ChinaTales - Vol2

Nihao Everyone!!! - Good Morning on a Monday Morning :)

" The word Perfect is used by people, when Expected things happen Unexpectedly!!"

I really dont know if it makes sense, but it makes 'perfect' sense to me!! Its already been a week now, that i have been in Shanghai, and things have just been Perfect!!, Yes, i had some expectations, but a lot of things here are unexpected, and the expected things have come as a great surprise!!

So, this part of chinatales (i think i am making a brand of this story of mine.. hehe, with inspiration from da gr8 yousuf bhai and moiz bhai!!), is all about my first week in the ' New York of Asia", Shanghai!, my work, my colleagues, the parties!, food, laptops, bargains!!(trust me i will win a place in the guiness book for that) and other random things!!

For people, who dont have the patience to read the entire thing :(. here are links to my pics and videos!!

Pics - http://picasaweb.google.com/nikunj.parekh/ChinaTalesPics
Vids - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MwTL3Y8QCU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6AmpIOLfss


So, after that roller coaster first two days of meeting unknown people, missing home really badly!, settling down at house, it was time for the real thing!!, the work!!

So monday it was, and Nick and Bence (my flatmates from Taiwan and Hungary), kept telling me about how bad the morning ride in the metro is here, and i did experience it, trust me guys, all of u who have been to Mumbai Trains, this is far worse, the trains are small, like the Kol metro, and there are SO MANY PEOPLE!!!, at 8 in the morning (yea i get up early now), i mean, yea, china is the most populated country in the world and you can see that here, there are tooo many people, there are times where you are nose to nose with ppl!, but thats the experience!, staying in a city which is so energetic, and which is so futuristic!

I was shocked to see our office building!, it is a dream building!, when we go abroad to work, we always dream that we will be working in a Big building, of glass, in the center of the city, and its just that!!, the Center, with suited guards!( trust me, they look more decent then some of our managers in india!), and amazing elevators!,

Ok, the office is simply stunning!, lots and lots of people, very modern, and it gives you a feel instantly that you are working in a MultiNational Company!, the people, are so warm and welcome you so well!, i always thought chinese people will be cold, but they are not!, they are very receptive, but the deal is, i am in the Global logistics team, of 8 ppl, and there is only one Chinese in our team!, we are a truly multicultural team with One Indian ( :) ), Russian, Mexican, Columbian, Sweedish, Hungarian, Taiwanese ,Italian! ( 90% of them are previous AIESEC Trainees, and rest current ones!)

so thats what a perfect place to work is rite, working with people all over the world, and working on a job that involves coordination and managing of shipments and logistics all over the world, truly i am now being a part of the Global Village as somepeople call it!!,

Anyways, a quick info on my job now, its a really challenging one, and i am honored to do something like this at this young age!, I am in the Logistics Operations Analyst, and am a part of a special project that will change the way suppliers supply goods to electrolux, as in their supply change, logistics etc, dont wanna go to a lot of details, but the job involves making Internal Business Plans, communication with Suppliers from all over the world, shipping companies, i am solely responsible for a project with US factories of electrolux, so it will have a lot of coordination with US factories, then managing shipments, scheduling shipments, making sure everything is on time, documentation etc etc. .. so something that i always wanted to do, and i am sure if i would have stayed back in India for a job/,mba i would not have got this multicultural exposure, so thanks AIESEC !!

Now the people, its amazing how much can a person learn from so many diverse ppl, in a week i have learnt a lot abt Hungarian history, saw a hungarian movie, had food with all my office mates, and learn their diff working styles!, so a lot in store for me for the future!

Well the food is a small prob, but not that big one!, i have sandwiches, burgers, pizzas in the morning, and alternative nites go to this Indian Maharaj which is 20 Mins away from office by train and 50 Mins from home, Trust me he makes amazing indian food, just like home, better than home some times!!, its not a restaurant, its just his flat where he cooks food and indians who know him can have food there, its a big relief to have food at his house!.
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Ok, now something on my short shopping experiences, i went for this latino nite, on Mexican Independence day with Some friends, and after which we were waiting for this friend to come out of the pub @ 2 Am, and this guy comes up with this Fake Rolex Watch, and quotes the price @ RMB 420 ( Rs 2520 Appx), And i just wanted to do some TP and didnt want to buy it, so i said i will buy it for 50 RMB !, he said a big noooooooooooooooooooooooo (just like the russel peters joke on india and china !), and then we said we dont want to buy, Bosmag( Fuck Off in Hungarian), and we just started avoiding him, and after 15 mins, i bought the watch from him for RMB 20 !!!! ( 120 Rs), guys china is the place to bargain!!, next day i bought a samsonite laptop bag for 600 RS (Quoted MRP was 2000), and shirts for 200 RS!

So its been a roller coaster ride so far, i know its tough to read such a long mail on a lazy monday morning, but i hope you read it, and reply back with your comments and suggestions!!......

Till Next time, with Another Topic

Sziasztok ( Bye Bye in Hungarian!)

PS - Next time will use more Chinese when i learn it!!

Cheers

ChinaTales - Vol1

ChinaTales - Nik@Shanghai


Nihao to whoever is reading this in whichever part of the world!! (Nihao = Hello!)

I had told Siddharth Kanoria (for those of you who don't know him, my classmate from SXC, now in DHL Singapore as an AIESEC Trainee), that I will write my updates about Shanghai before his mail comes for Singapore(he has been there for 2 weeks now), and here I am.... With my tales from the Dragon Land - china, from the city of the future - Shanghai!!

Caution - If you don't find my tales/writing interesting, please please email me back saying that you don't want to read it, and I will remove you from the list. What will follow is a small account of what I have done for the past few days, and will keep writing in the future as well!

Alrite, so here we go....

Have you ever thought about stepping into Sachin Tendulkar's shoes, going out there in the middle, opening the batting and facing fast bowlers, and having expectations of a century from a billion people.?

Well, I am in no way comparing myself with him, but that's what I felt yesterday, coming to an Alien Land, meeting people I have never met before, staying without family in a house, it was like batting on an Australian wicket without the helmet!!, you never knows whats coming up next!!

Ok, now a Detailed Account of what I have been Upto -

First and Foremost - Shanghai is an Amazing Amazing City, there is no comparison between Shanghai and Any City in India, trust me, its an exceptional mix of Development, Population, Skyscrapers, and futuristic infrastructure!!..

I got an amazing amazing small farewell from my friends back home, they all came to my house, swati, anuj, anu, prashant, divya, ankit, anurag, pooja, I had cut a cake, they made a PPT for me which almost made me cry and then all of us in one car to the airport singing songs, some funny, some senti, so a touchy moment for sure.

It was a long flight journey no doubt, no alcohol for me this time, as I have decied to cut down on my consumption totally, so started watching Shootout at Lokhandwala and slept midway!. Arrived in Shanghai on Time... carried 44KGs of luggage when 20 KG was allowed, and they didn't utter a word, so the start was perfect...

Arrived on time @ shanghai, dot on time, I wonder that will a flight ever be on time in India for domestic flights!!, anyways, but then the perfect times stopped a little, I could not find the person supposed to pick me up!!, exchanged money and gave him a call, and he was right there!!, reminded me so much of my AIESEC days, when I had gone for innumerable pickups, but now it was time to be on the other side!!

So, off we go, in a bus then a cab travelling across Shanghai!!, what a beauty this is...
Arrived at the house, and woooooooh, it's a huge complex!! 10 blds, all 15 floors high, and we live on the 14th and 15th floor, yea it's a duplex J

Bence, my flatmate, was there to receive me, I settled down in a medium to small sized room as all the big ones have been taken away before I reached, but I am damn happy with the house and the room!!...

So, so far so good.. went out with bence in the eve, and met up with some other trainees, and went to this 'veg' Chinese restaurant. Don't know why, but there, was the first time I felt terribly homesick!! It was all of a sudden, trust me, I felt like running away, catch the flight and go and meet everyone back home, I called mom, pooja, swati so many times, just to hear their voice!!, trust me it was damn tough!!, but after speaking to everyone I was fine..

Today Morning was a lazy one, got up late, and then was calming myself down, telling myself, this is what life is, full of challenges, and opportunities. If you want to gain something, you have to loose something, and right now i cant be homesick!, I have somuch to learn, so much to explore , the journey has just started!, prepared myself for al the challenges!

The First Challenge - Went to Peoples Square, an amazing place in the center of the city, with shopping malls, tall complex, etc. I was searching for a Citibank ATM - as I had to withdraw money desperately!!, I was out of cash... but woah, the card refused to work, maybe they have not activated it, so walked again for 2-3 KM to find a bank!, and then they said they cant change money without passport, which I wasn't carrying.. hmmmmm

So here I am, at an unknown city, with around 10-20 RMB(Chinese Currency , equivalent to 6RS/RMB). I had called up a friend, who I found on orkut - Soniya, an Indian living in Shanghai, and we were meeting up, she and her friends. So she said not to worry and she will lend me some money!. So for 2 hrs I was just walking here and there, @ shopping malls, lanes, etc. and finally we met. Soniya and her friend, chandini.

They were amazingly sweet ppl, very very helpful, no inhibitions, they took me to a movie, it was 4 girls and me(lucky huhJ), and then we went for dinner to an Indian restaurant!!, on the way I saw a bridge which was 6 floors high, the nangpu bridge!

Came back home late, but my fone wasn't working, and dad and mom had already got worried, have spoken to everyone, so all fine now!

Trust me its been an amazing start. I hope it remains the same. This AIESEC Experience of a traineeship simply can change a person and also ppl around u. Imagine, I am staying with 3 ppl, 1 from Taiwan, 1 from Hungary, 1 from Japan, there will be one coming from USA, 1 from Sweeden!!, so what a multicultural house it will be.

Cant wait to go to office tomorrow. So will write again with updates and pics!!

My Shanghai No - 0086-13917394344

Cheers till next timeJ

Did you Know? = Amazing Presentation!

Back to Square 1!

Its time to get back to Square 1... With a lot of things in life:

1. Start of a New Life in a Week: Yea, thats what i am the most excited about right now...Leaving for Shanghai on Friday, the visa is here, and so is the ticket!, Its definately going to be a life changing journey from now on, new people, new food ( god help me), new work, i am excited, yet apprehensive, lets hope everything works out well!

2. Blogging again - yes, something i was not doing at all from a last few months but want to restart, as the only medium of the outlet of my thoughts seems to be this!, and dont wanna be left behind in the web 2.0 age!

Anyways,

Till the net post

Cya

Niks