Only in China...

... can you play inside a giant beach ball in January!! I took my coworker out to explore a nearby park on Sunday. We discovered a swimming pool complex that was selling tickets for $3, but we weren't sure what it was for. So of course we had to check it out. Jim twisted my arm. :) So for $3 you could get zipped up in a giant beach ball and try to run around in the swimming pool until you exhausted yourself or ran out of oxygen. How fun does that sound?! :) Claustrophobic, anyone? Feel like a little suffocation? But we tried it anyway. Surprisingly, the beach balls were watertight.
Jim went first (otherwise there would be photo and video of Libby looking like a crazed gerbil trying to do cartwheels). I had to sit down, I was laughing so hard. Jim calmly walked himself off the dock, and immediately fell over. Once I composed myself, it was my turn...
I can only describe the sensation as a combination of being on a trampoline, weightlessness, and being on rollerskates. The locals there started taking pictures of me. I think maybe I'll be famous in China someday for perfecting the human gyroscope!
Afterward, we went to dinner at a Szechuan restaurant. Emiko, myself, Jim, Okita-san, and Candy came. Candy ordered us some hot spicy fish soup, followed by a hot pot. The bowl sits in the middle of the table over a gas burner, and the prepared raw food is brought out for us to cook right at the table.

Another great weekend... And next weekend I think I'll try to make it over to Hong Kong again.

Miss everyone back home!!! Love you!

Name that Fruit...

I think three of the four are pretty obvious. :)

Things are going well here in Guangzhou. It's been a busy week. I'm actually the expert during this equipment installation, which is a terrific feeling. For once, I have some of the answers. Yeah! Things are going very well for me here in Guangzhou. Work has been busy, but a relative success compared to the last trip. I'm actually the person most familiar with the equipment being installed, and it's nice to be able to provide some answer to the project team. What a great feeling!

I've been spending time with one of the other women who is working here. She's a new hire with the company, here from Japan. Her name is Emiko and she's five feet tall and very knowledgeable. It's been a joy working with her so far. We've been carpooling to and from the plant together. Unfortunately, neither of us speaks Chinese, but we've been having a lot of fun together this week so far.

Oh - and the weather here is very mild. The breeze is humid and it's been close to 60 during the day and 50 at night. I'm disappointed that I missed the Ohio snowfall, but here we've been able to walk to lunch during the day and not worry about jackets. People haven't stopped staring at me, though. Emiko calls it 'gazing.'

Enjoy the snow if there's any left!

Back in China

I'm back in China for a 3 week business trip. I arrived late Thursday night. Sorry but there won't be any pictures posted for a few weeks... someone forgot to pack the cable needed to download photos from her camera!

So was here for a total of 24 hours before getting back to my old tricks. I had the chance to sample the famous poisonous blow fish, prepared by one of the few qualified Japanese chefs in Guangzhou. The organs and blood of this fish are poisonous and it needs to be fully 'drained' (?) otherwise the dish is extremely dangerous to eat. It had a rubbery texture and was served cold with green onions and a balsamic vinegar marinade. One of my Japanese coworkers got a promotion so we threw a dinner party for him. The managers chose two fine bottles of Japanese sake for everyone to share. Served hot, it's just delicious.

Oh, and I tried the local food at the plant cafeteria for the first time. I chose a dish that looked something like mushrooms. But I think maybe it was some kind of liver... But to everyone's surprise, I made it through the day without getting sick! Apparently this is a significant accomplishment for any out of town traveler to the plant.

Monday was a busy day at work. We got a lot accomplished. I'm hoping to be home in time for the Superbowl. In the meantime, I'm working hard and enjoying the spa while I'm here!

New Years Eve In Paris

Some of my girlfriends convinced me to take a mad dash trip to Paris France for New Years Eve 2006. It only took a small amount of arm twisting, but how could I justify Not Going? (Thank you, Sam, Christy and Molly!) It was my first trip to Paris, and hopefully not my last. There was just too much to see in 4 days!

We mastered the subway system after only a few minor mishaps, and emerged from underground to this view of the Seine River and Notre Dame Cathedral in the background.
Entrance to the gothic structure is free, so we spent about an hour inside, marveling at the decor. As night fell, the Cathedral only became more strikingly beautiful. Despite the chilly weather, we spent several hours every day strolling the streets and scoping out cafes, drinking cappucinos and eating fresh crepes and croissants. Delicious!
Unfortunately we ran out of time and didn't go inside the Louvre, but even from the outside you get an impression of how overwhelmingly huge the structure is. The building itself stretches for several blocks, and surrounds a beautiful open square, featuring the famous glass pyramid in the center. We managed to find one of the few Starbucks inside. Oddly enough, the glass structure is not waterproof, so on the floor of the hall beneath we found several buckets to catch the rain drops!

The city of lights was beautiful at all hours of the day. The Eiffel Tower was amazing from every angle. Once an hour, on the hour, the tower sparkles with strobe lights that can be seen from miles away.
New Years Eve on the Champs d'Ilysses was the best part of the trip. People came out en masse, carrying bottles and glasses, singing songs, waving flags of their countries, and just parading the street toward the Arc de Triomphe. The city never slept that night. The subway was free for the evening, but still shut down between 12:30am and 4am, so we spent the whole night walking the street along with thousands of other international travelers. Definitely an amazing city.

I wanted to say congratulations to Chuck and Mel with their new baby Josephine! Can't wait to see her - maybe at Easter? And I'm looking forward to going to Brandy and Sticky's wedding next month in Savannah, too! Happy New Year to my grandmother, all my aunts, uncles, cousins, and of course my friends in Cincinnati!