Will & Tracy

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Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Tentacles and Testicles…

Immediately after landing back in Shanghai (from our trip to Bangkok) we got a call from Jerry (Patty’s husband, but more importantly Will’s new boss in 2 days!) inviting us to drinks and dinner with him, Patty and the CEO/owner of the company and his wife. We land on the WAY other side of Shanghai and leave the airport at 5pm and supposed to arrive to have drinks by 6:30pm. Thank goodness I showered at the hotel that morning in Bangkok, but still – that was about 12 hours ago!

We get back to our apartment at 6:30p (Will’s phone battery died and therefore couldn’t call to update anyone) – we ran in, plugged in his phone and then called. No worries, they were running late as well. Whew – time to put on deodorant and brush my hair.

We arrive for drinks and the CEO and his wife split us up for the first individual grill session. Will seemed to be doing well at the other end of the table while I’m trying to go with the flow and not look too stressed with the ultimate Tai Tai in front of me. First round done!

Next stop dinner and we switch places and the CEO wants dirt on MY husband. Telling this man that my husband is the most wonderful and brilliant man in the world wasn’t going to cut it either. I, of course, scored big because I found out he was from Cleveland and I threw out – “So aren’t those Indians doing well, they beat the Yankees!” Dude, I think I almost got knocked off my chair by the slap on the back.

Stop number 3 – The Blarney Stone Pub and well passed Will and my bedtime. Patty and Jerry failed to mention the owner and his wife were professional social drinkers and after pre-dinner drinks and several pitchers of sangria at dinner, the 3rd round of beer was closing in on my feeling no pain as well as a little looser with my tongue.

The big boss and I were still chatting away and I was trying to impress him with my international food experiences from duck tongue to haggis (don’t ask if you don’t know). And, yeah, this is where it gets a little fuzzy…. He supposedly leans over and agrees haggis is terrible and then adds, so are tentacles. My reply: “Yeah, I don’t like testicles either.” In my defense, it was a loud bar and I’ve heard of people eating various forms of animal testicles and so I thought that is what he said. He of course roared with laughter as I blushed several different shades of deep red and then I received another one of those pats on the back and a smile.

I found out the next day from Patty that Will and I passed with flying colors. I’m trying to figure out my take home lesson to share with everyone on how not to embarrass your husband when meeting his boss for the first time, but hey – just say tentacles. It’s playing it much safer, but not nearly as entertaining.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Elephants and Monkeys and leeches, oh my!

Yes, I think I probably used this blog title before, but in Thailand – the Land of Smiles we got it all! After getting 70% settled into our new apartment and a last minute hot water leak the morning before we left, Will and I took off for Bangkok for 6 days/5 nights to get a little rest before Will’s big new job starts on October 15th!

We stayed they Royal Orchid Sheraton and decided on a week of light activities although we could have done a lot more. We had a day trip to the Khao Yai National Park where Tracy got attacked (that is a strong word) by 2 leeches! One was a rookie but the other one got some good blood out of me. Boy does that natural blood thinner they inject do wonders – I bled for a good few hours. For the record, I didn’t scream at ALL! That and it was nice that the guide reminded us that leeches only go after pretty people.

Next stop – Elephant ride! Okay – I know this is probably very touristy, but hey, we got to ride and feed bananas to an elephant in Thailand - it was great!

Wednesday was Tracy’s day of shopping, uh, I mean a cultural tour of Bangkok seeing some of the temples (aka “wats”) … while shopping. We found some cool art and enjoyed the Jade Buddha, the sitting Buddha, the reclining Buddha and the standing Buddha (did I miss any?).

The next to last day was Will’s day. He wanted to take a James Bond Long Tail boat ride through the canals of Bangkok (aka The Venice of the East). We made a stop at the Snake Farm (2nd one ever to open that milks poisonous snakes and makes anti-venum). After the snake farm we rushed home again and changed and made our way to the International Guitar Festival for a concert. At intermission Will went up to talk to this guy and then blew him off because he wanted to look at the pretty guitars. We find out at the end of the concert when they announced a special guest would be presenting flowers to the performer that we blew off the Ambassador to Argentina. Sigh…. We had a good chuckle over that as you can imagine and tried to sink lower in our seats!

All in all Bangkok was great and we only really scratched the surface – and that was just the city. The people were nice – even when they were trying to play a fast one – oh they just didn’t know that we have lived in China for a year – we are such worldly travelers don’t ya know.

**Click link above to go to the picture page!

Sunday, October 14, 2007

The New Apartment





Alright, I'm finally back from our mini-vacation from Bangkok and have lots of blogging to catch up on....but first things first...pictures of the new apartment we moved in to the first of the month. The same time Will wrapped things up with Dell (with a little tear shed) I was busy coordinating our move to our new apartment. Since we were getting a housing allowance we had a little more flexibility on choosing the place and so we ended up choosing a great apartment in the same complex as Patty and Jerry as well as our other friends Lauren and Dan. Since Will will be traveling a lot more and Patty and I (well, and Jerry and Will) all now work together we thought having access to their driver would be a pretty nice deal - not tomention the complex having the swankest gym in the city! Oh, and they have a spa too! I'm even closer to the massages and pedicures than ever before!

It is more in the heart of the "French Concession" area of Shanghai which puts us within walking distance to lots of shops and great restaurants as well as being right across the street from the U.S. Consulate - so we are safe! Well, unless you consider that we are next to the Iranian Embassy, but hey, its all good.