Friday, December 22, 2006

Karaoke in Shanghai

It's official. I knew the day would come. The cliche most definitely would apply, "not a matter of if, but when".

Ryan has been formally invited to a karaoke night as part of a "team building" exercise with colleagues from work.

Now, karaoke is huge in China. That's what people love to do. When you want to have fun with friends, you gather around the microphone and belt it out. And apparently, this ain't just the younger crowd of "20 somethings".

The Commercial development MANAGER stopped by my desk yesterday and explained we'd have a "team building" on January 5th. I had heard at lunch this week that these exercises are fairly commonplace, as they are in the USA, to encourage colleagues to get to know one another. Maybe play laser tag, or figure out how to get everyone on the team "over the wall". Perhaps develop trust by falling backward into your team's waiting arms with your eyes closed. I've even heard of great comraderie growing out of blasting your manager in the rear end with a paintball pellet. In China, forgot about all of those.

I nervously asked the sales guy what the plan was. Perhaps simply a dinner and then go ho......and he jumped in with "Yes, dinner and then karaoke". And it didn't stop there. He tacked on that this team building is special because we are inviting our customer. Yes, the people we just got done arguing with over a technical specification will be christening the heated discussion with a little Village People and YMCA. Nice.

So, in the spirit of this upcoming occasion, I'm attempting to post a poll. Let's pretend that I do more than "participate" with a listenting ear (what's a karoke night without some dedicated listeners?) and get behind the microphone. Perhaps they slipped some special Karaoke drug into my Coca-Cola.

So, here we go.

Make your song selection. Remember, you won't actually be there so I haven't included the option for "Ryan, please just stay in your seat."

OK, so the poll is having a technical difficulty. I'm going to take it out for some Karaoke. Meanwhile, if you have a song preference, post it!

FYI - we are taking the kids into a popular tourist area for it's historic Chinese garden and shopping. Check back for pictures.

































Free PollsIf Ryan does Karoke, what song should he sing?
Brick House, The Commodores
Kung Fu Fighting, Carl Douglas
Puff the Magic Dragon, Peter, Paul, and Mary
Ice Ice Baby, Vanilla Ice
King of the Jungle with motions, Heartland Kids Worship






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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey have lots of fun!!!

Anonymous said...

Ryan, Go for "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".