Tonight, we were scheduled to have a cocktail meet-and greet with our new employers at one of the restaurants where some of the CEI interns will be working (doing management stuff, not actually working at the restaurant).
Our scheduled cocktail party started at 6, so at 5 we set out from our dorms to find cabs to get all the way across town. Apparently, I didn't read my guidebooks closely enough, because June-August is the rainy season here in China. So the 16 interns set out, professionally dressed, in torrential downpours. We had to separate into cabs, because Chinese cab drivers strictly enforce the four-passenger rule, and we divided up based on who had a cell phone, so they could get in touch with our Chinese speaking professor should we (or the cab driver) get lost. It took us 20 minutes and getting soaked through to our undergarments to realize that there were no cabs, so we made our way to the bus, so we could get to the subway to get across town. From the subway, we took three trains and managed to lose three girls and our professor. When we finally managed to hail cabs, we were taken to a restaurant in a developing part of town. When the cab dropped us off, there was no apparent Block 8 restaurant on the street, but a quick trip around a newly constructed wall revealed our location.
And how long, you ask, did this experience take? A mere 2 1/2 hours from when we started. It looks like I'll be getting up veerrry early for work. Two and half hours late to a cocktail party? Mildly acceptable. Two and a half hours late to work? My Swiss Special Forces trained boss might seriously hurt me.
1 comment:
The second picture looks like it was taken in a seventies-themed bar in New Jersey. I love it.
Good luck with the transportation issues! I probably would have just gone home after the first 20 minutes, which tells me I do not currently have the stamina to survive in a foreign country. You go girl.
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