Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th October 2009

It was the case of the giant mosquito which managed to bite me about 4 times. Why is it that i'm the one who always always gets bitten no matter where I am? Never mind that the window was closed as was the door dammit. Oh wells not like I can do much about it. Anyhow, sitting on a very comfy chaise typing my world away for the time being. Leaving a little bit later than usual today... something along the lines of normality although today will nothing close to normal.

We arrived at the Rosedale Hotel to pick up our guests and get our Fair trade passes at the same time thereby conveiently saving time – so was the theory. So the boss drops me off at the hotel were I meet up with our guest who were waiting in line for the stand to open. The plan we'd all get our passes and it would be an easy and quick affair. Lies. The volunteers who were completing the registration for the passes were super slow. And each person actually had to be there to get their pass (for a police check). In a nutshell, a very tedious and unnecessary process for foreigners to gain access to the Canton Import and Export Trade Fair. Needless to say, I got mine but couldn't get the bosses. Haha.

So by the time we got picked up again, we were running pretty late as we needed to head to the resort for the business conferences. We got there just in time to check into our rooms, freshen up and have lunch. Bronwyn and I went for a bit of a stroll after lunch right before the conference.

The conference itself ran for qute some time. A little too long for the normal person with an average attention span – it was especially hard when they were just talking and talking (there were slideshows but it was more about what was being said). And it was obviously a little difficult for me to understand what was so in Mandarin. The second half of the conference was run by Brian about the company he works for. Sachem's now Australian business partner: HB Fuller. I think he was quite impressive from the short films all the way down to physical demonstrations and samples of his products. And the Chinese people especially loved the little plushie Australian animal key rings he bought for them as souvenirs.

Then we had a bit of time before dinner so we went for a few drinks at the hotel restaurant. That was the best we could do since the resort itself had no means of bar, pub or club. So it was either that or the surprisingly well-stocked supermarket. And LOL, obviously, they weren't use to Australian drinkers cause we cleaned out their refrigerated supply of Tsing Tao beer. I think the last couple of cans weren't that cold...

Dinner was again banquet style (pretty much all meals were except for breakfast) and enjoyable. I especially love it when the Chinese stare at the “aliens” - I.e., gwailos (and me probably cause I was talking in English to them) as we went in.

It was pretty much entertain yourself after dinner. So a group of us were driven back into town to a massage parlour. Luxury... I was almost so tired that I said I wasn't going to go but we pressured into going (I'm sorry, but it felt a bit weird being the only girl going...). Anyway, our driver drove – no joke – like a MANIAC. And I was in the front seat – thank goodness for the seatbelt. I swear we had like a million near misses. The massage place was awesome though. Spent some time in the sauna before I got my 90 minute full body massage. I almost fell asleep And by the time we got back it was just about 2 a.m. What a night.

So I'm sure you'd understand why I felt it was very difficult to get up at 7 this morning. Somehow I managed and felt like it was Christmas when I saw the filtered coffee at the buffet breakfast. They had some very interesting choices for breakfast: cakes, pudding and heavy meats as well as the more classic choices such as cereal, toast, eggs and bacon. Another thing I will never understand is the Chinese's love for boiled eggs and corn on a cob. No idea why.

Another conference straight after breakfast. And it was here that I said good bye to Brian as he was going to the Trade Fair before departing for KL. Gave me a few wise words, said we'd catch up in Oz. I'm so glad I met such wonderful people on this trip. I'll be seeing Robert an Bronwyn again on Sunday for Sachem's anniversary celebrations which is exciting.

This conference was about introducing Sachem's new range of products. Quite the boring for me despite my best efforts to concentrate. I blame the language barrier.

Then it was lunch (notice the pattern yet?) and yet another conference. However, the afternoon conference was delayed until 2:30 as the Japanese speakers had yet to land their plane. So myself and Kit took our Iran client for a game of bowling in the resort's private bowling alley. Pretty awesome and definitely have improved from my embarrassing low score at Strike not so long ago. =D

Introduced to MS during the second conference. Modified silicon. I think a couple of things were lost in translation during this presentation. 1 metre squared and 500 g of silicone scared a few of the distributors. LOL even me who has no in-depth knowledge of the product range knew that was a bit off. I was so impressed by one of the Japanese presenters who could convert from Japanese to English to Mandarin. And its given me some motivation to be able to learn to translate from English to Cantonese to Mandarin.

We managed to squeeze in another quick game of bowling before a final dinner with all the important people. =D We got driven back to the office (and I learnt that the factory is 24 hours, 7 days I three 8 hour shifts a day). Amazing.

I'm really glad I got to talk to Kit about GZ and life in general. She's actually only just begun her time here at the office (literally, this is her second week at work). I can't believe that she's 26 (she looks WAY younger than me in the kiddie way) and only just graduated. I find it highly amusing that she has a Masters in Applied Science and got a job in the sales department. She has no work experience. She's a local. Her parents call her incessently. Most of the team are in their 20s and most of them are relatively new to the company (less than a year) which again surprised me although I can't really see why since Ken has only been back here for just over 18 months now...

I could no doubt get use to the current life I'm living in GZ (with the exception of the air quality, lack of blue skies, greenery and beautiful Australia sunshine) but I know that it is impossible if I were to stay here long term. I'd have to earn how to take public transport (as opposed to being driven around in nice cars or catching cabs), I'd have to get use to the food and the mess hall (as opposed to eating out at very high class restaurants), I'd have to learn the language (as opposed to having a translator always at my side), I wouldn't be able to wear bling (I guess Tiffany's bracelet will have to live in a box in Australia...), I'd have to get my head around the fact that GZ has the same population of Australia, I'd have to try and cope with the sanitary conditions, I'd need to learn how to spot fakes, etc etc.