Getting Ready...

Ugh….winter….. And it’s not even the good winter: full of snow, crisp air, and friends. It’s the bad winter: full of cold rain, thick air, and lots of staring Chinese people. But on the plus side, in 12 days I am flying to Santiago, Chile to host 15 of my Japanese clients and take them on a tour of Santiago, the Concha Y Toro company, and the vineyards in the surrounding valleys. They leave after a few days and I will spend all of March training on the company’s practices and protocols. I’ll also be educated on how we make the wine, from growing the grapes all the way to the bottling process. Oh and I should probably mention that it’s…..90 degrees!!!! I can’t wait.

During this time in Chile, I will also be working with a relocation agent to move our whole office and employees from Shanghai to Singapore. There’s a lot of legal requirement necessary to move an entire business to a new country and all of its employees. The reason we’re moving is that it’s hard to maintain the type of corporate transparency that Concha Y Toro desires when we have our offices in China, so we are moving to Singapore which is more western and business friendly. But they still speak mandarin there (sorta), so I will continue to develop my Chinese.

Next week is Chinese New Year which should be amazing. The entire country shuts down for one whole week of fireworks, partying, and family (usually not in that order…) . Don’t worry, I’ll still have all my fingers after playing with fireworks all week….I hope. And I’ll take lots of pictures for you curious individuals who are interested in why Chinese New Year is so popular.

Things Ezra has learned…

1. The year of the tiger is coming up, so in the average day I see about 300 tigers everywhere. No…not real ones.
2. Trying to travel during Chinese New Year is literally impossible.
3. Japanese restaurants in Shanghai make you pay for Napkins…
4. Why Chinese people of different generations act the way they do….I finally found a book in English….on China.
5. Glasses are extremely cheap. I got a really nice pair from the ‘Glasses market’ for about $20.00
6. Don’t bring up the word ‘laji’ (Trashy) when negotiating a price. For some reason they get really offended. And not just the shop owner, like everyone in the market. It was extremely odd.
   
7. Chinese people are the most avid Karaoke singers I've ever seen.