(This letter was originally written February 12th, we've just had some technical difficulties getting the blog up and running. Enjoy!)
Hi everyone!!
So it is Friday night here (the 12th). I am about to embark upon the great rant of the first quarter of 2010…so bare with me! We have already been to Guangzhou (south china) and shanghai...we did that within the first 10 days! Didn’t care for Guangzhou, but shanghai was very nice, or at least the part of town we were in (called the French concession)...mark's good friend from Cincinnati lives there, which is so nice...he is only a few hours away (by plane). We stayed in the St. Regis for 5 or 6 nights...very nice hotel...it is actually attached to the building in which mark will work.
This is funny...within the first week we were here, Mr. E (the man who made this happen) asked mark what his title should be. Mark naturally said, "I have no idea. I have no experience." He received business cards which read: "Mark J. Zanotti - Vice President, Transactions." I think it is pretty funny that he is already a vice president and he has literally no prior experience!
My interview went well...on the way there, we got in a cab, turned onto the major road nearby, and it was a standstill…I mean, no movement whatsoever. Our friend laurel (I mention her later and she is Chinese), said that we have to get out; as the traffic will not move at this hour…it was 3:30 in the afternoon. We ran up to the first subway station, and I asked her how much a ticket was. She told me not to worry, and that we would both use her id badge…I immediately knew that would not work, but I went with it. We try to go through revolver thing, and of course, it lets her in and not me. She started freaking out…she was yelling in Chinese at the security guards…I had no idea what to do…I had money, but she wouldn’t tell me what to do. I finally handed her 2 RMB, and she started yelling at the guy inside where the ticketing area was…he wouldn’t do anything at first, so she tried to jump the barriers, where upon the security guard inside scolded her not to do that. Finally the guy bought me a ticket, I went through, and she told me firmly “not to be nervous.” It was my first Beijing subway experience, and I was already late for my interview! I wish I could have filmed the scene...I was the only white person in the entire terminal/train!
I met with four people, one American, two Chinese, and one Canadian. Apparently everyone had a positive reaction, however KPMG is on a hiring freeze until March, so Mr.F (the American for whom I will work) is a partner and doing everything he can to get me in earlier than April. Sunday is the Chinese New Year, so everything is on hold until late next week or early the following week. I am supposed to go in for a test and background references?? We will see! I have been to two meetings involving KPMG and ACG (ascension capital group, mark’s company), and I have been the official "note taker." not my idea of a dream job, but I guess it helps expose me to the rest of the team I would be working with...my job would include a lot of writing, so I guess it is good practice!
We are about half way settled into out apartment. It is very nice...12th floor, overlooking a great big park. Lots of lights and traffic at night. Also there are a lot of fireworks at all hours of the night, especially right now (the New Year). I haven't seen any, just heard them. It does not feel like Europe...very different. It is such a big city, and the language barrier is pretty noticeable, as you might expect. I foolishly thought that we might be able to communicate on a very basic level (like in Europe), but that is not the case. We have this great friend/helper laurel (who is Mr. E's assistant). She has been so very helpful. she helped us get our cell phones, bank account, set up here in the apartment (internet, water, TV, etc.). I don't think we would have been able to do it without her! We do have American TV channels, which are great, but three of them are movie channels, and we have watched all the movies on the February rotation, so we are a little bored…I have never watched more Bad Boys! Mike Lowry…
We have a great little market within our "community." There are 5 buildings in all, we are in #3, and the market is in #4. They have pretty much everything we could need, but I think it is more expensive and it is so small. I guess there is a bigger market closer; we just haven't been there yet. We found goldfish, Doritos, Cheetos, coke and diet coke, wine (you know we love that)! They have a little deli counter, cheese, bread, and salami. Just enough to be well stocked for snacks. We have ordered Italian delivery four times, I think, from this place called Annie’s. They answer the phone in English, so mark likes to call them. It is pretty good! We have only had a small amount of local cuisine so far. I have found a noodle dish that I like...I am bound and determined to be proficient in chop stick use...it is very hard with noodles, but I am getting better.
You might think this is funny too...we unpacked, and all the clothes from my suitcase fit on the surface of my bed...I was very depressed. I know that is so terrible of me, as I am so incredibly fortunate, but I have never had so much empty closet space in my life! It is a very strange feeling, but good for me. We do have a washer and dryer, but the dryer does not work...another strange sensation...in addition, no dish washer, no oven, and the smallest freezer ever! I am getting very good at washing and drying dishes by hand...imagine that (just kidding)!
We have visited IKEA twice, and it is such a wonderful place. They have these "starter kits" with six sets of six place settings (don't know if that made sense), and a kitchen starter box with a few pots and pans, knives, measuring cups, storage containers, etc. It has worked well. We went to the electronic store the other day...it was a big department store kind of place with every electronic device you could need. When we first arrived, a man in civilian clothing offered us a used TV for 5200 RMB (like $700), but we had to pay in cash, and he would deliver it without a box…mark was like WTF…why would I give this guy that much cash for a used TV…everyone else in the store would let us use a credit card…a bit sketchy, however, we were successful...microwave, printer, TV, DVD player.
It was there that I had my first gross bathroom experience. I went to go to the bathroom, and there were stalls, but the place was very dark and smelled very bad. I braced myself, opened a stall door, and it was a HOLE IN THE GROUND!!! Needless to say, the urge immediately disappeared. I am just not ready for that!! We found out that we can hire what is called an English speaking "ayi" (which translates to nanny) for 20 RMB an hour, which is less than $3.00 an hour. Mark has called the service, and we have to go for an interview after the New Year.
The other night, we were invited by Mr. E to the capital club, which is the same as a university club and every major city has one…it is a member only club for business club. It was on the 50th floor of this giant building (obviously), and we were pretty much in awe. We get there and have a drink with Mr. E (mark’s boss) and Mr. F (my potential boss). They drink a couple bottles of red wine, and not surprisingly, I drink a glass of white. I felt so cool and very important. Then we sat at a table to eat our dinner (it was in the bar area), and a Japanese businessman walks in with no less than five or six other men, some are European. The Japanese man sees Mr. E and says hello, and the as the man is walking away to join the crew he brought with him, Mr. E asks if he enjoyed the “fart machine.” I kid you not; Mr. E loves this fart machine, and buys it for all his business contacts, as he says it is such a hit!
I think I could go on forever…we have had so many interesting and funny things happen to us in our short two weeks, but I would imagine this isn’t reading friendly, and I apologize for that.
Please forgive me for this ramble of an email...I initially was just going to write a little blurb, and I guess stream of consciousness kicked in, but I assume the errors are many! Now I am sort of blocked. We are doing very well...we are so lucky to have each other on this adventure...and believe me, it is an adventure! China is on hold next week because of the new year/spring festival...we will not have much to do, so if anyone wants to talk or Skype, just let me know!! If I think of anything else funny, I will pass it along. Blogspot.com is blocked here along with facebook, twitter and myspace, so I really only have access to email.
Just know that we miss and love you all very much! Sorry for the intense rant!!! Hope you find at least some of it amusing!
Love and hugs,
Ryan
