Good Morning
Sleeping was wonderful! We finally got checked into the hotel, showered up, took naps and met some other Hess folks. It's amazing how hotels can look the same everywhere. We are staying in a specifically western-style hotel, and it looks exactly the same as any Holiday Inn you'd encounter in the U.S.
I'm supposed to have a roommate, but she hasn't shown up yet. There are usually a few who never do. In fact, the last training class had around 5 people not come. I had a bit of a dilemma when I got into the room because she wasn't there yet and one bed was a twin and the other was a queen. I didn't want to just pick, I'd rather have flipped a coin for the sake of fairness, but I desperately needed a nap so I just threw down a pillow and flopped onto the big one for a while.
I woke up this morning at around 4:30 am and tried to fall back asleep, but my brain started thinking about all there was to do and see and everything I had done the day before, but I had gone to sleep around 9:30, so I wasn't exactly lacking for sleep. I decided I'd get up and walk over to the 24 hr icafe to do some blogging instead of forcing myself back to sleep. So here I am at 6 am! Beverages are free with the computer time so I can drink as much coffee as I want while lounging on the couch in my cubicle all for the price of US$2 an hour! Sounds like a deal to me!
Dinner last night was a hoot. Between the four of us we didn't speak any Chinese! Two of us spoke French and one spoke Japanese, but not really any Chinese. We freaked out our first server so another one who spoke a little English came over and helped us out. I ended up eating this HUGE bowl of soup (thank god the menus have pictures on them) that was amazing. Pork, carrots, potatoes, onions, big fat round noodles, and some kind of curried broth! It was the first time I've picked exactly what I wanted at a Chinese restaurant. I usually end up wishing I had what someone else ordered. I never did figure out what the name of the dish was, but we were having such a hard time ordering in the first place, it was too difficult to find out what it was. So far we've picked places to eat based on the presence of English on the restaurant's sign. If it has some...we're there! The restaurant last night was called I Like Coffee and Food.
My favorite store (?) sign I've seen so far was one called Kuda: For Curious Woman. The first floor had opaque white windows and the second floor had woman's clothes in the windows but I'm not sure if the sign was for the first floor or the second. I'd like to check it out, but I'm not sure I'm that curious...
I had my first experience with a squat toilet at the airport yesterday. There were three flush toilets and one squattie, and I was next in line and the squattie opened up first. I've never had to control the flow of urine so precisely before and as anyone who is equipped with the indoor urination package (as opposed to the write-your-name-in-the-snow package) knows, the spray can hit a hard left or right sometimes. Seeing as I had a full bladder, I had some problems. Needless to say, I got myself and was forced to leave the restroom with a slightly damp pant leg.
Today we're touring the city and starting the training. I'm pretty excited to see what we're going to be doing. The schedule looks pretty exhaustive and according to some of the people who are just finishing up their training, it's a long day. Everyday we leave at 8 and come back around 7:30. That includes the 45 bus drive to the training center. We get breakfast at the hotel, Hess feeds us lunch, and then we're on our own for dinner. Today is pretty much just introductions and what not so it shouldn't be anything too crazy.
I suppose I should start wandering back to the hotel and meet the girls for breakfast. Good adventures so far!
I'm supposed to have a roommate, but she hasn't shown up yet. There are usually a few who never do. In fact, the last training class had around 5 people not come. I had a bit of a dilemma when I got into the room because she wasn't there yet and one bed was a twin and the other was a queen. I didn't want to just pick, I'd rather have flipped a coin for the sake of fairness, but I desperately needed a nap so I just threw down a pillow and flopped onto the big one for a while.
I woke up this morning at around 4:30 am and tried to fall back asleep, but my brain started thinking about all there was to do and see and everything I had done the day before, but I had gone to sleep around 9:30, so I wasn't exactly lacking for sleep. I decided I'd get up and walk over to the 24 hr icafe to do some blogging instead of forcing myself back to sleep. So here I am at 6 am! Beverages are free with the computer time so I can drink as much coffee as I want while lounging on the couch in my cubicle all for the price of US$2 an hour! Sounds like a deal to me!
Dinner last night was a hoot. Between the four of us we didn't speak any Chinese! Two of us spoke French and one spoke Japanese, but not really any Chinese. We freaked out our first server so another one who spoke a little English came over and helped us out. I ended up eating this HUGE bowl of soup (thank god the menus have pictures on them) that was amazing. Pork, carrots, potatoes, onions, big fat round noodles, and some kind of curried broth! It was the first time I've picked exactly what I wanted at a Chinese restaurant. I usually end up wishing I had what someone else ordered. I never did figure out what the name of the dish was, but we were having such a hard time ordering in the first place, it was too difficult to find out what it was. So far we've picked places to eat based on the presence of English on the restaurant's sign. If it has some...we're there! The restaurant last night was called I Like Coffee and Food.
My favorite store (?) sign I've seen so far was one called Kuda: For Curious Woman. The first floor had opaque white windows and the second floor had woman's clothes in the windows but I'm not sure if the sign was for the first floor or the second. I'd like to check it out, but I'm not sure I'm that curious...
I had my first experience with a squat toilet at the airport yesterday. There were three flush toilets and one squattie, and I was next in line and the squattie opened up first. I've never had to control the flow of urine so precisely before and as anyone who is equipped with the indoor urination package (as opposed to the write-your-name-in-the-snow package) knows, the spray can hit a hard left or right sometimes. Seeing as I had a full bladder, I had some problems. Needless to say, I got myself and was forced to leave the restroom with a slightly damp pant leg.
Today we're touring the city and starting the training. I'm pretty excited to see what we're going to be doing. The schedule looks pretty exhaustive and according to some of the people who are just finishing up their training, it's a long day. Everyday we leave at 8 and come back around 7:30. That includes the 45 bus drive to the training center. We get breakfast at the hotel, Hess feeds us lunch, and then we're on our own for dinner. Today is pretty much just introductions and what not so it shouldn't be anything too crazy.
I suppose I should start wandering back to the hotel and meet the girls for breakfast. Good adventures so far!
posted by CJ at 6:12 AM
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