Only in China

Went to dinner with a couple friends tonight. Nothing fancy.

One of the guys asked for some "cheese fries." He asked in Chinese, so to limit the confusion.

Picture says enough.

Doing my part to support the North Korean economy

This afternoon, I met up with Lina (girl I met Halloween weekend). I decided we would go ice skating over at one of the many malls that dot the Beijing streets. It was pretty funny to walk into the rink and see only Chinese people. Mostly little kids out there having a good time, there were also a lot of figure skaters out there practicing. I saw one little girl, likely 5 or 6, that could be an Olympic hopeful in another 10 years.

This was Lina's first time skating, she was actually pretty good, just a little nervous. I didn't show off my skills too much, didn't want to intimidate her ;-). I was followed around the rink by a little boy who was just learning how to skate. He was pretty funny, I tried to help him a little bit, but I think he was scared of me. Skating around definitely made me feel like playing hockey. I've got to find or get the rest of my needed equipment over here soon, maybe when my brother comes.

A couple friends of mine wanted to meet up for dinner. So, from the rink, it was on to a North Korean restaurant near my apartment. Ray has been talking about it for about a month now, so I figured I'd give it a shot. He's told me about the Saint Bernard he had there a few weeks ago, made me sick to my stomach. He promised he wouldn't order the dog this time around... though I am sitting here wondering about one of the dishes we had.

The atmosphere of the place is pretty much like a typical Chinese restaurant in Beijing, nothing special about it...other than the constant stares, the guys in leather coats keeping track of us & the waitresses wearing some weird North Korean costumes with Kim Jong Il pins on. All of the waitresses there were also very cute. I wonder if they're allowed to date Americans? Doubt it.

The restaurant is owned/run by the North Korean Embassy in Beijing. I am told the girls and other workers there commute back in forth in groups and cannot travel by themselves, must always be with at least one other North Korean.

It was definitely an interesting experience, will go back for sure. The food was really good; still wondering about that one dish though...

T-Day recap

Thanksgiving was pretty relaxed in China. We headed to Steak & Eggs for our 4:30 dinner reservation. This was good, because I'm used to eating T-day dinner around 4pm. S&E was packed. Paul (the owner) was going nuts (entire cook/wait staff is Chinese, he finally invested in English lessons for them, progress is noticeable). Good meal, lots of wine... lots of Chinese talking going on at the table (since we all brought Chinese dates). It's amazing how Chinese girls create instant friendships with each other. I've noticed it a lot recently, especially at work. The girls just gravitate to each other and become instant friends.

After a couple of hours @ S&E and too much food, it was time to head for some post dinner cocktails...on to Centro in the Kerry Center. We got a table, ordered a couple bottles of wine & just relaxed. After a couple hours, I decided it was time for a cigar. Smoked on a smooth Romeo Y Julieta for about an hour, it was great. The girls wanted to head to Suzie Wongs, so that was the next & last stop for the night. When I got home (around 2am), I decided it was time to start dialing and wishing friends and family a Happy Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving festivities...in China

Tomorrow will mark my second holiday in China (Halloween was the first). I've noticed that many of the Chinese think that Thanksgiving is on Saturday, still haven't gotten to the bottom of that one, but I think it's because a lot of people will have "Thanksgiving parties" on Saturday ... although, they don't really understand how Thanksgiving came to be. I failed at giving the team a taste of Thanksgiving...I tried to order lunch delivery from Steak & Eggs too late (Monday). Oh well, I'll give them a taste of American Christmas.

This will be the first Thanksgiving ever, that I've spent away from my parents (awwe). For the past 5 years that I was in Raleigh, NC for Thanksgiving...I've gone to Buffalo, went to NYC once or my aunt & uncle have Thanksgiving at their house & my parents come. This will also be the first Thanksgiving that I won't be out partying the night before (Wednesday night booze fest is a tradition in Buffalo, likely many other cities too). Unfortunately, I can't really take off for the "US holidays" ... so, will be in the office bright & early tomorrow.

However, I will be having Thanksgiving dinner at an "American" restaurant: Steak & Eggs (It's owned by a guy from Canada, close enough). I'm meeting some other American guys there around 5pm tomorrow evening. We're all bring dates (Chinese girls that don't speak English), so they can experience their first Thanksgiving feast.

I don't think there will be much going on here for Thanksgiving, but I'm interested to see how the day goes. I'm sure I'll see a few strange things (maybe some turkeys being slaughtered on a side street in Chaoyang?).

The wonders of VoIP

I brought my Vonage router from the US to China when I came here (holy sh!+, it's been 3 months already!). However, I failed to remember that I can't just plug "appliances" in to the walls here. That's exactly what I did with my Vonage router, blew it up.

Through the ever-growing guanxi, I managed to finally get the router fixed & got it back last night. Plugged it in & it worked like a charm.

Because I'm feeling a little home sick (really, just a little... I do like it here), I'm posting my number up here for any one who feels like giving me a call... to harass me, ask me questions, just say hello, etc.... 919-342-0730. More times than not, you'll likely get my voice mail though. Amazing that this number connects instantly from the US. In addition, I dial out using US area codes...sweet!

I don't get it!

Blogger is now accessible from China again. I'm not going to ask questions or wonder, I just hope it stays this way.

New Beatles Album ... "Love"

help
Originally uploaded by MJM80.

My cousin pointed me to this today (as he was up at 1am procrastinating). You can have a listen to the newly released Beatles album for free.

It's basically a "mix" album, all Beatles. Great stuff, will be an iPod addition.

http://www.thebeatles.com/hearlove/index.php

More pipes blocked in China

stop
Originally uploaded by MJM80.

Wikipedia is now blocked...again. It was opened up for the last week, but now gone again. Between the blogs & the wikis, this is starting to get annoying.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/internet/11/17/china.internet.ap/index.html

Slight delay moving my blog, will happen at some point this week.

Chinese medicine...yum!

img00055
Originally uploaded by MJM80.

This past weekend, I came down with a "cold." I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that 99% of the buildings in Beijing (likely, across China even) do not turn their heat on until15 November.

So, all week, I've been in the office sniffling, coughing, blowing my nose..all of the good stuff that goes along with being sick. I've got some over the counter meds from the US, but they don't seem to be working.

So, this morning, my assistant came in with some Chinese medicine. I didn't even ask what the ingredients were, although I was & still am definitely wondering.

She told me I need to take two bottles, three times per day. These things are little glass bottles with foil wrapped tops. Comes with little straws to poke through so you can chug. Kind of looks like the test tubes used for blood samples.

As for the taste...absolutely disgusting. This is by far the worst tasting stuff I have ever had. I can even still recall the taste of the "iron" ... medicine we used to have to take as kids, iron was better than this crap.

So far, no signs of it working, but I'll give it some time & force down another four bottles today... if only I could mix it with some Johnny Walker, hmmm....

Blog on the move

moving
Originally uploaded by MJM80.

Due to the never ending blocking issues here in China, I'll be moving the blog yet again.

Friend & colleague Esteban (http://steveglas.wordpress.com/) has been gracious enough to provide me space on his server. So, assuming another solution isn't in hand by the weekend, the move will happen prior to Monday, then back to the blogging!

Will keep everyone posted on the new location...www.manninchina.com will forward to the place I end up.

The team

PB090186
Originally uploaded by MJM80.

Last night I hosted a dinner for my team & 3 colleagues from AU who are here in Beijing to train them. Edgar, China teleweb GM, also joined us.

My team is only 50% built, but it is a strong team! For all, this is their first experience working for an international company.

We had a great dinner & I was "forced" to ganbei (cheers=chug) with everyone at the table at least one time...needless to say, that turned into a lot of beers.

I'm going to learn a lot from this team, hopefully they'll learn a few things from me too...

He shoots...it wide!!

Colin at shoot out004
Originally uploaded by MJM80.

My cousin plays hockey for the UNC club team. Last week, they had a shoot out vs. Duke during intermission at the Carolina Hurricanes. Usually these slots are reserved for 5-8 year olds skating around in circles, but this is close enough.

Here's a video of my cousin shooting it wide and embarrassing himself in front of thousands of people. My suggestion to him was to just flick the puck up into the stands at his dad & then run the goalie. That's what I would do.

I can't embed the video on the blog, since I'm still "locked out" but here is the link to the video on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6KMA7EvJ0c

North Korea gearing up

north_korea_map
Originally uploaded by MJM80.

Slowly but surely, North Korea will go through dramatic changes.

Remember a few weeks back, my post about a potential trip to North Korea (which generated quite a stir), well, that trip did happen. No Americans were allowed to go, but some Europeans & Asians did make the trip.

Here's an article covering it... Roger Barret is the guy I spoke to about going on the trip... 2 hours after the "nuke test," he called me to say there would be no US passport holders allowed.

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/north-korea-said-to-be-hungry-for/20061105163109990002?cid=774

North Korea will change.

Bottom of the ocean in a bowl

Seafood-Dalian
Originally uploaded by MJM80.

This picture doesn't do justice in terms of describing what I had for lunch today in Dalian, I found it online.

It basically looked (and tasted) like someone scrapped the bottom of the ocean & put it into a bowl for me to enjoy. I had no rice with the meal to hide the stuff, so I was stuck tasting all of the gross stuff. Thankfully the Hennessey mixed with green tea that I drank last night (ok, drank a lot of) was still in my stomach to mix with the creepy stuff.

Other than the seafood, Dalian is a really cool city. Other than the fact that there are tons of Chinese around, I don't feel like I'm in China.

I've finished up with the head hunters, made some very good progress with them. A couple of contracts to get approved on Monday, some tests to review & hopefully new additions to the team within the next couple of weeks.

Off to do a few interviews now, then I'll have about an hour of sun light left to look around the city & snap some pictures.

First "inner" China trip

a_team_van
Originally uploaded by MJM80.

I've flown in and out of China from the US a few times now, but today was my first visit to the "local" terminal at the Captial Airport in Beijing.

The first thing I noticed as I was looking out the windows in the terminal is that the planes are huge. No puddle jumpers exist in Beijing (maybe in the less popular/remote cities). I suppose it is due to the massive amount of people in China. My flight was pretty much full.

Next to me, I found what I assumed were first time flyers. Two guys, maybe in their 50s. Thet strapped in tight, read the emergency pamplet about 5 times, front-to-back & looked really nervous when we took off. Maybe this is just their ritual though.

I had my iPod on & plugged into my ears the entire time...was never once asked to turn it off...suprising, but I didn't mind.

After I picked up my bag, is was time to head out for a taxi. In Beijing, you stand in a long line, but the taxis are in a line longer than the eye can see....not in Dalian. I was shocked. I got outside to find at least 100 people in the line ... no taxis! They were coming what seemed to be every 3-5 minutes...not happy. However, a friend of mine in Beijing told me about the airport shuttle. So, I went in, told them where I needed to go & they agreed to take me. The A-Team van, 80RMB and 30 minutes later & I'm at the hotel.

The van looked very similar to the A-Team van, only there were windows along the sides & it was blue. But it did have a similar paint job & a fin on the back of it.

Full day scheduled tomorrow with head-hunters & interviews, hopefully I leave here with some new employees!

In Dalian

liaoning-s-ow-600x600
Originally uploaded by MJM80.

Officially locked out of Blogger in China

locks
Originally uploaded by MJM80.

Access to blogspot.com blogs was removed last week, however, I could still access my blogger dashboard & publish. Today, that access is no more. This SUCKS

I will figure out another solution, or end up using a different blog. I'm sure Google will have this fixed soon with those who make the decisions here...right.

For now, I'll use flickr.

Off to Dalian tomorrow for recruiting