Friday, September 12, 2003
Well, I'm back. Still hot and humid here. Am staying in a hotel that is also in the same high rise as the paper I'll be working at. The old Lincoln (Nebraska) Journal or the Rocky Mtn. News were never like this. There's also a first class restaurant serving traditional Chinese food in the same complex. The chickens still come with heads attached and the fish are similarly whole. Was met at the HK airport by a colleague, a genial fellow named Mr. Tan who, at times seemed as confused on how to get from Hong Kong to Shenzhen as I might've been.
It worked out though it's the third time I've gone across the borders and each time has been completely different. I might figure it out for myself sometime. This time took about an hour and a half and involved two metro systems and a surly taxi driver. Other times were about 50 minutes and involved buses or vans. I'm here under false pretenses, too. Though I've been hired to work for a year, communication problems with the paper made it too late to get a proper working visa so I'm officially in China as a tourist for 60 days. I'm trusting graft and connections on the part of the paper to straighten things out before I become an American illegal alien.
Not much to report yet. I'm severely jet lagged and running on fumes and still have to go view the "flat" that the paper has picked out for me. Am posting from the hotel PC.
It worked out though it's the third time I've gone across the borders and each time has been completely different. I might figure it out for myself sometime. This time took about an hour and a half and involved two metro systems and a surly taxi driver. Other times were about 50 minutes and involved buses or vans. I'm here under false pretenses, too. Though I've been hired to work for a year, communication problems with the paper made it too late to get a proper working visa so I'm officially in China as a tourist for 60 days. I'm trusting graft and connections on the part of the paper to straighten things out before I become an American illegal alien.
Not much to report yet. I'm severely jet lagged and running on fumes and still have to go view the "flat" that the paper has picked out for me. Am posting from the hotel PC.
# posted by Justin @ 11:29 PM 
