Monday, January 9th, 2012
Morning
We awoke at 4:00—our new normal. That’s okay, because it’s easier to find something to do, than it is to wrestle with an alarm clock. We went down to the gym for a workout, and then to breakfast after cleaning up. Since it was my first full day in the office, it would be my first rush hour commute, so I would find out how crowded it could be. Jumping on at the Wangfujing station, I thought, “This isn’t so bad.” Plenty of room (relatively speaking—nothing that would fly in America, but lots of room over here). Four stops later, I transferred to Line 10. Several people got off, and I stepped on after the four people in front of me—everything normal to this point. What I failed to realize, however, was exactly the size of the throng behind me. All of the people who were not yet on the train literally (tip of the hat to Chris Traeger!) pushed their way on, causing all of the people on the train to be squished against each other. I couldn’t move AT ALL! The worst part was, I ended up on the opposite side of the train from the door. This is bad, because I needed to work my way back to the door when it came time to get off, but I simply couldn’t move! So, fortunately, I had four stops of people getting off and getting on to wriggle my way to the doors. Unfortunately, I had only moved a few inches as we were slowing to stop at the Agriculture Center where I get off. Now, I don’t want to say that panic was setting in, but my concern level was definitely on the higher side of normal at this point. As the train finally stopped, I started pushing—hard. I’d have been punched several times over if I were anywhere in America or Europe, but the reaction from the Chinese? They just did their best, without losing their place, to make room for me to make my way out. Finally, as the bell sounded to signal the doors starting to close, I was at my last layer of folks. With a desperate final push, I flung myself out as the doors started to close. My long overcoat barely cleared the doors as they slid closed, but I was free! Whew!
After a five minute walk to the office, I spent a quiet morning checking email, logging receipts (for reimbursement), and starting to get an idea of what the normal rhythm of the office is. It’s much quieter in this office with its four people (including me!) than Dynacraft with its 250 people in the building. To make it worse, Angela is traveling in the States this week, so there are only three.
Afternoon
Tracy met me for lunch, and we walked to a neighboring tower for a buffet lunch. They charged us ¥386, or about $60, for the two of us, which I thought was strange, because last month at the same place we were charged ¥287 for five people. Hmmm. Turns out if you show your business card to prove you work in the building that you get a discount. Who knew? After lunch, Tracy headed back for some workouts and to relax by the pool. More office stuff for me, trying to learn what goes on. The subway ride home was slightly better, because I knew what to expect. I figured out that I needed to be about eight people back in the line waiting for the subway to end up in the second or third layer from the door. That worked out to be close enough to the door, once we were all on, to still be able to get off four stops later without too much drama. Much better! Dinner was from the local grocery store—I had spaghetti (not quite perfect, but close), and Tracy had some rice and vegetables and some large grapefruit (that wasn’t half bad!). After a quick swim, we tottered off to bed.
- (Tracy) Ok, I really have to say that I do not spend my days lounging at the poolside. I am working out and THEN heading over to the pool!
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