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Lost in Translation…In Shanghai
Yes, this time around it was Shanghai of all the places. Indeed, 'Maher Harb Center for Environmental research' tries always to keep up with the latest development in the field of renewable energy and other environmental matters. So, it does not miss an opportunity to go around the planet, attending conferences and searching through various exhibitions for the right technologies that would advance the environmental cause. And, it happens this time that the biggest PV exhibition in the world with the major PV manufacturers presenting their most advanced PV systems is held in Shanghai, China. So, The Center sends its director of the board, Majed Harb, to attend the exhibition and bring back the latest in the PV world. But , it was a short notice with only 3 days left for all the preparations including travel time, And, it was his first time in China. So thinking that a trip to China is like any other especially after taking so many of those kinds of trips, Mr Harb leaves all the travel preparations including Hotel booking until after arrival because in his previous trips to United States and European conferences, he was able, several times, after arrival to pull up his laptop and search the internet for the right deal. Eventually, he arrives to Shanghai. And, as soon as he steps on the airport grounds, he sees a Starbucks. So, he rushes inside to search for the accommodations. But, it was an awkward moment when he was told by the Barista that to be able to use the internet in China he had to have a Chinese phone number. Unfortunately, he has never had a Chinese number. And, as a matter of fact, he never had any chinese money in his own pockects. So, suddenly, he is left out of options and indeed lost in translation. Afraid he will miss the exhibition and figuring that the situation would somehow changes in the afternoon , he carries his bags and take the train to the exhibition hall where he probed the booths while carrying his baggages. Suddenly, anxiety started creeping in. The day is soon coming to a close. And, no arrangements have been made yet, So, maybe it is time that Mr Harb would sneak a bit out of the exhibition hall to find some accommodations. So, he goes out of the hall and walks the near streets looking for any accommodation. 'But, all the nearby hotels were fully booked. And, the situation got kind of tense around him with unmarked "taxi drivers" following him every step of the way. Afraid that he might be robbed since he was carrying some cash money in his pockets, he races back to the convention center and stands with his bags at the entrance while people are leaving the exhibition hoping that he might recognize a familiar face. However, all faces looked strange enough to him. And, he got very desperate asking anybody who passes by to help make a phone call to that person who was supposed to help. However, that person's phone was not working. And, the" unmarked taxi drivers" started appearing again when all of the sudden the flow of the people leaving the exhibition trickled down to one or two persons per five minutes. And, the place got almost empty except for those "suspicious people" when the last two respectfully looking persons appeared. And, like a drowning man, he felt that those two guys were his last hope for survival He asked those two guys to help him make a phone call to that "person" even though he had tried this number several times before to no avail. Actually, the real reason for asking was the fears he had of those" suspicious people". At first those well-respected, 'Good guys', speaking very good english, were translating whatever those 'suspicious people', who spoke no english, were trying to say for more than thirty minutes. And, the 'good guys' were about to leave when, all of the sudden, one of them told the other guy and Mr Harb to leave the scene immediately. So, Mr Harb, feeling that god had finally answered his urgent prayers, runs away even faster than the 'good guy' And, in the car, Mr Harb let out the biggest sigh of relief when the good guy said that when he was translating he felt that those suspicious people were planning something bad and there was something very weird about them. Finally, the good Chinese guys offered that Mr Harb should go with them to the hotel where they were staying and it was an offer he could not refuse. Indeed, an incessant sliding into the abyss journey had turned into "the best trip of my life" story for Mr Harb. The good guys rented a big room for him (double bed) and entertained him to a nice restaurant serving real Chinese food for dinner. They became his chauffers driving him to the convention center every day and back. And, to top it off they invited him to Souzhou; a beautiful town that holds their PV factory 'LUXEN' where they took him on a special tour of the facility, insisting that he must stay in a room with a window overlooking the beautiful river that highlight the real natural beauty of Souhou. It was an adventure. And, most definitely, worth every troubling moment because Shanghai really shows you how persistent Chinese are in advancing the technology of PV panels, Mr Harb noted.
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