The next thing we knew, we found ourselves talking to a taxi driver in the below freezing cold at 1am negotiating (I should really say accepting) the price of a cab ride to an unknown hotel. Long story short, we paid 300 RMB (about $38 which is very pricey for China) for a ride that cost 150 during normal hours and called the taxi drivers friend, who spoke very broken English, to try and figure out where the Holiday Inn was.

My new routine once I am finished with my meetings and ready to go to work is to put my iPod in a zippered part of my purse so only the headphones are in view and accessible. Then, I bundle up in my warm clothes, put the headphones in my ears and walk the 15 minutes to the subway station nearest to our house. The walk is actually pretty entertaining and here is where the musical montage part comes in. Like most iPods, I have thousands of songs so as I listen to it, random songs play as I walk down the sidewalk. Meanwhile, hundreds of other, mostly Chinese people, are also walking on the sidewalk, cars are honking, jack hammers are jack hammering, motorcycles are driving the wrong direction on the sidewalk, shop keepers are sweeping the entrance to the shop often so the dust is swept towards the passersby, children are running, people are waiting in line for their morning baozi (stuffed bun), vendors are selling their merchandise, shops are having product delivered and mothers are shepherding their only child to school. In short, the street is hopping and in my little world, not only is the music from my iPod muting the more annoying street sounds such as honking and jack hammering but it is also providing a musical montage for my walk. I cannot help but think that I could make a movie out of my 15-minute walk each day. It really is interesting and maybe I will try it. I have come to really look forward to this part of my commute.

The dinner finally arrived. It was the usual Chinese meal. Shrimp and vegetables in oil, vegetables in oil, chicken in some sauce, steamed fish, mushrooms, and other food I could not recognize that was also in oil. The waiters also brought out bottles of REEB brand beer (yes that is beer spelled backwards). It is the tradition to do a lot of toasting at these annual events. Each table toasts each other, the big bosses toast everybody, and then all of your local engineers want to come and “drink with you.” We have been told it is offensive to them if you turn them down for a drink. And it is very upsetting for somebody to lose face.

So trying to save everybody’s “face” at the party means that the next day you will probably wake up with a headache.

I have to say that the New Years night followed the very international theme that the rest of our time in China has. At dinner, we had a Japanese couple sitting in the table to our left and a couple from Mexico/U.S. on our right. Then at the atrium party, pretty much every nationality seemed to be represented. It was honestly the most fun party I have ever been to where I didn’t know a soul besides Andy. We thought the party hats and free-flow champagne were a nice touch as well.