Sights of Bangkok (Part 3)

We headed across the river to the Temple of Dawn (Wat arun). The architecture is similar to a Cambodian sanctuary. It provided an amazing view of the city. The garland is an offering the the buddha image or to the monks.

You can become a monk for a specified amount of time, and you can get married before or after you are a monk. You can become one for three weeks if you want. The monk does not have to pay fare for the bus. Lek made it very clear that women are not allowed to touch a monk, so I could not accidentally bump into one in the market. They are not allowed to eat in the afternoon and evening. Parents generally want their first born son to become a monk, so some men will do it to fulfill his parents’ dream. Another common reason for joining the monkhood is that a guy is working through a personal problem. Lek’s brother is considering becoming one even though he has a full-time job. What’s interesting is that he can have something similar to a maternity leave at work where he takes paid leave of absence for three month to be a monk. That shows just how much this culture respects monks.

We also walked around an area where all the backpackers go called Khaosan Road. I can understand why people come here, but it wasn't my type of place. I was most amused by the ATM/money changer van.

During my time in Bangkok, I experienced all different types of transportation – car, tuk tuk, ferry, express boat, van, and free public bus (without air-conditioning).

Unfortunately I am missing out on the biggest festival of the year for Thailand which take places from April 13 to 18. Songkran festival is their New Year, and it's a water festival where people throw water and a white powder on each other. You can tell who is popular by how wet they are. The people who are dry are the least popular, but they may splash themselves to feel better.

Sights of Bangkok (Part 2)

Next Lek took me to the hospital. I was so confused at first, but she explained that King Rama the 9th is there. Thai people are visiting hospital to pay their respects. Because I want to be a local during my visit, it made sense for me to go there as well. There was a big hall with rows of tables where you can sign your name to show that you came to visit him. A fortune teller once told the King that pink is a lucky color for him. As a result you see people, both men and women, wearing pink for the king.

For a snack we had fresh fruit – pineapple and mango. I have never had such tasty fruit. The Thai way of eating mango is to dip it in sugar and chili mix.

After lunch we explored the Temple of the Reclining Buddha (Wat pho). Like in the Grand Palace, the detail on the structures was amazing. In one area we saw statues in different poses, as if they were stretching. Lek explained that this was how the government communicated how to exercise to people who could not read.

Sights of Bangkok (Part 1)

Lek was once a tour guide in Bangkok, so it was special to have her show me around the city. Our first stop was the Grand Palace. I had to borrow a shirt and wear my shawl as a skirt, so I look awful. Therefore, you won’t see photos of me at that location. Take a look at the photo with the characters holding up the stupa which is held up by figures of monkeys and by demons. Can you tell the difference? The demons are wearing shoes and the monkeys are not.

She showed me the 4 stupas in the inner court, as well as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, which is actually made of jade. We also looked at chakri mansion which is half Victorian and half thai architecture. It was odd to see columns with a Thai roof. There are many throne halls or audience halls, but I was not allowed to take photos of the actual thrones. There one one in the shape of a boat and another one made out of opal. Everything here was incredibly ornate and shiny.

My future

In a previous post about visiting Xiamen, I wondered about women throwing blocks on the ground at a monastery. Lek explained that it's part of the fortune telling process. As you can see in the video, I shake the container of sticks until one comes out. Then I drop the two blocks that have a flat side and a round side to confirm that I have selected the correct stick. The first time I tried this, both blocks fell flat so I had to start the entire process over again with the shaking of the sticks. In the video I am overly excited at the end because the blocks fell in a way that I didn’t have to start over. The stick has a number on it, and then we walked over to a wall with all the fortunes listed. Lek had to translate mine, and she said that they were written as a poem. She said that if I was asking about kids, I will have a boy. It also said that my soul mate is taking his time finding me, but he will come. It didn’t say anything about my career.

Hello or Sawadee Kha

February 27

I’m in Thailand to visit another friend of mine from the University of Warwick. Lek and I lived in the same flat there, but her course was about teaching.

I stayed with Lek’s family, which gave me a rich understanding of daily life in Bangkok. Initially Lek was worried about me because her family knows little or no English. I reassured her that this was I was experienced in spending time with families that don't speak the same language. At this point I have learned two ways to make families feel comfortable with me in their home. First, I smile a lot. It quickly conveys that I am happy/ok/friendly. The other trick is to eat whatever they serve me. Lek’s two brothers speak some English so I also got a guy’s perspective on life in Thailand.

I surprised myself during the first meal. We had rice and a number of dishes, family-style, and I was given a spoon and a fork. (Knives aren’t usually used.) My immediate response was to look for chopsticks. I didn’t want to eat with a spoon and fork because that would feel weird. And then I realized just how strange that sounded.

The first morning I got my own personal Thai lesson. Like in Chinese, Thai has a number of tones. I was able to pick up on the tones pretty well after living in China, but Thai has one additional tone. Lek covered the basics first like “good morning” and “how are you?” She wanted to teach me practical phrases so she quickly moved into bargaining strategy phrases. We were going to the market that afternoon, so I had to learn the following :

-How much is this? (Tao rai kha)

-Can you discount? (Lad dai mai kha)

-You are very beautiful/handsome/kind. (khun suay/lor/jai-dee mak kha)

-More discount please. (Lod iik noi kha)

Lek make it clear that I had to be very careful when I pronounced “suay” because I could insult the person by mistake with the wrong tone.

It was quite hot at the market, so we enjoyed coconut juice and coconut ice cream with coconut jelly and peanuts. It hit the spot. We spent the afternoon exploring the market. One women got so flustered when I started complimenting her in Thai to get a discount. On the way home we also stopped at a local market for food. I also was able to watch a woman make the spring roll wrappers that we would be making that evening. The other advantage of staying with a family is that I got my own personal cooking class. I learned how they make fried rice and spring rolls. I also learned that it is a sin to tell someone to hurry up when they were eating. I like that rule.

A few final thoughts on China

Shanghai was my second choice. I wanted to study abroad in Hong Kong when I filled out my study abroad application. However, I have no doubt in my mind that fell into the right place for me. I feel that I would have missed out on a lot of the nuances about life and business in Mainland China had I studied in Hong Kong, but I probably would have traveled much more. In my opinion, Mainland China is not a tourist destination, at least not January through March. It’s chilly which impacts the experience and a lot of the history has been demolished. Despite this, I still believe that I came here at the best time. I was able to balance travel with getting to know the ways of life. I still can't believe that I celebrated the Chinese New Year with a Chinese family in a “small” town.

What interests me most about China is their way of life and way of doing business. If you come here for a week or even two as a tourist, you miss out on that aspect of the country. You get to see the Great Wall and have some dumplings, but there is so much more to discover about this country. I hope my blog posts have taught you some new things and made you think about China in a new way.

This country is ahead of us in some respects (always willing to learn from other countries so that they won’t have to be as dependent on others in the future), but they are also very behind (everyone spits in the streets and the sound is not attractive). I have been trying to wrap my head around this contradiction. People in the metro who will push and shove. People did not stop to help me when I fell. (Apparently they are nicer to me since I appear to be foreign, and they are less gentle with Chinese-Americans who they assume are just Chinese.) It appears as if there is little empathy for other people. At the very same time, I have spent time with a very kind Chinese family and had another Chinese friend take time out of his schedule to show me around. What is it about the culture that creates such a difference in behavior? I thought I found the answer when I learned that Chinese behavior is influenced by Confucianism. According to one book I read, people are divided into three different groups, family, friends and strangers. Strangers are basically viewed as invisible. I don’t know if is the explanation I was searching for because another book suggests that it also has to do with the influence of politics and laws. It seems that there is no value system in place. That same book says that there are two semi-religions in China - materialism and nationalism. I've also found that it's hard to generalize about China or the Chinese because the country is so big, which has made it also difficult to find answers.

It also is amazing how much the country has grown in just a short amount of time. It has so much history, yet it feels like it was only created in the past 20 years. The country has adapted to the speed of change, and yet cultural norms from the West have not been embraced. For example, you see kids running on planes that are on the runway instead of sitting in their seat, or people standing up to grab their luggage the very second the plane touches the ground. I’ve learned that what is considered “normal” or “logical” to someone like me does not hold true for everyone else. In this world, there is no such thing as "normal" or "logical." Everything is just different.

I have adapted. For example, I have had to be aggressive, and I even pushed a woman out of the train in order to get out when she wouldn't move. To some extent, I’ve begun to care less about the people around me and think of them as strangers that are in my way. I had to change in order to survive. If I was polite, I would never make it anywhere. What I fear is that I will take this mentality with me when I get back to the US, at least initially.

Though I have learned so much during my experience in China, I feel as though I have only skimmed the surface. I have more questions than I do answers. If you are like me and want to learn more, a couple people have recommended books about China. The first book is called Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China's Past and Present by Peter Hessler. I've started reading it since departing China, and I recommend it as well. The second book, recommended by a couple of people, is called The Party by Richard McGregor. I hope to read it in the future.

I've now completed my chapter on China. Next stop...South East Asia.

The history of China... in only three hours

It’s pretty much impossible to cover the history of this country in three hours, but the professor definitely tried in the last class of the week, "A Concise History of China." It's even harder to summarize it in a blog post, so here are just some random bits of information:

-Early on, people were isolated by geography (sea, tropical jungles, Himalayas and Gobi desert), so the population was mostly concentrated in the east (and still is)

-The need for government came before 900AD. Farming was threatened by national disasters and the 2^nd largest river kept changing its path (26 times from 602 BC to 1950). Plus invaders came after their silk, tea, iron, gold, etc.

-An artificial river from north to south was created to connect the 5 river systems that flowed west to east and make water transportation more efficient. It was built between 581-618, and it has been said that 3 million people died during the construction of it.

-Initially there were four classes – scholar, farmer, artisan and merchant. (I was amused that the business man was at the bottom of the totem pole) Education was the only way to move up the ladder, and this was through the civil service examination. This was the beginning of the emphasis on education that you still can see today.

-During the (Mongol) Yuan dynasty, the rulers took a practical approach to the classes. The more you offered society, the higher your class. I think the farmers were at the top. Scholars, on the other hand, were not perceived as adding value. Therefore, they were at the bottom, just above beggars. It turns out that prostitutes were just above scholars in that system!

-1840-1945 has been described as a century of failures (or humiliation) with the Opium Wars, Sino-French War, and the Sino-Japanese war. The list goes on. During this time they lost land, lives, and loads of silver. I think the Communist Party claims that they ended this period.

-At about this point in the class the three hours were up, so recent history (China after 1949), and what interested me the most, was quickly skimmed over. I wanted to hear more about the Cultural Revolution and the transition to the Reform and Open Policy. How was Mao Zedong able to make so many intellectuals move to the countryside to do manual work? From what I understand, he was trying to address the Great Famine of 1959-1961 by creating more farmers. As a result, “universities and colleges did not turn out qualified graduates for more than a decade."

Economics in China

My favorite class, by far, during the week was about economics, and it was titled “Can China Save the World? Rebalancing the Economic Environment.” The Chinese professor explained the financial crisis from China's perspective and how it has impacted the country’s economy. Here are just a few of the many points that I found most interesting:

The US borrowed/consumed too much and China saved/invested too much. Neither approach is sustainable. He argued that the Chinese should save less and spend more. He argues that allocation of resources should not be based on need because there are always needs. How does a country allocate limited resources with unlimited desires/needs? He says that the criteria should not be based on market demand, but instead should be based on profitability. He thinks that China’s investment in the high speed train will create debt for the country. How do you stimulate personal consumption in a country where everyone saves? One method would be to provide better social security instead of invest in the railways.

He also explained the potential challenges that the country may face in terms of growth, and he provided recommendations regarding what should be done. For example, he argues that the country needs to move from manufacturing to service, but the service industries are heavily regulated by the government. He recommends privatization, deregulation, and stable macroeconomic policy, which I was surprised to hear from a Chinese professor in China. This perspective created a fascinating discussion among students and the professor.

He included a lot of data about the US economy in the presentation. However, he had very little data about the Chinese economy and explained that it is difficult to be an economist in this country. He has to spend a lot of time figuring out which data he can trust and which he can't. For example, the levels of disposable income are hidden or understated, which he says is common in the developing world.

Marketing and branding in China

The first class was called Marketing in China, but it had little to do with marketing and a lot to do with business development. I was disappointed since there was very little information provided about segmentation or marketing strategy. I think I was less interested in this class since I had already had so many conversations with contacts who do business in China. However, here are some of my learnings:

- It was interesting to learn the extent that China’s use of raw materials heavily impacts the rest of the world. For example, if they import enormous amounts of steel, so the price of steel increases for everyone. It sounds very basic, but it demonstrates that China can impact businesses that don't even consider entering their market.

- At one point the Chinese professor made a statement that slotting fees are, "bad, very bad." During the break, I went to ask for clarification regarding his statement. His response was to tell me a story about a man who owned a business and paid for the slotting fee. He was not able to sell enough of the product and committed suicide. The professor believed that this response answered my question. I then pushed more and asked if it was a matter of which side (manufacturers or retailers) has more power. His response was that retailers are the "big, bad guys" beating down on the little guys. I was surprised that the quality of the product or the marketing of the product was not part of the conversation. This is a different way of looking at that relationship than in the US.

- Best quote about China: “Everything is possible. Everything is different.” -Dr. Dongsheng Zhou

The second class was titled Branding in China. I didn't like the professor's teaching style for this class, and both of these classes made me appreciate some of our Kelley marketing professors that much more. Here are some of my learnings:

-The recent economic reform changed the social classes so that there wasn't a clear division between groups. People began to purchase luxury goods to show that they are from the upper class, and the industry continues to grow. Branding is key because people want to spend money to look good and be respected. (At the same time, anyone in China can see that the black market for fakes has grown as well. What makes a luxury brand a quality product is not common knowledge in this society, so anyone can feel that they can improve their status by purchasing the fake goods.)

- Differentiation is a challenge for companies because of competition. A brand has to compete with international brands that have strong brands and R&D and also compete with domestic competitors who may have cheaper prices and greater distribution capabilities.

- The class made me wonder to what extent can a company can copy another company. For example LiNing built a R&D center in Portland next to its competition, Nike, and hired people from Nike to develop its technology. They worked with a design company that once worked with Nike, but the contract ended. If you click on the website link, you can see how the logo and tagline are also similar to Nike.

- Best response to the phrase "when pigs fly": “Even one typhoon comes, even a pig can fly.” (I don't know if this is a common saying or if the professor came up with it.)

Class is back in session

First, thank you to Jean (and her flatmates) for graciously letting Jon and me stay at their place in Beijing. It was fun meeting up with Jean's classmates for some Karaoke. Thank you also to David and Emma for showing us around a couple major historical sights and for introducing us to fantastic restaurants.

At this point I have finished all my classes in Shanghai, but CEIBS offers a special week of class (February 21-25) for its 1^st years, specifically focused on business in China. These classes were optional for exchange students, but it was of interest to be since I came to China to learn about business in this part of the world. I missed the first couple of days because I was in Beijing, but I made it to four of the classes. I'll describe some of the insights I gained from these classes in the next few posts.

Between these classes I got to know one of the other exchange students who sat in on the same classes. It turns out that we are both eager to improve external relations among MBA programs. I explained that I led the efforts to organize a volunteer competition with Purdue and Notre Dame, which I hope will one day will include all the major MBA programs in the Midwest. He is working on a website where MBA students share information about interviews and compensation. It’s still in development, but I think it has potential to benefit MBA students around the world.

More of the sights

David was kind enough to drive Jean, Jon and me to the Great Wall. I was so surprised by how steep the wall was in so many areas. Jean demonstrated that if you lean back as if you’re doing the limbo, it is easier to get down the steeper areas. She was right, though we looked quite silly in the process. The wall in Chinese actually translates into “Long Wall." That name seems more appropriate. I later learned that the wall was made up of a number of smaller walls separating the Chinese from intruders, but also separating areas within.

Traffic was awful driving back to the city. During the week the city has a system in place where people with odd number license plates drive on different days than even numbered license plates. However, anyone can drive on the weekend. We drove past the Olympic buildings, and we saw the National Stadium (aka Bird's Nest) as well as the National Aquatics Center (aka the Cube).

While Jean went to class, Jon and I went to see the Summer Palace (in the winter). Jon and I were stopped a few times for photos, which is always flattering. The palace made for a great walk with some nice views, though I do wonder how much nicer it is to visit in the summer.

Food in Beijing (Part 2)

That evening Jon, Jean (a friend and Kelley classmate studying abroad in Beijing), and I weren’t very hungry because we ate so much at lunch, so for dinner we had a light meal consisting of local fruit and flavored chips. More specifically, we ate dragon fruit and pomelo. The potato chips here have unique flavors like cucumber, hot and spicy seafood and tea. The people here love their tea, so it should not surprise anyone that they have tea flavored potato chips. They do taste exactly like Lipton iced tea.

Jon found a restaurant in his guide book for Uyghur food. It's a minority group from western China. The food at this restaurant was so good, that Jon and I went back the next day for my last meal in the city. We tried many different lamb dishes including lamb tendon and lamb kidney on a skewer. We washed it down with milk tea.

What I enjoy most about Chinese food is eating family style. You share everything, so you also have an opportunity to try everything and eat more of what tastes good. You also have no idea how much you’ve eaten, so you just eat until you are full rather than consuming one large plate of food.

Food in Beijing (Part 1)

Though I’ve had Peking duck in Shanghai, I had to have it again in Beijing. David used a Groupon coupon to get us a variety of food at the well-known restaurant. We had the traditional duck dish where you roll up slices of duck with duck sauce, onions, and cucumbers in a wrap. I tried other dishes like duck hearts and tofu cooked with bacon. This place had a show with magic, singing and acrobatics.

I was amused to see that David has a "VIP" sticker for McDonald's on his car. The sticker was free, and it gets him a free drink if he goes through the drive through window. I assume the Chinese are unfamiliar with drive-through windows, and so this must be one way to change their behavior. I wonder how it's working.

One day we had a late lunch/early dinner. David suggested we go for Beijing hotpot. Here the hotpot container is made out of copper. This restaurant is known for its lamb, but we also had fishballs and tofu, as well as mushrooms, lettuce, noodles. We cooked the food in front of us and ate it all with a peanut-like sauce. Delicious!

A place rich with history

One Chinese friend described Shanghai as a city without a soul. I really didn’t understand the meaning of that statement until I visited Beijing. Even though I already have been in China for so long, it wasn't until I made it to Beijing that I felt like I was in the China that I’ve see in movies and in books.

My friend and Kelley classmate, Jon, is studying abroad in Hong Kong, and we planned to visit the city together. In the morning we checked out Tiananmen Square. I was a tourist attraction again with people coming up to take photos. You can see the painting of Mao Zedong, which is replaced every year. In the afternoon we met up with David, a friend that I know from the University of Warwick. Over Valentine’s Day weekend, he got engaged, so I was excited to also meet his fiancé, Emma. She got her "English" name that day. She selected it because she likes the actress in Harry Potter. The four of us explored the Forbidden City together. David shared what he knew about the life of an emperor and the few others who were allowed to enter the area. The emperor could have many (possibly hundreds) of wives. The first empress, however, was the most important. She attended official events with the emperor. The emperor and empress are represented with an image of a dragon and an image of a phoenix. As you can imagine, there was a lot of rivalry among the empresses, and there were rumors about them trying to get rid of each other. The emperor selected his succession, so it wasn’t automatically the first-born male. He could choose the son that he thought would be the best for the role or just choose his favorite son. Once again, there was a lot of competition in that household. Both Jon and I were surprised by the enormous size of the city. There are many walls/gates to pass through before you get to the center. We walked from one end to the other, and we climbed to the top of a near-by hill for a great view of Beijing.

Made it to…Russia?

February 18

On a flight to Beijing I watched a few TED videos on my iphone including one by Bruce Feller called The Council of Dads. The advice from one man regarding travel was to jump in and play in the puddle rather than just look at it from a distance. I feel like I’ve definitely jumped in, and I completely agree with that advice.

I am on my own my first night in Beijing. At the train station, I rolled my ankle and dropped to the ground on my knees. There were lots of people around, but not one person stopped to help me out or ask me if I was ok. They all just stared. I felt very alone even though I was in such a big city. I wasn't injured, other than getting bruises on my knees. Fortunately for me, I took a wrong turn walking to the hotel, and I think I ended up in a Russian neighborhood. I walked by a Russian restaurant (Traktir Pushkin Russian Cuisine Restaurant) and then found myself in front of the large Russian Embassy. Since I am part Russian, I actually felt a connection to the foreign city.

I was very safe near the hotel. It was less than a block away from the SWOT team and two blocks away from the police department. After dropping my stuff off at the hotel, I went back to the restaurant. Though it was Russian, the food reminded me of a Polish Christmas dinner with my relatives. The menu had multiple pages, but I picked a salad with beet root, pickled herring, apple, and sour pickles. I also had some borscht along with meat/rice stuffed eggplant dish, and the only Asian component to the meal was the green tea. I smiled the entire meal. The last page of the menu gave specific instructions regarding how to drink vodka. What I loved most was that the restaurant was full of Asians eating this type of food. It was also amusing to hear the songs YMCA and Heard It Through the Grape Vine while eating.