Finally, another post!

So, I realize that it's been a while since I've posted.  I've had some internet troubles that required me to fix some cabling myself... but more on that later.  First, to come up to date on my time in Shanghai so far.


The work has started off well.  I've spent some time getting up to speed with the studio and meeting everyone.  The folks here are great, and I'm looking forward to working with them.  I haven't really formally completed anything yet, but that will come with time.  For now I have a few small projects started (Talent Planning, turnover reporting, etc) that will help transition me into larger goals.  The management group here in Shanghai are easy to work with and very interested in employee development and career planning, so it helps that I have a group to work with who are already engaged in a lot of the activities I hope to help with.


The HR group is also awesome.  Jenny is another generalist working on compensation projects, Carol is our recruiter and Perry is the intern.  Oliver is the Director of HR for China and is involved in a lot of great projects, including some changes to China HR Law and working with multiple groups based all around China.  It's been a fun team.  They've welcomed me to Chinese food, and I've got to brag about how damned good it is.  The pork in Shanghai is amazing.  Today I was at a Cantonese place for lunch where we ordered assorted Dimsum and everything I had was excellent.  In particular, the pork dumplings here are incredibly tasty and there's dipping sauces for every taste.


I've managed to successfully grocery shop for the first time tonight.  I managed to find bread, Skippy peanut butter, and a variety of microwaveable dumplings and finger food.  I have a nice 2 liter of Coke in the fridge and have been trying various potato chips.  I will admit, the potato chips that you would normally select in the states are pretty terrible - the BBQ ones in particular are hard to eat.  If you want really good potato chips out here you need to buy the most fucked up flavors you can find.  There was one that was flavored as 'spicy fish' that was good, and the ones that are flavored 'happiness' are also enjoyable.  There's a lot of things here that are described by simply the word 'happiness.'  'Happiness auto loans,' 'happiness laundry detergent,' etc.  It's a pretty happy place.

Italian Red Meat Flavor.  Better than BBQ.

Beyond my excellent experience finally finding a place where they have pictures of microwaves on the food so I know I can cook it, I've had a ton of great food.  The Pizza Huts here are amazing, as you likely saw on my Facebook wall.  Truly impressed by the menu and the incredible variety of fish that you can put on pizza out here.  I was used to anchovies and smoked salmon, but sea cucumber?  Damn.  You can order it in as well, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.. 

One of the streets near Xin Tian Di

But as much as I'm sure you wanted to hear about me eating, I'll move on to the things and areas I've been to.  I've done mostly the expat locations as far as exploration as I'm waiting for Bethany to get out here (next Tuesday!) before I do any of the weird exotic stuff.  My favorite area so far has to be Xin Tian Di, which is an area of really upscale shops, restaurants and bars.  I had dinner with Daniel (a friend from LA) at a restaurant called Paulaner, which is a traditional German restaurant and had some pretty amazing sausage.  The streets there are decorated beautifully and it's a great area for people watching.

Shanghai Center, on Nanjing Rd.

Nanjing is also a great place for checking out.  It's kind of like the Rodeo Dr. of Shanghai, and has all kinds of really high in shops.  You can find anything there, from Gucci to Coach, high end restaurants, and a lot of tourists.  The Shanghai Center near the Ritz has a market where there is a great variety of imported goods so you can get food with English on it if you don't want the guesswork of figuring out how long to nuke chicken wings.

If your team is having a rough go at it, no worries!
You can urinate on them!

The bar scene has been fun as well - I've mostly experienced the expat bars, where I've met people from a ton of countries.  There were the Kenyans who I met at Big Bamboo while chatting with Frank from Connecticut.  I met a bunch of Aussies while watching Australian Rules Football on Sunday (that game is fucking intense).  There was Marcelo from Brazil, Emma from Italy.. it's truly an international and a guy from Scotland who I can't remember anything about other then the fact that he was pissing off the Aussies while bitching about their football.


I'm going to wrap this up, as I'm exhausted, but I'll leave you with a few more pictures and some things I've learned about Shanghai.


Things I've learned:
1) If you cross against the light you take your life in your own hands.
2) Don't tell Aussies that their club is a bunch of wankers who would get themselves killed if they played Scotland in a game of true Rugby.
3) Dimsum is delicious - don't worry about what you're eating, just eat it, because it probably tastes really really good.

Tron

4) The underside of elevated roads here look like they're from the movie Tron
5) 7am is too late to still be out at the bar...
6) Shopping here isn't cheaper then shopping in the US.  In fact, if you're in western places, it's probably more expensive
7) Is there anywhere in the world you can't get a Starbucks coffee?
8) The secret ingredient to Chinese beer is apparently 'happiness'
9) If you press enough buttons on a Chinese washing machine it finally starts running
10) Most of this city is gorgeous.
11) I can't wait for Beth to arrive!

The areas near the French Concession are very green.

No, really, no smoking.
Ignore that ash tray on the table next to the sign....

Arrival in Shanghai

It's been almost a full day now since I've arrived in Shanghai.  The flight out was smooth for most of the 12.5 hours.  It's amazing that long flights actually end up seeming to go by a lot quicker than their scheduled time compared to shorter flights, which seem to drag on forever.  It helps that I had the Lord of the Rings trilogy with me - that ate up almost the entire time, and between PSP and books, and even a little sleeping it was easy.


I'm always struck by how cities that seem completely exotic and foreign when you haven't been there are so familiar when you arrive.  I don't know what I was expecting - perhaps I wasn't expecting anything particular - but when I arrived most of the scripts and habits I had from the US are consistent.  Restaurants work the same way, checking in to hotels and navigating the hotel is almost exactly the same, even ordering at Subway was easy.  


The major difference, of course, is that I don't know Chinese well enough to use it.  I tried to ask the housekeeper for more drinking water, and she looked at me like I was crazy.  It's likely because I probably tried to ask her something completely random about her husband.  Speaking of which, she was just back, attempting to restock the mini bar with a beer, and all I managed to say that she seemed to understand was "Thank you." 


So, I have the challenge of learning the language.  I can communicate with Rosetta Stone just fine.  According to the software, I'm incredibly good.  According to the housekeeper, I'm obviously found wanting.


Another interesting note on Shanghai is the smell.  It's well known that Shanghai has a smog and pollution problem, but it's hard to describe how prevalent it is.  I'd compare it to a lounge in Las Vegas that used to allow smoking but hasn't in 5 years.  It smells like old, stale smoke.  I haven't developed what some call the Shanghai cough (yet) and after a day of being here I barely notice it now.  


It's a beautiful city from the little I've seen so far.  I'm in a shopping district in Jing'an, (link) until tomorrow (Monday), when I move to my apartment. The shops here are great.  I'm thinking of picking up some pants (裤子).  I admit, I just wrote that to show off that I know the word for pants.  The streets aren't as crowded as I anticipated, though it's been raining since I've gotten here, so perhaps the crowds will pick up.


The 'cultural' shock of Shanghai (admittedly, in one day) hasn't been as great as the shock of not being in the US.  While there are some shocks (what the hell is "Head smoothie"?), I don't have a lot of great stories to tell. I'm sure there will be plenty in the next week or so.  And after I get brave enough to eat at places other then the Italian restaurant in the hotel (best gnocchi I've ever had) and Subway there will be great stories of my floundering around a Chinese menu.


Tonight I'm going to expand my radius and walk just under a mile to an expat sports bar to check it out.  It's called "The Spot" (link).  I'm hoping it can turn in to a hangout.  We'll see.