Another week down and only 5 to go. The days in Asia are flying by. Tomorrow (Monday) my work organization begins its P&P process, also known as Promotion and Planning. This is where they promote those in their 6th review (my class) to Audit Manager's for their third year. With it comes a ton of stress, anticipation, and sleepless nights...that is if one was looking for promotion. I, however, am not and took 5 days last week to travel to Japan, land of the rising sun. I do not exaggerate when I say that Japan is one of the best countries I have traveled to. Safe, clean, foreigner friendly, and teeming with culture of every kind. In my 5 days, I traveled to almost every area inside of Tokyo as well as a day trip down to Kyoto. And with it came more travelers stories...
The best part of traveling is having friends that will let you crash at their place for free. And with Tokyo I was in luck. One of my former managers took a new job in which he is training in Tokyo for several months. This gave me an opportunity to utilize my network. He was living in an area just south of Rappongi, which is notorious for its night life. (This I can vouch for.) It is also very close to the subway system, of which I believe it got its inspiration from Pablo Picasso. (see Tokyo Subway - http://www.tokyotechsupport.com/map/rosen_eng2.png; Picasso Painting - http://picasso.csdl.tamu.edu/picasso/WorksInfo?CatID=OPP.11:014.) It seems intimidating but it is actually quite simple and I was able to tame it within a day or two.
I can't say I have a favorite part of the city as they are all quite different so I will just highlight my experiences. It was just the beginning of the cherry blossom season (extremely popular season to visit) and some of the trees were just starting to bloom so when in Rome...er Tokyo, hmm nevermind. So I became one of the tourists. With Lonely Planet book in hand, I traveled to Asakusa and Ueno to the temples and parks that are famous for their cherry blossoms. Needless to say, the scenery is beyond words. The park in Ueno rivals most of the major parks I have seen including Central (NY), Millennium (Chi), Balboa (SD), and even Mitchell (shout out to Deerfield). The best part was that the cherry blossom season is a celebration, so, much like the 4th of July in the US, families, teenagers, friends, etc were all setting up picnics and feasts in the park. However, this was on a massive scale, and the Japanese love to drink. For each box of food packed in, there was a box filled with booze to match. And the amazing thing was they were not here to watch fireworks, they were there solely for the blossoms.
I also was able to visit the Imperial Palace, sort of. It is off limits so you can visit the east gardens and then walk around the outskirts of the huge moat that surrounds the palace. It would take some serious effort to cross let alone lay siege to. I decided not to try.
Other neighborhoods visited included Akihabara (home to huge electronics stores that are something out of my dreams, nerdy but true), Shinjuku (full of tall buildings, crazy sights and sounds, and enormous crowds), Harajuku (with some of the craziest fashions I have ever witnessed), Odaiba (the answer to any boardwalk town in California, Im looking at you Santa Monica), and lastly Shibuya. The experience in Shibuya is probably the best story and most common in my travels.
My buddy and I went in to check out some of the pubs and with an open mind. We stopped off at the first British pub we passed (walking really builds a thirst). In this pub we met quite a lively bunch, including a fellow that I would refer to as Pittsburgh (he wore a Steelers hat). He was teaching English in a village outside of Tokyo and was there with his new girlfriend from the same town. Unfortunately, he picked a pub that one of his mates was at with the ex-girlfriend he had just broken up with. This left my friend and I as a great distraction to remove himself from the awkward situation, and we happily obliged. He told us about his job, Tokyo, his travels to Shanghai and some other stuff. He eventually took off to catch a train with his girlfriend. We took this as a good time to leave. We found the next bar that was open in walking distance and made ourselves at home. The crowd was not too friendly and we were discussion leaving then who should walk in but our friend, Pittsburgh. Apparently they had missed their train. As luck would have it, he had made other friends in that bar the same evening and introduced us. The table consisted of two Indian guys working with an IT company in Tokyo and a girl from the Netherlands who appeared to be "on the clock" so to speak. Also, there were two Japanese fellows who were local DJ's. As we talked, they told us they were expecting another DJ friend who was traveling in from Germany for the weekend. Well, the bar was serving beer at 30 yen a piece, so we made ourselves comfortable and started to get to know the crew better. Turns out, they had all met only that evening. We had found ourselves some new friends. Well a few hours later, the DJ from Germany had finally arrived. My friend and I, acting as impromptu translators, told him we would meet him at the subway station. We arrived and met the most boisterous German in my experience. He literally skipped all the way to the next pub. Well once at the pub came the question that made the night, "Do you guys prefer House or Electronic music?" Hmmmmm....House? Now normally I would have said, are you referring to Techno, seeya later. However, I wanted to see how this would turn out. Well it turned out an an underground dance club that was maybe the most fun I have had in quite some time. Talking to locals (Super Kawaii means super cute if you are ever in Japan, and the girls were just that.) At around 5am, we decided it was our cue to head out. As we walked caught a cab back to the local Udan Noodle house, we watched as the sun began to emerge. And as we finally got back to the apartment, I had to shut the shades to get some much needed rest. "Land of the Rising Sun", it certainly rings true.
As I mentioned, I also spent a day in Kyoto. My expectations were high but I was a bit disappointed. I took the Shinkansen, the Bullet train with a total of 2.5 hours to Kyoto from Toyko. Pretty amazing. However, on arriving at the train station, I found the largest group of tourists I had seen on my trip. In fact, it took me an hour to locate information, find a map, and determine a route to the sights. I took the subway as lines for buses were literally around the block. The walk from subway to destination looked short, but it wound up being 2 miles. Such was my day in Kyoto, walking large distances to see temples and local culture. The sights were spectacular but the distance made it tough. I will have to make it back at some point to see the rest.
The night I made it back from Kyoto, I was able to catch up with a friend living in Tokyo from IU. Thanks to the power of Facebook, we were able to connect. God bless you status updates. We had dinner at a Shabu Shabu restaurant that was amazing. It is kinda like hotpot without the water, more like Korean BBQ with a pot. And catching up was also great, its amazing how reconnecting with lost friends can inject life into ones soul. (I cant wait for more of this during the summer.)
The next day I flew back to Shanghai. It felt like flying home. Shanghai feels like home, a strange feeling. I even feel like I can understand the language even though I dont know the words. However, I resolved to continue to travel while over here. Thailand and Beijing your next. But Tokyo will sit in the back of my head, like water in an abandoned car tire. Depending on what happens this summer, maybe I will be back sooner than I think. Pittsburgh sure did look happy teaching in Japan. There just may be something there.
I'll have more pictures up soon.
Futch
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
my how time flies
It has been over a month since my last post..my how time flies. Unfortunately work is still kickin my ass but I have been able to get out the last two weekends and feel like Im starting to feel more at home here in Shanghai. My vocabulary is still terrible but I have learned to make due. I have completely mastered the transit system which feels like enough of an accomplishment. I have waaaaay too many photos to post as I normally do here so instead I will include a link to my picasa album. The photos are the majority I have taken thus far.
The album consists of random team photos, my adventures at the Yu Garden, a few karaoke (the majority are too embarrasing to see any space online), People's Square, and the Bund at night.
I have been in Shanghai now for almost two months. The beauty of this means that I only have a month and a half to go. This is not my desire to leave Asia as much as my need to move on to something new. My first post mentioned all the travel I had planned. This has not gone to the wayside. On Thursday, I will travel to Tokyo to visit Yusuke's millions of relatives. I am spending Thurs through Tues there and staying with an old friend that recently took a job there. I have no itinerary as of yet, but it sounds like I may have timed the cherry blossom season perfectly and I may head to Kyoto to see what all the fuss is about. A trip to Mt. Fuji may also be in order although it apparently is still too snowy to climb.
I also plan to travel to Thailand at the end of April before heading back stateside. And Im going to try and sneak out for a weekend to Beijing. (We will see how deep I am in it at that point.)
After this Tuesday, work is all downhill and so this is basically the home stretch. It is funny that I am looking forward to a sprint finish in which the prize is having no job with very few prospects. But such is life (as in "the life and times of futch"...get it?)
Speaking of which, I heard back from the Kellogg School of Management (aka Northwestern). They were very impressed with my application, so impressed that they decided to keep me on their waiting list so as to compare all additional applications against. This thus leaves me waiting until mid-june to hear if I have a spot. Additionally, if I were to get in, my financial assitance is hardly a sure thing. Its a strange feeling knowing that I would make a perfect fit in their school and yet having no specific way to tell them without a video following me around for the last 9 years. (Here comes the introspective tangent...)
Not being able to speak the local language has given me a ton of time to reminice on my life since graduating and leaving the shelter of the sparkling North Shore of Chicago. In this time, I have lived my life 4-6 months at a time. School entailed 4 months per semester with a smattering of breaks or work sprinkled liberally throughout. After school, I packed up my life and moved to mysterious Connecticut. (How was I to know that CT and Deerfield would be so similar? Banana Republic being the uniform of choice with sponsorship provided by Lexus and its fine Japanese automobiles.) Since Jan 2005, I have lived out of an oversized suitcase. (The suitcase has seen better days.) Connecticut to San Diego, San Diego to Chicago, Chicago to Cincinnati, Cincinnati to Houston, Houston back to CT, CT back to Southern Cali, and then finally some Asian culture. Hard to believe it has been over 4 years. During this time, friends have married, purchased homes, settled down, moved on with their lives. The most unfortunate part of being a well-paid transient is my life in now filled with acquantences...people I see in passing with a friendly smile and a warm hug, the promise to avoid the inevitable and not lose touch so quickly. Each time I travel to Chicago, it feels less like home and more like a stranger. (Kinda like reconnecting with a friend you havent seen since childhood and realizing that what you used to share in common (forts, kick the can, and thundercats) have not been relevent for a decade and you have nothing to talk about.) Does English allow parentheses inside of parentheses? I have been using excel too long. But I digress. In the 4+ years, I lost a grandfather I hadnt seen in years and a grandmother who was my personal hero. During this time, the Futch family emigration to the valley of the sun was completed, sans yours truly. The Bears made a super bowl, the Cubs missed a world series by 6 outs and a booted sure-thing double play ball (thats Gonzalez, not Bartman), Indiana hoops went from the top of the big ten to the cellar because of a few phone calls, and the Bulls remain mediocre at best (sorry Yusuke). All of these events occured with or without me, everything I have experienced in passing, like some ethereal ghost that appears once a month to the suprise of those in the vicinity at the time. The long and short of it is that at 27, I am ready to start living my life.
So in May, I hit the reset button with a world of work and life experience. Who knows where it will take me but things have an amazing way of working themselves out if you put yourself out there. An extremely wise team mate of mine put it this way..."Life should be like a table. If you build your life on top of one leg, you will have no balance and, if that leg should break, your life will fall to the floor. If however, you build your life with the support of many legs, your life will never fall apart should one of those legs break." I clearly need more legs to support my life. As such, this summer I plan to rebuild those legs. Reconnect with friends and family. Let them know I am still alive and more than a smile and a hug.
Only until Mid-may and the rebuilding begins. 49 days from now. My how time flies.
 |
| life and times of futch |
The album consists of random team photos, my adventures at the Yu Garden, a few karaoke (the majority are too embarrasing to see any space online), People's Square, and the Bund at night.
I have been in Shanghai now for almost two months. The beauty of this means that I only have a month and a half to go. This is not my desire to leave Asia as much as my need to move on to something new. My first post mentioned all the travel I had planned. This has not gone to the wayside. On Thursday, I will travel to Tokyo to visit Yusuke's millions of relatives. I am spending Thurs through Tues there and staying with an old friend that recently took a job there. I have no itinerary as of yet, but it sounds like I may have timed the cherry blossom season perfectly and I may head to Kyoto to see what all the fuss is about. A trip to Mt. Fuji may also be in order although it apparently is still too snowy to climb.
I also plan to travel to Thailand at the end of April before heading back stateside. And Im going to try and sneak out for a weekend to Beijing. (We will see how deep I am in it at that point.)
After this Tuesday, work is all downhill and so this is basically the home stretch. It is funny that I am looking forward to a sprint finish in which the prize is having no job with very few prospects. But such is life (as in "the life and times of futch"...get it?)
Speaking of which, I heard back from the Kellogg School of Management (aka Northwestern). They were very impressed with my application, so impressed that they decided to keep me on their waiting list so as to compare all additional applications against. This thus leaves me waiting until mid-june to hear if I have a spot. Additionally, if I were to get in, my financial assitance is hardly a sure thing. Its a strange feeling knowing that I would make a perfect fit in their school and yet having no specific way to tell them without a video following me around for the last 9 years. (Here comes the introspective tangent...)
Not being able to speak the local language has given me a ton of time to reminice on my life since graduating and leaving the shelter of the sparkling North Shore of Chicago. In this time, I have lived my life 4-6 months at a time. School entailed 4 months per semester with a smattering of breaks or work sprinkled liberally throughout. After school, I packed up my life and moved to mysterious Connecticut. (How was I to know that CT and Deerfield would be so similar? Banana Republic being the uniform of choice with sponsorship provided by Lexus and its fine Japanese automobiles.) Since Jan 2005, I have lived out of an oversized suitcase. (The suitcase has seen better days.) Connecticut to San Diego, San Diego to Chicago, Chicago to Cincinnati, Cincinnati to Houston, Houston back to CT, CT back to Southern Cali, and then finally some Asian culture. Hard to believe it has been over 4 years. During this time, friends have married, purchased homes, settled down, moved on with their lives. The most unfortunate part of being a well-paid transient is my life in now filled with acquantences...people I see in passing with a friendly smile and a warm hug, the promise to avoid the inevitable and not lose touch so quickly. Each time I travel to Chicago, it feels less like home and more like a stranger. (Kinda like reconnecting with a friend you havent seen since childhood and realizing that what you used to share in common (forts, kick the can, and thundercats) have not been relevent for a decade and you have nothing to talk about.) Does English allow parentheses inside of parentheses? I have been using excel too long. But I digress. In the 4+ years, I lost a grandfather I hadnt seen in years and a grandmother who was my personal hero. During this time, the Futch family emigration to the valley of the sun was completed, sans yours truly. The Bears made a super bowl, the Cubs missed a world series by 6 outs and a booted sure-thing double play ball (thats Gonzalez, not Bartman), Indiana hoops went from the top of the big ten to the cellar because of a few phone calls, and the Bulls remain mediocre at best (sorry Yusuke). All of these events occured with or without me, everything I have experienced in passing, like some ethereal ghost that appears once a month to the suprise of those in the vicinity at the time. The long and short of it is that at 27, I am ready to start living my life.
So in May, I hit the reset button with a world of work and life experience. Who knows where it will take me but things have an amazing way of working themselves out if you put yourself out there. An extremely wise team mate of mine put it this way..."Life should be like a table. If you build your life on top of one leg, you will have no balance and, if that leg should break, your life will fall to the floor. If however, you build your life with the support of many legs, your life will never fall apart should one of those legs break." I clearly need more legs to support my life. As such, this summer I plan to rebuild those legs. Reconnect with friends and family. Let them know I am still alive and more than a smile and a hug.
Only until Mid-may and the rebuilding begins. 49 days from now. My how time flies.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Valentines and Karaoke: a winning combination
I am now going on my third week in Shanghai. At this point, I have figured out my way around the city and have become at least marginally proficient. I have some new photos and video to post but a quick comment on the previous post. Did everyone hear about the hotel fire in Beijing? Fireworks related. I have no idea how that doesnt happen more often. The funny thing is that the office next to the hotel organized the fireworks show but forgot to ask permission from the hotel. Their statement to the hotel...Sorry. Pretty amusing.
Ok so on to current events. I am in the swing of things with work and found out last week I will be traveling to Singapore for a week which Im pretty stoked about. Im trying to plan a weekend with a friend that lives there to head to the Phillipines for a beach vaca but we will see what happens. Also, last week, we attended this amazing dinner which featured a performance of the famous Chinese mask changing magic. I have loaded video.
Ok so on to current events. I am in the swing of things with work and found out last week I will be traveling to Singapore for a week which Im pretty stoked about. Im trying to plan a weekend with a friend that lives there to head to the Phillipines for a beach vaca but we will see what happens. Also, last week, we attended this amazing dinner which featured a performance of the famous Chinese mask changing magic. I have loaded video.
Pretty cool stuff. This weekend I spent all of yesterday shopping. The cost of everything is amazing. I bought 2 suits custom for 950RMB which is $140 total. I also picked up a backpack and sweaters for dirt cheap. Lets just hope they dont turn to dirt in the wash.
Yesterday was Valentine's Day which is surprisingly a huge holiday here too. Restaurants, flowers, and bars all increase prices for the holiday. As we are all in Shanghai working, what better way to celebrate than with Karaoke. A block from our apts is a place called party city. It only caters to Karaoke and was a converted hotel. Needless to say, it was very nice. My voice is quite hoarse today and some of these photos may explain it. 
Im still working out how to video tape my commute without looking like a scary tourist but as soon as I get it figured out, it will be posted here. In the meantime, here are some misc photos thus far.
I will be traveling back to Chicago for the first weekend in March and will be back from Thurs night to Tues morning so hopefully I can catch up with folks then. Hope all is well.
Futch
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Herro from Shanghai
Hey all-
I will be posting updates from time to time on the happenings and goings-on in Shanghai. I have been here now for over a week and much of that time has been spent working. (Big surprise there.) The most interesting item of interest so far has been the Chinese New Year. It began over 14 days ago and will end this weekend. The most common theme: 24 / 7 fireworks. Literally. Its pretty amazing. And they just set them off on the street corners and streets. People walk and drive by as if huge explosives were not being set off. The sparks commonly hit our building.
It was a pretty amazing view of the city at night. I could see the whole Bund lit up. Ill try and locate some photos and post them as well. Im currently planning my trips to Beijing, Tokyo, Thailand, and perhaps Korea. Also, the college app process is almost done and I have interviews coming up which is why I probably need the god of fortune. Anyways, I will continue to post and blog when I have time and will post pictures and videos as soon as I figure out how.
Hope all is well.
I will be posting updates from time to time on the happenings and goings-on in Shanghai. I have been here now for over a week and much of that time has been spent working. (Big surprise there.) The most interesting item of interest so far has been the Chinese New Year. It began over 14 days ago and will end this weekend. The most common theme: 24 / 7 fireworks. Literally. Its pretty amazing. And they just set them off on the street corners and streets. People walk and drive by as if huge explosives were not being set off. The sparks commonly hit our building.
It was a pretty amazing view of the city at night. I could see the whole Bund lit up. Ill try and locate some photos and post them as well. Im currently planning my trips to Beijing, Tokyo, Thailand, and perhaps Korea. Also, the college app process is almost done and I have interviews coming up which is why I probably need the god of fortune. Anyways, I will continue to post and blog when I have time and will post pictures and videos as soon as I figure out how.Hope all is well.
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