Everywhere but Home

Final Remarks and Closing

wi-niko — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 06:56:00 GMT

24 July 2012

A few things on my mind today in regard to culture shock and living in another country. When you go to a different country that speaks a different language or is a very different culture than your home raising you are so displaced that it can feel as though you've lost proficient skills or everyday abilities that you are used to at home.

Immersed in Chinese language learning, my native English speaking ability felt faultered because I was unable to communicate and much less talk to anyone in English. For businesses this is the big consideration as to whether it is worth the cost to send an expat overseas and wait for them to adjust while knowing comprimised work performance, or find a native qualifier.

Finding yourself in a whole new place develops problem solving skills. When there is nothing but unfamiliar surrounding you it is time to figure out which direction you go, what resources do you seek and what do you need to do first that might make everything else easier. It is a true test of how well you can fare as an individual given unknown direction or materials to work with.

I am now back from my travels to China and South Korea and coming off my jet lag after a full week of abnormal sleep and an upside down appetite.

My writings will continue in my everyday blog nikosense.blogspot.com

China, done and out!

wi-niko — Mon, 9 Jul 2012 16:53:00 GMT

9 July 2012 My Chinese immersion and experience is coming to an end and I am ready to say goodbye this time around. China has so many things that can wear a person out just living daily life. I've shared a few in my past journal entries but now I am going to try to look on the brighter side. What's good about China? 1.Convenient store are cheap and plentiful so they are a great place to grab a cheap lunch, snack, or on-the-go drink. Family Mart, Lawsons, 7eleven, AllDays... 2.Do at your own peril. If you can fit, find a way, get away with, or negotiate your way; noone is going to readily stop you from doing whatever the hell you want. A bit of a recipie for chaos, but looked at on the brightside, it's your look at Chinese freedom compared to the USA world of laws and regulations. 3.Patience. The reason the Chinese people are known for their patience is because of the number of things they have to put up with on a day to day basis. If they get angry, curse, and throw fitting tantrums(which does happen) they would never get through the day. Sign this paper, and this and this, wait here, haggle this, haggle that, push-shove, shouting and yelling because phones really don't work, waiter, waiter, WAITER come here and communicate with this person who doesn't speak the same language...in an overly crowded world you just get used to working with the mass. 4.Dumplings! fried dumplings, steamed dumpling, meat dumplings, seafood dumplings, xialongbao soup dumplings, and veggie dumplings. Serve me more-yum yum yum. 5.carry-ins. If you want a drink at this place, and maybe a snack at this place then you can go to this other place and get your dinner and have the best of all. Few places say no carry-ins(international chains, [cough-cough]) but a Chinese will still take in whatever they've bought from somewhere else. *Reason why you don't see many drink options at Chinese restaurants) 6.Restaurant dining. It's a good and a bad, but on the good, when you order in a restaurant you order 5-10 things off the menu which come as served dishes to share with the entire table. This means you get to try a lot of different foods in one meal, but also makes it hard to go somewhere to eat alone. Solo diners get street food or go to the convenient store. My 80 hours of 1-1 Chinese tutoring has given me the daily life proficiency of talking to taxis, asking for certain items, short orders and service in restaurants, getting directions, and shopping communication. I already know that it is a use it or lose it sorta deal, so hopefully I can continue studies or review here and there to keep the basics up in the front of my mind. Many internation people visiting China from other Asian destinations will commemorate me for living in mainland China because all-in-all, it's one crazy and difficult place to live. Hao-de, Niko

Hong Kong

wi-niko — Sun, 1 Jul 2012 21:15:00 GMT

27 June 2012

I spent Sunday to Wednesday travelling Hong Kong. It was only a 2 hour plane trip from Shanghai. Like most people living around Asia, my trip was induced by an expiring Visa which made me leave mainland China.

Hong Kong is made up of 4 main parts including Lantau island, Hong Kong island, Kowloon/Tsim Sha Tsui and New Territories. I stayed in Causeway Bay on Hong Kong island which is the busiest shopping area.

Day 1-Monday

I bought a Metro tourist day pass for transportation and took the metro to Lantau island at Tung Chung. The HK cable car has been featured on Discovery channel "Greatest engineering feats" and is the longest cable car in Asia; possibly the world. I took the cable car up to Ngong Ping Village a top a mountainous hillside. The morning was dotted with fast moving and low lying clouds that covered the top of the mountain. An intense but 5 minute short rain shower happened right before the cable cars opened at 10AM. Therefore, the view was from rain spotted glass and half way up I was surrounded by white cloudy breeze that was so dense I couldn't see anything. The second big attraction on Lantau island is the Big Buddha that sits at the top of Ngong Ping with incense burning temples.

After a clear view riding down the cable car alone, I went shopping at the CityGate Outlet mall. So much to try on and look at, but after 3 hours I did not end up buying anything. I then took the metro and headed back to Hong Kong island and got off at Central station to find some lunch. After a walk around Lan Kwai Fong, a popular eat and drink neighborhood, I had a delicious burger and beer special at one of the pubs. Afterwards, I walked to the Central piers to take a ride on the iconic Star Ferry across the Victoria harbor up to Tsim Sha Tsui.

At Tsim Sha Tsui I had a walk around in the Ocean Terminal and did some window shopping. Ocean Terminal is the largest indoor mall set jutting out into the harbour. Nearing evening I headed for the promenade to see the Avenue of Stars and watch the Symphony of Lights as the sun went down. The Symphony of Lights is a famous site to Hong Kong and the largest permanent city light and music show anywhere.

Day 2-Tuesday

Starting the day at 8:30AM I took a minibus from Causeway Bay to the south end of Hong Kong island getting off at Stanley. Stanley is one of the oldest villages on the island but has become a popular seaside attraction for tourists and has been commercially reconstructed with water front dining, a pier and modern shopping. Stanley has a small main beach and is also famous for the Stanley market which sells everything under the sun ready for barganing. I had a walk on the beach(san sun)and then casually walked the pier, a short wilderness park hike, and the market before catching the bus back to Central. At the north of HK island at Central there is the Victoria Peak which is the highest viewing area in all of Hong Kong. I asked the local bus driver where I could get off if I wanted to go up to the peak and he either misunderstood me or I asked the wrong question. He told me to get off near Wan Chai which is east of Central at a hilly area that had steep streets going upward. Okay,...but I wanted to take the tourist way from the Peak tram stop in Central...It was blazing hot outside, sweat dripping and humid; I decided to start walking having no clue where I just got off the bus. After 20 minutes up walking on a busy inclined street with large tourist buses ready to plow me over I waved a passing taxi and told him to take me to the top. Glad I did, because I would have never made the distance we covered by walking. I then had a leisure rest at the top of Victoria Peak overlooking all of Hong Kong skyscrappers and Victoria Harbour. From The Peak I rode the Peak tram down the mountain into Central where I explored the streets heading west until I ran into Gough St. I heard Gough St. was a great place to eat and everyone loved a local hole in the wall for it's beef brisket soup noodles. So, it was dinner time! And it was delicious. Around 6:30PM I walked my way back to Lan Kui Fong to meet Katie. Katie was a contact that my brother set me up with who used to work with him in Atlanta but now still works for TransPerfect but in HongKong. She was very cool, we had good conversation and a couple drinks ending in SoHo where the iconic mid-town escalators make going uphills very easy.

Many people I talked to before travelling to Hong Kong myself had very different opinions of Hong Kong. Most were on the dislike side. Hong Kong is a very densely populated place that feels very crowded at all times but I have to say that my overall impression from my short stay is very positive. Hong Kong has tropical weather, beautiful hills, beaches, city with world-class shopping and brands as well as dirt cheap bargaining markets. There are many fabricated attractions for sole tourist purposes but it is an exciting city. I feel that you can take a bit of Los Angles, New York, London, San Francisco, and Asia slap them together and you've got unique Hong Kong. Asian foods meet western. English speaking Cantonese people. It is definitely a different world from mainland China.

Observations:

Photos: Suzhou

wi-niko — Sun, 1 Jul 2012 20:21:00 GMT

Suburb of Shanghai known for Chinese gardens

Photos: Hong Kong

wi-niko — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 23:47:00 GMT

Hong Kong!!!

Photos: Ferrari Racing Days

wi-niko — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 13:32:00 GMT

Shanghai Ferrari only event

Work+Ferrari Racing Days

wi-niko — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 00:40:00 GMT

17 June 2012

Working for a marketing company has its perks, like VIP access to Ferrari Racing Days Paddocks. This past weekend was Ferrari Racing Days at Shanghai International Circuit. It is the largest single brand racing event and is held for Ferrari owners and fans. My job was to mostly tag-a-long and have a good weekend, but I also helped with a banner signing and promotional giveaways.

300 Ferraris in attendance, a full 2012 line of show cars, and 5 star catering in the Paddocks; I think my days were quite enjoyable. Luckily for you all, I took lots of pictures, so be sure to check them out.

Saturday, I conducted a banner signing for Weibo (Chinese Twitter) promotion. Turns out I can attract quite a crowd which is the point, but soo many Chinese want to take a picture with me. The rest of the day was long and tiring just sitting around waiting, but I did get the lounging benifit of free gelato, and San Pellegrinos to keep me refreshed.

Sunday, I was at the entrance to the raceway to hand out tickets, tee-shirts, and flags to Weibo fans. Thankfully, I was not alone and had a team of 5 people but I got to see how mass Chinese crowds can get out of control very quickly.

-Oh, look they are giving out t-shirts. Gei ni, gei ni yifu(give me shirt)! No, what! Randsack the box, grab what you can...

Goodness for line dividing bars we had a barrier for ourselves and our merchandise until the mass mob settled to go inside. My coworkers and I took to the grand stand to hand out the remaining t-shirts and flags. Again, crowd quickly became out of control, but more dangerously in stadium seating. Chinese are used to haggling and not leaving even if you tell them no, so you can imagine it is a little more to deal with than an American crowd or elsewhere.

During the Sunday races, there were 4 car crashes and 2 total wrecks. No serious injuries I don't believe but the big screen showed a driver lying out on the track and rolling over to vomit everywhere until the medics arrived.

On the last race of the day, our team conducted a Weibo event that took 3 fans to stand on the podiums with the race winners. So, I got to tag-a-long to the press rooms and podiums to see the winning drivers and tropheys.

After another very long day at the circuit, my event manager and co-workers went to have dinner at a very Chinese place. I am an adventerous eater, but I didn't even know where to start. This was a traditional group meal so one person orders for the whole dinner and dishes just arrive to share. There was, chicken+chicken feet, special clams, snails of some sort, bullfrog, live shrimp being drowned in some sauce, minnow/sardine something, a 2 whole fish plate, stir fried veggies, some noodles, and a pork soup. Lets just say it was a feast, but to me, not so appetizing. I was glad to be a laughing matter for the 12 others at the table because I had never eaten most of the things there. What can you do.

Next weekend is another Chinese holiday; Dragon boat festival. I am sure to catch some activities in Shanghai and then I leave to Hong Kong on Sunday.

Buh bye,

Niko

Photos: Hangzhou

wi-niko — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 22:35:00 GMT

Famous Hangzhou and West Lake

Hangzhou

wi-niko — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 13:15:00 GMT

12 June 2012

Hangzhou is the New York Hamptons of China. A relaxing but luxe place for the rich to retreat and vacation. Aside from that it has many domestic travelers and is known for its classical Chinese beauty "Heaven on Earth".

I traveled with my new international friend Nico and caught the 8am bullet train from Shanghai to Hangzhou. By 10:30AM we had grabbed breakfast and rented bicycles to cruise around West Lake. Having always been an ancient destination spot and imperial center, Hangzhou has many Buddist temples and pagodas built around the lake. Hangzhou West Lake is a vacation to relax, unwind, and soak up natures finest beauty and tranquility. Around the lake there is park after park, tree lined causeways, lakeside footpaths, and paddle boats on the lake.

A few pictures will give you an idea of the scenery in some spots, but I could have taken a new view photo nearly every 50 meters. It is possible to walk around the entire lake in a day, but I was very glad to be on a bike. The weather was ridiculously warm and sticky. The feeling that you are sweating when you stand and very clammy moist skin. The bikes kept us moving and gave us some breeze.

After failing to find a map directed bar street for a beer, followed by an invisible strip of western restaurants, Nico and I grabbed a few picnic items from Walmart and sat lakeside for lunch. Completing the circuit around the lake around 5pm, Nico and I finally enjoyed a beer on a patio and then went on an adventure walk to try and find a wine shop. About half hour of walking the streets, we stumbled upon a City Life shop that had awesome grocery and a full wine selection. We grabbed a fresh salad for dinner, some chocolate, and white wine (warm weather) and headed back to the lake. Our hostel we stayed at was located lakeside in an commercially center location which was good.

Sunday morning we rented bikes again and headed off to find the China Tea Museum which has Hangzhous famous Longjing green tea. After another slight adventure and a decision to avoid taking the bus, we arrived at the beautiful tea plantation and had a good walk around. Afterwards, we enjoyed a relaxed afternoon brunch until we had to head to the train station to catch our 6pm train back to Shanghai.

Cheers to lush greenery,

Niko

Coming up in June

wi-niko — Sun, 3 Jun 2012 22:40:00 GMT

June 2012 No longer will I just pass the days living in Shanghai but I am on the countdown of time in China. Every weekend in June is planned with travel and I'll tell you what to look for coming up. This past weekend June 2 I went to Xitang with Nico and Hayley(England). June 9th & 10th I will go to Hangzhou with Nico(Switzerland). One of the biggest tourist destinations in China, known to be "Heaven on Earth", classic Chinese beauty around West lake. Longjing tea is the most famous in China. June 16 friends (Jamie, Hayley, Nico, Louise) and I will plan on going to Suzhou and Tongli. Known second to Hangzhou by locals as the most beautiful city with ancient classical gardening, water ways, and well known tea. Tongli has the China sex museum. June 24th I am going to Hong Kong. With both want and need, my visa expires and I need to get out of the mainland for a while. Being far south HK will surely be a sweat box of adventure as I will spend 4 days and then return to Shanghai to finish my internship at High Team. Look for new pictures and I will write about the highlights of each place I visit. Go Traveling, Niko

Xitang and the chicken

wi-niko — Sun, 3 Jun 2012 22:06:00 GMT

3 June 2012 Saturday, June 2, Hayley, Nico, and I met up to take a bus on a day trip to Xitang, Zhejiang. Only an hour bus ride about 70km from Shanghai, ancient Xitang is a well known water canal town. It is mostly known for covered walkways and willow lined waterside houses. If you like to know more http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/zhejiang/hangzhou/xitang.htm This day was really about small town meandering. If one needs to get excited for a reputation, Xitang is where Mission Impossible 3 was filmed and when Tom Cruise was cool. Many of the ancient houses and sites looked like any other ancient Chinese building that is around Shanghai old districts. Most of the houses are made of wood and are very prone to fires, however, it also gives them a unique look. Lots of tourist shopping has moved in with souvenir and food shops. Best known in Xiang are little cakes called 'qianshi gao' and yellow rice wine. The highlight of our trip was the chicken. I saw a women walking out from an alleyway and questioned, "Is she carrying a chicken?" Hayley: Yep, it's alive. Nico: No, I think it's dead. Hayley: Definitely alive. In her other hand was a pair of scissors. We watched her walk to the water which was right in front of us and could only guess what was about to happen. This Chinese women cut the chickens neck with the scissors so it would bleed. With its feet bound together with tread, she then put in under the water as to drowned it. Hayley: This is just so disturbing but I can't help but watch. The chicken flutters around for a couple minutes as the woman recuts some veins and continues to wave it around in the water until it lay still. Ay! Chicken execution. Best part, not long before we had chicken for lunch at a local food place. Chinese traveler: If you are going to eat chicken here, which I recommend its delicious, at least you know its fresh. Our bus was to leave back to Shanghai at 4:45pm. We finished our day at a local coffee bar to have a drink. Beer not coffee. Unknown from the entrance the little cafe ended up being a sweet location which we sat on the upper level. It had lots of collected furniture and knick nak stuff from Tibet and other asian, mod, and eclectic furniture. The weather forcast predicted 80% chance of rain for the day but we lucked out and had none. Happy travels, much more to come every weekend in June. Niko

Photos: Xitang

wi-niko — Sun, 3 Jun 2012 14:08:00 GMT

Ancient canal town-charming, covered walkways, water houses...

Month of May

wi-niko — Sun, 20 May 2012 16:09:00 GMT

20th May 2012

This past week I have had a little party indulgence. Monday and Tuesday I worked diligently to finish five outlines for press releases I will write next week. Our contact for our client Henkel went on vacation so I was given Thursday and Friday off work as a little added time to rest up my ankle which is still giving me minor problems.

Monday I went to check out a new social groups networking mixer night at Shanghai Brewery. BEAN is an organization of young people working and organize volunteer activities as well as just fun socail nights. Proved to be a pretty good group of people to get out and talk to for the night as well as a great kickoff to Shanghai's beer week! A guy named David I had talked to that night told me about a club called Zeal was having a grand opening party on Thursday and I should go. This club is on the rooftop of the ever popular Bund in Shanghai.

Come Thursday I decided to check out the Zeal club with my chinese tutor Dora after our nightly lesson. It was a gorgeous, clear, warm evening with free Moet & Chandon champagne and lots of finely dressed people. I met up with David who had invited me to come out the rest of the evening. As Dora went home after Zeal club, I joined up with a few of David's friends and we headed to The Apartment. The Apartment is the same place I was two weeks ago when I got my unfortunate bummed foot. So anyway, popular place and it was Thursday ladies night. I like getting away with cheap nights out. Met some fun "lets dance and party" girls from New York University and enjoyed the evening; till 3:30am. That seems to be a regular night out for me in Shanghai but is early for nearly everyone else.

Friday I was going to meet Jamie, Louise and Hayley at a Spanish wine bar called Enoterra for unlimted wine and Tapas all night. However, after my Chinese lesson I was dragging tired and decided to go home instead of going out. Kind of glad I did as Jamie and her friends stayed out until 6AM and had a pretty big night instead of a low key relax and wine night.

Saturday was a line up of festivities. It was unfortunately raining and a bit cool compared to sunny hot 80s that Thursday and Friday were. Around noon I headed to Bubba's in Expo pavillion for a BBQ cookoff! 100RMB entrance for all-you-can eat BBQ and a beer. I met Jamie and Hayley and it was good fun. About 4pm we left the BBQ and headed to south central French Concession area of the city for the Sinan Mansions beer fest, which was a culmination for the beer week that had daily festivities throughout the week. Still pooring rain it was a fleeing shuffle from tent to tent to grab beers and socialize. We opted to get a passport stamped from all the vendors at the fest for a chance to win a fixie bike, dinner, and other prizes. After gathering maybe 20 stamps, Jamie ended up winning the dinner at The Public! We might all get to attend that next week Thursday. Louise met up with us and we went inside to get dinner at The Boxing Cat Brewery.

At 9pm, we headed away from the beer fest to go to a birthday party for a friend of Jamie's. He was having his 30th birthday and reserved a VIP room at Mago KTV for a big night of karaoke. KTV is a must experience if and while in China so Jamie and I were excited nonetheless even though we don't sign karaoke. There are a few pictures in my gallery to get the idea, but it turned out to be a great evening, great people, and everyone sang!

The championship league of football "soccer" started at 3AM local time. Hayley was set to go to the bars to watch with Jamie but I called it a night. At this point a bit of dancing and a day back on my feet had made my ankle swell back up. So back to the ice. *sigh.

We are young! We are free! Stay up late...all in the name of fun.

Sunday I'm taking it easy, and I also have Monday off work. As much as I'd like to go and travel somewhere I think i'll be taking it easy again because of limited activity with my darn sprained ankle.

Hope you are having yourself some fun.

-Niko

Uh oh, bummer week

wi-niko — Sun, 13 May 2012 23:48:00 GMT

May 13, 2012

It has been a little while since I've blogged about the happenings and daily adventures of Chinese life. I have not been much in the mood to write about much and I don't want to bore a reader if I have nothing to say so I will be brief this time around.

Last Saturday I had a wonderful brunch for Cinco de Mayo including a smoked salmon filet over roast potatos with a passionfruit margarita. Nico and I had met up for brunch then headed to the riverside to locate an art festival where we met his friend, and my new good friend Jamie. The three of us started a wild evening at the art festival and then headed back into central Shanghai for food and party. We danced at The Apartment until 3a.m when I decided I was tired and must head for home. Sometime in the evening I had an accident that noone quite remembers. The next morning my foot was swollen beyond shape and it hurt to walk. So, for the past week I have been tending to my foot and ankle with no idea what caused this unfortunate event. It is Sunday and good news is the swelling finally subsided but I have all sorts of discoloration and tenderness still on my ankle. Laid low for the weekend with hopes not walking might improve healing but it still looks as though I have some days to go.

Back to another work week and not much else I presume. As days go by I have finally located grocery spots in the city where I can get imported Western foods. I've picked up some pasta, sause, beans and cheese but this little bit cost me significantly! I still have to find some median that I can enjoy the cheap cost of local food but still have some comforts of familiarity.

Hopefully when my foot is promisingly healed I will start booking weekend travels to keep my adventures going. Up next is Suzhou and Hangzhou, two cities known to be the most beautiful cities in China. The good news is that they are only 1-2hours away.

Happy Mothers day and I'll hopefully have more exciting words coming soon.

Niko

Chinese Culture pictoral

wi-niko — Fri, 11 May 2012 16:08:00 GMT

I'm sure there are many websites to find very interesting things about the Chinese culture. However, a coworker share an American vs Chinese culture comparison I enjoyed. And my brother shared a pictoral China link. SO enjoy. I'll have to get my own collection of CHINA experiences captured before I come home. But i've seen most it all and agree.

http://hi.baidu.com/lzw%BE%D3%CA%BF/blog/item/417cb7d325589e36970a16c9.html

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/things-youll-see-only-in-china

China culture 2

wi-niko — Sun, 6 May 2012 23:25:00 GMT

6 April 2012

Are you 10 or 40? The Chinese love cute characters and dress up. Mickey mouse, hello kitty, barrettes, tutu like skirts and lacey 90s shirts. Even at 20 or 30 years old I think these girls look like they dress as a US middle schooler might.

Umbrellas are not just for rain. Umbrellas are an accesory that one like to shop for frequently. As chinese do not like sun, umbrellas are pretty much in use everyday.

No drinks to go with meals. It is not common for chinese to order or serve a beverage with their meal. This sucks when the food is spicy or just plain and simple to wash down the meal. I love my water or wine with meals.

China has a massive population so life here is accustom to being crowded. With a crowded life it is necessary to fight for your way and disregard many of the people around you. There is no cursing when people walk the wrong direction crossing your path because its just what happens. You must fight your way out or in the metro or up the stairs if you want to get to where you are going. If you wait, chances are someone else will always be ahead of you and you will get nowhere fast.

China has an upper class and a lower class but no real middle class society. So live for the bargain and cheap or live for luxury and brands. It is very hard to decide which way to really fit myself into as I can't quite afford luxe but the cheap is so shit that I hate to even give my money or fear I will get ill from such poor environments.

Fish are auspicious. I guess fish are a symbol of good luck or good life. I love the fish tanks that decorate nearly every room and the gold fish in nearly every available water source. But sometimes it can be a little over the top. And there is also fish banners, paper cuttings, sculptures, necklace charms and other figurines available.

Whitening, whitening, whitening...and I'm not talking about toothpaste. The beauty industry makes a killing off facial and skin whitening products. As a Chinese had told me westerners like myself are white, Chinese are yellow skinned. When one tans westerners get a great gold but Chinese just become more yellow. So whitest you can get is considered to be the most beautiful.

White noise. The street sweepers roll around with "its a small world" tune blaring from their trucks. The convenient stores have some child like music tune when you walk in the door. Music boxes with annoying nursery rhyme songs or classic cheap sounding tunes are sold everywhere. Personal karaoke machines litter the streets blaring aweful voices and people that can't sing. There is so much white noise or unwanted racket on a given day that I now can see that a little peace and quiet is taken for granted in the US. Or its just a much more reasonble/enjoyable way to live.

So here have been a few more cultural observations that highlight or make note to the nuances of living in Chinese culture.

Photos: Shanghai life

wi-niko — Sun, 6 May 2012 21:25:00 GMT

days, nights, friends, and fun

Adjusting to new life

wi-niko — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 19:25:00 GMT

30 April 2012

I just past one month in China. At this point I have started feeling that I have gotten my bearings around the city. I actually start to recognize where I am in different parts of the city. Longer than anticipated lead time to get working but I have just completed my first week at High Team Communications Co.

High Team Communications is the largest public relations and marketing company in China. They have many recognitions and an extensive brand portfolio. My collegues are friendly and I have been graciously given an updated computer with Windows 7, in English for me to use. I am already learning a lot as I do not have previous agency experience in public relations. My introduction during the first two days was a server folder full of past marketing proposals and media pitches to look through and get an idea for the work. Then I was assigned to write a press release for a new launch product for the company Henkel. I guess this was mine because the company wanted a native English speaker to write it. I was also given a translated informational brochure for American Standard brand bath products and told to edit it for English grammer. Professional translation service, please, this thing reads so poorly I hardly know where to start. And lastly for my first week, the Beijing Auto show is happening and a collegue just returned from the press days with a fist full of media contacts who were interviewing for Fiat. All of these medias are international from US, Germany, France, and UK. I was told I might understand them better than Stella because my English is good so I was passed the job of calling them up to see where they will publish their coverage on Fiat, which our company represents in China. So work wise, no regrets on getting out of my first placement job which was a low class dead end. I know have a nicer office, my own computer, nice co-workers and an unbeatable location on Nanjing Rd W. right in the middle of the city.

May 1 is a national holiday so I have off work Monday and Tuesday. I've considered traveling on this 3 day weekend but didn't get things put together and I know that anywhere I try and go it is going to be massively crowded with domestic travelers. So a little more free time in Shanghai. I attended another Shanghai expat mixer night put on the meet people and make friends. I met a really cool guy named Nico who is from Switzerland. We met up again and went for brunch on Sunday at an awesome place called Origin in TianZiFang. After we decided to check out a local music festival being held at the World Expo park in Shanghai. The Stawberry music festival as it was called was a very Chinese music fest experience with some international but unknown bands and really cheap beer. We had fun with it while enduring sticky hot and humid weather.

Summer is coming quickly to Shanghai as this week it will already be in the high 70s. It will be 40 hour work weeks plus 2 hours of Chinese lessons a night to keep me pretty busy for May and June.

P.S. I keep adding pictures to already created picture albums so make sure if you're browsing you go back and frequent sections such as food or Shanghai life.

Beijing-Culture

wi-niko — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 22:05:00 GMT

21 April 2012

Beijing is the culture heart of China. While the city sets sight on international trade it still holds the authentic and ancient Chinese culture in everyday life.

Hutong-Many pictures of Beijing catalogue the red doors around the city. A red door indicates an entrance to living space. From the streetside all one can see is shops and restaurants there are no houses. Living space is set somewhere behind the shops in the middle of what a square block would be. Hutongs as they are called are narrow alleyways that cut through long streetways for public passage and access to lovely courtyard homes.

Architecture- Some of China's oldest building exsist in Beijing. Classic Ming & Qing Dynasty architecture can be seen in the temples, Palace Museum, and Summer Palace. As noted with hutongs, courtyard structures are a classic example of Chinese homes.

Squat toilets- Squat pans as they can also be called are normal all over China but unlike Shanghai that has modernized many places for tourism Beijing has not. Given the sheer number of people that live in Beijing, public toilets are not hard to find via signage on the streets. After dinner a couple hostel friends and I detoured our walk to the toilets to find an awkward suprise. A room with a line of 4 squat toilets and no partitions! Better yet, the girls room was in use and she was working hard to push out something a little more than fluid but didn't seem phased by the walk-in. As mentioned in China Culture Shock story, the Chinese are comfortable popping a squat nearly anywhere; and I have seen street side.

Salty & Savory- Beijing is considered North China and compared to other regions is said to have more salty and savory foods. Shanghai is known to have foods that are sweeter. While Sichuan province is known for their spicy food, I don't think I have ever had a spicier meal than the Chinese restaurant we picked out one evening.

Dry and Sunless- Being in North China Beijing has a very dry climate and has frequent dust storms in the spring and summer. The whole world has heard of Beijings polution problem but I have never seen such a muted glowing sun like that in Beijings smog. My program coordinator Zoe is a native Beijinger and she told me that of 27 years she has only seen blue sky maybe 10 times. As she likes to say, the sky is gray not blue.

little English- Traditions are hard to break. Beijingers speak very little if any English so navigating the city you are pretty much on your own outside of major hotels or international hotspots.

shop/sell- Knockoffs, cheapo, bought it at the market and now selling it on the street corner to you for 3kuai higher, yeh thats China.

tourist price traps- Travel books, travel websites and locals will all tell you to be aware of anyone who approaches you to sell something or offer to take you to a tea ceremony. It is likely that it will cost you and arm and a leg if you are to fall into their traps. Taxis that should cost 25kuai might burn you out of 300kuai under illegal operation. I headed this advice but fell for one. A man approached me when I was reading a sign that said enter the Forbidden palace on the South end and come out the North. He offered a ride to the South end (its a pretty big place)in his bike pedaled passenger cart (rickshaw)for what I understood him say san kuai which means 3. After repeating it to him several times I decided "why not, thats cheap". After 2 blocks out of the way and dropping me off at a nearby East side gate he pulled out a card and pointed to it that said 300Yuan. I tried to tell him how ridiculous he was. My chinese was good enough to say taxi maybe 10kuai, bus 2kuai, here is 3. But he tried to act as though he had to pedal and he took me through a neighborhood...Again I said here is 3 take it. He was not ready to give up so I gave him my lowest bill which was 20yuan and walked away. At that point I figured there was not a whole lot he could do about it. So I got out of the situation and it was only about $3.40. Needless to say I avoided taxis and rickshaws altogether after that and laughed when I saw other people trying to reason or clarify prices.

Beijing-Sightseeing

wi-niko — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 21:43:00 GMT

21 April 2012

On Tuesday, April 17 I flew Hainan airlines to Beijing. I stayed 4 days in the Peking International Youth hostel which turned out to be in a great location in central Beijing as well as good clean accomodation.

Day 1- Forbidden City, Tian'anmen Square, Lama Temple, Santilun Beilu

Day 2- The Great Wall, Ghost Street, Bar Street, NanLouGu Xiang

Day 3- Summer Palace, 798 Art District, Flatwhite cafe, Rush hour buses&metro

Day 4- Lunch with Zoe from Go Abroad China Foundation, Fly to Shanghai