Monday, September 18, 2006

Back in the US...

Back for 12 days of meetings and errands.

Someone asked me this morning how I was adapting to life in the U.S.

"Well, there're Starbucks on every corner, just like in Shanghai."

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Nothing but Blue Skies...

Woke up today, the sky was blue, and it was almost cold! What a difference 10 degrees Celsius makes!

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

More on Traffic...

One of the things that stands out is how people just plain ignore the "Traffic Assistants," who blow their whistles frantically at scofflaw pedestrians and cyclists.

Another sign of how people in Shanghai interact was evident today. On the way to subway, I passed by a man having a raging argument with a cop, yelling, gesturing, everything. Can't imagine that happening in the states - he'd be flat on his back in a minute. Then, on the other side, a guy was having a knock-down drag out fight with a bus driver (who had stopped his bus right in the middle of the street). Lots of shouting, people restraining the guy, everything.

So, not much passivity here... :-)

Monday, September 04, 2006

Not Much Software Engineering in Shanghai

Just went to a BBQ hosted by an MIT alum. There were about a dozen alums, and assorted family members as well. It was in a renovated lane house, which was such a dramatic change from the high rise life. Though it was 40 feet from Shanxi Lu, a busy, busy street full of shops and traffic, it was like you were in the country, it was so quiet.

The striking thing about the alums is that though many/most of them were MechEng or EECS majors for their undergraduate degrees (in one case, a PhD in machine vision under BKP Horne), all of them were in either manufacturing, or in finance, or consulting, or private equity.

Not for the first time, it's clear that the core business of Shanghai isn't what I'm doing...