I'm going to China tomorrow and I don't know why

[Dave Gilbert]

Seriously.  My boss tells me that I am going to Hong Kong tomorrow.  When I asked her why, she was very vague and seemed to avoid the question.  By the same token, she won't tell me how long the trip is for.

So basically,  I now have a one-way business class ticket to Hong Kong, which leaves tomorrow evening.  I have no idea how long I'll be gone, where I'll be staying,  or what I'll be doing while I am there.  

I'm quite freaked out.  If I suddenly disappear, you know where to start looking.

edit: changed the subject title because it turns out I'm in China.  Not Hong Kong. :p

[Ghormak]

Tell Tracer Tong I said hi.

[Chicky]

crazy, i take it yuor guna try and find out the info tommororw ... rite?

-OSC

[Dave Gilbert]

crazy, i take it yuor guna try and find out the info tommororw ... rite?
-OSC

I'm going to try... although my boss seems to have gone on a business trip of her own.  I guess I'll find out when I arrive.  Either that or Gilbert Cheung will be getting a panicky phone call when I arrive.

[MrColossal]

"Gilbert! It's Gilbert! I don't know what's going on man! I'm shipped to Hong Kong and there's a killbot trying to assassinate me and he looks just like you!! I need your help, I'll be at the Sunflower Hotel in room 234... I need your he---"

[Minimi]

What's your job Dave Gilbert? If you can just go to HongKong for no reason at all, I must get that JOB!!!

[Privateer Puddin']

take a camcorder, instant 'Lost In Translation 2'

[Mr Jake]

although my boss seems to have gone on a business trip of her own.  I guess I'll find out when I arrive.

office love ??   :

[Esseb]

Take a camcorder, "Gilbert vs Gilbert".

[Azure]

Buy loads of anime merchandise and then ebay it ;3

[LordHart]

Dont start singing Kung Fu Fighting if you get bored in a public place, they might take offense and start Kung Fu Fighting your ass... :o

[remixor]

"Gilbert! It's Gilbert!"

Bwahahahahahahahahahah

[edmundito]

Make sure that before you get lost forever you get a picture with the other Gilbert Cheung.

[Gilbert]

Heh yeah if we meet again hopefully we'll have a picture taken this time.

[DGMacphee]

Help, I'm being held captive in a Hong Kong bakery...

[Pesty]

God sent an angel to your boss while she was trying to sleep, informing her of the need for Gilbertcon 2004. Take pictures.

[Dave Gilbert]

Help, I'm being held captive in a Hong Kong bakery...

More like, "Help I'm being held captive in a Chinese jeans factory!"

So I'm in our headquarters in Guang Zhou, China.  Apparently my boss wants me to learn more about the production process.  All well and good.  I'm tagging along with the guy who speaks the best english (meaning we can understand each other 75% of the time) and I'm following him around and asking dozens of questions.  Fine.   It's been nuts.  I'm putting in 12-15 hour work days.  A harsh reality for a nine-to-fiver like myself.

Pray for me.

[Gregjazz]

Woohoo! You're alive!

[Robert Eric]

"It Gilbelt, it Gilbelt!  Get him!  Get him!"

[Peter Thomas]

Alive, yes.  But.... for how long?

I could never live in Hong Kong. It's just completely wrong for me. I'd freak out and die after a week.

Although I am rather envious that your boss just 'gives' you a plane-ticket. grrrr.

[Evil]

Try not to get in a fight with Jackie Chan again.

[Dave Gilbert]

Holy crow on rye bread toast.

This company is insane.  They eat, sleep, and breathe denim production.  No joke.  And I'm not just talking about the assembly line people (that's a whole story on its own), I'm talking about the office workers,  the paper pushers, the accountants and the secretaries.  They are all stlil here,  working like mad.  Did I mention it's after midnight?

This work ethic is kind of admirable, I suppose.  And explains why my boss is as successful as she is.  But I find it scary as well.  I asked a colleague of mine what he does for fun here in Guang Zhou city, and he responded with "Nothing.  I don't want to waste my life."  Eep.

Sorry to rant.  I guess I'm becoming cranky and irritable because this is my third night in a row of sitting in a hot office until insanely late at night.  This ain't no pleasure trip, that's for sure.  And I still have no idea when it will be over.  I'm learning a lot about denim production, which is why I was sent here in the first place, but what I'm learning is more disturbing than illuminating.  Maybe I'll write a game about it.

[Creed Malay]

 I asked a colleague of mine what he does for fun here in Guang Zhou city, and he responded with "Nothing.  I don't want to waste my life."  Eep.

Scary. Or maybe we're just worthless lazy-idle slackers, here in the west... Then again, if I had that kind of work ethic, I wouldn't be as wretchedly poor and prospect free as I am.

 Maybe I'll write a game about it.

Yes. That you must do.

Take care, Dave, and don't let the communists grind you down...

Davy

[Dave Gilbert]

Hi folks.  I'm still around.  I've been here over a week now and actually, things aren't as bad as they seemed they were.  Or maybe I'm being brainwashed into accepting communism.

True, the hours are long.  Very long.  But they are very leisurely.  They are very relaxed and slow-paced about their work, which is why we are here until late at night.  It's not rush rush rush like it is back home.  We do a lot of de-stressing things in addition to working like mad, like the 2 hour lunch and dinner breaks.  Plus we laugh and joke around to ease the pressure.  Like any other office, I suppose.

Speaking of lunch and dinner, my colleagues have invented this game called "Let's stuff the white boy."  Seriously.  I've never been fed so much food in my life.

The reactions to me vary from amusement to fascination to just plain curiousity.  Everywhere I go people stare at me.  People rush over to get their picture taken with me.  I've had two pretty girls on the street tell me they love me, which certainly never happens in New York.

I got to NAME someone.  As my colleague Arnold (the english-speaking guy I mentioned earlier) and I were touring one of the laundries, he introduced me to one of the administrators, whose name was "Tanmei Lu."  She wanted an english name, and asked me to give her one.  After thinking for some time, I gave her the name "Tara."  (The first name I thought of was Tammy, but she didn't like that very much).  When we went back the next day, her office nameplate had been changed to say "Tara Lu."  It gave me a warm tingly feeling.

Anyway, that's all for now.  This is Dave Gilbert, your South China AGS correspondant, signing off.

[rtf]

Do you know how long you are going to be there?

[Gregjazz]

Oh yes, Dave Gilbert is going to stay in China, he likes it there so much. "Let's stuff the white boy" sounds like quite a fun game, too.

You lucky, lucky, man!

[Dave Gilbert]

Heh.  I don't know about "lucky", since my time is divided into working, going to factories, and sleeping.  I'm staying in my boss's house, which is huge and gorgeous and in a secure area, but I'm used to living alone and sharing a house with like 10 other people drives me a bit batty.  I have very little personal time to myself.  Although it's been an interesting experience nonetheless.  I'm improving on my mandarin, that's for sure.

Zai jian,

[Gregjazz]

Mandarin? I thought they mostly spoke Cantonese in Hong Kong. At least that's what I hear...

Can you read what I have written on my shirt in my profile?

[Dave Gilbert]

Most of china speaks Mandarin.  South China (and Hong Kong) speaks Cantonese, but Mandarin is easier to learn and most cantonese people can understand it, so I was recommended to learn mandarin.  I tried a bit of Cantonese and it's HARD.  The tones alone are enough to turn my poor western throat into swiss cheese.

And the shirt in your avatar... hm.  I haven't gotten to the "reading" chinese level yet.    I know the symbol for "China" and "man", but that's about all.

[Gregjazz]

My shirt says "Ni hao"!

Reading "man" and "china" is a good start... Now all you have to do is learn 388 more characters and you'll be able to understand much of a chinese newspaper!

The funny thing is that people who speak Cantonese think Mandarin is harder to learn, and Mandarin-speaking people think Cantonese is harder.

[Gilbert]

No, Mandarin is definately easier to learn.

Learning Cantonese from scratch is nearly impossible unless you're born with it (like me).

I just don't like Mandarin myself, and dare not to learn it (well I did have Mandarin classes some 20 years ago when I was studying primary school, but then I forgot everything, I wasn't good at it at that time anyways).

[Gregjazz]

Well, it doesn't really matter. The cool thing about Chinese is that everyone uses the same writing system, despite the different dialects.

I like Mandarin better than Cantonese because it doesn't have as many harsh sounds in it. It's more 'melosmatic', one might say.

[Dave Gilbert]

My shirt says "Ni hao"!

Ni hao, Geoff!  Xaoshang hao.  Tianqi zhen hao, shima? Zai jian.

[Las Naranjas]

Ta shi Meiguoren. Wo bu shi Meiguoren, wo shi Aodaliyaren.

Um, yeah, I have my first test tomorrow...

[Dave Gilbert]

Ta shi Meiguoren. Wo bu shi Meiguoren, wo shi Aodaliyaren.

Um, yeah, I have my first test tomorrow...

Did you mean to write "You are American?"  If so, the word would be "Ni" not "Ta."  But if you meant to write "He/She is American," then you are correct.

Hm.  This afternoon I had lunch with a chinese colleague here in the factory canteen.  I used chopsticks.  She used a fork.  Go figure.

[Gilbert]

Heh yea, oranges wrote "He is American, I'm not American, I am an Alien"

[Gregjazz]

Not sure what Xaoshang hao means. Takes longer to figure out without the tones!



I wish I was better at conversational Chinese.

[Esseb]

I can read 3 of those characters, whoo.

Edit: Stupid lag. Anyway, I didn't mean the g, r and e letters.

[Ghormak]

Ah, you meant . , and ! then?

[Gregjazz]

Then was it the yi, ge, and ren?

[m0ds]

[Robert Eric]

Don't eat many chicken donuts.  I hear those pesky, winged, ground-bound birds are never dead when converted to a fried pastry.

[Las Naranjas]

Wo bu shi laoshi. Wo shi xuesheng. Wo shi hanyu xuesheng.

The early conversations you can learn are soo interesting.

[Gregjazz]

Wo bu shi laoshi. Wo shi xuesheng. Wo shi hanyu xuesheng.

The early conversations you can learn are soo interesting.

Lol.

Go to this link to practice your pinyin: http://zhongwen.com/chat.htm

[Las Naranjas]

Um, I can practice by extensive ability to say what nationalities I'm not and what my name is.

So I'd spend alot of time writing wo bu dong.

[Dave Gilbert]

I named someone else today.  Her asian name starts with a "G", so naturally I named her Grace!  :-)

It almost makes the long hours worthwhile.

[Evil]

What? And the small, peteit, girls pants arnt worth it?

[Esseb]

Keep Guybrush and Manny in mind in case some male ever ask you to give him an English name.

[Gregjazz]

Have you gotten a Chinese name yet?

Definitely give out a few names from adventure games! lol.

[Esseb]

He already gave out Grace so he's thought ahead of us.

[Dave Gilbert]

Have you gotten a Chinese name yet?

hah, I've asked for one.  I was given something that sounds roughly like "David," but apparently it's the chinese word for "chocolate" so I didn't like that one very much.

It's interesting how the most innocuous sounding english name sounds funny to others' ears.  I was asked to name someone else (this is turning into my job, methinks), and gave her the somewhat ordinary name of Lisa.  She turned bright red and started laughing.  For some reason, the word sounds funny to her.  The only "L" name she was happy with was "Lee."

Heh, Manny.  I'll have to remember that one!  I dunno how "Guybrush" will fly, though.

[Las Naranjas]

I have a coffee mug with Richard in various languages, which gave Li Char in Chinese, which is why Gilbert calls me Plum alot.

Luckily Green can be translated literally.

[Gilbert]

Hehe actually I gave Dave a Chinese name (sorta) already, read the thingies written on the plate before me in that Photoshop *whatever* pic I did from the competition forum.

[Robert Eric]

Learn Karate while you're out there.  It's nice to have ninja AGSers.

[Las Naranjas]

Karate? In China?

[DragonRose]

Waitaminute- Oranges is Plum Green?

Probably the only reason I find that funny is because I just woke up, but funny it most definetly is.

[Gord10]

 Maybe I'll write a game about it.

Hey, I've an idea. A game about searching someone who has been lost in China for a few months. We are using the AGS forum posts, which was sent by the lost person, for finding him. But we understand that he was assassinated by his office collegues and his boss in the last level.

By the way, I want to ask something. What's the first thing to do when we go abroad? For example, I've gone to New York to visit (or working as a successful scientist or a game developer, this is imaginary  ). I think I'll get in a taxi in the airport and will tell the taxi driver to take me to a hotel; is it?

[shbaz]

 Maybe I'll write a game about it.

Hey, I've an idea. A game about searching someone who has been lost in China for a few months. We are using the AGS forum posts, which was sent by the lost person, for finding him. But we understand that he was assassinated by his office collegues and his boss in the last level.

By the way, I want to ask something. What's the first thing to do when we go abroad? For example, I've gone to New York to visit (or working as a successful scientist or a game developer, this is imaginary  ). I think I'll get in a taxi in the airport and will tell the taxi driver to take me to a hotel; is it?

No, first you need to convince us you're not a terrorist.

* shbazjinkens eyes Gord suspiciously

[Gilbert]

Waitaminute- Oranges is Plum Green?

No, he's Plum Monitor.

[Dave Gilbert]

I hope you all don't mind me using this thread as a pseudo-blog.  I enjoy your responses.

Could I just say... the people here drive like MAD.  I wouldn't say they break the traffic laws, so much as they just ignore them altogther.  Our driver weaves and dodges between cars, bicycles, motorcycles and pedestrians like he's playing hopscotch - all while driving at mach three speeds.  And he's not alone. Yesterday we were stuck in an 4-way intersection for 15 minutes because nobody would let anyone else get in
front of them.  Sure, there are traffic lights, but they might as well not exist.  I'll never complain about New York City drivers again!

And Gord, that would make a pretty cool story.  An AGSer disappears and the forum members form a worldwide search and rescue operation to find him.  Fortunately, my boss's plans were pretty benign  (if you can call working till 1am every day benign),  and an AGS dragnet will not be necessary.

I had duck's blood for lunch today.  Seriously.  It's quite good.  Try it.

[Las Naranjas]

I just read your avatar text as "Peking over your shoulder"

yeah, it's not funny, especially considering I've never known the city as Peking.

[Peter Thomas]

Duck Blood?

Bodily fluids of ANY sort are gross, but blood? Further still the blood of a KCUD?

Hmm... now I think about it, there's nothing that makes ducks any more gross than another animal, I suppose. But it's still creepy.

Hell, I remember the first time I went to a yum-cha restaurant. They made me eat CHICKEN FEET, and I felt like throwing up. Just the feeling of bones crunching every time you chew is disturbing. I could not handle blood, you vampirous, animal-endangering, blood-thirsty fool!

Hey! how cool is THAT!! I said 'blood-thirsty', and now it's literal!! Get it? Blood? Thirsty? Dave drank blood. Maybe because he was thirsty? [/blank stares]  Therefore thirsty for blood? hehe....*hack*...... [/dies]

OOH YEAH! I AM SMART AND NOT STUPID AT ALL!! L33T! BOW DOWN TO MY UNFATHOMABLE SMARTNESS!

[Gilbert]

Could I just say... the people here drive like MAD.  I wouldn't say they break the traffic laws, so much as they just ignore them altogther.  Our driver weaves and dodges between cars, bicycles, motorcycles and pedestrians like he's playing hopscotch - all while driving at mach three speeds.

Yeah, that's how it is in the more civilized areas of Mainland (Shenzhen and Gaungdong, etc.), in the past, before there's a boost on "motor vehicles", bicycles were one main way of transportation (still is), but now there're a mixture of many things on the roads as you mentioned, making it EXCITING.
And I'm not lying, when I went there last year, the taxi driver drove past a Red traffic light, then I noticed a small plate under that traffic light, reading "You CAN proceed forward when the red light is on.", so he didn't break any rule, isn't that COOL?

I had duck's blood for lunch today.  Seriously.  It's quite good.  Try it.

Yes, chicken blood and pig blood are good, too. But be careful, as the bird's flu period isn't over yet.

[Bombadil]

Hey people!!

I was waiting to my time to go to class and I found the post "I'm going to China tomorrow and I don't know why". I've read it all.

WOW! I wanna get a job like that!! lol

Visiting a foreign country, never knowing when are you going to get back (if you're going to...), naming people, ...

Please, keep us informed.

P.S.: If there are any writing mistakes, I'm sorry, I'm not english-speaking. I'm catalan (and so proud of it)^^.

[Dave Gilbert]

Whew.  Just got home.

Seems I left China the same way I came in - being told at the last possible minute!  I get a call at 5pm on Thursday telling me that my flight is at 3pm on Friday. At least there was time for my colleagues to schedule a quick going-away party for me at a local karaoke club.  They really take their Karoaoke seriously over there.  It was a giant room, with marble floors and velvet couches.  A diligent staff dressed in tuxedos and evening gowns hovered around us, refilling our drinks.  A shame most of the songs were in Chinese.  The song "New York, New York" was on the list, which I felt was very appropriate!

Anyway, I'm home.  I'm exhausted.  I haven't been sold into white slavery.  All is good.  

Sorry we couldn't meet up this time, Gilbert.  Maybe next time.

By the way, have you "tasted" chinese girls? I've heard chinese girls like "white" guys a lot (if you know what I mean...).

Er.... no comment.  A gentlemen does not discuss such things. ;p

[Gregjazz]

Next up: "I'm going to India tomorrow and I don't know why".

I hope you enjoyed your trip to China!

[Peter Thomas]

Chinese Girls = White Men

By GOLLY there's one I haven't heard before.

Does that make interracial relationships between a white man and a chinese female homosexual tasting?

That's scary. And, probably, a load of crap.

Who the hell is gonna taste a white guy just to compare with a chinese girl.

[/dies]

I can't believe I actually promoted this topic  

[Dave Gilbert]

Whee.  I have PICS.

You can see them all at http://www.davelgil.com/china - if you really care to trudge through them.  Here are some of the more interesting ones.


Arnold, my boss's nephew who also works at the company.  I hung around him most of the time, since he spoke the best english.  He looks like a kid, but it's just a ruse.  He used to be in the Beijing military, and knows a lot about martial arts.  He taught me a few moves.  I now know exactly how to defend myself if a guy grabs me by the right arm.  If I'm grabbed by the LEFT arm, however, I'm screwed. :-o


We went to this strawberry patch for lunch once.  This is me and Mr. Wang, the in-house QC (quality control) guy.


The strawberry patch was dirty and muddy, and my pants and shoes got real nasty.  One of the workers there instantly set about cleaning me up.  You can see by the look on my face how weirded out I was.


Me and Amy, the Mudd QC.  She's funny.  I liked hanging around Amy because she spoke perfect english, and we could get back at everyone else who only spoke Chinese around us.


Did you know that you can burn a piece of denim thread to determine its base color?  Neither did I.


Hard at work, looking for defects.


This is Wing, who handles trimmings for all the garments (chains, hangtags, etc).  She's a sweetheart, and laughs constantly (albeit, usually at me).  One day, she took me to the factory canteen for lunch.  I used chopsticks, she used a fork.


"I dub thee, Grace!"  Me and the newly-named Grace Liu.

[Layabout]

Wang is a rockawesome name.

[shbaz]

By the way, have you "tasted" chinese girls? I've heard chinese girls like "white" guys a lot (if you know what I mean...).

Er.... no comment.  A gentlemen does not discuss such things. ;p

He certainly did leave photographic evidence though! Way to go Dave.

[Gregjazz]

Wow, Dave sure has long arms!

Anyways, thanks for keeping us entertained by posting your journal of your trip to China. I hope you go there more often!