Sunday, November 15, 2009
Shanghai, China
Hi Jet Lag. Nice to see you again. It’s 3:15am and I cannot for the life of me get to sleep. I haven’t had a jet lag problem on the trip thus far so I must say I’m a bit disappointed but at least I’m not working today (Sunday) and thus have another 24 hours to get my act together. I slept seven hours on the flight from Frankfurt to Shanghai and I guess the sleep was just too good.
What’s the positive about being up this early? It’s a World Cup qualifier day! Right now I’m watching a replay of the Russia-Slovenia qualifier and hopefully we’ll have a live game later. Here’s what’s going on today, at least for Europe:
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/europe/matches/group=253457/index.html
I’ll be off eating breakfast by 8am though which I think will still be too early for the first leg of the Costa Rica – Uruguay playoff. Too bad.
But I digress...
Two notable things happened in Hungary on Friday. First, the sun came out. It was like seeing an old friend. I even made a special point of waiting for my morning taxi in a spot where I could catch some morning rays. And it stayed sunny most of the day, even warming up the place so I didn’t need a jacket outside (though, hot-blooded that I am, I think I was the only one). It was certainly a nice change.
The second notable thing was that I made the morning taxi lady laugh. See, the only way I get to and from the factory/office is by taxi. I can walk to the city center quite easily from the Manufacturing Apartment but the NI facility is about an hour’s walk, a little far to trek though I have a goal to do it someday. Therefore, I have to call taxis. NI actually has a contract with Fan Taxi, a local company, so that we get a discounted rate.
http://www.fantaxi.hu/index.php
They drive like maniacs and they take at least 15 minutes to get to the factory when you call but it beats walking or waiting for a bus.
So anyway, about the taxi lady. Every time I call the number, 888-444 (easy to remember), a lady answers and says something incomprehensible. In the evenings it’s a different lady but in the mornings it is always the same one. Now, the morning taxi lady is used to getting calls from NI people needing to be picked up. This factory has been around since 2001 and there have been hundreds of NI people who have visited Debrecen; I’d say on an average day there are at least five Austin people there, if not more, and that doesn’t count visitors from other countries. So the morning taxi lady is used to us. At first I didn’t know what to say so I would just say the address: ‘Zöldfa Teezen Kelentz’ (19 Green Tree Street). Then, on the last trip, I starting branching out, learning how to say the following:
‘Jó reggelt. A (insert address) na’l vagyok. Kerém egy taxit.’
This means ‘Good morning. I am at (x address). I would like a taxi please.’ I’m probably not the first Austin person to say something like this but I got the feeling during the last trip that the morning taxi lady got a kick out of me attempting to say these phrases and pronounce all the words correctly. After I was done, she would say in what I thought was an amused voice something else incomprehensible but which I figured always meant ‘sure thing strange American who thinks he can speak Hungarian’ after which I would say ‘köszonöm’ (thank you) and ‘hallo’ (goodbye) and she would reply ‘hallo’ or ‘szia’ (also goodbye/hello...like ‘aloha’).
So on Wednesday and Thursday I was back in the groove with my amiga the morning taxi lady. Friday was going to be my last time to call her for a while (until I come back, hopefully not until well after the baby arrives) so I figured I’d do something special. So, with the help of my good buddy Attila, I prepared a special monologue. It goes something like this:
‘Semmit sem szeretnék jobban, mint hogy egy taxi értem jöjjön és felvegyen.’
It means something to the effect of ‘it would give me the greatest pleasure in the world if you would please send a taxi.’ The goal was to make the lady laugh.
I tried it out on Thursday evening but the evening taxi lady and I don’t have the same connection as the morning taxi lady and I do so, after I finished what I thought was a credible job, there were two seconds of silence then a quick ‘köszonöm’ and that was it. I was undeterred and pretty certain the morning taxi lady would have a more positive reaction.
The next morning I finished packing, picked up the cute little white phone we have in the apartment and dialed 888-444.
Morning Taxi Lady: Fan Taxi xygsyzk;ljasyadsnok.
Me: Jó reggelt! (clearing throat) Semmit sem szeretnék jobban...
Morning Taxi Lady: (slight intake of breath and then chuckling)
Me (gaining confidence): ...mint hogy egy taxi értem jöjjön és felvegyen.’
Morning Taxi Lady: (more chuckling)
Me: Köszonöm! Hallo!
Morning Taxi Lady: Szia!
Made my week right there. I like to think that the bond between us is strong enough that the taxi driver that picked me up let her know that I had my bags with me and thus would not be speaking with her again on Monday. On the other hand, if he did let her know, I hope it didn’t ruin her weekend.
Uh oh, Russia just scored to take a 1-0 lead on Slovenia. The Chinese announcers aren’t very excited though, probably because it’s so early in the morning.
Work went well on Friday morning even though it seems I’m always, always in a hurry when I leave due to saying goodbye to people. This time it was mostly due to a last minute meeting but thems the breaks. I caught my 11:30 cab at 11:35 and the driver and I headed to Budapesht. I could’ve taken the train but the taxi is much faster, more convenient and allows me to stay at work longer. It’s also more expensive but with all the traveling I’ve been having to do I’m worth it. The driver spoke no English but was happy enough to humor me with my pitiful Hungarian, teaching me a few new words like ‘river’ and ‘sleep’. It’s fun to try to have a conversation with someone like that when the person is willing. For instance, he made a motion while he was driving like I could go to sleep if I wanted. He pointed at me and then made the whole putting your head on your hands to sleep motion. I laughed and said ‘nem’ for no. I then asked him what the word was in Hungarian. It’s apparently alsék (I know I’m mis-spelling it). So I pointed at him and said ‘nem alsék’ meaning basically ‘you don’t sleep while you’re driving’ and we both had a good laugh. I love that type of corny conversation.
The guy drove like a normal Fan taxi driver at about 150km per hour which is about 100mph. Good thing the highway was two lanes, in great repair and didn’t have too many vehicles on it. Still, some of the heavy trucks couldn’t have been going faster than 50mph which made things dicey at times.
Doh, Russia’s up 2-0. In the two-leg playoff, the team with the most goals scored in the two games advances. If they’re tied, it’s who scores the most road goals. Russia’s playing at home so they would be expected to win but Slovenia doesn’t want to be in a 2-0 hole playing at home. If that game is 3-1 in favor of Slovenia, Russia goes through by virtue of scoring a goal on the road.
The flight from Budapest to Frankfurt was an hour and twenty minutes. I wasn’t enthused to be returning to my least favorite airport but at least this time I had a 2.5 hour layover which would be plenty of time to catch my flight. There were lots of clouds but they were so high that once we started descending I had a fanastic view of the hilly German countryside. Between that and the sunset Frankfurt almost redeemed itself. Almost.
After we landed I found that I wasn’t going to have to change terminals to catch the Shanghai flight. Unfortunately I had to wait in the same lounge to find out my gate as the one I’d waited for the Chicago flight I couldn’t get onto almost three weeks before. The gate was pronounced around 6:20 for the 7:50 flight so I had plenty of time to get through Customs and arrive at the gate.
This was going to be a full flight. There were tons of people in the gate area and 95% of them appeared to be Chinese. Of the other 5%, I’ll bet almost all of them were European. There wouldn’t be much reason for an American to be flying from Germany to China unless the person was, like me, already there for a different reason. Even New York has direct flights to Shanghai so it’s always quicker to go over the Pacific. My name was called over the PA which gave me a slight scare (especially since I caught it while they were doing the announcement in German) but thankfully it was only to get my boarding pass and visa checked since the boarding pass was not issued at the Frankfurt airport. We left a half hour late but that was ok as at least we were leaving.
It was full, at least in my middle section of the plane. I had a window seat right over the wing so I’d have a crummy view but at least it was a view. I waited until we could start getting up, took out my contacts, popped an Ambien and, about 30 minutes later, went to sleep.
I think I slept seven hours total. Out of an 10.5 hour flight, that was pretty darn good. I was pleased. Of course, that may be why I’m up at 4:12am now but oh well. I woke up with about an hour and fifty minutes left in the flight, finished reading Jennifer’s book (which, darn it all, turned out to be ok but is the first of a series so left me hanging) and ate a breakfast of seafood and rice, yogurt and a roll with butter. Still, I feel that with Ambien I prefer flights that are either three hours or less or eat least eight hours. Less than eight and I wouldn’t feel comfortable taking an Ambien in case I’m still under its influence when it’s time to land.
Shanghai had a haze covering it. I don’t know if that’s normal or not but I’ll find out today. It made it tough to see the ground until we were at 4000 feet even though there were no clouds. We landed, deplaned, passed through Customs and I got my bag (yay, it didn’t get lost!). Upon leaving the baggage area, I passed through the phalanx of people awaiting travelers (relatives, friends and drivers). The branch office said they were going to provide a driver but there was no one there with my name on a sign. I wne through the line a second time, still didn’t see anyone. After fifteen minutes of waiting, I called one of my contacts at the office (Apple) and she found out that the driver thought I was arriving an hour later than I did. So after a 45 minute wait, my driver showed up, drove me to the hotel in a minivan and that was that.
I took an hour to get my stuff unpacked, check e-mail, etc., then set out to wander around and hopefully find dinner. The area where the branch office is located is a commercial area with little in the way of residences or associated amenities such as supermarkets. I did find one residential area with a market of small open shops. For all I knew I was the first American who had ever walked in there. It was a little creepy because it was already dark and the lighting wasn’t so great but I didn’t care. This was what I wanted to see, regular Chinese life. There were barbershops, small convenience stores, two outdoor pool halls, three fruit vendors and tons of little eating stalls for noodles and such. I would’ve liked to have stopped and eaten in one but a) not speaking or reading Chinese I’d probably make a complete fool of myself and b) I don’t know how much I can trust the food not to bother my sensitive Western stomach, eh. Oh, and c) because all the Chinese people eating in the place would think I was either crazy or an incompetent CIA agent.
Someone named Nejc just scored for Slovenia. I have no idea how to pronounce that. 2-1 Russia in the 88th minute.
I wanted to explore the residential areas away from the markets but as opposed to the very well-lit avenues I had been wandering on the residential streets had almost no lights. I have little fear when wandering around places but I’m not an idiot. I turned around and made a circuit back for the hotel. I was, however, able to buy three bananas, a pack of cookies and a tube of Colgate toothpaste (I love buying toiletries in other countries so I can have a daily reminder of where I’ve been). I have been unable to find dental floss anywhere, however, and I ran out on Tuesday. Hopefully my Chinese guides can assist in this endeavor later today.
Dinner was a pepperoni, ham and Italian sausage pizza in one of the hotel restaurants. I realize it is out of character for me to not eat the local cuisine for every meal but I am now the jaded traveler and I don’t care. Pizza is one of my joys in life and I will eat it when I feel like it, darnit. This would make the fourth time I’ve had it on this trip, actually. None of them have been particularly good but still, it’s good comfort food. Plus the restaurant was completely empty, allowing me to enjoy my pizza, Pepsi and my Sherlock Holmes book in peace. There wasn’t even any piped-in music. I couldn’t have asked for a better atmosphere.
And after 3.5 minutes of stoppage time, it’s Russia 2, Slovenia 1. The rubber match is in Maribor (I’ve never heard of it either) on Wednesday with the winner going to the World Cup.
Ooh...the next match on TV is Portugal and...who is this team in blue? They don’t have names on the backs of their jerseys so I can’t google ‘em. And they’re playing in Portugal. I’ll keep you posted.
BIH? Bosnia-Herzegovina?
What a great morning to have jet lag. This game is live. Go BIH!
Anyway, today I get a tour of Shanghai from Bruce and William (their English names, not their Chinese ones) and then dinner with the two of them and Apple. The Chinese have a thing about first names in that they’re really not that important. Most people have several, apparently, and people that work with English speakers choose English names to make it easier for us to pronounce their names correctly. There are some exceptions such as Dapang (dah-pahng) the branch manager but there are also Tracy, Apple, Forrest and Nelson. Ying Yu stuck with Ying Yu though. Here’s a great article about the Chinese and their names:
http://www.slate.com/id/2217001/
I’m looking forward to seeing Shanghai. It’s always better to have a local person guide you so that you learn so much more and see some cool things you might not have seen otherwise. The only downside is that you have no time to yourself for personal reflection to think ‘man, I’m in friggin’ China.’
I’ll let you all know how that goes.
Hope you’re all doing well and getting more sleep than I am. And before anybody makes the joke, I know this is all just practice for when Apple/Forrest Beck arrives.
5500 miles closer to home but still way too far away,
Matt
No comments:
Post a Comment