Randy's in China!
Randy is now in ShenZhen. If you follow that link to the Wikipedia article, you will read a line that notes that Shenzhen is noted for cheaper prostitutes than one would find in Hong Kong. Right now Randy is staying in a hotel that is only $40 a night with fairly spacious rooms that is much cheaper than the smaller ones a few miles away (and about a third the rates of a similar hotel in Hong Kong) because they are right across the street from the "Chicken Bars." So not only are the prostitutes cheaper, but the rooms are, too. And he isn't in a flop house, but a regular business traveller hotel. Still, he is looking forward to being moved out of that area once he begins working more seriously.
Keeping in touch with him has not been difficult. First of all, the time difference actually works in our favor. We can generally talk at 8 am and 8 pm since there is a 12 hour time difference. Secondly he signed up with an internet phone service so his calls out of China are only $0.02 or $0.03 a minute! This compared to $2.30 a minute on the cell phone is amazing.
As of yet he cannot read this blog. I have read that the Chinese government has very tight restrictions regarding blogs in general, and even though he is an American signing onto the internet through an American server (and probably a VPN, though I don't know that for a fact), he cannot read this. If anyone knows how he might be able to, please speak up. Randy depends on this blog in case he can't get to talk to us.
One thing Randy notes as new to ShenZhen from when he first visited almost 10 years ago was that there is a large mall-like complex that includes restaurants that cater to a Western palate. This includes the Starbucks pictured above. Oddly, he hasn't set foot in there yet, strange for a man that at one time descended with me into a several-hundred-dollar-a-month Starbucks habit (yeah, yeah, I know...blow would have been cheaper). Randy was worried about getting nutritious vegetarian food, but this week for dinner he has had vegetable lasagna and spinach ravioli.
The area of China where the two plants he will be working with are located experience rolling blackouts due to energy shortages in the province. Unlike the U.S. these rolling blackouts are planned so one plant is without power on Mondays and Wednesdays and the other something like Tuesdays and Fridays. Interestingly, the area where his hotel and other hotels are as well as the Starbucks are not affected by the blackouts. I would guess foreign visitors would generally be kept unaware of the blackouts unless they were day-to-day workers like Randy and would be accutely aware. Needless to say, (redacted 9/10/08) is investing in their own generators so that blackouts do not interrupt manufacturing.
One thing that we did before Randy left was video him reading some of Myles' favorite books and save it on my computer in the house. Now every night (and sometimes a few times during the day) Myles specifically asks to see Daddy on the video. He loves seeing him on the screen reading to him. I don't know if it helps Myles keep Daddy in his head, but it sure helps the parents in this situation think we are helping him.
As time goes on I hope to provide you with some periodic updates and observations from our own Innocence Abroad, Randy.
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