Surfing with the goonies

Maybe more like drinking goonies water, Last weekend I headed down to Canon Beach with some co-workers and Catherine for a weekend of surfing.

Oregon Coast Facts
-Goonies was filmed here, sweet
-It rains in Oregon more than seattle, sweeter
-The water is really freakin cold
-Cloudy rainy surfing is still fun

So we rented surfboards/wet suits and battled the oregon coast, surfing sure is tiring. That being said I should be ready to join the pro-surf circuit soon, i'm pretty good (note sarcasm in voice). I've been workin like crazy all week getting ready for this ski test this weekend at hood, we'll ski Sat and Sun to test some new skis. Not a bad way to work if you have to on the weekend. So next week i'll fill you in on the other haps. I better eat my chicken caesar salad i got for lunch today, I'm attempting a more nutritious lunch than burritos every day, so mark this as day 1 where I will not be eating mexican food, for lunch.

where we were link....

exhaustion

Well our busiest time of the year is upon me, and in addition to my traveling to weddings, bachelor parties, the beach and camping, I have managed to work about 60hrs a week. While this really is awesome, sleeping in the factory twice this week has been less than sweet. I've still got busy written all over for the coming weeks though. Ski test next week, move out of apt and into new one by end of july, and Im going back to china at the end of Aug for a few weeks. Also our factory is leaving its island location this month so Im involved somehow in that i'm sure. I've got about a million things to do right now, none of them involve writing in this blog, so i'm going now, for a few days not months like last time, i'll update with pictures of fun things i've been doing.

Quick post - Crazy sights of China

I call this first picture "East Meets West", for obvious reasons

And this second one, "Huskies in a Tank", I assume they all live in a big field and only when brought to market for sale are they crammed into a small tank

Shenzhen

On our 1 day off while here Eben and I headed into Shenzhen, a city not far from Hong Kong for some shopping and possible indoor skiing. Well the indoor skiing didnt work out but the shopping was insane. Never in my life have I had to bargain for something and never have I purchased a purse. (Catherine, neglect the last sentence) Anyways we got a driver from the factory to drive us the 1.5hrs to Shenzhen and we brought along our factory assistant Ivyna for translation and guidance. None of us had ever been to Shenzhen but the driver quickly found the walking mall and we began. The retailers are attracting you to their booths with loud noises and promises of a deal, or I assume thats what their saying in mandarin. Once you start looking your in trouble, they wont let you go and they do everything they can to sell you something you dont kneed. My watch for example, bargained from 270 Yuen down to about 70, with 8-1 ratio I paid a little under 10$ for a ripoff of a major brand electronic watch. Not sure if I even should have purchased a watch, In fact i regret it now, but the bargaining was fun. It's also fun to see the styles of another part of the world. While I wasnt able to find any Engrish.com worthy clothing I found styles not seen in America. I walked away with a pretty awesome shirt with wolves on it and another with a pheasant. I told my engrish speaking salesman I like shirts with animals and this is what he found me, I had to purchase after his dedication. Our main item we didnt get is a remote control mini helicopter. A sweet toy these miniature RC toys can fly indoors and cost at most 20$ on the street, eben and I being cheap wouldnt pay this despite their 40$ ebay price and hence have no mini helicpoters. The rain began during our shopping adventure stopping us early but not until a quick lunch at Pizza Hut and more mini-helicpoter bargaining. I'm getting sick of chinese food, I cant wait for a hamburger or steak, even plate of spaghetti sound great. But mostly I miss my burritos, this will be my first stop upon arrival in Seattle this friday.

We finished shopping and had no desire to go indoor skiing on shaved ice. Ivyna will have to go another day. For being our translator/ assistant for k2 she has never seen ski bindings or boots, nor seen how people ski, but she does really well with it all and understanding us.

Today being Memorial day and us being in China, we worked. Last night Eben and I went out to dinner on our own and hit a huge language barrier, I will write more about that in my next blog, until then adios, I dont know how to say goodbye in mandarin.

G to the Z

(picture is in front of our factory, taken from the balcony outside the offices) After a long day of working on Saturday I met up with other co-workers, two from Seattle and 5 from China, and we went to dinner on the companies tab. We chose a hunan restaurant I think partially to watch us funny americans eat with chop sticks and eat really spicy things. Tony (chinese guy from factory) did most the ordering and acted as our tour guide, i'm not sure i'm happy with his choices yet or not. We went out to dinner in downtown Guangzhou and saw a whole part of the city I didnt know existed. First of all GZ is huge, people are everywhere and all of them are crazy. I cant count how many times I have seen cars in oncoming traffic lanes, people standing between lanes on a highway while cars race by, and overloaded bicycles moving slowly through fast traffic. Our dinner started with some type of egg prepared local style that tasted terrible. Kind of like a hard boiled egg mixed with what I would imagine a snakes egg tasting like, leathery slimey and full of life. The rest of our hot and spicy hunan meal was delicious and provided lots of laughs to the locals watching me eat.

On our way home we stopped at a DVD store where I bought my favorite tv show Prison break seasons 1 and 2 on dvd, 3 discs in all for $3.50. Now eben and I are back at the factory ready for some rest before a drive to Shenzhen tomorrow to ski indoors and shop for more good deals, I just may get a suit if the price is right. I will post a few pictures here and take more tomorrow for posting in the future.

Day One at Guangzhou, and why I cant sleep here

My body clock is still all messed up and I'm awake at 3am and 5am here, hopefully I can go back to sleep for a few hours so I can have a productive 13 hour day here. I'm not really sure how these guys do it, 8am to 9pm every day with an hour for lunch and dinner. Factory work is crazy. When I walk around and learn about things I'm usually talking to Amy or Evya our translators/helpers, while they understand us very well I realize that the person doing the factory work has no idea what we are saying. The language barrier is at times impossible to fill.

The factory conditions are really quite nice. Well this is not to say I have ever worked in anything like this place, they all seem relatively relaxed and generally enjoying themselves. Faded jeans, nikes and designer shirts are all the rage and I'm amazed how trendy some workers look. I dont know what I imagined them wearing but some look like they are ready to go clubbing, but instead they are assembling some part of a ski.

The food is incredible. Hopefully in a week I will be writing the same thing, but its really quite delicious. I fill a small bowl with steamed rice and sit down a a large round table covered in food. Here my english speaking counterparts, all 5 of us, and a few cantonese speaking office workers watch chinese soap operas at maximum volume. There are about 8plates of food in front of you to pick off of and consume. none of the food is what I have ordered at Panda express or restaurants but its close, and so far I cant complain. I have a 2" long cockroach lying in the middle of my room right now, i'm hoping he doesnt crawl into my clothing bag, and my bed i suppose too.

After work last night while I was desperate to fall asleep Ken and I walked to the night market for a few beers. 6beers, 4red bull energy drinks, and a pack of some gummy candies ken likes cost us a little under 5dollars. People are outside everywhere at night. I need to go out again later this week and explore more at night but its overwhelming. Also the fact everyone stares at you is great and some kids yell in excitement of seeing a white person. I'm not sure where all the bikes with passenegers on the back are going, or what the guangzhou'ites do at night but I'm hoping to find out.

Eben and I may be off to some indoor skiing this weekend, we've both agreed to snowboard if we go. There is also an outdoor waterpark we are debating, all a few hours from our factory. I will also be off to the DVD store later this week, they just got Shrek3 in and Spiderman3 too, If i get bored I know what i'll be doing. Anyways its 5:20am for me and I better try and sleep a little more. My bed is very firm, pillow undersupportive, but the bug net surrounding the bed is made of expensive lace with ducks designed into it. Priorities

Hong Kong part 1

First off because i'm writing this from China, everything on my page is in chinese, and I dont recognize the characters yet, so this may or may not make it to the internet.

We have arrived in Hong Kong after a short train ride from the airport to our stop at Kowloon. Its just like I have seen pictures of but never really paid attention too. Huge buildings holding thousands of people stacked side by side litter the side of the tracks, it feels surreal. We check in at the Harbor Plaza Metropolis where a doorman takes our bags to our room. My room is small, has 2 of the smallest beds I have ever seen, there is no view out the windows as they are covered in condensation. It was about 87degF at 8pm and humidity was high. Eben and I took a shuttle to Hong Kong from the hotel, I suppose it would be like traveling from Capital Hill in Denver to Denver, not a far ride at all. We walked the streets and were offered suites, jewelry, electronics and massages. Nothing is cheap in Hong Kong, and our venturous taste buds will wait until tomorrow, tonight we ate Pizza Hut.

Pizza Hut is not like you know it though. They serve shrimp cocktail, fresh seafood, and of course pizza and pasta. To accompany my pizza I ordered a “Black Cow on Rocky Road.” Basically a coke with a scoop of rocky road ice cream on top. A Hong Kong recipe for indigestion.

Tomorrow we ride the train to Guangzhou to the factory, hopefully they have air conditioning or I’ll have to get lighter weight pants.