So I have recently become aware that I am huge fan of public transportation. I am not anti-car's by any means b/c there is no way I could get to and from the grocery store, for those that know how much I eat, with one of those 2 wheeled carts or putting a bunch of bags on my arms, and not to mention other errands I wouldn't be able to run without my car. I digress.....with this recent revelation of reliance on public transportation I have been made more aware of buses, and bikers, in the city when I drive. I know biking is not a method of public transportation however biker safety is big issue and big topic in downtown Chicago.
I was recently headed out one night and one of my friends swung by to pick me up. On the way to our buddies condo he was bobbing and weaving in and out of the bike line and I warned him that if he hits a biker he will go to jail. It dawned on him that he needs to be more aware of bikers when coming into the city and just takes it for granted that it's not something he has to deal with on a daily basis where he lives.
My point here, to me anyway, it's amazing how when you become reliant on something how much more aware you become. I feel that I am much more respectful to the public transportation system than other people that don't rely on it, and very much more aware and respectful to the fellow bikers in the city.
Also, for those that are still reading this blog I promise to post some things more often. Also with some free time this weekend I decided to join Facebook so if you are on there then feel free to checkout my profile and friend me.
Cheers
Adam
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Back to Beijing
So I have had some friendly reminders that I have not updated my blog or stayed in touch via email very well this week so I am taking my down time on the bullet train (thank you Sprint broadband card) to update my blog. I am not really sure where to begin so I will just dive right in......we probably spent about 70 hours or close to it this week working at the plant. The days were pretty typical but then it was more work back at the hotel at night and the China plant runs 6 days a week so that means everyone from translators to office staff are onsite working. I didn't really think too much about it though. It's kind of funny that when you are surrounded by a culture and a way of life how little you tend to think about how other things are done. These past experiences and being fortunate to travel abroad have really opened my eyes to different cultures an how different societies work (I will explore that more in a later blog entry).
Overall it's been a very interesting experience. We started the trip in Beijing and then left last Sunday for Xinyang which is a 7 hour bullet train ride south of Beijing. I guess there are 5 hotels (2 and 3 stars only) that have western toilets. If you have not heard most all toilets here are holes in the ground and provide your own TP. At the plant there is 1 western toilet per floor, again provide your own TP, and the Sunlight hotel where we stay fortunately has western toilets. Day 1 in Xinyang did not start well as we woke up to no power, then arrived back to the hotel with still no power leaving a 14 floor hike to drop off our bags and then head to dinner. What was nice was on the way down the power came back on but none of us trusted it enough to get in an elevator. Monday went well and we had our kickoff meeting and got introduced to the staff we would be working with during the week. Monday night it was a traditional Chinese dinner with lots of food and lots of drink (made for a long Tuesday). All the meals here with the exception of Beijing and Tuesday nights dinner were all eaten with chopsticks. Talk about a great appetite control and a way to lose some weight. I think I lost a few lbs being over here.
After dinner on Monday it was off to KTV (Karaoke TV) where you rent private rooms for Karaoke and you can pick from all their songs. It was a steady rotation of Chinese songs by the plant guys and western songs, Acheybreaky Heart, Friends in Low Places, etc, by the Americans, but man what a good time.
Last night we had our closing dinner with more of the staff and a few of the translators from the plant but not as eventful as the Monday night dinner to say the least.
We head back home tomorrow afternoon and the nice thing about traveling from China is that you arrive on the same day you leave. I am ready to be home back in my apartment and ready to be able to get back into the gym. Depsite the fact I may have lost a few lbs there were no fitness centers here so I am really excited to get back home to start working out again and depending on the weather get in some bike rides along the lake before the snow comes.
Please pray for safe travels back to Chicago tomorrow for myself and 2 co-workers that will be traveling with me. I think we made some good progress and laid a good foundation for our future work at this location which was a concern of mine heading into this trip. Things went well and being able to eat with chopsticks and sing Karaoke seem to go along way.
Cheers
Overall it's been a very interesting experience. We started the trip in Beijing and then left last Sunday for Xinyang which is a 7 hour bullet train ride south of Beijing. I guess there are 5 hotels (2 and 3 stars only) that have western toilets. If you have not heard most all toilets here are holes in the ground and provide your own TP. At the plant there is 1 western toilet per floor, again provide your own TP, and the Sunlight hotel where we stay fortunately has western toilets. Day 1 in Xinyang did not start well as we woke up to no power, then arrived back to the hotel with still no power leaving a 14 floor hike to drop off our bags and then head to dinner. What was nice was on the way down the power came back on but none of us trusted it enough to get in an elevator. Monday went well and we had our kickoff meeting and got introduced to the staff we would be working with during the week. Monday night it was a traditional Chinese dinner with lots of food and lots of drink (made for a long Tuesday). All the meals here with the exception of Beijing and Tuesday nights dinner were all eaten with chopsticks. Talk about a great appetite control and a way to lose some weight. I think I lost a few lbs being over here.
After dinner on Monday it was off to KTV (Karaoke TV) where you rent private rooms for Karaoke and you can pick from all their songs. It was a steady rotation of Chinese songs by the plant guys and western songs, Acheybreaky Heart, Friends in Low Places, etc, by the Americans, but man what a good time.
Last night we had our closing dinner with more of the staff and a few of the translators from the plant but not as eventful as the Monday night dinner to say the least.
We head back home tomorrow afternoon and the nice thing about traveling from China is that you arrive on the same day you leave. I am ready to be home back in my apartment and ready to be able to get back into the gym. Depsite the fact I may have lost a few lbs there were no fitness centers here so I am really excited to get back home to start working out again and depending on the weather get in some bike rides along the lake before the snow comes.
Please pray for safe travels back to Chicago tomorrow for myself and 2 co-workers that will be traveling with me. I think we made some good progress and laid a good foundation for our future work at this location which was a concern of mine heading into this trip. Things went well and being able to eat with chopsticks and sing Karaoke seem to go along way.
Cheers
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Good Morning
Good morning! Hope everyone is doing well back home. It's about 8:30 AM on Wednesday morning and we just arrived at the office for another day of work. I think the plant is going to be up and running today so that should be interesting to see how the process for pouring, maching, and cooling the train wheels is different than the plants back home. Work seems to be going farily well at the plant and we have another 4 days of work as the plant is runs on Saturday as well.
I haven't had too much of an issue with sleep which I am very thankful for. Other than that things are going well and will update more in a couple of days.
Adam
I haven't had too much of an issue with sleep which I am very thankful for. Other than that things are going well and will update more in a couple of days.
Adam
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Ahhhh Starbucks
So it's about 5:40 PM in Beijing right now and we just got back from an all day adventure of sightseeing and tourist activities. I took close to 200 pictures (thanks Kurt) so I will be sure and post them just as soon as I get home. I digress....we obviously did make it to China safely. My luggage arrived, of course the one time I pack boxers etc in my carry on I have no issues, but we did make it after a 14 hour flight, 4 movies, 2 meals, some snacks of sesame sticks and pop-tarts.
I managed to stay up until about 11 or midnight last night popped an ambien and was out like a light til about 4 when I woke up and then was up for good around 6:15. We started the day fairly early and went to the Forbidden City and then off to the Great Wall where it was SNOWING!! Along with myself the only person prepared was our driver Jack, who turned out to be an 70+ year-old man that is employed by Amsted in Beijing. He was a great guy and a great tour guide for us today. I would have to say the highlight of the day was at the Great Wall there were 2 guys with a camel. Don't ask my why after seeing one of the wonders of the world being able to ride a camel was the highlight but it was and I have the pictures to prove it. My co-workers thought it was hilarious and I was the only one that actually got up and rode him around. I'm sure everyone will get a kick out of those pictures.
We are about to head off to dinner and I am currently enjoying a nice hot cup of Starbucks which of course is about 2 stores away from our hotel. There is also a McDonald's located almost right next to the Starbucks. We depart tomorrow around 8 AM for Xinyang where we will be working all week so pray for safe travels to and from Xinyang. We return to Beijing next Sunday.
Adam
I managed to stay up until about 11 or midnight last night popped an ambien and was out like a light til about 4 when I woke up and then was up for good around 6:15. We started the day fairly early and went to the Forbidden City and then off to the Great Wall where it was SNOWING!! Along with myself the only person prepared was our driver Jack, who turned out to be an 70+ year-old man that is employed by Amsted in Beijing. He was a great guy and a great tour guide for us today. I would have to say the highlight of the day was at the Great Wall there were 2 guys with a camel. Don't ask my why after seeing one of the wonders of the world being able to ride a camel was the highlight but it was and I have the pictures to prove it. My co-workers thought it was hilarious and I was the only one that actually got up and rode him around. I'm sure everyone will get a kick out of those pictures.
We are about to head off to dinner and I am currently enjoying a nice hot cup of Starbucks which of course is about 2 stores away from our hotel. There is also a McDonald's located almost right next to the Starbucks. We depart tomorrow around 8 AM for Xinyang where we will be working all week so pray for safe travels to and from Xinyang. We return to Beijing next Sunday.
Adam
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Few quick words....
I still have to get to the bank, try and get a workout in, and pick up a few misc things before I leave for China today. I will update more once I arrive in Beijing but my hope is that this blog will be something I will be able to update on a more frequent basis to share my thoughts, feelings, prayer requests etc from day to day life; rather than something I only fill people in on while I am away.
It's kind of funny (if you have never seen the show Friends you may not get this) but when I thought about updating my blog more I thought of the episode where Joey finally has money and is able to move out on his own. He wanted to 'spend more time with his thoughts' and it turns out he was spending more time with his friends because as it turns out he didn't have that many thoughts. My hope is that I will have more to share than just the every day life situations. Feel free to check back from time to time.
Please pray for safe travel while I am away. It will be planes, trains, and automobiles while I am gone. Please pray for guidance in the work I will be doing there. While I am confident in my skills to do my job I will rely heavily on the translator and interpreter provided to ensure that everything is translated correctly.
Everyone invited to share in this blog is family or a close friend and I am thankful to have each of you in my life.
Adam
It's kind of funny (if you have never seen the show Friends you may not get this) but when I thought about updating my blog more I thought of the episode where Joey finally has money and is able to move out on his own. He wanted to 'spend more time with his thoughts' and it turns out he was spending more time with his friends because as it turns out he didn't have that many thoughts. My hope is that I will have more to share than just the every day life situations. Feel free to check back from time to time.
Please pray for safe travel while I am away. It will be planes, trains, and automobiles while I am gone. Please pray for guidance in the work I will be doing there. While I am confident in my skills to do my job I will rely heavily on the translator and interpreter provided to ensure that everything is translated correctly.
Everyone invited to share in this blog is family or a close friend and I am thankful to have each of you in my life.
Adam
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