Cong Shanghai, Zao Shang Hao!
Shanghai R00lz!
John and I are starting to like working at Tekelec (we still abhor work in general, but if we must, we're glad it's at Tekelec). After the first few days of crying, we have pulled ourselves together and now have mild competency in our work. Even though we don't get paid, our coworkers often take us out for very good lunches (basically, we can calculate our paycheck by what we ate that day. Sometimes we make only 8-12 yuan a day, other times 50-60 yuan). If you factor in rent money we might be making 200-300 yuan a day (total guess). $30-45 USD per day which is actually not bad at all when you look at it relatively.
Funny thing I learned the other day. My first host had a house keeper lady that came in 5 days a week every week. She cleaned the house and everyday would buy the food and vegetables for the day. She makes 700 yuan......PER MONTH! My family hires a maid service to clean our house ONCE a month, and they cost US$120 to clean the whole house. They make more money on one 4 hour job then that lady makes after 20 days of work. Granted the house is a little smaller than ours and she is only one person compared to the team of maids we hire but it still shows we're still living in a third world cheap labor country even in Shanghai, the most modern city in the nation.
Another thing I learned is that all land in the entire country is still state owned. All the new skyscrapers around town must lease the land for 50-100 years from the government and then give it back. Also apparently there is an extremely unstable economic situation brewing in China right now. They are entering a huge bubble which is very soon going to burst. The stock market is skyrocketing up and more and more chinese people are investing their cash savings and putting it into the slot machine that never loses. Very similar to the dotcom bubble and of the course the events leading up to the great depression. China's economy hasn't experienced a large downturn yet, but all economies do eventually, especially at the phenomonal rate China is growing. Eventually you build too many skyscrapers or too many factories. When China's economy does crash a lot of people will lose their money for the first time in this Country's history in this fashion. It will be interesting to see what events will transpire as a result of it.
Alright enough cultural insight let me tell you about my weekend
Oh yeah, my parents are vacationing in Shanghai right now (What a coincidence!). They are acting as me and John's indirect chaperones over here. We're going to stay at their hotel the last 4 nights because it is easier for the people at Tekelec and especially us. I went to this old town called Qi Bao (seven treasures) and it was pretty cool. They had a lot of shops on these narrow old streets. The best part was the food vendors because they sold duck heads, heart, liver, pig snout, baby chicken on a stick, and all kinds of other crazy stuff. I had a coconut drink where they take the coconut and make a hole with a screw driver in the top and put a straw in it. I also visited the Shanghai museum which was extremely interesting. The parents took me and John on a bus tour of a famous town called Hang Zhou where they have a cool lake and a lot of trees and natural scenery. We went to a temple (what a surprise!), a tea plantation (it was pretty cool, the tea plants are just like bushes and you just pick some leaves off and cook them to make tea leaves), and the lake where we took a boat ride. The only downside was it took forevever to get there and come back, but it was a good trip.
Today I'm working in a new department, the EMS (Element Management System) team. They make the basic sofware that comes with the telecom routing servers. Pretty complex stuff. I think they are just going to let me self study some of the stuff they are doing, and not really give me any projects, since I'm only here 5 days, which is nice. I also move in with my new host guy for 3 nights.
So anyway Shanghai rocks. Me and John are looking for a way to close out the trip with a unique Shanghai experience on Saturday and we're ready to head home on Sunday. Only a few more days left on the otherside of the world.
Mark
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