On The Road Not Taken

Well, after 110 days, visiting 4 countries, circling the Northern hemisphere once; traveling by 9 airplanes, 3 trains, 1 rented car, countless taxis, buses and subway systems; arranging numerous meetings, building new friendships, a lot of dances and too many unique encounters to have written about in great detail, let alone remember well, I have taken some time to think about this experience of mine, and have summarized my thoughts on it in the following paragraphs.

Explanations:

Why I wrote this - First off, I don’t like reading or writing the great extents. So, why write this?

There are many things that have happened to me over the course of the last many years, that I have experienced by and large on my own and that I have no record to show others. So, in a way, I could say that I wrote this for everyone who wouldn’t believe me otherwise, but that would only be a half-truth. So, I will say this: I wrote this because I felt I had to. To let others know what I’ve been going through, but also to remind myself of what I’ve already done. I have a horrible habit of repeating things or thoughts that I should have well learned from long ago.

Remanufacturing - I said in a previous posting that I would write more about this idea. So, here it is:

While I was in Shanghai, I remembered something I had learned about in school: The remanufacturing industry is one of the few areas under the academic umbrella of “design” that, in my mind, has some responsible sense of purpose (While not the only one, it is the only I will expand on here). And by this, I am of course alluding to the “catch phrase” “sustainable design”. The basic idea is this: Some product is mass produced (usually on an automated assembly line), gets stripped down to its parts, some of which are then used in other assemblies or modified to make other parts once that product is no longer capable of its original function, or is no longer desired to do so. This process has been called many things before, and you could call it reuse or even renovated, but because this would be done on a mass production scale, it’s proper name, I think, is remanufacturing. There is of course some waste as always, but it saves a lot in energy consumption (recycling: melting down products to their basic materials and then creating a new product from it, is extremely energy intensive) and as a result, saves in production costs. From the research I’ve done, many companies are beginning to realize this (and for some, it’s an old idea). This, in my mind, is where the growth in manufacturing industries will and should happen.

To further this idea, is the need to develop new technologies (especially those having to do with alternative energy fuels). A lot goes into these ideas, but only so many make it to the mass market. Why? Production costs, politics, infrastructure, consumer acceptance, among other things. A lot of companies that do end up producing these sort of one-off new technologies destined for commercial use, do use the idea of remanufacturing quite well, but could do even better by producing them overseas where the cost is lower. While this seems pretty obvious, the unqualified exclamations of “stealing American jobs”, “using slave labour”, or other perceived negative aspects, don’t help any. At least from what I’ve seen (and I do admit, it hasn’t been a lot), the manufacturing industry in Shanghai is not all that different from North America. In some cases, I would even guess it’s better for the workers there. While this is a statement made in support of globalization (and those that know me well enough, know that I am very much opposed to the idea as a whole), if the rest of the world is going to develop their industries the same way industrialized nations have, then we have no choice but work with them, and make the best of it. Not participating in the global economy, by choosing to “only buy local” and resort to political protectionism, will not help the cause for global peace or “sustainability” as much as some think. As the vice president of one of the companies I visited in California said, we either deal with China now, or face the consequences later. I think he’s right. Tesla Motors (the car company I visited in California) is acting on this notion, and I do believe that they are ahead of the game because of it.

So what am I going to do about it? Well, all that I really can do at this point in my career is keep in contact with the people that I’ve met, and hope for the best. I can’t really see any job opportunities with any of these companies at the moment, because of reasons mentioned in previous postings, but I now realize it is something I will have to work towards, and can’t just expect to jump into. But when the opportunity presents itself, I pray I’ll be ready for it.

Decisions:

Work - “I never thought I’d have two months to decide a life”. Well, that time is up, and here is what I’ve decided.

On January 2nd, I started my new job. It is with the company that I had two interviews with, prior to leaving for my trip. This is officially my first salary job, and my first job related to the automotive industry. The reason why I took it, of all the other options I had or could have had available to me- to start my career. No more wandering from job to job (at least not for now). As mentioned before, the company designs and manufactures heat transfer systems for large vehicles and machinery, and is the closest thing I’ve found in North America to work in the automotive industry, that doesn’t deal exclusively with styling or require that I have graduated from a transportation design college in the States. In fact, there’s almost no styling involved. Can anyone say engineering? Yes, it is more like an engineering job, but the good part is that I am learning a lot about the manufacturing industry already. Not just that, but the whole thing about having “office job”. I even have my own desk and computer for the first time. It’s a strange experience. My boss seems like he will be a good mentor for me, and like I said, sort of like an older brother. On the whole, I think it’s a good step towards where I want to be, and what I want to do.

Related to this, is that burdening question a lot of us ask ourselves or are made to ask of ourselves at one point in our lives or another, and that’s “What do you really want to do?” I think I’ve finally figured out why I think it’s one of the stupidest questions I’ve ever heard. One: because people usually assume it means do-for-work, and two: people assume that they don’t really know. I think this question makes people act as if they are stupid, and unsure of what they want. To me, it seems more obvious now. What I really want to do, and what I’ve also always really wanted to do (for any extended period of time, and if I had to pick just one thing), is draw. That’s it, draw. So, what’s the problem? It doesn’t pay well enough. And it doesn’t make me feel I am contributing to the betterment of the world in the best way I feel I can. So, what I really want to do is no longer my paid work. What I do for work, will be more of what I feel I have to do. And that’s not at all bad.

Self-development - This is something that I only have realized since finishing school is NOT the same thing as being selfish. Taking time out of our busy lives to make time for ourselves has proven more important than ever, now that I am back. Also, it really is ok to say “no” to people, when you need that time. Or as some would put it: Before you can really help others, you have to help yourself first. And along with this is the idea of self-respect. We all know what we are worth or capable of, but a lot of us let us be limited by the idea that we aren’t supposed to realize that, or that we “have to” be another way. This has been a hard lesson for myself.

Also, I’ve realized that dance is a really good way to focus on self-development. If you’re serious enough about it, and have that passion (which I believe deep down all of us do), we can really look at ourselves in true honesty and work on our weaknesses, and get to know our strengths. With salsa, I only started to notice during my last week in Shanghai that I’m only just learning how to really dance. It was an amazing enlightenment.

Ever since coming back to Edmonton, I’ve also been noticing little things every now and then that I once would have never given a second thought to before, and now find myself more aware of them and feeling as though I understand them better. I can’t go into each little thing here, let alone remember them all, but I thought it was worth mentioning here, because they all happened so timely, and made it occur to me that just like so many other lives (eg. plants and other animals), we learn to adapt to whatever changes our path of growth. Maybe it is true that there are no “wrong” decisions, but only “better” ones, and even then, that we do end up where we were “meant” to be, no matter what path we take. But this is only a thought, among a thousand others.

Regrets - The CBC had a good show on the radio last weekend that talked about regret. This was one of those timely things that has happened to me since getting back, but I do want to expand on this here.

Basically, the show said, we regret things we didn’t do. And it all boils down to three factors (apparently): time, choice, and vice. Or TCV, as the show’s guest speaker so aptly put it. We either think we don’t have the time to do something, or are worried about when we should do something; we are worried that we may make the wrong decision when we have too many choices; we don’t think what we want is right and so end up not pursuing it. I know I’ve acted this way a lot before, but it’s not something I want to keep focusing on. What’s done is done. What isn’t, isn’t. The past, is still the past.

In 1996, Jonathon Larson finished his creation of the Broadway musical ‘Rent’. A wonderful story of the power of friendship and struggles that many people dealing with disease or small, insecure incomes face. The story also talked about regret. I saw the motion picture version of it first in 2005, and then the play itself in New York, in 2006. Each time I’ve seen it, it touched me like it knew my thoughts. Apart from its many critiques of societal attitudes and questions of what things are important, one stuck out the most: the priority of people and work. What is more important? A great job, or great friends. Many people sacrifice their career dreams, or modify them so as to opt for the latter. Others do the opposite. But, I think you can have both.

I want to be happy with both, but I know that we all have our own lives to live. Not to sound too cliché, but I really do need to listen to my heart, and hold on to my dreams. The only thing that no one ever told me before, was that in following your dreams, you have to give up others. Not all your dreams will come true. You have to choose.

Here’s an excerpt from an email that was sent to me by a friend who practices marketing and travels giving speeches on the topic. I think it’s related to what I’m trying to get at:

Who are you trying to reach?

There is likely no decision in business more central or profound than this one.

And no question that meets with more resistance.

After all, that question asks you to make a decision. Once you decide who you're trying to reach you have also, by necessity, made a decision about who you are no longer trying to reach.

You are asking yourself, "who am I best able to help?" And this brings up a lot of very personal issues about what you're passionate about, why you're here on Earth, what your talents are - questions that are often dealt with by ignoring them.

I've found that many people sort of "short circuit" when asked to address this question directly. Their eyes glaze over and they go into a deep haze.

But it must be addressed.

…

Even before I fell in love, or thought I had, with the very first girl I spent a lot of time with, I fell in love with a dream. A dream to help the transportation industry move towards sustainability, or in better terms, help make cars that don’t pollute. In following that dream, I know I will lose many friends along the way (and of course make new ones), and it will be hard. But, I know I have to do this. Don’t get me wrong though, I love my friends, and have grown to respect those with lifestyles I don’t agree with, but I can no longer try to focus my life around them... unless they really need me. We all have are own dreams and goals to achieve. To those that do achieve them, I’ll see you when I get there.

To everyone that has read this, or has been an influence in my life, I thank you. The road not taken, as I’ve now realized, started long before this blog, and will go ever on. But this blog will end here.

Take care everyone.

Sincerely,

Tim Singh

P.S. For those interested, I will start a new blog called “Anyway” (http://anywaybytim.blogspot.com/) that I will update less frequently, and with shorter postings.

California

After spending something like 9 ½ hours over the Pacific Ocean, passing over a clear sky around Mount Fuji along the way, I arrived at the San Francisco airport ready to start my Monday over again. One of my cousins picked me up, and after deciding on McDonald’s as my “Welcome back to North America” breakfast, I was back in China before I knew it. Chinatown that is. A sort of strange irony I guess. My cousin had some business to attend to for a couple of hours before taking the rest of the day off, so I hung out in a nearby Starbucks, slowly eating a gingerbread man and making phone calls.

I finally got a hold of someone from Tesla Motors (a really cool start-up electric car company: www.teslamotors.com), and found out that if I did want to visit the company, I’d have to show up by 1pm that day. It was only around 10:30am at that point, so it seemed possible, but I had to call my cousin first. The company was in San Carlos, a half hour drive from where we were. Luckily, my cousin works as a taxi driver, so he knew how to get there, and fast.

Once there, we got to do something most people will never do: sit in a concept car at the company headquarters! (I know, only one of my brother’s would get as excited about this, but hey.) I exchanged contact info with a guy who works there and was told to stay in touch. Something I think definitely worth doing.

I met some more of my relatives in the Bay Area that day, and stayed the night with my cousin.

The next day was spent mostly sightseeing in and around San Francisco. Both days, but more so this morning, I was reminded of the life of an Indian immigrant in North America. My relatives in California are, which meant: having to remember and fulfill certain Indian customs; pay attention to possible discrimination; and expect to be surrounded by Indian music and food. This, of course, changed the way I could see San Francisco. I had paradas (Indian bread) for breakfast, while I watched Indian music videos with my cousin and his roommate that morning.

In the afternoon, I met another one of my cousins, and took the BART train out to Pleasanton to visit my nephews and nieces. The husband of my cousin who had taken the train with me, really took an interest in the ideas I had and the research I had done, and told me he was doing some of his own. He introduced me to his 7 year old son (a nephew I hadn’t met before) who apparently had some good ideas of his own. His answer to the problem of alternative fuel cars was simple “Just make a battery big enough that will fit in a car”. When I was just a few years older than him, my solution was to “just make a really aerodynamic car”. The simplicity of the idea still drives a lot of my passion for it today. It was really refreshing to meet someone with the same kind of mentality. I hope that by saying this, I don’t fall back into the oh-he’s-still-just-a-kid category. My nephew also told me about an idea of how to make people fly using a rocket booster and a no-gravity belt. I think the world could use a few of those, and people like him.

I spent the night, and the next day with another cousin’s family, where we went to the Fisherman’s Warf. Although we only get to see each other every few years (twice this year), we get along as if we had spent years together. After eating dinner at a Mexican restaurant and a bit of gift giving, I retired the night early to catch the early morning flight to LA.

As I mentioned before, one of the companies I had gotten in contact with while I was overseas, was one in California, Los Angeles. So, before I left Shanghai, I asked if I could visit the company and show them the results of the research I had done. The vice president agreed, and so I took the opportunity to go.

The flight was short, as was the drive, but by the time I had finished my PowerPoint presentation, I was already half an hour late for the meeting. As with my meetings before, coming late wasn’t an issue. The meeting went well, and the vice-president said he appreciated the effort I made. I was shown around the building, sort of half office space and half science lab (the company produces hydrogen fuel cell systems), and was really interesting to experience. Before ending our meeting, he quickly had to make a call to the military (Crazy, eh? How many people can say they have to do that?). We talked about the “next steps”, and long story short: his company is interested in working with Chinese manufacturing (for a number of very good reasons), but won’t be able to do so for the next few years. On a related note, “sustainable development” as he put it, is a catch phrase and needs a specific context of discussion for it to have any real meaning. I couldn’t agree more.

After the meeting and a few more calls, I slowly made my way up the Pacific Coast Highway to West LA. I had called a designer I was hoping to meet the last time I was in LA. Because I couldn’t meet her until late afternoon, I explored the coast, stopping in Hermosa Beach along the way. The beach was nice, and so was the town. The breeze was cool, and the waves a little too high to venture into the water, so I walked along the main pier instead. It was there where I had met an older lady in a wheelchair who said she was a born-again Christian preacher. We talked for a good half an hour. I don’t think I really learned anything new, but it was good to hear someone basically tell me “It’s going to be ok” once again. I think I needed that.

From there, I left for West LA to have my final meeting on this trip. The designer I met there worked on many cosmetic products (nothing I think I’ve ever used, but I’m sure I’ve seen before. I told her I actually wasn’t interested in working as a cosmetic designer, but just wanted to meet with her, but by the end of our meeting, she was saying she’d like to work with me. How does that happen?

I drove down to Newport Beach that night and stayed at the Best Western (not my best experience, but it did the job). I really wanted to spend my last full day in California there. The first time I visited Newport Beach, I was only there to visit a car design firm, but liked what I saw. This time I was back to see more.

Newport Beach is a bit of an anomaly in Southern California: smaller shops, a slower pace of traffic and life; fewer tourists; road parking spots for electric golf carts; lots of yachts; a large retirement community. I think it must be what Key West in Florida is like, but I’ve never been there. It was really nice.

I went shoe shopping, and then made my way to Disneyland. I had to! I was right there! It was too expensive and too late to go to the themepark, so I spent my time in Downtown Disney – the adult Disneyland. No rides, just pubs, restaurants, hotels and live entertainment. It really changed my view of Disneyland. As I made my way to the exit, I was captured by the sounds of the tumbao and conga- a latin band. I couldn’t help but stay and move my feet. The band looked at me, and before I knew it, I was dancing salsa and helping a lady learn. The band and the lady thanked me, and then I set off to find rest at the cheapest motel I knew: the Super 8.

This morning, I woke up at 4am to catch my flight back to Canada, and made it back to Edmonton at 3:20pm.

The Last Week in China

Tuesday, December 12th, was the second last trip down to Nan Qiao that I would take to teach English. I said my goodbyes to some of my students there. I’m really going to miss some of them.



The evening could have been an exhausting night of going out and staying up late, but I chose only to do the latter. I finished marking all my grade one exams and report cards, while watching one and a half DVDs. The time just went by.

On Wednesday, I said goodbye to a few more classes, and took another “research” trip at lunch to meet with the manager of the SAIC Training Centre. I got off at the wrong Metro station, and walked the rest of the way. Sometimes mistakes like that can mean experiencing or seeing something that you never knew was there. In this case, I got to see a really interesting architectural part of Shanghai. Old Chinese buildings juxtaposed to statements of modernity (Metro line overpasses; shiny curtain wall underground pedway entrances; people washing their cars). The oddest thing I saw was a park that was raised above street level and bordered by a thick sewage pipe. Once I sat down for the meeting, I was in for another reality check.

To paraphrase, what the manager told me was this: while I was “brave” enough to take on such an “adventure” and pursue the “dream” of sustainable development, the reality of finding work in the automotive/manufacturing industry in Shanghai, let alone China, was only just slightly less impossible than getting an internship. The reasons being: there are simply too many Chinese graduates who can do the same work with my level of experience, if not more, and two: interns normally just get paid pocket money (if they do at all). She said my best option might be to stay in Shanghai, and meet people in the industry while working a different job (basically, what I’ve been doing), but I really don’t think that I could do that for much longer. Despite how this may have sounded, it was actually quite a positive experience. I thanked her for her time, and quickly headed back to the school to go over my grade ones’ final exam and hand out their report cards.

I went to the dance studio that I go to on Saturdays for a class that evening. The class was cancelled shortly before I arrived, because the guy instructor had chest pains. So, four of us had a late dinner instead.

That Thursday was my last day in Nan Qiao. A day of student presentations, lectures on the importance of learning English (or other international languages for that matter), taking pictures, and signing autographs (you gotta love these kids).

In the evening, I went to yet another new salsa club with my dancepartner. The place was really nice, and the music was good, but for those of you that understand, the best part was the floor. It was late, so I stayed at my dancepartner’s place once again. I didn’t get much sleep, but it was a good night.

The 15th was my last day of teaching. I took one last “research” trip out to Pudong where I met an English guy who I would later find out was leaving the company on the same day. Our meeting went well, but (as I guess I should have realized he would do) he didn’t talk much about the company, and made it seem like he was the guy to go to if I needed anything.

Each one of these meetings has been unique in their own way. I can never really anticipate too much.

I came 15 minutes late for my last class, but didn’t really feel bad about it, considering I had only taught this class once before.

I quickly headed back to the apartment afterwards and created an “official” invoice of my airfare to Shanghai on my computer (I had lost the original in Vienna), and then my roommate and I made our way to our boss’ office to get our reference letters and say our final goodbyes to him.



Later on, all six of the foreign teachers gathered at one of our apartments to help one of the teachers move into her new place, order “Hello Pizza” (the cheapest pizza delivery service in Shanghai) and then enjoy a few drinks at a little basement bar not far away. It was hard to say goodbye to them all, but as with so many others in my life, I’m getting used to it.



Saturday morning, I went to the gym and my dance class one last time. I left for Xu Jia Hui with the guy from Vancouver and his dancepartner shortly thereafter (they’re teaching their own salsa class now) and did some Christmas shopping before meeting them again for dinner. Later, we went to Silver Moon where I gave out more goodbyes. I went to another club after that “while the night [was] still young” and didn’t get back to the apartment until almost 4am. It was one of those nights.



I finally got around to doing some packing yesterday before visiting Silver Moon, eating at the Xin Jian restaurant and dancing at Zapatas one last time.



This morning, I had breakfast with my dancepartner and finished packing with just enough time to: stop by the school and give the guards the dollar store items I had brought from Canada to give to my students, but had forgotten about; catch a taxi to the nearest Metro station; take the MagLev train to the Pudong International Airport (like Japan’s Bullet Train. At one point we were doing 410 km/h. The duration of the trip: 5 minutes. What a ride!); walk the width of the departure gate twice with the same amount of luggage I had when I started this trip, but with my trenchcoat on. With just a few minutes to spare, I got on the United Airlines flight 858, bound for San Francisco.

Yeah, that’s right. I figure I may as well make one more stop before returning home: California before Chirstmas.

At Work and Research

By the time I started writing this posting, I had already forgotten what had happened the first weekend of December,… so I’ll just skip it.

December 4th started the past work week off with a fairly busy schedule. I had a meeting with another automotive industry firm in the Pudong district of Shanghai- an unexpected almost one hour taxi ride. Needless to say, I was late. But as I’ve come to realize, because I’m “just” doing research and not really doing business, the strictness of punctuality and formality need not apply. Even in a country that has long prided itself on “saving face”.

I made it a few minutes late to the school to teach my class, but considering the distance I traveled, and the unpredictability of traffic, I think I did pretty well.

The 4th was also the first day that I started to test my students. It was sort of weird taking on a teacher role at the beginning of this semester, but formally testing students is a bit of another thing. As I tested my grade ones on their oral English, I remembered my Spanish, Italian, and French teachers, and felt like I finally understood what they must have gone through. Trying to teach a completely foreign language to people and inspiring them to continue learning it even if they don’t plan to use it everyday, is hard work. My hat goes off especially to my Spanish teacher for that.

After work, I took another taxi to northern Shanghai for another meeting, in a die-making warehouse. I met the Japanese manager I had been in contact with via telephone. Our meeting was interesting, not because I really got anything out of it as far as business information goes (in fact, he didn’t say much more than “yes” to anything I was saying), but because he really came alive when soft pop music started to play through the speakers of the office. I looked at him with a sort of puzzled expression, and all he did was smile. I smiled back, and then understood- it was five o’clock. From that point on, our conversation changed its focus from business to family. It was really nice. He still showed me around and explained things to me, and I took genuine interest, but in the back of my mind all I could think was “This guy’s happiness is his family.” I don’t know whether I also thought “This is how I want to be” or “This is how I will be”, but regardless, it reminded me of why I am on this search.

As I left, I received a text message from my dancepartner asking if I had time to practice. After buying some leather gloves (possibly pleather) and having some dinner, I met her at the nearest Metro station to her apartment. We had good conversation on the way to her apartment, and practiced until she said she was too tired. It was late again, so I stayed the night with her. It was cold that night. She put her heater next to me, and left it on for the rest of the night. I feel lucky to have met her here.

In the morning, I got up early to grab some quick breakfast on the street, catch two buses back to my apartment, change, and get my stuff together for another day in Nan Qiao (in case you’ve wondered this at any point, it’s pronounced Nun Chow). The day went by with me trying to continue making whatever calls I could to the firms I had on my list, and setting up meetings. In the evening, I followed that up with emails, and printing off things to fax and take to my meetings the next day.

Wednesday morning, I had to be a little bad. I “texted” in sick to one of my boss’ assistants, so I could attend two meetings I had arranged out in Pudong. I said my stomach had been feeling bad and that I would see a doctor. The first part was true, but “seeing a doctor” would be a matter of interpretation.

I took a taxi to the nearest Metro station, because I wasn’t going to go through the whole taxi-ride-to-Pudong thing again. I still had to take a taxi once I got to Pudong, and for the first time had to direct the driver even though I really didn’t know Pudong well at all. I arrived at my meeting late, which was once again no problem, but I didn’t want to be late for my next meeting, so I tried to make our meeting as concise as possible. I think that worked to my advantage. The guy I met works in another critical area of the automotive industry I had hoped to form a relationship with: import and export. We ended our meeting in a mutual agreement that even if there was no business between us, that we could help each other out as friends. That’s good, I think.

From there, I went further into Pudong to meet the Research and Development Manager of VALEO (a French joint-venture company that works on automotive electrical systems). Our meeting had a bit of a different feeling, but he said he was interested in one of the company projects I presented to him. Good to know.

I technically had a 20 minute class to teach at 12:30, but I really didn’t feel like rushing back to the school for that. So I took my time and walked through Century Park- the largest park in the Pudong area of Shanghai. The weather had become really warm by noon, and the sky was a good shade of blue, so a walk in the park just seemed right.

Since arriving in Shanghai, I have often gazed at a poster in one of the elevators in my apartment with an advertisement for the “International Mosiculture Exibition” in Century Park that ended on November 30th. Even though it was already the 6th of December, I hoped that at least part of the exhibition would still be there. As a walked through the park, I realized that the “exihition” would likely stay there for quite a while longer because it was the plants that were on display. I spent most of my time there by myself, but I guess forgot that in China I am also a spectacle, so I was never far from attention. One of the Chinese people there came up to me, and with no more introduction than asking where I was from, asked if he could take a picture with me. Why not, I thought.

Century Park is really scenic, and really symbolic of what the focus of Shanghai has become: how great the New China will be. I’ll admit, it is a nice dream. I just hope that as one of my old boss’ assistants put it back in September, “The buildings [don’t] replace the culture”.

I took the Metro and a bus back to the school for my afternoon class where we finished our review of the semester.

I went to the gym in the evening, and ran into my gymmate by surprise there. For whatever reason, we hadn’t been working out together all that often anymore. In an effort to balance the busyness of the day, I decided to stay home that night.

Thursday evening, I met up with a friend from Edmonton on a business trip to Shanghai. I met another one of his friends, and the three of us (all from Edmonton) ate at a place called Cotton’s. A nice, but expensive European restaurant. The three of us had a good time. When my friend asked how I was finding Shanghai, my reply was something like “Good, but I feel like I’m skipping a lot of levels (referring to the “corporate ladder”).” The friend of my friend said something like “As long as you have a skill, you can find a job here”. My friend wants to move here too. Crazy, yeah I know.

We spent the rest of our time at a hip-hop club called Bon Bon, where I experienced my first live Chinese rap group. Again, I couldn’t believe I was in China.

By Friday morning, I think I had called all the companies on my list at least three times. Getting a little further in my “investigation” with some, discovering new difficulties in communication with others, and having the rest simply continue telling me that “the line is no answer”. I also had one guy cancel our meeting when I called him back to ask him to text me the address of his company in Chinese.

For lunch, I went to the foreign teacher’s office to eat as I usually do. Across my desk sits an American teacher who has become my “we’re in the same boat” go-to person. She’s also really been like my sister: with that intuition that I may be doing or saying something wrong as soon as I enter the room, and then telling me “how it is”. Don’t get me wrong, this is a good thing. I have to thank them both for that.

I hadn’t seen the American teacher since the week before, so I quickly gave her an update on things. When I told her about my meetings, she asked “So what’s in it for you?” That was a hard question to answer. I wanted to say something like “future work opportunities”, but as soon as I started to talk about the future, she said something like “It’s great that you’re making all these contacts, but what are you going to be doing with them now?” I kind of fumbled over an answer to that one. Other than possibly get some of the companies I’m in contact with in North America to work with companies here in China… I don’t know. And of course, there’s also a reality check in there- I’m not getting paid to do this. I guess my passion for ideas (ie. Sustainable development) sometimes really gets ahead of my own “sustainability” to carry them out. I do have a bit of hope that maybe one of these companies will be so impressed with the work that I am doing for them, and see that I really am doing this because I believe in these ideas, that they will just offer me a job. But I’m not expecting that. The American teacher said she thinks I basically need work experience- an echo of my dancerpartner #2. She also said I should start asking if these companies would offer me an internship. Something definitely worth considering, I know. I have inquired about jobs here within the automotive industry, but it seems like most of the jobs require years of experience, and of course approval from the automotive governing group of shanghai: SAIC. If I am serious enough about this kind of work, and can’t find anything here or with the companies I’ve contacted, I may have to move to where I can get the work experience, in Canada. We’ll see though.

My afternoon class was cancelled (with unsurprisingly little notice), so I was free to take another trip out to Pudong to visit PATAC (Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center Co.)- “the first automotive engineering and design center in the Asia Pacific Region”. I didn’t have an appointment with anyone, but thought I’d try my luck anyway. It turns out that I couldn’t get in, but used the time to convince the guards at the gate to let me call another company I had been trying to arrange a meeting with close by. I managed to set up a meeting for half hour later.

When I got there, I was in the middle of nowhere (as far as nowhere goes in Shanghai). Hugh plots of land occupied by industrial firms, surrounded by typical Chinese-style walls and the occasional labourer riding his/her bike. So this is industrial China, I remember thinking. On my way into the compound I had arrived at, I also got to witness the scale and surprisingly “moderness” of the warehouse. Around the back, a good twenty minute walk, were the offices.

I met with the girl I had spoken with on phone. I explained to her the point of my research, and she talked about her company. Near the end of the meeting, we both realized that there would likely be no business between the companies I presented, and the one I was visiting. So, for better or worse, I decided to then talk about me, and my interest in working for their company, if there was a position available. Apparently, there had been “for a long time”, but the one thing that likely would make or break any chance I would have would be whether or not I had work experience in automotive manufacturing. Work experience, work experience.

From there, I went all the way back to my apartment, went to the gym, had some dinner at the Xin Jian restaurant (I love that place), and then made my way to JZ club (a jazz club) to spend most of the rest of the night with two of my dance instructors and a girl from the dinner where I had hairy-crab. Although the dance floor was really small and the whole place was really crowded, the band and atmosphere were fantastic.

On Saturday, it was back to the gym in the morning, and my dance class in the afternoon. I had dinner with my dance instructors and went to Silver Moon at night. After checking out another club with my dancepartner, I stayed the night with her.

Sunday morning, I had a meeting at one of Tongji University’s campuses in Shanghai, where I met the guy who had put me in contact with Dr. Ma Jun at the campus out in Anting. Our meeting didn’t really have a purpose, but we did end up talking a lot about business. He talked a lot about the importance of guanxi (relationships) in getting things done in China, and the importance of alcohol. It was an interesting and very telling conversation. I didn’t really learn anything new, but I was surprised at how openly he talked about these things. I don’t even think I know that many people in Canada that would be willing to say the same sort of things.

Afterwards, I went back to the apartment to change and go to a salsa class. I didn’t really participate in the class too much, but spent most of my time practicing other moves with the guy from Vancouver and his dancepartner. I went a different salsa class after that, where the instructor really made me feel as though I knew nothing about the dance. He taught every move so technically, I was both impressed and intimidated by him.

I stopped along the way to the metro station to take a picture, where a girl from the class I had just left reintroduced herself. We ended up eating in a “small and dirty” restaurant with unsurprisingly great food. I managed to convince her to come out to Zapatas (after stopping for some pastries), where a lady (possibly the same girl who was dressed in the Caribbean-esque costume weeks ago) was giving a lesson on samba. To say it politely, I don’t think most of the people there were ready for samba.

This morning started my last week of teaching. My first class of the day ended with one of the students walking up to me as I was leaving, and handed me a pen. It was a really emotional moment for me that I can’t describe here.

I left right away for Pudong once again, for yet another meeting there. I made it back in time to teach my grade one’s their “open class” (where the parents can watch me teach), and then gave them their written exam. I finished the day going to the gym, cooking, cleaning, and finishing this posting.

I’ll be back in North America in less than a week, and be home for Christmas.

The Rest of November

The rest of November didn’t start with anything I haven’t come to expect as far as work goes. Last minute class cancellations and additions, unpredictable time to complete errands and practice salsa, and a general feeling of uncertainty in what I had time for.

What was pleasant Autumn weather, had turned into cold and rain on the morning of November 16th. I put on my dad’s trench coat for the first time here. Wearing it in the rain really felt good. I got to the meeting point where my gymmate and I get picked up for work, and was greeted in my boss’ car by a not so happy: “Maybe next time, can you come before 8:35?” That’s already five minutes late. I came ten mintues late this time.

The next day was another day in Nan Qiao. My last two classes of the day are my “Reading Class”, supposedly for the “special” students (I find that word can also go either way here). After attempting to teach my students Shakespearean Sonnets, simple poetry and then rhymes, I broke it down to just teaching hand writing on this day. They really seemed to pay close attention and enjoy it, as did I. I think that’s been a good thing for both the students and me.

After work, my gymmate and I went DVD shopping (Pirated or not, I’m not sure. But they are “dirt cheap”, as far as DVDs go). We had some dinner at 021, and then left for Tang Hui. I wanted to introduce him to the salsa scene here. He said he wanted to come back. I think that’s a good thing.



Friday morning I went to the gym, even though I didn’t have enough time to finish my workout routine. The trainer there who’s been very helpful to both me and my gymmate, passed his tests to get into the Chinese army, and would be leaving the gym the following Monday. So, in case I didn’t get another chance to see him, I gave him a present that day: a pack of Shanghai cigarettes. His favorite.

That day was also my dancepartner’s birthday. I spent some time in the evening looking for a present for her and then made my way to the restaurant she chose to celebrate at (of course getting lost on the bus ride there, and waiting way too long in traffic once I decided to just take a taxi (of which didn’t even take me all the way, so I ended up running)).



I made it to the restaurant an hour late. Luckily, this time (whether it was because her other friends also said that they’d be late, or just because she’s accepted my lateness) she didn’t get upset with me. Which was a sigh of relief. Once all of us started to eat, the fun of language and cultural exchange began. My dancepartner practiced her French, while one of her friends from France practiced his Mandarin, and one of her Chinese friends practiced German. I switched between the three. The common language for all of us of course was English. At one point though, I was speaking Mandarin with the guy from France. It was an interesting experience to say the least.

The rain really began to pour that night. Water was even making its way into the restaurant through the window gaps. I went to the Air Bar by myself later that night, and met a girl I hadn’t seen in a while. We had a good time dancing.



Saturday morning, after a sudden invitation by an older Chinese man to watch his group practice old Chinese songs (which I did stop by to see), it was back to the gym to say my final goodbyes to the trainer. His last day would be the next day. Before leaving, he said to me “I really believe in yuan fen.” (A very unexpected coincidence that we will meet again). I hope so. He’s only 19, but by his character and appearance, you’d think he was a lot older.

Later that day, I went for my Saturday dance class (Where we really seem to be loosing girls. Only the guy from Vancouver’s dancerpartner consistently shows up (it is her studio after all)), and then from there, slowly made my way to the Metro station (in the rain) to meet the girl I had danced with the previous night for dinner. My guy dance instructor would join us as well. Along the way, I stopped in a Four Seasons Hotel to use their washroom (I didn’t know you could do that, which is the reason why I’m including this here), had some bubble tea and took some pictures of “Shanghai in the rain”, as I guess I would call it.



The three of us ate at a Cantonese restaurant, but my instructor didn’t feel too good after the food. So, he left to “have a rest” in his apartment. My friend and I left for Silvermoon shortly thereafter. We walked all the way there (in the rain, but with her umbrella), talking and singing. At Silvermoon, I asked another really good dancer if he taught, and was invited to his class the next day.

This new class was in a part of Shanghai I hadn’t seen yet. On the way, I ran into the salsa DJ from the Air Bar and Zapatas. It was kind of strange to meet her outside the salsa scene. The class I went to was alright, and from there I went to the nearest Metro station to meet another girl I had met on the bus to the salsa congress weeks ago. We met for dinner, which proved to be interesting. Her English wasn’t great, and neither was my Mandarin, but somehow we managed to entertain each other. We left for Zapatas (missing the stop we were supposed to get off at), and arrived to a really packed dance floor. She hadn’t learned salsa before, but she picked it up really fast, which was good to see.

Monday morning, I got in touch with some people from Tongji University in Shanghai. Tongji is supposed to be a really good place to go to for automotive research. I managed to get a hold of a guy that said he would assess my request for an interview, and get back to me. In the evening, I practiced some more salsa combinations with my dancepartner #2.

Time outside of work from November 21st to 23rd was spent largely on the computer doing more research into the various car-related firms in and around Shanghai. The only real break from this came when my roommate received word that her mother was sick with cancer, once again.

…

It’s always times like these that make me slow down, and just appreciate what I have. But at the same time, it also makes me strive even harder for the things I want to achieve.

By the 23rd, I had come up with a good 15 pages of company names and descriptions. I also got in touch with a technology firm in California and a firm in Edmonton involved in automotive remanufacturing. Both of which proved to be helpful for a meeting I would have the following day at Tongji University.

The 23rd was also a Thursday, which meant going to Tang Hui. I introduced my gymmate and two of the other teachers at our school to salsa there. They seemed to enjoy it, but we spent most of our time just “chillin’” at the bar. That night, I also got one of the other teachers to teach my morning class the next day so I could take the trip out to Tongji University the next day.

Up until Friday, the weather like I said, had been less than pleasant. A mix of damp rain, cool breezes and hidden sunlight had been more common than not. But the morning of the 24th was an unexpected break from this. The sky was blue (even if only slightly) and it was warm. I left the apartment in my sports jacket (I knew I brought it for a reason), a tie and my laptop. I waved down the first taxi that I could find, and in half an hour, made it to Anting (about 30 km west of the city of Shanghai) for a meeting with Dr. Ma Jun, Vice Dean of the Automotive College of Tongji University.

The ride up to the gate of Tongji University in Anting looked a lot like the strip mall districts of Edmonton (big-box buildings and wide open parking lots) only with a Chinese touch (bicycles along the highway, decorative flags and banners hanging from the buildings) and cost 76 Yuan (the average taxi fare I’ve been paying to get around Shanghai has been more like 20-30). I quickly got out of the taxi, and called Dr. Ma Jun. I had texted him to let him know I’d be a little late, but got no response from either that or my phone call. By this point, I was sort of panicing, because I really felt like if I messed up this meeting, I’d be messing up a lot. So I stood by the gate, next to one of the guards, with a paper in my hand that had the address of Tongji University written in Chinese. It didn’t have the building or room number, and of course, I didn’t know enough Mandarin to be able to communicate with the guard beyond simple greetings and hand gestures. So, I stopped a group of girls exiting the campus, who I thought might know some English, and managed to tell them what I was looking for. As with most Chinese people I’ve met on my trip so far, they were more than willing to help. I gestured to the guard as if to say: “I’m with them”, and the four of us were on our almost hour long quest to find Dr. Ma Jun.

We managed to keep ourselves well entertained along the way. They took interest in why I was there, and how well I could apparently speak Mandarin, and I just questioned everything there that was new to me. When we finally got to Dr. Ma Jun’s office, his assistant welcomed me in, telling me that he was still in a meeting and would be late. Good to know, I thought. I bid farewell to the girls who helped me, and sat in the office, while the doctor’s assistant offered me coffee (yes, I actually do drink coffee now) and told me about places to see in Anting. Once Dr. Ma Jun arrived, it was all business.

I started the meeting by introducing myself as a design researcher conducting “independent research” (read: voluntary) for two Canadian and American firms (true) on opportunities for foreign business and partnership with the automotive industry (Vague, yes I know. But this is where my market research/call centre skills came into play). I managed to spark his interest and was given some homework to do before our next meeting that he was already arranging. (As an interesting side note, Dr. Ma Jun is the only Chinese person I’ve met here with an EU passport. He spent 15 years in Germany, and naturally speaks German fluently. I didn’t mention that I could speak German, but at one point he got upset with me for asking the same question more than once (part of my market research training) and raised his voice switching to German. I told him I understood, and we were back to English.)

It was almost lunch when our meeting ended, so I asked the assistant where the nearest cafeteria was. Quite far, as it turned out to be. Along the way, I was able to see a good portion of the campus though. As it is with a lot of things in Shanghai, Tongji Univeristy is really big, new and still under construction.



I ended up eating in a Xin Jian restaurant. I love their food. While there, I started to go through my 15 pages of notes to see what other places I could visit while I was in Anting. It turned out that there was another building on campus, a foundry further into the town, and a few places north and south of Anting. I made my way to the building, but wasn’t allowed past the secretary offices. So, I took some more time to spread out all the sheets of paper I had and started to make phone calls to the places in and around Anting. I set up a meeting with a girl who works for Shanghai Koito Automotive Lamp Co., an hour later from our call. I finished up some more calls, and then headed back to the front gate of the university.



I waited for a taxi until I realized that the gate faced a highway, and that it didn’t look like any taxis were going to come by anytime soon. So, I took a chance and took the first bus I saw going in the direction of Anting Town. I struggled to find out where the bus was headed, but managed to get the lady who takes your fare (not usually the driver on these buses) to tell me when to get off, and where to find a taxi. As I stepped off the bus, I was greeted by yet another group of unlicensed motorcycle taxi drivers. I passed right through them without hesitation, and got into the first taxi I could. To my surprise, it was a lady taxi driver. The first one I remember riding with since arriving in Shanghai.

I got to the gate of the Koito Co. complex later than I said I would. I met the girl I had spoken with on the phone, and had a short, but useful meeting. Apparently, Koito is the major supplier of lights for most of the major international car manufacturers. I didn’t know that. The girl I met said that if I was in the automotive industry, I would have. As simple as that statement was, it really hit me. If I do want to work in the automotive industry, I have to work in the automotive industry. I think I overlook simple things like that all the time.

From there, I took another taxi back to the apartment. A 101 yuan ride, but I got to see Shanghai coming in from the northwest. I usually see it coming or going east or south. I spent some down-time reading emails, and then headed off to meet one of my boss’ old assistants and her boyfriend for dinner. We met at the Jing’an Temple Metro Station (Jing’an Temple is supposed to one of the most treasured historical pieces of architecture in Shanghai. However, it really looks strange next to the modern, in-your-face style buildings that surround it.).

Our dinner was supposed to be in celebration of my boss’ old assistant getting a new job (which happened almost a month ago now), but ended up being more of a get-to-know-my-boyfriend dinner. I have to say though, he is a pretty interesting guy: an American who grew up on a garlic farm in southern New Mexico; lived in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit, and as a result, decided to move as far away from the States as he could. Shanghai seems to get a lot of those types. He also seemed to know a lot about alternative energy cars and urban planning (two topics I can’t get enough of). We parted, and I left for the Air Bar once again. It had been a long day, and my legs hurt (I really think I need to get some proper dance shoes), so I spent most of my time watching. I left after only an hour.

Saturday and Sunday saw a mix of chores, computer work (mainly emailing all the firms on my 15 page list), salsa practice, and yet another new salsa class on Sunday. This was the first night I didn’t go to Zapatas. I was pretty tired by Sunday night.

Monday and Tuesday saw a lot of routine and attempts at time management. After printing out the 15 pages I had made, I tried to squeeze in time whenever I could to call all the firms I had listed to set up meetings. I’ve had varied success, but it feels good just to know that I’m doing it.

The next day, I was to have another meeting with Dr. Ma Jun and one of his colleagues, so I called my dancepartner to ask if she’d want to come along for the ride. Apart from the meeting, there were other things I wanted to see in Anting (ie. German Town (what I thought would be like Chinatown back home); Shanghai’s only hydrogen fuel station for cars; Shanghai’s oldest tree: 1200 years old), and I really wanted to see them with someone. My dancepartner quit her last job, and has been focusing on selling real estate for now, so when I called her, she said she wasn’t sure if she’d have time, but would want to go. Eventually, we agreed to meet at the nearest intersection to my apartment at 4:30pm. That would give me one hour to get to my meeting in Anting. Plenty of time, I thought.

The weather had been growing steadily worse throughout the day, so I knew it wasn’t going to be like my first visit to Anting. It started to rain around noon, and just kept getting heavier and damper. My work at school finished at 3:20pm that day, so I quickly rushed back to the apartment (a convenient two minute walk from the school), made two PowerPoint presentations for the companies I would be presenting (Before that I had only printed off some information about them in Word format. I know though, I can’t believe I’m doing this for free either.), changed into my suit, and bolted out the door. I made it to the intersection at exactly 4:30. My dancepartner hadn’t arrived yet, so I called her. She was still meeting a client. So I crossed the road to wave down a taxi once more. No one would stop though! I guess that’s when my concern really began to show, because a lady who wasn’t even driving a taxi, pulled up next to me in a hatchback and said something along the lines of: “Come on in! I’ll give you a lift.” I showed her the paper I had with the address of Tongji University, and just hoped she would take me there. The heavy rain, the gradual darkening of the sky, and the time crunch, all made it seem like another chance worth taking.



Along the way, my dancepartner called to say that she’d still like to come (if I paid her fare). The lady who was driving me, kept trying to speak with me even though she didn’t speak any English, as I kept trying to find out how much she would want for the trip, (all she would say was that it was her pleasure to drive me. So, near the end of the trip, I just assumed it was free). We ended up taking wrong turns and getting lost twice. The traffic was really heavy and slow, so I kept texting Dr. Ma Jun to let him know where I was and how long I thought it would take for me to get to the meeting. I also used the time to make notes next to my paper presentations of the companies I was to present, as I entertained the lady’s son in the backseat who kept leaning over my shoulder.

When we finally arrived at the gate of Tongji University, the sky was pitch black and I was one and a half hours late for the meeting. To make matters worse, I ended up paying the lady who drove me there 200 Yuan (She kept saying “2” in Chinese before I left, so I just figured that’s what she wanted), and I couldn’t even remember how to get to the meeting room. So, I ended up stopping another group of girls and got them to show me the way. I arrived at the meeting soaking wet, and slightly out of breath.

The meeting went surprisingly well. It was Dr. Ma Jun, a manager of Shanghai Volkswagen (SVW), and me. All three of us could speak German, so we started it off that way. However, my presentation was in English. So we switched to English, which was probably a good thing for me. During the meeting, I finally realized the seriousness of the topics we were discussing. At one point, Dr. Ma Jun pulled out a marker and started making a flow chart on his portable whiteboard. He outlined how Tongji University, SVW, and the government of Fu Jian province in China, were willing to support the companies I was presenting, so long as they were willing to commit to the ideas we were discussing. I still can’t believe I’m doing this.



My dancepartner was waiting for me outside the meeting room. It was really good to see her there. We spent some time walking around the front part of the campus and then took a taxi into German Town. I was set on seeing it, even if it was too dark to see anything clearly. We both hadn’t had dinner yet, so I randomly chose a point on a map of German Town to go to, and just hoped that there’d be a restaurant there. That was probably the luckiest thing I did all day. The two of us ended up eating at a German-style restaurant, complete with relatively good German dishes, German music, a big screen TV with the soccer channel on, and waitresses dressed in stereotypical German outfits (even if they were Chinese and couldn’t speak German). Just like the Caribbean-esque dancer at Zapatas a couple of weeks ago, it was all very surreal. It’s times like these, where it’s easy to forget that I’m in China.

On November 30th, it was back to Nan Qiao after a late morning start, with breakfast in the car. I made all the phone calls that I could during my breaks at school, and came home to write this posting. I finished it today.

Two Weeks in November

November 1st was an overall average day of work, grocery shopping, computer work, cooking and cleaning, and time to practice salsa at the end of the day. I felt I had the energy to stay up late, but decided to ‘save’ it for the next day. I’m still unsure whether I really am a morning person or not.

The next morning, I took my time to really stretch and wake up, so rather than rush through my breakfast, I just decided not to have it. This was a new thing for me, considering I really like to eat. And as I’ve noticed on this journey, it’s not only that I like it, but it plays a major role in the things that I do, and where I spend my money.

In the evening, I was to meet my dancepartner to practice salsa, but I missed my first bus and so came almost half an hour late. She was pretty upset, and said she usually never waits for anyone. From there, as a surprise I guess, the two of us took a taxi to the Shanghai International Fashion Show. We met up with some of her friends, and sat through an hour or so of models walking up and down a walkway. Now, while I have nothing again fashion or fashion shows (I’ve even been part of one), they’re not my favorite pastime. It wasn’t a bad experience, but the sight of paper-thin women with really dark, elongated eyebrows that made them look more mannish than anything else, and men who were also either paper-thin or Arnold Schwarzenegger-buff in ‘pastel’ or silver togas, dozens of times repeated, was enough to get me to put my head down and find more interest in the program. As I read the designer statements, I realized something once again: While I appreciate the stylistic/fashion side of design, it’s not really something I want to do 9-5.

After that, we took a bus to Silvermoon. I missed the stop (because I spent too much time trying to make sure I had everything I was carrying before getting off the bus), so all I could do was hesitate like Clark Kent, and get off at the next stop (about a 15 minute walk away). When I got to Silvermoon, my dancepartner was upset again. We danced a bit, and then made our way to the Metro station to part ways. To my surprise, the station was closed, so I ended up staying at my dancerpartner’s place once again. On the way there, I keep getting lost or falling behind (she was on her bike), so by the time I did get to the entrance of her apartment’s lane, she was really upset. We didn’t talk much the rest of the night.

The next morning, it was back to work only to find another one of my classes was cancelled. So, as I usually do, I went to the gym instead. In the evening, I went to the Air Bar. It was a good night.

The morning after I slept in, but awoke part way through because of the loud sound of a drill on the floor above. From early morning (6am) until evening, I have come to expect the sounds of hammers, drills, explosions, trucks and workers. The construction here will never end.

After doing some computer work (This seems to take up more and more of my time as time goes on.), and a bit of salsa practice, I made my way down to Silvermoon once again. I think this was only the second time I’ve been there on a Saturday. The night turned out to be really good, despite the really crowded dance floor. I got to dance with some people I hadn’t danced with in a while, and got introduced to yet another dance instructor who wanted me to join his class. I hung out with some of the people I went dancing with last weekend, and got introduced to a “gear-head” who apparently has connections to the automotive industry in Shanghai. We exchanged contact info, and we went our separate ways. Or so I thought.



Later that night, I was invited by the guy from Vancouver (from last week) to join him and his group for ice cream. Although I felt really tired, I decided to tag along. It was actually good that I did. I got to see the same “gear-head” guy pull up on to the sidewalk (a pretty common thing in Shanghai) in his vintage motorcycle with a sidecar. With a sidecar! I thought only Batman had that! The guy from Vancouver says that there are lots of them around here, but it was the first time I ever saw one. It was pretty cool. A bunch of us ended up at a Cantonese restaurant eating every kind of dessert they had, but ice cream. We had a good time anyway.

Sunday was a relatively routine day. I took my roommates bike to get to Zapatas, and didn’t get lost this time. It was really crowded, and I didn’t do a lot of dancing, but I was tired, so it was alright.

Monday, another one of my classes was cancelled, which freed up my morning once again. My roommate had been taking the last few days off of work because she’d been feeling sick. Her boyfriend visited her that day, so I spent some time in the apartment with them.

I practiced with my dancepartner #2 in the evening, and got talking afterwards about work and the like. She said I may be able to find the work that I want to do here, but that I would really have to try hard. She also made a comment that I sometimes shiver when I hear: I may not have enough relevant experience. Isn’t that always the case?

Tuesday was a long day of work in Nan Qiao. Both my gymmate and I were so ‘spent’ by the end of it, that we both decided to treat ourselves to dinner at a Taiwanese restaurant close to our apartments. As we sat down, a song I remember hearing on the train to Chengdu started to play over the speakers. The song is called Ji Xiang San Bao, and is sung by three ‘characters’ (a mother, father and daughter) who ask questions to each other. Although I don’t understand it, the play between their voices and the sounds of the instruments really makes me feel happy. I quickly asked one of the waitresses to write down the name of the song, and when a second song came on that I remembered from the train, I asked her to write it as well. Awesome songs.

On Wednesday, my morning class was cancelled (again), and so I had a lot of time to prepare for a meeting that my boss had set up with all the foreign teachers at our school. None of us knew the reason for the meeting, but some of us were preparing for the worst. All the teachers (including myself) had missed some of our classes without notice, or took days off (in the case of my roommate), or had parents complain that their students weren’t grasping the material taught in class. So, we all prepared our defense. Mine were my lesson plans, that I quickly printed off during the time in which my class was supposed to be. I made it to the office room just in time for our meeting.

It turned out that we all overprepared for the meeting. Our boss simply wanted to remind us to attend all our classes (unless we were really sick), and ask us if we were thinking about coming back next semester. That was a sigh of relief.



After work, I did a bit of research on the remanufacturing industry (More on that to come later.), and then took a taxi to the nearest Metro station to get to PuDong (the poster area of Shanghai) for yet another salsa class. This class was taught by the guy I met on Saturday, and was on the 7th floor of the “Super Brand Mall”. Everything there was as new as new can be. It almost seemed wrong just being there. Nevertheless, I attended two of his classes (not the best I’ve taken) and then jumped back on the Metro to head home. I was feeling hungry, but was distracted from that temporarily by a couple on the Metro. It seemed like the man (who looked not much older than me), was interrogating what looked like his girlfriend/wife, while she stood there in tears. I knew I should just mind my own business, but all I could do was think: “You still exist?!?!” I hope I was wrong in my assumption of what was going on, but it didn’t seem right.

When I got to the last station, I was greeted by men in leather jackets holding out helmets, as I came up the escalator. I remember thinking then: “Ok, now what do they want?” I saw a row of motorcycles on the edge of the entrance to the station and figured it had something to do with that. I approached two girls that I thought could speak English, and asked if they knew what was going on. They explained that they were unlicensed drivers that would take you to your destination cheaper than by taxi. They said it would be about 7 or 8 Yuan (about $1) to get to my apartment, if I didn’t look like a foreigner. I was pretty determined to get that price though, so when the first guy on his bike told me 15, I gave him a shocked look and moved on to the next driver. I couldn’t get below 10, and after pushing a little harder, I couldn’t get below 12. I left the area and decided to come back and try my luck again. One guy told me 10 once again, so I accepted this time and got home by motorbike. I hadn’t been on a motorbike for a while. It was pretty cool to ride again.

I was pretty hungry by the time I got back to my neighbourhood and I really didn’t want to spend time making myself food in the apartment, so I decided to pay a visit to the Xian Juan restaurant where I had danced with my gymmate, his friends and the staff in September. The staff and the owner looked pretty happy to see me again. The owner pulled up two chairs on the sidewalk and I ended up eating three meat sis kabobs as we talked next to one of his employees who works the outdoor oven. It was a humbling experience. At one point, the owner turned to me and asked “Why are we so busy?”, and then without a pause long enough reply in, he answered himself saying “To make money.” We talked about our families, why I’m not married, and related things. It was a good end to a long day.

Thursday was another long day, but not in the same way. Most of my gymmate’s classes were cancelled in Nan Qiao, so he had the pleasure of spending almost 6 hours at the school with nothing to do. He was pretty upset, and contemplated just taking a taxi himself back to Shanghai. It would have been pretty expensive, so the two of us spent some time shopping in nearby convenience stores, and later on I managed to convince him to help me with some of my classes. Student discipline has been the single greatest difficulty in my work as an English teacher here. It really helped to have someone to be an extra presence.

In the evening, I went to Tang Hui (the new place on Thursdays to dance salsa) and after a few dances, I received a pleasant surprise from my dancepartner. It was good to see and dance with her again. I told her earlier that I thought something was different between us (mostly since she got upset with me on the 2nd). She said she wasn’t sure what I was talking about, so the next day we met once again in Xu Jia Hui to talk about it.

Before meeting my dancepartner, I had an interview with a girl I met at one of the salsa workshops who works for a recruiting firm. She really helped me find a bit of focus, in terms of my job search. She said I might be best off just looking for a partner in China to do work with from overseas. I know a lot of firms have done this before, and it seems to be the best way to work with a central government, but there seem to be some obstacles (as usual) for me. To put in into point form:

- Most of the people that these recruitment firms look for are veterans in their industry, with years of experience behind them. Not really a ‘junior’ like me.

- It’ll be hard to find work in the design industry here, that pays North American wages.

- I am not part of a Canadian firm that wants to do business in China. I am just doing this myself. (I thought about this before leaving on this trip, but I thought it might still be worth it to see what I can do on my own, while I still can).

When I met my dancepartner after that, I told her about my interview and my ideas for work. I asked her if I was ‘crazy’ (as I usually do to people when I just want to double check my sanity) and she said no. Good to know. She did say however that I should “just do it” (Instead of “just talk about it”. I know my mother is smiling at that.), and that I’ll be able to make whatever practical changes are necessary as I go on. It always helps to hear that kind of encouragement.

We talked more over dinner at a Thai restaurant. We both said what had been on our minds over the past little while. It turns out, as I guess it usually does, that our ‘problem’ was just in our different assumptions of what each of us was OK with (ie. punctuality, planning, seriousness). It was good to talk about that.

I was still in my interview outfit, and wanted to go back to my apartment to change before going to the Air Bar (of which my dancepartner said she wanted to go to as well), so I asked her if she wanted to take the trip to my apartment and go from there (despite the distance). We got there together, and she had a nap while I changed and practiced some salsa in the common space. She woke up a little while later and we practiced together before leaving for the Air Bar. It was a different kind of night. The air outside was thick, and I couldn't see the cityscape as I usually can from the 34th floor. As the night progressed, the taste of pollution grew even more noticable, as people continued dancing. I had to stop and remind myself again that this was the reason why I am on this trip.

Saturday I woke up late, headed for the gym, and then to a salsa class. The instructor there greeted me saying I “was on fire last Thursday”. He was at Tang Hui too. I always feel uncomfortable when someone says something like that to me, but I appreciated the complement. Afterwards, I went back to the apartment for a quick rest, and then met the guy from Vancouver, his dancepartner, her friend, and the “gear-head” in a mall near Xu Jia Hui. We met a few other people and then took a taxi to the far northern part of Shanghai to go to the fish market for dinner. Along the way, I got to pick the “gearhead’s” brain with questions about the automotive and remanufacturing industry in Shanghai. He said he’s going to try to put me in contact with another guy from Detroit. Hopefully something comes of it.



It was quite the sight once we got to the fish market. Seafood and people everywhere! Our group came two hours late, and we spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to buy, so by the time we did eat, it was almost ten. The “gear-head” thought something like this would happen, so before we took the taxi out there, he, the guy from Vancouver and I had some KFC (My brothers are laughing at this right now.). I hadn’t had western fast food since I left Canada, but believe me, it tasted GOOD. Apparently, the 5 road intersection of Xu Jia Hui has the most KFCs of any intersection in the world. 8, I believe. At the fish market, we ate at a surprisingly clean and fancy restaurant (as opposed to the small fish shops along the road that I thought we would be eating at). The food was different, but good. Apparently, it’s the season to be eating seafood from the fish market, and is considered a delicacy. I am told to say this as a way of bragging: “I ate hairy crab in Shanghai!”

From there we went to the “gear-head’s” bar (He’s a student from California, with a motorbike and a sidecar (not to mention a F2000 race license that he says he just got) and is the co-owner of a bar in Shanghai. Why am I not surprised?). We all had a pretty good time dancing and just getting to know each other. It was Remembrance Day in Canada, but here November 11th is Single’s Day. I got to bed just after 4am.

On Sunday, I went to the first annual Shanghai Fringe Festival. No joke. The guy from Vancouver (who’s also a drama instructor) told me about it the day before. As I’ve learned, with the Chinese government still viewing art as a bit too ‘avant-guard’, advertising for something like the Fringe takes a long time to get approval, so needless to say, it didn’t have a very big turn out, but it was something I just had to see. Most of the plays I saw were done by Canadians, but the first play was a piece by a Chinese actor who danced to both traditional and modern Chinese music. The latter being Chinese rap.



From there, I walked to Zapatas. It was a different kind of night there as well. My dancepartner wasn’t there, but it was really crowded, and had a lot of new people I hadn’t seen before, a girl I hadn’t seen since September, and a girl dressed in a Caribbean-esque costume. She really stole the spotlight, in a different kind of way. I took a taxi with the girl I rode with on my roommate’s bike two weekends ago on my way back to the apartment.

Monday, I went to work early, because of yet another change to my schedule. I was told I had to teach three new classes on top of the ones I already teach, and that I had no choice in the matter. No “maybes” this time. But before my last class, I was told that my schedule was back to the way it was before the change. Why things work like this here, changing from one day to the next, I’ll never know.

On Tuesday, my boss in Nan Qiao treated me and my gymmate to dinner and a massage. Both were really good. I hadn’t had a Chinese massage before. I went to sleep when it ended.

I was determined to finally finish this blog posting off yesterday, along with a bunch of emails and computer work that I told myself I would do. So I did, today.

Have a good day (night) everyone.

P.S. Here's a little treat from Nan Qiao.

The Expected and Unexpected

After a stressful day of work on October 24th, I came home to a surprise visit from a postal worker. She didn’t speak any English, and my Mandarin definitely wasn’t good enough to figure out how to receive the parcel she was carrying. So, I just signed one of the sheets of paper she pointed to, but judging from her reaction, I don’t think I was supposed to do that. Luckily, I was on the phone with someone who could speak Mandarin, so I gave my phone to the postal worker, in the hopes of clarifying things. That didn’t really work, so all I could say was “Wo boo je dau.” (“I don’t know.”), and wave goodbye. When my roommate returned, I told her the story and she explained that I was supposed to write down my passport number to receive the parcel. I still didn’t have my passport, so I guess I couldn’t get it anyway. My roommate said it was no problem and that she’d go to the post office to pick it up another day. Later on, I made us some dinner, practiced some more salsa combinations, and then called it a night. I’m not sure why, but my sleep patterns seem to be getting pretty irregular. I figure I might be trying to do too many things at the same time, as usual. As a workmate once used to remind me, “Simplify!” I’m trying.

The chill in the air that started last week was getting stronger by Thursday. I actually felt like I needed to wear a jacket or at least long sleeves. The trip to Nan Qiao wasn’t anything unusual, although I guess now might be a good time to describe what these trips are like.



It usually takes an hour to get to Nan Qiao from my apartment. My gymmate and I get picked up on the main road (Mao Tai Road) just outside my apartment complex. From there, we go from highway to highway to get to the school. The highways are first class (For those of you who were on the No Sweat committee: World Class!). They’re elevated in the city, have plants on the sides or on the median, and are really smooth. Despite this, the car ride is a bit of a different story. Our driver (also our boss for this school) is a really aggressive driver, even when he really doesn’t need to be. He flashes government signs at others on the road to show he’s from the army or some other institution even though he’s not (apparently these signs are official), and uses a walkie-talkie style blow horn to tell people to get out of the way when they don’t listen to the signs, all the while driving on the shoulder or inbetween lanes. It’s quite the journey.

On Thursdays, I also go to a Kindergarten to teach there. I usually get a ride from my boss, but last week, my boss made it clear he wasn’t going to pick me up, so I’d have to walk the 15 minutes it takes to get there. That’s not a problem ususally. This time, it was. Here’s what he said,: “Maybe I will give you ride”. There’s that word again! Maybe. Does that mean yes, or no? I’ve come to understand that it usually means yes. So, I took a chance and guessed wrong. As I was walking, I called my other boss (I was told he really wanted to speak to me). He talked to me about one of my classes and told me teach slower, that I will have one of his assistants observing my class the following week, and to read over my contract again. Talk about pressure.

My Thursday salsa classes are finished now because the instructor’s gone back to the US until next year. Coincidentally though, a new place just opened for salsa on Thursday nights. I texted my dance partner to ask her if she wanted to come. She said she would, and after some dinner and computer work, I left the apartment to catch the bus. The bus I was going to take stopped running a few minutes before I got to the bus stop, so I ended up taking another bus that I thought might get me to where I wanted to go. I ended up exploring a part of Shanghai I hadn’t seen before, and getting to the bar almost an hour after I said I would. By that time, my dance partner had already left, but a lot of people from the congress were still there. It was a quieter night, nice nonetheless.



The next day, my classes were either cut short or cancelled, so I went grocery shopping and to the gym instead. Along the way, I really got to witness the level of construction going on all around my apartment. Workers are tearing up the street (literally), only to remake it as new (I assume). One thing I’ve really noticed about it though, is that unlike what I imagined from reading about Shanghai before, the work isn’t done at a phenomenal pace because of super efficient work practices or really high tech machinery (quite the contrary in fact), rather it’s just that they have so many workers doing the job. And it’s actually kind of nice to see.

The weather took a turn for the better once again on Friday (Just the day before, it was 19 C, but it felt like it was in the single digits. I guess that’s humidity for you.), and the sun was out. So I tried to soak in as much as I could on the way there and the way back.

In the evening, I finally met a guy I was supposed to meet during my first few weeks here in Shanghai. I don’t remember how we know of each other, but he was supposed to be my “in case you’re in trouble, give me a call” guy. Oddly enough, I haven’t really needed him for anything so far, but it was nice to meet him anyway. We met on Nanjing Road, a well-known area of Shanghai, and the first area on mainland China to open up to foreign business and adopt capitalistic business practices.

After that, I quickly jumped on the Metro to meet another person to attend yet another salsa workshop with, taught by the same instructor from India who was at the congress. Once again, it was another excellent workshop. I met a girl there who works for a head-hunting firm in Shanghai, and she said she’d help me find people in the design industry (Isn’t it strange how these connections are made?). Afterwards, we headed to the Air Bar for another evening of dance, which was unexpectedly crowded. It was great to see, but not so great to dance in. Nevertheless, I had a fun night.

The next morning I made my way to the Baila Conmigo studio once more, because of an invitation to attend a dance practice there by the owner. It ended up being the owner, her dance partner (a guy from Vancouver who talks a bit like Gaston from Beauty and the Beast), a girl from Shanghai, a guy from Singapore and me.

Before practicing, I had a good conversation with the guy from Vancouver who seemed to relate well to my quest for design work. He himself is teaching drama in the city of Nanjing (a few hours drive from Shanghai), but really wants to get into the design industry too. After tossing ideas back and forth about work and the like, he asked me if I’d like to get into the business aspect of design. I’ve thought about it before, but now it actually seems to make sense. (I think in a way, a lot of the work I have been doing (ie. making contacts, thinking of strategies to implement ideas, and not concerning myself too much with the artistic side of design) is business. Only in design, we don’t like to say that very often. Which brings me to another point about the design industry I don’t really like that much, but that’s a whole other story. In any event, I am now considering going back to school, but not for design, rather business entrepreneurship. We’ll see though.)

We had a pretty good time practicing together, and then had lunch. It was there that the girl from Shanghai expressed: “It’s too bad we didn’t meet earlier in life”. That sentence shocked me because I know I’ve felt the same way about other people I’ve met in my life before. Oh, time…

We walked back to the studio and three of us took a taxi to Xu Jia Hui to attend another dance class. The instructor for this class as it turns out, was actually taught by the same instructor I had from New York, which meant a similar style of teaching and dancing. It was good.



Afterwards, I went back to the apartment to make my Halloween costume for a house party the guy from Vancouver had invited me to earlier that day. It wasn’t too hard to think of something to be. The guy from Vancouver told me all I needed to do was wear a wig, but I didn’t come all the way to China to put on a wig! It took 2 hours, but I made myself a nice little kiosk outfit. Yeah, a kiosk. They’re ubiquitous in Shanghai. Nearly everywhere you turn, you’ll see some kind of kiosk selling everything from magazines to phone cards. So, I dressed up as one.

I made it to the house party a lot later than I thought I would because I got lost, yet again. Eventually, the guy from Vancouver came running (literally) to help show me the place, and we got into an elevator with a girl who introduced herself as Nina. Oddly enough, two of the teachers at the school I teach at told me that there was a new teacher working for our company named Nina, from Germany. This Nina looked like she could have been from Germany, but what were the chances? As we walked through the door of the apartment suite, the same two teachers I work with exclaimed “Tim!”. What are the chances? As it turns out, this was also the same Nina they knew. What ARE the chances? I guess it’s a small expat (expatriate) community after all.

It was an interesting night to say the least. The apartment suite actually turned out to be a penthouse suite that had a tremendous view of the cityscape. The crowd was different, and definitely not the type I am used to anymore. The music was bass-heavy, and conversation drowning, and the guys (I know, I’m a guy too) were all either really sleazy, or just plain drunk. I didn’t really go there with any intentions to “pick up chicks” and just wanted to spend time with the people I knew, so I got to see pick up lines from the other side. I can’t believe what some women have to put up with! It was amazing to see how desperate and negative some guys can get (Yes, I know I’m a guy.). Anyway, it wasn’t my favorite night, but I guess you need to experience something like that every once in a while to really put things into perspective. I made it back home by 3 in the morning, passing by a really interesting, misty area that looked like it could have been a stage set from an old gangster movie. The pictures follow.



I woke up late on Sunday, but wanted to get my cleaning and workout routine (because I didn’t go the day before) done before I was to meet with the girl I had met at the Metro station on Friday (we’ll call her dance partner #2) at my apartment to practice salsa. We practiced for just over two hours, and had a good time learning the steps. Afterwards, my roommate and I went to eat at restaurant 520 (which looks remarkably similar to 021). We had a good time eating and updating each other on our activities and checking up on our roommate status. It felt good to communicate the good and the bad. I got a text message from my dancepartner #2 saying she really enjoyed our practice, and wanted to practice more regularly. I said as long as she has time and can make the trip, I could make the time (my dancepartner (#1) says she can’t make the trip out to my apartment, because she feels it’s too far). After dinner, I treated my roommate to ice cream and we made our way back to the apartment. She lent me her bike for the evening to get to Zapatas, and gave me what should have been clear directions on how to get there, but as usual, she used the words I dread to hear: “You can’t miss it.” I always miss it! As a result, what should have only taken 30 minutes, took one and a half hours. On the positive side, I got to see a lot of Shanghai I won’t have seen if I hadn’t gotten lost. One thing I was reminded of on my search to find Zapatas, was that in Shanghai, when you ask for directions from people on the street, expect them to give you the wrong directions. It seems like they want to help so bad, that if they don’t know, they’ll pretend they know where a street is. So my advice: don’t bother asking for directions. Even from the police or guards (every apartment complex seems to have at least one at every gate). You will eventually find what you’re looking for, but it’ll just take you a while.

When I got there, I had a few dances (albeit being really tired from biking), and called it a night just after 12. The journey back was interesting, because I ended up giving a girl, who is just learning salsa, a ride all the way home on my roommate’s bike, unintentionally. She lives in Xu Jia Hui, which is a bit of a detour, but I thought wasn’t out of the question. She doesn’t speak a lot of English (nor I a lot of Mandarin), but we managed to communicate through a weird combination of questions, repetitions of words, and songs. I made it home, and was beat.

Monday, I got evaluated at work by one of my boss’ assistants. I was given suggestions for improvement, but was told that on the whole, I was “actually quite good”. Good to know. I guess the pressure is off. In the evening, I made my way down to Xu Jia Hui once again (this is becoming a pretty common meeting point for me) to meet yet another guy I was supposed to meet during the first few weeks of my arrival in Shanghai. I ended up meeting him in northern Shanghai (an hour away by metro) for dinner with his boss. It turns out that some of their projects deal with automotive firms, and that they’d be happy to help me make some contacts with them. Sweet.



The next day, I tried catching up on some much needed sleep in the one and a half hour cab ride back to the apartment from Nan Qiao. When I got back, my roommate opened the door for me, and with only a few seconds to get settled, she pulled me into her room to show me what she had been waiting a week for: her article in the China Daily. Last Tuesday, a reporter interviewed her about her pole dancing shows at the “I Love Shanghai” bar on the Bund. She’s so excited and is already getting calls from people offering her jobs. It’s really exciting to be living with someone like this at this point in her life. I think she will go places, as they say. And she definitely has the passion and strength to do it.