Back from Beijing

Well I just arrived home (Shanghai) from one of the greatest trips in my life. Myself, Henrik, and Thierno went to Beijing last Thursday by train. Train is a little bit cheaper, and for some reason I feel much safer close to the ground over here. We road first class on the train, or what they call "soft bed". Well to the Chinese a "soft bed" is equivalent to laying your sleeping bag over a bench on 17th. But we were able to get some sleep as we knew we were going to be busy over the first few days. When we arrived we were upset to learn that the rumors are true, Beijing taxi drivers do not like to pick people up in their cars. I figure that it has to do with the fact that they are very caring about the environment and do not want to pollute. These cabbies would pick up  Chinese people either two feet in front of us, or two feet behind. It was obvious that we  (and all the other tourists) just didn't know where to stand. The first place we went to was our hotel. It was a nice little three star place right near the Forbidden City. After cleaning ourselves up we decided to venture into the Forbidden City, I was surprised to find out is isn't forbidden, they actually want you to go there. They might want to think about a name change. The place was absolutely massive, and from what our English translating devices told us, most of the rooms were used for keeping the Emperor's concubines. These guys must of had so much fun, one of them had 30,000 concubines, he must have been very tired. Imagine trying to remember all of their birthdays and keeping them a secret! As you exit the forbidden city you end up in Tianamen Square, which is just massive, I have never been in such an open area covered in concrete. It made you feel really small, which is hard when you are always close to a head taller than everyone around you. The one thing we could not get over is how there are souvenirs for sale everywhere, even in the forbidden city. 

The next morning we began very early by hiring a cab for the day. This costed us 600 rmb, or about $110 Cdn. This might sound like a lot, but we hired the guy to take us to the great wall which was 140 km away. We went to one of the less touristy places, and arrived there around 8:30 am. There we began the long walk up to get to the cable car. This cable car is very famous as it was the first cable car in this part of the wall. One thing I have found in China is that every thing is very famous, or the most important, but all for their own reason. But the cable car was clean, and seemed safe enough. Thierno made a friend on the ride up with an Indian PhD who thought it would be nice if Thierno would take his picture every six steps. After about two minutes Thierno and I decided we were better as a threesome, so we tried to give the nice Indian Doctor the slip, but Henrik in his infinite wisdom decided to keep telling the gentleman where we were headed. See Henrik was not required to take photos of this man standing in front of every rock, so he enjoyed the company. We finally convinced Henrik that our new "friend" was slowing us down, so we made a sneaky turn inside one of the guard towers. This is where I saw one of the craziest things ever, there was a Chinese lady probably close to her 90's marching up a seriously steep set of stairs, and when I say set I mean close to 1oo. She was not even out of breath, unlike the young German guys who she was passing. The views were absolutely amazing and just to be on something tat must have taken so long to build really showed you what man is actually capable of. This is the first day and a half of the trip, tomorrow I will talk about the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace,and the Olympic venues.

You can have it in any colour you want, as long as it is black,

Derek

Another Final Exam

Well tonight is my study night, as tomorrow I will write the worst test in the history of the world. That is right I am being tested on my knowledge and understanding of the Chinese language. I think I have come a long way, as I know how to tell cabbies where I want to go, or negotiate a better price for a massage! But I do not think massage parlor etiquette will be on the exam unfortunately. I have been busy learning my numbers and how to write them, which is actually quite difficult, learned all the body parts, well all that they would teach in class, and I know my fruits and vegetables. So if anyone knows of any openings in a Chinese vegetable market back home let me know! After this exam I will only have one class left in my educational era of my life, which is really quite scary as I am an old man with grey hair. So in the next year I need to find my dream job, the perfect women, and a really awesome dog. This might sound like a difficult task, but soon I will be an MBA which means I should be able to accomplish this by 9:30 on a Monday morning. 

Nothing really new here to report other than I will not chug beer anymore, I realized that on Friday night after about the third 12 ounce glass of beer went down in less than four seconds. After that I decided it would be good to switch to a more adult drink (redbull and vodka). We got into an argument on where the djs were from, and I said Canada. So I asked and the guy did his undergrad at UVic, same time as me, it is a really small world!

 Cats in the Cradle

Derek

Needing new Sneakers

Well my leg is officially healed, well it is in my mind at least, so it is time to get in shape. I have been focusing on school for so long, I let myself become a tub of lard. Well this is going to change, but I have encountered a problem. In China the men have very small feet compared to the West, so therefor they wear smaller shoes. Every store we have gone to the biggest size that they carry is a 44 which is about a 10.5 back home. Well as you all know I got my feet from my father so although I may be the shortest one of the group back home, I have the largest feet with around a 12. This is the whole dilemma, I am finally in the right mind place, and have the time, but I have no shoes, this sucks so much!

Nothing too exciting going on right now, I am a little homesick, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have decided to make this the greatest Stampede ever, I think I will even buy wranglers when I get back home. So if anyone needs to find me during stampede check either the grandstand, NN, or wherever there may be free pancakes. 

WWFSMD

Derek

Hangin with the Swedes

I know many of you might think I am hangin with the Canucks in Vancouver by my post's name, but I am not, as these Swedes are actually not afraid drop the gloves (or at least that is my belief). Yesterday I went out with Chris and Henrik (the two Lars') and Henrik's parents, who are here to make sure there little boy is surviving in this crazy place. We started off by going to where all visitors want to go first, the fake market. The one we go to is massive, and the amount of vendors is just mind blowing. If it is new and designer, they will have a copy there within two weeks of it making its debut. The only thing that has ever caught my eye really is jeans, mostly because I have dropped over three inches from my waist since I got here. But just the walking through the place you could easily lose yourself for a day or two.

We have discovered a great little hamburger place not too far from the Swedes place, it is called Munchies, and is owned by a young American guy and his Chinese wife. Let's just say these burgers are frickin awesome, better than anything in Saint John or Victoria, and equal to Boogies burgers in Calgary. If you haven't tried Boogies, it is on Edmonton Trail, at around 7th Ave. The service at Munchies is like the West, this means there is only two waitresses for about 12 tables, unlike normal restaurants in Shanghai where there is five times more staff than a restaurant back home, with a quarter of the service. The burger though......mmmmmm.......burger, was absolutely delightful, and would have a good running against a Malone's burger here in Shanghai. They are a completely different fair though, as well, Munchies is over 50% cheaper than Malone's.

Not much else is new here, still trying to figure out when I will be able to come home, I am hoping for early June, so someone, anyone, please give me a lead on a job for a dashingly handsome MBA. Until next time.

The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese!

Derek

What I have learned so far......

Well I have now been in China for over two months.  have had the opportunity to see many unusual, wonderful, and interesting things. Over the last week I started thinking about how to sum up my experiences so far. First I would like to say that many of the Chinese people I have had contact with are very considerate and friendly. I have also found that I am willing to eat a lot of things now that I would not have eaten before (I am still looking for that rat on a stick for you Jasper, I promise I will try it). Probably the biggest thing I have learned is how quickly you can develop strong friendships with new people, when everyone is in an environment that is quite foreign to them.

I want to give a little background on last week here, as there were several unique events, unfortunately I was not there for them, but they are now famous amongst my crew of friends here. Last Tuesday we all went to a Martini bar on the Bund, it is quite expensive for a drink at 50 rmb each so we decided to drink some before we got there. While at the bar I got into a heated discussion with a group of Swedes who felt Canada had not given a quality alcohol to the world. They believe that their Absolut Vodka was the greatest liquid ever produced. Although I had to tell them that Absolut is a nice vodka, it in no way compared to Canadian rye. I was able to get my hands on a bottle of CC in the bar, and ordered a drink. The Swedes I were not too impressed I think, but that might because our booze has a bit of a kick to it. As we were drinking I was being informed  by the Swedes that fighting is not apart of hockey, and the only reason we fight is that we are not skilled enough. I know this argument was all in good fun, as they know any Canadian could jersey a Swede at any time (just kidding to all my Swedish friends). This argument did get heated and I wore myself out huffin and puffin about the greatness of OUR game, so I decided to head home. This unfortunately is when the night got interesting for some of my friends, as they decided they were hungry after the next bar. They went to People's Square as one of the girls knew where they could get meat on a stick for quite cheap from street vendors (I know, you are all going ew at this point. I just want to state that I have not, and will not eat street meat until I find that rat on a stick for my nephew). Well the usual price for one skewer is usually between 1 and 3 rmb, and that is what they paid for the first few. Then my friend grabbed one more and ate it, but instead of the guy wanting 1-3 rmb he decided the value of that exact same skewer had increased to a cost of 75 rmb. Well the people in the group thought that that was outrageous (which it was) and refused to pay. The skewer guy decided it was worth calling the police over, and somehow the cops appeared almost instantaneously. Well they took my buddy into the back of a cop van (which is where I would have started crying and peeing myself, along with the skewer guy. Well the rest of the group did not like losing one of their friends to a cop van so they were able to convince the cop that they were in the right, but so the skewer guy would not lose face they agreed to pay 20 rmb, which is still way too much. Well I  guess when the van door was open our friend jumped out of the back like someone lit his ass on fire, but I would have done the exact same thing. So the moral of the story is to always make sure you negotiate before you eat the street meat.

I have also decided that when this trip is over and I am finished my MBA, that I will be done with education for awhile. I guess I know it is time for me to start working (yes I know Jill, I should have been doing this years ago), so if anyone knows of any sweet openings in Cowtown please throw this dog a bone.

But I have been rambling on here for way too long as I need to get some sleep soon. So I hope everyone is able to give someone they love a big hug and kiss today, and until next time.

Dyno-Mite

Sick in Bed

Well it finally happened, I am officially sick in Shanghai. It is probably just a 24 hour thing as that is usually what happens to me, so keep your fingers crossed. Last night myself, one of the Lars's, and Vanessa (a Frenchie) went to a bar on the Bund. Well I guess I should start at the beginning of the evening, we started out at Lars's place, with a ten dollar bottle of vodka. Vanessa doesn't drink vodka (which Lars and myself find odd), so she stuck with her bottle of Chinese wine. Myself and the Swede put a really good dent in the bottle as we kept listening to awesome music from our home countries. Eventually Henrik (the Lars) played something that I recognized, and I was wishing Pete and Laura could have been here to hear it. The artist's name is Gunther, and I think he might be the President of Sweden, if you have never heard of him before, some of my friends started a fan club for him on Facebook years ago www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=223109839 . He has to be the most talented singer I have heard from Sweden since Ace of Base, no seriously give it a listen, it is AWESOME. After we got to the bar I realized that all drinks were 50 rmb, or about $9 Cdn, this price was so crazy expensive, but after a couple I realized why. Im a double size glass they filled it with opposite proportions to bars back home. Here it was 95% booze and 5% mix. They were fabulous, it was a great night of conversation. I finally headed home because I was realizing that my stomach was upset, and it wasn't from the booze. Well this basically gets you caught up in the life of me, so until next time.

Tie Domi still Sucks,

Derek

Introducing Skinny Derek

I thought that title might get some attention. Ok, the truth I am still a little above average, but since I have been in China I have dropped almost 7 kg. It is so much that the two pairs of jeans I brought here with me now look silly, so I had to go out and buy some new ones. When I left Canada I was a big 36 in the waist, but now I am a very slim 34, and hoping to get down a couple more inches. I know I will never be skinny like the good ol' days, but I can dream. The reason I have lost all this weight is probably to do with the amount of walking we do here. As I stated in the last blog, long walks are not uncommon, and this country is made of stairs as well. When I was living in Saint John last year, I believed I was being punished for some past misdeed by living in a fourth floor walk up. Now I realize that apartment was only training for me to get used to living in a fifth floor walk up in residence here. It is not very fun when you come home at 4 am after a night out on the town. I was thinking about making a suggestion that the put rest beds at each floor, so the tired could take breaks. I am sure there is some Chinese saying about how walking many stairs each day is good for your health.

On that note I have come to the realization that the Chinese have a famous saying for almost every situation. Most centre around living a good life, or being healthy, but my Chinese friend starts almost every sentence in a conversation by stating, "There is a famous Chinese saying about.....", sometimes I think it must lose something in the translation.

The other day one of the Lars and myself joined many of the Chinese students from the GLMBA for a bbq in a park in the North East of Shanghai. This park was quite unique to be in as it is completely man made, so all the trees are in nice rows, it is weird being in nature that just doesn't seem that natural. The park was actually quite nice and it surprisingly had some amusement park rides. My brother in-law once managed a ride called the "Fireball" back in his days with Conklin, and I was amazed to see something very similar to it here. Lars and myself were not too enthusiastic about going on the rides but we decided to give the "big" roller coaster a shot. It was a single loop, with an additional barrel roll in it. It had probably only a 50 foot drop so the loop was the first thing you hit. It was a fun short coaster,  I really was afraid for some reason. I would say it was more scary than doing the "Doppel" in the back row with no lap bar. The rest of the weekend was fairly uneventful, so I will make this a short post. I hope everyone back home is enjoying the spring air in whatever city they may be in.

To infinity and beyond.....

Derek

I could walk 500 Miles....

Well today I went on my longest exploring trip to date! Myself and the two Swedes (Lars and Lars) (it is really Chris and Henrik, but Lars and Lars sounds so much funnier in my head) went on a walk of epic proportions. It started out at their apartment which is located at Hanzhong Rd which is just a couple of kms away from the centre of the city. We decided to head down to Jinan Temple which was a good distance walk away. When had almost arrived at the temple we realized that we were all hungry, so it being St. Patty's day we stopped in at a pub called Malone's. If you are ever in Shanghai and are jonesing for a burger, Malone's is the place all expats recommend! For the really adventurous you can tell them how you want your meat cooked, me being an Albertan took a medium patty, I am not crazy enough to go rare. I ordered the four cheese burger, and it may have been the greatest thing ever to touch my tongue. It was like being at home and having a burger at Red Robin's.

After lunch we went to the temple, as everyone knows I do not have a religious bone in my body, but this temple just seemed to have this great sense of peace to it, it was really neat to see how Buddhists  pay their respects.

After the temple we decided to just keep walking and eventually we ended up in front of a hair salon that offered a "shampoo, cut, and massage" for only 2o rmb, that is less than $4 Cdn. Chris and I decided this sounded like something two brave guys must investigate, and after a little arm twisting we were able to convince Henrik to go through with it as well. It turned out to be an ok haircut. While I was having my head massaged I started thinking how a haircut was great way to judge the cost of living in a country. In most countries I have visited hairdressers or barbers have always been able to make a livable wage. This I would presume comes from the fact that it is a skilled position, somewhat similar to the trades. Well it takes about 15 minutes to cut a man's hair and probably closer to 45 minutes for a women. So let's say the average hair cut takes half an hour. This means that the hairdresser is able to "bill" about 4o rmb an hour. The salon would take approximately half of that so the hairdresser now makes 20 rmb an hour, or a little less than $4 Cdn. an hour. Before anyone says that is so little, you must understand the cost of living, even in a major city like Shanghai can be much less than back in Canada, and I believe I could live here on that wage, not at the standards I am used to, but could survive. If you calculate it out saying the average hairdresser cuts 100 heads a week, that would work out to around $4000 rmb a month, which I have been told by friends would be more than enough to live. I wonder if anyone has ever done studies on this, if anyone has ever heard of anything like this it would be great to hear from you, (we could call it the barber index). Now that I am done my brain fart for the day, lets get back to the intersting stuff (me).  All three of us looked better after the cuts then when we walked in, and the head massage you get in a shampoo here is better than anything back home. Well after that we continued our long walk and eventually made it home. When we got back to their apartment it was time for our push ups. Chris and I have started a program called 100 pushups http://hundredpushups.com , and trust me it is not easy, but I think by the end of the six weeks I will be able to do 100 pushups in a row again. The last time I was able to do that was when I was 21 and still a member of the Young Canadians.

Well I should go get some laundry going as I do not want to run out of socks, as that would be gross.

Keep your feet dry,

D.

Executive Economics

I am still wondering if this sign wants me to look out first and then knock my head second!
Well I am now involved in my second course in Shanghai, it is Executive Economics. Everyone who knows me can tell you that my graphing skills are on par with an elephant on PCP, so this might be a challenge. It doesn't seem so bad, and I have it for only three more days. 

This weekend I have been signed up for singles night featuring only people with either their MBA's or MBA students. I am hoping no one realizes that I am a hack, or it could be embarrassing. This could be fun as I have never gone to a singles night before in my life, let alone one in Chinese. I have learned a lot of good sayings that will either get me a second date, or a slap in the face. So it won't be any different from back home.

I am really getting tired of living in residence, I miss having a kitchen, and a tub, but it will do until I go home in July. I finally picked up my entire suit and jacket from Indochino, and it is fantastic. I really recommend this company for online suits http://indochino.com  . They are a first class organization all the way. As soon as I have photos of my new gear, I will post them here.

All in all it has been a good first 6 weeks here in Shanghai, I just need you guys to give me some suggestions of what I should do, I won't promise I will do them, but they are at least half adventurous it will be considered, and you could be immortalized in my blog forever.

Until Jupiter aligns with Mars,

Derek

Suzhou

Last week a large group of students (both foreign and Chinese) went on a day trip to the city of Suzhou. It is about two hours west of Shanghai, so I had to be up and ready to go at 6 am. I did not know that time existed over here as well. After I threw back two cups of Nescafe coffee (tastes like dirt), I trudged out into the pouring rain to go on this journey. After all the people were rounded up we headed out to Suzhou. This trip was planned by Fred and Tom, and they did a very good job. 

Tours in China are lead by a professional tour guide, and ours was all about business, she must have known everything about everywhere we went because she did not stop speaking for 11 hours. The only problem was that she only spoke in Chinese, so the international students tuned her out pretty quickly. Suzhou is famous for its gardens, and for the fact that it is about 60% water. It had stopped raining, but it was still pretty cool, so it made sense to keep moving. The gardens were really neat, but the rocks were very slippery, and I almost bailed on more than one occasion. That would have been epic, if I was able to break my other ankle while here.

Soon we went to a silk factory, which was amazing to see, but it was also a little bit creepy to watch cocoons getting unravelled, so they could make fabric. But the process was really neat.

I walked through the gift shop promising myself I would not buy anything,  and who knew I actually have will power.

The next stop was lunch which could be a whole post on its own. Lets just say tour guides probably get a cut from the restaurants that they take you to. We ended up eating Mc Donald's in a temple, which probably wasn't the PC thing to do but we were so hungry.

The next night the whole crew went out to some pretty Club Love, and let me state that this bar had the worst service of any club I have ever been to in the world. We waited for over an hour for drinks, and when we got them they were so watered down, mormons wouldn't have even gotten a buzz.

The next night the boys all decide it was time to go KTVing (karaoke). We decide it would be smart to drink a bottle of vodka beforehand as we would only buy one bottle there. Well we drank better than we sang, but I still think that the frenchman has a duty to sing Celine Dion. 

That is all that is really new here, I am off to listen to a CFA speak about the financial crisis, and how it is effecting this part of the world so that should be quite interesting, and after that we might go grab a burger at the Blue Frog.

Keep on Rockin........

Derek

Final Exam

Well I write my first final here tomorrow morning, and I guess I am ready. I studied on two separate days so that is about double my norm. I have found Starbucks to be the international studying locale as I have seemed to study in them all over the place in my life. I know the Economist has a Big Mac Index


, but there should be a Starbucks index as my Caramel Machiato is more expensive here than it is back home. I was hoping for $1 Lattes, but I guess that was just a pipe dream.  The treats in the photo are not from Starbucks, but I just wanted to show something that is delicous. I have no idea what they are made of, but the "chocolate" one tastes kida like chocolate, so it isn't so bad.

I am studying and living at Shanghia University, at the Yanchang campus. It is well located, only about 5 stops away from People's Square which is basically the centre of the city. Riding the subway here is super cheap, but sometimes you are sardined into a car which must have 5 times too many people on it. It is almost scary.

My MBA program here is called a GLMBA which stands for Global Local MBA. It has been so interesting to hear different views, and it has really opened my eyes to the fact that there are successful business practices that do not start in either Europe or North America.

I am really starting to miss certain things from back home, little things, weird things. I miss Mythbusters the most for some reason. I do not know why as I have seen every epsiode like a 100 times, but I miss watching geeks almost killing themselves on a weekly basis. There is no Chinese version of it yet that I can find. But when it starts I will let everyone know where to find it.

Well I should get back to the book, as I need more prep. Have a good one!

D-Rex

One Course Finished

Well I have completed my first course here, and it wasn't too bad. It was in HRM, or human resource management. I have taken courses similar to this on before, but this had a completely different view as it was from a Chinese perspective. It was amazing to see how views can be so different from other cultures. Many of the Chinese students did not feel HR was important to a company, but the more I thought about it with my friends we could understand their view. In a country with 1.6 billion people, if someone isn't working out in your company it should not be difficult to find someone to replace them. This is very different from what I was taught over the last few years when the Canadian economy was booming. But now who knows, maybe replacing people back home will become more common. 

Yesterday I took m crew ( Two Swedes: Henrik and Chirs, and to Frenchies: Thierno and Vanessa) to see a friends company. A buddy who  I did my undergrad with has started a company called Indochino (indochino.com) for creating custom tailored suits over the internet. Let me tell you we were all floored by the quality and professionalism of the operation. Kyle was gracious enough to give us a tour of his operation and then took us to one of the largest fabric markets in Shanghai. It is mind blowing the scope and scale of this place. All the men decided that we really needed to place orders because his stuff is amazing quality and very affordable. So in a few days all of us will be ready for the pages of GQ.

In Shanghai you can pay for subway, bus, and taxi all by the same card. But it has come to our attention you have to keep an eye on your card as sometimes it can "accidently" be exchanged for a different one. Therefor most people have some sticker or identifiable mark on their card to prevent this from happening. A friend gave me a little plastic sleeve for to hold my card so I could always identify it, the only problem is it a "Hello Kitty" case. It kinda hurts my manhood, but it has been raining hard for the last week, so the merchants who sell the skull stickers have not been out in front of the station. Soon I will have the toughest pass in all of Shanghai, but for now I will live with "Hello Kitty" in my pocket.

Well I should get going as I am of to visit some non touristy parts of Shanghai today, as I want to see the real city. Take care and try some new food today, it is not as scary as you may think!

Cheers,

Derek

What is happening this week

Well classes have started, and so far everything is going well. Earlier this year I was thinking of doing another masters somewhere in the world, but now I think it is time for me to begin working so I can finally buy that Porsche 911 that I deserve (hehe). But Shanghai is a city of two worlds, either very affordable, or too expensive. My friends and I have discovered many night clubs where you can drink all night for less than $20 Cdn, but other place want $20 for 1 crappy beer. So we have decided that quantity is more important than quality. The Chinese people for the most part are very friendly and helpful, but I am still always concerned I am not being given the lowest price on many of my purchases. 

I still have not been run over on the street yet, but that is based mostly on my lightning quick reflexes, as well as my fear of crossing the street. The block I live on is very nice I have found. I will soon be the greatest chopstick artist in the world, but I am still just an apprentice, this means I am still allowed to drop my food on my lap at least four times a meal, any more and the master gets very angry.

Soon I think I will hop on a train and visit other areas of China, as I am looking forward to trying new foods, and I promised my nephews some interesting photos of me trying "unique" food. 

To all my peeps back home, take it easy, wait am I to old to have peeps? Kids are still using peeps are they not? I hope I do not need to learn new lingo for when I get back home as mandarin is proving to be difficult enough.

Laters,

Derek

Two Weeks

Well I left Canada two weeks ago, and I am slowly starting to understand this place. There are certain things I have learned very quickly:

1. Never watch the road while in a Taxi, it will just send you to an early grave.
2. When crossing the road, say a few prayers first, as pedestrians are basically just obstacles for cars to barely miss.
3. When walking on the sidewalk, look back every ten steps as there is probably an electric scooter about to run you down.
4. When buying anything, the first price you are told is the "funny price" you should be able to negotiate it down quite a bit.
5. The Chinese are all very friendly.
6. Only eat in restaurants that have pictures of the food, or an english menu, otherwise you might get a unique surprise on your plate.
7. Always go to the bathroom before you go out.
8. Always carry kleenex.

Those are my first observations, and I am sure there many more that I will add, but so far I love Shanghai, and I would stay if someone offered me a decent job. So if you have any contacts let em know. Peace Out and word to your motha!

Moved In

Well I have finally moved into my residence, and it isn't so bad. Well that is besides it is a fifth floor walkup, and my leaky shower. I have been spending my days exploring Shanghai with my two new friends from Sweden, Henrik and Chris. It is amazing the strange looks we always get, we haven't figured it out yet as there are about 300,000 expats in this city. am learning to barter, as most prices are artificially inflated. I have heard if you pay more than one third of their original price you are being taken for. I have ridden the subway here in Shanghai probably more than I have ridden the C-Train in Calgary in my entire life. Maybe I will be more open to it when I get back home. I am learning to eat with chopsticks better, and learning what I do, and do not like when it comes to local cuisine. Just for anyone who may come here, the stinky tofu that smell like rotten feet, tastes almost the same as it smells. Other food is awesome though, and very inexpensive. I am aout to go see if they can get my shower fixed this morning so I wish you all a good day!

1st Day

Well The trip here was uneventful as possible, so that I guess is very good news. The flight was three quarters empty so I had a whole row to myself (now all I have to do is learn to sleep on a plane!). A new friend from my MBA program met  me at the airport,which made life a lot easier. We took the MAgLev train from the airport into the city at 300 km and hour! SO a ride that would have taken almost an hour by taxi only took ten minutes. Some of you may be wondering why I am not blogging on my.opera, but for some reason I cannot access it. So far I am amazed at the shear size of the city, everything is so big, it is right out of F-Zero from the Super Nintendo days. I am about to head up tot the university to take a look around. It will be my first attempt at riding the subway on my own so wish me luck. If any of you know of any really cool things I should do while I am here please let me know. I guess I will set up a Picasa account so I can post all of my photos, so far I have taken 0, but I hope to increase that by a many today. I miss you all!

D-Rok

First Attempt

Well as most of you know I am moving to China next week to finish my MBA. Most of you also know this is my second attempt at going. Last August I snapped my tibia two weeks before I was supposed to go. Well the leg is all healed and I am ready to go. This blog is a way for me to let all my friends know what I am up to, as well as a a place where people can give me ideas on what I should do. I will try and update this weekly, but as everyone knows I get distracted by almost anything. So here it is, and I will also set up a picasa account so I can show everyone my photos. I hope to stay in contact with each and everyone of you!