Me and CG

We've been pushing this last week here in Macau to get all of our testing and inspections done as much as possible because as of right now our contract technically ends at the end of MArch and not only are all of us travelers out here leaving but the actual Macau office is also losing some people to transfers and vacations.

What I'm trying to get at here is we have been working our ass off to get this stuff done which basically means that we are on our feet from 10 or so in the morning to 8 or 9 at night, walking around and around these casino floors. So around 7pm the other night I come back to our central meeting place to drop off some drawings and get some other levels and I get sent out with an escort who unbeknownst to me, until we get like a 15 minute walk out into the field, does not speak english. So here we are, trying to cover one of the more confusing floors that you keep needing to go up and down staircases to access different areas and the guy has #1 no idea what specific areas I want to go to and #2 can not understand what the hell I am saying to him when I try to tell him where I want to go. 

Scene:

Just got to correct level (2M)...

me: so where are we on the maps right now? (not a weird question, they give us escorts whose job it is to lead us around)

chinese guy (cg): staring blankly

me: unfolds all maps, points to one. Where are we?

cg: staring blankly, then speaks chinese

me: I try to start comparing the maps to where I am standing and realize that I am nowhere near where I need to be. I try to point at map and show him areas I need to hit. unfortunately we highlighted the correct areas adn then realized that a couple weren't ready. 

"Can you take me to these areas (pointing), the purple areas?"

cg: hahahahah, chinese chinese chinese, starts walking away

we walk for like 5 minutes till we hit a locked wall, cg stops and stares, as if confused that he can't fight his way through this locked wall. ultimately this continues for like another 10 minutes, he walking aimlessly with no idea where we are going (chuckling the whole time!), up and down stairs. Me tailing along getting more frustrated and starting to hyperventilate. Finally we go up another set of stairs and he stops and points to the map. I set it down and look around, there's a lift to my right, none of the areas I need to go have a lift. I check all of them just to make sure, nope I'm right. And then start to talk to him again. 

me: I don't believe this is right, there is no lift on the map (me pointing at the lift and then the map)

cg: grabs map and points randomly at one section

me: there is no lift on the map! I don't think we are in the right section

cg laughing more, me starting to have a break down. Grab my walkie talkie and start speaking frantically into it trying to get one of my colleagues. Luckily I am able to make connection and they send out an english speaking guy who takes like 10 minutes to find us because my chinese guy is wandering around STILL laughing! Yea, this girl was never closer to breaking down in tears on a job before.... I mean, I know there is no reason for you to speak english but please stop laughing at me. I have been on my feet for easily 10 hours here and I'm exhausted! I just want to get this done, not walk an extra mile trying to figure out where to go. 

Luckily it all ended on a good note with one of my colleagues sending me a funny text that made me laugh and the two great other chinese guys who came and found us knew exactly where they were going so we finished it up in like 20 minutes and my good mood was restored. But man, makes you grateful for most people knowing english. 

sorry if this is not funny...I'm laughing about it now

Random rambings

somewhere, somehow I played something wrong...not bad if I did, just weird cause I can't figure it out. Guess that's life???

I leave in like 4 days and as happy/excited I am to get home, I am pretty sad to leave what I am doing and go back to the land of nothingness... does growing up ever get easier??? I want to know my life decisions and that's it! haha, it's a wish right

btw: I do believe there is a huge monsoon going on right outside my window right now...

Where I pretend my blog is a girlfriend

I am currently finishing my third week of being the lone girl in a very big pack of guys. This is a bit of an exageration because I am living with two other girls but they are both older and are the complete opposite type of person than I am. ie. I like to go out and have a good time where they both like to go to bed as soon as we get home from work. So even though they are around, I pretty much have only been hanging out with the guys I work with. And then beyond that I am working with these guys 12 or 14 hours a day and then head out at night with them because who else am I going to see things with in MAcau. Needless to say I am starting to hit that point where I could really use a girl around to just talk about girly shit with! I mean, I am fairly outgoing with what I say, and I've found these guys a lot easier to talk to than I could have ever expected but still! I have guy issues and I could really use a little chat session, face to face, about it! Cause it's fun! haha

So I am going to pretend that my blog is a girlfriend! don't believe I have any male readers(assuming I have readers here)  but if so, turn away. 

Point 1: I can not stand sports talk! I'll watch live games and other than that I don't care! stop talking it to me, stop trying to make me understand, let me zone out and let me know when you are finished. then I'll come back and join the convo! And going along with that please don't make me sit through an entire meal of sports talk. You have to have something else in your brain! 

 

Point 2: Work talk should be left behind at some point! yes I understand we all met through work and we work ungodly long days but come on! you have to let go and relax at some point in the night. 

 

Point 3: I really enjoy guys being courteous and polite and doing things like letting the girl go first and opening the door, but chinese men are so courteous (not even the right word) that it makes me feel like an idiot. When you are pointing out a huge ass hole in the floor to me so that I don't trip what could you possibly be thinking??? I don't see it! Give me some credit, after all I am walking around critiquing you! And when you open a door and then try to step backwards INTO me so that I can walk through first, it isn't courteous or nice, it's annoying! Yes I understand this is probably sounding incredibly bitchy but give me some rather ignorant american guys anytime! I may have to open my own door but at least I don't have an elbow in the shoulder every five minutes. Also along the same lines of thank you so much for thinking of me and bringing me a bottle of water in the field, in any normal circumstances I would love you for it as I drink water non-stop usually but I'm not you who can pull it out in any vicinity if you feel the urge to go, I actually need a bathroom which is miles away from me most of the time and I will not be going back to the office area for like 6 hours. I also am already juggling a notepad, pens/pencils/highlighters, maps, cellphone, and a walkie talkie. Do you really think I want to carry a bottle of water as well as we walk the 10 miles all over the site? yet again I don't have those fabulous big pockets guys depend on where everything fits! I have a hard enough time with my cell phone much less a bottle of water. 

 

Point 4: STOP STARING AT ME! and STOP CALLING ME MA'AM! You will never know what staring is until you walk through a construction site with 10,000 workers and every single one stops what they are doing to watch you walk past! It's creepy and not so fun. And I'm not even calling myself that good-looking, I'm just the ONLY american girl on site. And then seriously, I am not 80 years old. please stop calling me Ma'am, it makes me sad. Madam is fine, I have had absolutely no misses. 

 

Point 5: There are really no good looking guys in Macau. Unless you happen to know the Aussies who are here for work! And they are fun! But as of yet, I have only seen them in work. Which is not a conducive environment for having some fun. see previous post of hard hat, muggy weather, sweat = yucky hallie. 

 

Point 6: Girls take longer to get ready after a full day of sweating your ass off! yes, it's true. deal with it and move on. You throw on a collared shirt and nice shoes. I have to make a whole outfit. 

alright, I think i'm done. with the only major issue not being addressed but hey. only so much you can put to the internet! Like I believe I have said, I know a lot of this sounds bitchy and I totally understand that it is their culture and I never say any of this aloud to them or let on what I'm thinking but man did I need to vent! 

One more week out here, then I go back to feeling absolutely useless in my chicago office. not good.... almost wish I were staying out here a little longer, weird to think but I think I've found the niche in this field that I want to make a career out of. maybe....who knows life. 

UPDATE: Ended up staying in last night and catching up with 3 of my lovelies. So much happens when you fly halfway across the world! Felt wonderful though and I love all my peeps so much! 

Hong Kong

This past weekend we got a completely unexpected couple of days off from work and decided to jump at the opportunity to check out Hong Kong. HK is only an hour or so ferry ride from Macau and we had all been itching to get over there and check it out. I was waffling a little becuase I still feel like there is so much that I haven't seen in Macau, but then again, unless I come back out here for work, when am I ever going to get the chance to get over there. So off we went. Well let me tell you, HK is like no place I have ever been too and is absolutely amazing. It reminded me of a mix of NYC (the amount of people & atmostphere & amount of stuff everywhere) and then a little of Amsterdam. We went to this place called Lan Kwai Fang which shuts down the streets at night to cars and becomes an outdoor party place where there are just loads and loads of bars. On top of all that, the city is built on hilly islands so when you are driving around you feel like you are on a roller coaster.

The amount of people who were out completely blew my mind. Walking around the city was not walk and view the sights around you, it was a defensive exercise where you were bobbing and weaving to escape the throngs of people coming straight at you. Not to mention the fabulous people who walked at snails pace. I swear if you weren't actively trying to walk and just following the crowd it could take you 10 minutes to go 5 feet. I'm not sure how any locals every actually make it anywhere in decent time.

On another note: The Macau Tower is the highest bungy jump offered in the world and it is right next to where I am staying. In fact the picture offered in the earlier post is the tower I am talkign about. There are two guys here who have been planning on jumping and I'm seriously considering joining them.... Absolutely crazy! and yet not really something you can pass up right?

I've been

I've been here...

in Macau, being this (literally I was a relay over walkies today)

and climbing this (totally had to go like 100m over the floor to find sprinkler heads and make sure they were positioned correctly. I went because no one bigger than me would even possibly make it). 

That is scaffolding made of bamboo by the way...fantastically not sturdy. haha. I don't weigh much more than a small chinese man, so when he went first and didn't fall I was fine....that was what I told myself. 

And finaly looking like this...

yea, humidity sucks here and my hair is freakishly curly and spastic! doesn't make for a nice looking hairdo when you have nice angled bangs and stuff. Throw a hard hat on that and it's the picture of beauty! :) 

having a blast and learning so much on site though, work can actually be fun when you aren't stuck behind a freaking computer all day!!!!!

Have a good march everyone, does not seem like I will be posting much. 

Flying across the World

I embarked from Chicago, Il at 11:20am on Sat February 28 and I arrived in Seoul at 4pm on Sunday March 1. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the way time can be so fleeting like that. And yet, it's not so much. I mean I did spend 14 hours on a flight before I got here which in all truth can be considered a pretty long day in normal terms. At least as long as you aren't considering going out at night and partying. And the best/worst/crazy part is, I still have a 4 hour flight until I get to my final destination. The idea of how long it takes for me to get to Macau amazes me and yet I'm happy that it is such a monumental effort. With all of the great technology we have a person can get to London in the same time they can get to California (from the northeast) and I feel like sometimes we get a little jaded in our thinking. I mean California is far away but it's still the same country as other states, but London, totally different! And yet the time it takes to get there, minus your jetlag, is equivalent. So I like that this is big, though I will be exhausted come monday morning, all yours sunday afternoon/evening! WEIRD! 

I've been resisting changing my watch, partly because they do universal time over here which I have to actually think about and partly because I like looking and being like ooh it's 3:08am back home. Wonder what everyone is doing...haha sleeping but still! I've dealt with time differences before both with myself being away and with others being away, and it's odd but for some reason I feel very much like this is going to be different. 

I'm rambling, wasn't able to sleep much on the plane so right now I desperately want to be in a bed and not some uncomfortable airport chair. hope all are having sweet dreams....mine have been extremely vivid the past week or so...very trippy