A Day At The Races.... Actually Three

Yes, what you see before you is not a figment of your imagination. Nor is it a download image from the internet. These my friends, are the real McCoy. The genuine article. Three tickets to the Shanghai Formula One Race and they belong to yours truly. (Maniacal laugher, pause for dramatic effect).
I feel like James Bond, "Money Penny, get me three tickets to the Shanghai Formula One, thanks love." If you know me, then you realize how excited I really am. I never thought I would be able to go to a Formula One Race, let alone one in Shanghai. This is also Michael Schumacher's last season before retirement and I get to go. Maybe next year, I'll take the yacht to Monaco.

What Dialect Do You Want That In?

I've started my intensive immersion Mandarin classes at Berlitz. I've been attending classes for eight hours a day, five days a week. Needless to say, my head is ready to explode. I am doing fine in my classes, it's just that when I need to say something and can't think of the Mandarin equivalent, I can't help but say it in Cantonese. Top that off, with the fact that I have a "heavy" Cantonese accent. I can't help that I have a Cantonese accent. My instructors can understand me when I am expressing myself in my "native" tongue but, I am discouraged from using any form of Cantonese at all. The other day, I had an oral test. I couldn't think of the answer in Mandarin but, was able to answer in Cantonese. My instructor refused to give me credit. My argument was: if I were unable to speak, I wouldn't be able to give you an answer, then I deserve to have points taken away. The fact that I can answer you in Cantonese, I should get partial credit. Nice try. The answer was NO. I plan to take the local Shanghainese dialect as well once I am done with my immersion class. So, if I think that trying to converse in Mandarin is bad, add Shanghainese to the mix and let's see who will be able to understand me when this is all over!

Tony has started his Mandarin lessons as well. He's been traveling all over the place and can only take his lessons on the weekends. So, his instructor comes to the house on Saturday and Sunday for three hours and he's doing quite well. It was pretty funny when he asked Matthew for the answer to a question the other day and Matthew refused to give it to him. That's what I call power.

What Currency Would You Like That In?

We're in Hong Kong now. Matthew returned home from school yesterday afternoon and we bolted for the airport. The Proctor & Gamble integration is going full speed ahead and I had to be in Hong Kong to meet with the representatives of HSBC Bank to open up a new bank account with Tony. Effective October 1, 2006, Tony's pay will be switched to Hong Kong Dollars. Under the current Gillette plan, most of Tony's pay is being deposited into our US bank account in US Dollars and a small portion of it is being deposited into the Bank of China in Chinese Yuan (or RMB) in Shanghai. I wasn't wild about taking Matthew out of school and asked if there was some way that we do this over the weekend? How about a Friday? Can't you send the documents to me and I'll sign it and get someone to attest that it's my signature? I tried everything and the answer was NO. That meant, I had to take Matthew out of school for two days and bolt for a flight out of Shanghai. Tony was in Dongguan on business and arrived directly from South China. Matthew and I arrived at 11:30 at night. We were late due to the inclement weather that Hong Kong is experiencing. It was pouring cats and dogs.

This morning, we met with Rachel, the representative at HSBC. She explained the different bank accounts that were available to us. We had a barrage of questions and by the end of the "orientation" my head was spinning. HSBC offers quite a bit of options for the expatriate. All of which I appreciate. However, when you're trapped in a small room with the bank representative and a nine year old who is constantly asking "When is this going to be over?", you're ready to blow your brains out. There are so many things that I have to watch over...the currency float, the service fees, the transfers to be made to the US on a monthly basis since we still have ongoing obligations that need to be paid, we will need money to be converted from Hong Kong Dollars to RMB in order for us to buy the day to day necessities in China and then there's the travel expense reimbursements.

The most frustrating thing for us since we've moved here is that Tony can't get a corporate credit card. Why? Who knows? Finance tells him that it isn't offered and it is expected that all employees who travel use their personal card. So, he uses our personal credit card to pay for his travel expenses. He charges his trip- either in Korean Won, Chinese RMB or Hong Kong Dollars to our credit card. The bill is then billed out and paid in American Dollars. He then prepares and submits his expense report and he gets reimbursed in RMB. Got that? Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep track of what goes out, what comes in and then I have to convert it all back to see if we're missing anything.

So, now that I am "unemployed", I have become Tony's full time "administrative assistant". It's my job now to keep track of the expense reports, go to the bank and see if the money has been deposited and then track it back to the expense report and see what other open items there are.

Tony does have an administrative assistant at the office. Since he's arrived, she just doesn't want to do anything for him or for anyone for that matter. Every time she has submitted an expense report for reimbursement, there has always been an issue in getting payment. Why? Let's see, perhaps she doesn't attach all the receipts that he's given her, loses somes of the receipts, forgets to submit the expense report altogether or even better, just doesn't prepare it for him.

So, I'm lobbying for a position as his personal assistant at P&G now. I even told him that I would get him coffee too (without an attitude... maybe).

Chinese Drivers License

Well,I did it. I actually managed to get a Chinese Drivers License. I really didn't have any intentions of getting a license here. I just happened to ask the HR representative of Gillette what it would take to get one out of curiosity. He asked to see my Connecticut drivers license, so I showed it to him. The next thing I knew, we were on our way to get my license officially translated. Then I had to get a physical (yes, a real physical- height, weight, eyes, reflexes) and then I was taken to a building to "register" for the test. I thought, I'd register and return for the test. No. I registered my name, was given a pamphlet with 100 questions and was told to sit and read it. Literally five minutes later, my name was called and I was told to take the test. Ok. Problem. I only got up to question number five. In order to receive a drivers license, you need to score a 90 or above. I scored an 86 and was told to return the next day to retest. I went home, looked over the pamphlet and returned the next morning for the retest and scored a 97. I was given a drivers license on the spot. The good thing about the drivers license is that it states my name in Chinese and my country of citizenship. I figure, if I ever get hit by a car, the only thing they can read in my wallet would be the drivers license. They would know I have a Chinese name and that I am an American.

I have absolutely no intentions of driving in this town. The drivers do not let the pedestrians walk the cross walk, they drive on the sidewalks and they just don't stop for lights at all and you have the constant traffic of bicycles and mopeds to top it all off. I did it as a challenge since I was told that they discourage foreigners from getting licenses. So, I have a license good for the next six years and it's a piece of identification.