Video From New Years 08

I had to stick this video in here, just because it makes me laugh every time I see it. I just came across it in my camera and remembered I had it! We sure did make a lot of noise. This one goes out to all of the crazies that were at my house for New Years 2008 :) I'm still thinking of you from China!

WHIRLWIND

Sometimes life just picks up the pace.

I found myself coming back from Beijing after Christmas break and being on the ground for all of 24 hours before I was on a plane again. This time to Indonesia. As I was away for Christmas, I could feel the pace of things picking up at work in Beijing as I continued to answer e-mails and work on projects, small and large, for the company that I was previously only a part-time intern for. A week before I returned to Beijing my boss informed me that I would be going with him to Jakarta and Bali, Indonesia. This is officially the first time I will travel internationally for business, but at the moment I’m on the first plane from Beijing to Singapore and it couldn’t feel more bizarre in this Chinese start-up. My job doesn’t have much definition, my boss is flexible, and I end up on projects ranging from marketing to finance and in industries as different as education and oil. Maybe a little overwhelming, but I constantly remind myself of two things that help keep me straight: A) Flexibility is a MUST and B) I’ll survive if I don’t know and understand everything that is going on in the situation.

Flexibility is always something I’ve known was necessary when you are a foreigner in China or just abroad in general, but having to accept the discomfort that comes when you are unprepared and unknowledgeable about a subject you are immersed in, and then finding the fine balance of when to act like you know what is going on and when to admit that you have know clue and ask for help…now that’s all something I haven’t had much experience with in the States. I tend to get myself into stepwise challenges that are more like “calculated risks.” I know how far I will be asked to leap, and I know that I am probably capable of leaping that far.

However, this experience surprises me every day. For example, I found out yesterday (during my one day back in Beijing, that I spent in the office before Indonesia) that I wasn’t just participating, but was expected to LEAD the discussions of two out of the three key products/services we were dealing with in Indonesia. During a meeting where we received some samples, they revealed this to me and told me to listen up- if I didn’t understand the Chinese I was to ask because I was responsible for communicating it all to the customer later. I had to start asking questions like a crazy person because this small company has yet to perfect a system of internal communication and very few people are as informed as they need to be. Well, nothing more to say than it sure is a good experience. I just arrived from Beijing, I’m now sitting in Singapore waiting on the connecting flight to Indonesia talking in Chinese to my Canadian boss, all after being in the US two days ago…and just thinking…isn’t it crazy where life takes us sometimes? And how fast it creeps up on you?

New York VS. Beijing

I was back in New York last week, and had new impressions after living in Beijing for a year. The landmark retail stores of Manhattan are very cutting-edge and stylish compared to Chinese shopping. I loved walking into each place thinking everyhthing was great, well-designed, or one-of-a-kind. However, there is a trade-off for that design and that is price. Cheap shopping is rare in NY and stores with good taste can be very rare in Beijing.

One of the major impressions that I was left with was that N.Y. is incredibly dirty. It is often a misconception that China is dirty because many cities and especially Beijing, are receiving make-overs in recent years. The subway line I use every day to work was only openned last October! So the dirty streets and subways of NY were quite a surprise.

It was great to hear all of the languages on the streets in NY. Sometimes it seems like no one in NY is originally from the States, and when you are there, you are truly in the Melting Pot. Beijings population is more homogenous, although the foreign population is growing every year.

Buildings take up more space in Beijing, but many skyscrapers are taller in N.Y. There are no bicycle lanes in N.Y. and all the cabs are the same color!

Finally, NY seems to be a cultural and maybe business center of the US. However Beijing is the cultural and governmental center of China. You get a lot of the entertainment that you do in NY, but with more of a Washington DC feel from all of the governmental buildings and employees.

In the end, I think NY entertainment is extensive, but to live a good life it would be unaffordable. At least for now, I'll still take a fast-paced, clean, and cheaper Beijing as my city of choice.

Coming Home

What was my first impression coming back to the US? Diversity. I never realized how much I appreciated the U.S. for its diverse population. It was neat to go through customs and see white, black and hispanic, male and female customs officers, all stamping passports. That really makes up a lot of what the U.S. is, and it was fun to jump back into the "melting pot" after being away for a year.

I also enjoyed stepping back into Christmas. It finally felt like December when I got home and saw the lights on the house, the trees, pointsettias, garlands, stockings, etc. You don't realize how many little traditions there are in Christmas until you have none of them. In Beijing I found myself wanting to make and frost sugar cookies, or go Christmas tree shopping, or drink eggnog, or light a fire in the fireplace. I certainly got to experience all of that when I got home, so it was worth the trip :)

Most important of all, is the flocks of family members that made it down to Beaufort, SC. From Mom and Dad's side of the family, I saw about 35 folks all somehow related to me. Here is one of my favorite pics, with my Grandfather Ned and every one of his grandchildren:

Beaufort was also so warm that we spend many-a-night around a little fire chatting, eating and just spending time together.

One fun event that occured over Christmas week was the "1st Annual Ned Brown Family Photography Competition and Exhibition." With three professional photographers from the family as judges, everyone else competed over a 7 day period to take the best picture in the categories of Family, Beaufort, or the Christmas Spirit. I won the "Beaufort" category with this shot...don't we live in a beautiful place?

I have a few days left here before I go back to Beijing, and a few more friends to see, but I've done a lot over the couple of weeks and am glad I got the chance to spend Christmas here. As long as I live out of the country, I will probably always make the trek back for this time of year...it's my favorite.

Goodbye Beijing!

We had a great End-of-the-semester/Birthday/Christmas party at my house on Tuesday. I got a chance to see all of my classmates for the last time and exchange presents. Below is a shot of our class. My teacher is to my right with her little girl in front of her.

And some of the sillier classmates in the group...

Treats were from around the world including Indonesia, Thailand and Korea! No one was shy, all just stood around the table eating and chatting!


Then we did a going-away activity where we wrote notes to each other on a piece of paper taped to the owner's back. It was a fun process and a meaningful piece of paper to keep in the future.


Now I'm off to the U.S. for Christmas, New Years and other festivities. Coming back January 17th. Goodbye Beijing! See you in 2008!

Adidas 2008 China Ad Campaign

Excuse the MBA in me coming out here, but this blog is about the best ad campaign I have seen in a long time. A big shout-out to a team of 5 creative directors in Shanghai and to Adidas for their 2008 Olympic Games advertising campaign. This was the first set of ads that stopped me in my tracks and made me stare at the wall in the subway. They did an excellent job of combining the excitement of the Olympic games with the passion for the people to come together and show the world what they are made of. The government could not have done a better job to convey the messages of passion, cohesiveness, national pride, and a will to win. It truly conveys and appeals to the "People" of China. The ads take on all forms from TV commercials to still shots in the subway to billboards and installations in the business district. I was moved by the ads, and I am not even Chinese. Incredible effective- the slogan "Impossible is Nothing" has never found a better fit.

I have included three still shots below, or if you want to watch it on Youtube:
(Adidas Ad- Youtube video)

Christmas

I saw my first Chinese Santa Clause the other day. Way too skinny, wrong accent, no rosey cheeks, and his beard was falling off! Christmas in China is almost comical. Yes, it is commercialized in the U.S., but it still has foundations. Americans know (and some celebrate) the true reason it exists. Others treat it as a time to return home and see family. All the while, of course, spending money and exchanging gifts. But imagine a country that sells Christmas trees and red and green-wrapped presents, and a population that buys them, and no one knows why! They are all at work on the 25th for goodness sake! No one sees their family, it is not celebrated for religious reasons, they don't even exchange presents. I've yet to figure out why anything Christmas-related is sold in a store.

I called my Dad sometime around the 10th of December, and told him that one of the things I was looking forward to the most was walking into a decorated house with the tree, presents, stockings, baked goods, etc. Do you know what his response was? "Oh, well we'll go buy the tree tomorrow!" Haha. Wouldn't you know it, they've all been too busy to put up the tree.

Thanksgiving, the 4th of July and Halloween were all interesting to celebrate in China, even though not quite the same as the US. Christmas, however, has hundreds of tiny little traditions wound into it that you don't realize exist until they are missing. Frosted sugar cookies, hanging garlands, ornaments, egg nog, stockings, yard decorations, singing carols, ribbon everywhere, candy canes, wish lists, musicals, writing cards, seasonal movies, fireplaces and hot chocolate...just a few of the many parts of Christmas that I am looking forward to in the States. Of all the holidays, this would definitely be the hardest to miss.

A couple more pictures never hurt!

I feel like I've left out a lot of friends recently, so just wanted to post a couple more pictures. This is a group that went for Karaoke in "Korea town" here in Beijing, mostly Thai and Indonesians classmates + one American!


And this adorable Korean gal is one of my cutest classmates. She spent last Saturday afternoon at my house patiently teaching us how to make some Korean dishes :) I can't wait to visit her one day in Korea!

In case you were wondering what would happen if...

And some of you thought I could never have more Chinese characteristics!

I was testing wigs so that I could surprise everyone with a new haircolor when I came home. Watch out :)

A Walk Through Wal-Mart

I now work directly across from a Wal-mart in the business district of Beijing. I've only been in one once before in China, so I decided to give it a walk-through yesterday after work.

I get such mixed impressions when I go in there. In the U.S., Wal-mart's identity is "Always low prices." And why? Because everything is manufactured in China. Now what does that mean for Wal-mart stores in China? What is their identity? Prices still seem slightly lower then other stores, but the selection remains enormous compared to the traditional tiny Chinese booth-style stores. Unlike the U.S., the produce section was amazing, filled with everything that you couldn't find in other places. Additionally, there were plenty of cashiers making it one of the only places without a line during rush hour. They also still embrace the idea of having everything including the kitchen sink in inventory, just with a Chinese flavor. Here, that "everything" includes hundreds of kinds of tofu, animal parts that you don't recognize, or even a good wine selection for the foreigners.

What are my feelings on the whole thing? I'd go again. I still don't like the enormous inconvenient size, but I love the selection, no check-out lines and the crazy culture clash feeling I get when I go through the door...and as an MBA, I will always admire the company's ability to do what they do on such a large scale. It's quite the machine.

A Beijing Thanksgiving! 在北京的感恩节.

10 Things I learned celebrating Thanksgiving 2007 in Beijing:

1) Thanksgiving is a tremendous challenge without an oven.

2) Chinese produce is not what you think, and definitely not the same as the U.S. (i.e. what you think is a sweet potato is actually just another type of orange root)

3) Ordering a turkey was a great idea! May even be better than most we have eaten in the U.S.

4) Toaster ovens can hold up for 12 hours of continuous usage, we only had 1 knob fall off.

*5) The Chinese people have a hard time with "TH" so it comes out as "S." Combined with a bad vowel pronunciation, this effectively becomes "Happy Sexgiving Day" instead of "Happy Thanksgiving Day." This was a point of continuous laughter throughout the party for all cultures involved. When my best Chinese friend said it, I laughed for about five minutes, gained composure, translated what happened, and the Chinese laughed for another five minutes.

6) Wine is key. We went through about a bottle per person between 6pm and midnight.

7) Huge advantage: having your housekeeper scheduled to come the next day. Thank goodness we're in China!

8) Introducing other nationalities to the traditions is half the fun. This year we had Americans, 7 Chinese, a German, 2 French, 2 Mexican, and a Romanian.

9) It is incredibly hard to translate the story of Thanksgiving in other languages. Try saying "pilgrims" or "American Indians" or "Mayflower" in Chinese. You won't find the words!

10) There is nothing better than filling an extended table with 17 of your best friends, holding hands, saying a prayer of thanks, and then having a nice, sit-down dinner followed by talking and laughing till you can't keep your eyes open anymore.



(Notice the sign overhead that says "Happy Turkey Day")

(Only a small part of the feast)

Big City, Small World 大的城市,小的世界

Every now and then in Beijing you get the opportunity to bump into people from your school, state or hometown and talk about things like relatives you know, friends you have in common, your favorite places back home, etc.
I tracked down a group from the S.C. Chamber of Commerce that came to China to explore the export market for S.C. companies. I had the opportunity to join them for the ever-popular Beijing duck dinner with the group and their hosts from the U.S. embassy and other organizations here in Beijing. It was exciting to hear about the successful meetings and events that had gone on during their travels in China, everyone seeming optimistic about US- and SC-China relations.
It was also great to meet so many people that knew my family in Beaufort or Aiken, had graduated from my program at USC, or just had authentic Southern accents! (You don't here those in Beijing very often and start to miss them.)

This is a shot of the group crammed in around the tables. Go SC!

Halloween, Midterms, Jobs, oh my!

I don't know if I've ever gone more than two weeks without updating the blog. Just goes to show how busy it's gotten here in Beijing. In the world of study, we just finished midterms. Turns out it is incredibly hard to study just language for two semesters. We're all wearing down in our motivation.

In the world of funner things, the last two weeks have seen three birthday parties and two Halloween parties. Who would've thought you could celebrate Halloween in China. Turns out you can...here's how the MBAs chose to live it up:

No comments about the devil horns please...I ran out of time and had to borrow them at the last minute from a roommate in order to have something to wear!

In the more serious world, it looks like I've secured not only an internship, but a full time job as a Marketing Director for a start-up internet and software firm looking to launch at the end of the year. Talk about hitting the ground running! I started the job presenting a preliminary marketing strategy to an all Chinese-speaking staff on the first day of school midterms...and it has been crazy ever since. On the good side, I'm incredibly challenged and have an enormous amount of responsibility. On the risky side, this is a new business with sound technology that has yet to go live online, so who knows what will happen. In the end, I'm thankful for the opportunity, busier than ever, and willing to take the risk.

Skills Exchange Website 换技能的网站

I recently made a discovery. China has all kinds of cool websites connecting you to whatever you need. You can find websites that connect people looking for carpools, tutors, social/work connections or "Guanxi," and even skills exchanges. I thought this was an interesting idea, so I checked it out. As it turns out, English is the most requested skill- surprise, surprise. Other listed skills are physical training, software, typing, foreign language, music lessons, cooking, etc. I decided to post an ad exchanging English tutoring for lessons in Chinese cooking. I can't come back in 18 months without being able to cook, right?

I ended up removing it in only 5 hours because there were so many requests. Apparently listing that I was American made everyone jump for the English. I set up two meetings, met four people, and turned down a bunch of others. So far so good. And what a great idea! Here's a pic with some of the folks and the food. One day I met two guys, and the other day I met two girls.

Both times I pulled in other friends and we had 4-5 people eating together. I wish we could do this type of thing in the States, but no one would trust each other enough to meet strangers like this in a big city. Just shows how safe China is...

One last picture- I have the most adorable Korean classmates. They took me out the other night for Korean BBQ. We sat outside on tiny little stools and cooked the meat over coals. VERY yummy, and very good company.

Paintball in China! 在中国的油漆球！

Yes, ladies and gents, you can even play Paintball in China. A little American-run operation out of the back of a jeep and viola!- you're in the game. It was a mixed group of friends, some professionals and some first-timers. I was a first-timer, but that didn't stop me from volunteering to being a terminator during one round. This is the oh-so-tough group starting out.

This was the hardest hit I took to the neck, but I took out many soldiers before I died that round...

The only three brave girls. Surprisingly, the Mexican chica on the right was the best of all. Her sniper positions and skills took everyone by surprise! She was the last one off of the field most of the time, lasting long after everyone else came dragging in.

I highly recommend a good round of Paintball if you've never tried. I can't believe my first experience with it was in Beijing, of all places. We had such a good time, that I'm sure there is more to come...