Day 1

Let's start with day -3, a few days before I left the states.


I had the fortune of acquiring a fever, sore thoat, and all other symptoms that come along with the season.

Day -2, I went to the doctors and he gave me 2 shots which where PAINFUL! That's why I hated them so much when I was little - 1 for steroids and another for antibiotics. Then I got a z-pack. The shots in my bum ended up setting off the metal detector at the airport.


Day 0 - A 26 hour trip from Huntsville, AL to Atlanta, GA, to Seoul, Korea, to Shenyang China. Did not sleep a wink.


In Korea, I opened the card that Anna P. told me not to open until I was on the plane, and the card screamed, "Congratulations!" "Do more of the good stuff, give me the good stuff, yeah do more of it..." Hahaha. I'm going to miss my trusty co-workers. Count on them to embarass me and surprise me at the same time.


The Seoul airport is like a massive for story high-end shopping on that happens to have gates and terminals and planes on the side. I was overwhelmed in Seoul by the stores - Gucci, Fendi, LV, Prada, Hermes, and all the stores were packed with people. I went upstairs to the lounge area to take a nap.


A few new co-workers came to pick me up in Shenyang, including my boss, whose name is Chen Chao and has worked for Michelin for 10 years. He's an easy-going and driven guy. Two girls from the mobility group walked me up the stairs to my apartment, which is on the 12th floor. I have a 2 bedroom with a few of the city on a balcony. I pick one of the rooms as my bedroom - the smaller but quiter one. I tried to call home, but I found out later that my landline was down because the person that was supposed to arrange the phone connection had a baby on the day of my arrival. I tried to sleep but couldn't the first night, so I spent the night unpacking and reading, and thinking about my family and friends. I miss everyone so much. I guess its natural to feel alone when you're in a new place by yourself.


I walked around in the morning by myself. I waited outside for Sophie from the Mobility group to pick me up. While I'm waiting, I see someone walking a dog and a think of Savannah, then watch as Japanese women board a shuttle to take them on a regular day of golfing, and a near car accident, all within 10 minutes in front of my apartment. Sophie takes me around to show me the city, buy me medicine, feed me lunch, give my my new cell phone, and a cash advance on my salary. What a saint. We then went to work and I met the plant manager, the project managers, and the IE teams, and took a brief tour around the facility. My three week training program officially starts Monday.



A few sights I saw:

A flatbed truck with a bed of dead chickens with their feathers still in tact.

Some ridiculously rich neighbors with nice cars.