Day 19- June 19: Putting My Life In The Hands Of Others

Today was the day… it was finally time to go bungee jumping. I had been looking forward to this ever since Ben Booker showed me the video of himself doing it last summer. Was I nervous? Obviously. But, more than that I was excited and a little antsy to get there. We were headed to Long Qing Gorge. Seriously, Google this place, it is awesome. Our entire group had decided to go on the trip and even Yuan came along (after a bit of convincing) to act as our translator. We all had put our money together and rented a bus to act as our chauffer for the day. Our first stop was McDonalds for a marginally good breakfast. Next, we were off and rolling into the Beijing countryside. As everyone else put their headphones on and hit play on their iPods, I sat silently, once again mentally kicking myself for leaving my own iPod at home. Alas, the countryside was really beautiful and there were sections of the road that ran right beside the Great Wall. Once we finally arrived it was a twenty minute walk (all up hill) to the ticket office. Yuan insisted that we could not pay the 10 RMB to have a golf cart or horse take us to the top, he said it was too expensive…stingy bastard. Finally we bought our tickets and entered the park. The next phase of the journey was to ride what they described as “the world’s longest elevator” to the top of a dam. To enter the elevator you literally walked into a dragon’s mouth, which was pretty crazy. The elevator consisted of six normal sized elevators with small landings in between each of them. I consider this to be cheating, thus it is not “the world’s longest elevator” in my book. Finally we boarded a boat that took us down a long river that was surrounded on both sides by beautiful cliffs, some of which had Chinese engravings. Then it happened, we went around a corner and saw what appeared to be the horizontal section of a crane protruding from the side of the mountain…it was the bungee jump. From the boat we were able to see a couple of people take their turn jumping…it looked absolutely exhilarating. When the boat landed at the dock we all quickly hiked up the mountain and parted with the 135 RMB that it cost to partake in the adventures. As I handed the man at the ticket counter (small broken desk) my money something funny (terrifying) occurred to me, I had just paid $20 USD to jump off the side of a cliff. There are certain purchases where it is all right to buy the cheaper version…bungee jumping is not one of them. Even with that thought, there was no way I was backing out of this. I climbed up the narrow, steep, rusty steps and got into line. I was the fifth in line out of our group of nine who had decided to take the plunge and there were seven Chinese men and women (who did not speak a word of English) in front of us. The wait was terrifying. It seemed to go on forever, but in reality it probably was about an hour and a half. I watched as one by one everyone in front of me jumped off the platform. Everyone in our group was a bit nervous and we all joked about the possibility of the cord breaking or of our feet slipping out...the normal things to help everyone relax. Finally, it was my turn. I walked down the rusty plank and sat down on a small wooden bench. Three Chinese men started talking in Chinese (they spoke no English). After what I am guessing was my pep talk, two of them wrapped Velcro around my ankles. Let me repeat, Velcro! Seriously, it was a Velcro band that would be holding my ankles (and life). Then they attached the ankle harness to the bungee line with an old (rusty) carabineer. The carabineer that I used to hold my keys in high school was of better quality. Then, they walked me out on the ledge and let the bungee cord fall down. The weight of the cord hanging above the water was almost enough in itself to pull anyone down. I held the railing behind me, put my toes just over the edge of the platform and tried to catch my breath. The Chinese man tapped my shoulder said something and before I knew what I was doing I took a swan dive over the edge. It was exhilarating! The further I fell, the faster I went. I could feel the gravity pulling me towards the water and just as I approached the surface, the line caught and shot me back up into the air. I bounced up more times than I could count (two really good ones at least) and I wore a huge smile on my face the whole time (there are great pictures and even a video). Once the line settled and all the blood had rushed to my head I was lowered into a boat that took me over to the docks. As soon as I got off I saw Russell (who went right before me) and neither of us could seem to put into words what had just happened. All we knew was that our adrenaline was going through the roof and we proceeded to sprint up the mountain in order to watch everyone who was still in line. After watching everyone else jump our group went and checked out a small Buddhist temple and started heading down the mountain. To get down the final section of the mountain you had two choices: you could hike or pay and ride a small luge down a track. Of course we all paid and raced down the track at very unsafe speeds (I almost flipped mine twice). This would have been extremely exhilarating on any other day, but I had just jumped off a mountain, so it did not quite measure up. We eventually made it back to the bus and on the way home stopped and ate some Chinese food. When I arrived back at the Global Village it was time to Skype with Dad (Mom was there, too) for Father’s Day. That night John Nash and I stayed in and watched a bootleg DVD copy of Kung Fu Panda 2. I cannot think of any words to describe just how exhilarating an experience that was. Happy Father’s Day, Dad, I am glad I am still here to say that to you.

Day 18- June 18: To Go To Shanghai, Or Not To Go To Shanghai, That Is The Question

I decided to treat this Saturday like a Saturday should be treated…I slept in until 1:00 PM. After taking my time to get ready Russell and I decided to go and get a pizza from Pyro Pizza. We split a large pepperoni pizza and a large Caesar salad…we ate every bite. It was a great American meal. Over lunch we discussed the possibility of taking a trip to Shanghai on the weekend of July 1-3. The plane ticket would not be too expensive (around $150 USD round trip) and it would be an awesome trip to check out the most populated city in China. Russell also said that his Dad would help with the hotel as a birthday present. John (Tackaberry) had the original idea to take the trip because he had a friend in Shanghai for the summer. When we got back we went and talked with Yuan about the difficulties that a trip to Shanghai would present and he informed us that it would definitely be possible to pull off. He also gave us a gift from the PKU International Summer Program. It was a nice new backpack with the words “Peking University International Summer Program” printed across the front and a leather bound daily planner with the PKU logo (mine is red). After a few hours of lounging around Russell, John (Tackaberry), and I went and ate dinner at a place called The Bridge. It is actually the same place where we had the “Big American Breakfast” on the day of our Beijing tour…so I had the same thing for dinner to complete my day of American eating. After the dinner we went and hung out at Pyro Pizza for a little while. All the while we discussed the possibility of our trip to Shanghai. I went to bed early, anticipating the exciting day that was ahead of me tomorrow.

Day 17- June 17: Finally…Peking Duck

My morning started out with a progress meeting with Rich. It was a really great way to start the day. We talked about the projects that I have been working on, my expectations, and generally about how I was enjoying the internship. After we wrapped up our conversation he gave me notes from two interviews that he had conducted and asked me to write them up so he could put them on the website. They were both really interesting. One was with Dom, the founder of Plastered T-Shirts where Cat works, and the other was with a celebrity chef in Beijing who designed three summer salads for Gung Ho! Pizza. After my write-ups I had a meeting scheduled with Josh. Our meeting focused on putting together the details for the 4^th of July party and discussing the various aspects that go into hosting a mixer at Pyro Pizza. After the meeting I spent what was left of my workday organizing my notes for the 4^th of July party. That night our group had a dinner reservation with Jim James, the internship coordinator who had helped all of us find our internships in Beijing. I met Rui, Yuan, and John Tackaberry at the subway and we all went to meet everyone else at the restaurant. I went with them specifically because I did not know how to get there and I wanted Rui and Yuan to help me out. What ensued was a dramatic series of events that included getting off at the wrong subway stop, walking through the Russian district in Beijing, and aimlessly wandering for about forty-five minutes until we finally came across the restaurant. It is actually really funny to hear Rui and Yuan talk. Normally when they are around us they speak in English, but when we were lost they bickered in Chinese and tried to hide the fact that they had gotten us lost. Finally we arrived at Xiao Wang Fu, a well renowned restaurant in Ritan Park. Surprisingly, we were not the last group to arrive, we were the second to last and the other had to work late. The dinner made the entire trip worth the trouble. I finally got to eat Peking Duck, which is considered the specialty of Beijing, and it was amazing. Our meal also consisted of spicy chicken, ribs (yes actual ribs with rub like I have at home), a ton of other foods and this great dessert which was simply a piece of dough that was either fried or not and you dipped it into an amazing custard and vanilla sauce. Jim James was great company. He shared a number of interesting stories and ideas and the dinner conversation was really enjoyable. At dinner we also made plans to go bungee jumping this coming Sunday. Afterwards we took a stroll through Ritan Park and Jim James showed us a stone boat that had been turned into an upscale bar. We eventually took a taxi back home in order to prepare for that night. Our plan all along was to go out in Sanlitun that night. We had all been there to either work or shop but we had not enjoyed their nightlife (primarily because it is a forty-five minute taxi ride to get there). But once we arrived it was all worthwhile. Bars lined the streets on both sides. There were street vendors all around selling all kinds of weird food and there were people from all over the world everywhere. On top of that we checked out two of the largest clubs I have ever seen either on TV or in person. At one point the night did take a scary turn. I saw a drunk Chinese guy accidently knock over a trashcan and he just kept walking along. Three young Chinese guys who apparently owned the trashcan yelled at him and when he did not stop they attacked him. Literally, attacked, one guy smashed a bottle over his head and when he fell to the ground the three guys beat him for at least three minutes straight. Finally he was able to run away. After that we continued to check out all of the bars and eventually took a taxi home. It was a great, but long day.

Day 16- June 16: These Guys Can Ball

Taking advantage of Rich’s request, I slept in until about noon and made it to Lush around 1:00 PM. But my short day at work was not a waste and I was productive while I was there. I outlined and started planning the 4^th of July party, I created an Excel spreadsheet that I would use for competitor analysis and I started to research summer program coordinators that I could contact to set up mixers with when they arrived in Beijing. After work four of us met up and decided to go play basketball at the outside courts on the PKU campus. When we got there we could not find anyone to play against us (the language barrier had a lot to do with that). Finally a group of four Chinese students wearing matching uniforms came up and offered to play against us. These guys were big, the shortest one was close to my height. They also all looked serious. One guy was rocking the Dwayne Wade/Dwight Howard full Nike armband. Fortunately, one of them spoke English and he quickly explained that they were the Peking University basketball team. Once we started playing, it became obvious that they were not lying. These guys could ball. They were shooting lights out and they fought for every rebound. We played them for almost two hours and got beat up and down the court the entire time. Afterwards they were telling us that we did a great job and it was nice to have some competition on campus. We exchanged numbers and told them that we would play them again sometime soon. After a quick shower a large group of us caught the subway to Ho Hai to get dinner. We finally settled on a nice and fairly inexpensive looking place where we were able to eat on the rooftop terrace. We had an assortment of meats, vegetables, dumplings, and a delicious fried pancake. The view was awesome. We were looking out right over the water and you could see all the activity happening on the street below us. After dinner we bought a fruit smoothie and walked around Ho Hai. We later caught a taxi home. By the time I got in bed I was exhausted and sore. That was the first exhausting physical activity that I had been able to do since I arrived in Beijing.

Day 15- June 15: Happy Birthday Russell!

It was Russell’s 21^st birthday! And Pub Trivia Night at Lush! To say that my focus on work was less than stellar is an understatement in itself. Looking back, I honestly cannot remember what I accomplished besides more brainstorming for my projects and some blog writing. After work ended I went back to Global Village and took a quick shower. I met up with Russell and John (Tackaberry), it was raining so we decided to take a taxi back to Lush instead of biking or walking. The first taxi that pulled over to pick us up was as sketchy as they come. It was a black van with tinted back windows and no marked taxi sign. We had previously been warned not to get in an unmarked taxi, but it was raining, so we took the risk. The gamble paid off because the taxi driver was as aggressive as they come and actually cheaper than the normal taxi price. At one point he pulled up on the sidewalk to pass a bicycle that was in the middle of the bicycle lane (which he used as his personal highway). Pub Trivia Night was fun, but the crowd was not quite what it had been the Wednesday before. It was awesome to get half off everything with my “Wu Krew” card and after trivia ended we decided to head over to KTV (the Chinese name for Karaoke). We all chipped in and rented a huge room where they helped us set up our personal flat screen television and duo microphone set. Apparently our package also included beer because they filled the table in front of us with bottles and left us to have a great time. Everyone took turns singing and Yuan and Rui even got in on the action with a Chinese duet. The KTV spot made us leave when they closed, but instead of heading home we went downstairs to Club Global to continue the celebration. It was a long night (I got in around 4:00 AM), but fortunately at Pub Trivia Night Rich had told me to come in to work late the next day and to make sure we all had a great time that night. I considered that to be an assignment from my internship, so I made sure we all had a great time celebrating.

Day 14- June 14: Time To Make A Good Impression

It is an interesting feeling to wake up early for work when you really are not certain what you are doing on that particular day. That was my overwhelming emotion at the start of the day and it grew even stronger when Rich sent me a message saying that I could present my data to him at noon over lunch. It was great to have a meeting on the books…but I did not have anything to work on up until that point. Regardless, I decided that I would go to Lush around 10:00 am and brainstorm about projects that I could do in the future and new ideas for the businesses. This actually turned out to be a great way to spend my time. I came up with a number of good ideas and it gave me a chance to really analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each of the three separate businesses. By the time Rich arrived for lunch I was bursting with ideas and I was excited to present my data analysis. I have to admit, the way that I organized the data was pretty cool. I broke down each response into four categories: mindshare, race, sex, and location. Once I had put them all onto an Excel spreadsheet I created a system where you could sort through the data by limiting each field. I also made a PowerPoint with six pie charts to show the pieces of information that I found most relevant. As I explained what I had done, Rich seemed to be just as impressed as I had hoped. It was nice to see him pour over the numbers, ask questions, tell me how helpful it would be and say how I had gone above and beyond what he expected. After that I talked about the other ideas that I had come up with and we discussed upcoming projects that I could work on as well. He seemed a little surprised (in a really good way) when I talked about two of my ideas. I had identified the biggest problem that Gung Ho! Pizza faces as being the inability to communicate between the foreigners who order the product and the Chinese workers who work at the POS. I asked if they had considered online ordering software and he said that Jade had just come up with that idea a couple of months before and the contract for the software was sitting on his desk. He also really liked an idea that I had to create a link from the Gung Ho! Pizza website to the iF Juice (a fresh juice that they serve (also another girl on the trip is interning there)) website and vice-versa. After that we discussed the possibility of me running their big 4^th of July party and setting up a number of mixers between foreign programs and Lush/ Pyro Pizza. Other ideas for projects that I could work on included doing competitor analysis and creating an English training program for new employees. Before Rich left he gave me a “Wu Krew” card that gave me 50% off any purchase I made at Lush or Pyro Pizza. After the meeting I spent the rest of my day planning and brainstorming for my new projects. When I got home I went with a group and ate at the Chinese restaurant within the Global Village. That night I started reading the first book that Jade had given/assigned to me, The E-Myth Revisited. It was a good day at my internship and I feel like I started to turn a corner in proving that I would have some worth to the company in my limited stay.

Day 13- June 13: Here I Go Again…On My Own

Yes. I listened to that Whitesnake song at work today. But, also, today was my first day working on my own. But, before that, this morning started out quite strange. I was supposed to Skype with Mom and Dad, but they were reckless and broke the webcam that I bought them for Christmas. So, they still had Skype and could see and hear me, but I could not see or hear them. Basically it was a 20 minute monologue and they would spur me on by asking questions via instant message…it was interesting but it was nice to kind of catch up with them. After that I got to watch as the Heat were dominated throughout the course of Game 6 of the NBA Finals. Even though they lost, I am still in the market for a knock off LeBron jersey while I am here in China. Today I had a few assignments to do for work and so I decided to go and do my work at Lush, since I do not have a true office. It was nice to just sit at a booth for most of the day and be productive and have someone bring me water and food. In my mind, I imagined the waiters were my assistants…it’s the little things that get you through the day. Anyway, my first two tasks were to email some information about my student assistants to Cara, Rich’s assistant, and to get information regarding the international summer programs at universities around Beijing. One of my next projects will be to plan a mixer between the various programs that will be sponsored by Lush and Pyro Pizza. My final task was a little tricky. I had to organize all of the data I collected last week onto a spreadsheet, calculate a bunch of numbers, and then put it all together with charts on a PowerPoint. The problem was that I am not proficient with Excel and I had no clue how to make graphs and charts with PowerPoint. It took a little while but I eventually figured it out. I am going to present it all to Rich tomorrow and (if I do say so myself) it all looks pretty good and professional. I finished work a little bit early and was able to head back to Global Village around 5:00 pm. I had needed to do laundry all weekend, so I went ahead and washed all of my clothes. China has great washing machines. They take about thirty minutes and even though they are small, they do a great job. The problem is with their drying machines. Simply put, they suck. It takes only 1 Yuan to use the dryer for 10 or 20 minutes (depending which machine you use) but they take about 2 hours to dry a load of clothes. Also, some machines only allow you to put in one coin at once, so you have to go back every 10 minutes. It took so long to wash clothes because of the slow drying process that I had to order dinner and stay in just to finish the laundry before it was time to go to bed. But, now I have two weeks worth of clean clothes and I have a great entrepreneurial business idea (importing decent dryers into China and selling them at huge mark ups).