I made my 4th trip to Japan, just two weeks after the major 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that devastated the north-east region of the country. The Fukushima Dai'ichi nuclear power plant was still out of control and in partial melt-down - to me that was the most dangerous part of making the trip there. That was, until I landed. I was in a 6.5 magnitude aftershock on one of the elevated highways in a bus... things were swaying. In all of my visits to Kobe (where the massive 1995 earthquake destroyed everything), it was alwyas the elevated highway that freaked me out the most. I didn't like that.
I was in Japan for 3 full days (on the tail end of my 2 week trip to Asia). Each morning, I ran along the ocean in Akashi. Each time I hear a siren, I could only think "tsunami warning - where to go?!?!?"... even though the area where I was, was pretty protected from large tsunami - or so I had hoped.
In general, it was business as usual there. The only significat difference you could see - was the reduction in electricity use. They are conserving to avoid rolling black-outs and keep sending power to the badly damaged northeast. The people were quite calm about things - even the nuclear situation. Were the Japanese too sheltered by the media? Was the West too "hyped up" by the media coverage? Probably the reality lies somewhere in between - now having been in both "worlds" during this disaster.
The food was fantastic as always in Japan. I made a point of having sushi each day, as well as trying something new for dinner each night. Work was quite challenging. There is so much to be done, and I'm short on manpower in Asia - so all roads seeme to lead to me for the time being. Good news is that our business in Japan has quadrupled in a short time! It was overwhelming at times... so many thing to get sorted out.
I was able to get solid training in during this trip as well. Logged over 100 miles of running! During my first week (all in China), I ran 70 miles in 6 days (one day lost for travel to China). During my second week (mostly in Japan), I managed 32 miles + time on the bike trainer. I had 4 "speed" workouts - during these two weeks. Two were threshold workouts: 3x15 min @ T, 8x5min @ T, and two were MP runs of at least 5 miles of MP running. In addition, my last "long" run of 23 miles was done in Shanghai. I leveraged the jetlag to my benefit - running in Shanghai is easy at 4am!
In China, I was interviewing candidates for my new Purchasing Coordinator, and looking for people for the China and Japan warehouses. I found "my guy" for the Purchasing Coordinator role during this trip. Let's hope he works out as well as I think he will!
Much of my time in China, however, was sorting out a major quality problem. The supplier I inherited from my predecessor made an out of compliant shipment, and is now refusing to replace it without more money. Without going into details, we are over a barrel, and I'm finding other options - quickly! I was jumping from city to city to city, visiting suppliers around China. Shanghai to ZhengZhou to Tianjin to Beijing back to Shanghai. Whew!
I was able to have some time to see Beijing. Very interesting! From Tiananmen Square to the Fobidden City to the 2008 Olympic Village - there is a lot to experience in Beijing. While Shanghai is a huge, modern city, Beijing has the history in it. Forbidden city was just amazing to see. Took you back to the early 800AD times when it was used as a fortress and seat of power. Quite interesting!
The Olympic village was special for me as an athlete. To see the "Water Cube" aquatics center where Michael Phelps broke so many world records, and became the most decorated Olympic athlete... and to see the "Birds Nest" stadium where the track and field events took place (which I watched from Oregon before and after running the 197 mile "Hood To Coast" race).
Tiananmen Square was quite a sight to see as well. The first night in Beijing, we were in front of the Square, starting to take pictures, when suddenly, a group of soldiers and poilce came out and forced everyone off the square, and to stop taking photos. It was a little unreal. The Square had been packed with people, and with all of the protests and unrest in the Middle East, I wondered if we found ourselves in the middle of something. We never found out for sure, but we think some high ranking officials were coming to the Square. Next morning, things were back to normal. I love "Peking Duck", and found a fantastic restaurant right next to T-Square to enjoy it for dinner. It was perfect! (Peking is the old name for Beijing)
I found a beautiful 11 mile course to run in Beijing that included Tiananmen Square, passing the Forbidden City to a gorgeous lake area, which was a perfect place to run, away from the hustle and bustle of this great city.
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