Another day in the life . . .

(Written on Wednesday August 30, 2006)

So life is finally starting to settle down a bit. I have my basic necessities taken care of at my apartment (pots, pans, blankets, plates, etc.). The total cost for everything . . . about $40 U.S. Holy inexpensive.

Speaking of inexpensive. I went shopping with Alex (my boss) on Sunday. I got five new shirts (custom made . . . I just picked the fabric and the style), seven pairs of socks, four silk ties, and three sets of cuff links for about $70. Pretty awesome. Moral of the story: if you are coming to visit me don’t bother buying clothes until you check the selection here. They also make custom suits, pants, etc. I’ll have to take another tip back there soon if I like the shirts.

The rest of Sunday was spent in preparations for a meeting that I had on Tuesday with my team and a business contact that is trying to seal the “Year of Spain” deal for us. The meeting went pretty well overall . . . I basically listened and learned.

I’m starting to settle into work as well. After the initial weekend frenzy, there hasn’t been that much stuff that I’ve had to do, just random projects here and there. In the meantime, I’ve been catching up on the marketing education that I really didn’t receive will studying math and econ at school. Reading some books, learning the ins and outs of the company: all in a day’s work. Soon, though I’ll be jumping into some more projects and starting Chinese lessons. I have a feeling that once all that is settled I’ll be pretty swamped with work and learning.

Tonight should be an interesting experience. I’m going on something that the company calls and Urban Safari. I think we’re basically going to take a group of VIPs from some company around Beijing to show them the culture, the food, etc., but I’m not entirely sure. I just get to tag along and enjoy the ride since I may have to run one of these safaris later on.

That’s about all I have for now. My apologies for the lack of pictures in the last post. Initially, I forgot to put them in. Then I tried posting again with the pictures, but that didn’t work either, so I think I’m going to have to wait until I have internet at my apartment to figure it all out. Until then, you’re stuck with words.

Also, I have a feeling that my posts are going to be a little less frequent now (unless I happen to become really bored in the near future). I’ll post when I have fun stories etc., but I highly doubt that most people want to keep up with my day-to-day work activities (nor do I want to try to summarize the wild variety of work that I’ll be doing day-to-day :-P). If you want more Nathan than you get here, feel free to call or email.