skype calls when Special Friend has been over but it just seemed too ridiculous to introduce my new boyfriend over the Internet. Well try getting that logic past Dave and Andrea! With Dave being the self-appointed Skype spokesman (it is a rare occasion when the wonders of Skype don't somehow work its way into one of his conversations ;) and Andrea holding the patent on the Skype hug n' kiss there was no way of getting out of the Skype meet n greet.

So the time had finally come. No dates or times were set as with a normal parent intro, it just happened that SF came over and I was online with my Dad. There he sat with airplane-pilot headphones on and 8am bedhead and SF looking quite dapper in his shirt and tie coming from work. It was a beautiful site. But what is the first thing my Dad says?? "Hi [special friend]. Nice to FINALLY meet you. I was starting to wonder who wears the pants in that relationship!" Nice Dad. Of course it was a joke and Special Friend responded well and the conversation (mostly about sports) went on for about 10 glorious Skype minutes with nothing traditional about it.

Funnily enough, this article from the International Herald Tribune (NYT) was sent to me by a friend earlier this week:

Surveillance of Skype messages found in China

Ahh China. I hope my Dad provided a little entertainment to what must be the most mundane job on the planet.

Boustier or Bust

(Pun intended)
Warning: This post contains adult content and may not be suitable for young children.

I will be attending the Australian Chamber of Commerce Ball this Saturday with Special Friend and about 1000 other Australians residing in Shanghai. These balls are thrown annually by every Country's chamber of commerce here as a charity event. Well leave it to the Aussies to throw a Rocky Horror Picture Show themed event to mark their 13th ball. I'm not sure if this is the case with other Chambers of commerce but the Australians give the option to their attendees to either dress in black tie or fancy dress (costumes) to match the theme. Guess which option is more popular...fancy dress of course...Yay. And we're talking all out costumes here. Last year was an 80's theme and legend has it a friend of ours went dressed as Cher from the "Turn Back Time" video (on the navy boat w/ very skimpy black one piece bathing suit)...this friend is a guy.

Since I've never seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show I was a bit "horrified" to find out it is basically on big drag show. Luckily the organizers of Austcham were a bit horrified of what would come as well so they changed the theme to include all types of horror costumes. So Special Friend and I settled on being vampires. Special Friend was deprived of Halloween dress ups while

growing up in Melbourne so watching his giddyness as he rifled through three huge rooms of Halloween costumes and accessories was like watching a 3 yr old girl get her first My Little Pony: Pure and unadulterated joy. The place we went to was an obscure storefront that I would have passed right by had I not been led there. When I walked in all I could muster beneath my surprise was, "Huh, so this is where it all comes from." Everything you could imagine for Halloween was in this shop. Banners, skeletons, candy buckets, lawn decorations, costumes, makeup, wigs, fake teeth. You name it it was there. The thing is, China doesn't celebrate Halloween!!!!!! So what was all this for? Americans? Come October and you're putting up your fake cobwebs and witches, think of me as I paid homage where it originated :)

We got most of the costume taken care of at the store but I needed something "signature" to make it stand out a bit. Since I won't really get a Halloween this year, which is now known as a free pass for usually conservative young women to dress a little more...um...un-conservative, I am using this event as my Halloween. My idea was to wear a boustier. I figured I'd be pretty covered by my cape and hell, if a guy can go as Cher in her miniscule bathing suit to this thing I can wear a boustier! Now where does one find a corset boustier in China?!?!? Let me remind you that this is the land of Hello Kitty and it was recently announced that a flagship Barbie megastore catering to twentysomethings with couture clothing and multiple cafes and restaurants will soon be opened right here in Shanghai (another story, another day). I scoured for specialty shops and found one that was by appointment only (translation- waaaayyy too expensive for what will probably end up soaked in wine and champagne by the end of the night). On a whim I wandered into a local mall which happened to have a lingerie section. And wouldn't you know it? Right there was exactly what I pictured in my head. The sales girl was more than happy to assist me leading me to believe she doesn't get many customers. What I didn't know is how eager she was to go that extra mile for the sale. Here's what transpired: First I asked for the biggest size (No. I haven't made a visit to the Chinese plastic surgeon for a bargain breast enhancement since I've been here. Chinese girls are small!). She handed me the boustier and showed me to the fitting room/cubby hole (read- very tiny). I turned to shut the door and discovered she had followed me in. O....K..... then ordered me to strip down and thrust the boustier on me. Just then it went from a slightly odd situation to downright ridiculous. Without warning she reaches into the boustier and grabs all that she can of both my babyfeeders and pushes them straight up into the boustier cups. It took about 5 seconds to get over the shock of what she had just done and look over to see her with the wide-tooth smile like that of a proud parent. In some countries that would have been grounds for a marriage. I have to say though, it was pretty magical, her work, but when I looked at the price tag my jubilation sank as I couldn't justify paying $150 when I've yet to secure employment. I had to break it to my sales girl easy that I wouldn't be buying her boustier. And so went my first breakup in China.

I wandered a bit more around the floor hoping for a miracle and to my amazement found, sitting on a sale table, the perfect boustier! I asked the sales lady (slightly older and a bit weathered hence sale table duty) for the biggest size again and was prepared this time for what was to come. When all of a sudden she turned me around right there and thrust the thing on over my clothes in front of everyone! There I was in the middle of this department store in jeans, a tanktop and black boustier! I ran around desperately looking for a mirror so I could ok it and take it off. It wasn't enough that I was getting stares as the white girl at the lingerie sale table but now I warranted them! The boustier was perfect though so I paid (a very reasonable $10) and ran. And so went my first undergarment buying experience in China. Austcham isn't going to know what hit 'em!