34 Days and Counting...

It is almost time for me to embark on a life changing experience. June 30th at 10am I will board a plane to Beijing. 15 hours later I will arrive in a foreign country.

I sent in the last bit of paperwork on Friday. I have a doctors appointment this week to get all the shots and medicine I need to make sure I stay healthy over there.

34 days out and I have mixed emotions. Obviously I am very excited to go. This trip will be life changing and will not only help me in my career but personally as well. I am excited to see what life on the complete opposite side of the world is like.

ARAMARK sent out this whole packet about what the culture is like so we have some idea before we get there. Some things that really stood out were: putting a business card in your pocket is disrespectful.....pointing is rude...burping and spitting however is not rude....finishing all of the food on your plate is considered rude because the host will think you did not have enough to eat....pushing and having no regards for lines is not rude. I am ready to embrace total culture shock.

With the excitement comes the nerves. As you are all aware there are lots of issues surrounding the 2008 games. Turning on the news or opening up cnn.com I am constantly reminded of the issues. There is also the fact of not having family and friends right around the corner. It will take time getting used to, especially with the time difference. With that said I am a little nervous but I think its natural....after all I am going to China for 3 months!

I am staying in an area called ZhongGuanCun. I am 15 minutes from the Olympic Village. I researched the area and people say that ZhongGuanCun is the Silicon Valley of China. The area looks really nice and the condo is incredible. It looks nicer then where I stayed in Clearwater which is hard to believe. Take a look: http://www2.somerset.com/china/beijing/somerset_zhongguancun.html

Where am I working is another question I have been asked a million times. I will be working in the Media Village. The Village consists of 7 dining rooms, 3 kitchens, and 2 warehouses. It is the second busiest property that ARAMARK does. We will be managing 2,000 staff members (most likely all Chinese) and providing food for all staff and media 24 hours a day. It sounds like a huge task and thats because it is! I signed up for this because I wanted a challenge and I am sure I will get what I signed up for. There was an article in the Philly paper about what ARAMARK does at the games...it is very interesting.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/homepage/20080517_Olympics_again_are_Aramark_s_global_stage.html

I just wanted to get my blog started and give you an idea of what I will be doing and where I will be staying for the next 3 months. I will post again before I depart.