Well, it turns out that dinner and "playing cards or KTV singsong" turned into only dinner once reality struck. The dinner was extravagant with a view from one of the finest Shanghai dining establishments yet, there was still a hole in my heart when I hopped in the taxi cab.
Yes, I was somewhat disappointed that I didn't get to see any real, live kareoke. I'm positive there will be other opportunities, especially if I pursue it. So, all you hardcore fans out there, the dream is still alive.
The evening was fun and a learning experience. The most unique aspect of the evening were "toasts" going on throughout the evening. I quickly realized that it's appropriate to "toast" to your colleagues and your customer. So, there was sporadic toasting in the first 90 minutes. A GM engineer first raised his glass to me early with "Here's to you looking more like an American this year!" JK. But in the second 90 minutes, the toasting approached a frenzied pace. There was everything from one-to-one toasts t0 one-to-20 toasts. It was different at first but I quickly got the hang of it.
Oddly enough, it felt a little bit like a high school dance. I felt those nerves that keep you in your seat until your best friend kicks you in the pants. It was funny to see the outgoing managers/sales guys giving my colleagues "the kick in the pants" to go toast their customer counterpart(s).
The first picture is of 2 of my colleagues finishing one of their several toasts. The customer folks retuned the favor throughout the night with stuff like, "Here's to you being less of a slacker this year" and "Why must purchasing always source the low-cost supplier?" Joking aside, the evening created some neat comraderie. When I toasted Liu Yi, I told him it's been a pleasure working with such a hard worker and good friend. He responded in broken english, "It's really my pleasure to work with you, you are a very good friend, and I feel...well, I can't describe my feelings right now." I just smiled and thanked the Lord that he didn't try to kiss me!
Hey, and the rest of the pics are from our trip to the Shanghai aquarium today. It was very cool and we plan to use our family membership regularly.
Yes, I was somewhat disappointed that I didn't get to see any real, live kareoke. I'm positive there will be other opportunities, especially if I pursue it. So, all you hardcore fans out there, the dream is still alive.
The evening was fun and a learning experience. The most unique aspect of the evening were "toasts" going on throughout the evening. I quickly realized that it's appropriate to "toast" to your colleagues and your customer. So, there was sporadic toasting in the first 90 minutes. A GM engineer first raised his glass to me early with "Here's to you looking more like an American this year!" JK. But in the second 90 minutes, the toasting approached a frenzied pace. There was everything from one-to-one toasts t0 one-to-20 toasts. It was different at first but I quickly got the hang of it.
Oddly enough, it felt a little bit like a high school dance. I felt those nerves that keep you in your seat until your best friend kicks you in the pants. It was funny to see the outgoing managers/sales guys giving my colleagues "the kick in the pants" to go toast their customer counterpart(s).
The first picture is of 2 of my colleagues finishing one of their several toasts. The customer folks retuned the favor throughout the night with stuff like, "Here's to you being less of a slacker this year" and "Why must purchasing always source the low-cost supplier?" Joking aside, the evening created some neat comraderie. When I toasted Liu Yi, I told him it's been a pleasure working with such a hard worker and good friend. He responded in broken english, "It's really my pleasure to work with you, you are a very good friend, and I feel...well, I can't describe my feelings right now." I just smiled and thanked the Lord that he didn't try to kiss me!
Hey, and the rest of the pics are from our trip to the Shanghai aquarium today. It was very cool and we plan to use our family membership regularly.
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