Saturday, January 06, 2007

Coming Home...

It has been confirmed. I have been given the green light to head back to Toronto for good soon. The reason? Because Toronto does not hold the jurisdiction for the team in Shanghai anymore. It is up to Austin to drive the process and SH mgmt to execute things in the future. It really is a pity, I had just built a solid team of people; but like what they all say - Shit happens. And that's what happened after the merger; projects were delayed, and the team doesn't belong under the same umbrella as myself anymore. It's going to take some time to work out all the details, cost
centres for the newly merged company; big companies merging up share the same political fate (like the HP-Compaq merge). Although I do pity @ the fact that the local SH team will have some hard times ahead and i am going to miss China (esp the endless sea of pretty girls), I have no regret. I know if I didn't come, i wouldn't be able to:

1) Gain so much exposure to upper mgmt and have experienced at how mgmt/politics work in the office at a very high level.
2) Made lots of friends with great personalities during and outside of work.
3) Have the chance to really use my mandarin and improve a bit on it since I had to rely on it every day (diff than a course).
4) See so many new things that I would never see if I stayed in Toronto.
5) Get to visit Taiwan and Malaysia, of course Shanghai & surrounding too.
6) Great expat experience which is a once in a lifetime career opportunity.Gosh, after this experience; I really enjoy going to different places experiencing new things, meeting new people, and absorbing the amazing atmosphere.
And now, I will be real busy during my last few weeks in SH drawing up transition plans and providing feedback to mgmt here about what the team is working on and what needs to be done. I should be back in Toronto within a month's time with all paperwork completed; looking fwd to be returning home!

7 comments:

Doc to be: Henry said...

Welcome home, man. Although, at the same time, I feel sorry for u coming back...as you mentioned, "endless sea of pretty girl" man!

akaie said...

Welcome back to Canada! You get to visit Vancity. This is the best excuse to travel one more place before heading home. :)

Andrew said...

Looking forward to when you are back, so we can chill and bs over a bottle of beer! And P.S., you are still an ass :)

AJEYA RAO said...

Cool...Thats great to be heading back, but I also agree wth you on the excitement of going to new places, and different countries. We grow as an individual.

So wht are your plans after return?
What did you miss the most from Toronto during ur stay in SH?

Edmlee said...

Thanks everyone for your thoughts.

@ Hen, yeah i know... i'm gonna miss the endless sea. But, no pics; as i dun want to look like a nerd^! ha ha, better run up and just start 搭仙ing... lols

@ WinWin, thanks! And i will call you out to be my tourguide if i do head over... Hope you had been trying out the restaurants so you can bring me there^^

@ Lucy-san: Ha ha ha... I know you miss Sheridan on the rocks bud. Any hey, I got to check out YF19 and ur FFxii too... dang, you are way ahead... How about Rogue Galaxy? Gonna get the EU version?

@ Ajeya: Totally, it's been such a wonderful experience to see more places. Now i'm obsessed at visiting more countries (yet i need to watch my budget as I still need to save for a house). I think i'm gonna recuperate and be not-as-aggressive after i'm back, i'm sort of worn out so just gonna relax for a while until I find my next hobby or longterm goal in life. Well, other than missing my family and friends; I do miss my car! Ha ha, it's so convenient. Despite all my petty complaints, I will blog about what I miss SH as I leave too. It's always hard to leave a place not knowing when you will be able to visit it again. :) Travelling is great man!

Keith said...

Welcome back! Lots to do when you're here again.

Edmlee said...

Thanks buddy! hope we're gonna get some snow so we can hit the slopes soon! :)