EPTThe other cool update I have in life in general is that I am going back to China. Some of you know I studied abroad in a town called Zhuhai, about an hour by boat from Hong Kong. I spent about nine months and some change in China, popping out to Thailand and Malaysia for the Spring Festival to avoid the hustle and bustle of mass, human migration, and have not been out of the United States in a lamentably long four years. I am happy to say, that is going to change.
A friend with whom I graduated college, in the last three years, wound up taking over his father's business through an unfortunate familial occurrence on his end, and this business is niche. Specifically the business is involved in machining replacement parts for canning industry decorators. Did you catch that? These are the machines that print Coca Cola on the can, or Home Depot on Cardboard boxes, or decorate paint cans; I told you it was niche.
He spends the majority of his time on the road, following up with clients and doing various trade shows in the states and around the world, and for the larger events he solicits the help of his friends. I'd previously helped him at an event in Atlanta two years prior, and now I'll be on my way to Guangzhou in early June (HOT AS FUCK, but free airfare.)
The best part, beyond hopefully seeing some of my old friends and going back to my old bars in Zhuhai (roughly a two hour bus ride from GZ) will be the opportunity to travel. My friend and occasional employer has even said he would fly over with me early to get a bit of of jet lag out of the way, and do some travelling prior to attending this trade show. I am theory crafting how to get flown into Seoul potentially and maybe sneak over to the Gom Studios to catch a few games. We will see what winds up happening with that.
My manager knows the score, and has given me the clearance on the trip and may help me sneak some non paid days into my vacation to take advantage of this opportunity. I gotta start brushing up on my Chinese to be amusing at the trade show and get around of course. I am open to suggestions about places to go in China that you've been. I've been to Shanghai, Chengdu, GZ, Hong Kong, Macau, and am not really that interested in Beijing. So if you have something in mind, lmk.
