tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-307685312024-03-07T19:59:58.425-08:00Life--Naturally“Authentic treachery is found when we abandon ourselves, becoming deaf to the whispers of our spirits and blind to the powerful potential therein." -Joaquin Mariel EspinosaRachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07036848631989988649noreply@blogger.comBlogger368125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30768531.post-63303604354237751032012-09-09T14:15:00.002-07:002012-09-09T14:17:16.142-07:00Skirt GirlWhen I was younger, I used to be thankful for the occasional kid in class who was weirder, smellier, dirtier, or whatever -ier than me, because it meant the little vicious monsters who surrounded me would turn themselves to a different kid for a change.<br />
<br />
Talking to my brother today, I realized yet again how narcissistic children are. As a younger person, I couldn't imagine anyone being persecuted more than I was, mainly because I always looked different than everyone else. Contrary to what I was told, this didn't mean that it was the devil testing me, it just mean that kids are little punks to anyone who is different than they are. I was always jealous of the boys in my religion because they didn't have to look different like the girls did. I could see some of the boys actually being popular, whereas very few girls I knew were popular in school, and I attributed this to looking so utterly different.<br />
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I developed what I liked to call the "outsiders" group. I liked hanging out with people I considered to be different too, because then we could be different together. It was rather interesting to realize my brother did exactly the same thing, even though he was a boy, because he was different too, he just didn't look as different as I did.<br />
<br />
I am not thankful I experienced what I did, even though I know it made me stronger. There are other ways to become stronger, ones that don't leave as many scars. Parents who espouse tough love either have forgotten what it was like or never experienced it - or perhaps have so many scars from their experiences that they don't know any other way. Knowing you're not a person to your peers, but just "skirt girl" isn't made any easier when platitudes are provided instead of real solutions.<br />
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Life happens how it does - I don't blame anyone else for the merciless teasing and childish stupidity that was endured by me, by others in my little social group, by my brother. But I do hope it will make me a better parent, one sensitive to how important social interaction is to human beings in general, and to my children in particular. And, not excuse my children if they are the ones picking on the lone "skirt girl" on the playground.Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11387208997045111465noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30768531.post-13721767852422583262012-02-17T13:14:00.000-08:002012-02-17T13:14:17.488-08:00Food IntentionsI'm currently taking a course from Heather Brueggeman on whole foods, and am learning some amazing new techniques to make healthful, vegetarian food for my family. Since humans shouldn't be eating animal products in the volume we do, I've been searching for ways to reduce that volume, although it's not easy since my default is to make a protein, a vegetable side and a starch/whole grain side for meals. <br />
<br />
A few of the things I could do to improve my health that I'm not doing right now is to drink more water, eat more seeds and nuts, and exercise. The water and exercise ones are obvious - I drink a lot of water but I'm lactating, so I'm constantly thirsty. Exercise isn't particularly comfortable, for the same reason I'm always thirsty, but walking is something I should be doing more of. The seeds and nuts are a huge part of the new recipes I'm learning, and I am becoming more aware that if you were just a hunter-gatherer, you'd be eating a whole lot more seeds and nuts than I - or my family members - currently do. <br />
<br />
Overall, my food philosophy is to try to follow as much as possible what humans developed naturally to eat. To that end, I have no interest in becoming vegetarian, because I don't think it's a choice that matches what the human body needs. But, the corollary is that the meat I eat needs to also be from an animal who ate what they were supposed to be eating - so organic grass-fed cattle, pigs allowed to wallow and root, chickens who could peck for seeds and worms, etc. As far as the plant side of things, I feel like I've been lacking direction and knowledge because of being a plant hater as a child (microwave steamed lima beans will do that to you), but really want to incorporate more whole grains, seeds, and green veggies into my family's diet. I feel like I'm doing relatively well with the root veggies, celeriac and parsnip being two of my new favorites, but I'm hoping that through taking this course, I'll be able to move my family to 80% of our food coming from plant based sources.Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11387208997045111465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30768531.post-35897564975841505352012-02-12T19:33:00.000-08:002012-02-12T19:33:41.183-08:00Work in Progress - Parenting a Pre-K to K girlHere are a few thoughts on the steps my husband and I have taken in trying to ensure our 5 year old turns into a respectful, contributing member of society, and doesn't hate us when it's over.<br />
<br />
1) I have heard parents say "pick your battles." This would have been important for my parents to remember, because I resisted at every turn. But, our daughter does not, she acts out as a method of control and doesn't do it that often. So, every battle really is one I'm willing to fight. The few times I've given in during her attention getting battles took days to rectify. <br />
<br />
2) Minimal sugar. When she gets a lot of sugar, she turns into evil child. We give her lots of fruit if she wants a treat,and she gets a minimal dessert after dinner, once she's eaten all of her vegetables. After a couple years of this now, the few times we've let her eat as much sugar as she wants, she limits herself.<br />
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3) Organic fruits and vegetables. Multiple studies have linked pesticides to developmental problems in children, including autism and ADD/ADHD. This is one I'm not willing to gamble on - she eats something non-organic maybe a couple times a week - this includes her sandwiches, juice, milk, pretty much anything she eats, we're trying for organic, but especially the fruits and vegetables.<br />
<br />
4) She cleans her own room (with help). Soon, I'm hoping she cleans her room without help, but she has been taught to clean up after herself since she was able to pick up her own things or reach the counter to put away her leftover dishes/cups. We hope that when she's older, this habit will be ingrained. We hope. <br />
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5) TV is limited on school days, and homework and veggies come first. She has been told - and happily regurgitates - that too much TV will turn her brain to mush. <br />
<br />
Overall, we're trying to strike a balance between some of the extremes to which we were both subjected as children, in terms of zero sugar or zero TV that led us to binge as adults, and and being completely permissive, which neither of us are in to. <br />
<br />
I guess we'll find out in a decade how well this is working for us. For now, we have a (mostly) well-behaved, sweet and cooperative five year old. Let's hope it stays that way... :)Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11387208997045111465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30768531.post-47134013582941674362012-01-30T17:02:00.001-08:002012-02-12T19:34:17.167-08:00"There but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford"A young girl was walking home one day and saw a poor homeless man on the side of the street. She asked her mom why he was there. <br />
<br />
"Well, sweetie, he didn't want to have a job or responsibility, he just wanted to spend his money on drinking, so now he hasn't got a home and has to ask for money."<br />
<br />
She thought about this, and said, "But it's very cold out, and I don't see that he has a coat on."<br />
<br />
"Yes, he probably sold it or lost it somewhere. Most homeless are lazy and don't take care of their things."<br />
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She thought again, and asked, "What if he tried to take someone else's coat because he's so cold?"<br />
<br />
"Well, then he'd probably go to jail and we taxpayers would have to pay for him, when he ought to be working and paying for himself."<br />
<br />
The girl thought again, and said, "So, is this man not the one that I learned about in Sunday School? The one that Jesus said we should feed if he's hungry, or give him something to drink if he's thirsty, or clothe him if he's cold, or visit him if he's in jail?"<br />
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Her mother looked at her in shock. "Absolutely not! God blesses those who work hard and don't complain. Remember, Paul said if you can't work, you shouldn't eat."<br />
<br />
"But, Mom, my Sunday school teacher said that early Christians lived in a communal style, and everyone had jobs to do. Does that man have a job he can work at?"<br />
<br />
"I'm sure if he looked hard, he could find one," her mother said firmly. <br />
<br />
And thus the Pharisee ignored the words of Christ again, believing herself to be far superior to that cold, hungry, thirsty, homeless person.Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11387208997045111465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30768531.post-80311717808437398242011-12-10T18:38:00.000-08:002011-12-10T18:38:59.292-08:00Christmas Shopping!I love Christmas shopping, because it's the one time a year that I can spend spend spend and not feel guilty at all! This year, I did all of my shopping on etsy.com, and would like to share some great new sellers I found. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/AshBeesCrafts">http://www.etsy.com/shop/AshBeesCrafts</a><br />
<br />
This seller completed our custom order quickly and with great results.<br />
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<a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/JimAndGina">http://www.etsy.com/shop/JimAndGina</a><br />
<br />
I am a huge fan of Jim and Gina, and have purchased multiple items of pottery from them before. Really solid craftsmanship, great designs, and microwave/dishwasher safe. <br />
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<a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/SockMonkeyFarm">http://www.etsy.com/shop/SockMonkeyFarm</a><br />
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Adorable kids' gift that you know will be free from lead paint. :)<br />
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<a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/elisehooperdesigns">http://www.etsy.com/shop/elisehooperdesigns</a><br />
<br />
A local Seattle area artisan, our blanket and skirt arrived quickly, and exactly as expected. Love the colors and the workmanship.<br />
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Overall, had a great time buying gifts for Christmas from small artisans making things in the USA!Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11387208997045111465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30768531.post-25719631632248816952011-11-17T21:54:00.000-08:002011-11-17T21:54:25.052-08:00Love in human formToday, my son is three weeks old. <br />
<br />
Writing that makes me proud, scared, exhilarated, anxious, full to bursting with love, and back to proud again, with plenty of other emotions jumbled up in there as well. <br />
<br />
His birth was about as textbook perfect as births go - had my "one week overdue" midwife appointment on Wednesday, at which I complained that my friend K had just had her baby the day before. However, by 6am Thursday morning, I was having the occasional contraction. At 2:50, my water broke, and at 6:50, my son was born. <br />
<br />
All of my philosophy on life, being as close to what naturally occurs as possible, is exemplified in my son. During my pregnancy, I hardly ate any sweets or simple carbs and focused on eating tons and tons of grains and protein - even though eating fried eggs, boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, omelettes.... got really boring - until the last month, when I just got miserable and started eating maple bars. So far, there have been almost no pesticides or processed foods going into him either in utero or via breastmilk. I am hoping that this will give him what he needs to grow up healthy, and reduce the risks of autism or ADD/ADHD. <br />
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Having a child is the most scary thing I have ever experienced. Everything I do is focused on making sure this little person is taken care of. When L came into my life, she needed supervision and care, but she was already two years old, mobile, eating regular food and sleeping (mostly) through the night. My son is completely dependent on me for food, although with pumping my husband can help, for comfort and care during the day, and he sleeps with me at night. It's an awesome responsibility, being so important to him, and knowing all the dangers there are to children that run over and over in my head - one of the hazards of working in product safety. <br />
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For now, I'm content just to stare at his face and tickle his toes and sigh over how amazing he is. I'm glad I'm good at compartmentalizing my fears and locking them away or I'd be a neurotic mess after just three weeks with my perfect, tiny, wonderful son, much less the many years to come.Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11387208997045111465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30768531.post-19189849209823687212010-09-21T19:17:00.000-07:002012-09-09T19:19:12.213-07:00Final Impressions<span id="ctl00_ctl00_MainContentPlaceholder_cphBodyContent_BlogEntries"></span><br />
If I have on overriding feeling about the trip to China,
it is that it would be a great place to live and work if it weren’t so horribly
polluted. Living there is basically asking for respiratory problems at a
minimum, and almost guaranteed cancer, not to mention the sheer amount of waste
one would produce from all the bottled water to avoid the contaminated water
there. But, the food was a amazing, the opportunities are amazing, and I find
Chinese language, culture and history fascinating. It’s really too bad that they
have failed to keep their natural environment sustainable for human life in the
long-term – here’s to hoping they can actually turn that around. <br />
<br />
There are a few places and things we saw in China that
make me more hopeful for China’s future. Young people seem to be more concerned
with sustainability and less waste, rather than embracing the insanity of
Western consumer culture. Given the huge population and somewhat limited
natural resources of China, they don’t have the time to waste before even more
harm occurs than 30% of water being contaminated, or entire cities being evacuated
due to chemical spill. <br />
<br />
There is a lot to be worried about though. There are a
lot of cars in China, and most of them are like ours, which is to say dirty
polluters of both particulate matter and CO2. What’s worse is that to achieve
the same percentage of GDP we do, China expends 10 times or so the energy.
Every bit they grow, they exponentially increase their levels of pollution,
fossil fuel usage, and resource usage. If the Earth had infinite resources,
that would be just fine, but it doesn’t. So, I have to admit that China’s
growth really worries me, because we can’t tell them they shouldn’t do what we
did in good faith, especially since we’re not taking significant steps
ourselves to reduce our own levels of pollution. <br />
<br />
The key takeaways:<br />
-There is a lot of opportunity in China at this
moment in terms of growth and a consumer minded middle class<br />
-China is incredibly polluted from trying to grow
so fast and from having a growing consumer minded middle class of consumers<br />
-It is really hard to be vegetarian in ChinaRachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11387208997045111465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30768531.post-57262746517306348722010-09-20T19:16:00.000-07:002012-09-09T19:19:00.757-07:00Shanghai Expo and Leavetaking<span id="ctl00_ctl00_MainContentPlaceholder_cphBodyContent_BlogEntries"></span><br />
<div align="left">
The morning of the Shanghai Expo, we left fairly late in
the morning. I think many of us are, while not looking forward to the actual
flight, looking forward to slowing down a bit. The weather was incredibly hot.
The kind of hot that made it difficult to function in Singapore, Miami,
everywhere I’ve been too far south of Seattle. I loved Alaska, though,
especially when it was raining and gray… in any case, it was very, very hot. </div>
<br />
We all split up after taking the first few group shots,
and made our way around the Expo. The lines were incredibly long at some of the
pavilions, and we heard that you had to have reservations for the Taiwan
exhibit. Some of us eventually made our way over to the Europe pavilions, as
our resident architecture expert Juli told us they were worth seeing – and she
was right. The UK exhibit was like a giant metal porcupine, and the Germany
exhibit was a really neat angular thing. Definitely enjoyed viewing them, but
the lines…. Not gonna happen. <br />
<br />
I wanted to see the Austria exhibit, and Claudia wanted
to see the Sweden exhibit, so we continued on through the Expo park after some
of the others took off. Even the Austria exhibit had an hour long line. We
finally felt like we hit pay dirt when we reached the shared European pavilion
that contained San Marino, Liechtenstein, Cyprus, and a few other small European
countries – no lines! It was like getting free candy, but better.<br />
<br />
The final going away dinner was the best dinner we’d had
in China, which is saying a lot. The food here has been really amazing. There
was an orange fish that was so perfectly cut and prepared that you could just
take the breaded and sauce covered chunk directly off of the fish, no bones.
Highly impressive – but not as impressive as the house specialty, their roast
pork. It was a slow roast pork that just about melted off of the rib that was
dipped in sweet and sour sauce, then in panko bread crumbs, and then wrapped in
a piece of lettuce and eaten like a spring roll. I cannot go into enough
raptures about how amazing the flavors and textures of that particular dish
were. <br />
<br />
Our evening entertainment was a karaoke parlor, Chinese
style. Normally, there’s a professional running the karaoke machine, and you
just submit a piece of paper and sing awkwardly in front of strangers. This was
a private booth type place, where you run the machine (which is in Chinese)
yourself, and then sing awkwardly in front people you actually know. Much more
awkward. But, I do love to sing, so it was fun. All in all, a great ending to a
great trip.Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11387208997045111465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30768531.post-15578657562085273222010-09-19T19:15:00.000-07:002012-09-09T19:18:46.430-07:00Seattle day: Expeditors & PMI<span id="ctl00_ctl00_MainContentPlaceholder_cphBodyContent_BlogEntries"></span><br />
Today is our “Seattle” day – both company visits today
are to businesses headquartered in Seattle. Expeditors is a logistics solutions
company, and PMI is a beverage solutions company. I find that this “solutions”
term has become ubiquitous in business parlance of the past decade or two. In
any case, I think these visits were the most interesting for us this trip. <br />
<br />
The answers at Expeditors were frustratingly vague on the
big questions we asked, although they were perfectly happy to answer detail
questions about their operations. We were wondering if perhaps they were trying
to put a perfect face on their operations. Regardless, it was very frustrating
to keep asking the same questions over and over again and getting the same
non-answers from the regional manager. <br />
<br />
PMI makes the cups you see at Starbucks, in addition to
other private label items. The visit to PMI was brilliant, and really my
favorite company visit. We were lucky to have Qin Chen at our lunch table prior
to the visit, and had a detailed discussion about the employment of expatriates
in Chinese firms. He said that the kind of problem solving and managerial
skills they needed when they first went to Shanghai simply didn’t exist in
China in the numbers that they needed to be able to find local hires, since
every other foreign company was looking for a person with the same sort of
experience. He said that they’ve been able to build up a number of their employees
internally, and so they have those skills now, but that it is still worthwhile
to hire expatriates. This could be very concerning for a company, because that’s
a huge amount of time and invested effort into these Chinese employees just to
make them the kind of employee that can do the necessary work. Replacing
someone would be quite difficult in those circumstances. Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11387208997045111465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30768531.post-42403400857301369312010-09-17T14:22:00.000-07:002010-09-17T14:22:15.901-07:00China Study Tour: Shanghai - Paris of the EastOur trip from Xi’an was entirely uneventful, as are the best plane trips. The airline food was minimally edible, although the Sprite was nice. We took the Maglev from the airport, and it reached 431kph, which is pretty darn fast. <br />
<br />
From the plane upon arrival in each of the cities I’ve visited in the developing world, one could see the slums on the outskirts of the city. I think Chinese slums must look different than I’m used to, because all I saw were very cramped looking brick houses. India breaks your heart with the obvious human suffering surrounding the visitor every step, every day in India. One must eventually learn to ignore it, or else go slightly insane. Maybe China’s heartbreak is primarily rural and can’t be seen on a Study Tour encompassing only the urban centers of Beijing, Xi’an, and Shanghai. <br />
<br />
Upon initial arrival in Shanghai, it struck me that I was reminded of Mumbai. There are so many people in the streets, there is a ripe scent to the air that I suspect is the combined odor of millions of sweaty bodies from the muggy, humid heat, and a certain late 19th/early 20th century European flair to many of the old buildings along the waterfront. However, this is where the comparison must end, as Shanghai is an amazing city, full of diverse, innovative architecture, it boasts a Maglev airport train, and is currently hosting the World Expo. No offense to Mumbai, but there really is no comparison after the initial superficial similarities are set aside. <br />
<br />
After checking in and getting mostly settled in, we took a walk down to the river to see the Pudong and the Shanghai skyline. This resulted in much picture-taking before we settled on heading across the river to the Pearl Tower. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8AuLKI5EI3WAsT7Rx2ULYyvsCAyQBlQXLc7R6lQO6Pp0Ktfazfh1RfTvC6Q_i7UvXqNpX-3eoGCyYTioKm49pRFcw2EY6K20oD2OCe9uUSA3P_KRzAbWhWQtwV3N5GqIcpLJ69w/s1600/paris1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8AuLKI5EI3WAsT7Rx2ULYyvsCAyQBlQXLc7R6lQO6Pp0Ktfazfh1RfTvC6Q_i7UvXqNpX-3eoGCyYTioKm49pRFcw2EY6K20oD2OCe9uUSA3P_KRzAbWhWQtwV3N5GqIcpLJ69w/s320/paris1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<br />
After a long stroll to reach the ferry, then a ferry ride (2 yuan!) and then a long stroll to the Pearl Tower, it was discovered that the cost for dinner was 280RMB, or 140 times the cost of the ferry ride. That price is completely ridiculous, so half of us settled on Subway, as we were starving, and others went to a nearby mall for other fare. <br />
<br />
The view was mostly worth the price of admission (100RMB), although having my personal bubble invaded about every two seconds is honestly getting annoying. Having my alone time helps me get back my equilibrium to face the seas of humanity about me each day, but I have to admit it will be nice to go home, back to a place where an elevator with five occupants is considered full.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqeY_JSuguGk7llOo-7r0_uFJBh46BI0mJOL22QbYERcIgW4mV_V-_j5p36x1PoguwphR4Yr0TYuyLzqBUZFLOgVtJlKyEI7FuYFYvbqWUeiIXvL4ANDdgWv6_EP1zcZ9BcLsXuw/s1600/paris2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqeY_JSuguGk7llOo-7r0_uFJBh46BI0mJOL22QbYERcIgW4mV_V-_j5p36x1PoguwphR4Yr0TYuyLzqBUZFLOgVtJlKyEI7FuYFYvbqWUeiIXvL4ANDdgWv6_EP1zcZ9BcLsXuw/s320/paris2.jpg" /></a></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11387208997045111465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30768531.post-6872521793683886082010-09-17T14:19:00.001-07:002010-09-17T14:19:08.654-07:00China Study Tour: Brother Machinery Co. Xi’anBrother is a Japanese company that initially began a joint venture with a Chinese firm in Xi’an in 1993. In this location, they make low-end to high-end industrial sewing machines as well as machine parts for large machinery primarily located in the south of China. <br />
<br />
Our presentation was made by a Japanese employee who was fluent in Chinese, and reasonably good at English, although he kept distrusting himself and switching to Mandarin and one of the Mandarin speakers in our group would translate, usually Derek. He said that there were 11 Japanese employees at the plant, and only one of them spoke Mandarin. Their upper level plant managerial staff all spoke Japanese, and workers could attend Japanese courses if they wished. We found this very interesting – this is something seen in France and Japan, I would say most, this sense of national pride and an unwillingness to compromise national culture in a multinational venture. This is in reality too broad an indictment of all Japanese and French firms. However, I do believe that firms in China will either wish to speak their own language, or expect to conduct business in English. I feel that the Chinese have not yet attained a level of status in the world that would force those who wish to do business here to learn their language. Until then, I will be pleased that my language is now the language of the world, making my life much easier when traveling. <br />
<br />
Our presenter wasn’t actually prepared for us when we arrived. He said that Chinese people are usually 1-2 hours late, and thus he didn’t expect us to be on time (we were five minutes early). Thus, some of the charts weren’t in English, and he seemed very flustered and unsure of how to structure what he had to say. <br />
<br />
The most surprising part of visiting Brother was in hearing how not lean the processes at the plant were. Brother is headquartered in Nagoya, the same city as Toyota, and they ascribe to lean principles and the Toyota manufacturing method, and yet the volume of work in process inventory just sitting on the factory floor was staggering. The workers also weren’t wearing hard hats or safety equipment, but that is probably beside the point. The company’s core values, dress code, and team metrics were posted in prominent places in the factory. But, I just couldn’t get over the volume of inventory lying about – it was clearly not a just in time sort of operation. <br />
<br />
The most interesting part of the presentation to me was the discussion of profit, or lack thereof, in the operation. Brother already makes virtually no profit on their lower-end sewing machine, which retails for $300, and is primarily intended for markets such as Bangladesh. They do quite well on their high end machines, but the presenter was saying that wage increases and logistics difficulties in transporting parts and finished goods were seriously eating into the potential profits of the business. <br />
<br />
I really appreciate the time that Brother gave us in Xi’an. This was a real business tour, not a sanitized version for public consumption. We got a real picture into difficulties running an outsourced manufacturing business in China, something China is famous for in business worldwide, and the ways in which it wasn’t a successful venture, and the ways in which it was.Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11387208997045111465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30768531.post-22852946870680458362010-09-17T14:18:00.000-07:002010-09-17T14:18:38.648-07:00China Study Tour: Starfish Foster HomeWebsite: <a href="http://www.thestarfishfosterhome.org/index.aspx">http://www.thestarfishfosterhome.org/index.aspx</a><br />
China Contact Information <br />
Starfish Foster Home<br />
Attn: Amanda de Lange<br />
Maple Leaf New City, Area C, Block B-502<br />
Ke Ji Road, Gao Xin<br />
Xian 710075<br />
CHINA<br />
86.29.88044168 (Cell);<br />
86.29.88390648 (Home)<br />
chinese.starfishthrower@gmail.com<br />
<br />
Tuesday morning, we had the privilege to have Amanda de Lange, founder of Starfish Foster Home, give us a talk on non-profit work in China. <br />
<br />
Amanda’s story for being in this line of work seems to be similar to many people who saw others in suffering and decided to do something about it – not generally a particularly clearly thought out plan initially – and took it upon themselves to make something happen. Amanda takes in babies with special needs who would otherwise likely die in the orphanages that they had been living in due to their special requirements. These babies can range from having problems like cleft palate, spina bifida, hemangioma, or congenital heart defects. All of these are treatable, but many parents in rural China don’t know where to go to help their child, or don’t have the money with which to do so, and so they are abandoned. <br />
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To illustrate the severity of the problem: children born with cleft palate in the United States (which happens at a much lower rate than in China, probably due to maternal malnourishment in the developing world) will have surgery to fix the deformity and will live the rest of their lives with a scar, but little else will be different for them. If a cleft palate baby goes to an orphanage here, the mortality rate is around 80%, according to Amanda, based upon the lack of available care to make sure that the baby gets the food they need to grow. <br />
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Any non-profit faces problems working in China. For one, it is very difficult for NGOs to enter or work in China, and Amanda said that none have been approved to work in China for the past ten years. For another, the legal framework doesn’t exist as it does in other countries to reward donors for giving to a charity, and the charity has problems setting up as a not-for-profit entity. For that reason, Starfish Foster Home is set up as a 501(c)(3) non-profit in the U.S., rather than in China. <br />
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Some of the management problems that Amanda faces are due to Chinese culture, and some are due to her own managerial style. She has faced numerous problems with her staff not being able to anticipate problems, or respond sluggishly when there is a serious problem, such as a stove broken for two days, meaning no warm milk for the babies. She also works way too many hours in the day, because she doesn’t have a capable administrative staff to take some of the load off of her shoulders. In addition, Amanda’s style is passionate – not business process oriented. Her love for her babies is more than apparent, but she admitted herself that she has flown by the seat of her pants for the past five years and more or less has approached her growth and non-profit business development in a very ad hoc way. If she had more specific and detailed processes for her staff to follow when inventory was low, something was broken, even in the form of a decision tree, she wouldn’t have to spend nearly as much time thinking for them, and could spend more of her time on fundraising and networking with the people who can help the children most. <br />
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Some of the organizations and people Amanda has worked with:<br />
Smile Train<br />
Operation Smile<br />
Lisa Buckmiller (University of Arkansas Children’s Medical Center)<br />
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One of the things I found most admirable about Amanda is that even in the face of serious adversity, such as her rooms being torn down and needing to find new lodging for her nannies and her babies, and in the face of an uncertain future for her foster home based on the political climate in China, she still is passionate and giving of herself and has spent her life savings on this project, even when it probably would have seemed prudent to leave the work to someone else. I deeply respect and admire anyone who can take their reaction to the pain and suffering of others and build something to respond to that need. It is unknown to me how many babies Amanda has saved through her work, but even one baby would have made her effort worth it.Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11387208997045111465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30768531.post-61563920295635548472010-09-17T14:16:00.000-07:002010-09-17T14:16:28.245-07:00China Study Tour: Xi’an Hi-Tech ParkOur visit to the Xi’an Hi-Tech Park was another public tour style view into Chinese business. While they had A/C, they did not have the candor of say, VanceInfo, or the usefulness of the U.S. Embassy presentation. What they provide most of all is a view into how China wants others from the outside to see itself, and how it chooses to present itself. <br />
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The layout of the demonstration area that is in a building, which is apparently dedicated entirely to the purpose of attracting businesses to Xi’an if the building directory can be believed, was similar to ENN’s in that it told the great and wonderful history of the Xi’an Hi-Tech Park. I’m sure there is some value to always painting a rosy picture to outsiders looking in, but it is to be hoped that they are at least honest amongst themselves in their own planning sessions about what challenges they actually face. <br />
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The primary focus of the presentation was about how Xi’an’s infrastructure was being improved to the point that it was just as desirable as a coastal city, while still having much lower costs and much lower turnover rates, especially as compared with a place like Shenzhen. The speaker was very much speaking the party line, and it reminded me of the professor from the University. The only reason the government has so much control and influence in these ventures is that people really seem to believe it’s working, despite the immense environmental degradation that rapid economic growth has wrought, as well as the clear disparity between the haves and the have-nots in society. What the government has done is provide them hope for the future – and any government who manages to keep the populace hopeful for future prospects does not have to worry about losing power. <br />
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Another thing that I found interesting, both in this visit and throughout the trip, is the focus that the Chinese are putting on high-value added services and goods. I have read some executives’ words in interviews saying that we’re only sending low-end goods abroad, and that the U.S. will continue to be a global center for innovation and high-tech goods. While I do not doubt this is partially true, since that is something we have experience with and are good at, this is precisely the area that we should realize China wants. The space station, the work on aerospace technology to build large places, micro-processing plant – if anyone still really believes that the U.S. can continue to be world leader and innovator in high-tech products and happily continue to dump only low-value added work to the developing world, they’re very much mistaken. Many of these countries have the hope of truly competing, and gaining for themselves the kind of respect and admiration we have garnered in our businesses in the past century, and it shouldn’t be at all surprising that this is so. <br />
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Another interesting note from the presentation was the volume of government sponsored educational institutions. While I’m sure they’re doing very good work in training the populace for gainful employment, I can’t imagine the professors enjoy any sort of actual freedom to teach as they like, when I can’t even access my own blog from here. <br />
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A rather shocking moment occurred partway through the Q&A with our hostess. She answered her phone in the middle of our professor’s question, and proceeded to speak for a good 30-40 seconds on her phone. That would be the height of rudeness in the U.S. We have spent a lot of time learning about Chinese business culture and what is acceptable or unacceptable and how to give and receive business cards properly – hopefully Chinese businesspeople do the same thing and realize that cutting someone off in the middle of a question and treating them as though their question is a far less importance than a phone call would be a serious faux pas to make.Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11387208997045111465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30768531.post-90535844676087798152010-09-17T14:15:00.001-07:002010-09-17T14:15:33.073-07:00China Study Tour: Northwest University VisitOur visit to Northwest University was intended as a comparison with the Beijing International MBA visit in Beijing. It ended up being a valuable experience, in terms of learning the kinds of students who chose Northwest University, and also the faculty. <br />
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The first speaker required our tour guide, Peter, to translate (and Peter did an excellent job), but I found it interesting as this is the first official person we’ve run into so far who has not chosen to speak English. Our second speaker was another professor who had recently returned from a Fulbright scholarship in the U.S., in Los Angeles. Her English was excellent, and she did a great job attempting to sell us on Xi’an. <br />
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Two thins became obvious to me fairly quickly during the presentations and subsequent Q&A. People from Xi’an are very proud of their city and what the government is doing to improve it, and the Northwest University students were much more willing to engage and listen to what we had to say. <br />
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To address Xi’an and governmental influence in greater depth: Chinese people we’ve met here are universally pleased with how the government is improving infrastructure and job opportunities in Xi’an. I expect that we would likely find a lot more discontent were we to meet people not benefitting from this deliberate investment. However, it is indisputably true that companies are moving to China, and that the Chinese economy is growing at a very fast clip, and the average wages of both rural and urban residents has increased significantly in recent decades, even if there is still a huge gap between them. <br />
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I still am undecided as to the wisdom of their method, given that the growth here still seems very artificial to me, being that it is forced almost entirely by government action and intervention. That, to me, is not sustainable business. However, another piece of the sustainability puzzle is infrastructure, and the United States is faced with an aging infrastructure system that is too heavily dependent upon roads for transportation of goods and people, and an electricity grid incapable of truly harnessing the power that exists in the U.S. for national use. This lack of investment in needed infrastructure will hamper growth in cities that do not make it possible for employees to get to work, and transportation hubs that cost companies time and money, rather than providing a seamless transportation network. <br />
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During out lunch, our hostess at the University treated us to a beautiful Chinese love song. As with Jackie’s singing on the bus, I could detect neither embarrassment nor vanity in their actions, merely a love of singing and true talent. It reminds me of what we read in China Road about the importance of singing in a culture where so little is spoken openly. We are still planning to get Jared to sing, but perhaps there are too few evenings left to make it happen.Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11387208997045111465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30768531.post-7499811300875528692010-09-14T12:34:00.000-07:002010-09-14T12:34:22.452-07:00China Study Tour: City Wall of Xi’an<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMj8Y-y-WtEvIKI24TDfRA22d8ZMZSljcRnb8j0LBvS8sDGqy1V3yBd1yFF-hs8a3ZArvj6xUE-Z3lR6RIC8ZefsDF6W5pyxTC0xbPVds5X9Q-8ByBC48BmJrQZOjnYfkwUUTFdA/s1600/wall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMj8Y-y-WtEvIKI24TDfRA22d8ZMZSljcRnb8j0LBvS8sDGqy1V3yBd1yFF-hs8a3ZArvj6xUE-Z3lR6RIC8ZefsDF6W5pyxTC0xbPVds5X9Q-8ByBC48BmJrQZOjnYfkwUUTFdA/s320/wall.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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This morning, we took a leisurely Sunday morning bike ride along the old city wall of Xi’an. Xi’an was the capital of 13 dynasties throughout China’s history, and this particular city wall was built during the Ming dynasty (corresponding with Europe’s High Middle Ages). <br />
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The wall is made of large bricks, which can make riding a bit bumpy. Add in the rusty nature and dubious quality of the bicycles we rented, and it was quite an adventuresome excursion. <br />
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Seu-jan had decided to go to Huashan instead of come with us biking, as that seemed much more interesting to her. Honestly, it sounded more interesting to me too, but maybe if the temperature had been cooler, I might have gone. Heat and me don’t get along. She said when she got back that the best part of her trip was the view and the clarity of the air. <br />
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After getting back from the bike ride, we were to head off to a Sechuan restaurant. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get taxis, and we really couldn’t make it in time walking (our guide in Xi’an, Jackie, was kind of lame about some things) so we ended up splitting off, the vegetarians and company going to Pizza Hut, and the rest going for Muslim food, which is very meat-heavy. <br />
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Speaking of Jackie, our cultural tour guide here in Xi’an, he offered a “laundry service” on the bus, and it was at 30% of hotel prices. Hotel prices are, to give you some idea, a $1.75 to wash a pair of underwear. Unfortunately, I did not hear the price, and sent off my laundry happily, to be stuck with a 210RMB bill when it came back. It is beyond ridiculous to pay $30 for laundry. He informed me that if I had not used his “friend’s” service, then I would have had to hang up my clothes in my room perhaps, to which I replied, “That’s exactly what I would have done!” Bilking your tourists is not a good way to be a successful tour guide. To top it all off, my clothes were still damp when they arrived.<br />
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For the afternoon, we all went our separate ways to enjoy our last free afternoon of our trip in China. For the rest of our time here, we have daily obligations. I plan to enjoy my day doing very little, maybe reading a book, or lazing about. It sounds truly heavenly.Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11387208997045111465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30768531.post-77795014421652300632010-09-14T12:32:00.001-07:002010-09-14T12:32:23.258-07:00China Study Tour: Dumplings, Dumplings, and more DumplingsFor our evening meal, we were able to enjoy an 18-course dumpling meal. In China, however, there is no tradition of vegetarianism, and thus all of the dumplings, other than perhaps dessert dumplings, were likely to have meat in them. <br />
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Madhu asked specifically for vegetarian dumplings, and the four vegetarians seated at our table were provided with one dumpling. This was not the veritable feast that the carnivores were planning to enjoy. After explaining again the situation, the kitchen sent out more vegetarian dumplings, some bowls and about five steamer baskets. Then, everything started to break down when they brought out meat dumplings with them. The ultimate bad joke – the vegetarians won’t eat meat, and can’t tell which dumpling has none, and the omnivores would prefer to get the meat dumplings but keep randomly getting a dumpling stuffed with broccoli instead. <br />
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Somehow, we all managed to survive dinner craziness, and ventured out to explore Xi’an. Some of us went for 50¥ massages (7RMB to the dollar), and some went up the Drum Tower or walked around in the evening air. <br />
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Xi’an has the feel of a city that is lived in. Beijing is very nice and quite impressive, but the parts of it that we saw were sanitized and perfect. It was nice to see people eating dinner on the sidewalk outside their apartments, seeing two chickens in the street, and an actual pile of bricks for an unfinished sidewalk project. Madhu, Shefali, Amit and myself agree that Xi’an feels much more like an Indian city, while Beijing feels much more modern. I just feel that the atmosphere here is much more open and friendly and much more of a busy, working city, where people take the time to enjoy each other’s company over dinner on the sidewalk.Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11387208997045111465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30768531.post-42263809076774891692010-09-14T12:31:00.000-07:002010-09-14T12:31:29.632-07:00China Study Tour: September 11 in Xi’anOne of the things I enjoyed about being in China at this time of year, and in India last year is that I was not in the country on 9/11. I have not been in the country four times now in the past nine years, and that’s the way I like it. It was such a transformative day, both in terms of the American psyche and the American spirit, and in terms of what it represents to me, given the events that occurred as a result of those deaths and the destruction of the towers. <br />
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Last year, we were in Mumbai on September 11, and we were visiting the Times of India. They had lost employees and friends during the terrorist attacks there, and it was in some way comforting to share a moment of silence with them. I feel that 9/11 has become so politicized in our country that it is impossible for me to watch news coverage of its anniversary. It is also too painful to see the footage that is played incessantly of people dying. I do not wish to see their deaths as some form of news entertainment for the sake of ratings. They are more valuable than that.<br />
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I believe that the best we can do for those who died is honor what it means to be American – what the terrorists were trying to obliterate, and what they have succeeded in obliterating for some portions of the population. The complaints about our actions throughout the world during the past 50-60 years in the name of “capitalism” and “democracy” are in a number of cases reprehensible. But we also are a representation of what it means to be intellectually and politically free people, and that is what I want to remember on 9/11.Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11387208997045111465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30768531.post-65485191917402401002010-09-11T13:46:00.000-07:002010-09-11T13:46:23.741-07:00China Study Tour: Here Lies Ozymandias, King of KingsIn 1974, a few Chinese peasants discovered the Terra Cotta warriors while digging a well in a field. The Terra Cotta Warriors are the warriors meant to accompany the First Emperor of Qin (Qin Shi Huang Di) into the afterlife – so that he could conquer it too, presumably. They are comprised of infantry, archers, cavalry, and charioteers. The Emperor Qin had them built in the latter half of his time as emperor, and they were smashed up shortly after his death in the peasant rebellions. <br />
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Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote a poem called Ozymandias:<br />
<br />
I met a traveller from an antique land<br />
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone<br />
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,<br />
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown<br />
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command<br />
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read<br />
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,<br />
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.<br />
And on the pedestal these words appear:<br />
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:<br />
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"<br />
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay<br />
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare<br />
The lone and level sands stretch far away.<br />
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This is the terra cotta warriors. There is no historical record of them, they had simply been forgotten about. It must be one of the most mentally damaging occurrences in the world to believe that you are something on the level of a divine being. But if there is an afterlife, and if he could still see this one, how grating it would be to watch everything you believed defined you to disappear into the sands of time.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuru1-8An1SFUi4XTziAcOM_yRXulvOCBnLFXU7va5qCdEVtLbhiZJWvPwCA74s5ZC7XGx2tsOtoIo9yXbF1UQKZmUJC0MdTMjZqLBjmoyVAVRwVoPAD0QPZkHFV8eEjSAShOOnw/s1600/terra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuru1-8An1SFUi4XTziAcOM_yRXulvOCBnLFXU7va5qCdEVtLbhiZJWvPwCA74s5ZC7XGx2tsOtoIo9yXbF1UQKZmUJC0MdTMjZqLBjmoyVAVRwVoPAD0QPZkHFV8eEjSAShOOnw/s320/terra.jpg" /></a></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11387208997045111465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30768531.post-60025957905690879112010-09-11T13:43:00.001-07:002010-09-11T13:43:45.546-07:00China Study Tour: The night train to Xi’anOur berths for the night train were four to a compartment, but because we’d not booked as soon as the tickets were available, all of our berths were upper bunks. For most of us, this posed no problem, as we’d had the experience before, but I can see how it would be disconcerting to sleep so closely to strangers if you haven’t done so before. <br />
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Since it was P.J.’s birthday, we had a celebration with yummy cake in the dining car. I honestly think there’s not much more fun than traveling by train, although traveling by train with typical luggage is not my idea of fun. If I’d fully realized – oh, train! – I would have brought my backpack and done the usual hiking pack on the pack, small pack on the front Euro tour sort of method of transporting luggage. <br />
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Our bunk mates had a friend in the compartment next to us, so Tami and Katie suggested a switch, but apparently the top bunks are not desirable. Personally, I feel more comfortable in the top bunk. It takes a lot of effort to get up there, and once you are, it’s hard for anyone else to get up there. They were very gracious about my large bag that had to go between them, because it wouldn’t fit under the seat. <br />
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One of the things I love about sleeping on a train is that it’s basically a noisy rocking chair, all night long. This means better and longer sleep (if you’re the kind of person comforted by the movement of a train). I awoke refreshed, with an amazing head of bed hair. I ventured to the breakfast car to find other amazing heads of bed head. <br />
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Upon arrival at the Grand Noble Hotel in Xi’an, everyone got some food, then everyone took showers. Night trains are all well and good, but our stink radius was reaching 2-3 feet by that point.Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11387208997045111465noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30768531.post-84534269055274950552010-09-11T13:41:00.000-07:002010-09-11T13:41:52.596-07:00China Study Tour: Hot weather, hot taxis, and getting some real answersIt’s Friday morning and our last day in Beijing. We arrived this Sunday, and have had a very full week so far. Today, we will go to the Forbidden City in the morning, and we are all splitting off in the afternoon before meeting at the hotel lobby at 7:20pm and catching our train to Xi’an. Just a side note about this hotel – it is not impressive. There is no room service menu, the rooms were by turns dirty, and our TV didn’t work, not as though we actually had time to watch it. But still not my idea of 5-star. Okay, rant over. <br />
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The Forbidden City is much more enormous of a complex then I originally expected it to be. We were late arriving, and late getting in – Peter said that it was quite possibly the fastest tour he’d ever done, rushing through the Forbidden City in an hour. I have to say that the renovated parts just look new and cheap. While it’s still beautiful, it doesn’t have the patina of age, and thus isn’t as impressive as the parts that haven’t yet been renovated. However, knowing the Chinese government, I’m sure there’s plans in the works to cover the entire complex with new paint. By the time I got through the Forbidden City, I was soaked in sweat, and hoping that my sunscreen-less skin could successful handle the bright sun. <br />
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Peter and I took one auto-rickshaw and Rubina and Suna took the other back to the hotel, while others in our group walked back. By the time we reached the hotel, my pants were sticking to my legs. It is astounding how much one sweats. <br />
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I left to go shopping after we checked out, and sweated some more while getting ripped off buying cheap Chinese goods. I’m perfectly happy with what I paid, but I know it was way too much. Still cheaper than buying at home. Plus, I got a great deck of cards with Mao as the Joker. That, I think, is brilliant. <br />
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I caught a taxi to take the “15 minute” ride to Ocean International Center to meet my colleague Jing at the Amazon.cn/Joyo building. This turned into an hour long taxi ride in the heat because the taxi driver thought he was lost, even though he initially took me to the correct building. I was ridiculously sweaty again by the time I finally arrived, a half hour late. I did enjoy the taxi driver’s musical choice though: “If My Heart Had Wings” – some sort of American country song. <br />
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I had a wonderful chat with Jing. I asked her a few questions about things that had been bothering me. <br />
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Q: Where are all the homeless people?<br />
A: If the police find any homeless people, they will check who they are, notify their family and ask them to come and get them. If the family can’t come and get the homeless person, they will be sent back to the village, ticket paid by the government.<br />
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Q: What are housing prices like?<br />
A: For a 100 sq meter apartment building, it could cost 30,000-40,000RMB per square meter, meaning that an apartment the size of my first studio in Seattle would run about 3,000,000-4,000,000RMB to buy (at approximately 7RMB to the dollar). <br />
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Q: What was the deal with the ENN presentation?<br />
A: I (Jing) went to such a place in Mongolia, showcasing milk production. The cows were outside in the grass, and the machines were clean and lined up. But, these are the public versions of the facilities. <br />
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Q: Why were you taking a tour of a milk production facility?<br />
A: In China, anyone can take these sorts of tours as a tourist destination. I was in Mongolia on vacation with my family to see the grasslands and desert, and thought it would be interesting. <br />
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On my way back to the hotel, it took 15 minutes to catch a taxi, and when I said Beijing Hotel, the taxi driver said, bu yao, bu yao! Which means, No, I don’t want to. However, I was already in the taxi, so he took me for awhile. But, traffic was really slow, so he suggested that I take the subway, and dumped me off on an offramp, at which point I had to jog down the offramp, then cross four lanes of traffic to get to the sidewalk that led to the subway. Ridiculous. However, I made it…. With five minutes to spare.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimlLTt3g8JijIRWKQ2wdet42Tk8zt9kLykHGuAA1GO5ReAAmKKYvWxvrUxIqyI6P3KnsmMu0ygc4tiY1s8P8kZMwRq6GgOpO4K9O6sgtgH4TXvWqGbdD882OrS3IqJKck5putv_A/s1600/hot2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimlLTt3g8JijIRWKQ2wdet42Tk8zt9kLykHGuAA1GO5ReAAmKKYvWxvrUxIqyI6P3KnsmMu0ygc4tiY1s8P8kZMwRq6GgOpO4K9O6sgtgH4TXvWqGbdD882OrS3IqJKck5putv_A/s320/hot2.jpg" /></a></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11387208997045111465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30768531.post-70807418865727916592010-09-11T13:25:00.001-07:002010-09-11T13:25:49.999-07:00China Study Tour: Beijing as a touristOne of the things that struck me most in India, and is also very clear in China is how very aspirational most of the population is. On the road to ENN, there were many nice vehicles – but there was also a massive traffic jam that delayed our arrival well over a half hour. The traffic in Beijing is atrocious. It’s the kind of traffic that makes you want to poke your eyes out – but only want, as you do eventually get to where you’re going. <br />
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Fashions here are really quite funny. On Thursday night, we went to Coco Banana, an aspirational club in Bar street. I say aspirational because most of the people who were there didn’t seem to be there because they were anyone special, but it was definitely a see and be seen sort of place. Tami said that she hadn’t had so much fun people watching in quite some time. My favorite was the guy wearing a leather vest – only the vest – with a slicked back low curly ponytail, white belt, and tight club hipster pants. Runner-up was the Chinese hipster hick – big aviator sunglasses, white beater rolled up at the waist, and a baseball cap. <br />
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Before going to the club and giggling at the patrons, some of us went to the Olympic stadium park to see the Water Cube and the Bird’s Nest. Those are some truly amazing buildings. I very much enjoyed being able to see them up close and not just on TV watching Michael Phelps kick everyone else’s butt. Go Michael Phelps! Anyway, the architecture is definitely a theme here – the CCTV building is also an amazing and interesting structure. <br />
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There is significant anecdotal evidence of European influence in the area. I saw a number of cargo containers on the highway for Merck or Hamburg-Süd, and I keep hearing German and French from other foreigners walking around the city. I haven’t actually seen all that many Americans, compared to the numbers of Europeans I’ve seen so far. Maybe I’m not looking in the right places.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZQTWc5GyFsV8oWxix4EBylKstW74IT6DZC01Vh0ub9xnub0qWR-e36W5rltkZ3yxW9eRPbGbNheBJ-iUtqV_uz-5XaHIW3YHTZ5ZeC9eKVBa0L8jBh_5UmxlwGDkpU3TJCkDvmA/s1600/tourist1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZQTWc5GyFsV8oWxix4EBylKstW74IT6DZC01Vh0ub9xnub0qWR-e36W5rltkZ3yxW9eRPbGbNheBJ-iUtqV_uz-5XaHIW3YHTZ5ZeC9eKVBa0L8jBh_5UmxlwGDkpU3TJCkDvmA/s320/tourist1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX8xkGrgwyvoDPKYWhzTr3HJIKj6dWVZuzwRsrUfW3vxPGc0Wjz_p7j_YGMzdiAVreDaZROrObAfRKSWfuQh1KjtBSdV4AO1fOK_JRB-JqsQ2qaIHjF-ryd8kA6EU2VZxkzSfGUg/s1600/tourist2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX8xkGrgwyvoDPKYWhzTr3HJIKj6dWVZuzwRsrUfW3vxPGc0Wjz_p7j_YGMzdiAVreDaZROrObAfRKSWfuQh1KjtBSdV4AO1fOK_JRB-JqsQ2qaIHjF-ryd8kA6EU2VZxkzSfGUg/s320/tourist2.jpg" /></a></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11387208997045111465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30768531.post-70287359026984739292010-09-11T13:23:00.000-07:002010-09-11T13:23:31.341-07:00China Study Tour: U.S. EmbassyAs much as I like to complain about my country, I am, like many Americans, very patriotic. There would be no sense in complaining unless I actually cared about the place that I live. So, it was really fun to see and visit the U.S. Embassy in Beijing for that reason only – seeing the Great Seal of the United States of America. It took awhile to get inside, though, due to security measures. Since my name was submitted with my old name, it was confusing to the officers. Three of us in the group have different names, due to marriage, and apparently this completely threw a monkey wrench into their well-oiled security machine. In all seriousness, though, the security was quite good just to get inside to see the Marine military guard. The doors are strong, and there are multiple doors to get through before you’re inside. It makes me feel happier about the level of security that our diplomats and local staff enjoy when working at the Embassy. <br />
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The presentation by Rosemary Gallant of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was the most candid and realistic picture of doing business in China that we’d seen or heard . She was very clear about what the U.S. government could and couldn’t do in terms of facilitating trade, advising companies, and working to improve the balance of trade. Being there made me want to apply for the Foreign Service again. <br />
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Some of the most interesting things she told us:<br />
- 30% of the water supply is contaminated<br />
- 20 new nuclear sites are under construction (none have been approved in the U.S. since Three Mile Island)<br />
- There are 53 open positions in Rosemary’s team, but she has only 40 employees due to the hiring freeze<br />
- 70% of healthcare costs are incurred by urban population, but 70% of the population is rural<br />
- All Americans visiting China should assume that they are being watched, and their goods are subject to snooping at any time<br />
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Overall, the visit to the Embassy painted the clearest picture so far of what American businesses would really need to deal with when doing business in China. Also, the bathrooms were standard American bathrooms – it was heavenly.<br />
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And I didn’t see any pictures of children or butterflies anywhere.Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11387208997045111465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30768531.post-75814294427297924542010-09-11T13:17:00.001-07:002010-09-11T13:19:01.334-07:00China Study Tour: ENN – Butterflies and ChildrenThe visit to ENN was interesting for a number of reasons, not the least of which was that it was very clearly a marketing presentation. The first place we went into was a very expensively decorated room, with TV screens and interactive display. The history of energy usage was told in the “progress” perspective, and was concluded with a presentation on “clean coal.” After the visit, I discussed with some of the others on the trip that there really isn’t any such thing as clean coal – just potentially less dirty coal. I understand they’re using “clean” to refer to the burning of the coal, but I think that any “clean” energy technology needs to be viewed in aggregate before saying that it is, in fact, clean. Upon leaving the first building, we saw a video of children laughing and butterflies. <br />
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The second manufacturing site we visited was for solar energy. This was actually quite fascinating, as I didn’t realize that solar panel technology has changed so much in the past decade. No longer is a clunky large silicon based panel necessary; thin-film technology fits between two sheets of glass. Potentially, an entire high rise could be powered only by its windows. Even here, though, in such a high-tech area – and there were a lot of machines, this was not a labor heavy manufacturing center – there was a leaky roof, and a sketchy walkway that made people in the group feel slightly uncomfortable walking on it. <br />
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The last area we visited was the algae facility. This was merely a demonstration facility, the real gas production from algae facility is in Inner Mongolia. The machines looked a lot like flash pasteurization machines that I saw at Beecher’s cheese in Seattle. <br />
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Overall, the work they’re doing is very interesting, and it’s good to see that China is so concerned with green energy and green technology. I simply found it rather suspicious how impressive and developed the presentation was – and there were five other groups that day other than us – and it makes me wonder what exactly they aren’t saying.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfeKe-Eeie8BySpEXec_umC5UfVbWU5yNM_Tcv-tL4n9xFpn-Yve2o_5UsJ1jJasUsdut17mCeEAm7ZOMM-Bzns_7T1EuMGq7fcOVOD-UUicBoouNuLYYzlgLsMthdKoGUVMvqug/s1600/ENN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfeKe-Eeie8BySpEXec_umC5UfVbWU5yNM_Tcv-tL4n9xFpn-Yve2o_5UsJ1jJasUsdut17mCeEAm7ZOMM-Bzns_7T1EuMGq7fcOVOD-UUicBoouNuLYYzlgLsMthdKoGUVMvqug/s320/ENN.jpg" /></a></div>Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11387208997045111465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30768531.post-27416941441676424422010-09-11T13:15:00.000-07:002010-09-11T13:15:17.273-07:00China Study Tour: Joint Session with Beijing International MBA studentsWednesday afternoon, we had lunch and a joint session with the “cream of the crop” of the Chinese education system for business. The lunch was absolutely delicious, and for me was much better than the spread last year in India at Christ University, because by the time we’d gotten to Bangalore, I was thoroughly sick of Indian food. I’m still quite happy to munch on Chinese food, so this lunch was lovely. <br />
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There were probably a two-thirds/one-third mix of Chinese to international students in the International MBA program. In the Indian joint class, there were thirty plus students, only two women, and all Indian. The gender balance was fairly even in this program. In our group, we had two Chinese men and a Spanish woman. I felt they could have been more prepared and didn’t seem to me to be any more special than we were in terms of our analysis, and yet the expectations had been driven very high for this group of students. <br />
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We continued to discuss VanceInfo, and the group came to the conclusion that while VanceInfo didn’t really have the ability, from an internal management expertise level or from an experience level to do so, they needed to move up the IT services value chain in order to service long term. This is especially important due to both of their reasons for competitive advantage. As a Chinese company with whom to form a long-term strategic partnership, a company would want to potentially get more out of the relationship than low-level testing services. Further, as the yuan appreciates against the dollar, the cost advantage enjoyed by China will be usurped by Vietnam and other lower-cost competitors. <br />
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Overall, I thought the students were well-spoken, but their English was about a 7 on a scale of 1-10. Most of the English we’ve encountered in China so far has been at this level. <br />
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In addition to the joint session with the students, we had a talk from the Chinese entrepreneur running out tour, Jennifer Pan. She has an undergraduate degree in Chemistry, a graduate degree in computer science, an MBA, and is now working for herself setting up tours for business schools in China. Her talk focused on the importance of knowing yourself and following your passion. She said that getting up every day for work in the U.S., and being part of the rat race actually takes more courage than what she is doing because you have to force yourself to do something you hate in order to make the life you want to live. While I partially disagree, in that I don’t really mind my little part of the cube farm (and I have a window), it is true that in the pursuit of so much stuff – the American “dream” of ownership, almost indiscriminate ownership of things, it sometimes seems – we lose track of what it really means to be human.Rachelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11387208997045111465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30768531.post-87630840345545677142010-09-11T13:13:00.000-07:002010-09-11T13:14:02.267-07:00China Study Tour: Bring me a pig! – The Red QueenThis morning, we are going to the Summer Palace before having a joint class with BiMBA students regarding the VanceInfo case. It was built by the Empress Cixi who had much in common with the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland, that I could see. If any other monarch was less concerned about her subjects and more concerned about herself, I don’t know if you could find her or him easily. There are probably a lot that are unconcerned with their subjects and more concerned with themselves; however ,this particular level of unconcern led to China having no defenses when the English and French chose to forcibly open China in the 19th century. <br />
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The Summer Palace is a beautiful place, located on a man-made lake. It is a very large lake. Cixi was carried around the complex on sedan chair (of course). It has one of the longest promenades in the world. It was probably one of the most peaceful, restful places we’ve been so far on the trip. <br />
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One of the things I found highly ironic about the whole thing is that at the end of Alice in Wonderland, Alice decides to send her father’s shipping venture to China. So, in both cases, the Red Queen loses.<br />
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