New Job

After the nightmare of my first job in China, I was nervous that the same issues I had with BHI I would have with this new company. I did know from my interview that they at least had a layering system for AutoCad and file naming with was a major improvement. My newest company, Valode + Pistre Architects, Shanghai Office, was not the company I wanted to work for. The fact is I turned down their offer when I was still interviewing with other firms. I felt really good after my interview with Mayho Design. I knew the interviewers, an Italian and a Brit, wanted me to be part of their design team. After waiting a week or so, I contacted one of the interviewers via email to inquire about the position. Just as my luck would have it, the company president put them on a hiring freeze for the moment which was just as much of a shock to my interviewers as it was to me. That was devastating news for me.

As I was contacting the headhunter I was using to inquire about more interviews, he advised me that Valode + Pistre Architects were still interested in hiring me even. So one month after my interview with them, I submitted another counter offer to them of 8,000 RMB per month for the first two months with an increase to 10,000 RMB per month after the two months probation. They accepted right away and I realized I could have asked for more but oh well, at least I have a new job.

The company wanted to start me in their Beijing Office for the first three months. I was excited to go to Beijing but I knew that I would not have been able to afford an apartment in Beijing and keep my lease in Shanghai so I asked them to pay my apartment in Beijing while I was there. Apparently they did not like that idea and told me to just start in the Shanghai Office.

On my first day, I took a taxi to work and took my seat, got some information regarding rules and regulations and a list of the folder system and file naming and layering system. So far so good! As the day went on, I asked where the other employees were and to my surprise I was told the five of us were the only ones in the Shanghai Office. I thought I was entering an office of forty-five. Small offices always worry me for a couple of reasons: first, the management isn't always present and employees are expected to work without management which is bad for someone just starting out as an architecture, and second, if it is a satellite office, the project architects and the company Human Resource personnel are located in the larger office which was similar to my first company here. I like to be able to talk to the project architect if I have questions about the project or what exactly they are looking for when it comes to my work. The biggest shock out of all this was the fact that I am the only non-Chinese employee at this office. All the employees knew English and seemed very nice so that calmed my nerves some.

My first week, I did absolutely nothing. It was so boring. I was already starting think my fear of little to no management was justified. So as the week went by, I would read articles and search for apartments on SmartShanghai.com, window-shop for clothes and shoes on TaoBao.com, and draw in my sketch book. OMG! I hate being bored at work.

We did get some work to do the next week but it was still fairly slow most days. It continued this way until the head of the Beijing office was going to stop by for a visit and talk about the new project we were working on. I had been working on a PowerPoint presentation which I had been given the Monday prior and told I had two weeks to work on it which was more than enough time and it was now Thursday and Olivier was going to be here on Friday. My boss came to my desk around 3pm that day and gave me a list of changes I needed to make before his boss arrived at the office the next day at 11am. Where was he with these corrections the day before or that morning?

I ended up staying 3 hours over that night to get most of the work done so there wouldn't be that much left for me to do the next day. I was not happy that I had to do overtime when I was not getting paid extra for it and that it could have been prevented by better management. My boss did seem surprised when I was not quite done with it when his boss arrived which just increased my frustration. I was done before he needed to access however.

The next week things were back to being slow. Doing this slow then rush to meet deadline then slow then rush to meet deadline is not the way to run an office. I know it will happen at times but most of the time it is avoidable with good time management by the project leader and office managers. At least I am not sick to my stomach to come into work like I was at my last office, so I figure I can deal with it for the time being.

Shanghai Contemporary Art Gallery Showcase 2012

On Thursday, September 6, 2012, I was invited to attend the 2012 Shanghai Contemporary Art Gallery Showcase preview. There were over 100 galleries from China and abroad in attendance with art work ranging from photography to painting to sculpture to living art. For more information see link above.

Some might ask how I was invited to such an event? Well since being in Shanghai, I have met some great people who have being friends. One of those friends works for Moproo [art gallery] and happen to have an extra VIP pass for the event (isn't it awesome to know the right people...lol). His gallery was one of the new one galleries featured at this year's Shanghai Contemporary. I really had one plan to attend because it was late notice when I heard but I am so glad I attended. I have posted some photos of my favorite pieces on display. I took many photos of great art; I only wish I could share all of them with you.

**Note: All photos on this blog are prohibited from private or commercial use in any form without written permission from photographer and/or artist of the work photographed.

This photo was my absolutely favorite piece. I only wish I could get a better image of it. The photograph was taken using film and the contrast of the two skin tones is phenomenal. The way the black man nearly fades into the back ground is beautiful.

These two photos were taken by me inside one of the art pieces. The installation piece was a large box with controlled light so there was absolutely no shadows. All of the shadows you see were created and by the artist. This had to be one of the most interesting art installations I have seen.





This piece I thought was very interesting from the colors to the forms and balance of the overall composition. This was the first piece at the art event that really caught my attention but I am not entirely sure why.

This is one example of live art. I always enjoy watching someone create art. It never fails to amaze me the talent that some people have. Right next to him was a woman using a living canvas to display her art.

These two paintings by the same artist are nice and simple but with a clear message of relationships. The depiction of two different couple, and their affection or lack of affection toward each other.

Death in the Family

Shortly after arriving in Shanghai, my grandmother had a stroke. She has been dealing with one health issue or another for many years but she has always pulled through. This woman has beat cancer, survived the pain of knee replacement, and many others so I thought she would beat this stroke too.

I was told that the stroke left her partially paralyzed which is common for stroke victims but she was going through physical therapy to help. I was trying to get updates regularly on her condition through my mother and my sister. Everything was going well from what I was told and that she was recovering.

When the news came that she had taken a turn for the worse, I was stocked. I was told she was back in the hospital and not doing well at all. My family went to visit her including my sister and my mother, her former daughter-in-law. My sister and my grandmother had some tension between them for years and it was good that my sister went to see her. Lisa, my sister, told me in an email that she made peace with grandma and treated her visit as a last goodbye.

Things were not looking good for my grandmother. The doctors had given her a 30 percent survival rate. I wanted to come home to see her but if I left the country before I completed my residency permit and received my full one year work visa, I would have to restart the process back in the US. My temporary visa was only for thirty days with a once only entry.

I talked it over with my mother and we both agreed that it would be best for me to stay in China. I had seen my grandmother before I left and spent some time with her. She was healthy then and we had a great day together just talking about my new adventure and past stories. Of course being my grandmother and the religious woman she was, I did get the you should be going to church speech.

Well it was the day I was getting my passport back with my full visa and the day when I needed to make the final choice of whether or not I was going home. That same day my grandmother passed away at the age of 81 only days after her birthday. That was a tough night for me. I decided to not go home for the funeral and that my family would understand I couldn't be there.

HOT! HOT! HOT!

For some reason, before I moved to Shanghai, I thought it was going to be cooler and drier than back home in Tennessee. Well....I have never been more wrong about anything in my life!

The temperature since I got here has in the 90s (F) [upper 30s (C)] with a humidity of about 80%. YUCK! If you know me, you know that I am not a hot weather person. If there is snow on the ground or if you can see your breath, then I am happy. Even at night it is hot which still makes no sense to me. Back home, if it was hot during the day, it would still be cool at night. I never thought I would say this, but I long for Tennessee weather. Crazy, I know! The only relief from the heat is right after it rains. The temperature does cool off the day or two after a good rain which is nice.

I do hear that it can get pretty cold in the winter here. Let's hope that is correct! Once winter comes, I will let you know.

Business Trip??

My first day at work was interesting for sure. I arrived to the office for my first work day at an architecture firm in China to be told that I was going on a business trip to ZaoZhuang for an uncertain amount of time. This would have been an exciting event had it not been my first day at work and had I been giving the opportunity to go home to get a change of clothes but sadly that was not the case.

The city is located north of Shanghai in the ShanDong province. It is a city that is pretty much completely under construction (ALL of the projects in the office are located in ZaoZhuang). There is no English to be found unlike Shanghai. I believe I was the only western person in that city until my boss's friend from Australia showed up which was a much needed relief.

We, a few colleagues and I, were there to meet with clients, government officials, as well as do some site visits. I still don't know why I was there which was a total of 2 full days and 2 nights. All the meetings over the 2 days there were in Chinese with no one to translate for me and I had no knowledge of the projects that were being discussed. I was told by others that I was there to be the "white face" of the company to impress the clients and officials. Whether this is true or not, I did feel useless there.

The only good thing about being there was attending the big banquet lunch and dinners. Every lunch and dinner was a chance to discuss more business for my boss, however; I was there for the new foods. I had some really amazing food (don't ask me what I ate because I didn't ask, I just tired it all...lol). I did try something that I knew exactly what it was but I tried it anyway, that was a large INSECT with 6 legs and a crunchie outer shell (trust me it was crunchie). There was an entire plate of them sauteed for the table. I knew I had to try one to keep face and not be laughed at by everyone at the lunch. To my surprise, it wasn't that bad. I did just have only one though..lol.

Welcome to China!

Here I am on the other side of the world living, working, and starting a new chapter in my life.

A few months ago, I came across an advertisment for a placement company that brought architects to China. With this economy and the effect it has had on the job market for architects, I didn't see any harm in sending my information to this somewhat suspicous company. I never really considered working in China. Up to this point, I had sent out over 400 CVs since graduating from with my bachelor two years ago. It was a huge surprise when I received an email from the company notifying me that there was an architecture firm in Shanghai, China, that wanted to interview me.

Well, as you probably know by now, I received the job and made the frighten, life changing move. I have now been in Shanghai for a little over a month. There have been a lot of ups and downs when it comes to working here, living here, and just trying to mantain a life here. In future posts, I will recount my experiences both good and bad. Please keep in mind that any observations made whether positive or negative are purely based on my opinion and/or stating the opinions of others.