I’ve been in Shenzhen for over 24 hours now. Already, I have learned a lot. What is most interesting is the expectations I had and how they differ from reality. I thought it would be wilder than I thought. Of course, I am living in the most tame, wealthy, and western parts of the city. That is nice for easing into the real insanity of China. Some examples of my expectations: I had almost no trouble getting to Shenzhen on my own. First, Pavan gave me excellent directions which were completely accurate (except it’s two floors up the escalator instead of three to the ferry departures) and I was surprised at how much English there was. Most of it was quite rudimentary (way beyond my pitiful Chinese), but enough to get by. Another thing was I was warned by multiple people of the crazy driving. Well, it’s nothing worse than what I’ve seen in South America, in fact, it’s probably a little more tame. I like the driving in South America; it is much more “free” than the US. There are less rules and the drivers have to rely more on working together to get places than rules. I still think this works much better. One huge benefit is that I still haven’t seen anything close to the road rage in South America or China that we have in the US. And, Seattle is quite a mellow place compared to other places I’ve lived, so that’s saying something. The city is cleaner than I thought, but way more smoggy! I was warned of the smog, but it’s beyond what I was expecting! I imagine the brown cloud of Denver multiplied by about twenty! It’s fairly clear in the morning but a thick gray soup by the afternoon. I understand it’s much worse in summer.

I’m still suffering from lack of money, or the ability to change it. I’ve been working during business hours so I keep missing the opportunity to change money and easily buy stuff. Thankfully, I met a restaurant owner who speaks great English who accepts American dollars. I’m losing weight at this pace. No problem, I need to gain muscle now for rock climbing season.

I am excited to learn Chinese but the opening moves are very tough. For example, I can hardly go beyond greetings, salutations, and “thank you”s. When anyone tries anything else, I don’t get anything. Occasionally, I can pick up a word here and there, I reckon that’s something. But, the pronunciation is a killer. Right now, it’s almost impossible for me to tell the difference between “to go” and “to eat”; they both sound like weird variations of the word “chew”.

Here’s where I work. Nice view, but check out the smog:

Here are various shots of the immediate area that I live in. Hardly roughing it:

After an excellent western style breakfast, I took the crosswalk over Salisbury Road in Kowloon and to walk along the promenade. An Indian yogi stopped me and before I knew it, he was telling my future. Well, I knew what was coming, and at least it was entertaining, but this was my fairly expensive lesson in how to avoid street performers. But, I learned I have a lucky face and that February will be a good month for me. The promenade was delightful. It later turned into an “Avenue of the Stars” with all sorts of famous Chinese movie stars. There’s a statue of Bruce Lee too. I was blown away by the skyline of Hong Kong island. I thought I saw the tallest tower in front of me, then looked over to the right to see a huge glass needle dominating the horizon. I couldn’t believe how long the skyline was, like 10 times as long as Seattle’s. I walked streets, subways, and parks back to the hotel. Unfortunately, I only had an hour and a half, but I will be back. On the way back, another Indian approached me asking me to come look at his clothing, so I spoke to him in Spanish.

Hong Kong skyline and a street in Kowloon:

I haven’t taken one of these in a long time, but I brought them along for the jet lag. I arrived at the Kowloon Shangri-La after midnight and took one as soon as I got to my room. Then I showered and tried to send a couple of last minute emails. Ambien apparently takes about 30 minutes to kick in. Not long after starting the emails, my computer screen went 3D on me, with windows pulsing and protruding off the screen. I remember the characters falling off the windows or fading away. The windows then started bending on the edges. I was at least cognisant of Ambien’s effects so I tried willing myself to finish the last email. I couldn’t, so I immediately tried to shut down the computer. But, I started feeling so dizzy that I could barely sit in the chair, so I just slammed the laptop shut and staggered to the bed. I fumbled with the lights but managed to turn them off. By the time I got to the bed though, it felt like I was in a dream. My head crashed on the pillow and the bed felt more like a nest of sandy lumps. I remember feeling that I wasn’t on a bed. It felt like the rough, loose surface was moving, like it was turning on it side and I was struggling to hold on to keep from sliding into the unknown. I turned over and the lights, or what I discovered the following morning were reflections of the city lights on the ceiling, looked like marching figures coming towards me. It felt like I was in a crowded street trying to hold onto a sandy wall to keep from falling. Then I felt nauseous and started coughing. I realized what was coming…thankfully; I knew that I would soon be spared this awful ‘trip’. I somehow remembered where the bathroom was (I honestly don’t know how) and then got sick. I crashed back on the bed afterwords and passed out. When I woke up the following morning feeling refreshed, I vaguely remembered the event. Was it a dream? I got up and went to the bathroom and discovered it wasn’t.

I became more conscious of my manners on this luxurious trip to Seoul, Korea. Seated in business class with more comfort than I’m used to on a flight, I tried to discreetly peer left and right to see how to properly eat the little miniature cakes and shrimp that were given to us. Was I supposed to spear the food with the little sword or pick it up with my hands. I’m trying very hard to capture all of the customs so that my guests think that I’m a polite guest. Of course, the people seated next to me are probably just as ignorant. The ones to the left are from Microsoft ’cause I just read the Microsoft Confidential papers laid out in the seat next to me. To the right is someone who went to sleep immediately after takeoff and is still asleep. I’m going to try to stay awake for the entire flight to Seoul. Maybe I will sleep on the way to Hong Kong. Already, I’m further west than I have ever been.

The stewardess is very proper. She even turns my little wine class properly so the Asiana insignia points at me. I continue to watch for this throughout the flight and the next. They all do it.

Looking out the window over Japan:

Inside Seoul’s kick axe airport:

Hey, s’up? This is the very first post I’m writing – about 10 days after the fact. So, if it ends up being junk, I’ll delete it. But, at the bare minimum I wanted to share a few pictures from the farewell dinner. At the suggestion of Tiffany, Aaron, and Pavan, I threw a small farewell party 5 days before leaving for China. I actually left for China two weeks before I had originally planned to go, so the party was thrown with only about two days notice! So, thanks to everyone who made the effort to come out. Also, thank you Tiffany, once again, for your expert cooking advice.