Daddy Daughter Dance

This Saturday night was our first Daddy-Daughter Dance here in Shanghai. The event was sponsored by the girls' Daisy, Brownie and Girl Scout troops. Held at the Radisson, Pudong the party was done right with a buffet style dinner (complete with chicken nuggets, french fries, hamburgers, rice and noodles...oh, yeah, and fish, beef stroganoff, salad, etc.) Kendall was a little shy at first, and clung to daddy for a bit. Once her friend Tiffany showed up, however, off she went...leading the congo line, and a walk-like-an-egyptian dance. Veronica, from the beginning was off finding friends, new and old alike. For a while, the dads were wondering what happened to their dates. Eventually, they both showed up and actually wanted to dance with me, so I felt like I wasn't stood up afterall. My two girls looked absolutely beautiful in their silk dresses. We were all decked out in our new clothes we bought the week before from one of the many local fabric markets where you can get custom made clothes at very, very good prices...if you haggle enough for it. Anyway, we had fun, and the girls enjoyed themselves. Wasn't the same without MacKenzie, Uncle Shane (pinch-hitting as #1), Grandpa and Pap, but we still enjoyed ourselves. Have a look at some of our photos...more to share once we get the official photos from the photographer. Click on the link below to see more. http://picasaweb.google.com/Brian.Stephen.Smith/20090306DaddyDaughterDanceShanghaiDaisyBrownies?feat=directlink

The Asian Workday

I really didn't know what to expect when we moved here. One thing that I guess didn't dawn on me was the length of the workday. Yes, I was usually on the other end of our conference calls early in the morning in the USA, and new our Chinese colleagues were staying late, but I didn't realize the extent that this seems to be the norm. Ok, I thought that given my situation of being away from the family most of the week, would result in my spending more time at the office, but I had no idea. During business trips visiting here, it's usually a late evening in the office followed by dinner, so naturally you expect that people are working a little longer while the visitors are present. The reality is, that just like in the USA, you might find yourself working through lunch on occasion, the same thing occurs here, but you also run the risk of also working through dinner. If you're not paying attention, you might miss dinner to find that you have to get on a conference call at 7 or 8pm, and not be likely to find a bite to eat for another couple hours. Of course sitting here typing this message at 20 minutes after midnight, thinking that I have to make a call or two to the USA is not helping...it seems that the workday blends in with the evening conference calls. And, even on nights when we don't have a call, I know people are staying until 10-11pm working, sometimes on Saturdays. It's a different world... Anyway, for the fun of it, I thought I'd share an image of dinner the other night...in the "cantina". If you're a fan of, or ever watched, M*A*S*H, think of one of the scenes in the mess hall where the food servers are taking a big ladle full of something and slapping it on your tray. Same goes for here. This meal was rice, steamed bread, steamed egg, some type of vegetable and tofu mix, some type of beet and other stuff mix, breaded pork (bone in), and fish (entire fish). A Chinese colleague has explained to me some of the finer points of Chinese eating. He explained that the Chinese like to eat the meat closest to the bone for the taste--most would agree. This is why when you have bite sized portions of meat, you have to be very careful when you put it in your mouth, because it's probably half bone, half meat. The interesting part is, if you want to buy meat, it costs more with the bone than without. I've been hoping they realize the cost reduction opportunity soon before I lose a tooth!

Prep for the Daddy-Daughter Dance

Next weekend, we have a big formal affair, with the Daisy-troop daddy-daughter dance...black-tie affair. In preparation for the big event, of course, it was a weekend of shopping. But, this wasn't your normal go to the mall and pick out a dress and rent-a-penguin suit type affair. No, this was an adventure in shopping at the fabric market. In this our-story building, jam-packed with small 10'x10' sized booths (some were maybe 10'x20'), you can find silks, furs, leather, denim, cashmere, any fabric you could think of, and have your dress, suit, tux, pants, shirt, etc. all custom tailored and designed to fit. And the fun of it was the haggling for price. It's an art form, and the more you buy, the more fun it is (you kind of lose track of the actual amount, but just focus on a number). Well, a tux, two shirts, two cashmere coats, two dresses, and a raincoat later, all Holli could say was, "That was fun. I can't wait until we go to the pearl market." Ahhhhh. Shanghai is a shopper's paradise, where you can find high-end anything real or fake, and anything you could possibly need or want. Oh, and don't forget to dress warm in the winter...many places are not heated! The kids had to stay active to keep warm, and they found a way!