JANUARY 22, 2008
Winter is entrenched here in Shanghai. Don't let anyone tell you that the winters aren't so bad here. I haven't seen the sunshine in over two weeks. It threatens to rain daily (sometimes even snow or sleet), and the cold seems to be bone chilling for some reason. I don't know if it's the humidity or what. 10 degrees in Michigan seems warmer than 40 in Shanghai, and no, I can't explain it. OK, enough pontificating about the weather .... can't do anything about it anyway.
Ali and I set off Tuesday to pick up my Lost Passport Report from the Exit/Entry of the Security Bureau in Pudong. I was really happy to have her company. When one is heading off to try to accomplish some seemingly impossible feat, it always helps to have back-up, especially when the back-up has 14 years experience living in a foreign country.
We took off fairly early via the subway, and arrived at the Bureau around 10:15 AM. As luck would have it, there was no line waiting at Station No. 15 (the official line for picking up one's Lost Passport Report). A very serious looking policeman sorted though his stack of officially stamped forms until he came to mine. He re-examined the forms to make sure all was in order, and handed me my report along with some written instructions. I asked if I could have the copy of my passport returned to me. "Must make copy." He then pointed off towards a corner where we assumed there would be some means for reproducing the documents with a stern instruction to return a copy to him.
We wandered off in the general direction he'd indicated while Ali read aloud the instructions we'd just been handed. Basically, it said something about the fact that one must apply for a new passport within 30 days of receiving the official report, or one faces the possibility of being, and I quote, "punished by the Police Organs!!" Ali and I stopped and looked at each other for a moment, and then burst out in uncontrollable laughter. Wow!! Punished by Police Organs!! Maybe that deserves further investigation!!! We giggled like schoolgirls all the way back to Mr. Grumpy Policeman to return his copies. He inquired as to what all the frivolity was about (or rather "Why you laughing?"). We put our serious faces back on and reported that "nothing was funny, sir" until we reached the escalator where we couldn't hold it in any longer. Too funny .... punished by Police Organs!!! Yes, that was the best piece of Chinglish I'd heard in a while, and Randy and I threaten each other with said punishment at least once a week now.
As I was still feeling the lingering effects of some kind of upper respiratory ailment, I was tempted to call it enough fun for one day. But at Ali's wise insistence, we pushed on to the American Embassy to apply for my replacement passport. It wasn't too far off the subway station at the West Nanjing Road station, so she convinced me that there was no time like the present. Actually, the Embassy was no big deal .... finding it was probably the hardest part. It's on the 8th floor of a department store building although one must pass through a really nice shoe department which is a bonus! After turning over my cell phone and emptying my pockets, I walked through a metal detector and made my way to a small room where I took a number to wait my turn. I turned in my form, paid my 800 RMB (gulp!!), held up my right hand and swore that everything I said and wrote was true (why the right hand, why not the left? ... Is the left the equivalent of crossing your fingers when you tell a lie? OK, just wondering.), and then learned my photo was the wrong size. Shazbot!! OK, the Kodak store a block away was keenly positioned to rip off every American citizen who needs a passport photo for 50 RMB. But it only took a few minutes, and it was done. I was told I would be notified via email within a few weeks when I could pick up my passport. Yippee.
One thing piqued my curiosity though. I was never asked for any other piece of identification. And I was prepared!! Marriage license, birth certificate, new driver's license. Apparently, it's OK to use the sworn statement of another American that you are who you SAY you are. But no .... they didn't seem to be concerned about that. I could have been Osama Bin Laden applying for a US passport. It just didn't seem all that secure to me (other than the fact that I couldn't get my Uzi through the metal detector). Oh well. I suppose they will scour the internet for any signs of my involvement in terrorist activity before they issue me the new documents. Randy could probably give them a few scary stories.
In spite of the cold weather, we have been busy with entertaining. Randy's boss, Carrie, was here last week. Her visit coincided with the first annual ADS Shanghai holiday party which was Friday, January 18th, and definitely worth a mention in the blog.
Da, the driver, picked me up at 3:00 for the 45 minute drive to ADS. For a change, it was a rather uneventful drive (whew!), or maybe I'm just becoming jaded to the Shanghai style of driving which is akin to a Grand Prix auto race. Randy was waiting for me and took me on a tour of the facility. It was interesting to see the plant now that there is a full staff and the machines are operating. Paul, visiting from McGavigan's currently, was working on programming a robot for a new program due to commence soon. I recognized a few of the workers that I'd met previously, but there were a few new faces as well. Everyone was busy as little bees and everything appeared fairly well organized and productive.
We took off around 5:15 for the restaurant in Anting. A private room was organized with four round tables each seating around 10 or 12 people, and large Lazy Susans sported various local Chinese appetizers .... cold vegetables and marinated meat items, most of which I'd eaten previously were placed around the outside edges of the Lazy Susan. Also there were bottles of beer, orange juice, and millet milk (like soy milk) on each table.
Lifeng had a nice slide show and presentation describing the challenges, the setbacks, and positive strides made at ADS in 2007. A handful of employees were named Employees of the Year and given gifts. Then the food started coming out. I think they brought food out for two hours straight!!!
There was every kind of meat dish imaginable .... pork ribs, chicken, beef were in good supply. Soon the exotic foods were being presented ..... jelly fish, ants with pine nuts, soup with dumplings that were stuffed with sweet black beans, turtle (completely intact, shell and all), pork stomach (a cousin to chitlins I suppose), and an assortment of soups one of which included the chicken head (OK, that's old hat for us .... we've seen the chicken head many times). There was a large fish (I think it was a halibut but I'm not certain) that came out completely intact on a large platter, and chopsticks were quickly stabbed into the flaky white flesh for it's consumption. And of course, a HUGE pile of fried rice. We tried almost everything. Surprisingly, one of my favorite things was the ants. They were nicely fried with the pine nuts, salted, and served warm. Reminded me of a cross between popcorn and warm roasted nuts. I kept thinking a bucket of these would be great at a movie theater with a large Coke!!!
The common way to drink at an event such as this is a rather formal toast presented by the host. Everyone stood, and Lifeng thanked all present for their hard work and wished us all well in the new year, and we drank. After that, the proper way to drink at a Chinese meal is to never take a sip of a drink unless it is preceded by a toast. So many times, each table stood to wish one another well and then drink to each other's health and happiness.
Another interesting dimension of the toasting ritual is the "personal" toast. This occurs when one person presents his full glass to another (who then has his glass filled to the brim) in a toast, and then they both drain the contents of the glass. I believe there may have been a conspiracy to see if they could get Randy drunk (I overheard a translation of an employee's comment about Randy and this particular employee's desire to "lay him down" which I am quite sure refers to "passed out.") Unfortunately, they underestimated Randy's beer drinking ability. Several of the employees approached him many times with their full glasses, and basically proceeded to only get themselves pretty tipsy. It was a whimsical scene to be sure!
It does appear as though the staff of ADS Shanghai get along well with one another, have a strong team spirit, and truly enjoy one another's company. There was a lottery-type drawing for some gifts, and everyone seemed genuinely happy for the winners. The party made me a bit homesick for my colleagues at Kaumagraph where the camaraderie is also evident among the team. I believe a good time was had by all, and with luck, a prosperous New Year was indeed heralded.
Ali and I set off Tuesday to pick up my Lost Passport Report from the Exit/Entry of the Security Bureau in Pudong. I was really happy to have her company. When one is heading off to try to accomplish some seemingly impossible feat, it always helps to have back-up, especially when the back-up has 14 years experience living in a foreign country.
We took off fairly early via the subway, and arrived at the Bureau around 10:15 AM. As luck would have it, there was no line waiting at Station No. 15 (the official line for picking up one's Lost Passport Report). A very serious looking policeman sorted though his stack of officially stamped forms until he came to mine. He re-examined the forms to make sure all was in order, and handed me my report along with some written instructions. I asked if I could have the copy of my passport returned to me. "Must make copy." He then pointed off towards a corner where we assumed there would be some means for reproducing the documents with a stern instruction to return a copy to him.
We wandered off in the general direction he'd indicated while Ali read aloud the instructions we'd just been handed. Basically, it said something about the fact that one must apply for a new passport within 30 days of receiving the official report, or one faces the possibility of being, and I quote, "punished by the Police Organs!!" Ali and I stopped and looked at each other for a moment, and then burst out in uncontrollable laughter. Wow!! Punished by Police Organs!! Maybe that deserves further investigation!!! We giggled like schoolgirls all the way back to Mr. Grumpy Policeman to return his copies. He inquired as to what all the frivolity was about (or rather "Why you laughing?"). We put our serious faces back on and reported that "nothing was funny, sir" until we reached the escalator where we couldn't hold it in any longer. Too funny .... punished by Police Organs!!! Yes, that was the best piece of Chinglish I'd heard in a while, and Randy and I threaten each other with said punishment at least once a week now.
As I was still feeling the lingering effects of some kind of upper respiratory ailment, I was tempted to call it enough fun for one day. But at Ali's wise insistence, we pushed on to the American Embassy to apply for my replacement passport. It wasn't too far off the subway station at the West Nanjing Road station, so she convinced me that there was no time like the present. Actually, the Embassy was no big deal .... finding it was probably the hardest part. It's on the 8th floor of a department store building although one must pass through a really nice shoe department which is a bonus! After turning over my cell phone and emptying my pockets, I walked through a metal detector and made my way to a small room where I took a number to wait my turn. I turned in my form, paid my 800 RMB (gulp!!), held up my right hand and swore that everything I said and wrote was true (why the right hand, why not the left? ... Is the left the equivalent of crossing your fingers when you tell a lie? OK, just wondering.), and then learned my photo was the wrong size. Shazbot!! OK, the Kodak store a block away was keenly positioned to rip off every American citizen who needs a passport photo for 50 RMB. But it only took a few minutes, and it was done. I was told I would be notified via email within a few weeks when I could pick up my passport. Yippee.
One thing piqued my curiosity though. I was never asked for any other piece of identification. And I was prepared!! Marriage license, birth certificate, new driver's license. Apparently, it's OK to use the sworn statement of another American that you are who you SAY you are. But no .... they didn't seem to be concerned about that. I could have been Osama Bin Laden applying for a US passport. It just didn't seem all that secure to me (other than the fact that I couldn't get my Uzi through the metal detector). Oh well. I suppose they will scour the internet for any signs of my involvement in terrorist activity before they issue me the new documents. Randy could probably give them a few scary stories.
In spite of the cold weather, we have been busy with entertaining. Randy's boss, Carrie, was here last week. Her visit coincided with the first annual ADS Shanghai holiday party which was Friday, January 18th, and definitely worth a mention in the blog.
Da, the driver, picked me up at 3:00 for the 45 minute drive to ADS. For a change, it was a rather uneventful drive (whew!), or maybe I'm just becoming jaded to the Shanghai style of driving which is akin to a Grand Prix auto race. Randy was waiting for me and took me on a tour of the facility. It was interesting to see the plant now that there is a full staff and the machines are operating. Paul, visiting from McGavigan's currently, was working on programming a robot for a new program due to commence soon. I recognized a few of the workers that I'd met previously, but there were a few new faces as well. Everyone was busy as little bees and everything appeared fairly well organized and productive.
We took off around 5:15 for the restaurant in Anting. A private room was organized with four round tables each seating around 10 or 12 people, and large Lazy Susans sported various local Chinese appetizers .... cold vegetables and marinated meat items, most of which I'd eaten previously were placed around the outside edges of the Lazy Susan. Also there were bottles of beer, orange juice, and millet milk (like soy milk) on each table.
Lifeng had a nice slide show and presentation describing the challenges, the setbacks, and positive strides made at ADS in 2007. A handful of employees were named Employees of the Year and given gifts. Then the food started coming out. I think they brought food out for two hours straight!!!
There was every kind of meat dish imaginable .... pork ribs, chicken, beef were in good supply. Soon the exotic foods were being presented ..... jelly fish, ants with pine nuts, soup with dumplings that were stuffed with sweet black beans, turtle (completely intact, shell and all), pork stomach (a cousin to chitlins I suppose), and an assortment of soups one of which included the chicken head (OK, that's old hat for us .... we've seen the chicken head many times). There was a large fish (I think it was a halibut but I'm not certain) that came out completely intact on a large platter, and chopsticks were quickly stabbed into the flaky white flesh for it's consumption. And of course, a HUGE pile of fried rice. We tried almost everything. Surprisingly, one of my favorite things was the ants. They were nicely fried with the pine nuts, salted, and served warm. Reminded me of a cross between popcorn and warm roasted nuts. I kept thinking a bucket of these would be great at a movie theater with a large Coke!!!
The common way to drink at an event such as this is a rather formal toast presented by the host. Everyone stood, and Lifeng thanked all present for their hard work and wished us all well in the new year, and we drank. After that, the proper way to drink at a Chinese meal is to never take a sip of a drink unless it is preceded by a toast. So many times, each table stood to wish one another well and then drink to each other's health and happiness.
Another interesting dimension of the toasting ritual is the "personal" toast. This occurs when one person presents his full glass to another (who then has his glass filled to the brim) in a toast, and then they both drain the contents of the glass. I believe there may have been a conspiracy to see if they could get Randy drunk (I overheard a translation of an employee's comment about Randy and this particular employee's desire to "lay him down" which I am quite sure refers to "passed out.") Unfortunately, they underestimated Randy's beer drinking ability. Several of the employees approached him many times with their full glasses, and basically proceeded to only get themselves pretty tipsy. It was a whimsical scene to be sure!
It does appear as though the staff of ADS Shanghai get along well with one another, have a strong team spirit, and truly enjoy one another's company. There was a lottery-type drawing for some gifts, and everyone seemed genuinely happy for the winners. The party made me a bit homesick for my colleagues at Kaumagraph where the camaraderie is also evident among the team. I believe a good time was had by all, and with luck, a prosperous New Year was indeed heralded.
posted by Roxanne Gillett at
9:39 PM
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