Day 9

Today we visited one company, GM.  We were there the whole day and got to tour their production facility.  When we arrived, we met with David Reeck, an engineer who is involved in finding reliable part sources.  We talked with him about many things, including life in Shanghai, his job, his team and general questions about the company.  After talking the whole morning, they let us have lunch in the Canting, their cafeteria.  My little group had some lunch with one of his engineering staff, a materials scientist, who studied in France and knows French, Chinese and English.  After lunch we went to the production facility and talked some more with him about Shanghai.  Then we got a tour of the line.  No photos were allowed, which is quite common among the companies we've visited.  Mr. Reeck told us about the "English Corner" in one of the nearby parks.  On Sunday, people go there to speak English with each other to better their skill.  A bunch of us are going to go there to speak with the people, and help them better their English.  It's a great opportunity to talk to young Chinese and help them brush up on their English speaking as well.  I'm rather looking forward to that.

After our company meeting, the Jens, VanDrunens and some of us went to the "really tall buildings" district.  We went to the top of the SWFC Observatory, a massively tall tower in Shanghai, which is one of the tallest in the world.  It cost the equivalent of around $24 American, but it was definitely worth it.  The views were astounding.

We were hungry after the tower exploration, but we continued to explore anyway.  Discovering new parts of cities is becoming much more enjoyable and far less nerve wracking that it used to be.  Subways and taxis are plentiful, and we haven't gotten lost yet (hopefully never will).

When we got off the metro from the downtown area, a girl sat down by me and had her friend take a picture.  This happens quite a bit, but finally this time, I got someone to take a picture with my camera.  Eventually here friend sat down next to us as well, and we got a group photo.  Interactions like these are really quite fun, and I'm looking forward to meeting even more people on Sunday.

On the way back to the hotel from the subway, Joe, Cedric and I stopped at Yoshinoya's, a Chinese fast food joint.  I had bowl of rice and pork with vegetables on top, it was quite tasty and filling.

I'm pretty tired now, tonight I think we're going to watch a movie and finish our journals for the deadline tomorrow.  I have some reading to do, and even though I'd like to be out and about exploring, I think it's time to get some good rest tonight.

Tomorrow we're going to go to a fabric market, and I might have a wool coat made.  We'll see how much they cost, and if I can find a place that will exchange my $ for ¥.

Night, night.  I think I'll let my pictures do the talking this time.