This is the first time I have been able to do an update since I touched down here on Chinese soil. Thanks to a slightly oppressive Chinese government, they don’t allow access to sites I frequently visit, such as: Facebook, Twitter, and WordPress. Thankfully, there is a pretty neat program called gotomypc, I am now able to access my desktop at home from my laptop here in China. Thank God!
In spite of the restricted internet, one thing that I have been able to do is update our photostream on flickr that showcases some of the places we have visited. This past weekend we were able to travel all over the province and see some of the beautiful Chinese countryside. I think that the most fun and exhausting part of this weekend was walking up the Great Wall of Changshu at Yu Shan (Yu Mountain). This is a very touristy part of Changshu, but well worth the experience. It is too bad that the air quality in China is so poor since we could have probably seen twice as far from the summit of Yu Shan.
On Saturday night, we had a great time at a local bar with Charlie and his friends Hopsing and Lucy. Besides the local beer, the guys were more than happy to enjoy a Corona and lime. I was content with my boiling water and lemon while I practiced picking up peanuts and sunflower seeds with a pair of chopsticks.
The food has been just crazy! I have eaten food here that I would never dream of touching at home! We ate at a restaurant called Hot Pot here in Changshu and that was quite an experience. You basically pile all this stuff into a pot of boiling water and wait for it to start cooking. We ate shrimp, sheep, beef, tofu, meatballs, cabbage, noodles, and a lot of stuff that I don’t know anything about.
On Monday morning, Charlie picked us up bright and early from our hotel so that we could head into work. I don’t care what you think your morning commute is like back in the states, it’s straight up rally race/death race craziness trying to get into work! Weaving in and out of semi-trucks, taxis, buses, scooters, motorcycles, and pedestrians has given me a whole new appreciation for the “mild” traffic issues here in the US.
Our first day of work was filled with friendly greetings and learning the ropes from our new friends at CSYSPP. Nic and I spent quite a bit of time working with Mr. Gi and Mr. Ni, while Ms. Ding has worked diligently to ensure that our products and materials get here safely from Fenton, MI.
After work on Monday, we decided to venture downtown so that we could grab a quick bite to eat. After all the crazy food we had been eating, we were craving a little “home cooking”. I was never as happy to see the Golden Arches as I was last night. You have to love franchises when traveling in a foreign country for the simple fact that you can at least eat something familiar (Starbucks is another great example). After dinner, we ventured over to the local Wal-Mart where we ended up getting some snacks and stuff to hold us over. The taxi ride back to the hotel was a little nerve racking, but no more so than any other road trip that we have taken.
All in all, this trip has been fun and really productive so far. Hopefully as we enter day 2 of work we can continue to press forward and still enjoy our time here in this country.
Talk to you soon!
J
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