The international group in China did some shopping and dining tonight. A group of 10 of us made the trip down Nanjing Road. Nationalities represented included: China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, India, Germany and the US.
All week I've been feeling like ugly American, as all I speak (reasonably) fluently is English. Granted, I could survive with my knowledge of Spanish, but that is about it. Elsewhere, I depend in the education of others.
What I didn't realize until tonight was how several if my pan-Asian counterparts were in as bad a shape as me. Granted, they spoke a second language, namely English, but faced with some if the locals, they were as depended on the help of our Chinese speaking friends as much as I. For some reason, I think the perception is if you take an American plus someone from another country, and put them both in a third country foreign to them both, the American will have more trouble adapting. That was not the case. For our dinner, all the Asians wanted to go to a noodle place because they were "sick of eating rice". Both the German and I found this odd, we went with the flow.
The shopping went well. I had to get a new bag, to carry everything back that I had accumulated. As was mentioned to me, my face is not good for bargains, so the local from China, Tina, and the woman from Singapore who was also looking for a bag accompanied me. Bargaining got easier when you are not committed to a particular item. Plus, the same bags were in several of the same shops.
I started getting a feel for the prices and I figured out my max price, 150 Chinese (about $20 US). I was about to tell this to Tina, who was negotiating on my behalf, when she tells the shopkeeper "150!". Yep, I was feeling good about hitting the right price.
Three other things made me me feel more at home here tonight
1. After the negotiation, Tina started asking me questions in Chinese. When I reminded her I only speak English, she smiled, laughed and said "oh yeah right, I forgot!"
2. Tina decides to buy the same bag at the same price.
3. There is a Krispy Kreme in Shanghai.
Yep, I'm liking this place more and more.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
China: feeling like an idiot
Like many other hotels with Western tourists, this hotel has a card to help us communicate with the cabbies so we can get home. I didn't really pay attention to the card, until tonight. It has the English translation which reads:
"Hi! My address in Shanghai is Renaissance Yangtze Shanghai Hotel 2099 Yan An Xi Road Shanghai. Please take me there immediately"
I feel like I should have my mittens pinned to my sweater when I read this.
"Hi! My address in Shanghai is Renaissance Yangtze Shanghai Hotel 2099 Yan An Xi Road Shanghai. Please take me there immediately"
I feel like I should have my mittens pinned to my sweater when I read this.
China Last Day
I'm leaving Shanghai today for Taipei, Taiwan. I'm flying China Eastern airlines. Call me a snob, but having either the name "China"or "Eastern" in the name of your airline does not inspire me with confidence. Even stranger, China Easter is part of the SkyTeam alliance with Delta.
Reestablishing this air link between the mainland and Taiwan was a very momentous occasion for the People's Republic, which was celebrated by flowery speeches of harmony and understanding. That's all very good. On the ground level here, though, it meant crazy shopping junkets and copious amounts of duty free goods being shoved into the overhead compartments.
My experience with passport control was not as much fun this time. The guy checking my passport was giving me the evil eye. I tried to smile and look pleasant, but this guy was suspicious. I tried to make nice at the end and push the "very satisfied/happy face" button rating, but the machine was mysteriously deactivated. Humm ... worked for the person before me ...
Why does it seem so strange that a communist, state run airline would have a First Class and Business Class section. I thought classes and business people were the those the sort of things commies don't like? Weird.
In my attempts to minimize the overage charges for all the stuff I am transporting, I bought a second bag, which I had to "sneak" on the plane. I was in the bulkhead seat 7A, so I asked to be reseated to something where I could legitimately try to use the space under the seat in front of me. "Reseating" is not the most commonly used English word, so I tried to explain what I wanted to do by pointing at the seat line on my boarding pass and saying "back". The ticket guy caught on, and moved me back -to the very last seat, in the very last row of the plane. Either they were having a joke with the foreigner or it was just another example of Chinese efficiency. I hope it was the later.
Bye-bye China. It was fun.
Reestablishing this air link between the mainland and Taiwan was a very momentous occasion for the People's Republic, which was celebrated by flowery speeches of harmony and understanding. That's all very good. On the ground level here, though, it meant crazy shopping junkets and copious amounts of duty free goods being shoved into the overhead compartments.
My experience with passport control was not as much fun this time. The guy checking my passport was giving me the evil eye. I tried to smile and look pleasant, but this guy was suspicious. I tried to make nice at the end and push the "very satisfied/happy face" button rating, but the machine was mysteriously deactivated. Humm ... worked for the person before me ...
Why does it seem so strange that a communist, state run airline would have a First Class and Business Class section. I thought classes and business people were the those the sort of things commies don't like? Weird.
In my attempts to minimize the overage charges for all the stuff I am transporting, I bought a second bag, which I had to "sneak" on the plane. I was in the bulkhead seat 7A, so I asked to be reseated to something where I could legitimately try to use the space under the seat in front of me. "Reseating" is not the most commonly used English word, so I tried to explain what I wanted to do by pointing at the seat line on my boarding pass and saying "back". The ticket guy caught on, and moved me back -to the very last seat, in the very last row of the plane. Either they were having a joke with the foreigner or it was just another example of Chinese efficiency. I hope it was the later.
Bye-bye China. It was fun.
Monday, March 22, 2010
China Diary: Communication
When traveling overseas, especially to a place with a very different culture, it is important to remember patience, especially when it comes to language. No matter how difficult it may be for me to understand their English, I must remember it is far better than my Chinese. It can sometimes cause amusing problems. One of our local guides had a bag by Coach which she pronounced "Coochie". She enthusiastically invited us all to "look at my coochie!". Yeah, I felt it was my duty to correct that one.
Most everyone I am working with speaks English well, but most of them have a refreshing subtlety in the way they speak. As an American, I tend to be too direct. We talk too much when we should listen more. We assume silence as either a lack of understanding, or passive agreement, instead of polite reflection on what was said.
For the project I am working on, there is a delicate situation in China between our team and a local distributor. Problems could occur down the road, and we want to avoid it. There had been discussions through intermediaries, but it was not until the last say did the local team bring it up to me. From the way the sales manager spoke, it was obvious they wanted to, but politeness forbade him from doing so previously.
An answer at this time does not exist, but we understood the concerns. I let him speak and then then repeated his concerns in my own words. I explained to him and the group we were aware of the situation, and that the highest senior management was aware and acting on our behalf to insure there would be no problems. No resolution had been reached, nor could it at this time.
Afterwards, I spoke with the sales manager and I thanked him for raising this issue. He thanked me for my understanding. It was a good day.
Most everyone I am working with speaks English well, but most of them have a refreshing subtlety in the way they speak. As an American, I tend to be too direct. We talk too much when we should listen more. We assume silence as either a lack of understanding, or passive agreement, instead of polite reflection on what was said.
For the project I am working on, there is a delicate situation in China between our team and a local distributor. Problems could occur down the road, and we want to avoid it. There had been discussions through intermediaries, but it was not until the last say did the local team bring it up to me. From the way the sales manager spoke, it was obvious they wanted to, but politeness forbade him from doing so previously.
An answer at this time does not exist, but we understood the concerns. I let him speak and then then repeated his concerns in my own words. I explained to him and the group we were aware of the situation, and that the highest senior management was aware and acting on our behalf to insure there would be no problems. No resolution had been reached, nor could it at this time.
Afterwards, I spoke with the sales manager and I thanked him for raising this issue. He thanked me for my understanding. It was a good day.
China Diary: Day 2 - Honesty
Day two in China and all is going well. We got through the first day of formal meetings, and the mood is getting more fun. The formality is moving to familiarity, and with it, frank honesty.
Earlier we had gone on a city tour, which included a stop in the tea district. A few in our group were shopping; I was not. I was along for the ride. We traveled at as a group to some of the stores. Or more like a mob. I hung back, usually outside the store. One of our local Chinese sales reps, Louis, said to me "hummm, many faces bad for prices". And he was right. Too many people crowding the store would make the shop owner not as eager to bargain. Otherwise, everyone else might want the same deal, too. Lewis is an interesting guy. He doesn't speak much English, but you can tell he is a good sales rep. Our crowd thinned out and one of the shoppers was able to get the deal he wanted. As we went back to the bus, I tried to start up a conversation with Lewis. I mentioned he was right about the number of faces hurting the bargaining process."Yeah, yeah - many faces bad for bargain", he said, and then looking at me (the only American in the group), "especially yours." Honesty at it's finest.
We went to dinner last night with the China team at a very nice restaurant. It was in a building which appeared to be quite old, which is in stark contrast to the rest of Shanghai. I found out from our hosts that this used to be the home of a general. "That is, he was a general up until 1949 (when the commies took over driving the nationalist out)" he explained "now this place is a beautiful restaurant". It was interesting honesty: It wasn't a bad thing, or a good thing. It was just a thing. No more needed to be said.
Earlier we had gone on a city tour, which included a stop in the tea district. A few in our group were shopping; I was not. I was along for the ride. We traveled at as a group to some of the stores. Or more like a mob. I hung back, usually outside the store. One of our local Chinese sales reps, Louis, said to me "hummm, many faces bad for prices". And he was right. Too many people crowding the store would make the shop owner not as eager to bargain. Otherwise, everyone else might want the same deal, too. Lewis is an interesting guy. He doesn't speak much English, but you can tell he is a good sales rep. Our crowd thinned out and one of the shoppers was able to get the deal he wanted. As we went back to the bus, I tried to start up a conversation with Lewis. I mentioned he was right about the number of faces hurting the bargaining process."Yeah, yeah - many faces bad for bargain", he said, and then looking at me (the only American in the group), "especially yours." Honesty at it's finest.
We went to dinner last night with the China team at a very nice restaurant. It was in a building which appeared to be quite old, which is in stark contrast to the rest of Shanghai. I found out from our hosts that this used to be the home of a general. "That is, he was a general up until 1949 (when the commies took over driving the nationalist out)" he explained "now this place is a beautiful restaurant". It was interesting honesty: It wasn't a bad thing, or a good thing. It was just a thing. No more needed to be said.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
China Diary: Day 1
I tried to post this last week. Didn't work. The Chinese were far to clever for me, and my attempts to post in a timely manner did not work. Instead, I'll be posting my daily notes from China, delayed one week. Enjoy.
_______________
I'm in China now for the next week. With no direct access to facebook, I'm hoping my roundabout way of posting on blogger will work. (note: it did not)
So far it has been a good trip. I was here only once before, over 20 years ago, and to state the obvious, it's changed. The people are still very nice and the bikers are still in danger.
Biggest surprise I've seen so far: Chinese customs have set up a way for visitors to rate their satisfaction with the transactions. No foolin. There are buttons on your side of the glass pass through where you can rate the immigration process and the official processing the papers. She was nice and didn't laugh at my passport picture. I said I was "very satisfied."
_______________
I'm in China now for the next week. With no direct access to facebook, I'm hoping my roundabout way of posting on blogger will work. (note: it did not)
So far it has been a good trip. I was here only once before, over 20 years ago, and to state the obvious, it's changed. The people are still very nice and the bikers are still in danger.
Biggest surprise I've seen so far: Chinese customs have set up a way for visitors to rate their satisfaction with the transactions. No foolin. There are buttons on your side of the glass pass through where you can rate the immigration process and the official processing the papers. She was nice and didn't laugh at my passport picture. I said I was "very satisfied."
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
People
I don't understand people.
I never have, and I probably never will.
People do things and act in ways which make absolutely no sense to me. I struggle understanding why they do what they do, what their motivations are, or what need is being met by acting the way they do.
I would like people to make sense. I would find studding and and observing human behavior highly entertaining, if it was not so real. Airports, shopping malls and restaurants for me are some of the great places to see human behavior in its most raw and uncensored form. If it was socially acceptable for me to sit alone at one of these locations and just observe, record and analyse interactions and report my findings, I would. Unfortunately, unless you are funded by a university or some private enterprise, I think that type of behavior classifies you as a "creepy guy".
Lately I have been observing a lot of behavior I would call intentional rudeness. I have no other way to describe it other than seeing behavior that would be considered rude, but for no apparent gain or benefit. Yet, it continues to go on.
I have been spending a lot of time lately in some of my favorite people watching locations - airports and shopping malls. I would think that in these environments there would be a desire for greater efficiency; you have a place to go, so people should be motivated to get to the gate, or the next store, quickly and move on. I would think this would cause people to be more observant of their environment, so they can move and adjust quickly to crowds to cause the least possible disruption or delays to themselves. This is not, however, the case.
Next time you are out in a crowded location like this, watch and you will see people intentionally getting in the way of others. It is the strangest thing. This is not a case of people who are unwilling to move or give way; this is people deliberately getting in the way of others just to slow them down. The faster or more purposefully one person seems to go, the more the crowd wants to slow them down, and for the life of me, I don't know why. Why would anyone intentionally inconvenience others, without any apparent personal gain? It takes time and energy on the part of the interrupter, so why this is happening makes no sense to me whatsoever.
The only reason I can come up with is there must be some latent sense of satisfaction it comes from inflicting unhappiness on another person. Again - I don't know why. I guess that some people feel so beat up and worn down in their day, the only way they have to restore their ego to equilibrium would be to try to exert some superiority over some other person, even a stranger. But does that work? I don't see how. If person A is victimized by person B, how does A feel better by causing an inconvenience to person C? I don't get it. How does inflicting a temporary inconvenience on a stranger make you feel better about getting beat up by someone else? And if person C follows the same pattern, then wouldn't that mean they would take it out on another unknown person, D, and so on, and so forth. Would it not be better to address the situation with person B, and stop the cycle before it begins? Certainly it would be more efficient, and I imagine more satisfying to get to the source.
For those of you who have studied human behavior and know more than me, I'm curious to know why this goes on. Until it is stopped, I am going to do my best to pay it forward.
Have a good day.
Sunday, March 07, 2010
They never fail to disappoint
So it is time again for my annual rant about the Academy Awards, and yet again, they screwed it up, again. This should surprise no one.
In past years, I have sounded off on the need for additional awards. More awards = more nominations = more chance to share the love supporting second rate movies that did badly in the box-office but that producers feel can recoup money in the rental market with those magic words "Oscar Nominated".
More pictures will be nominated this year, but for the same awards. Instead of expanding the number of awards, they just increased the number of movies nominated for best picture, from five to 10. I suppose I should not be surprised. This is an institution that does not venture out into new territory; they stick to proven formulas. Just look at the movies they are cranking out for 2010: "Karate Kid" and "Clash of the Titans" are being remade and neither movie is 30 years old. The Hollywood formula of today seems to be remakes of proven winners come on in, original thoughts need not apply.
To top it off, this year was really weak with Best Pictures. "The Blind Side", "Avatar", "Up"... really? Nice pictures that proved entertaining to certain fan bases, but Best Picture Worthy? Compare this years list to the Best Picture Winners of the 1970s, which could be considered a Second-Golden Age for Hollywood:
1970: Patton
1971: The French Connection
1972: The Godfather
1973: The Sting
1974: The Godfather, Part II
1975: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1976: Rocky
1977: Annie Hall
1978: The Deer Hunter
1979: Kramer vs. Kramer
Of the 10 movies nominated this year, could any one of them be considered better than this list of 10 winners from the 1970s? I don't think so. Also, not making the winners list for the 1970s included the following films: "All the Presidents Men", "Cabaret", "Chinatown", "MASH", "Network", "Taxi Driver" and "Star Wars".
Yes, "Star Wars". To me, "Star Wars" is the champion of Science Fiction movies. There has not been a picture to surpass it in this genre. If "Star Wars" could not win Best Picture, I don't think any other Sci-Fi film should either, no matter how weak the competition. So it is with amusement and fear that I read about "Avatar" being considered the greatest picture of all time. Not Sci-Fi movie, but best picture of all time. Three hour CGI-fest movies, with no plot, no point, bad acting, and one that relies on profanity for cheap laughs, should not qualify for Best Picture no matter how much money it makes.
I only hope the Academy gets it right with the wins, even if they can't get the nominations right.
Happy Watching
PS: This year's George Clooney Academy Award goes to George Clooney for, oh, "Up in the Air"
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