My Life in Shanghai

Though “The Life of Kai” blog has been on hold, my life (and camera) has been busy. I'm happy in Shanghai. I elected to turn down a fellowship at the German Bundestag (Parliament) in order to stay here for the full school year. So, I will be in Shanghai through July '09 at least, which means you should all come visit (I'm looking at you Lukoff family and Mr. Josh Harder...).

Before I talk Shanghai, a short aside on the political and economic situation in the US of A: I'm greatly cheered by the political turn of events. Evan Osnos of The New Yorker commented that Obama has restored a certain nobility to political involvement, and I have many close friends who worked day and night for Obama, among them Jacob Becklund and Michael Baer. The New York Times article, "300,000 Apply for 3,300 Obama Jobs," says it all. Finally, check out the gem (below) about the departing administration, "Die Bush Krieger: Ende der Vorstellung," which translates as, "The Bush Warriors: End of the Show." It shows the cover of Der Spiegel magazine from 2002 (left), alongside the 2008 edition (right). Fitting. Credit to my friend Stefan Angrick.

The economic turn of events, however, is depressing. US consumer spending will probably not return to its pre-crash levels for another 10-20 years. Fortunately, China, with its massive rainy day fund of foreign exchange reserves, faces a much softer fall. The Economist Intelligence Unit predicts China's GDP to grow by 7.5% for the next two years, as opposed to a contraction (negative growth) for the US, EU, and Japan.

Friends
The axis and allies constitute my two primary groups of friends. My German and Japanese friends, who I know through class, are kind, genuine people. When altogether we speak mainly Chinese together, though English is often resorted to. My British friends, from Leeds University, are a fun-loving lot who have well indoctrinated me with some of their British mannerisms, which they find well amusing. I too now fancy pub quizzes and proclaiming my indignation at the unruly queuing habits of the Chinese. My language partner, Anna, aims to learn German and is wonderfully independent, direct, and well-traveled for a Chinese girl. On the whole, a lovely group of friends, though, since they are mainly foreigners, I do not practice as much Chinese as I would like.

Work
One of my objectives was to obtain business experience while in China, and on that account I have done handsomely. I'm interning at a small consulting company called China Streetsmart, founded and directed by a Canadian of Chinese descent. This small shop (5 employees total) operates primarily on the "soft" side, advising Western executives on the cultural differences and peculiarities of doing business in China. Groups of executives, such as Irish manufacturers or Danish product sourcers, come to Shanghai and we tailor a program to suit their needs.

My main project is to design, implement, and analyze a survey on the opinions Chinese middle management on issues relevant to their Western bosses. For instance: if an employee cheats on his expense account, but complains that he was unfairly fired because the system is widely abused, who is more at fault: the company or the individual? Forty percent of Chinese answer that the company is more at fault, a number that we expect to be near zero when we run the question in the West. In this case, the data should inform Western executives on the need to create non-abusable compensation systems and how to address violations should they arise. This work also serves as a crash course on Chinese culture for me.

My boss is business personified. He is warm, social fellow, but always with an eye to the bottom-line. A former marketing man, he leverages an impressive rolodex to create value for our clients, who are looking to enter the market, but new to China. He has lively stories of his days managing sales and distribution for the beer companies Beck's, Foster's, and Lion Nathan's in the early 90's, when China was still akin to the Wild West. A good portion of the work is also networking, which has allowed me to attend a spicy bachelor charity auction and to lunch with the former Ambassador to Mongolia and Consul-General of Shanghai. I'm developing that all-important 关系 (guānxi), which is the rich Chinese term for connections.

All told, the position is a great introduction to the world of business, which is actually quite foreign to my family (primarily academics and social workers). If I can secure gainful employment, I will be the first in the family to work for a living--none of this educating or helping people mumbo jumbo. Then again, I may continue to be a student indefinitely, for the life suits me just fine.

One piece of my Stanford life I do miss (in addition to my lovely friends and daily sunshine), are the intellectually titillating discussions about all [academic] topics under the sun. The matter was hammered home by the stellar FACES conference last week (as an aside, what a phenomenal organization and group of future luminaries! I was fortunate to experience it as a delegate and officer, and I only wish I had of been involved earlier on in my Stanford career). There's no lack of intelligence or interest here at JiaoTong University, it's just that there's no ready forum. To address the issue, I'm founding China EDG, the China Economics Discussion Group, which plans to hold weekly meetings. I'm counting on China EDG to reintroduce the meaty mindfood into my life.

Shanghai: Paris of the East or Whore of the Orient?

Shanghai carries two nicknames. Paris of the East for its glamor, tree-lined alleys, and image of China's Westernized future. Whore of the Orient because it was teeming with brothels under Western occupation in the 1800s and early 1900s. Today, the latter name reflects the city's insecure identity. Driven by Shanghai's nouveau riche, it tries to outwest the West—it's NY/Paris/London, “with Chinese characteristics,” which is the term the Chinese append when they borrow from the West, and then endeavor to make it theirs.

Shanghai is supersized: at 20+ million inhabitants it’s China’s largest city (no small feat). Each year, an estimated 1 million additional migrant workers arrive. The city already boasts massive Western-style shopping malls, 6 stories tall, replete with the Rolexes, Armanis, Ferraris, and, most importantly, Cold Stones. Still, construction is booming. Every hour or so you hear what sounds like distant machine-gun fire; it turns out to be collapsing bamboo scaffolding after they finish with construction, which is what they use for all but the tallest buildings. I love the fella in the photo on the top left leaning on his shovel, seemingly saying, "Yeah, I single-handedly built this city. So what?"

The unfettered expansion has some nasty side effects. Pollution creates grey skies some days (though it’s just fog if you believe the authorities). Thankfully, I don’t feel it when I breathe, as I could in Beijing last fall. I just hope it isn’t silently ravaging my lungs when I jog or play fútbol. Mercifully, the XuJiaHui campus is an oasis of tranquility amidst this bustling city.

For this California boy, the biggest concern is the cold… brrrrr. My iGoogle homepage, which lists the temperature in Shanghai and Petaluma, is depressing—there’s routinely a 20° F differential. I’ve never before endured a cold winter: if I don’t survive, tell my sister that she can keep my room in the house for good. The saving grace is that, at the peak of the freeze in mid-Jan to mid-Feb, I’m fleeing for a one-month semester-break jaunt to tropical Thailand and Laos--scuba diving, turtles, and mermaids included. Hot.

Finally, I’ll leave you with the Chinese artist Yang Liu’s work on the differences between the East and West (click for link). Cliched, yes, but largely true.

New Beginnings

After a week in Shanghai at JiaoTong University, it's time for my ballyhooed update and photos. Sadly, I have no juicy tales to tell yet, so my first post covers my objectives and first impressions.

Objectives:

1. Learn Mandarin
2. Make Chinese friends
3. Gain business experience
4. Explore Judaism, join a synagogue
5. Travel to rural China, Xi'an, and Southeast Asia
6. Become Tomáš Rosický, aka "The Little Mozart"

First Impressions:

I'm studying Mandarin at JiaoTong University, best known for producing Chinese President (1993-2003) Jiang Zemin and a worldwide ranking of Universities. So far, JiaoTong is a winner; I'm up at least 11 life points.

WARM Fuzzies:

• Socially Promiscuous Chinese (+4)
  
• I cannot sit down at the dining hall without being chatted up by a friendly Chinese. Yesterday, my red face--after having just played two hours of soccer--was of particular curiosity. Thus far, I've broken bread (or slurped noodles, rather) with a socioeconomically diverse (students, a professor, the dining hall manager), though all-male crowd. Almost all speak English that is eons better than my Chinese.

• The Penthouse (+4)
• A spacious, well-lit single. My digs are sweeter than the housing I had at Stanford. And tuition, room, board, and a small stipend are all paid for by my scholarship!

• Foreign Foreigners (+2)
  
• The JiaoTong international dormitories are dominated by Japanese and Koreans, though I've also cross-pollinated with Kazakhs, Mongolians, Saudis, Germans, Spaniards, and Brits. I have yet to meet another American!

• The Lunch/Dinner Chow (+2)
• A piping hot bowl of miàn (noodles made before my eyes) with a topping, such as egg-tomato, costs 4 Yuan (about 60 cents) in the dining hall.

• The Soccer Pitch (+2)
• A block from my dorm is the pitch where the magic happens. I may not be Tomáš Rosický yet, but I am one of the bigger and badder kids on block. Unfortunately for their bruised egos, many Chinese never saw this physical specimen coming.

• Studies (+2)
  
• I took a placement test and, like a good white boy, understood next to nothing. Classes begin on Monday, and I start out in Elementary Level IV, the highest level of elementary. I'm especially stoked about two of the elective options: Chinese Cooking and Business Chinese.

COLD Pricklies:

• Slow Internet (-2)
  
• Not glacial, just solidly sub-par. It's like a car that tops out at 35 MPH, often breaks down, and explodes if you take it down certain streets.
  

• The Kitchen (-1)
  
• It has fridges, microwaves, and boiling water, but NO burners?!? How now am I to cook my way into ladies' hearts, let alone satiate my own stomach?
  

• Chinese Breakfast (-1)
  
• Fried dough balls filled with bean paste don't do it for me. Fortunately, this resourceful, strapping young lad obtained some hearty oats, milk, and bananas to satisfy his voracious morning appetite.

• My Neighbor, "The Nuclear Power Technology and Equipment Engineering Research Center" (-1)
• This charming, dilapidated facility across the street--conveniently nonexistent on the campus map--could be the reason my children are born with thripples.
  

The Last Hurrah

I resolved to solidify (or strain) my strongest friendships before departing for Shanghai (more on that later) by spending some quality time together.

First, I went camping with Maya and Jen Okwudili. We encountered a black bear and rattlesnake—Jen will probably never camp with us again. I also learned that my music tastes are “not hip,” because—among other offenses—I fail to understand the brilliance that is Radiohead.

Second, I invited friends up for wine tasting and the alcoholics responded in force. Fifteen of us sampled the fine pinot noir, zinfandel, mustard, and black boar sausage that Healdsburg has to offer. Arista winery was the unanimous favorite. Unfortunately, Nelson was not taken away in a police car this time.

Third, I toured the bay area (Stanford-Berkeley-San Francisco-Emeryville), crashing at friend’s places like a hobo. To Nelson, Jacob, and James—thanks for the couches! It’s exciting to see the next step for my post-college friends: Evan’s TFA classroom, Jacob’s Obama organizing, Ben’s med school dormitory, and James’s concert venue. For example, when I visited Evan -ahh excuse me- Mr. Perkiss, he was feverishly preparing an elaborate college theme for his class of twenty-four 5th graders.

Fourth, I visited Sagari in Houston, America’s 4th largest city. It was my first time in Texas (my first time in the middle region of our country, in fact). I must confess that my expectations were not too high, but they were far exceeded. The cultural offerings were terrific: I visited four museums, all for free (displaying Surrealist, Modern, Contemporary, and Ancient art). Even public transportation was cheap, convenient, and speedy.

But the uniquely Texan experiences were the highlight: BBQ, Rodeo, and, above all, the worship services at Prestonwood Baptist Church. The Sunday service on “Walking with God” at this megachurch (~6000 worshipers) was fascinating. It was a huge production, replete with a ~300 person choir, a small orchestra, and two huge screens. Though contrived at moments, it felt much more powerful than I’d anticipated—some in the audience certainly agreed with me: a number stepped forward to rededicate themselves to Jesus Christ that morning. While I didn’t take that step, it was a window into a world that I never see, and rarely hear of—and then primarily only disparagingly. Thank you Texas!

Finally, I visited the magnificent Chihuly glass-blowing exhibit at the deYoung Museum in SF with my mom and cousin, Ben. I couldn't resist but include a plug and a photo.

Darling it’s better > Down where it's wetter > Take it from me

Roatan, Honduras is all about Scuba diving. Our Scuba certification course cost $250 and lasted four days (and three not-so-crazy nights of completing chapter reviews). Our instructor, Tim, was a cheery chap, and his British accent made his quips 1.5 to 2.5 times more comical. I am now a card-carrying, PADI open-water certified recreational diver. This is a major boost to my sex appeal. Ladies, please— don’t crowd me, form a single file line, you’ll all get a turn.

The underwater life was spectacular. To help us appreciate it, the Lukoff-Harder team acquired an all-star free agent: Katie Freakin’ McLean, the Michael Phelps of Scuba diving partners. Katie, who studies biology at Lakehead University in Ontario, Canada, routinely found and identified fish us amateurs would have overlooked.

We saw lobsters, octupi, Moray eels, shrimp, turtles, and enough colorful Parrotfish to feed a small Japanese village. To my delight, the water was as warm as the kiddie pool, but for more sanitary reasons. Roatan was truly our Isla Bonita, a charming tropical escape. Down here all the fish is happy.

I had my brush with death when we rented mopeds. Hurtling along at up to 60 MPH along pockmarked streets was at once a harrowing and exhilarating experience. If you fell at that speed, the pavement would skin you alive. What Yamaha bike’s lack in safety, they make up for in fuel efficiency: 100 MPG. Of course, if you die, you use less gas too.

While cruising, at moderate speed, out of the island’s one town, Coxen Hole, I noticed a plastic blue ball rolling down a driveway and into my path… mental alarm bells started ringing. Sure enough, a small Honduran boy followed an instant later. I swerved to the right, since he was already far into the street, and narrowly avoided turning us both into road kill.

Finally, to protect my eyes from the many bugs, I had resorted to wearing my Scuba goggles (having lost my sunglasses earlier). This, I regret to inform you, did little for my sex appeal— a Garifuna village was rolling with laughter at my get-up.

Alas, all good things must come to an end, except for Pixar’s absurdly long string of quality movies. Fortunately, Josh and I ended our romantic tryst on an up note: his parental unit put us up in a nice hotel in downtown SF upon our return , which was 45.2 times more luxurious than our “hotel” the previous night in El Poy, Honduras. It was there, while watching the cooking channel, that I learned the three rules of grilling. They are also rules to live by: keep it clean, keep it hot, and keep it lubricated.

CLICK to check out my S. and C. America trip photo album!