Back in Shanghai...

And really glad I didn't major in Accounting.

After an awesome trip to Tokyo, which I will outline in my next post, I returned to find the finance department entering the arduous process known as "Year End Close." During this time, all financial documents must be produced or updated and for yours truly it means the end of the budget process. Sounds great, right? Would be, if the last step in the budget didn't happen to be the creation of the Cash Flow Budget.

So far, my work with the budget has been challenging, but hasn't involved any really heavy lifting from an accounting standpoint, mostly it was just tracking down information about each department and figuring out what they would need from a staffing and financial standpoint to meet the service demand figures I estimated for them for next year. The Cash Flow statement on the other hand, is pretty much pure Accounting 100, a course I took my almost 4 years ago, and remember virtually nothing useful from.

So that was the long way to say that work is really busy right now, but time seems to be flying by regardless as I find myself with just over a month left in Shanghai before I pack up and leave for the states (with a 3 week layover in India and Singapore!)

Made it to Tokyo

After a wonderful flight, bumped into business class, I made it through immigration and to Kim`s apartment without much trouble. Tokyo is, so far, everything that the Chinese government would like China to be, but can`t manage to pull off... that is, orderly, clean(er), respectful of lines, service oriented... which comes at a ridiculously steep price. My late night, sushi and beer dinner that I grabbed with Kim was 4,480 Yen, roughly $40!! While Kim teaches English today, I`m off to try my hand at the world`s most complicated metro system in an attempt to get to the beautiful shrines and skyscrapers in the heart of Tokyo. I did cave though, and am currently armed with her Lonely Planet - Best of Tokyo guide book, what can I say, the place is a little intense and a little intimidating...

Happy (Chinese) New Year

Or, as they say here, Xin Nian Kuai Le! (pronounced Shin Knee-Ann Ka-why Le... which, surprise surprise, means Happy New Year.)

The holiday, which is actually called Spring Festival by most of the locals, is a time for families to reunite, children to get little red envelopes full of cash called Hong Bao, and everyone and their mothers to set off unbelievably loud fireworks in the hope of scaring off evil spirits for the new year.

In addition to the general annoyance of not being able to sleep during this period, there is also shockingly little attention paid to the safe and reasonable use of literally hundreds of thousands of pounds of gunpowder, black powder and dynamite by the general public... to clarify, we had a 27 year old male show up in our Emergency Department yesterday with a "through-and-through" puncture wound in his left calf, caused by, and I quote, "setting rockets off on their side." Stunningly intelligent move. Oh, and we're not talking bottle rockets out of coke bottles here... when the Chinese say rockets, they're referring to small missiles with 3 foot fuses.

Fortunately, I'll be evacuating the city to protect myself from the mayhem and enjoying the sights and sounds of Tokyo and Kyoto for the next week. Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

Oh, and my pictures are finally updated!! Check out http://sterny.smugmug.com to see pictures from my mom and dad's visit in December, our trips to Thailand and Cambodia, my trip to the great wall and Beijing and most recently my excursion north to see the famous Harbin Snow and Ice Festival.

Tiger = Large Cat?

Sure, if your large cat has 3-4 inch fangs and doesn't really bother to distinguish between lunch and the person who brings it into the cage...

Needless to say, I made it back safely from my trip up north this past weekend, but I also had some truly unique experiences as well. While the 8th Annual Harbin Snow and Ice Festival was absolutely amazing, the highlight of the trip was, without a doubt, my side trip to the Siberian Tiger Park, home to over 700 of the world's largest tigers. Not only did I get some amazing pictures but, using a 4 foot wood pole, I also got the chance to feed a chicken to one of the largest of the tigers in the park. Only in China... and Thailand it turns out, where not only can you feed the tigers, there's actually an attraction called "Walking with Tigers." This liability nightmare outside of Bangkok is run by monks who have supposedly trained the tigers to the point where it's "safe" to walk around a small cage with the allegedly docile predators. I was more comfortable with the large steel bars separating me from the claws and fangs.

On another travel note, I'm getting really excited for Chinese New Year trip next Friday to Tokyo. Kim, my generous host for the week, has even set me up with a side trip on the bullet train to Kyoto for a couple of days to see the Gold and Silver Temples. I'm not sure how well I'm going to deal with the sticker shock over in Japan though, as it will be the one place I will have travelled in the last 6 months that is significantly more expensive than the US...

And, in even more travel news, I am currently passport-less as I submitted it, along with $75 and applications in triplicate to the Indian Consulate General with the goal of (hopefully) having a tourist visa in hand next Tuesday afternoon.

Headed off tonight to a going away dinner for Justin & Nellie (the New Zealanders) as they leave for Singapore, for good, in two weeks.

Cross your fingers for my toes

I was right... I managed to finish the budget around 11:00 pm Wednesday night and got it sent off to Beijing and to headquarters back in the states. Mind you, no one has taken a really close look at it yet, but after a brief review, the CFO told me it looked "really good." So that's encouraging.

My boss generously gave me Thursday morning off to recover from the week and I was feeling good enough to make the mistake of doing Squats at the gym for the first time since high school... I say mistake, because I'm currently physically incapable of going from a sitting position to standing without using my arms to help lift myself up. Smart move.

In other news, and related to the title of this post, I'm all packed up and ready to head to Harbin for the weekend to see the Snow and Ice Festival. I've packed everything warm that I own, but in packing, realized that I don't have boots with me here in China... in fact, the warmest footwear I have with me are my tennis shoes, which are only a slight improvement over going bare foot when the temperature drops to -40 degrees F at night. I'm doubling up on socks and bought a few of those chemical hand warmers to shove in my shoes, but to reiterate the title, keep your fingers crossed for my toes.