I had to share this story right away.  Every new Google employee at the Shanghai office has to do a performance.  I originally wanted to do something funny and embarrassing, but all of my ideas seemed infeasible given the circumstances: I don’t have access to a Value Village, whig shop, or any 80s retro haven for that matter.  I decided to just play a song on the community guitar.  I choose Phish – Punch You in the Eye.

I introduced myself to the entire office and sat down to play.  I turned on the amp and clicked on the overdrive.  Immediately the amp made that classic overdrive sound, and just as I gave the strings a single stroke, the crowd, all at once, said, “Woooooooow” as they marveled at that classic rock ‘n roll introduction.  It was awesome.  The performance went well after that :).

My claim to fame has been rock ‘n roll, and I never would have expected it.  Though I’m not too surprised I suppose; I am interested by many of the things the Chinese do day to day that probably seem like a walk in the park to them.  It’s fun noticing our differences and then enjoying them all together :).