Mary & Amanda Time

Tonight Mary and I are taking some 'Mary and Amanda Time' and catching up with journaling and, in my case, online forms for internships.

This trip has been an interesting experience in terms of people, places, events, and things seen around town. That being in mind, this is the first of generalized summations. People up first!

People on the trip

I lucked out; the group of people I'm traveling with is pretty awesome. The majority of us (7/12) are first years-soon-to-be-second years, with two just-graduated second years, a lawyer, a PMBA, and the director of LSU's Flores MBA program. We've naturally broken into smaller groups: the picky eaters, the people that like to go out at night, the people that like to try weird things, etc. We've bonded over the imminent threat of someone getting the Big D and China's unique attachment to the "squatty potty."

People met on the trip

Our tour guides have kept it real. We didn't have too much time with our Shenzhen guide, Lynn, because we were only there for about forty eight hours. Our Hongzhou/Suzhou/Shanghai guide, Joyce, was a trip. Every time she wanted to address the crowd, she began with "Boys and girls,..." it was amusing at first, but annoying towards the end. She knew a lot about the size and history of the areas we were in. Our current guide is Jade, and she seems to be a lot of fun. We'll see how this works out. Our permanent tour guide, Linda, is hands down awesome.

Thus far, we've met a lot of managers, CEOs, and VPs, but it's interesting to note that the two most well received ones were the two that were Western-style educated and that have worked in the Americas. They were both charismatic and out going with a presentation style that was familiar. Ironically enough, both work for pharmaceutical-related companies. We still have four more days in Beijing, where we're meeting with more people, but I'm interested to see if we'll find any more people as well received as the previous two.

People in China

Okay, the Chinese people make me equal parts amused and equal parts frustrated.

The amusing:

• The staring. In certain places we've been (Shenzhen, Hongzhou, and Suzhou), people were completely taken in with us. They'd stop and blatantly stare or take pictures of our group as we walked by. At Westlake, a girl even crashed our picture. Outside of the Modern Toilet in Shenzhen, some people asked to take a picture with Katie and a picture with Will. At a gas station on the way into Shanghai, people on other busses stared as we got off for snacks.
• The public urination. I get that little kids can't always verbalize when they need to use the bathroom, or that they do so at an inopportune time. However, I'm always shocked and amused to see a mother tug her son's pants down in the middle of a busy street, aim her son at a tree, and let him pee there (or, as I saw last night, on the side of a building at a really busy intersection).
• The driving. Oh my God, traffic here in China need to televised and narrated by the same guys that do soccer. It would be HILARIOUS. The traffic signals all seem to be suggestions, and a left on red appears to be a completely legal thing to do. Either televise it as a spectator sport or use it in defensive driving class, but the Chinese are either the best or worst drivers anywhere on the planet.

The frustrating:

• The food. It's all swimming in oil and boiled. Let's bake something!
• The pushing. Pushing wasn't too much of an issue until the International Expo. I don't understand why people here feel it's acceptable to push in a line that is NOT moving and is going to the same place, regardless of time, to get the same unlimited resource. Or when we're walking on the sidewalk or through the airport and there's six inches between me and Mary and someone shoves right through.
• The bathrooms. I get that people think the "squatty potty" (someone please tell me the proper name) is cleaner than a Western toilet, but it's a redundant point when the bathrooms are covered in urine and smell awful. More on the bathroom situation later, but I will say this: we saw American Standard "squatty potties" at the Expo. Somehow, I don't think those things are up to the American standard.

That's it! Four more days in China! Tomorrow: all the really cool places I've been with pictures. Here are some from the last couple of days: