The last two days have been kinda boring in terms of stuff actually happening, oh well, here goes nothing.
June 29
Not much happened at work today. I'm starting to think that I'm going to have to stay on top of Michael so that I have enough work to do. It's strange to be in the position of self-driving my own internship, but I guess it's necessary here. What I've gathered from Chinese students and other assorted sources is that internships are a relatively new phenomenon in China and it seems that Allied is not experienced at having interns. I think I might be their first intern ever, much less their first foreign intern. I've started to get more persistent with Michael, which I think is going to help me get more work to do, although I am definitely disadvantaged by my inability to communicate with the majority of the company. The fact that I don't speak very good Chinese means that Michael is pretty much my only conduit of information and, as I've noted earlier, getting a straight answer out of him can be difficult.
Conservation is one aspect of China that rather perplexes me. On one hand, there are power switches for all the appliances in my room and they seem to take energy conservation very seriously. On the other hand, there are a huge amount of disposable packaging/chopsticks used, which surely isn't environmentally friendly. I'm not sure I've thought of a good reason for this dichotomy yet, but it is curious in the face of the pollution that grips the city and, from what I can tell, the better part of the country. I would think there would be more environmental activism, but perhaps that gets to the difference between American and Chinese culture.
On an unrelated note, I went for a run tonight and it was nice to see a different part of the town. Running through an industrial district after hours is a weird feeling, kinda like running through a ghost town. There were times I would have a 4 lane road all to myself, which was slightly disconcerting. Also disconcerting was the lightning that was firing in the distance in front of me. I tried to count the time between the flash and the thunder, but I forgot whether every 5 seconds you counted corresponded to the lightning being a mile away, or if it was 2 seconds. Either way, I didn't get hit by lightning, which is a good thing.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
China - Day 10 - Big City, Smoggy Lights
I'm starting to think that the permanent haze the permeates Xiasha and Hangzhou is smog and not exceptionally bad weather. That isn't to say that the weather is good, it's actually rained quite a bit since I've been here, but the haze is too constant for that to be the case.
June 26
Working on Saturday feels weird, but at least it's giving me something to do, otherwise I would have probably holed up in my apartment watching Firefly all day. It was strange to be at work without my mentor Michael (he was out apartment hunting for his little brother, who's also coming to work in Xiasha) because he's been giving me cues on what to do all week. I spent most of the day sitting at my computer and trying to look busy, although I'm not sure how well I pulled that off.
On the homefront, I washed my laundry last night and hung it out to dry on my balcony. I hope it dries in one day, although given the humidity/chance of rain, I'm not sure if it will. When I got home from work today, I saw little child relieving himself in the middle of the apartment courtyard while his parents (and possibly grandparents), looked on. I'm not sure if this is normal in China, but I'm expecting that it is. Almost every small child I see is wearing what more or less boil down to terry-cloth chaps. That was a huge shock to my Western, puritanical sensibilities; I know that that sort of thing would never fly in America.
On a more sporting note, I played basketball with Michael and our neighbors today. I have to say, Chinese pick-up basketball is very different from American pick-up basketball (this could have just been a function of the people I was playing with, but having watched other pick-up games and made similar observations, I'm going to assume this is a cultural difference). For one, their game is much more frantic and finesse based. Guys are running every which way and passing the ball seems to be very popular, if not slightly erratic. Turn overs are very common in both directions and not many guys have pretty jump shots (although, as someone with an atrocious jump shot, I can commiserate). The Chinese game also seems to shirk away from contact. Coming into the game playing the way I play in America, I was able to physically dominate the paint. Yes, I had 7 inches and 30 pounds on everyone in the first game, but in the second, a guy about my size (probably 4-5 inches shorter, though) came in, and I was able to back him down all the way from the elbow to the bucket. He was very surprised when I made driving contact with my shoulder and hips. If not for the paint on the court and the residue of the previous day's rain, I probably could have driven the lane all day. The one thing that really bothered me for some stupid reason was the way they played dead balls. Whenever a ball would go out of bounds, or someone scored or someone got fouled, they would always throw the ball in from off court. It's been 7 years since I last played organized basketball, which is probably why that felt so weird. I guess I'm used to checking it with the defense.
I went to bed relatively early that night to get up at 2am to watch the US play Ghana. Needless to say, I was disappointed, but I don't want to dwell on it.
June 26
Working on Saturday feels weird, but at least it's giving me something to do, otherwise I would have probably holed up in my apartment watching Firefly all day. It was strange to be at work without my mentor Michael (he was out apartment hunting for his little brother, who's also coming to work in Xiasha) because he's been giving me cues on what to do all week. I spent most of the day sitting at my computer and trying to look busy, although I'm not sure how well I pulled that off.
On the homefront, I washed my laundry last night and hung it out to dry on my balcony. I hope it dries in one day, although given the humidity/chance of rain, I'm not sure if it will. When I got home from work today, I saw little child relieving himself in the middle of the apartment courtyard while his parents (and possibly grandparents), looked on. I'm not sure if this is normal in China, but I'm expecting that it is. Almost every small child I see is wearing what more or less boil down to terry-cloth chaps. That was a huge shock to my Western, puritanical sensibilities; I know that that sort of thing would never fly in America.
On a more sporting note, I played basketball with Michael and our neighbors today. I have to say, Chinese pick-up basketball is very different from American pick-up basketball (this could have just been a function of the people I was playing with, but having watched other pick-up games and made similar observations, I'm going to assume this is a cultural difference). For one, their game is much more frantic and finesse based. Guys are running every which way and passing the ball seems to be very popular, if not slightly erratic. Turn overs are very common in both directions and not many guys have pretty jump shots (although, as someone with an atrocious jump shot, I can commiserate). The Chinese game also seems to shirk away from contact. Coming into the game playing the way I play in America, I was able to physically dominate the paint. Yes, I had 7 inches and 30 pounds on everyone in the first game, but in the second, a guy about my size (probably 4-5 inches shorter, though) came in, and I was able to back him down all the way from the elbow to the bucket. He was very surprised when I made driving contact with my shoulder and hips. If not for the paint on the court and the residue of the previous day's rain, I probably could have driven the lane all day. The one thing that really bothered me for some stupid reason was the way they played dead balls. Whenever a ball would go out of bounds, or someone scored or someone got fouled, they would always throw the ball in from off court. It's been 7 years since I last played organized basketball, which is probably why that felt so weird. I guess I'm used to checking it with the defense.
I went to bed relatively early that night to get up at 2am to watch the US play Ghana. Needless to say, I was disappointed, but I don't want to dwell on it.
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| The basketball court (with puddles from a rainstorm) | Another view of the apartment complex. There are ten buildings with six floors and about 18 rooms per floor with an average of three people per room. For those of you keeping score at home, that about 3000 people living in my apartment complex. |
Friday, June 25, 2010
China - Day 7 - Crisis Averted
June 25
Today's been pretty slow at work. I spent the first half of the day reading a technical manual about a measurement probe and it's application in a number of different CNC mills. Now I'm going to review some parts that were machined out of spec and have been rejected by the customer. Wooooooo . After lunch, Michael brought me my company shoes that I need to wear whenever I go out on the workshop floor (they tried to give me a pair on my first day, but those were 3 sizes too small). These shoes are huge, they feel like boats on my feet. Actually, I'm pretty sure they are steel-toed, which is kinda cool. And now I have dedicated work shoes from now until when these things fall apart (which will probably be judgement day, based on how they are built)
Things are looking better on the home front. I just got handed a key to my new apartment, which will be in the same building, just one floor lower and at the other end of the hall (so it won't be the one directly below mine, which I assume is equally water logged). I also straightened things out about my internet situation. The company is apparently purchasing a wireless card from China Mobile that they are going to give to me so that I can access the internet wirelessly. I really hope it is a 3G card (actually, I don't know if Xiasha has 3G service). However, this means I won't have wireless in the new apartment until after they get the card to me. Hopefully it will be today or tomorrow (which definitely gives me an incentive to come to work on Saturday, as is apparently the norm for Allied). More info to come after I see the new apartment.
Today's been pretty slow at work. I spent the first half of the day reading a technical manual about a measurement probe and it's application in a number of different CNC mills. Now I'm going to review some parts that were machined out of spec and have been rejected by the customer.
Things are looking better on the home front. I just got handed a key to my new apartment, which will be in the same building, just one floor lower and at the other end of the hall (so it won't be the one directly below mine, which I assume is equally water logged). I also straightened things out about my internet situation. The company is apparently purchasing a wireless card from China Mobile that they are going to give to me so that I can access the internet wirelessly. I really hope it is a 3G card (actually, I don't know if Xiasha has 3G service). However, this means I won't have wireless in the new apartment until after they get the card to me. Hopefully it will be today or tomorrow (which definitely gives me an incentive to come to work on Saturday, as is apparently the norm for Allied). More info to come after I see the new apartment.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
China - Day 6 - Time to get to work
June 22
It's my second day at work and it's going very much like the first. I'm having the second safety training session; however, the person giving the training doesn't speak very good English (and I certainly don't speak Chinese well enough to take safety training), so I have to guess at what he's trying to convey. Probably not the best situation for safety training, but I'm going to be spending most of my time in the office and I think I got the general gist of the training (Don't touch anything). After safety training they take me out to another warehouse for more training, but this time it is training to use a five ton crane. That is way more fun than anything else I've been doing, and I start to get the hang of it pretty quickly. It's pretty much a pendulum game, albeit with a 500 kg pendulum. As we walk back to the office, Michael tells me that his boss thinks I "walk lazy." I'm confused, so I press for information. Apparently, the way I walk with my weight behind be, not walking with urgency, makes me appear lazy. I resolve to walk like purpose, to use my "city walk," around the office.
After lunch I finally get my own computer after two days of prodding (and spending the first half of the day studying engineering drawings out of context got grating). The only problem, it's in Chinese and there is no way to change the operating system language to English without buying an English version of Windows. Oh, and the software I'm going to be using (Unigraphics NX6) is also in Chinese. Excellent. After an hour or so of my fruitless searching, Michael comes and changes the language of NX6 to English in 3 minutes. Oh well, I have my own access to the outside world (Internet is spotty at best in my apartment) and something to keep myself entertained at work. I went for a run after work and I got a lot of strange looks, like I'm the first person to run in the history of Xiasha. Oh well, it is nice to get some exercise in.
It's my second day at work and it's going very much like the first. I'm having the second safety training session; however, the person giving the training doesn't speak very good English (and I certainly don't speak Chinese well enough to take safety training), so I have to guess at what he's trying to convey. Probably not the best situation for safety training, but I'm going to be spending most of my time in the office and I think I got the general gist of the training (Don't touch anything). After safety training they take me out to another warehouse for more training, but this time it is training to use a five ton crane. That is way more fun than anything else I've been doing, and I start to get the hang of it pretty quickly. It's pretty much a pendulum game, albeit with a 500 kg pendulum. As we walk back to the office, Michael tells me that his boss thinks I "walk lazy." I'm confused, so I press for information. Apparently, the way I walk with my weight behind be, not walking with urgency, makes me appear lazy. I resolve to walk like purpose, to use my "city walk," around the office.
After lunch I finally get my own computer after two days of prodding (and spending the first half of the day studying engineering drawings out of context got grating). The only problem, it's in Chinese and there is no way to change the operating system language to English without buying an English version of Windows. Oh, and the software I'm going to be using (Unigraphics NX6) is also in Chinese. Excellent. After an hour or so of my fruitless searching, Michael comes and changes the language of NX6 to English in 3 minutes. Oh well, I have my own access to the outside world (Internet is spotty at best in my apartment) and something to keep myself entertained at work. I went for a run after work and I got a lot of strange looks, like I'm the first person to run in the history of Xiasha. Oh well, it is nice to get some exercise in.
Monday, June 21, 2010
China - Day 3 - Welcome to Hangzhou, no wait, Xiasha
June 20
The next night after touching down in Shanghai, we got up for orientation which primarily consisted of a luncheon with alumni. The food served was Shanghaiese (aka Shanghai specialties), including a fantastic pork belly dish (no idea what it was called), jellyfish, eel and a number of less interesting dishes. I figured "When in Rome..." and tried the jellyfish and eel. The eel was quite tasty, but heavily masked with spices. The jellyfish was something else all together. It was a lot crunchier than I expected jellyfish to taste, kinda like hard jello. After the luncheon, we returned to our hotel to get our bags and head to the train station for the train to Hangzhou. This was the second time I seriously regretted bringing so much stuff. We got to the train station (Shanghai South) and it was a mess. There must have been easily five thousand people. After a number of false starts, we got to the right gate where we waited with 500 hundred of our newest friends for the train. While we waited, I went to find a water fountain because I was quite parched after running all over the train station for the past half hour. However, I didn't find a drinking fountain like I expected. Instead I found a hot water dispenser. Over the next couple of days it finally dawned on me that cold drinks are not really normal in China. It seems that the Chinese prefer their drinks warm, or at coolest, room temperature.
The next night after touching down in Shanghai, we got up for orientation which primarily consisted of a luncheon with alumni. The food served was Shanghaiese (aka Shanghai specialties), including a fantastic pork belly dish (no idea what it was called), jellyfish, eel and a number of less interesting dishes. I figured "When in Rome..." and tried the jellyfish and eel. The eel was quite tasty, but heavily masked with spices. The jellyfish was something else all together. It was a lot crunchier than I expected jellyfish to taste, kinda like hard jello. After the luncheon, we returned to our hotel to get our bags and head to the train station for the train to Hangzhou. This was the second time I seriously regretted bringing so much stuff. We got to the train station (Shanghai South) and it was a mess. There must have been easily five thousand people. After a number of false starts, we got to the right gate where we waited with 500 hundred of our newest friends for the train. While we waited, I went to find a water fountain because I was quite parched after running all over the train station for the past half hour. However, I didn't find a drinking fountain like I expected. Instead I found a hot water dispenser. Over the next couple of days it finally dawned on me that cold drinks are not really normal in China. It seems that the Chinese prefer their drinks warm, or at coolest, room temperature.
 | Jellyfish on the left, eel on the right |
Saturday, June 19, 2010
China - Day 1 - Whelp, I'm in Asia now
Wow, where to begin?
June 19
Let's start with the flights. I left SFO on June 18 on United flying to Incheon where I would catch a connecting flight to Shanghai on China Eastern Airlines. I was lucky enough to be upgraded to business class for the SFO-ICN flight (thank you mom and dad's frequent flier miles) and I have to say, it was exquisite. They served me three glasses of champagne before we even left the gate (one I had when I first sat down, the second when my seat mate [an anthropology professor from Harvard] joined me and the third when the flight attendants had to finish off the bottle before take off [I guess we looked like we would oblige another drink]).
June 19
Let's start with the flights. I left SFO on June 18 on United flying to Incheon where I would catch a connecting flight to Shanghai on China Eastern Airlines. I was lucky enough to be upgraded to business class for the SFO-ICN flight (thank you mom and dad's frequent flier miles) and I have to say, it was exquisite. They served me three glasses of champagne before we even left the gate (one I had when I first sat down, the second when my seat mate [an anthropology professor from Harvard] joined me and the third when the flight attendants had to finish off the bottle before take off [I guess we looked like we would oblige another drink]).
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| 747-400's at SFO. I think one of them was mine | A little pre-flight champagne |
Friday, June 18, 2010
China - Day 0 - Leaving on a jet plane...
June 18
Today is the day. I can't tell if my feelings are nervousness or the coffee in my veins, but I'm giddy. I'm currently sitting in the United Red Carpet Club at SFO (thank you to Jordan and Sylvie for driving me to the airport at this ungodly hour), and I have mixed feeling about this place. On one hand, it is nice to have a quiet place to relax before the flight and I'm enjoying the complimentary wifi (I turned down the two complementary drink tickets, although given my nerves I'm thinking that may have been a mistake). On the other hand, the ambiance here is like a motel lobby and the lounge does not appear to have been particularly well maintained. Both power plugs at my seat don't work, but luckily the guy sitting across from me was kind enough to offer one of his ports. I board in 50 minutes; I'm scared and excited and ready to do this.
Today is the day. I can't tell if my feelings are nervousness or the coffee in my veins, but I'm giddy. I'm currently sitting in the United Red Carpet Club at SFO (thank you to Jordan and Sylvie for driving me to the airport at this ungodly hour), and I have mixed feeling about this place. On one hand, it is nice to have a quiet place to relax before the flight and I'm enjoying the complimentary wifi (I turned down the two complementary drink tickets, although given my nerves I'm thinking that may have been a mistake). On the other hand, the ambiance here is like a motel lobby and the lounge does not appear to have been particularly well maintained. Both power plugs at my seat don't work, but luckily the guy sitting across from me was kind enough to offer one of his ports. I board in 50 minutes; I'm scared and excited and ready to do this.
 Here's the entrance on the first floor. Probably the nicest part of the Red Carpet Lounge. |  The view from the departure lounge. A classic San Francisco summer morning. |
Thursday, June 17, 2010
China - Day -1 - It's getting to be about that time, eh chaps?
June 17
I leave for China tomorrow and I'm pretty nervous. I hope I'm bringing enough stuff. I'm excited because this is going to be the first time I've flown out of SFO's International terminal, although, I will admit that I was not terribly impressed arriving at the international terminal. Well, I'm leaving my house in less than 12 hours, time to commence freaking out.
I leave for China tomorrow and I'm pretty nervous. I hope I'm bringing enough stuff. I'm excited because this is going to be the first time I've flown out of SFO's International terminal, although, I will admit that I was not terribly impressed arriving at the international terminal. Well, I'm leaving my house in less than 12 hours, time to commence freaking out.
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