Notes from the Far East

Well, back from China now for seven days. I see there's hasn't been much happening on the blog since I left.

(Actually, nothing from anyone else since Apr 4. In fact, there are odds posted at MGM Mirage:

Which will happen first?

The oil leak in the underground Gulf is plugged -130
Someone besides Eric posts on F&J +110
-ed )

But I digress. As some of you know, we have a reprieve - our paperwork is being delayed, so we aren't leaving for China until mid-July. This means we have soem time to get everything done around here throughout the month of June - like stocking up on Cascade, Hefty trash bags, chocolate syrup, and Off.

Random notes about the trip:

- I can't reliably access blogspot.com, nor twitter. I did not have the audacity to try to access the on-line gambling site on my P&G work computer. Someone said (another P&G ex-pat) that I need to buy my own VPN, based in Hong Kong. I'll look into that - but any thoughts from the gallery out there?

- Walking off the plane, we were hit with this wall of humidity - at 6 in the morning. It was 85 degrees and at least 90% humidity. It felt like one of those August mornings in Baltimore where it feels that it will rain any moment. It was like that all week.

We remarked to a local: "gees, the heat here is bad, isn't it?"
"Heat? Oh no. It will get 10 degrees warmer (that's 10 degrees warmer in Celsius!!!) in July and August!"
Oh great.

We did not see the sun all week; apparently, we will see the sun/blue skies about 10 days on average.

- The pollution, however, was suprprisingly good. Some ex-pats said it got a whole lot better since the Olympics; 3 years ago, it was suffocating. I didn't notice it at all over a week.

- House hunting was (and is) difficult. We need a 4 bedroom apartment, because of the kids and the need for us to have some sort of office (as we will be taking many late night calls for fantasy football/work). However, there just are not many of those in Guangzhou. It's a classic case of supply and demand. There's no supply - so prices are exponentially higher when moving from a 3 bedroom to a 4 bedroom place.

- Food? Food was good. Many of our Chinese hosts ordered for us - and it was great. Problem is - we will never be able to order that food again, since we don't know what the dish is called. This is espeically a problem at the dim sum restaurants.

- In order to get a work permit for China, we have to go through a state-sponsored medical examination. Let's just say that the exam - which took 3 hours - will haunt me for a long time. You were shuffled from room to room in a 1950s style block building; in each room you were greeted by someone with the personality of Krauss from "Benson".

I had an ultrasound done on me.

- The Asian games are coming! Guangzhou is hosting the 2010 Asian Games in November. This is the 16th playing of the games. This is a huge deal, apparently - and therefore there is an enormous amount of construction going on to get ready.
And - unfortunately - it's all on tight timing. Construction is going on 24/7 - so there is lots of noises that you can hear in the hotel room at 3 am due to the construction all around.

- We think we have found a place to live (we are in the process of negotiating right now); there is a Starbucks, Subway, and KFC within walking distance; there is also a neighborhood corner store very close that sells everything Western - for a price. Pop Tarts? 35 Yuan a box - about $6. Cereal? 50 yuan - $8. Chocolate Syrup? 40 yuan.

And many fast food restaurants - including McDonalds & KFC - deliver. This could be trouble.

- In general, we did not do anything touristy in Guangzhou. We stayed near the neighborhood of our hotel, the school (where our apartments are going to be) and work. We did not explore any of the markets or sightsee.

- Sports? Well, we got ESPN International....where the headline story for two days was "Is Fabregas going to Real Madrid? Will he leave Arsenal??"
Oh God no. Not Soccer.

- We then went to Hong Kong for a day. That city is indescribable. Within 10 miles on the island, you get a combination of:
- New York, with the bright city lights;
- San Francisco, with the famous "peak" in the middle of the island, a 600 foot "mountain" that was fogged in continually as we drove up it;
- San Diego, with the beaches on the eastern side of the island (reminded me of La Jolla),
- Paris, as there are many streets that are barely two-lane streets but are teeming with restaurants/shops/cafes on both sides of the street.

Just a wild juxtaposition of cultures. And - of course - it's own money/currency.

Lot of things still to do to get ready for the move - like figure out how Slingbox works.

Oh! I met my hero. We had dinner at the house of some P&G ex-pats...we met 4 families, one of them is moving back to Cincinnati this summer. I asked the male in the family on what P&G category he is in.

The group laughed.

What is the joke I am missing?

He is a stay-at-home dad. In China. With two "ayis" (or nannys) that cook, clean, and take care of the kids. Now that's the life.