Journey to the Dark Side

Sometimes you feel this burning desire inside yourself to force a new tradition upon your circle of friends. The flame of my desire was lit more than 5 years ago during one of the yearly Georgia stompings by the Florida football team. My band of idiots ran into another band of idiots who similarly worship at the alter of college football. The conversation started innocently enough with my friend Chatty McCatterson asking two strangers why one had on a Florida shirt and one had on a Georgia shirt. The duo explained that they did not pull for the Red and Black or the Orange and Blue. They picked a big-time rivalry game every year and took a trip.

What a concept. Like traveling abroad allows you to experience different cultures...traveling across the US can open you to different college football cultures. Needless to say, our minds were blown apart. Think of the possibilities...at Southbend where Touchdown Jesus cuts the Kentucky Blue Grass a little longer than normal in an attempt to slow down the mighty Trojans...or the Red River Shootout where you can pre-game with fried corn dogs, fried Oreos, fried Snickers, and even fried Coke...or at the Horseshoe or the Big House for The Game...or at the Linc to see the Cadets and Midshipmen walk out with their football team. Magical!

At the time we were poor college students so the idea had to roll around and ferment in our brains for a couple of years as we matured into adults with j-o-b-s and all. During this time, we continued to discuss the idea along with places to visit. Eventually, we wrote all of the sites down into a comprehensive list and now that we have reached that state of adulthood, it is time to get our rivalry on.

For our first and opening salvo, we selected the "Clean, old-fashioned hate" rivalry between the University of Georgia Bulldogs (UGA) and the Georgia Institute of Technology Yellow Jackets (GT). Why start here? Why does this rivalry merit the honors of firsts? It boils down to location. The game takes place during a weekend we had free (Thanksgiving) and it is a drivable distance from the majority of the group (about 6 hours). There is also a little bit of mystique about the field between the Hedges. See, Gators don't generally go to Athens.

Now, my pack of idiots were brought up correctly. With class. In jean shorts. We worship at Spurrier and Urban's National Championship encrusted Thrones which rises up out of the swamp-filled land that is Florida Football...where Blue and Orange bleed out of the very ground like crystal clear spring water. And you see...it has been decided that Georgia shall receive their yearly spanking from Florida in the city of Jacksonville, at the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. Since 1933, aside from the home-and-home played in 94-and-95 when the stadium was being rebuilt, this rivalry has always been played in Jacksonville. As Florida Football fans, none of us have ever had reason to venture into the enemy territory known as Athens. Gator Football does not travel there. Considering that Gator football goes to the urine stained city of Tallahassee...what does that say about Athens? Enough about Florida Football, this is about the rivalry.

Another striking and wonderful thing about the UGA-GT rivalry is the undeniable and deep-seated hatred between the two schoools. Exhibit A) I present to you the Georgia fight song (that is, if you ask any Georgia fan you meet...technically this is not the official fight song...and technically the last line is not official...but everyone knows that is just Politically-Correct-Hogwash):

Glory, glory to ole Georgia!

Glory, glory to ole Georgia!

Glory, glory to ole Georgia!

And to hell (or heck) with Georgia Tech!

And then you may or may not repeat.

Now you may say "wow, only 9 different words in the whole song!" Please remember, people from Georgia are not the sharpest knives in the drawer. Now, I present to you the GT fight song:

I'm a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech, and a hell of an engineer--

A helluva, helluva, helluva, helluva, hell of an engineer.

Like all the jolly good fellows, I drink my whiskey clear.

I'm a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech and a hell of an engineer.

Oh! If I had a daughter, sir, I'd dress her in White and Gold,

And put her on the campus to cheer the brave and bold.

But if I had a son, sir, I'll tell you what he'd do--

He would yell, 'To hell with Georgia!' like his daddy used to do.

Oh, I wish I had a barrel of rum and sugar three thousand pounds,

A college bell to put it in and a clapper to stir it round.

I'd drink to all the good fellows who come from far and near.

I'm a ramblin', gamblin', hell of an engineer!

After this one you may say "wow, they like to curse and swear at GT!" Don't be fooled. The nerd is cunning. The nerd is deceptive. The nerd is attempting to fool you. No matter how it camouflages itself, it is still a nerd.

The conclusion you should draw out of these two fight songs is that Georgia and Georgia Tech really do hate each other. They even state their hatred in their fight songs, just to make sure you know it and don't forget it.

And now, on to the journey. For various reasons of adult lameness, majority of the group fell through this year and our group was limited to just two. No matter. Onward to Athens!

We started the slow drive to Athens from Jacksonville listening to the sweet soothing tones of AM radio as we tried to follow the results of this year's Iron Bowl. Cam Newton and Auburn were surprisingly getting destroyed by Bama. What gives? Don't worry, Cam will eventually prove that the SEC has the best players money can buy...and don't you forget it!

As we meandered our way through the back woods of Georgia on non-interstate roads we were taken back to a day before interstates. It was a simpler time. A time when state highways were the roads of choice and motels were the respectable. We saw all of those hotels of course...or at least the rotting carcasses. The few that were open...well, hopefully they give out tetanus shots with the room keys.

Along the way we also witnessed the southern economic power that is Dairy Queen. It seems that every tiny and insignificant town in Georgia has its own Dairy Queen...and why wouldn't they? You can't expect people in Georgia to drive to the next town for their Dairy Queen. It can take a good half hour or more to reach the next town. I don't care how thick that Blizzard is...after sitting in a car for a half hour, it will not remain in the cup when you turn it upside down. Of course we had no need to stop at any of these Dairy Queens because we got our Dairy Queen Blizzards at the first one we saw (still in Florida) and Dairy Queen twice in one day? Ridiculous!

Eventually the AM radio failed us and we drove on thinking Auburn was getting destroyed. When we made it back into cell phone range (remember...we're in Georgia...they still use rotary phones there) we found out that Auburn was making a comeback. After a few week attempts to stream audio from either a Verizon or a AT&T phone, we went back to a fuzzy AM signal and listened to mighty Bama fall. Sweetness.

Eventually we arrived in Athens and after dropping our bags at the HoJo we headed straight to the Varsity. Holy crap, was the food there good. They put chili on everything and it is mighty fine chili. I went with a chili-dog, chili-burger, fries, and a coke combo. Divine. How did we know to go the Varsity? Well...I have a shameful confession to make. Hello, my name is Drew and I'm related to Georgia fans. You say "Hi Drew" in response. I nod, grimace, and shamefully swallow my guilt. The one positive about being related to Georgia fans is the inside knowledge of Athens they can provide. Beyond that...well...yeah.

After that, we drove around the downtown/bar area until we found parking and began our trek on enemy territory. For many of the other rivalry games we plan to attend I fully intend to proudly wear my Florida gear. Since we were in the lions den, we both elected for a more low-key appearance. Neutral black jackets and sweaters. Not getting beat up or spit on by rednecks, for the win!

• A quick shot of most of the bars we visited

After immediately stumbling on the famous Georgia arches (and being so underwhelmed we had to ask if this was in fact "the" arches) we proceeded to bar hop until late until the evening. Athens has a pretty good bar scene and none of the bars had a line or a cover so it was so easy to go exploring. Pretty nice for a visitor considering many college towns that I have been to, you would need to have a bar picked out, get there early, and pay a cover just for the privileged of overpaying for drinks.

The next morning (Game day) started early, about 8 AM (for a 7:45 PM game), with a thorough exploration of the UGA campus. We started with a nice little breakfast at The Grill and my goodness, it was tasty. We also set next to someone who looked like a former football player, was wearing a Monday Night Football jacket, and clearly had some championship ring...but we did not recognize him. My guess is he just works for Monday Night Football staff and used to play football, but he was not a commentator or anything.

While driving around campus (just to scope it and parking out before walking around) we ventured by my sister's sorority house. After that we tried to find the Forestry building (my dad's building), but the Google maps was failing us. We probably walked/drove by it 10 times but we never saw a sign to get a picture of. It was while we were parked to jump out and look for the Forestry building that we realized why we were getting such disgusting looks from all of the early morning tailgaters that we drove by...we had a Gator license plate on the front. We kind of forgot about that when we decided to slow drive around campus...probably best to park the car in a discreet location and start walking.

As fate was smiling on us this weekend, we parked next to Florida street. It just felt a little cleaner. Joe, in his Boston Redsox hat and neutral black jacket, bravely Gator chomps his car with a Gator license plate on the front and back.

• Top left: the sorority house
• Bottom left: Famous railroad tracks by the stadium (how drunks find their way home)
• Bottom middle: Chomp chomp...living dangerously

Then, we made our way over to the stadium to see what we could see.

After a thorough tour of campus, we headed to a bar to settle down for some of the other rivalry games on the TV. We started the day out with a little Michigan-Ohio State but as Michigan still sucks, it was not much of a game. As that game drug on, we left the bar and headed to Little Italy for some delicious pizza. After pizza, we found another bar to watch Florida-Florida State but as Florida still sucks, it was also not much of a game. Most Georgia fans were cheering against Florida (surprise surprise) and not rooting for the SEC. Can't say I blame them for your biggest rival (in this case, Florida)...but after that, you better cheer for your conference when it comes to out-of-conference games.

After the Florida game, we headed outside to find tickets. It took us 1 block and 1 scalper to find good seats at a good price (to be fair, both teams were having a mediocre season). After that, it was time to get to the stadium. Our seats were on the goal line of the open end of the stadium and a little more than halfway up. I think it was technically a GT section but there was a pretty even mix of Georgia and Tech fans.

Overall, the stadium was enjoyable. The crowd was lively and we were surrounded by all of the typical inebriated college football fans. I loved seeing a college aged Tech fan wildly screaming something at another college aged Georgia fan, and then kindly patting an 80 year old looking lady Tech fan next to him saying "don't worry, we'll all work for you someday" with a friendly smile.

• Here the band spells Georgia just to ensure the residents of the state know how to spell it

The game itself was quite exciting. Georgia looked like the better team most of the night but  Tech just kept grinding and kept themselves in the game. The excitement came near the end of the game when, after a two touchdown comeback and a tragically missed extra point, Tech found themselves down 1. Georgia had the ball with a couple minutes to go and after burning their timeouts and a few key Georgia first downs it was clear that all Georgia had to do was run out the clock. Time for the stadium to empty and both Georgia and Tech fans start racing for the exits. As I have never left a game early and definitely wanted a picture of Joe and I post game, we were going nowhere. It was at this point that Tech called their final time out and brought all of the boys in. After a quick calculator session and a few derivations they discovered something clever. It was time to line up again and although I could not hear it, I bet the Tech players were talking some smack. Georgia lines up for a simple running play from 35+ yards from the end-zone, hikes the ball, and then something strange happens...none of the Tech players try to stop him. The Georgia running back runs through the line unimpeded and easily sprints for a touch down. Woo, the Georgia fans and players go wild. YES! Running up the score on a hated opponent. Nothing in life is sweeter. Then, a hush fell over the stadium. The silence happened almost immediately in the Tech section and once the Georgia fans got their shoes off and started counting they too fell silent. After the extra point, Tech would only be down by 8, with the ball, and with 1 minute to go. Tech was still in this game. If they scored and went for two, it would be tied and heading into overtime. What the heck just happened? The Georgia fans started screaming...to them, "those damn engineers cheated! They used math to their advantage. **** ********! Why, oh why did that running back score?" Even though the Georgia fans did not think about how they should not score, they are now furious at the players for not realizing it. But alas, there is no time to think about this because Georgia is kicking and Tech is about to try to run the field in 1 minute.

Luckily for Georgia, Tech and their QB are not known for or good at passing. They have gone entire games with less than 3 passes. While Tech did manage to march about halfway down the field, eventually they encountered third and long and after some lame-duck passes, it was over. Now the Georgia fans can start celebrating (again) and the mass exodus from the stadium can begin again.

We eventually headed back to the car (surprised to find that the Florida pieces were not vandalized...but then again the Georgia fans were in a good mood) and then proceeded to the Varsity for some more chili-covered food. Once we were full we headed to the hotel for bed and an early drive home.

Even though I am a rabid Florida fan I will admit that the Georgia campus is beautiful. Athens is an awesome party town and I love that none of the bars have covers, so it is easy to bar hop. Every meal I had was OUTSTANDING! The Varsity was my favorite, but then I do love greasy burgers and fries. As for the stadium, I cannot believe they have left one side as open as they have (Florida was once a horseshoe and is now filled in). Fill that thing in and make the place louder and get more tickets. You've got the room. Just relocate that road running next to the stadium. Although, as a fan...it is pretty cool that you can see into the stadium from the road. As far as the rivalry goes, we picked a good one (and a great game) to kick-off this new tradition. The fans berated each other all night and you could tell that the game was special to the players on the field (despite mediocre seasons). College football passion. Love it.

Where we're going, we don't need roads

So as the Back to the Future title reference implies, roads are not required; Trails are.  After classes wound down (and since I had no finals during finals week) I went hiking with my Dad and a friend on the Appalachian Trail (AT).  My Dad and I have been hiking before on the trail when I was about 13 but I got sick so we quit after only two days.  This time we planned to do about 50 miles over 6 days (with the first and last day being half-days).

Now that I am full grown, I enjoy hiking and camping and such...but hiking for a couple of days is a little more intense.  You have to carry everything you need and our packs weighed in at about 45 pounds.

We decided to start at the beginning of the trail since the person we were hiking with had a place near Springer Mountain in Georgia.  In the pictures below you can see the house of the guy (who is a total badass and built this house literally by himself) and the place to put into the trail which is at the base of Springer Mountain.

We had to hike south to get to the start of the trail (although many people put in at Amicalola falls which is 8 miles past Springer Mountain, the trail technically starts at Springer Mountain) before we could hike north to our final destination.

On the first day we took it easy and only hiked five miles.  It was a good idea because at about the five mile mark is a nice little waterfall.

On the first night we elected to sleep on a slight slope because it was supposed to rain and all of the flat areas looked like a place where the water would build-up if it rained.  Aftre tossing and turning all night and with sore backs the next morning...we learned that sleeping on a slope is a bad idea.

Anywho, the next day we got up nice and early (which means we got to sleep in until 8 AM) so we could do our daily ten miles.  We decided after a couple of days that we probably could have planned for 12 miles a day and still felt like we could take our time and enjoy ourselves, but we planned for ten so we stuck with ten.  It was actually nice because we never had to rush.  If we wanted to break or stop and get pictures, it was no problem.  If we hiked straight through we usually finished at 3-4 PM and it got dark after 7 PM.

On the second day as we walked over a nice little climb I saw a bear cross the path about 30 yards ahead of me.  I also learned (from seeing it everywhere) that a bear, does in fact, shit in the woods.  Well as the day wore on everyone we passed was talking about the bear problem in the upcoming areas.  Apparently there are a couple of bears that have learned how to tear down bear bags (where you hang your food from a tree so they don't eat it).

• Bottom middle: Here you can see our bear bag handing from a small tree.

Well we had no incidents the second evening but we were not really in the problematic bear's territories yet.  The third day was all about prepping for Blood Mountain.  Blood Mountain was probably the toughest climb we had on the 50 mile stretch we chose and we wanted to stop short of the Mountain so we could tackle it in the morning.  Problem was that the shelter we planned on stopping near was where the bears had recently been active. These bears ripped down permanent steel cables that were designed to stop bears from getting to your food.

This led to everyone on the trail stopping way short of Blood Mountain...so we ended up camping with about 17 other people and this is not common when hiking on the AT.

• Bottom left: We forgot to get a picture but you can still sort of see some of the other tents of the people we camped near.

Once again we had no bear troubles so we started to climb Blood.  Turns out Blood was no big deal.  I won't say that it was not challenging, but at this point with a couple of days under our belt we were in better shaped and just raced up the thing.

The amazing thing is that at the top of Blood Mountain is a shelter that was built by the Civilian Engineering Core (government work to restart the economy during the depression in the 1930s).  People had to haul all of the stones and mortar necessary to build a structure up that mountain (I'm sure they used rocks from up there but mortar requires water).  It is still looking good today, about 80 years later, and I'm sure that it has helped many a stranded hiker.

After Blood we hiked down to mile 30, where the trail passes through a store that has a ton of hiking gear as well as ice cream (we had been talking about mile 30 since mile 1).  After a short break we walked another 2.5 miles and then decided to walk back to mile 30 and end our trip early.  My Dad's feet started blistering on the first day and despite all of our efforts to tape and bandage them we decided the best thing to do was to get his feet some rest.  It turned out to be a really smart thing since it poured rain that night (we had no rain during our four days...simply glorious weather) and the wet shoes certainly would not have helped his already bad feet.  He ended up loosing his baby toenail because he had a blister all around the nail and under it and this also reaffirms that we made a good decision.

When we got to mile 30 we had a shuttle (and the driver and his dog were quite a pair) take us back to the cabin, showered for the first time in a week, and went into town for real food.

• Middle left and right: People tossed their old shoes in the trees and lines hanging inside the store at mile 30 so our friend contributed his shoes (which were loosing their soles) from the trip.

Overall it was a fantastic trip.  You could not have asked for better weather, the sites were gorgeous, and it was a fun and challenging event.  Hopefully I can find some time in the upcoming years to do another week.

You're welcome world

My fellow LGO 10's were not too excited about Mustache March this year but I had such a good idea that I still needed to grow a mustache.  Eventually, some LGO 11's got their act together and organized a Mustache March but at that point I was already well into my own thing.  I started growing my beard in mid February but I had to wait until after Plant Trek to unveil my creation.  Without any further wait, here is my gift to the world.

As you can see, I have carved the acronym LGO, which stands for Leaders for Global Operation, into my face.  I happened to unveil my creation on the day when the admitted students for the LGO class of 2012 were in town for Open House (where they really learn about the program and decide if they want to join).  I got a ton of strange looks from the prospective students because if you only looked at me straight-on it was hard to tell what was going on with my face.  Luckily, when my wife introduced herself (she is one of the staff of the LGO program) her fun fact was that she was married to that idiot they met earlier with LGO carved into his facial hair...at which point the light bulb went off in everyone's heads and they laughed.

A similar experience happened with my classmates.  Most people gave me strange looks until someone sitting next to them explained what was going on with my face, at which point I got a thumbs up and a big laugh.  Hopefully one of the 11's takes my idea to the next level next year and add to it.  It is all about continuous improvement.  Maybe LGO colors (black, neon green, and grey) or maybe they will get the courage to walk around Boston looking like this for two weeks so they can officially enter the Mustache March contest.

Anywho, concerning my amazing facial hair, you are welcome world.

Japan to Boston - Day 15

We got in so late (5:30 AM) that we did not do much on the final day.  We checked out of the hotel and took the shuttle bus to the airport before spending most of a day on an airplane.  I can't say enough how fun the trip was and how gracious I am to Joonhaeng for hosting us in Korea, the CLFM students for hosting us in Shanghai, and for the 11's who planned the rest of the trip.

Japan - Day 14

Last full day in Japan and the weather could NOT be nicer!  As was the case last year (in Easter Europe), March is not the best time to visit some places from a weather point of view.  Most of the trip has been cold and rainy but today was spectacular.  So what do you do on a beautiful spring day in Japan?  Well, if you are lucky you spend the day admiring cherry blossoms…and this is what we set out to do.

• Bottom right: I found Dr. Pepper in a vending machine.

First we headed to the Imperial Palace to walk around the garden.  You can only go inside the palace on two days during the year, and this was not one of those days, but the gardens are always open.

• Top left: Look at the stone work...no mortar.

Next we headed to the electronic district of Tokyo to check out the stores.  None of us were in the market to buy anything, but it is pretty cool none the less.  Imagine a Best Buy on steroids crammed into ¼ of the same space…then add lots of flashing lights and excited/screaming advertising.

• Top and bottom right: These girls got pissed when I took pictures of them, but that did not stop me.  You dress up funny in public and I'm going to take your picture.
• Bottom left: Apparently they don't have trash cans in Asia.  I carried that Dr. Pepper can for a couple of hours.
• Bottom middle: Victory!  Not only did I find a trash can, but a recycle can.

After that we headed to the Tokyo museum which has an awesome lane of cherry blossoms.  We knew none of this at the time.  We were heading to the museum because someone in our group was reading the New Yorker (obviously a hippy) and he read about a tea house there that we should visit.  When we got to the museum area we were blown away with the cherry blossoms and the number of people celebrating outside.  It felt like the fourth of July in the US.  We headed to the museum and the hippies went to the tea ceremony and a few of us went in the museum.

• Bottom right: The picnic looked fun.

• Bottom left: I love samurai swords.  This one was from the 12th century.

After the museum we just wandered the area for a little while.  The festive atmosphere was just too good to leave.

• Bottom left: Everyone was taking pictures of the cherry blossoms.
• Bottom right: Worst case of Asian Plush that I have ever seen (I only recently learned about this term but apparently many Asians turn very red when they drink).

• Bottom right: This dog loved to eat cherry blossoms.

Next we stopped into a sushi shop so the boys could get a snack (I don't eat sushi) and a drink before dinner.  Then we headed to dinner (taking a few pictures along the way).

• Bottom left: At the end of the day, I am American...which means I have to insult foreign cultures and their works of art.

Dinner was an event and a half.  The place does not typically take English speakers but someone in our group had their mother (who speaks Japanese) call all over town to find a place that would take us.  The dinner setup was fantastic.  It was all you can eat and all you can drink (beer and sake) for 2 hours.  Since only one person in our 28 person group spoke Japanese, dinner took about three hours…but they did not charge us extra.  The end result was a group in quite good spirits…so it was time to go clubbing.

• Top right: I was more than full.
• Bottom left: Steak.
• Bottom right: Pork.

From 3-27-10 Tokyo

• Sake Bombs!  After this, we did a round with everyone there.

We stayed in the club until about 3:30 AM and since it is a Tokyo tradition, after a quick bite to eat, we took the first subway home (5 AM) with hundreds of our new best friends.

Japan - Day 13

Today was our final plant trek and it was to Hitachi and their facilities where they build nuclear power plants.  For the first time this trip we got the tour we wanted!  Hooray!  Hitachi spent almost the entire day with us and gave us a tour at a pace that allowed for questions and with people capable of answering them.  Well done.

We spent the morning getting an overview (in powerpoint form) about a number of the things that they do, especially the engineering and project management.  It was easy to see why they have such an impressive track record on big projects.  We also talked a bit about nuclear energy and I really hope the US gets over its NIMBY (not in my back yard) and embraces new nuclear plants.  Hitachi hopes for this as well. ;-)

After Hitachi we had a two hour bus ride back to Tokyo (hitting rush hour traffic as we expected to).  Luckily for us (and unluckily for our bladders) they gave us beer for the ride.

• Bottom left: Never turn down free beer even if you don’t drink…cause your friends will want your beer.  Also, Hitachi had sanitary paper hats for the hardhats so naturally I wore that for the rest of the day...and the people at the rest stop may have thought I was Muslim with the hat and the beard.
• Bottom right: As was the case last year, those with smaller bladders struggle on buses without bathrooms.

Once we got back into town we headed out for dinner.  Once again coordinating dinner took forever (despite our best efforts to coordinate on the busride) but eventually we made it and I had the best ramen (noodles in water) that I have ever had.  After dinner we were debating what to do and most people were “tired” and went home like a bunch of bums.  I understand that it has been a long two weeks but it was Friday night in Tokyo…time to party.  Six of us went bar hopping but we were not very successful at our endeavor.  We elected to go out near our hotel so we could walk home (subway stops at 12:30) but most of the bars in the area were more like restaurants…but not exactly.  They all serve food, but not a full meal, and this can get expensive if you just want to try a place out for a drink and then move on.  They definitely got mad when we said that we did not want food.  It also gets tough on me because I can only drink so many Cokes before I just don’t need any more caffeine or sugar.  We made it home by about 3 AM (I had a date with JP at 5 AM to go to the famous Tokyo fish market where vendors from around the world purchase their sushi) and it was definitely bedtime.

• Top middle: We went up a free observation building for a night view of the city.
• Bottom middle: I never got pushed into a subway but I got to see the other side get pushed in.

Japan - Day 12

Today we visited the holy grail of manufacturing (according to all of the classes that I’ve taken in school) Toyota.  Similar to the first auto tour of this trip (but not to the same extent) the tour was a bit short and we did not have a chance to ask many questions.  We got the typical window tour (it was actually a catwalk above the floor) tour with a PR person (which does not allow for operations questions).  Despite this, the tour was nice and it was impressive to see the floor.  People all over the factory were certainly moving at full speed.

The better part of the day came at lunch (which was like all of the other company meals in Asia, very classy).  During lunch we got a Q&A with a Sloan alum and he was quite candid with us.  It was refreshing to hear someone discuss the mistakes that Toyota has made and where he thinks the company is going.  We could not take any photos on the tour (standard for most companies), but we got to hang out in their showroom area and take pictures to our heart’s desires.

• Top left: A classy meal filled with things that I don’t eat.
• Bottom mid-left: This chair was weird and I don’t get it.
• Bottom right: They had a trumpet playing robot…I don’t know why.

After that we took the bullet train to Tokyo.  The departure and arrival were…interesting…because we purchased a group ticket, so all 50 of us had to go through the entry and exit gate at the same time…which meant we had to stick together as we went through one of the biggest stations in Tokyo.  Like I said…interesting.  After that, things went well.

We got to our hotel easily enough and then headed out to dinner…which was also…interesting…because everyone decided that they could not read a single guidebook or ask the hotel reception desk but instead they had to get a recommendation from one of the two students who had been to Tokyo before.  So we once again had to try to organize and unofficial event with 35 people, which never works and always takes forever (took us an hour to get out of the lobby).

• Top left and middle: Tokyo had amazing markers for blind people.  You could get around every subway and many public places by following the textured tile path.  The paths even walked up to the blind assistance ticket machine.  Best system for the blind that I’ve seen.

After dinner we went out to see the city.  We went to the busy area of Tokyo, Shibuya.  If you’ve ever seen a movie clip of Tokyo and they show “that” intersection (like Times Square in New York) where people cross in any direction at a crosswalk (so people are crossing cattycorner) then you know Shibuya.  It was raining that night and only a Thursday so it was not as busy as it can be, but it was fun either way.  After a walk around the area, we caught the last subway train back to the hotel.

• Top left: More than 180 degree view of Shibuya.
• Bottom left: Even the Don (our program director) came out with us (only for one drink, but he’s a good sport).
• Bottom right: I never got the story of why this dog is well know, but everyone else was getting a picture so we joined in.

I noted as we walked around (and everyone agreed) that I have never felt as safe in New York, even the nicest areas, as I did in Tokyo, even the sketchier areas.  Tokyo just felt safe.  It was bright and people did not hassle you…everyone was just so darn polite.

China to Japan – Day 11

This was our last day in China and with the CLFM students.  We started the morning with a case competition with teams mixed between CLFM and LGO students.  Overall it was a fun event, but I wish we had more time for the case because some of the CLFM students needed more time to read the case (it was in English and to be honest it was not the best written case).  This prevented some of the CLFM students from really participating.  Hopefully the next time we do this they factor that in when picking a case.

• George, me, Kal, and Nina...my hosts from CLFM in Shanghai

After that we hopped on a plane to Nagoya Japan.  By the time we got checked into our hotel it was quite late and there was NOTHING around the airport, so some of us took the time to do some laundry and then went to bed.

• Top left: Look at the legroom you get in economy on an Asian airline.
• Top right: The rooms in Japan...a bit small.
• Bottom right: Stewart found the pajamas that they leave on the beds in Japan...it was not awesome for everyone else.

China - Day 10

We started the morning by driving to a Caterpillar plant that was also located in “Shanghai” (so about an hour drive).  Caterpillar is a new partner company of the LGO program so it was exciting to see one of their facilities.  We started the day with a Q&A with the plant manager who had quite a bit of experience as an Ex-pat in China, so that was an interesting perspective to get.  Next we toured the factory and overall the tour and facility were quite impressive.  I should be impressed with the size of the work they were doing but when you’ve seen a Boeing airplane rolling down an assembly line, it is really hard to top that. ;-)  The most surprising/interesting thing was the workforce there.  Most of the workers I saw were young (Caterpillar discussed their strategy of hiring young people out of technical school and supplying additional training) but I was even MORE surprised by the number of women we saw working in the factory.  From what we saw in the car facility the day before (and the discussion we had after that with the CLFMs about women in the heavy manual labor workforce in China) I get the impression that what Caterpillar has is pretty unique.

After we got back to the hotel I went with a group to the general shopping market that is underground and mixed into a subway station.  You could buy any and everything here from golf clubs to remote control cars to shoes and clothes.  This was the stereotypical market with people yelling broken English at you as you walk by to try to get you into their store.  Just about every store there had a duplicate store within a couple of booths so it was very easy to compare prices and try to get the best deal.  You just walk into a store and play the game where you go back and forth on prices.  The throw out the little English they have like “good quality” and “special price” and then you type numbers into a calculator.  Typically you can walk away with an item for 1/5 or even 1/7 of where they start.  A good place to start you opening bid is 1/10 of what they type in, mostly because it is easy math, and of course this is followed by ridiculous faces and exclamations of “impossible”.  The next big key is to not give up a ton of money on the first one to two exchanges.  The other key is to always start walking away after 2+ rounds.  Then you get the “name your price” and “final offer” prices (which of course are never final).  Usually they chase you down in the aisle (where you are being yelled at to enter an identical store) with a moderately low number in the calculator.  At this point it becomes a game of how much you are willing to pay.  I saw a number of occurrences when they would not come down, even 5 Rambos, from their calculator in the aisle price (and sometimes you get an F-you as they walk back to their store) but I also saw people take off another 20% from that price.  I feel like after you get a couple of store “chase you down” price you can maybe get 90% of that price, but not always.

In the end I bought a pair of shoes and grossly overpaid for them (despite the fact that I have all of these great observations from numerous transactions of people in my group).  When I finally saw something I wanted I was a bit time constrained and really I gave up $15 just because I was tired of haggling.  I paid for the convenience of my time. :-)  Either way I did better than in the US and it was fun to argue with this girl in broken English.

One other interesting thing to note is the way the people in the store will run off to another booth if they don’t have what you need.  For example, when I saw the shoes that I wanted they did not have my size so the girl’s sister ran off to another store (and I saw this numerous times because these were small shops with very little room for inventory).  First she came back with a pair in a different color to confirm my size and then she went off again to find the same size in the right color.  I am curious (and I have no idea which it is) if the store that I am dealing with a) bought those shoes from another store, b) shares inventory with another store, c) agrees to give the other store a cut of what they made off of me, or d) some other arrangement that I have not thought of.  It would be interesting to know because if they bought the inventory from another store I, the buyer, would have much more bargaining power because they do NOT want to carry that inventory.  It is all fun to watch and think about.  As someone in business school who often talk about running people selling widgets and all of the financial workings of the business, it would be really cool to get the actual number from this store (how much did my shoes really cost?).

After the shopping, we met up with the CLFM and LGO students for dinner and karaoke.  The party started a little slow because people were eating so myself and a few other individuals had to supply the singing (I subscribe to the philosophy that if you can’t sing good, sing loud).  It was funny for a while because there was a large group of CLFM student there in the beginning so we went back and forth between English and Chinese songs and when each group had their song on the classmates would sing along and the other group would kind of stand there (because they had NEVER heard that song before).

Eventually we transition from beers to shots and things went how so many LGO parties go.  Downhill fast! ;-)

Eventually the CLFM students trickled off (except for 5 hard-core party-ers…and to be fair to them, many have families at home and have schoolwork due later this week) and the LGOs took over the song list.  We got kicked out of the big party room so we transitioned to a smaller room.  As the pictures and videos (coming soon once I get better internet) show, a good time was had by all.

China - Day 9

Today was our first official plant tour for the 2010 International Plant Trek and the company was Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC).  We could not take any photos inside and I have not gotten a copy of the group yet but I did snap a few photos in the lobby.

Unfortunately, the actual plant tour was kind of weak.  The tour was just a quick walk through final assembly and we went as one big group of 70.  The speakers would make comments in Chinese and one of the CLFM students would translate.  Both speakers would speak into a microphone which broadcast out of the portable speakers that they were carrying, but overall it was difficult to hear and not a very thorough tour.  Overall it lasted maybe 30 minutes.  To be fair to SAIC this is not too different from the tours we had on some of the international plant tours last year.  It is often difficult to get companies to understand that we are VERY interested in operations and want a thorough tour, not the quick “look at my pretty factory” tour that you give to executives.  Its fantastic that they opened their doors to us, I just wish we could have had more time on the floor.

The one thing I saw that I really liked was a movable floor unit for adding the motor into the car.  At a number of the car plants that I have toured the cars either move slowly down the assembly line and the floor where the operators stand move with the cars (so it is stable as they work) or the cars move forward and stop, the operators work, and then they move again.  Here they had a slow moving line without a moving floor.  Instead, they had a robot controlled (I believe it followed a magnetic strip on the floor) platform that moved under the car, lifted the motor into the car (allowing the operators to attach the motor to the car) and then it moved out of the assembly line after which another motor was added to the platform.  What I love about this setup is the flexibility.  If you build a large crane arm to load motors into the car, you can never change where that step happens or the type of motor/car combination.  With this mobile platform, if you wanted to change the location or style you just change platforms.  Beautiful!

After the tour we headed to the Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) campus (where the CLFMs go).  My CLFM hosts and I visited the recreation area to play a little badminton.  On Sunday, I was talking a little table tennis smack to some of the Chinese students when we were discussing which sports we played.  I was fully aware that they would destroy me, but everyone loves a little fun competition.  Unfortunately, they did not have paddles at the school so we settled on badminton.  It was fun either way.  The last time I played badminton I must have been 13 years old and it was a pretty casual game.  This is not the way they play.  Apparently, the objective of badminton is to hit the birdie as hard as you can…which gets quite tiring after a while.

• Bottom right: George drew me a map of how to get back to the hotel.

After I got back to the hotel I met up with some people who were on their way to the market to pickup their custom made suits and shirts and decided to tag along so I could see the market. It was amazing!  They all purchased clothes from a building that was three stories tall and each story had ~100 booths that all made custom tailored clothes.  If you did not like the price at one booth, you walked one booth over and ordered the exact same thing.  Depending on the quality of material you wanted, you can get a suit for 500 Rambos (the word we use instead of RMB which you always see and which actually stands for renmimbi...and could also be abbreviated CYN for Chinese yuan) or $74 and shirts were 80 Rambos or $12.  The shirts were fun too, because they had 10+ options for the collars, buttons, cuffs, cut, etc. and you could mix and match materials and styles.  I kind of wish I had gone shopping, but I would have had to sacrifice my first day there and I wanted to see the sights more.  Pretty cool either way.

After everyone settled their clothes fittings (checking the fit of suits with one sleeve or pants that were not quite finished) we headed to dinner.  We went to this large mall and ate traditional Chinese food in a room that overlooked the river.  I love/hate the negotiating in China...because while it is fun to watch it can be tiring.  When we walked into the restaurant we were told that we could only sit in the window room if we spent 1500 Rambos on our food bill.  We said sure because that’s about $22 a person (10 person group).  Once we sat down, we discovered that we could not even order enough food to get to 1500 Rambos.  I ordered two of everything I wanted (as did others) and when we tallied it up we were at about 650 Rambos.  After our CLFM students yelled back and forth with the staff they agreed to include the alcohol on our 1500 minimum bill (of course the finance nerds in group debated whether the restaurant held a call or a put option, these are stock trading terms, over us).  When the final bill came it was about 1300 Rambos and they let us leave at 1300 instead of 1500 so we did not have to order dessert that we had no intention of eating (why would you have 5 star dessert when there are McDonald's McFlurrys just one floor below?)