Well, the travel agent messed up our plane reservation and we are postponing our Shanghai trip by one day. Fortunately, we did not have any meeting on the first day, which is good news. Incidentely, I am also carrying a Valentines' gift from one of the Chinese students here on campus, to his wife who remained in Shanghai. Unfortunately, I will be unable to meet her on Saturday now, so I will have to hand over the present on Sunday.

I am going there with a New York banker. I don't think I have ever been on a trip with a banker - I will be discovering two cultures: the bank and China.

Anyway, I met with the various Chinese people, got hoodles on tips about the city, too much for my little head. I also contacted the alumni association. We will be missing their drinks session by two days but we will probably be able to go out one evening with three or four of them. They have been extremely helpful and responded immediately. I will also be able to meet with a HR person, a high tech manager and a corporate finance person from a medical device company.
Perhaps also - if I get lucky - an investor and a consultant and a retail manager. All of them asked me to call back later today, during the weekend or on Monday morning. The primary reason for my going to Shanghai is really to visit the company that we are writing a case study on. It looks like we will be able to also meet two or three people familiar with the case, and we will be turning up at the company to be shown around the various offices.

Today, I am planning on finishing up my Power and Politics paper and tomorrow I will be working on my 35-page long self-assessment paper. This is not an easy job. Maybe I should just copy and paste this journal.

I also must decide about my holiday destination. Any suggestions is very welcome as I am - a rare event - running out of ideas.