Tim's update

[TimD]

Oh yea!!! I got a nice job here in Shanghai!!!! Oh yea....doing the butt dance!!!!!

 

I'm working with my wifes company doing Oracle Db programming. Nice place to work. There's folks from all over the world and just makes for a nice team of folks.

 

Today I was taking smoke breaks with a few other yanks. It was the first time in 4 months that I was able to sit down and shoot the breeze about football, what a great feeling.

 

Shanghai is a great place. Not just all the tourist places, but this whole city. It's much cleaner than Nanjing, well maybe not the air, but the streets are cleaner. The people here are more "trendy" and seem to be better educated and use to seeing a big nosed whitey on the streets. Matter of fact there are several expats living in the same complex we are.

 

All in all things are going great. I'll be home in 6 weeks to spend some much needed Daddy time with my little Astrid. She's a real trooper for being only 7. Lately when I talk to her she's been asking me about when she is going to have a Chinese American brother or sister. She wants to have a brother so he and I can go "boy shopping" and she and her step mommy can go girl shopping. It's what this whole thing is all about, bringing families together. Even though I am here with my wife myu heart is still in half because my little girl is there in the states. Hopefully soon we'll all be one big happy family!!

 

-Tim

[Mick]

Glad to hear things are going well for you in Shanghai. Yes, it is an interesting city to be sure. I can also relate to your feelings about your daughter. My first year in China was especially tough. My daughter was eleven at the time, just turning twelve. On that first Christmas morning in China, I cried like a baby because it was my first Christmas away from my little girl. It really hurt. Fortunatly, Li came over to my apartment and, together, we called my daughter. It was a beautiful moment. Hard to believe that has been so long ago now. Time passes I guess. Now we are in the States, my daughter will turn seventeen on Monday, and she and Li are fast friends. In fact, my daughter is very excited about Li's pregnancy and the reality of having a little brother or sister. I know what you mean about bringing families together. Your post, interestingly enough, causes me to miss China a lot. I was there so many years it was like a second home.

[tonado]

Great. Congrats.

[Robert S.]

Tim, that is excellent you got a job you are excited about, that ought to be a lot of fun for you and will be even more good experience for your resume.

[TimD]

Thanks for the support fellas. I am really digging this place. The people I work with are all pros. Such a turn around from the last place I worked. Do any of you remember any of the tales of my old boss at the place I left before I came here? She was a tyrant. She would go onto my PC when I wasn't at my desk and look at my internet history, go through my emails etc. She did this to everybody in the office not just me. Well anyway a few weeks after I left to come here she died....that was a shock.

 

Anyway, things are really going well. What they are having me do is right up my ally. I won't be a problem at all. It's nice to work in a professional environment again with real professionals, it's a great feeling.

 

There are a couple of guys at the site that have browsed this site too They have Chinese wives and either already have their K visas or are in the process of getting them...such a small world.

 

Yea, Mick, I was in tears the day of Astrid's birthday. It was the first time I had been away on her birthday and it just broke my heart. Now you should here the little girl. She knows Daddy is coming home in 54 days. It's easier for her now since she can actually start counting down the days.

 

We went shopping yesterday at "fake street" and I picked up 3 desk of pokemon cards and 12 decks of Yu-Ge-Oh cards for about $10....I'll be her hero forever

 

-Tim

[Bobby]

Thanks for the support fellas. I am really digging this place. The people I work with are all pros.

Heh.. they don't need any non-Chinese speaking software developers in ShenZhen, do they? .. I've had no luck finding a job here..

 

regardless, congrats!

[TimD]

So......just what did you have in those emails?

 

Actually there was one from one of our analysts sent me an email and refered to my old boss as "Lan Nazi". She read it copied it to her PC then sent an email to the analyst, his manager, his director and their VP. After it went up the chain and down the chain again she was talked to about reading others email, she proved to be exactally what she took offence to. We all had a good laugh at it.

 

Heh.. they don't need any non-Chinese speaking software developers in ShenZhen, do they? .. I've had no luck finding a job here..

 

Jobs here are very tight, especially here in Shanghai and for IT folks. It was Guan Xi that got me this position. I'm doing Db development against a financial application. Gotta use VB for it, blah, but I think I may have made a good case for moving the development to Java or .Net

 

 

-Tim