Bored?

(Initially written on January 26th)

When I was arranging my trip to Hawaii the flights were complicated. I have a series of meetings in Singapore after Chinese New Year, so my flights turned out to be Shanghai -> Tokyo -> Honolulu -> Manila -> Singapore -> Shanghai. I'm flying on three different airlines and as I'm discovering now, have a couple of nasty layovers. Right now I'm stuck in the Tokyo, Narita airport. I've already waited two hours and have two more to go and I am extremely bored.

I can't remember the last time where I've had the opportunity to be bored. In the exhausting day-to-day world in Shanghai, I typically fall asleep whenever I sit down and I'm not eating or working. One of my friend jokes that every time I see him I start yawning. I did sleep on the flight from Shanghai to Tokyo and probably will fall asleep on the plane to Honolulu as well, but for now I'm up and restless. I have books to read and my ipod, but can't seem to focus on anything. I did some stretches in a corner, bought some weird dried fruit and water at the duty free store, explored the terminal and still have two hours!

When's the last time you were bored? Can you remember it? What did you do?

Happy Chinese New Year to all! Happy 牛 year! 新年快乐！

In Transit

Going home for Christmas is one of the hallowed rituals of Western culture. Last year I wasn't able to go due to work commitments, but this year I "crossed the pond" to spend a week with my family. In the process I learned the following:

1) Wheelchairs in the US are much bigger than wheelchairs in China and they have seat belts!
2) When you ride in a wheelchair going through customs is really fast.
3) Bulkhead seats really do provide more legroom.
4) Gate changes are the bane of the wheelchair traveler.

My Chinese teacher has a close friend who works for American Airlines, so on my way home she arranged for a bulkhead seat and wheelchairs at all my connections. It was great - the fastest I have ever moved through an airport. If only I could have controlled the weather too.

In Chicago, my flight was delayed for almost 4 hours with 3 gate changes. Flights were getting canceled left and right and a group of us became friends as we commiserated and shared stories about our holiday plans. There was a couple from Melbourne, Australia, a gentlemen from Moscow, me from Shanghai, a group from Southern California, a pregnant college student from Texas, some pharmaceutical reps who had been to Houston for a conference... all going home for the holidays. We bonded, shared snacks and made it as pleasant as possible. Overall, not a bad outcome.

Coming back to Shanghai I also dealt with weather in that my flight was canceled! Fog and thunderstorms resulted in moving back my departure one day. We got a 2am phone call Saturday morning announcing this so I had one extra day with my family which was unplanned but not unwelcome. The flights back went smoothly - I upgraded to business class, had two seats to myself and managed to sleep over 6 hours (a new record).

Question: Any travel horror stories or travel surprises/connections / interesting people you want to share?

Happy New Year! May 2009 be the best year yet.

G

Wandering

Going back to a place where you once lived gives you a new perspective. The place has changed, as have you. Shanghai is a city of constant change and after my relaxing summer in Chicago, I’m not the same either. Today is cloudy with hints of rain in the air and after lunch with a friend I took a long, meandering walk back to my hotel. This wasn’t my neighborhood before and it won’t be after I move in a week or two, but the cooler air made me want to explore.

I saw children chasing their grandpa as he bicycled down the street. I saw a store called “Meat Puppets” (not sure what they were selling), I saw dumpling vendors and flower shops and cute little clothing stores. I smiled inwardly at the Shanghai men carrying their girlfriends’ purses. I stumbled across one of the Blue Frog locations (a western chain known for its burgers). I watched people buy moon cakes to celebrate the festival on Monday.

As I wandered I thought about why I came back. When I’m here I feel an energy – this sense that I can try anything. It’s difficult to describe. From the fashion to the food to the crowded subways to the relief on people’s faces when they realize I speak some Chinese, it calls to me. In being so different, I am more me.

I start my job in a week so I have one free week to wander (and find an apartment, get my banking set up, see tons of friends…) before the real world intrudes on my fantasy or the fantasy becomes the real world. 谁知道？Who knows? Anything is possible.
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Birthday wishes go to my friend Joseph and my cousin Matt. It’s not Friday the 13th this year, but hope your birthdays were great just the same.
Cheers!

Wake Up Call

The sun in Shanghai rises incredibly early - at the moment it rises about a quarter to 5 in the morning. Since my roommate went back to the States I've been waking up earlier and earlier, then dozing until 7 or 8, whenever I force myself to get out of bed. Part of it is I'm not used to being in the apartment alone, but part of it is the fact that the sun is up and my body clock tends to sync with the sun.

China is on a single time zone, "Beijing Standard Time." I've heard a couple of theories about this: 1)It is a holdover from the days of the emperors and since the emperor was in Beijing that was the official time; 2)Mao insisted that since all people were equal in China, everyone should have the same time.

Like anything, there are pros and cons. You can schedule a meeting with representatives from anywhere in the country and not have to worry about time zone changes. There's also no daylight savings time, so as far as programming computers and clocks it is more straightforward. Train, bus and airplane schedules don't require conversions because "local time" is the same everywhere. But, if you live in Tibet in December the sun won't rise until almost 9am. Talk about going to work in the dark!

I love late summer twilight but since it the sun rises so early it gets dark about 6:30pm. I remember late summer evenings as a kid, softball games ending at 9pm in twilight, long walks for ice cream, sitting on the hill waiting for the fireworks to start at 10pm. It's a different rhythm here.

Question: What do you do when you can't sleep?

Happy Belated Memorial Day to you all! No holiday here, obviously, but this Sunday is Children's Day and a week from Sunday is the dragon boat festival. Then that week my parents come!

Cheers!

G