Swimming with the team

I've uploaded a few pictures at picasa. (http://picasaweb.google.com/jason.r.glasgow/Simata)

Today was the day to review projects and present pNFS as a "Tech Talk" for the Beijing office and for the Shanhai office via video link. I've never presented pNFS before, and certainly not to a crowd of 50 non-native English speakers. Far from having nothing to say (always my fear), I easily filled the hour and took questions for another 20 minutes. I think it was a big success. Xaio, the manager for the MPFS team in Beijing, says it was the best tech talk that he has been to. I was glad to be able to share some of the work that is going on in Southborough with office here, and it is much more effective than our weekly conference calls.

After the tech talk I watched a few games of ping pong and tried playing Haiyun. To put things more accurately, I should say that I had a lesson from Haiyun. He was happy to give me a few pointers on my ping pong playing and volley with me. It was all about him trying to see if he could hit a moving target (my racket) and get the ball to bounce back to his side. I must say that despite the random movements of my racket, he did a great job. Not to stereo type, but there are some incredible (IMHO) ping pong players in the EMC office. They hold the racket in a funny way, blow on it before the serve, stare down each other, spin the ball like crazy, and play so fast I can't follow the game. They're good. Seems like Hiayun is one of the best. I wish Dani could get a chance to play. He would probably enjoy the game even more than I.

So what are my impressions of the office, the team, etc? Well the working quarters are certainly a little more intimate. The cubicle walls, if you can call them that, are much lower than in sobo. Basically everybody can see each other, or spin around an talk to one another very easily. It certainly makes for good communication, though not the best if you want to have a phone conversation. The office temperature is also kept a fair bit hotter than is the case in the US. In fact it almost feels like it isn't air conditioned. Environmentally that's great. The 20+ story office build has operable windows, and when it is too hot, they crack the window a bit to get some air. Its different. I cannot think of a single office building that I've worked in that has operable windows. So, while I sometimes felt a little hot, I also thought that this is so muc better than burning oil to stay in an entirely temperature control environment. The team, and the office has a lot of camaraderie. They often go out to lunch together (one of the advantages of being in a city, and not in a suburb near 495), play lots of ping pong, regularly go swimming with the EMC swimming club (I joined them too tonight), and even go hiking with the hiking club.

A few more notes of interest... EMC is in the same building as Microsoft. Next door is Google and Adobe. Downstairs is VMware.

For Monday lunch we went to (http://www.liaofan.com/) a vegetarian restaurant. "No egg, no meat, no smoking, no alcohol". It was the first meal where I felt I could eat *anything* that was served. It was great. Even the fake (tofu) Peking duck.

Driving stories continue.... On the way to the pool tonight I got a ride with Niu. We passed under the subway station (it is above ground here), and then I was some flashing lights and heard some bells. I hadn't quite figured out what was going on when Niu said, "Oh a train must be coming", stepped on the gas and sped across the railroad tracks. Yikes. Well, at least the gates hadn't yet descended. I looked both ways and didn't see the train -- as if that would have made a difference. And the craziness continues. Everybody seems to think they have the right of way, from pedestrians, to cyclists, to moped drivers, to cars, trucks and busses. Perhaps the rule is that who ever does not flinch has the right of way. After crossing the railroad tracks we got stuck in traffic trying to make a left. The cyclists started accumulating around us and in front, all edging up to be the first to make the turn. Mr. Bold decides he's going to go for it, despite the huge articulated bus bearing down on the intersection. It's chicken. Between you and me, I'm chicken. I wouldn't challenge a bus. I was getting a little nervious, but at the last second the cyclist yielded and let the bus go first. A momentary lapse into sanity.