Team-building Day

Catching up on updates. Last weekend (Fri) went on a team-building trip to climb Fragrant Hill (香山) in the outskirts of BJ and then a little karoake. It was c-o-l-d. We started the day eating some Old Beijing eats at a place called 那家(Najia) near the Hills, which happens to be a branch of the restaurant nr our office. Not sure how that got picked, but at least you know what you'll get.


Picture is us at peak. Note that while I'm taller than my coworkers, it's an optical illusion that I'm that tall - I think I'm standing a little closer to the camera. It's not an optical illusion that nearly all the people in my immediate group are female. Quite a difference from the rest of Amazon. They work very hard and don't take themselves too seriously. I like them a lot.



One observation I made on way up was that Chinese haven't quite learned about sports fashion, which I believe started in the US. There were many women walking with heels up the mountain (it's something between a hill and mountain), obviously out of vanity. But if they only knew that a pair of addidas and some sleek sweats, or a Nike running vest and pants set are quite fashionable, and a lot more comfortable. The young people get it, but the over 30's i think are still learning. Anyway, they will learn quickly and Addidas and Nike will profit handsomely, despite the knock-offs.


Fragrant Hills actually won out over another proposed team-building activity: hot springs (or warm springs which is the literal translation of the chinese 温泉, the Chinese equivalent of the Japanese onsen). At first I thought hot springs sounded fun, but then the thought of being in bathing suits with coworkers changed my mind. Luckily the idea was scuttled at some point.



In the evening we bussed down to the Cashbox for some karaoke - or, kaah-laa-OK, as they pronounce it here. And actually they're probably right, since it started in Taiwan, or Japan, or someplace here.


Note that I am the male on the left. The other male is my office mate, CK, who is a Taiwanese McKinsey alum who spent significant time in the US, and some time in JP. I note that you might confuse the two of us, because I myself have trouble differentiating Asians sometimes. I have always had some difficulty recognizing faces, but being here in China accentuates this. I think it may be because I was raised in the States with very few contacts with Asians (outside of immediate family) early on. I don't have much talent for kaah-la-OK, but my coworkers were quite talented. I think it may be part of the standardized college entrance exam, which means that they were required to master it.


From there I went straight to Stephanie Parry's non-Halloween Halloween get-together at she and her husband Warren's pad. Stephanie is a friend of Elaine and Gavin, who I also had dins with when I first got to BJ. Coincidentally Warren, a Microsoftie, had been on a team-building exercise on Fragrant Hills that day as well. Of course, since they are Microsoft they have to do something over the top, which was playing laser tag on Fragrant Hills. However, Warren and Stephanie were fun to hang out with, and Stephanie's classmates from her exec mba program here in BJ were the expat stereotype. Enjoyed the conversation - I hadn't hung out with expats much at all before this evening in order to "go native". But I should do it more.