Multiple Layers

At the end of June I had the opportunity to sit on a panel for Notre Dame Executive MBA students and serve as a resource as an expat who had relocated to Shanghai. I thought it was a panel anyway – the other individual canceled that morning so I was the sole representative for an hour of questions. After telling my story I was asked all kinds of things – some pertaining to my job in the employee benefits industry, some about pace of life, culture, differences, …

One of the comments I got was that things didn't seem that busy here – the restaurants are half empty and there weren't that many people. I tried to explain the levels here – that the best restaurant in the city isn't the one at ground level, but instead on the 6th floor of an office building or that in the subway there is a complete shopping mall that you'd never notice from the street level. I suggested that he come with me through the People's Square subway station at 5pm and see if he thought it wasn't crowded.

Today on my way to work I got another reminder of the layers in the city. I have walked to work almost every day for the past nine months (except for that month period with my knee), trying different routes but sticking mostly to the same way. As I looked up I realized that there was a complete set of bird cages on the second floor of a building looking kind of like they were for homing pigeons – with maybe 12 or 15 birds inside. There was a gentleman leaning out the window petting and feeding his birds. I never noticed that before even though I've eaten at the small restaurant just below.

It's a good reminder that it is possible to develop a comfort level and how normal changes over time. Any examples from you? Is there anything you don't notice now?