Saturday August 13, 2005 1:00 pm

Home Sweet Home

It is amazing to be back home.

I left Shanghai at 10:00 am Friday for a quick flight to Tokyo. My plane leaving to Detroit was already boarding when I got there so I had to hurry to get to the gate and on the plane. Once I was on the plane there was about a 45 min delay to fix something on the landing gear (Yes, - please take the time to fix this!!!) so I starting getting nervous already about missing my flight out of Detroit to Madison because I had only an hour and 15 min - now with the delay I knew time would be close.

The flight crew on this flight were all horrible - very crabby and snotty to the people. There was a younger guy in the seat next to me - a student going to the US to study. And he didn't quite understand how the meals worked. He kept trying to get them to serve his meal at different times than they were scheduled. Instead of really trying to explain it to him they were just rude.

We arrived in Detroit at about 2:15 - got off the plane at 2:35. I had to get my bags and through customs and get to my gate in less than 30 min! I made it to the luggage return pretty quickly - but then stoof there for 10 min before it started to unload. They had the luggage going on either return 7 or 8 so I had to watch both areas for my bag. Really frustrating! After another 10 min I finally found my bag and quickly got over to the customs line. Another 5 min there.... Uggh!!! I am not good at waiting in lines when I need to be somewhere.

I finally got through that section and went to the security check. The first lady to check my boarding pass said I had about 5 min and I would just make the flight. The second lady stopped me and said "you will not make the flight - you have to get through the line at security and get all the way to your gate in 5 min" I just looked at her and said - "you don't understand - I WILL make this flight!!!"

So - through security I go - up the escalator to the terminal. Find my gate - A9 Ok good. Get to terminal A. It starts at Gate 39! Uggh! so I start literally running down the terminal - walking on the little moving tread panels they have, running more. And finally get to the gate. No people waiting - everyone on board. But, I get there and turn in my pass - and get on the plane!! Yeah for me - I am going home!!!

It was great to fly into Madison. We went over the lakes and I saw the convention center and capitol building. Made me so happy to see familiar ground. We landed and turned to see the airport - I am thrilled knowing Tom is just inside waiting for me :)

It was wonderful to see Tom - great to be home and sleep in my bed last night. Brush my teeth without using bottled water. Wake up and make a nice pot of coffee.

Thanks to everyone for following along with me on this trip! Hope you enjoyed reading about my adventure as much as I enjoyed telling it!

Tina

Thursday August 11, 2005 6:00 PM

It is unbelievable what a long hard day it was yesterday - so no entry from Wednesday.

The auditor changed a bit on us - got tougher, dug deeper, looked longer. We ended up being at work until 11:30 last night trying to make sure we had information on all the open issues. Then, I got back to the hotel and worked until 2:30am.

I was so tired this morning - and just wanting the audit to get over.

Thankfully that happened this morning. We were able to go through all the open issues and we finished at about 11:00 am. There was one issue the inspector found and reported - but it was not on the product I work on :) Yeah. In fact it has an issue that has to have corporate involvement so it wasn't anything this site could have done anything about.

I was just so relieved when he left. A huge weight gone and now looking forward to getting home!

Some of the people from Madison left a note for me at the front desk this morning when I checked out. It was really nice and a great way to start the day - although it also made me pretty homesick and realized how long it has been since I have been home.

Tonight I am in Shanghai - the group I am with is out shopping but I was just too tired and frankly a bit sick of everyone. I just wanted to spend the night repacking my suitcase and getting ready for travel tomorrow.

Can't wait to sleep in my own bed tomorrow night :) And most of all to see everyone at home.

Tina

Tuesday August 9, 2005 9:00 pm

A strange day today. Inspection day two.

The audit day went well. We gave the inspector a demo of our ultrasound machine. This is a portable unit that is the size of a laptop and you can use for cardiac, obgyn or pretty much any other ultrasound purpose. He was very interested - this was a demo that was over an hour long - using different attachments for internal organs, heart, etc. The inspector said again that his has history of some problems in his family - in addition his brother in law is a cardiologist so he has personal reasons for looking more closely here.

However - we did talk a bit more about the product my business has here and his interest has increased a bit more here. Tomorrow he will look at this area in more detail and audit a bit more intensely. So - Hopefully everything goes well! I really want this guy to finish the inspection tomorrow and not come back Thursday as he has planned right now.

The auditor had gone on a tour Sunday and purchased some pearls (very famous here) and he paid a lot more than he should have - so we arranged to try and go return them for him. He also asked if we knew of any DVD stores here - so we arranged that too.

So - at about 2:00 pm today we left the facility with him - took him to the DVD store (I am standing there thinking "I can't believe I have an FDA inspector in a pirated dvd shop" - but he happily purchased about 10 movies. Very strange thing!!!

After that we returned some of his pearls for him and he was very happy to get some money back from this.

Finally we took him to a traditionally chinese tea house for a tea ceremony. It was very interesting - a specific process for making and pouring the tea - special cups to drink from and cups that you smell the scent of the tea. The restaurant had a buffet of different dishes that we could select and eat - as always here our hosts bring us more food than we could possibly finish!

There were many kinds of antiques and really interesting art and decorations here - it was a beautiful place to just sit and relax. Each table is in a little room of it's own - so very private and quiet. Our host told us that often they will go there for a whole afternoon and drink tea and play cards. We just don't have places like this at home. Even coffee shops where you can sit and chat are not as private or cosy - and you never feel that you can just sit for hours.

So - tomorrow will be an interesting day. I am hoping all goes well since we will be back to the product I am most involved in. My stress level has been pretty high these past two days. Today my legs feel as though I have had a hard work out - tired and sore. I think it is because I am sitting so tensely during the audit.

hopefully tomorrow we can wrap up early again. I'd really love that to happen.

Tina

Monday August 8, 2005 7:00 pm

Day 1 of the inspection. This is what we are here for - so everyone is in place and we are all ready.

The first day has gone very well (Tina doing personal happy dance after inspector leaves). The focus has shifted a little bit from the product I am most involved with to another product manufactured here - which is an ultrasound machine. The inspector has a person interest in the Ultrasound. His wife was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. This year she was in for testing and an Ultrasound showed some possible problems with her ovaries which evenutally led to her having a hysterectomy. So - he is leading us into this product more out of person interest.

For me this means either - 1) We did such a good job on our prep work for the product I am working with that he didn't see any issues (at least with what he looked at so far) and so he will just move on or 2) I have been here a month for no purpose. I am personally looking at the first option and trying to believe that.

Now - certainly my part is not out of the picture - he is scheduled for 3 more days and will most certainly come back to the other product. But, I think it is a good sign.

He has stated that he is not sure how he will audit for 4 days as planned - so we are trying to plant the seed in his mind that he could do some sightseeing in Bejiing for a day if he finishes early. :)

So - I am feeling good after day 1. Tomorrow will be a good test and we should have a much better idea how long the audit will continue. Unfortunately I don't see any chance of me getting out any earlier - but if the inspection results in the positive way it has today that is all I can ask.

We are working later tonight to ensure the new direction of the audit does not being up any unanticipated issues or problems. Hopefully it won't be too late as my adrenaline from the inspection day has worn off and I am just plain tired now!

Tina

Sunday August 7, 2005 2:00 pm

my last weekend here :)

I was very happy to have Tom call me first thing this morning - a great start to the day! I am getting very excited about going home and can't wait for Friday to get on the plane!

I turned down an offer from the team at work here to join them on a tour of the city and instead spent the day walking around and getting some last pictures of a few things I had wanted to shoot.

It is amazing how different today is weather wise - it is dry and hot again, but the thing that most surprizes me is that the sky is actually blue with clouds and you can see the sun! The first time this has happened since I have been here and it make everything look much better.

I'll get some reading for work done today and try to get to bed early. I need a good sleep tonight to be ready for tomorrow - and since we will be leaving early for work I want to be well rested.

A big day tomorrow. I am praying that all goes well and that all the work we have been doing in the past month pays off.

Tina

Saturday August 6, 2005 6:00 pm

Welcome Typhoon Matsa!!

Woke up this moring at 8:00 and met Mark and Rudrakshi at 8:30 for some breakfast. It was good to sleep in a bit as the long hours this week have caught up with me.

We took a long breakfast and sat drinking coffee for a while. Then we went across the street to the Home Mart to get some umbrellas for the day. We had plans to meet with Bill another of our group at 10:00 in the lobby to do some shopping.

We found out we could get some umbrellas from the front desk and borrowed those instead of buying some. They were a bit larger than the ones at Home Mart so I was glad I didn't waste any money there (even though they were only about $4).

We walked down the the shops I had found last weekend. It was several blocks and was raining a bit and got windy at times but wasn't too bad. Usually it was easier to just close the unbrella and get a little wet rather than try to battle the wind.

I picked up a few little things today but mostly watched Rudrakshi buy things. It was funny to see her negotiate with the shop owners - both of them entering the price they wanted on a calculator and Bill behind Rudrakshi coaching her on the process. Quite entertaining.

We were out about 1 and then decided to get lunch at the hotel together. Just as we arrived back the rain really started coming down! I got a few shots from the lobby but they hardly do justice to the weather.

When we got back from our walk one of the hotel staff came up to me in the lobby to say I had a package! Yeah for me! The group I am with thought it funny that I have been here long enough for the staff to recognize me by name and room number. I just thought it nice that I didn't have to wait until I got upstairs to find out I had to come all the way back down to the lobby!

The package was from my sister Shelley - full of fun candy/nuts/jam and other treats from Oregon! A magazine and some little boxes of cereal - Thanks Shelley - that part is already gone!! Loved the corn pops!

This afternoon I took a nice nap :) It was good to be warm and dry after our long walk and good to just relax. I am not sure about tonight. We didn't talk in our group about if we would get together or not so I am just going to hang out in my room and watch it rain for a while. Hopefully some good movies will be on and I can just take it easy.


Tina

Friday August 5, 2005 9:00pm

A pretty good day today! We finished all that we needed to get done today - so this weekend we don't plan to go in to work unless something changes. We will all still need to check e-mail from Madison and just be sure everything is in place.

We stayed at work until 8 tonight and then a few of us went to the DVD store. The movies are just so cheap it is amazing - hopefully they work ok when I get home. Got a couple as gifts for people.

The big news is that there is a Typhoon on the way! Typhoon Matsa is expected sometime tomorrow so we are getting ready for lots of rain and heavy winds - should be interesting I've never been in a Typhoon before!

Tomorrow a few of us are meeting for breakfast and then hopefully going shopping if it isn't raining. Should be interesting. At least if I am rained in I have a good stack of books with me. I haven't done much reading this trip at night - but that could change soon.

Tina