While the growth is frantic and the prices exorbitant, daily life offers other frustrations as well. Power may go out for a while each day. Business discussions are not usually as direct as in Western business, so meetings can be much more time-consuming. Business relationships are very important and must be well- nurtured through banquets and other activities. They also agree, however, that the frustrations are just the flip side of the excitement found in a country that is making massive and critical transitions - from a planned to a market economy, from a closed to a more open society.
Survival is helped by a sense of humor.
Brett moonlights as an egg roll chef and cultivates serenity by studying Tibetan Buddhism and Tai'chi. As for the Penn Club of Shanghai, the fledgling group is just forming and actively contacting other alums in the area. Patricia Dame c.o.