Official First Post
Well, after my long three-week ordeal in Texas, which all told cost me maybe $8,000 or so, I am finally here in the PRC. Thanks to Jim for the site design, I’m going to keep updating it as time goes on with cool graphics and stuff. But for now, this will work perfectly.
Okay, the day began early. I was waitlisted for a first class upgrade on my flight between Houston an San Francisco, and I was 5th out of 8th. I didn’t get bumped up to First but I did get put in Economy Plus, which is an economy sized seat with a crapload more legroom. Nice and confmy, so no complaints there.
We arrived in SF about 20 minutes early, which gave me just enough time to get to my departure gate. They were actually boarding as I arrived. I was sitting business class for this one, so I was able to plug my laptop into the seat and watch movies. Of course, due to the wonders of Xanax I ended up sleeping through most of the flight. Passport control and customs here in Beijing were a snap. They have GREATLY streamlined their processes from when I was here 5 years ago. They didn’t even keep my passport at the hotel they just took a photocopy of it.
The room I am in is, much like the Chinese themselves, clean and efficient yet small. But it works perfectly, and after a brief restorative from the minibar (in this case a Tsingtao beer, which for you domestic-types is pronounced “Ching Tao” not “Sing Tao”—the old British spelling— which is one of my favorite beers in the world. Tomorrow I’ll have to scare up a bottle of Jack Daniel’s somewhere.
I was met at the airport by a driver holding my name on a sign, driving a town car type thing. He took me to the office. We began to drive past all these nice office high-rise buildings, and I was thinking, ‘Wow, I bet it’s in one of those.” Then we pull up in an alley, and there’s this piece of shit door with the name of the company on it. I walk in and it’s like night and day. It looks like any state of the art office you’d see in Santa Monica. I love it. I’m absolutely thrilled. I got to met most of the people I’ll be working for, I got to meet the crew who will be working for me, and I think this is going to be a hell of an opportunity.
Besides, I’m home. This is how I grew up, and it’s this type of environment in which I seem to thrive the best.
The company is paying for my room for the next 20 days, or until I find an apartment, whichever comes first. They have an apartment service which has lined up a whole slew of places for me to look at. The office has told me to feel free and take the next few days off to rest and get over my jetlag, but I’ve been doing this for so long I feel pretty good about it. I should be over the jetlag in a day or two, then I can spend the next few days exploring.
So, for now I am going to hit the sack. It’s 5am in Houston, 3am in Los Angeles, so I’m sure as hell not going to wake anyone up at that hour. But I’m here, I’m alive, and I’m loving every second of it. Also, check this out. I got a few kick-ass pictures of the San Francisco Bay Area from the plane.
Pretty cool, huh? And this is the view out my hotel window. It’s a little bit early for the whole city scape to go all Blade Runner on me, but this is what I see.
