Monday one of the practice groups took me to lunch at very nice Chinese restaurant. This wasn't like the "fast food" Chinese I did the other day but the foods were no less surprising. We had our room and all of us sat around a round table with a very large glass lazy susan in the middle. Once the food started to be delivered, it didn't stop. Everything is served family style and everyone used the chopsticks they eat with to grab their food.
I was caught off guard when no one really ate or drank when things started to arrive. I was finally told that the most senior person is to make a toast for the table before everyone starts, so I did. It wasn't a great off the cuff toast but it seemed to work since everyone started clinking glasses enthusiastically.
There were all kinds of foods -- sticky rice, a pork and beef of some kind of curry or sauce, peanuts in a spicy oil, tofu, broccoli in a soup of some kind, chrysanthamum (sp) tea, watermelon juice, noodles (almost clear, not like Italian noodles), and then...eel with the skin still on; frog soup - the frog is diced into large chunks; chicken on the bone in 4+ inch sections; donkey tongue (it's supposed to be lucky like a dragon); cow, pig and ox tongue; fried duck tongue in the beak which everyone seemed to enjoy very much; and then a desert of sliced watermelon. Everyone ate a ton - not me but I tried to taste as much as I could - yet everyone is still very thin. I believe it's because it's all meats, vegatables and so few processed foods. When we got back to the office, I was asked how I liked "sitting at lunch" and quizzed on my favorite foods - Western and Chinese. I was told that there is no such thing in China as chop suey.
While walking back from lunch, I got a good lesson in crossing the street in Shanghai when I was almost hit by a car. I missed taking a fender in my right knee by about six inches. I was talking to someone on my left and not looking at the traffic turning left. Cars, buses and bikes do NOT stop for people. People are regularly killed here crossing the street, especially by buses from what my staff says.
Today, the other office practice took me to an Indian restaurant. Yum. None of the Chinese really knew what to order so the Singaporeans and I ordered for the table. It was funny to see them try something new. Many said they liked it but they seemed to have a difficult time with the spices and rich flavors.
Starbucks here is great and tastes the same for the most part. I miss my regular sugar-free Venti vanilla latte, with no foam or fat. I can't get a venti here. The sizes are short (6 oz), tall and grande (the latter two like the US). I miss the sugar-free but am still very grateful for the creature comfort.
My driver decided today to use our drive time to teach me Mandarin. It's actually a lot of fun and very funny. He thinks of all the English words he can say and then teaches me how to say them. Today was a good lesson. I learned how to say: left, right, go home, tomorrow, 7:45 (the time my driver picks me up in the a.m.) , sorry, supermarket, please, cold, hot and car. Coffee was easy -- Starbucks. Hamburger was similar -- McDonald's. :)
The agency business here is so fascinating. There aren't many retainer clients but numerous new business opportunities come in each week. I had three in the first two days. Many are short-term projects or US companies that want press because they're opening an office in the city. It's pretty funny actually. "Hi, we're opening an office in a city of 20+ million people and we'd like to have the media come and cover our opening. Could you accomplish that for us?" You try very hard to be diplomatic and ask them what is unique and newsworthy about their company, office, etc. and try to lead them down the path on their own that it's not as easy as they may think. Some get it and some don't. It's just amazing that many of them would never ask for this in the U.S. but they think they can get it in China. Go figure.
Friday, I get to go meet the folks at the US Consulate here in Shanghai. I'm also now on a financial committee at the American Chamber of Commerce here. We've not had a meeting yet but it should be fun. The Secretary of Transportation was here yesterday.
Observation -- Key holes in doors are not vertical here. They're horizontal.
L. Paul Bremer III on his Year in Iraq
WSJ Editorial
The Real Surviellance Scandal
Rename the FBI Building. And Leave the Presidency Alone.
No comments:
Post a Comment