Meat!

So I’ve been here two weeks now and I’m settled in quite nicely. I’ve got my desk in the back corner of the room where I can listen to funny iPod songs while I work and watch my co-workers walk by and move around to the beat. I’ve hung a few very random posters on my walls – ads for Lufthansa, recyclable paper and Harry Rosen suits (not for the suits), and a particularly odd looking one of Warren Buffett that is meant to be motivational. These are of course temporary - all I had to choose from were ads from three Economist magazines that dad gave me before I took off on my flight. I keep telling myself to look for new art every time I go out, but I always forget – maybe these ones are growing on me.

Right now I’m juggling my time between Jeffery Gitomer’s “Sales Bible” which is highly entertaining but sometimes unrealistic when I try to apply it to the real world, and a product data sheet written by one of my Taiwanese co-workers that I am supposed to correct…or re-write once I can fully figure out the purpose of a PoE splitter and the benefits of the different powers sources ours supplies - Gahh so not my area of expertise. First time in the real world that the study habits I picked up from University are being put to use…didn’t take long to start seeing the benefits of those four years. It’s not easy but I’m coming along, I’m beginning to be able to talk the “technical language,” and the more I learn the more exciting it gets.

Aside from work I have been having quite the time here in a town that was meant to be – as my mom puts it – “social exile.” Hardly! The first weekend here Christina and I drove into downtown Hsinchu on Friday night (about a 25 minute scooter ride from our place). We had a nice dinner at an Italian place (It’s best to go for non-Taiwanese food when you don’t have to, just so you don’t get sick of it), and then made our way to a bar called Red – a small cozy place with darts and big wooden tables. It was fairly busy when we got there around 9pm and to our surprise, most of the customers were foreigners. We ended up chatting with a bunch of them, including Hannah the bartender, who is Taiwanese born but friends with all the foreigners, and going out and having a great night on the town. It was so much fun in fact that we did it all again this past Friday as well.

Hsinchu is actually a very lovely city in my opinion. Everything is within a short walk from the train station, but it is a big enough place that you feel as if you’re in a city. The centre is my favourite part where the river runs through and all the surrounding trees are covered in deep blue Christmas lights. I’ve named it “lover’s lane.” Unfortunately I’ve only ever walked down it with Christina which kind of takes the romance out of the whole experience (sorry dear), but it’s lovely nonetheless.

My other favourite thing about this place is driving the scooter around at night. I put my iPod in and listen to relaxed but upbeat songs with interesting instrumentals and buzz along the roads weaving in and out with all the other scooters along darks streets that are illuminated with multicoloured signs of all shapes and sizes. It really is something. I used to think the streets always looked so dangerous, busy and crowded, but once you get into it is can be extremely calming.

I have also discovered something new this time around in Taiwan that I have never before in my life found, and that is my love for big juicy burgers! That’s right, burgers! I’ve had multiple since I’ve been here and each time it is like I’m sitting in my very own heaven. Christina is amused. I’m guessing it’s got to be the lack of meat during the week in the cafeteria food, but by Saturday morning I wake up with this undeniable, ravenous desire for meat! Burger meat! With cheese and lettuce and tomato and onion and last week we found this place that puts aioli, cauliflower and broccoli on top – the Garden Cheese Burger. Uh my mouth is watering.


Here is a picture from this past weekend at Red with Hannah and Christina.

I still don't have a camera because all of my money is going to the four hours of Chinese class I have each week. I think it's worth it. All I have to do is get Christina to start snapping a few more and we're golden. It’s almost time to go eat and Christina just sent me the Outback menu to taunt me. Talk soon.

Trouble

This is going to make local news tomorrow:

7:50pm Tall girl spotted pushing broken scooter down side of road with two short friends - one Taiwanese and one American

7:55 Garage man starts working on bike

8:00 Nervous girls stand around newly fixed bike on side of busy road debating who should drive back

8:03 Tall girl finally volunteers

8:04 Tall girl hesitating, waiting for traffic to thin so she can go

8:05 Tall girl pulls out and is unknowingly followed by cops

8:05 Tall girl is pulled over by cops; she is yelled at in Chinese; she pretends not to understand; she waves her arms; cops signal to head; tall girl clues in and puts on helmet; cops drive away and tall girl gets away without a ticket

8:06 Tall girl finishes the 300 meter drive and parks sucessfully

8:05 Short friends spotted laughing hysterically on side of road

8:10 Last seen: tall girl walking home from 7/11 with beer

First Week

I woke up to the fourth sunny day in a row now in Taiwan – a record for me when looking back on my past experience in Taipei. I guess that’s one major bonus of Hsinchu, although I haven’t figured out if it is enough to totally convince me that living in the industrial park is better than living in the city. We’ll see.

This morning was pretty exciting. The President invited me to a sales meeting with some Americans who were interested in expanding their product line. They liked our solution and our technology but what I found most interesting was watching our leader in action. He is an unbelievable salesman and I know I will learn a lot from him. It was also exciting to watch a business deal evolve from initial product introduction to the evaluation of possible ways to partner in the future. Aside from playing them out in business class, I’ve had very little experience with real world business deals. I am currently in the process of learning the ins and outs of the products so I also learned a lot from the initial presentation as well as the questions the clients were asking – questions I will have to answer to in just a few short months.

This week I am being left alone to soak up all the information I can. I am being thrown manuals and articles, and relevant websites and podcasts – all that will help educate me on our products and the markets in which we operate. It’s really similar to the kind of research we did for business projects at Ivey, except I think this time around it will take weeks instead of hours. I am often pulled aside by different employees in the company – engineers, product managers, salesmen – and given brief presentations on relevant topics. It’s a lot to take in.

Have I mentioned the hours here in Taiwan? These people are machines! Most people come into the office around 9:30am - fine – but they don’t leave until around 10:00pm, some even staying past midnight! Machines. I told Christina that it’s just not in my DNA to handle hours like that. She said she was the same, but that after being here for nine months she’s started to adopt their ways. For instance, leaving and coming back after dinner and only meaning to stay for an extra hour can easily turn into three. I was here until after 8:00pm last night and I know what she means. The employees are livelier at night. They engage you in certain activities and tasks almost making you not want to leave. And of course, everyone is tired, but that is no excuse here. People push through. If you’re tired, eat quickly at lunch and take a nap at your desk. I think I will learn even better work habits here than I did at university. Like that’s a surprise – hehe.

I have to admit, Taiwanese food is better than I remember. Keep in mind that is saying a lot given the fact that I am eating mass production food from the company cafeteria every day. Christina watches me in disgust as I make comments like, “it’s not that bad; I actually really like it (on today’s seaweed soup).” She is convinced that all I need is a few more weeks, after I’ve experienced my second menu repeat and I will be singing a different tune. I would rather not talk about it and let it happen on its own terms. For now, I am content.

Well, it’s almost 6:30. We are leaving earlier than usual today (although not early by North American standards) so that we can bring Christina’s scooter in for repairs. I swear, if I wasn’t here to push her she would let that thing rust on the sidewalk until she leaves in January. She bought it months ago and still hasn’t used it! I was right on that like a kid on candy. That scooter is my ticket out of the industrial park and into the lovely nearby city of Hsinchu where I can eat a variety of different cuisines, take Mandarin courses at the University, and meet foreigners who have also parked here in Taiwan for a while. Christina has agreed to share it with me as long as I agree to be the designated chauffer - Fine by me as long as you hang on tight and don’t mind my driving.

Oh that reminds me! One last interesting fact before I take off. Yesterday I was warned - very seriously - to watch out for trucks while walking on the street. Apparently, here in Taiwan if a truck hits you and you survive, the driver is obligated to take care of you financially for the rest of your life. However, if he hits you and you happen to…die…he only has to pay your family two million NTD’s – a small price to pay if you ask me. Well you can imagine where this is going. As confirmed by a number of my co-workers, if you are struck by a truck driver on the street he WILL intentionally back over you again…and again to make sure that you are dead so he avoids the burden of having to provide lifelong financial support. Wow. Yeah. So if the long hours don’t kill me a fluke truck accident will. Until next time…

Arrival

I made it! After being hurried off by my grandma and parents on Friday night, I took off in a taxi to the airport where I sat and drank too much wine to pass all the time I had. The flight was 13 hours and stopped in Korea. I don’t think I slept much because I was exhausted when we arrived.

It was 2:30am in Korea which was totally unfortunate because everything was closed. It was like walking into an abandoned airport – not pleasant – and I was stranded there for the next six hours. Luckily I ran into a young fellow named Ryan. He was on his way to Manila from Toronto to visit family. We managed to pass the time fairly quickly chatting and watching online TV and then when things started to come alive at 7:00am we went up to try some Korean food. It was really good – similar to Chinese I thought with miso soup, kimchi, and pork. Ryan and I started to have so much fun talking that he almost missed his plane making it to the gate just a few minutes before take-off! Lucky they let him on.

I left shortly after and it was a short 2 hour ride to Taipei where I was met by Henry – one of the mangers at AIESEC, the organization that helped me get my work permit and VISA from the Taiwanese government. Christina met me also. She is the only other North American working at Brickcom and I met her last time I was here. She has been here for nine months already and will be finished this January (to her extreme excitement). She’s been waiting for me to come over for months so she can have someone to get into trouble with. Luckily we like each other.

About two hours after landing the initial excitement of arriving in Taiwan started to wane as Christina made me lug my heavy suitcase (with broken wheels) along the busy streets of Hsinchu in a wind storm just as my jet lag was really starting to hit. It got worse when we arrived at the bedding store to find that the lady didn’t speak any English. I was not in the mood for miming and my patience was running thin, but I managed to find some sweet leopard print covers that match nicely with my snuggy – much better than that lovely pink hello kitty crap I chose last time.

When we got back to the dorm I was shown my room – it’s on the top floor with my own bathroom, balcony and beautiful view of the city and China Sea. I am quite happy with it. The building is like a hollowed out square with a big garden in the middle. We have vending machines and badminton courts on my floor and I am steps away from the building I work in – super convenient. There are basketball courts outside and I have the option of joining photography or fishing classes…not too shabby for living in the heart of an industrial park.

This morning after waking up from a 12 hour sleep (that started at 6pm) I went to the main office building to work out in the gym…It was empty, not a soul around and all the lights were off so I ended up skulking around in the dark in this massive office building feeling very much like a secret agent but trying not to do anything suspicious as they probably had cameras all over me. I finally found the gym – again, empty. Christina says no one gets up in the morning here because most work until really late at night and savour the extra few hours they get in the morning (it’s nice because we don’t have to start until 1:00pm if we don’t want, as long as we work 8.5 hours Monday-Thursday and 8 hours on Friday). Apparently most people use the gym at night for the yoga classes to wind them down from their hard work day. I’ll try that this week too.

Coming back to my residence to get ready for my first day of work was nice. I’ve never had a place to myself and I liked it (ask me again in a few weeks). I met Christina and she brought me to the office and saw me off like a mom would do on her child’s first day of school – cute. She left me in a training room with eight other new recruits (all Taiwanese) and I’ve been listening to power point presentations and going over company procedures for the past four hours…all in Chinese. I’ll have to learn the language now. Now they are all about to take a test in Chinese which I am exempt from. Then they are going over documents (diplomas, health checks etc.) that I do not have so I will probably be exempt from that too.

Lunch was pretty typical – stir fry veggies and tofu. It is nice because they have a few little places with different options to choose from. There is a buffet style area set up, a kitchen that has daily specials (soups, noodles, dumplings etc.), and then a café that has western-style sandwiches, subs and drinks. We get a monthly budget for food and a card to swipe for convenience. I don’t see myself going to any of the local restaurants very often; a) because I want to save $; and b) because unlike in Taipei where many restaurants have English menus for foreigners, Hsinchu is totally Chinese which would make every order a gamble. I feel like I did sufficient experimentation during my last stay in Taiwan.

It’s almost the end of the day now and I have been stationed in a temporary office close to the product line manager who will be in charge of me for the next little while as I learn the ins and outs of the products. I haven’t been assigned anything yet and probably won’t be until tomorrow - probably for the best. Jet lag has struck again and I’m feeling dizzy watching everyone pace around the room. One of the female employees across the way just stood up with a big red “we’re number one” foam hand that she acquired while studying at Iowa state university. She’s jumping up and down trying to catch my attention to say hi. I think it’s time for a rest.

Hsinchu

One hour west of Taipei there is an industrial town called Hsinchu - this will be my new home for the next 3-6 months. A few interesting facts about Hsinchu:

1. It is the base of the high tech industry in Taiwan (my company is also in this industry)
2. It is the city with the higest income level in Taiwan (let's hope this carries over)
3. There are 360 high tech companies located in Hsinchu including Philips and Epistar
4. They do have an American International school in the city (this could provide a nice vacation from Mandarin)
4. The local delicacies as rice noodles and pork meatballs (no surprises there)
5. One of the main tourist attractions in Hsinchu is the Chenghuang night market where newbies are urged to try the cow tongue shaped cakes...mhmmm
5. Rainy season lasts from February to September (so happy I'll be skipping most of it)
6. I will be arriving in 20 degree Celcius weather
7. The firms do not celebrate Christmas (so I will be working hard for the first time on my favourite day of the year)

See you when I get there!