Week # 23 in China

Work-
Another busy week. It started with a weekend BBQ with the Chamberlain Group. Collin was in town for the final closing of the factory. In his honor they held a BBQ at a local park. I was invited. Collin has been with Chamberlain for 47 years and is pretty much the inventor of the garage door opener. This was the last time this group of people will probably ever see each other. tighe's last day with Chamberlain is April 30th. Milestone continues to be very busy. i was in Hong Kong this week on Wednesday and Thursday. I went to the Hong Kong Electronics show and had meetings with our warehouse, a factory, a customer, and a new service provider. My boss, Phil and the Sanus Brand General Manager, Jim, arrived late Wednesday night and we had breakfast on Thursday before going different directions for the day

Personal-
Not much. just studying my Mandarin and reading books



Collin and Apple

Tighe and Apple

Standing is the factory driver Ahua, sleeping on the big teddy bear is Ahua's son. My newest friend in China. After the BBQ, we had to of course go to Karaoke.

Week # 22 in China

Work- Tighe and Apple from the Chamberlain Group met a new forwarder for their team. I am still in negotiations for this piece of our business. The office is alive with activity as we have landed more Domestic Chinese customers. This is a great thing for our team here.

Personal-
Monday the 6th was the Chinese Holiday ChingMing Festival from the Ching and Ming Dynasties. It is also known as Tomb Sweeping Day. Families gather at their homes to remember their family that has passed away. if they have a grave sight, that should be cleaned for the new season. It is very similar to our Memorial Day. It gave me a chance to play Mission Hills Golf Course Ernie Ells course with Tighe and a service provider. One of my staff members, Jane, got married on Tuesday the 7th, so I went to the wedding with the rest of my staff. Since I am her boss, I had to make a toast and was able to say it in full Mandarin without a hitch. It sure does shock the locals when a foreigner can speak their language. most people don't try to learn.

Week # 21 in China

Work-
Still the same. Lots of work keeps me busy. Getting very close to a European Distribution system final selection. Many services up for contract renewal, so price negotiations and analysis take up much of my day. Our China domestic market sales expansion is starting to show more and more progress. Working to set up an installation network throughout China. Dominic and Scott from the USA were here. Dominic picked up 3 peanuts with chop sticks. Sorry Matt.

Personal-

Miss home, miss the kids, miss Robin. Still practicing my Mandarin Chinese, that is fun.

Week # 20 in China

Work- Just working, trying to keep all the projects moving in the right direction. Busy at work is a good thing.

Personal- Friday evening the 27th of March, Tighe, his son David, and I went to Hong Kong. We went to the Hong Kong Sevens Ruby tournament. i have never seen a Rugby game before. it was pretty cool. After the match, which consisted of about 10 games, we found a hamburger joint for one of the best "Western" style greasy hamburger you can only dream of finding in Mainland China. I played golf with Dominic and Scott from the USA Engineering team on Saturday in Zhuhai. On Sunday March 29th I started taking Mandarin Chinese lessons. It is very interesting for a person that has never taken a foreign language course. What a busy weekend for me.

The photagrapher!

We didn't know this lady, but she was obviously cheering for the same team as us during the USA vs. Scotland match. We lost!