Tuesday, June 2, 2009
So in case you were wondering. I'm still alive and I'm doing fine. Shortly after arriving here, I pretty much completely stopped writing these blogs. It's been getting harder and harder to find time to actually write because:
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
6 days down ... 55 more to go ... (I know it's way too early to start counting down days, but I can't help it.)
Saturday, May 2, 2009
If you haven't read my entry about "public" restrooms, then you should check it out here first.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
It's getting late and I'm burning out, so I'll make it short and sweet:
- I only had to go to work for 2 hours to take care of a few things. It was nice to just have some time off to finish packing and stuff.
- I said my goodbyes to my coworkers. I'm terrible at goodbyes. It was totally awkward.
- I'm working in a town called Songgang (located in Shenzhen city), but I'm living in a town called Chang'an (located in Dongguan City). They're only about 10-15 minutes apart from each other.
- The apartment complex seems nice. The surrounding area seems to be a step up from the area where I was staying before. There's a McDonalds and Walmart located right downstairs.
- It's Labour Day tomorrow, but I still have to go to work :( Come on, it's China. If anyone was going to be big on this whole Communist International Workers' Day thing, it should be them!
Some things never always change. That pretty much sums up my chaotic life these past two months. Every morning I come into work and immediately check my email, hoping for some sort of update. People have been making decisions for me and my plans have been changing on a near daily basis. I’ve had to learn to be flexible and adapt to changing circumstances. Needless to say, it’s been really hard to stay motivated and keep working in this constant state of uncertainty. But all that is about to change…
If I haven’t talked to you recently or you haven’t been catching up my blog, then you probably have no idea what I’m talking about. So let me get those of you up to speed:
My product division has merged with a new business group (BG). The problem is that my old BG and the new BG both decided to let me go. (As an American worker, my salary is just too costly, especially compared to local Chinese and Taiwanese workers.) Now that doesn’t mean I’m being fired; I’m just getting reshuffled and sent off to another BG. And so my HR department has been scrambling to find a next assignment for me. So I’ve been busy interviewing, touring facilities, and waiting for job offers.
But like I said earlier, all that is going to change very soon. Yesterday I received and confirmed a job offer from a new BG. Today the logistics were finalized for transferring to this new group. Tomorrow will be my last day of work at my old group. And the day after tomorrow I’ll start work with my new group. Safe to say it’s going to be an insane week.
So what’s up with this new group?
- They basically manufacture interconnections and PCB for cell phones and other consumer electronics.
- I’ll need to move to a new dormitory and work in a different location, but their factory is still located in Shenzhen. (They’re just about 30 minutes further inland.)
- The new training plan will have me work about 1-3 more months in China. After that I’ll head back to the US and I’ll be working in Santa Clara.
- I’ll be working as an FAE (field applications engineer) with a long term plan to transfer into sales or account management in a few years.
P.S. If you heard rumors that I’d be home next week, I’m sorry to say that plan’s been scrapped. My contract guarantees a training break every six months, so I’ll probably see you all in early July? I’m hoping to home before my birthday :/ Please don't ask for an exact date; if I knew, I would tell you.