Chaos Theory

In a word this trip has been Chaotic. No matter how hard I tried to schedule the events during my stay, things would change rapidly. Add in the language barrier and it makes for a very interesting trip. Where should I start? How about driving? I've read about the "interesting" driving style in Shanghai, but one has to experience it to really appreciate the insanity of the thing. Lanes, don't need them because I create my own. Stop lights, no thanks, pedestrian casualties a plus. On one adventurous ride on the way to the Puxi side, a portion of the road was closed. The driver in his infinite wisdom decided to drive on the sidewalk...the SIDEWALK. Drivers lay on their horns while they commit dangerous maneuvers.... and it's all LEGAL! Occasionally, a driver would get pulled over by the police and I think to myself what in God's name could he have done to get pulled over? Driving upside down or maybe while sleeping. That was just the beginning!

Monday: We arrived in Shanghai at approximately 1:00 pm. The driver from the Gillette Asia Technical Center picked us up and dropped us off at the hotel. We settled in and decide to take a walk to experience the city. We stayed at the JW Marriott which is in the center of the downtown area and had to cross the street to get to the People's Park. Needless to say, in the US, we are used to pedestrians having the right of way. In Shanghai, right on reds are a totally different experience out here. No stopping at the light, no stopping for pedestrians, bicycles just keep going and here we are like chess pieces in the middle of the road. That was freaky!

Tuesday: This is when the business started. The first major event was Matthew's schooling. We visited the Puxi campus of the Shanghai American school. The Shanghai American School also has a campus on the Pudong side. (Let me take a moment to describe the geography of Shanghai so you can follow along. Shanghai is split by the Huangpu River. Everything West of the river is called the PUXI area and anything on the East is called the PUDONG area. The center of Shanghai is on the Puxi side, close to the river's edge, known as the BUND. What separates these two halves, besides the river, is the traffic. Like any booming city, traffic coming into the Puxi side is horrific. Much like the Long Island Expressway, congested traffic from the Island coming into the city. We spent quite a bit of our stay in Shanghai in a car traveling from the Puxi side to the Pudong side). Back to the story, The schools are beautiful. More like college campuses than elementary school. Both campuses are about 29 acres in size with sporting complexes that most colleges don't have. The Puxi campus is a very popular campus and getting an opening there is like winning the lottery. Most students spend one year in the Pudong campus and apply for a transfer to the Puxi campus. To give you an idea, even if you live in the Puxi side, it will take close to an hour to get the outskirts of the Puxi side to attend school.

After our tour of the school, we went over to visit the Gillette Asia Technical Center and met with Lars, my new boss. He is a very nice man and he introduced us to a few of my colleagues and we had lunch at the cafeteria. Over lunch he informs me that I need to get a physical while I'm here for my work visa application. I wasn't told that I needed to get a physical but then again, everything changes from minute to minute in this town.

Susan had an appointment at the Pudong side after lunch so, the driver took us over to the other side. Pudong is a newly developed area. Hard to imagine that about 15 years ago, it was all rice fields. Today, it is a booming area with tons of high rises, office complexes and huge shopping malls. The Pudong side doesn't seem as congested but there are tons of people. They are all hiding behind the high rises and office complexes.

Wednesday:Susan had appointments that morning so we split up. Matthew and I went over to the Pudong campus of the Shanghai American School. We met with an administrator- Jay Greeley and Matthew felt really comfortable with her. We submitted an application and were told that we would be considered for early admission. That's great- the down side is it would take Matthew over an hour to commute to the Pudong campus. This would set the stage for the homes we would look at it accomodate everyone's commute to work or school.

After the campus, I had to get my physical done for the work visa. Let's just say, that I know how cattle feel. The hospital is very professional and clean. You get a number and you get shuttled from room to room. First, was height and weight. Then it was the x-ray which was: take off shirt, stand against wall, x-ray taken and get out! Go to the next room for blood work: stick needle in, take blood and get out. Go to the next room for the ultrasound: lay down, squirt jelly, take ultrasound, clean off the jelly and get out. Then the eye exam: sit down, read chart and get out. Next is the physical exam: go behind curtain, panic, lay down touch, touch, touch, recover dignity, put on clothes and get out. Last, blood pressure: take blood pressure, stamp the form and go pay.

All this lovely medical treatment for about $100 US. Gee, and I didn't get the doctor's names to get to know them better.

Thursday:We all went over to the Pudong side and started the house hunting marathon. We prefer to live on the Puxi side of town since it was close to the center of everything. It's very much like living in Manhattan. Taxis, buses, trains are all around you and taking a taxi is incredibly cheap. You can get away with about 10 - 12 RMB for a taxi ride (approximately $1.20-$1.60 US). After about 10 apartments, everything started to look the same and we agreed we would go back on Friday for a second look and start to narrow down our choices so we can submit bids for our future home.

Friday: We left the hotel at 9 am and went back to Pudong to narrow down the choices. The second look really made us see things that we didn't notice the first time. The size of the rooms, the condition of the apartments, what we can deal with and what we absolutely can't deal with and narrowed it down to three choices. We all agreed that the duplex apartment in Puxi was the way to go. Matthew was in love with the place and was running around picking out his bedroom but, it would be a rather far commute for Matthew to the Pudong side. We'll have to see how this plays out. We've instructed our realtor to submit a bid on our behalf. Now, its time to wait and see if our bid will be accepted.

Saturday: Our return journey home wasn't as brutual as the trip going out. We left Shanghai on a 1:45 pm flight and arrived in San Francisco at 8:00 am the same day- kind of freaky but it works. We left San Francisco at 11:00 am and arrived back at JFK at 7:30 pm and was in the door by 9 pm.
Now all we have to do is tell our families.

Ready, Set, Go !!!

So here's the update. We've got the tickets, passports with Chinese visas have been sent out by the agency and should be in my possession Monday. We spoke to the Shanghai American School and I think we were able to secure a spot for Matthew in August. I would like him to get in to the Puxi campus, which is closer to the center of Shanghai, but the Pudong campus has more openings. I still haven't gotten an itinerary for my stay in Shanghai, real estate agent, apartments locations, transportation & visit to the ATC office. Susan is arranging interviews during our stay but nothing definite yet. Needless to say, there is a lot to coordinate and we only have a week before our trip. I hope all the pieces fall together so that we can make the most of this trip.

We are still deciding what to do with the house. Gillette really does not want us to sell. They are making it very attractive to rent but it's a logistical nightmare even with a management company. We'll probably sell if we can get what we want for the house, more on that later.

We're On Our Way

It's official, I've booked the flight and hotel for the three of us in Shanghai. We will be staying at the J.W. Marriott in Puxi which is supposed to be one of the nicest hotels in Shanghai. My travel group managed to book us on the airline, (Cathay Pacific), and departure time I wanted for Hong Kong. Shanghai, however is a different matter. I wanted to fly Dragon Air, which is part of Cathay Pacific but they were sold out. The only alternative was China Eastern Air. Never heard of them and I'm not sure what type of flight experience we will have. The good news is that it's only a two hour flight so we can deal with it. The only loose ends are the visas. Lars is arranging them with the Chinese government. My worry is how and when will I get them and am I authorized to affix them to the passport. I sent an email to Lars and HR for clarification hopefully, this won't be an issue.

Susan is going to start arranging interviews with IP and others in Shanghai while we're out there. Hopefully, she can secure something quickly. Matthew's definitely going to be excited once he hears that we will be leaving soon, I'm going to tell him tonight.

Planning The Trip

It looks like we will be leaving for our "look See" trip on March 25th, at least that's the proposed plan. It has to be approved and all the paper work including visas need to be in order before it's official.

We told Matthew this past weekend during breakfast at IHOP. He wanted to try the new French Toast breakfast. Surprisingly, he was very excited about living in Shanghai. I told him it was going to be an adventure just like an Indiana Jones movie. I know it sounds lame and it probably had no affect on him wanting to go but, it made me feel better.

The flight out will be on Saturday evening immediately after Matthew's birthday party. I know it's going to be a hectic day but since Susan will be traveling for over the next two weeks, it was our only opportunity in March. I am waiting for a response from Lars,(my new boss), about the timing so I can arrange the flight.

Life Altering Events

I've been with International Paper at the corporate headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut for two years now and have been truly blessed to be with a group of colleagues that I enjoy working with and truly respect. Last July, my company announced a transformation that would change our lives forever. Knowing that the company was planning to relocate its corporate headquarters to Memphis, Tennessee, my company asked that I relocate to Memphis to allow me to continue with my position as Assistant Corporate Secretary. Tony and I took a trip to Memphis and did the usual due diligence- house hunting, schools, neighborhoods, looked at the local Chinese school (can you believe it?) and the local Chinese market. We even put Tony's resume out on the market in Memphis to see if he could find a comparable position. After a heart wrenching analysis, we decided that Memphis would not be a good move for us, so I formally turned down the relocation to Memphis. That same week, Tony was asked to relocate the family to Shanghai, China in order for him to be a part of the Asia Tech Center team. We went through another analysis and decided that it would be critical for his career that we move the family to Shanghai.

After months of uncertainty, things are starting to move and we are now engaged in relocating the family in full swing. As of today, Matthew still doesn't know about the move but, we plan to tell him shortly. Our families don't know yet about the move and quite honestly, I'm afraid to tell them. I know how they will react but hope that in the end they see the phenomenal opportunity that we have been presented and will be happy for us.

I'm very excited about this opportunity for Tony since he has been identified as a key player to this new project and I am excited that Matthew will gain tremendous life experience by living in China and he'll NEVER have to go to Chinese school ever again.

Great Adventures Ahead

Well, the adventure has begun, sort of. I have been discussing my Shanghai assignment for 5 months now and I am finally getting the contact, housing and schooling information needed to decide where we will live. I was in Germany, (Braun), 3 weeks ago to attend meetings regarding the Asia Technical Center, (ATC) . That trip gave me a good sense of what to expect "job wise". There is going to be lot of traveling within China, Germany and possibly the US. Susan started discussions with IP on her Shanghai assignment. Although preliminary, things look good.

Susan, Matthew and I will be traveling to China for a "Look See" trip within the next month. During this time we will be looking at schools, apartments and general area. Susan will probably be interviewing with IP people in China during this trip.

We haven't told our parents yet. I am not looking forward to telling them because I know it's not going to go well. We decided to sell the house instead of renting. I just seemed too much of a logistical nightmare to deal with tenants from the other side of the world. Besides, the housing market for sellers is still good so we might as well take advantage of the situation.