May 7th!

That's the date I get to come back to the U.S.! I really excited about it...if for nothing else, to be able to drive my own car again! I think this is the longest I've gone without driving since I was 15. It will have been over two months when everything is said and done.

I've enjoyed my trip to China, there is a lot of opportunity here for our company and I wouldn't mind coming back to help out again. At the same time....it'll be nice to be home!

So the last couple of days have been busy with work. We've been going on sales calls to different customer sites. I've been to Johnson Controls and Michelin Tire. The Michelin Tire plant reminded me of an old Soviet style factory. It just seemed cold and forbidding. A lot of foreign companies that have come to China, have taken over old state run businesses. So the buildings are all very old. They are very rustic...and not intentionally. Both the sales calls were good JCI and Michelin seem to be interested. We'll see how the local team does.

I have also been doing training with the different sales offices over the last two weeks. My last one was yesterday (Friday) in Shanghai. As I finished the last one up, I thought about a concern of mine. I'm worried what I'm going to sound like when I get back to the U.S.? I've learned in China that you have to speak very slow and use basic words a lot. This is because if you talk fast the Chinese can't understand you (Their idea of speaking fast is our normal rate of exchange). I often get complimented that my English is very good...what they mean is they can understand me. So I end up sounding like Forrest Gump as I give these presentations. A lot like when Harold Ramis is teaching English in Stripes.

On Thursday night I had a REAL hamburger! It was unbelievable! There is a place called Malones in Shanghai that is known for their Western style burgers! It was soooo good, I needed that! I went there with a co-worker, Tina Mu. So we ordered mozzarella sticks and hamburgers. They were both good. I had my burger eaten in record time! I couldn't get enough! Meanwhile Tina was looking at her burger like it came from another planet. She studied it, turning it around and around in her hands, "I think this to much meat, not healthy"

"Tina, it's a hamburger, that's the key ingredient"

She took several small bites, then set it down. So we talked a little as I polished off my fries and a couple more mozzarella sticks (I'm just in heaven now). They played American music, had cold beer...it's amazing how much you can miss simple things.

Tina is now inspecting her burger again. She tells me there are not enough vegetables with it. She then takes the burger out of the bun and eats the bun with the lettuce leaf and tomato, "Much, much better...more taste."

So funny.

I didn't do anything on Friday night. I was in bed by nine (Pretty lame for a last Friday night in Shanghai). I have all today and part of tomorrow to spend in Shanghai, then it's off to Dalian one last time. I will be there till May 6th, then I fly back to Shanghai to head home on the 7th.